#honey woodrow

[nurturercelia]

Celia Rowe Robinson (Lashana Lynch) is a thirty-two year-old Therapist in Albany, NY. They were brought under Richard’s care when they were only fourteen. They are known as The Nurturer because they are warm-hearted but also restrained. Let’s see what choice they make regarding the fate of Woodrow House.

BASIC INFORMATION

Full Name: Celia Rowe Robinson

Nickname(s): Cee, anyone can use. She is not picky.

Date of Birth: July 1st, 1973

Age: 32

Occupation: Licensed Clinical Therapist, LCSW

Current Residence: A townhouse in Albany that she shares with her husband

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hair: black shoulder-length, usually pulled back behind her ears (think of her Miss Honey hair in Matilda)

Eyes: dark brown

Height: 5' 9"

Notable Features: soft eyes, easy to feel safe around (she hopes), big smile. Used to feel insecure about it but has since learned to love it

PERSONALITY & BEHAVIOR:

Strengths: good listener, sympathetic, selfless, genuine, loyal

Weaknesses: sensitive, deflects, anxious as all Hell

Quirks: Celia will clean when she is nervous. She does not mind it, in fact, she finds the act of taking a space that was messy and making it new very satisfying. Growing up I imagine she would get quite stressed if she had to spend time in a ward's bedroom if it was messy, maybe even start picking things up without realizing what she was doing. Always cold.

Vices: Drinks: sometimes. Smokes/Drugs: no. Loves a little sweet treat. A Shirley Temple, a coke, a cupcake.

INTEREST & HOBBIES:

Interests: Plants/gardening, musicals (watching, not performing), tea, talking to strangers (she is the type to make a friend in line somewhere), audiobooks in the car

Hobbies: Celia loves a little keepsake!! She is a scrap booker and probably has everyone's baby teeth in a little bag (this is cute not creepy) that she hot glued to a page with ribbons and stickers. She WILL be buying an NYC snow globe or a Myrtle Beach keychain for the memories!!! She writes to all the wards pretty regularly and you always know the letter is from her because it's written in a beautiful script where the i's are hearts <3 and it's on thick patterned paper

BECOMING A WARD

tw: child neglect, suicide/suicide attempt

Gloria Robinson was quite keen to keep up with appearances. Despite being a single mother with a full-time job, she ran in intellectual circles that valued fellow scholars exchanging the brilliance of their own minds. Richard was included in this exclusive list of mostly Arts and Humanities professors at Kingsbury College. And young Celia would relish in the attention she was provided by them. She was the after dinner entertainment in the form of a little violinist, a wide smile practiced and rehearsed as she geared up for her solo. She loved the accolades that fell on her: “Great job, my dear” and “what a little Chopin you have!” and “someone ought to tell the New York Philharmonic about her!” Always the best ones coming from Richard. She wanted to impress her mother, to show her she could be useful in her mother’s pursuits. If she saw her with her head in a book, maybe she would be proud of her.

But everything changed just days before Celia’s 10th birthday. Moments before the start of a large party being held at their house, Gloria received a call that her brother passed. He ended his life when the recession tanked and took all of his stocks with it, something Celia’s uncle who worked in the city, urged Gloria to contribute to as well. The house grew silent. Frozen. Dark. The frequency of parties dwindled to fewer and fewer until they were a distant memory. Celia’s mother lost her job and the instruments turned into nothing more than firewood during the frigid winters when the heat got turned off; the lavish banquets turned to frozen peas meticulously distributed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There was no time to build resentment when her stomach rang louder than the screaming in her head. Falling into this role wasn’t a choice, but a duty. Who else would feed them while her mother sat stoic in front of the television all day?

And with only the two of them to fill that big house, it was only a matter of time before Celia found her mother had attempted the same fate as her late uncle. But now, Celia could do nothing to help. She was thirteen now, thinking of herself as a fully-fledged adult, or close enough to it. But no amount of force-fed dinners could let her escape what she saw. 

It would be a month later that Celia would see her mother again when she emerged from the woods of their home, pajamas muddy from the overnight rain. Celia placed a bowl of soup in front of her spot by the TV--watery noodles and some seasoning--and cried.

Maybe it was the way Celia answered the phone when Richard called, voice far too hoarse and drained for one so young that drew Richard back after what had to be years of silence from the Robinsons. It was there he found little Celia, hair matted, trash piled up to the ceiling, the young girl finishing her daily routine of spoon feeding her mother lunch. It was Richard who suggested checking Gloria into a psychiatric ward, ("a quick hour away”) but Celia who ultimately agreed to it. After a failed attempt to find any information about Celia’s father, it was Richard who ultimately took custody of her. The news spread fast among their circles--those same voices now whispering things like “poor dear” and “how tragic” and “thank goodness for Richard, bless him.” It is here Celia learned not all attention was welcomed.

LIFE AS A WARD

After what she had witnessed, she was grateful for a warm bed and some other folks to talk to. In many ways, she felt a bit like a burden, a case Richard took on to clear his guilty conscience from his lack of contact earlier; something he owed her mother rather than out of the goodness of his heart. She did not think of him as a parent necessarily, for she had one of those, even if Celia could only see her for an hour every second Tuesday of the month during planned visitations.

Even so, she was thankful and showed it by always being respectful to all the staff in the house. She grew close with the mental health professional who came to the house every week, valuing the time she spent with the woman who could help her cope with her past. She knew what others said, remarks made in open and closed doors about her mother and she refused to let the rumor mill run even more because of her behavior.

AESTHETIC

TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Ross girl. She is sooo going to be obsessed with the Live Laugh Love sign movement. The inspirational quotes are everywhere in her office. She loves a mule or sling back. Comfortable but professional. Florals and lil pops of color. Her house is full of quilts and blankets, vintage dishware. Too many pillows on the couch, tons of cards stuck on the fridge. Absolutely NO overhead lighting ever. Always smells like vanilla.

EDUCATION

Celia chose to continue her education at Woodrow House, not yet ready to leave the other wards who so clearly needed her help. She would continue her studies there and use it as an opportunity to look after them for as long as she could. Celia's respect for Richard for all he has provided her runs deep, and she majored in Psychology at Kingsbury College for undergrad, Richard’s alma mater, as an ode to both him and her mother’s former place of work. She went on the complete her Masters in Social Work at Skidmore College, not far from Woodrow House, where she met her now husband. No matter how hard she might want to get away, there seems to be some sort of rope puling her back.

EXTRACURRICULARS 

Celia tried to pick up a violin again--there was plenty of music around to study, but something about doing so felt off. It was hard to separate the instrument from the dark memories she had with it as a child. Still, she missed the feeling of creating something beautiful with the strings and the bow. She was introduced to the cello and found it to be different enough that she could play in peace. Richard and her mother's love of literature has also made its way into her. She found joy in reading to the younger wards as well.

THEIR LIFE NOW

Celia's wedding took place about three years ago--it was by a lake not far from Woodrow House, a convenient excuse to get the gang back together, whether or not everyone chose to attend or not. Celia and Michael started dating soon after they met in grad school and have been together since. The love they both used to feel for each other is clearly dwindling, and Celia finds herself clinging to the need to fix it herself more than she should. She likes having a husband, regardless of who that husband is, feeling like the first time in her life she should have something totally put together. Recently, she hasa been spending more and more time alone in her house, Michael's overnight shifts at the hospital seemingly going longer and longer. She has noticed a distance from him, but can't bring herself to face the truth.

Up until Richard's death, Celia remained close to Woodrow Houses in the townhouse she owns with her husband Michael in Albany for frequent visits to both her mother and those at Woodrow House. While Celia does most of the initiating, she makes sure to always keep up with the other wards, whether it is a letter or a call or a visit. If she doesn't hear from them directly, she will ask those who do keep up with her about what they know about the others. Selfishly, she needs to know that they are doing okay and will often call or write more than necessary just to double check. She keeps a spare room open in her house at all times and goes out of her way to make sure they all know her location in case they need a place to stay.

Her career can be quite draining, and she often finds it difficult to separate herself from the work. That is definitely being put to the test during her week at Woodrow with all the wards again.

HOW ARE THEY HANDLING NEWS OF RICHARD’S PASSING?

Deep down, Celia is quite broken over it. She thought she could handle death--she has pre-grieved the loss of her mother for more than half her life, after all. But dealing with it head on is another thing entirely. Much like when she was a child, she finds herself welcoming distractions, choosing to lose herself in helping others come to terms with their grief instead of dealing with her own. After all, she makes a living listening to other people’s problems, not sharing her own. Being a licensed therapist, she feels she is uniquely suited to handle everyone else’s feelings--the difference is those clients choose to see her once a week and then say goodbye. They pay for her to help them in one-hour weekly sessions and then stop when time is up. With the other wards, it isn’t that simple. They did not ask her for help and many have made it clear they do not want it, despite how desperately she needs to feel wanted.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THEY WERE AT WOODROW HOUSE?

Celia visited for one of her scheduled dinners a month before Richard’s passing. She noted how he showed no signs of feeling ill, although she admitted she did not see him for much of the dinner and spent most of it catching up with Mrs. Tristan and Edward.

[randomrabbidramblings]

im already seeing valentines stuff out and it makes me think of phandrow 🥹

Sorry for the late reply, I got sidetracked with other things this week >﹏<

On Palette Prime Valentine's Day is quite the holiday. There's a tradition of having a festival where the Sweetie Pie Honey Snookum Bridge gets decorated with all kinds of flowers, picked from the Spellbound Woods, couples from all around the Galaxy exchange gifts and flowers on the bridge, there's bands that play love songs all day and the town's market sells a lot of heart shaped treats and sweets.

Woodrow never really got to experience a festival with someone. He has always dreamed of being one of the couples that exchanged gifts on the bridge. Phantom not only got his wish come true on their first Valentine's Day together, but he also took him in the middle of the woods to sing him a serenade before going home together to spend the night reading love poems, cuddling and then snuggling in bed.

Phantom, who used to be the one who loved to spend Valentine's Day at fancy places, shows and restaurants, realized quite quickly that the only thing that mattered after all, was being besides Woodrow all day.

[moon-blanket]

omg it’s finally Guy time.

Poor Honey being dragged to a bad concert experience. I would endure Anything for Guy though. His apology was so sweet :’( he feels so bad they didn’t enjoy it. Honey is stronger than me fr, I would have forgiven him instantly.

Guy getting on the floor in an attempt to be sexy while making financial metaphors is Very interesting lmao. Perhaps it’s one way to learn finance, I should take notes.

“You’re gonna tell me I don’t look good staring up at you from between your legs?” I did Not get the mental picture until just now omg. I’m on my knees for this man. Thinking So hard about this.

When he said “[x] Goes Off” I couldn’t help but think of the HYP “Arizona Goes Off” bit LMAO.

ASKING FOR A LEASH? Yo ALRIGHT yeah sure fuck the dishes-- oh okay Don’t bring Woodrow Wilson into this lmao.

Taking it to the shower are we? Okay the way he slowly and sensually talks about it, very poetically might I add, I have fallen prey to his charm. I’m sat, if you will.

Guy makes times like this fun and lighthearted, which is always appreciated by me. I love his videos so much. :’)

[pixies-and-poets]

Of Verses and Curses: Chapter Six

Author’s notes:

THIS CHAPTER WASN’T SUPPOSED TO EXIST! Honestly, it wasn’t in my plans at all, and it was just supposed to be the first part (where Sweets and Dryad are eavesdropping in the forest), and then go straight into what’s now going to be the next chapter. However, as I was writing, I thought of the idea for this part and felt like it would naturally slot in and provide some important development, and prevent things from feeling like they were moving too fast. In other words, this part is important, and I am fond of it, but it almost wasn’t here at all! I also wrote pretty much this whole thing tonight in a fit of fevered typing, which is unusual for me as I typically work on these chapters gradually! Whew! My wrists hurty!

Next chapter is gonna be kinda heavy, but this one? Naw, still fluffy happy bunny times!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six - Friends of the Forest

The days passed, and not a one without the fallen singer and the former poet seeing each other. Dinner turned into walks in the woods, and walks in the woods turned into sitting by the riverbank, and spending time in the evening and afternoon turned into spending time in the starlight. There was always so very much to discuss; and yet they began to find that they enjoyed each other’s presence even in silence.

It was the talk of the town.

On the fifth day, Sweetlopek, who had barely seen his best friend all week, was spending the fine morning in the woods with Dryad. She was feeling out trees, floating upwards to run her paws along their bark and branches; sensing which limbs were weak and likely to break off in future windstorms, so that he could go ahead and trim them.

“Hmm,” she was murmuring with a smile, her hand on large tree. “I was afraid of this one not recovering from darkmess poisoning… but it seems to be doing better and better. Not every plant out here was so-”

Suddenly her partner slid behind the massive trunk and took her by the paw, pulling her back there with him.

“Sweets!” she said, blushing. “Now’s really not the time-”

He shook his head, hissed “shh!” and pointed out into the distance. It was then that Dryad noticed the chatter and laughter of two deep voices coming from some distance away. The two of them peered out carefully and saw Woodrow and the Phantom come out into a clearing. They were smiling together - Woodrow was positively giddy. Sweets could scarcely believe his eyes. Was he… was he goofing off?! He was kicking up the leaves with his hindpaws…

“You do miss one thing by not having legs,” came his voice faintly. “The feel of the leaves and the earth under your feet. I wish you could feel it-”

“Mmm,” the voice of the Phantom reached the lumberjack and the dryad, as they saw him put his hand to his mouth in thought. “I think I can feel it well enough.” He then suddenly plopped his large floating body down in a pile of leaves, sending them flying up in a flurry, some of them landing on Woodrow like a splash. The erstwhile poet laughed like a child.

In another minute they were gone, and Sweetlopek and Dryad emerged from their hiding spot. Dryad was grinning, clasping her hands together in joy.

“Well, would you look at that!” she exclaimed. “I know what I’m seeing. The same thing I saw in you, Sweetie, when we-”

But she stopped short, noticing the unhappy expression on her darling’s face. “Honey?” she said. “What’s wrong? Do you not want Woodrow to be happy?” 

When he didn’t answer, she started to become a bit upset herself, putting her hands on her hips. “Hey! Are you jealous for your friendship if he falls in love? That would be a bit rich, considering… you know.” She waved her paw back and forth between the two of them.

“It’s not that,” he said, leaning his axe against the tree. “Come on, dear. Ya know I want Woody to be happy, more than anything-”

“You just don’t like the Phantom, is that it? I can see why you wouldn’t, but… Woodrow does. That much is obvious.”

“Yer right, I don’t like ‘im,” said the lumberjack, continuing to grimace. “And it’s NOT just that he’s a celebrity fancyboy with an ego too big for this whole planet… although that don’t help. It’s just, I was afraid a’ this. That Woodrow would take to him, get caught up in his spell…”

“What’s so wrong with that, if he’s happy? I know you want to protect him, but you’ve got to let him make his own choices…”

“Listen, hun. You remember what I said a while back, about him datin’ Bea? You like Bea, right?”

“Of course. She loves nature as much as I do… she’s wonderful,” said Dryad. The warden of Terra Flora had visited Palette Prime more than once, and even spoken to the spirit of the forest, to learn some botanical secrets.

“Well, obviously she an’ Phantom ain’t together no more.”

Dryad shrugged sadly. “Sometimes things just don’t work out, I suppose...”

“Ya got that right. Look, no one’s quite sure what happened between ‘em. But everyone knows that HE broke up with HER. Straight up dumped her. By TEXT.”

The nature spirit blinked at her companion. “He… left her a message? Like a sign?”

“Text, like, on the phone,” said Sweetlopek. “...He sent her a message, yeah. Didn’t even call.”

“...O-oh,” said Dryad after a moment. “...That IS bad…”

“Yep,” grunted the lumberjack, picking up his axe again. “I wish it wasn’t the case, but this guy’s bad news. So yeah, I want Woodrow to be happy, but if Monsieur Phantom-” - he curled a corner of his own mustache mockingly -  “throws his heart away like he did with Bea…” He rubbed his hand along the handle of his axe. “Well. He hurts Woody and he’s gonna wish he never came to Palette Prime.”

“Listen, Sweets,” said Dryad, putting a hand on his shoulder. “How about this. Why don’t you invite them to dinner tonight, or tomorrow? You’ve barely had a chance to talk to the Phantom, and we’ve hardly seen Woodrow lately either. Hopefully it’ll lay some of your fears to rest.”

Sweetlopek made a face. He had mixed feelings, to say the least, about that fancy lad judging the home he had built for himself, and his cooking, and his choice of pet. But he had to admit his darling had a point. It was a good idea… he needed to observe how this guy treated his best friend, up close and personal.

—

That afternoon, the lumberjack, who had needed to make a grocery trip into town as it was, stood in front of the clouded house on Paletteville’s outskirts and rapped on its door. A few moments passed, and he sighed. He had expected nothing less. Of course he’d be out, with you-know-who. Sweetlopek would have to ask around and hunt them down elsewhere. But then, just as he was about to leave- a voice cried out from inside.

“Sweets! Just a moment!”

Sweetlopek waited, and after several more seconds, the door opened. Woodrow was inside, hatless, his coat half-buttoned, his bowtie not on yet.

“Uh, am I interrupting something?” the woodsman asked.

“Oh, not at all. I was just washing up and getting ready for tonight,” he said with a smile. “But I looked out the window and saw it was you. Come in, won’t you?”

“Well- actually, I won’t be long,” said the lumberjack.

Woodrow stuck out his lip, pouting a bit. “But I’ve hardly seen you for days!”

And whose fault is that? the woodsman thought, but he didn’t say it. What he did say was: “Actually, that’s what I came to ask ya ‘bout. Uh, you seem to have plans fer tonight already, but maybe tomorrow… me an’ Dryad were thinkin’ you could have dinner with us? And… uh, you can invite yer- you can invite Mr. Phantom too.”

Woodrow smiled in delighted surprise. “No, tonight would be wonderful!” he said. “We were just going to eat at one of the local restaurants, but to break bread with friends would be far more splendid. I have so desperately wanted you and him and Dryad to get to know each other better, but… I didn’t want to impose.”

Sweetlopek smiled and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Alright then, I better get going on my grocery run. How ‘bout I see you at seven, then?”

The warden clasped his hands joyfully. “Oh, my dear friend! How very kind of you! How my heart runneth over with joy-” then suddenly his ears perked up and his face grew serious. “Oh, but Sweets- you must do me a great favor.”

Sweetlopek’s eyebrows raised. “Anything, buddy.”

“Well…” said Woodrow, with a sheepish smile. “You… you mustn’t mention a word to Tom of my… affliction. And you must tell Dryad to do the same. You must both act as though I am just a normal poet, with writer’s block.”

Tom?! was Sweetlopek’s first thought. And his second, which he said out loud, was: “Wait- yer affliction? You mean yer luck? He doesn’t know?!”

Woodrow shook his head so quickly that his ears jiggled back and forth. “He does not,” he said, blushing. “I’ve… kept it from him, thus far. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, as they say.” Suddenly, his voice turned uncharacteristically defiant. “And why should I tell him? As long as I write not, as long as my poems lie dormant in my heart, why should it matter?”

The lumberjack crossed his arms, amazed that Woodrow had managed to spend every day with this guy and keep hidden the most important circumstance of his life. “Look, Woody, if you… uh… if you wanna be close with someone, ya can’t keep a secret like that forever.”

The warden sighed and looked down at his hands. “I know,” he said. “I know. I… I will tell him. But the time is not right. I… I wish to know he will still care about me, when I do.”

Sweetlopek frowned, dead serious, and touched his friend on the arm. “Ya got reason to doubt that he will?”

“Oh, no,” said Woodrow. “I just… you know.” He looked up at his friend with a sad smile. “I just worry. So many people have turned me away. Not you. And hopefully not him. But so many.”

“Well, y’know me an’ Dryad never will,” said the lumberjack to his best friend. “So… see you later, Woody.” He turned and trundled off towards the bridge.

—

Sweetlopek’s dining room seemed far too small for four people, especially when one of them was a larger-than-life ghost. Still, somehow, they were making it work; Dryad's pixie-like form was dwarfed by the three giant men around her. She was seated next to Sweetlopek, of course, and across from Woodrow; Sweets had subtly contrived to sit across from the Phantom. To try and keep an eye on him.

“Well, I hope yer likin’ the food well enough,” said the lumberjack as Phantom took another bite of the vegetable soufflé the woodsman had prepared. “It ain’t fine dining, but it keeps the belly full.”

The ghost took a gulp. “It’s honestly quite delicious. My compliments to the chef, Monsieur- no! Signor Sweetlopek. Alliteration is quite wonderful, no? Warden Woodrow, Signor Sweetlopek… Dame Dryad…”

Dryad smiled, charmed, while Sweetlopek tried not to roll his eyes. “Indeed, er… Fancy Phantom. Phancy with a PH.”

Phantom laughed uproariously, and Sweetlopek did not fail to notice an involuntary smile coming to Woodrow’s own face at the sound- even what seemed like a sigh of pleasure.

“Your friend is a funny one, Tristan,” said Phantom, elbowing Woodrow. “Pity we have not truly met sooner!”

Sweet tried not to spit his mouthful of mead out upon hearing Tristan. Instead he swallowed quickly and nodded.

The dinner continued, as the smell of the apple pie baking for dessert grew to increasingly fill the room. The lumberjack and the dryad noticed that their new guest was quick to talk about himself, and had an endless litany of anecdotes from onstage and backstage with which to regale them. Aside from being rather full of hot air (literally), Sweet had to admit he did not seem particularly objectionable. Although Woodrow seemed plenty content to sit back and listen, Phantom often turned to him and asked for his input, and said silly little things which seemed to be already-forming inside jokes between the two.

“So, Mr. Phantom,” said Dryad at one point. “How are you finding Palette Prime so far?”

“It is even more lovely than I could have hoped,” said Phantom. “Perhaps a certain nature spirit has a hand in that?”

“Oh, shush,” said Dryad.

“And its people seem quite healthy and happy,” added Phantom. “Perhaps for that I can thank its warden.”

Woodrow giggled. Sweetlopek decided he might as well not drink any more tonight, because he kept almost spitting it out.

“I’m glad yer enjoyin’ it here,” said the lumberjack after a swallow. “How long do you plan to stay?”

Phantom was quiet for a moment. “Well, it was recommended that I stay for a month, and see if my voice has improved at all. Unless for some reason it gets worse. After that, if there’s no change… I suppose perhaps I should try elsewhere, or go back to seeking other treatments.”

During this statement, Sweetlopek discreetly looked at his friend. Woodrow was sadly poking at his food, his ears flopping. It was easy enough to tell that he was distraught at the idea of that month being over.

“Uh, well-” said Sweetlopek, hardly believing what he was about to say, “If ya DO like it here, and it seems to help yer voice, yer always welcome to stay. I know we’re not the most excitin’ planet, but it’s a good place to be. I’m not quite sure where you call home now, but…”

“I more or less reside in Spooky Trails, in the Mushroom Kingdom,” he answered, “where I was born. Although I am something of a nomad these days.”

“You were born in the Mushroom Kingdom? I thought all the Rabbids that live there now were from a dif’rent dimension.”

“Yes, I was born there,” said Phantom quietly. “Whatever Rabbid existed before I met Spawny was not me.”

“I see,” said Sweetlopek, a bit awkwardly. “Er- I think the pie’ll be ready. Lemme go check.”

A few minutes later, each of them had a hot slice of pie before them, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was quite wonderful, and each of them hardly felt like talking in between devouring the dessert. Phantom was the first to finish, and sat back, looking delighted.

“A fabulous meal,” he said happily. “Dear Woodrow has an excellent choice in companions. You two have been friends since childhood, he tells me?”

“Yup,” said the lumberjack, who was distracted by his last few bites of pie. “I’ve been lookin’ out for him since we were kids.”

“Oh?” said Phantom. “Anything in particular you’ve had to look out for?”

“Well, y’know,” said Sweetlopek, still in a rapture of ice cream and pie, “Sometimes I’ve caught things right outta the sky before they could fall on his head. I used to be a lot taller than him, y’know, so that made it easy. What with his poems, I try to be there to-” suddenly he froze, and not with a brainfreeze. He looked up in horror at Woodrow, who was staring at him mortified.

“Things falling out of the sky?” Phantom asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

“Ah- yeah! Nuts ‘n stuff. An’ like, squirrels that jump outta the trees! Since we spent so much time in the woods as boys! And I was way taller’n him, before he went through his- through his growth spurt.”

“I see, I see,” said Phantom, settling back again. “And you were saying, about his poems?”

“Oh, just that I always try to be there to listen to ‘em,” said the lumberjack with a grin he hoped was convincing. “I like bein’ the first person to hear ‘em, if I can! It’s always an honor.”

“Indeed,” said the ghost. “It’s an honor I hope to share sometime- if that’s alright with you, of course. When our mutual friend’s inspiration returns, that is!” He turned to Woodrow and gave him a little pat on the hand. The warden’s ears were stiff and straight up, and it looked like he was slightly hyperventilating, but at the touch, he calmed down a bit.

Soon they had all finished their food, and Sweetlopek offered to start cleaning up, embarrassed by how close he had come to betraying his friend’s trust. The other three moved to the living room, where they chatted by the fireplace and played with Chipper the beaver.

When Sweets had finished in the kitchen, he rejoined the others. It was getting late, and the guests got ready to leave. Woodrow stood up, put on his hat, which was hanging by the door, and grabbed his umbrella. 

“It was most wonderful to get to know the two of you better,” said Phantom, with a grandiose bow. “Of course, I already cherished you, as the most beloved friends of my own bosom friend. And now I can say that you certainly merit the sentiment.”

“Nice to meet you too,” said Sweetlopek, feeling no discrepancy between his blunt words and the Phantom’s flowery phrases. He had been speaking to Woodrow for most of his life, after all. “Feel free to drop in anytime.”

“I hope to see you around the Spellbound Woods, too!” Dryad said cheerily.

Woodrow smiled at his two dear friends. “Thank you for having us,” he said. His gaze lingered on Sweetlopek for a second, and he smiled, as if to assure him that his near-mistake earlier was forgiven. “I am… most fortunate to have you in my life. Most lucky indeed.”

“Farewell, Dame Dryad and Signor Sweetlopek!” said Phantom, and as they turned to leave the house, he extended his arm. Woodrow looked at it, for a moment at a loss, and then suddenly hooked his own arm through it. And then off they went.

When they had gone some ways down the path, and Sweetlopek had closed the door, Dryad looked at him. “They’re not… together yet, are they?”

Sweetlopek shrugged. “Don’t think so. I think the Phantom is just like that.”

“Well,” said Dryad with a smile, crossing her arms and bumping the lumberjack with her shoulder. “See? He was positively charming, wasn’t he? And so kind with Woodrow. Nothing to worry about.”

“For now,” said Sweetlopek.

“Come on, love. You still aren’t convinced?”

“I just want to keep an eye on ‘em, is all,” said the lumberjack. “He IS happy. And I can only hope he stays that way.” He shook his head, and sat down in his armchair by the fire. “But… this whole thing where he won’t write poems. I’m amazed he’s kept it up for almost a week. I dunno how long he can last.”

“Yeah…” Dryad said in concern, drifting over and sitting next to him in the chair. “Poetry is how he expresses himself, like you with your carving. And there are things he’s going to need to express to Phantom, that much is obvious.”

“Exactly,” said Sweetlopek. “Let’s both just watch out for him, alright?”

“We always do,” said Dryad. Sweetlopek smiled, and held her close. She was so kind, and good, and had come to care about his friend as much as he did. He relaxed by the fire, with his darling at his side, and his pet beaver jumped up into his lap to join them. The lumberjack let himself stop worrying about his friend, for the rest of the night. Maybe Woodrow was loved, not just by the two of them, but by someone else as well. Maybe things would be alright after all…

[poetickate]

in 1918, the US was struggling big time

scores of people were not making it to wendy’s for a honey chicken biscuit before the breakfast hours ended

devastating

so they gave us one day a year where the clocks are set back an hour to give you more time

thank you, woodrow wilson

[ramrodd]

How would President Harry Truman have been better prepared to deal with postwar challenges if President Roosevelt had not been elected to four consecutive terms?

COMMENTARY:

Truman would not have become President.

That’s how elections work,

It’s not like FDR was voted off the Island, like Biden,

Truman was never on the Island in the first place without without a fourth election,

I went to Vietnam to make sure Barack Obama would get elected, Electing Kid Harris would double the pleasure. That’s exactly why the Project 2025 Conservatives hate Critical Race Theory” except for being white, they aren’t competitive in a level playing field,

I was exactly like Pete Buttigieg when I got back from Vietnam in 1971 except I am an Eisenhower Republican and he is what an Eisenhower Democrat would look like, He is like Michael Steele and Larry Hogan and he and AOC is whaat Nixon and Daniel Patrick Moynihan had in mind with Aaffirmative Action was to create the political executives in the American body politic organic to the economic configuration necessary to sustain a lunar colony for the next 100 years, if not until the end of Enoch’s 7000 Year Epoch. We are at EY (Enoch Year) 5780. AOC and Pete Buttigieg are the functional equivalent of the Jack Kemp Republicans of the Party of Lincoln pre-Reagan GOP.

Because of Biden-Harris, Reagan’s New Federalism is nearly complete, in spite of Project 2025’s insurgency committed to preventing the Star Wars economics of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the shower sciene from Starship Troopers from emerging as Starship America.

Completing Reagan’s New Federalism will fulfill Stage 2 of Eisenhower’s 1956 Presidential Platform leading to the transformation of the Military Industrial Complex to the economics of 2001:A Space Odyssey by reconfiguring the Social Infrastructrure of the Manahattan Project to the Social Infrastrucrue of the Star Wars configuration of Aeorspace Entprepreneurial Matrix core social fusion economics of The Green New Deal, Stage 2 was designed to create the legislative infrastructure to tie the material and social infrastructure together in Honey Bee Swarm DEI performance protocols of the Be All YOu Can Be aspiraations of The Green New Deal.

Project 2025 began in 1960 with William F. Buckley’s manifesto for the Nazification of America, the Sharon Statement Project 2025 is the turd in the punch bowl of the American body politic, At one point, before Reagan, the turd was basical a free range pollution that George Wallace had ripped out of the Southern Democrats, I’m related to Woodrow Wilson, The turd in the Willson family punch bowl is the origicnal sin of the Presbyterian Church USA, today, his Jim Crow, Birth of a Nation white supremacy bigotry. William F. Buckley’s “Negro Problem” repubuttal to James Baldwin’s Critical Race Theory BLM Affirmative Action proposal that led to the election of Barrack Obama, which is why I went to Vietnam, In the Nixon White House, Pat Buchanan and the Plumbers were the rising pollution of Project 2025 and the turds in the Nixon White House, And the Plumbers became the Reagan Conservatives, when the turd in the punch bowl moved into the Executive Branch of the Federal Government,

The object of the exercise is to keep the Biden cabinet in place until at least the 2026 midterms, when I think the New Federalism will be fully installed, In terms of the Aerospace Entrepreneurial Matirx of the Eisenhower process theology, the Aerospace has been hanging fire since the tree huggers were successful in shutting down the SST program and Project 2025 Conservatives around Reagan never even pretended to implement Reagan’s New Federalsim,

This is the cost of Project 2025 success of obstructing and dismantling Affirmative Action: replace the Pan Am logo in 2001: A Space Oddyssey with SpaceX and that’s exactly where we would have been in 2000 if Project 2025 had not had control of the Oval Office and the Senate,

Harris is already up and running in terms of the implementation of the New Federalism, She was President of the Senate while Biden was putting together the legislation to tie all the llllse ends for the Green New Deal and all us voters need to do is to keep Biden’s cabinet in place on January 20, 2025,

Donald Trump is the only person in history who did not even try to rise to the challenge of the office and legacy of George Washington, That’s the important lesson of Harry s Truman: he didn’t have a clue what was waiting for him, but the steadiness under fire he exhibited in France was put on steroids.

And Kid Harris is as ready as any person in history to take the hand off of the Torch of Camelot for us Boomers and not even break stride in the final leg of the aparadigm shift of Stage 3 of growing the Green New Deal,

[mothsbakery]

(based on conversations with my boyfriend)

Winter: I know we joke about it, but I still don't think I have autism

Woodrow: Winter, honey, the love of my life, my beloved, my husband look at me in the eyes and tell me that

Winter: [desperately] I-...I don't....

[lostparadox]

Pokémon Sword and Shield (Rewrite) : Strongest characters

This will be the list of the trainers strongest to weakest (main timeline and in the Galar region)

1. ‘New Galar Champion’ Victor (6 Pokémon and G-max)

2. ‘New Chairman of the Galar League and former champion’ Leon Woodrow (6 Pokémon and G-max)

3. ‘Dojo Master and former champion ‘ Master Mustard Mishima (6 Pokémon and G-max)

4. ‘Next Pokémon professor’ Hoppleton ‘Hop’ Woodrow (6 Pokémon and G-max)

5. ‘Next shop owner’ Gloria (6 Pokémon and G-max)

6. ‘Dojo Matron’ Heidi ‘Honey’ Mishima (6 Pokémon and G-max)

7. ‘Voice of Spikemuth’ Marnie Baines (6 Pokémon and G-max)

8. ‘Brash Battler of Ballonlea’ Bede Consgrove/Rose/Lancaster (6 Pokémon and G-max)

9. ‘Tamer of dragons’ Raihan Qadir (6 Pokémon and G-max)

10. ‘Lightning-fast strategist’ Michael Growth (6 Pokémon and G-max)

11. ‘The ice-cold professional’ Melanie ‘Melony’ Volkov (6 Pokémon and G-max)

12. ‘The earth forger’ Garth (6 Pokémon and G-max)

13. ‘The hard-rock crusher’ Gordie Volkov (6 Pokémon and G-max)

14. ‘The silent boy of mystery’ Allister Callum (6 Pokémon and G-max)

15. ‘The Galar karate prodigy’ Beatrice ‘Bea’ Duncan (6 Pokémon and G-max)

16. ‘The Sky-high flyer’ Ace (6 Pokémon and G-max)

17. ‘The genius of steel’ Rhodney (6 Pokémon and G-max)

18. ‘The ever-burning man of fire’ Kabu Kaguya(6 Pokémon and G-max)

19. ‘The raging wave’ Nessa Crawford (6 Pokémon and G-max)

20. ‘The fighting farmer’ Milo Flockhart (6 Pokémon and G-max)

21. ‘The normal type of extraordinary’ Amelie (6 Pokémon and G-max)

22. ‘The bug-catcher of amazing things’ Midge (6 Pokémon and G-max)

23. ‘Steel-thorn rose and former champion’ Peony ‘Steel Peony’ Rose (6 Pokémon and G-max)

24. ‘Head of Team Yell’ Piers Baines (6 Pokémon)

25. ‘New Professor of Galar’ Professor Sonia Magnolia (6 Pokémon and G-max)

26. (Tied) ‘Bea’s parents and former gym leaders’ Lima Duncan (Psychic) and Mauis Duncan (Fighting) (6 Pokémon)

27. (Tied) Battle tower trainers

28. ‘Telekinetic trouble-maker’ Avery Kingsley (6 Pokémon and G-max)

29. ‘Pretty girl with a poisonous personality’ Klara Adkins (6 Pokémon and G-max)

30. ‘Former Galar League Chairman and Former Head of Macro Cosmo’ Daniel Rose (6 Pokémon and G-max)

31. ‘The mater of fantastic theater’ Opal Lancaster (6 Pokémon and G-max)

32. (Tied) Restricted Sparing trainers

33. ‘Professor of Galar’ Professor Constance Magnolia (6 Pokémon and G-max)

34. ‘Brash archeologist’ Bray Zenn (6 Pokémon)

35. ‘Careless archeologist’ Cara Liss (6 Pokémon)

36. ‘Scary secretary’ Oleana DeVito-Rose (6 Pokémon and G-max)

37. (Tied) ‘Reformed elites’ Edward ‘Sordward’ Arthur/Gilbert ‘Shilbert’ Arthur (6 Pokémon)

38. ‘Schoolboy’ Marvin (6 Pokémon)

39. ‘Former electric gym leader’ Berto (6 Pokémon)

40. (Tied) ‘Oleana’s elites’ Group of Macro Cosmo employees

41. ‘Normal Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Yue

42. ‘Flying Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Kent

43. ‘Ground Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Dunne

44. ‘Grass Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Pia

45. ‘Fire Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Phoebus

46. ‘Water Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Vega

47. ‘Electric Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Corvin

48. ‘Rock Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Cher

49. ‘Fighting Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Deneb

50. ‘Ghost Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Wei

51. ‘Ice Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Izar

52. ‘Flying Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Kent

53. ‘Dragon Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Terry

55. ‘Bug Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Polaire

55. ‘Steel Type Gym Challenger Specialist’ Theemin

56. ‘New head of Team Yell and New Galar League Manager’ Gym trainer Joshua (6 Pokémon)

57. ‘Mum’ Ally (6 Pokémon)

58. ‘Mayor of Freezington’ Mayor Percy (6 Pokémon)

59. ‘Darlin Daughter’ “Nia” Peonia (6 Pokémon)

60. ‘Diggin’ Pa’

61. ‘Diggin’ Ma’

62. ‘Older brother of the Digging duo’

63. ‘Younger brother of the Digging duo’

64. ‘Young boy genius’ Hyde Mishima (6 Pokémon)

65. (Tied) Dynamax adventure partners and Max Raid Adventure partners

66. (Tied) Macro Cosmo employees

67. (Tied) Gym Trainers

68. (Tied) Battle Cafe employees, Hairstylists, Clothes shop owners

69. ‘Interviewer Reporter’ Gillian

70. ‘Cameraman’ Cam

[downtoearthmarkets]

It’s time to celebrate and honor all the dads and father figures in our lives as Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday, June 18th! Here in the United States, Father’s Day is observed on the third Sunday of June but didn’t become a national holiday until 1972 — 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official. Mother’s Day has its traditional gifts, like flowers and chocolate, but who buys dad a necktie anymore? This Father’s Day why not gift dad with something sustainably sourced and irresistibly edible from the local farmers market? Here are some ideas to get you started with your shopping list this weekend and next. 1. Grill Maestro Dad If dad loves nothing more than firing up the barbecue and channeling his inner Bobby Flay over a pile of hot coals during the summer months, do not pass Go and head directly to the closest Down to Earth market. Assembling a customized marinade gift basket will add plenty of pizzazz to dad’s usual grilling routine and you can unearth a range of unique products from a variety of farmers market vendors.   Keep in mind that there are three essential components to any good marinade – oil, acid and seasoning – so look to incorporate at least one of each type of ingredient in your presentation if possible. Oil Oil makes up the base of a marinade. Most marinade recipes call for a ratio of three parts oil to one part acid. High quality extra virgin olive oil is perfect for creating marinades as it has a smoke point of over 410°F. The fat in extra virgin olive oil helps spread flavor by transferring fat soluble seasonings into the meat while preserving the moisture content of food as it’s being cooked. It also acts as a counterpoint to the acidic zing of your marinade. Include a bottle of small-batch, specialty EVOO from Arlotta Food Studio in dad’s gift basket. Acid Vinegars of all kinds work great to provide the acid component in a marinade recipe. The acetic acid in vinegar breaks down meat fibers and makes them more tender and flavorsome. Arlotta Food Studio’s Californian barrel-aged balsamic and flavored wine vinegars will add plenty of colorful zing to dad’s Father's Day basket.   Seasoning You can be super creative with the type of aromatics and seasonings you add to your basket! Consider adding a bulb of garlic, a large shallot or piece of ginger root. Or include a bunch of fresh or dried herbs from the farmstands such as rosemary, thyme or bouquet garni. Of course, local honey and maple syrup both work great as a sweet flavor enhancer in marinades so pick up a jar of honey from Fino Farms and a jug of syrup from SOVA Farms while you're in the market. There are also some delicious recipes that incorporate freshly brewed or ground coffee which lends a smoky profile to marinades, so save some room in your gift basket for a packet of fair-trade, single-origin Colombian coffee from Cano Coffee Company! Ready-made marinades If dad is less DIY inclined and enjoys the convenience of a ready-made marinade, salad dressings and a variety of other condiments can work just as well. 2. The “Good Spirited” Dad If dad likes to kick back with his favorite beverage in hand, gift him with a bottle of uniquely crafted, locally distilled liquor from Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery. The distillery uses Adirondack Mountain water from their own property as the basis for a range of fun and flavorful spirits made and bottled in small batches in a renovated horse barn. Located five miles from Lake George, Springbrook Hollow has been a source of water for centuries and the original wooden pipelines that delivered the precious water to local farmers are on display in the distillery’s tasting room. They credit that clean, unprocessed water with the unique character of their spirits. 3. Foodie Dad If dad enjoys indulging in delicious farm-to-table fare and considers himself to be a bit of a gourmand, let the farmers market be your gifting playground! Stuff a gift bag or basket with goodies from the following vendors that will satisfy even the most serious of locavore’s discerning palate.  

Badass Bagels: Badass Bagels are naturally leavened and made with 100% wild yeast. These sourdough bagels are entirely different from a standard yeast bagel. They're hand shaped, kettle boiled and oven baked. It takes over four days to make one batch!

La Trafila Pasta: La Trafila is a Brooklyn-based fresh pasta business that uses ingredients imported from Italy as well as local and organic when possible to create handcrafted pasta, stuffed gnocchi, sauces, tiramisu and cannoli.

Meredith's Bread: They bake with seasonal fruits and vegetables all year long, offer whole grain loaves made with New York State grown flour and also make jams with seasonal fruits.

Dr. Pickle: Pick up some locally pickled delights for dad from olives to pickles to sauerkraut and more!

Pharm.NYC: Pharm.NYC oversees the growth and manufacture of their organic botanical products. They manage the entire production process from seed selection through cultivation, growing, harvesting, processing, and manufacturing.

[indstatescob]

The Scott College of Business and the Bayh College of Education are working together in support of the grant, titled The Explore, Engage, and Experience Grant (EEE) from the Indiana Department of Education. The goal of the grant is to implement career exploration activities at the elementary and middle school level.

The Scott College of Business presented on entrepreneurship to 4th grade students at Farrington Grove Elementary and 8th grade students at Woodrow Wilson Middle School where they worked in teams to develop their own business.

Students worked with four Scott College of Business Peer Mentors through the Boulet Mentoring Program (Brock Bolinger, Jackson Krieg, Grace Buswell, and Albin Ramadani) and their supervisor Madison Marshall to brainstorm and share their business plans to the group.

After participating in this think tank activity they managed to snag a selfie out front of each school. We look forward to continuing these activities at Honey Creek Middle School and Fuqua Elementary next month!

[angrylizardjacket]

FROM EARTH TO THE ALIENS | oc poetry edits | @toplesstaylor

She was a sun. She was a fallen angel. She was everything he didn’t know how to deal with.

{Sweet Like Honey}

[toplesstaylor]

The Wasps As Pengu Memes cause i say so.

This needed to be done.

Rita:

Johnny:

Honey:

Toronto:

@angrylizardjacket this is for u

[astralsi]

14, 20, 23, 29!!

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

JHASGJKDAHK I feel like you’d yell at me if I said Rio so um hmm.. im gonna vague about gen 3 babey!!! young folk-rocker with troubled family life, alcoholic and probably addicted to some type of drug, sad gay cowboy vibes, speaks in grunts or sarcasm only, strangely well at wooing women, doesn't really do labels but likes all types of people, doesn't fall in love easily but when he does... oh boy. i love him to death and his playlist slaps can u tell?

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

hmm ok so i have a lot of people who sing!! the first is ofc my dear Honey Woodrow, shes probably my best oc. not to out myself as someone who writes fanfic about bands but... i wrote fanfic about queen and shes the main HGSHJKDSHGJFDAHDS anyways god i love her so much! she sucks but she has her own band, the wasps, they’re multi-genre but mostly make glam rock, punk, a lil more mainstream rock in the 80s, all types of stuff! i really can’t describe her voice at all but its like... honey he hehe. idk. shes really cool and a horrible person but ya know thats how 70s rock stars are.

then secondly... the main character in gen 2. they sing.. not very well but they have the enthousiams and they improve a lot!! they love all kinds of music too but they and their band make mostly surf rock and like a weird coastal version of punk rock. also folk? the bands weird but.. vibes. i dont know their voice either but i know mynns and its julia jacklin with marion cottilards accent cause anceloans speak with like. a twisted and more rough version of a french accent HASDFJ .

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first with idea concerning what the character would be like?

hmm.. probably again main character gen 2? but i feel like they grow along with the story as well as theyve grown like in my head so theyre more... idk. theyre really important to me at this point and i feel like theres a lot of me in there... the way theyve grown as a person is also the growth i wish for (partially ig) and yeah!

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

AHADFASFHJ mirasol. not gonna lie she actually does that. its canon. its literally in the story.

[mercuriaol]

Retired Writing

all of my old writing in one place. it’s probably really bad.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Sweet Like Honey / SLH

part 1

part 2

untitled ash x honey

angrylizardjacket also has some fics w honey in it! 

STRANGER THINGS

ok i dont regret doing this it definitely had some potential! but i’m not into stranger things anymore and thats a damn shame cause poppy deserved better

The Beat Of The Drum Is The Fear Of The Dark / Poppy Whiteway

part 1

character checklist

moodboard

that's it! i might also do a google docs folder with all of my scraps but we’ll see :)

[mythicallore]

The Zanfretta Abductions

Here we have a strange case out of Italy of what may very well be the first recorded encounter with what people commonly refer to as “reptilian” aliens. (If not the first, then the most widely known at the time)

It all started one night in 1978 at the village of Torriglia. Pier Zanfretta was simply making the rounds on his security route when he made to the currently empty home of one of his clients. All of a sudden the lights and engine of his car died. As he was looking around he noticed lights coming from the house and assumed that the home was being burgled. So Zanfretta, with gun and flashlight in hand, decided to sneak around to try and surprise the criminals. However, it was him that would be surprised that night and the shock would change his life forever.

Something touched him on the shoulder and he spun around to meet “An enormous green, ugly and frightful creature, with undulating skin..as though he were very fat or dressed in a loose gray tunic…” Was his original description of the creatures. He would go on to describe them as having large yellow triangles for eyes and points on either side of their faces. He sprinted away and as he made it back to his car, a massive UFO rose up from behind the house. It began to glow and blasted him with a wave of heat before it disappeared completely.

Zanfretta radioed his dispatcher for help. He was rambling and in shock when the found him, saying of his attackers “No, they aren’t men, they aren’t men…my God are they ugly.” He brandished his gun at his comrades, he seemed to not know them and they were forced to knock him to the ground. They were shocked to find how warm his clothes were since it was so cold and icy out.

The Italian Military police were sent out to the area that night after Zanfretta was rescued. The found huge prints possibly created by the UFO’s landing gear that was 9 feet in diameter and horseshoe-shaped. A staggering 52 citizens reported seeing the large UFO around the area of the home at the same time Zanfretta claimed to have seen it.

During the course of the investigation, Zanfretta’s credibility was further increased by a number of people who came forward in defense of his character. A member of the press found it hard to believe a family man, with a stable career and obvious hate for his newfound fame, would willingly make up a story that could cost him so much. However public opinion was against him, he would go on to say to a reporter named Di Stefano “People call me on the phone at all hours to play jokes on me. I don’t know what it was that I saw, but I saw it. I am not a liar…if I could have, I wouldn’t have reported my experiences, now that I see the consequences.” Those words echo modern-day sentiments from many abductees. They often lament talking about what happened to them because of the backlash they received from not only strangers but their own family at times.

So in an attempt to shed some light on what happened, On December 23rd Zanfretta agreed to be hypnotized. Dr. Mauro Moretti, a member of the Italian Association for Medical Hypnosis put him under. Under hypnosis, Zanfretta revealed that the aliens had also abducted him and had taken him to a strange hot room filled with light. There they communicated with him through a glowing device. He found that the strange mouthpieces they wore allowed them to breathe while on earth and that they were from a planet called “Teetonia” somewhere in the “Third galaxy”. The interrogation lasted some time and the creatures revealed that they wanted to speak more and would soon arrive in greater numbers.

Three days after his session with Dr. Moretti, Zanfretta claimed to have been abducted again. This time he said that his car was overtaken and controlled remotely. He was driven through a tunnel before a bright white light flooded the car. His dispatch claimed that he called in at the time in a very controlled voice saying “The car has stopped. I saw a bright light. Now I am getting out.” Hours later he was found by two other guards out in a field by his car in a heavy rain. Zanfretta was weeping, crying out “They say I must leave with them. What about my children? I don’t want to…I don’t want to.” The military police were called and found to their confusion that Zanfretta’s clothes were completely dry despite the rain and that the roof of his car was “as hot as an oven.” Shocking them as well was the 20-inch boot prints that surrounded the car.

A full report was filed on January 3, 1979, and labeled “Report on the Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects by Fortunato Zanfretta.” The military police later went on to say that the reliability of these events actually occurring was “good”. After this Zanfretta began to receive even more attention and scrutiny. He was examined by neurologist Dr. Giorgio Gianniotti who found that “…The man is in a state of shock, but he is perfectly sane.” This, however, did little to stop the harassment so he once again agreed to undergo hypnosis but this time he allowed it to be televised.

In this session, Zanfretta claimed that the device they used to speak with him was a glowing helmet and it caused him a great deal of pain. They took his gun and fired it, some would speculate in an effort to see if human weaponry could hurt them. They expressed an interest in taking him with them to which he responded with “I know that you need me, but I don’t want to. I like to be alone. I have two children. I feel good this way…and after all, you are not human beings. You are horrible.” Hundreds watched but the scrutiny only increased further. Eventually, things died down, until he was abducted yet again.

Zanfretta and his motorcycle were found on the summit of Mount Fasce. None of the locals had seen him drive up the only road that led to the top. This time Zanretta insisted that he be given sodium penathol, the “truth serum”. Under it, he claimed that he had been picked up by a green light. The doctor who administered the drug confirmed to the press “No human being can knowingly lie while he is under treatment, so I think it’s very probable Zanfretta had these encounters.” (It was not known at the time just how malleable a person’s perception becomes while under sodium penathol, even allowing for the implantation of false memories. One of the reasons it is no longer used as a truth serum.”)

His forth abduction was not an encounter he would have alone. After he disappeared in December of 1979, four members of his security company were sent to find him. They found instead a strange glowing “cloud” which shot out two beams of light at their cars, killing the engines. One of them shot at the UFO, which then went dark and faded out of sight. The encounter proved too much for another, who later ended his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Now for some crazy stuff.

As if it weren’t off the wall enough. Zanfretta says that while filling up his car with gas after the last encounter a strange man came up to him. The mansupposedly was bald with an egg-shaped head and wearing a checkered suit with a chest-plate made of steel. The man’s voice compelled him to follow and he was shown a ship filled with strange beings in jars. Some “frog-shaped” others more birdlike or even similar to a “caveman”. The being tried to give him a sphere that would humanity to know who they were and how they lived. He was instructed to give the gift to Dr. J. Allen Hynek in America, who as a premier UFO researcher at the time. Zanfretta did not do this however and instead claimed to have buried the object somewhere.

His last hypnosis session with Dr. Moretti was the oddest session of all. He made strange sounds, spoke in an unknown language and said things like “Question with negative answer, tixel…you can’t work out anything in a case like this. To believe or not to believe doesn’t mean anything: each thing in its own time.”

That was the last encounter Zanfretta would have with the beings but his description of the man in the checkered suit echoes a being encountered by others. In November of 1966, in West Virginia, A Woodrow Derenberger had an encounter with a strange vehicle pouring flames from both ends and shaped like a lamp. A smiling man stepped out and spoke to him without moving his lips. Claimed his name was “Indrid Cold.” He was baled with an egg like head and wanted to know more about UFO sightings in the area. The same manwas spotted by two boys behind a fence, where he was dubbed the Grinning Man and was seen in Point Pleasant around the same time as the Mothman sightings.

“Honey, did you order a subscription to the Watchtower?”

I have a theory that this Grinning Man may, in fact, be a Man in Black. Reports of them indicate that they seem shockingly similar. Bald, fancy suits, asking and talking about UFO encounters. Always giving off an otherworldly feel and disappearing as quickly as the arrived.

[stainedglassgardens]

Favourite films watched in 2018

I arranged them into broad categories -- other than that they’re in no particular order.

Indie

River of Grass, Meek’s Cutoff and Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt, 1994, 2010 and 2013)

Tangerine and The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2015 and 2017)

We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)

Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (David Zellner, 2014)

Ginger & Rosa (Sally Potter, 2012)

Cracks (Jordan Scott, 2009)

I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017)

Turn the River (Chris Eigeman, 2007)

Hello I Must Be Going (Todd Louiso, 2012)

Shuttle Life (Tan Seng Kiat, 2017)

On Body and Soul (Testről és lélekről, Ildikó Enyedi, 2017)

Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi, Agnès Varda, 1984)

Easy Living (Adam Keleman, 2017)

Mother of George (Andrew Dosunmu, 2013)

Khadak (Peter Brosens and Jessica Hope Woodworth, 2006)

Shirkers (Sandi Tan, 2018)

Comedy

Lipstick Under My Burkha (Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016)

Addicted to Fresno (Jamie Babbit, 2015)

The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel, 2018)

Edge of Seventeen (David Moreton, 1998)

Secretary (Steven Shainberg, 2002)

Experimental

Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1963)

Always Shine (Sophia Takal, 2016)

The Midnight Swim (Sarah Adina Smith, 2014)

La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)

Daisies (Sedmikrásky, Věra Chytilová, 1966)

Classics

Reflections in a Golden Eye (John Huston, 1967)

Dead Ringer (Paul Henreid, 1964)

Horror

Creep and Creep 2 (Patrick Brice, 2014 and 2017)

The Poughkeepsie Tapes and As Above, So Below (John Erick Dowdle, 2007 and 2014)

Raw (Grave, Julia Ducournau, 2016)

Cargo (Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, 2017)

Hard Candy (David Slade, 2005)

Snowtown (Justin Kurzel, 2011)

Banshee Chapter (Blair Erickson, 2013)

Mandy (Panos Cosmatos, 2018)

Science fiction

Primer and  Upstream Color (Shane Carruth, 2004 and 2013)

Resolution and The Endless (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, 2012 and 2017)

Midnight Special (Jeff Nichols, 2016)

Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016)

Into the Forest (Patricia Rozema, 2015)

Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014)

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)

Liquid Sky (Slava Tsukerman, 1982)

Bird Box (Susanne Bier, 2018)

Action

Hell or High Water (David Mackenzie, 2016)

M.F.A. (Natalia Leite, 2017)

Revenge (Coralie Fargeat, 2017)

Brick (Rian Johnson, 2005)

Full list of 306 films watched in 2018 under the cut!

January

The Devil’s Candy (Sean Byrne, 2015)

A United Kingdom (Amma Asante, 2016)

Creep (Patrick Brice, 2014)

The Witch (Robert Eggers, 2015)

The Blues Brothers (John Landis, 1980)

The Lost Boys (Joel Schumacher, 1987)

Midnight Special (Jeff Nichols, 2016)

Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016)

We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)

Life (Daniel Espinosa, 2017)

Logan (James Mangold, 2017)

Creep 2 (Patrick Brice, 2017)

The Discovery (Charlie McDowell, 2017)

Otherlife (Ben C. Lucas, 2017)

The Dressmaker (Jocelyn Moorhouse, 2015)

Bokeh (Geoffrey Orthwein and Andrew Sullivan , 2017)

February

Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)

The Handmaiden (아가씨, Agassi, Park Chan-wook, 2016)

Brick (Rian Johnson, 2005)

Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)

Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)

Thelma (Joachim Trier, 2017)

The Guest (Adam Wingard, 2014)

Beach Rats (Eliza Hittman, 2017)

Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in, Tomas Alfredson, 2008)

Cameraperson (Kirsten Johnson, 2016)

Sweet Bean (あん, An, Naomi Kawase, 2015)

The Hallow (Corin Hardy, 2015)

Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008)

10 Cloverfield Lane (Dan Trachtenberg, 2016)

The Cloverfield Paradox (Julius Onah, 2018)

Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016)

28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)

Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011)

Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, 2000)

River of Grass (Kelly Reichardt, 1994)

Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt, 2006)

Reflections in a Golden Eye (John Huston, 1967)

March

Raw (Grave, Julia Ducournau, 2016)

Palo Alto (Gia Coppola, 2013)

By the Sea (Angelina Jolie, 2015)

Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017)

Jupiter Ascending (The Wachowskis, 2015)

Irreplaceable You (Stephanie Laing, 2018)

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (David Zellner, 2014)

Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018)

Ravenous (Les Affamés, Robin Aubert, 2017)

The Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2016)

Notes on Blindness (Peter Middleton and James Spinney, 2016)

Breathe (Respire, Mélanie Laurent, 2014)

Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt, 2013)

Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)

Lovesong (So Yong Kim, 2016)

Upstream Color (Shane Carruth, 2013)

April

ARQ (Tony Elliott, 2016)

Primer (Shane Carruth, 2004)

Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2010)

Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt, 2016)

The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947)

Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)

Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953)

American Honey (Andrea Arnold, 2016)

Maurice (James Ivory, 1987)

The Silent House (La Casa Muda, Gustavo Hernández, 2010)

Viral (Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, 2016)

Buster’s Mal Heart (Sarah Adina Smith, 2016)

Waitress (Adrienne Shelly, 2007)

Grey Gardens (Albert and David Maysle, 1975)

Ginger & Rosa (Sally Potter, 2012)

Cracks (Jordan Scott, 2009)

Into the Forest (Patricia Rozema, 2015)

A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)

Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

The Beguiled (Sofia Coppola, 2017)

Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983)

The Violent Years (William Morgan, 1956)

The Ritual (David Bruckner, 2017)

Casting JonBenet (Kitty Green, 2017)

Slums of Beverly Hills (Tamara Jenkins, 1998)

We’ve Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew (Thomas Woodrow, 2017)

Love and Other Cults (Kemonomichi, Eiji Uchida, 2017)

You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay, 2017)

Shirley: Visions of Reality (Gustav Deutsch, 2013)

Catfight (Onur Tuckel, 2017)

Pyewacket (Adam MacDonald, 2017)

May

Lick the Star (Sofia Coppola, 1998)

Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1963)

Novitiate (Maggie Betts, 2017)

The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)

The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Hymyilevä mies, Juho Kuosmanen, 2016)

Dead Reckoning (John Cromwell, 1947)

Human Flow (Ai Weiwei, 2017)

Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch, 1989)

Dawson City: Frozen Time (Bill Morrison, 2016)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2017)

I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017)

Cléo from 5 to 7 (Cléo de 5 à 7, Agnès Varda, 1962)

Orbiter 9 (Órbita 9, Hatem Khraiche, 2017)

M.F.A. (Natalia Leite, 2017)

Lipstick Under My Burkha (Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016)

Kedi (Ceyda Torun, 2016)

Deidra and Laney Rob a Train (Sydney Freeland, 2017)

The Most Dangerous Game (Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1932)

Girl Asleep (Rosemary Myers, 2015)

Always Shine (Sophia Takal, 2016)

The Monster (Bryan Bertino, 2016)

Desert Hearts (Donna Deitch, 1985)

Addicted to Fresno (Jamie Babbit, 2015)

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Fritz Lang, 1956)

The Fits (Anna Rose Holmer, 2015)

Hell or High Water (David Mackenzie, 2016)

The Midnight Swim (Sarah Adina Smith, 2014)

The Quiet Hour (Stéphanie Joalland, 2014)

Synchronicity (Jacob Gentry, 2015)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols, 1966)

Pod (Mickey Keating, 2015)

Turn the River (Chris Eigeman, 2007)

Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015)

Frequencies (Darren Paul Fisher, 2013)

Spring (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, 2014)

Time Lapse (Bradley D. King, 2014)

Meet Me There (Lex Lybrand, 2014)

Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014)

The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2017)

Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)

Laggies (Lynn Shelton, 2014)

Starlet (Sean Baker, 2012)

Dead Ringer (Paul Henreid, 1964)

The Doom Generation (Gregg Araki, 1995)

The Riot Club (Lone Scherfig, 2014)

Berlin Syndrome (Cate Shortland, 2017)

Dude (Olivia Milch, 2018)

Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)

June

Hello I Must Be Going (Todd Louiso, 2012)

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (David Mirkin, 1997)

Mystery Road (Ivan Sen, 2013)

The Double (Richard Ayoade, 2013)

Dear White People (Justin Simien, 2014)

The Selfish Giant (Clio Barnard, 2013)

Don’t Breathe (Fede Álvarez, 2016)

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present (Matthew Akers, 2012)

Hot Bot (Michael Polish, 2016)

Beneath the Harvest Sky (Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, 2013)

Tim’s Vermeer (Teller, 2013)

The Firefly (La Luciérnaga, Ana Maria Hermida, 2015)

Twinsters (Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto, 2015)

Resolution (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, 2012)

Enemy (Denis Villeneuve, 2013)

Mother of George (Andrew Dosunmu, 2013)

We Are What We Are (Jim Mickle, 2013)

The Battery (Jeremy Gardner, 2012)

Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus (Sebastián Silva , 2013)

Boy (Taika Waititi,2010)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Steven Chbosky, 2012)

White Bird in a Blizzard (Gregg Araki, 2014)

The American (Anton Corbijn, 2010)

Ocean’s Eight (Gary Ross, 2018)

Compliance (Craig Zobel, 2012)

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Lorene Scafaria, 2012)

Weekend (Andrew Haigh, 2011)

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)

July

Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin, 2011)

Safety Not Guaranteed (Colin Trevorrow, 2012)

Hard Candy (David Slade, 2005)

Duck Butter (Miguel Arteta, 2018)

The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011)

Another Earth (Mike Cahill, 2011)

Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)

Woodshock (Kate and Laura Mulleavy, 2017)

Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011)

Snowtown (Justin Kurzel, 2011)

Aloft (Claudia Llosa, 2014)

A Fantastic Woman (Una mujer fantástica, Sebastián Lelio, 2017)

The Feels (Jenée LaMarque, 2017)

The Endless (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, 2017)

Shuttle Life (Tan Seng Kiat, 2017)

I Origins (Mike Cahill, 2014)

The Taking of Deborah Logan (Adam Robitel, 2014)

Chasing Ice (Jeff Orlowski, 2012)

Manchester By the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2016)

The Bar (El Bar, Álex de la Iglesia, 2017)

Mr. Roosevelt (Noël Wells, 2017)

Woman Walks Ahead (Susanna White, 2017)

The Manual (William Magness, 2017)

The Conjuring (James Wan, 2013)

Oculus (Mike Flanagan, 2013)

The Eye (Pang brothers, 2002)

August

The Overnight (Peter Brice, 2015)

Axolotl Overkill (Helene Hegemann, 2017)

Little Sister (Zach Clark, 2016)

Witchfinder General (Michael Reeves, 1968)

Secretary (Steven Shainberg, 2002)

The Quiet Earth (Geoff Murphy, 1985)

The Hunger (Tony Scott, 1983)

They (Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, 2017)

Revenge (Coralie Fargeat, 2017)

Cargo (Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, 2017)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling, 1982)

Radius (Caroline Labrèche and Steeve Léonard, 2017)

17 Girls (17 Filles, Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin, 2011)

The Deuce of Spades (Faith Granger, 2011)

The Bank Job (Roger Donaldson, 2008)

La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)

Train to Busan  (부산행, Busanhaeng, Yeon Sang-ho, 2016)

As Above, So Below (John Erick Dowdle, 2014)

Liquid Sky (Slava Tsukerman, 1982)

Wild Zero (Tetsuro Takeuchi, 1999)

Multiple Maniacs (John Waters, 1970)

The Lifeguard (Liz W. Garcia, 2013)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Jacques Demy, 1964)

The Beales of Grey Gardens (Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Ian Markiewicz, 2006)

The Edge of Seventeen (Kelly Fremon Craig, 2016)

Salesman (Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, 1969)

Easy Living (Adam Keleman, 2017)

Going Back (Adam Keleman, 2010)

A Series of Acts (Adam Keleman, 2006)

Long Days (Adam Keleman, 2012)

Okja (Bong Joon-ho, 2017)

Before I Fall (Ry Russo-Young, 2017)

The Poughkeepsie Tapes (John Erick Dowdle, 2007)

Three Colours: Blue (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993)

Three Colours: White (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1994)

Three Colours: Red (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1994)

Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton, 1932)

Khadak (Peter Brosens and Jessica Hope Woodworth, 2006)

The Lure (Córki dancingu, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, 2015)

Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi, Agnès Varda, 1984)

Little Evil (Eli Craig, 2017)

September

The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1972)

Isle of Flowers (Ilha das Flores, Jorge Furtado, 1989)

Beat Girl (Edmond T. Gréville, 1960)

On Body and Soul (Testről és lélekről, Ildikó Enyedi, 2017)

Village of the Damned (Wolf RIlla, 1960)

Tampopo (タンポポ, Tanpopo, Juzo Itami, 1985)

Mustang (Deniz Gamze Ergüven, 2015)

Outside In (Lynn Shelton, 2017)

Voyeur (Myles Kane, 2017)

The Land of Steady Habits (Nicole Holofcener, 2018)

Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, 2014)

Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (Emily Ting, 2015)

Tig (Kristina Goolsby and Ashley York, 2015)

Shortwave (Ryan Phillips, 2016)

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (Jodie Markell, 2008)

Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2000)

October

The Most Assassinated Woman in the World (La Femme la plus assassinée du monde, Franck Ribière, 2018)

I Think We’re Alone Now (Reed Morano, 2018)

The Woman Who Left (Ang Babaeng Humayo, Lav Diaz, 2016)

The Babysitter (Brian Duffield, 2017)

The Frighteners (Peter Jackson, 1996)

Emelie (Michael Thelin, 2015)

21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003)

Apostle (Gareth Evans, 2018)

Phantasm (Don Coscarelli, 1979)

Banshee Chapter (Blair Erickson, 2013)

Joshua (George Ratliff, 2007)

Office (오피스, Hong Won-chan, 2015)

The Nightmare (Rodney Ascher, 2015)

The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel, 2018)

Before I Wake (Mike Flanagan, 2016)

The Most Unknown (Ian Cheney, 2018)

Private Life (Tamara Jenkins, 2018)

Octavio is Dead! (Sook-Yin Lee, 2018)

Leave No Trace (Debra Granik, 2018)

Cube (Vincenzo Natali, 1997)

Galveston (Mélanie Laurent, 2018)

Growing Up Coy (Eric Juhola, 2016)

Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)

November

Murder My Sweet (Edward Dmytryk, 1944)

Madeline’s Madeline (Josephine Decker, 2018)

Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)

Mandy (Panos Cosmatos, 2018)

Crossfire (Edward Dmytryk, 1947)

The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2015)

Silent Light (Stellet Licht, Carlos Reygadas, 2007)

Shirkers (Sandi Tan, 2018)

Berlin Express (Jacques Tourneur, 1948)

Red Road (Andrea Arnold, 2006)

Angels Wear White (嘉年华, Vivian Qu, 2017)

Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014)

The Italian Job (F. Gary Gray, 2003)

In the Aisles (In den Gängen, Thomas Stuber, 2018)

Edge of Seventeen (David Moreton, 1998)

Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)

Columbus (Kogonada, 2017)

I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore (Macon Blair, 2017)

The Full Monty (Peter Cattaneo, 1997)

Daisies (Sedmikrásky, Věra Chytilová, 1966)

Blue My Mind (Lisa Brühlmann, 2017)

December

The Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue (夜空はいつでも最高密度の青色だ, Yozora wa itsudemo saiko mitsudo no aoiro da, Yuya Ishii, 2017)

Michael Lost and Found (Daniel Wilner, 2017)

The Trader (Sovdagari, Tamta Gabrichidze, 2018)

Valley Girl (Martha Coolidge, 1983)

The Kindergarten Teacher (Sara Colangelo, 2018)

Everything Beautiful is Far Away (Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson, 2017)

McQueen (Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, 2018)

Better Watch Out (Chris Peckover, 2016)

I Feel Pretty (Abby Kohn, 2018)

Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham, 2018)

A Simple Favor (Paul Feig, 2018)

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (Alexandra Dean, 2017)

Grandma (Paul Weitz, 2015)

Bird Box (Susanne Bier, 2018)

The Man in the Wall (האיש שבקיר‎, Evgeny Ruman, 2015)

Tout ce qui brille (Géraldine Nakache and Hervé Mimran, 2010)

Gas Food Lodging (Allison Anders, 1992)

Love, Cecil (Lisa Immordino Vreeland, 2018)