#my parents were born in 1966-1967

[cas-poisoning]

The fact that people have parents that weren’t born in the late 60s (or early 70s) is so odd to me like that is THE parent age. Like wdym your parents were born in the 1980s and ur my age?? That’s actually insane wtf. Parents were not meant to be in high school in the 2000s…

[i-write-hurt-not-comfort]

@yuukanaazu hi there! thank u for your question, i would LOVE to talk about this. i've thought about this so much and i love the who Mukami backstory. i would like to disclaim i'm not a history expert but i've researched this a fuck ton. whilst a lot of the Mukami routes have bits of the Romanian history lore scattered around, the most lore comes from Ruki's MB but especially his LE, so i'm going to be using that as my main source.

putting this under a cut here because it's very long. TW for discussions of the Romanian orphan crisis.

so right off the bat in MB, we see Ruki clearly has this trauma surrounding something which happened in an eastern european nation, as seen in this manga panel when he's sitting in class and the teacher is talking about an outbreak of orphans.

although they don't SAY Romania, it's pretty heavily implied that it's Romania as this was where the infamous orphan crisis occurred and we know the Mukami's met in an orphanage. the REAL confirmation of what actually happened in Romania comes from Ruki's LE.

credit where credit is due, rejet did alright with the Romania lore. in the 1960s, Romania was under a dictatorship by Ceaușescu. Ceaușescu's socialist policies had Romania and its capital Bucharest in declining conditions. wild-spread poverty caused children to run away from home so there were already some children on the streets. Decree 770 was enacted in 1966 which banned abortion and contraception with the hope of population growth directly leading to economic growth.

Ruki's father was supposedly a politician during the time of Decree 770 being enacted. it is implied Karlheinz convinced Ceaușescu to impose Decree 770 to cause wide-spread casualties particularly in children and use these for ghoul experiments. Karlheinz also convinced Ceaușescu to impose higher taxes and embezzle public funds.

it's unclear exactly when Ruki's father was dismissed from his political position, but we see it happen in LE and he becomes an alcoholic. over the next few years, birth rates would increase substantially, especially over 1967, 1968 and 1969 when the policy was still knew. parents who were unable to take care of their children gave them up to orphanages. by 1977, parents were taxed for being childless. potentially this is when Ruki's father dies and they all enter the orphanage.

children ran away from home due to parents being overloaded with children and poverty stricken. by the 1980s, conditions in the orphanages had significantly declined. Ceaușescu was killed in December 1989. supposedly, Kalrheinz was assassinated at the end of the revolution too, and was hung in public, but his corpse disappeared.

conditions in the orphanages were as follows:

Children did not have access to food, water, medicine or basic needs

Many were not educated and were illiterate 

Hygiene was below standard and sexual assault common 

HIV/AIDS spread throughout orphanages particularly in the 1980s 

Military run orphanages often saw violent child abuse 

Children self-harmed and abused aurolac, a type of paint inhaled as a solvent (commonly distributed around Bucharest during this period right through to common times) 

Gangs were formed inside and outside the orphanages which led to further violence

There weren't enough beds 

Some children were sold off as slaves for money or to be abused (Kou is an example of this) 

Disabled children were sent to special places and were treated the worst

the Mukami's lore is mostly implied from theories, and the bullet points i'm about to drop are only my perspective. though it is based off canon events.

here, we are going to assume the timeline matchup or make some kind of sense…

it DOES kind of make sense if you imagine the Mukami's to be born in 1966/67 due to the abortion ban

thus they would be around age 10-11 in 1977 when they all entered the orphanages

obviously the orphanages were overcrowded by this point in time, hence the conditions were so bad 

Azusa was at the orphanage first and when Ruki arrived, he followed him around

Ruki was creeped out at first but eventually came to see Azusa as a younger brother

then Ruki meets Kou when he's in the middle of trying to kill himself and calls him a loser 

Yuma joined the orphanage last, and became friends with everyone after meeting Kou in the punishment cell 

so the order is Azusa, then Ruki, then Kou, and then Yuma 

Ruki

Ruki's father was a politician… until he wasn't

when Decree 770 was enacted, he turned into an alcoholic and began abusing Ruki's mother

it's explained in Ruki's LE Maniac Epilogue and it's a bit vague but I do think the implication is that Ceaușescu imposing higher taxes (potentially the childless tax in 1977) is what caused Ruki's father's dismissal 

this means Ruki was a baby when Decree 770 was first enacted but he was pampered so he didn't know that was going on in the real world 

1977, Ruki's father was fired then committed suicide, his mother had an affair and ran off, and Ruki entered the orphanage

he was beaten up a lot for being an ex-aristocrat 

Kou

Kou was born to an aristocratic family but they were exiled when he was still young 

(i headcanon his parents being from another country, possibly Italy considering his name was Emilio) 

he was off-handed to a nanny but she abandoned him when he was young

she potentially abandoned him due to having to care for too many orphans (early 1970s)

kou spent most his childhood on the streets, at which point he was shown to beg for food and money

he exchanged this (IN CANON!!) for aurolac (which i write about here) 

eventually he was taken into the orphanage, right when some army officers shot some people in front of him 

there he was sold off to aristocrats, aka slavery, and gouged out his eye

continued using aurolac in the orphanage

Yuma

i will assume he ended up in Bucharest around mid-1970s

his farming family in the village which burnt down was poor due to socialist policies and higher taxes 

he was in a gang as the name Bear and was one day thrown into the orphanage when everyone else was shot 

his leader Lucks had been shown to be prostituting himself to get money for the gang

Yuma steals food from the orphanage and got into a lot of fights due to people insulting his gang

Azusa

Azusa was raised by Romani people

it isn't clear whether he was born into a Romani family or whether he was born accidentally and abandoned and then taken in by the Romani people 

i personally headcanons the former 

he was weak compared to everyone and Justin, Melissa and Christina beat him up a lot

one day they were killed for burglary and Azusa cried

then he passed out in front of a shop and was sent to the orphanage 

he enjoys getting beaten up at the orphanage and that's when he meets Ruki 

i am sorry that this is SO LONG. if you made it to the end, thank u and congratulations. i love this lore. if you want it saved somewhere, i have it all here (+ more information).

[scotianostra]

On June 27th 1967 the first cash dispenser was opened by Barclay’s Bank in Enfield by actor Reg Varney.

The idea of an automatic money dispensing machine had been mooted and tried without success in the early 60's but it wasn't until Scotsmen John Shepherd-Barron and James Goodfellow successfully designed the "cash machine" and Personal Identification Number (PIN) technology which is still used over 50 years later.

Goodfellow lodged his patent in May 1966, more than a year before the first cash machine was ceremonially opened in a blaze of publicity. A machine was developed by John Shepherd-Barron, who was born in India, to Scottish parents, and lived much of his later life in Portmahomack in Ross-shire.

Shepherd-Barron's ATM beat Goodfellow's machines, which were installed at branches of Westminster Bank (later to become NatWest), by just a month.

So Shepherd-Barron became known as the "man who invented the cash machine" and not Goodfellow, the man who patented the system we use today.

Shepherd-Barron says he was inspired by chocolate vending machines, he stated "It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the UK. I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash.

The two devices were very different.

Shepherd-Barron's did not use plastic cards, instead it used cheques that were impregnated with carbon 14, a mildly radioactive substance.

The machine detected it, then matched the cheque against a Pin number.

Shepherd-Barron worked for banknote manufacturer De La Rue, which never patented its machine.

Before he died in 2010, he told a documentary that he didn't patent the idea because he did not want fraudsters knowing how the system worked.

He also said that the chief executive of Barclays had been quick to say yes to the idea when they had discussed it after a couple of Martinis.

Shepherd-Barron then had to go back to his team and get them to develop his idea.

In recent years, his claim to have been the real inventor of the cash machine has been recognised more widely.

Mr Goodfellow now does not like to talk about the years in which Mr Shepherd-Barron got all the credit but in a 2009 BBC documentary he said it "really does raise my blood pressure".

The engineer, from Paisley, told BBC Scotland: "My patent was licensed by all the manufacturers. They thought that was the way to go.

"The race to get it on to the street was not as important.

"Getting it right was the answer, not getting it first."

Mr Goodfellow was working as development engineer for Glasgow firm Kelvin Hughes in the mid-1960s when he got involved in a project to design a machine that could dispense money to customers when banks were closed.

He said in an interview that the driving force for the move was unions putting pressure on banks to close on Saturday mornings.

He said most people worked during the week and could not get to the bank, which closed at 3pm on weekdays.

Many people went to the bank on Saturday mornings but the unions were pressing for staff to work a five-day week.

The banks wanted a way to give working people access to their money when they were closed. Goodfellow said "The problem with cash machines was access.

"How would a genuine customer, and only a genuine customer, get money out of it?"

They considered biometrics - fingerprints, voice prints or retinal scans.

"But in the 60s the technology to do this was not there, it was impossible,"

So the next approach was an "exotic token", a piece of paper or plastic with "uncommon characteristics" that a machine would recognise.

His "eureka moment" came when he hit upon the idea of the Personal Identification Number (PIN).

This was the vital security measure that would make the system work, the number would be known to the customer and the bank and could be related to the card but not read by anyone else.

Goodfellow's invention was patented in May 1966, more than a year before his rival unveiled the first ATM in London.

But he still had a battle to make his concept reality.

"We had to meet some of the banks demands which were pretty severe," he said.

"They had a million customers and they wanted 2,000 machines across the UK.

"They wanted any one of the one million customers to be able to access any one of the 2,000 machines.

"You've got to remember there was no IT network in those days. The banks had no IT equipment. The bank's branches had nothing.

"We spent a lot of time developing the code. We had to submit something like 1,000 of these cards to a consultant, who would try to decipher it."

The cards he used were one quarter of a "Hollerith" punch-card, which just happens to be the same size as today's credit card. It contains just 30 bytes of data.

His patent for the card and Pin ATM was licensed for millions but Mr Goodfellow, as a humble technician, did not own the rights and did not get rich from his invention.

He said he signed patents for 15 countries around the world and got a dollar for each - worth about £10.

Mr Goodfellow left the firm in 1967 when it moved its operations to England and he went to work for IBM.

There have been arguments for years over who should officially go down in history as "the inventor of the ATM".

In 2005, Mr Shepherd-Barron received an OBE in the New Year honours list for services to banking as the "inventor of the automatic cash dispenser".

However, since then Mr Goodfellow, the man who patented the invention, has regained his place.

In 2006 Mr Goodfellow received an OBE for services to banking as "patentor of the personal identification number".

He has also been placed in the Scottish engineering hall of fame alongside John Logie Baird, the inventor of the television.

According to the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), as of 2015, there were close to 3.5 million ATMs installed worldwide. However, the use of ATMs is gradually declining with the increase in cashless payment systems.

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: The Spatulas — Part 1

The Spatulas churn out uneasy jangle pop straight from the garage — or, more literally, the storage unit where the band met to play and beat back their pandemic frustrations. Their sound is built on blunt yet psychedelic melodies, chopping guitar, and rhythms that lurch then steady themselves. Assembled in various forms over the last several years, the Oregon-based quartet released March Chant, their first EP,in December of 2023. Alex Johnson found it “raw and charming…a full band record [that pairs] the relief at venting your anger and the goofy waywardness of distracting yourself with a joyful noise.”

Miranda's List: A bunch of songs that seem to make me me...

Mope Grooves — Look At The Time, 2018

Catchiest song ever. My friend Stevie made a bunch of wonderful music in her lifetime and was a beautiful person. Everything she put out on her label, See My Friends Records is great, and she included many of my fellow Oregonians on Mope Grooves albums. Our previous Spats drummer, Kyle closes out this song "Look At The Time" with that wave of nostalgic synth sound.

Pip Proud — De Dum De Dum, 1967

The original recording of this Pip Proud album is golden all the way through. I listened to this alone on a sheep farm in Oregon in the middle of rainy winter in 2021 and it influenced my writing a lot.

Nico — One More Chance, 1983

Nico at her most gothic rock. I love this echoey version — makes me wanna dance! The beat is great. Ambient synth sounds abound; her vocals incredible as ever... The origins of The Drama of Exile, her fifth album — so full of drug-addled dysfunction!

Pearls Before Swine — Playmate, 1967

One Nation Underground is one of my most listened-to records; the grooves are worn. I used to cover the opener song, “Another Time” pre-Spats, with my Partners, Buddies and Pals. “Playmate” is the upbeat, second song on the album, a cover of an old children’s song, which I think is perfect for me. “(Oh Dear) Miss Morse,” is another hit on side A, on side B it's “Uncle John” and “Surrealistic Waltz.”

Grace Slick & The Great Society — Often As I May, 1966

This song propels you along. It sounds so beautiful, like a traditional folk song, yet a Slick original. Great fun to sing along with this gal.

Lou Reed — Waves of Fear, 1981

Robert Quine’s guitar hits the spot, and with Lou’s voice and guitar, those lyrics — so hard!

Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Band — Why, 1970

The most adventurous and exciting song ever. Yoko’s primal screaming, with John’s guitar wailing, and Klaus, and Ringo clipping along... WHYYYYYY????? A brilliant reminder to LET IT OUT.

The Bats — Made Up in Blue, 1986

Beloved. Great bass. The song that I think put this Flying Nun band on the map, leading up to another special full album, Daddy’s Highway from 1987, the year I was born. The accompanying music video is a treasure!

Broadcast — I Found The F, 2005

We’re so lucky to have the album Tender Buttons, and the band Broadcast. The album was made while singer Trish Keenan’s father was dying of cancer, six years before she herself died of pneumonia from swine flu. Knowing this makes it all the more eerily personal and sweet-sounding for me. Both my parents were dead by the time I was 32, so I’m familiar with making art as a response to grief.

Don Cherry and Organic Music Theater — Om Shanti Om, 1976

This is the full live performance at RAI Studios in Rome, Italy, for television broadcast. Listen to the ~47-minute album Om Shanti Om as much needed meditation. Imagine also all Moki Cherry’s tapestries in full color, as featured in the Blank Forms book I was so engrossed in last summer.

[ramennoodlezzzao3]

YOU GUYS, I COMPLETELY FORGIT ABT THIS AU, SHOULD I WRITE IT? (It’s a Harry Potter AU and I found some notes that I wrote down. I’m gonna change some of it but STILL)

Something I wanted to make clear, Miss Kathy, the librarian, is a character I added in memory of my grandmother. My grandmother loved Harry Potter with all of her heart as it was something her and my grandfather used to read together. Her name was Kathy with a K and I thought that if I was going to add a librarian, it has to be her! So I get to share a little bit of my grandmother with you guys as the characters attitude, humor, personality, and description is exactly like my grandmother (or as close as I could get) 

Kathy J. 1952 - 2021 (She would have been 73 this year)

Overview/information

Ponyboy lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but he lives on a street called privet drive.

He’s not being abused by anyone, and everyone in the gang is aged up. Not only that, this is set in 1991 so Ponyboy was born in 1980, let me put the gangs ages and birthdays rq

Darry - 28, January 21st, 1963

Two-bit - 27, April 1st 1964

Dallas - 26, November 4th, 1965

Steve - 25, December 6th, 1966

Sodapop - 25, October 8th, 1966

Johnny - 24, March 1st, 1967

Pony - 11, July 22nd, 1980

The reason for the age gap between Ponyboy and his brothers is because after Sodapop, the Curtis parents were told they couldn’t have anymore children. Sodapop and Darry always wanted another little brother but were told by their parents they just couldn’t have one.

So when Mrs. Curtis got pregnant a few months before Darry’s 17th birthday, Everyone, including the gang, were very excited, especially Sodapop.

One day, Ponyboy and his parents went to the grocery store, but in their way back got in a car accident and died…well, that’s what it looked like, at least. Voldemort actually tried to kill Ponyboy but ended up failing. (Que the boy who lived!)

Ponyboys parents did know about the wizarding world, their great grandparents were very rich witches and wizards. But after an incident, a curse was put on the family so no Wizard could be born into the family again, until Ponyboy came along.

No, Sodapop and Darry aren’t wizards, they didn’t even know about the wizarding world until now. 

Darry was able to get custody of both Ponyboy and Sodapop (Sodapop would have been 15 and Ponyboy would have been 1) 

And just so you don’t have to do the math, Darry was 17, Two-bit was 16, Dallas was 15, Steve was 14, Sodapop was 14, and Johnny was 13 when Ponyboy was born.

Yes, Ponyboy has the scar and glasses.

Now, this is my AU so I’m making Ron the youngest because I wholeheartedly hate Ginny with all of my being.

Now, Ron is still gonna end up with Hermione, Neville with Luna, Draco with Pansy, but I want Ponyboy to end up with a boy. Like, he will still kiss Cho, but that’s like, his gay awakening, you catch my drift

(I, personally, am Bi, so I wanna add some LGBTQ element in the story, so why not make it the main love focus?)

I was thinking he could end up with Dean Thomas or Seamus Finigin, maybe even Cormac Laggin or Collin Creevy. Or I could make up a character but I prefer not to add Ocs, so if you guys have any ideas on who he should end up with, let me know.

It needs to be someone that can replace Ginny, but not be apart of the Weasley family.

I’m not gonna give Darry or anyone in the gang a serious girlfriend or wife because I want the ENTIRE FOCUS on pony. I might keep Evie and Silvia, maybe even Cathy (M&Ms older sister from that was then this is now) as two’s girlfriend. But Sandy is gone and Johnny and Darry are single Pringles. 

I figured out the statistics for ponyboy and here they are

Patronus (won’t be important till later) - Pieball Mare (a horse lol)Companion - black and white spotted cat with black socks and a mustache (Green eyes) named Oreo (do you guys have a better name idea?)Wand - See chapter 2

Serious black is his Godfather, Lily Curtis and Darrel Curtis made sure of that 

[kittythelitter]

I've just been ping-ponging back and forth between Stranger Things and Batfam obsessions so here's a very self indulgent combination.

Au where Steve Harrington is Jack Drake's slightly older first cousin. They were close until Steve's parents disowned him and then reconnected sporadically when Jack was a young adult, but when Steve and Eddie got married, Janet severed ties claiming she thought Steve and his loser rockstar husband would be a bad influence on Tim. Jack reconciles with him when he wakes up from his coma, and asks Steve to take care of Tim if anything happens to him(Jack). When Jack is killed Steve and Eddie become Tim's guardians.

Rough Timeline.

1966 - Eddie is born

1967- Steve Harrington is born

1974- Jack Drake is born

1980- Bruce Wayne is born

1982- Clark Kent is adopted by the Kents

1983-6 -ST seasons 1-4

1987 - Upsidedown Closes for the last time + the Wayne's are killed in front of their son.

1990- Dick Grayson is Born

1995- Jason is born

1996- Cass is born

1999 - Tim is born/the Batman starts his stuff

2001 - Flying Graysons/first Superman sightings

2004 - the Justice League is formed, Boston legalizes gay marriage.

2005 - steddie marriage. Janet Drake throws a hissy fit and Jack and Steve stop speaking.

2007- Dick Quits Robin, Damian is born, andJason becomes Robin

2010- Jason Dies

2011- Tim becomes Robin

2013- Janet dies, Jack is in a coma

2014 - Jack wakes up. Wants to reconnect with his family (including Steve and Eddie), titans tower ™️

2015 - Damian arrives, Jack finds out. Steph is Robin and "dies"

2016 - Jack dies and Steve and Eddie get custody of Tim. Kon and Bart die temporarily.

Tim is going thru it and also suddenly has two VERY attentive guardians who have been dealing with weird bullshit longer than even Batman. They find out about Robin and lecture Batman and insist that if Tim's gonna pull a Dustin then Steve gets to babysit (be on comms).

Steve insists he's too old to be a vigilante but he is on comms all the time and on more than one occasion busts into a scene hitting goons with the batmobile and rescuing Bruce and Tim. He also basically forcefully adopts Jason after he finds out about titans tower. Eddie just laughs, but Jason used to be a big fan of Eddie's band so he is automatically the cool dad.

Somewhere in here Steve and Eddie kind of adopt Dick, Damian, Cass and Steph

Barbara and Max meet and it's Chaos.

Bruce tries to complain that Steve and Eddie are stealing his kids and Eddie's like. Alfred do you want some coparents? We'll adopt a full grown man. We've got kids older than Bruce that we consider to be ours. And Alfred is like. I'd love the help. He's a handful.

Anyway when Bruce "dies" and Tim's like. He's not dead! Steve is like. Yeah. I've seen weirder. Let me call supergirl- not Kara. My supergirl. Eleven. Yeah. You remember her right? She might be able to find him with her mind powers. No she's not a meta. She's had powers since before metas were a thing.

And El finds him and with her help the Justice League can get Bruce back pretty quickly. They offer her a position and she's like. I'm retired. But I'll always help a friend in need, so keep my number.

Anyways the ST crew are all adults and Tired because they thought when the justice league came around they'd be done. But Steve just keeps acquiring children who insist on getting themselves in trouble so even though he is fifty and Tired with chronic migraines and tinnitus he is still going to be the Best Damn Babysitter there is, and none of his friends/kids will let him do it alone.

Steve managed to keep it all from them before he needed to ask El for help but once the dam breaks they're all in and out of Gotham and meeting the Justice League and causing trouble left and right.

Lucas and Will both try to keep out of it and maintain their quiet lives but end up becoming emotional support/therapists/mentors to young heroes.

Dustin somehow gets to do some work on the Watchtower.

Erica, despite being in her early 40s, is trying to get the Teen Titans to unionize.

Nancy has access to guns she really really shouldn't.

Jonathan and Clark get along really well. Argyle can somehow understand the Flashes when they're talking at almost full speed.

And when Robin (Buckley not Batman-and-) meets Wonder Woman she cries.

[stiles-o-dylan24]

I forget Steve and Nancy and that gen of the show were 1967 right? Then will, mike, Dustin, ect we’re ‘71. It’s weird cause rn they’d all be in their 50’s 😅

Oh trust me I forget all the time that they’re actually from those generations😂 honestly it’s so crazy to think about too bc Jonathan was guessed to have been born in 1966 and like?? That was when my mum was born and she’d have turned 57 this year😭

So trying to picture everyone around my parents ages is just so🥹 weird yet adorable

[svt-yeseul]

Yeseul's Family

💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤

Disclaimer: All characters are completely imaginary and do not exist in real life. Names, places, occupations and experiences are all made up. All the pictures are from Pinterest and are not mine. Credit to the owners.

🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜

[Parents / Single Mother – Lee Sunyoung & Xú Jingyi]

Lee Sunyoung was born 1967 in Busan, South Korea. She grew up with her korean parents. She struggled at school and never excelled like her siblings, struggling with her mental health. Eventually she dropped out of high school and began to work in a retail store.

Xú Jingyi was born in Shanghai in the year 1966. He grew up with an older brother and his chinese parents. He was an excellent student and eventually moved to Korea to study engineering.

The two of them met when Jingyi went to the retail store that Sunyoung was working at. He was starstruck immediately. The two flirted and he asked for her number, in clumsy korean, but she hesitated. She made him a deal. If he would come to this store every week on the same day for two months, then he could get her number.

And so, he showed up every Wednesday at the same time for two months. Every time the two would flirt or Jingyi would make stupid jokes and they’d laugh together. They both liked the game. After Sunyoung gave him her number the two tried to outdo each other by organizing the best dates for each other. They fell in love without even fully realizing.

In 1993 they finally got together officially and moved together to Anyang, South Korea. They were so in love with each other it was painful to watch for friends and family. But truly, they were happy for the two. They were good together. In late 1994 Jingyi proposed (on a Wednesday of course) and mid-1995 they had wanted to marry.

But sadly, it would never come this far. In early 1995 Jingyi had a sudden seizure and was brought into the hospital. Here the doctors found a brain tumor, too late to be treated. His body began shutting down. Sunyoung’s world came crashing down. She watched the love of her life, mere months after proposing, collapse and die right in front of her eyes. On the 15th of February 1995 Jingyi died from his brain tumor. Which was a Wednesday.

But Sunyoung was in for another life changing discovery. She was pregnant. With Jingyi’s child. And so, on the 18th of October 1995, she gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl. Lee Yeseul. The 18th of October 1995 was a Wednesday.

While trying to raise their child alone and grieving the love of her life, Sunyoung began to take up education again. She picked up high school again and graduated. She started studying finances and business administration and majored in it. All while raising her daughter. And she made sure to stay in contact with Jingyi’s parents. Sadly, they died young as well with only 68 and 71 years old. She taught Yeseul about the part of her that was Jingyi, her dad. She brought her to China, taught her Mandarin and Cantonese, and taught her recipes. She tried her best to let the young girl know that her dad was still there. As a part of her.

She decided to follow her true dream. In 2005 she started her own horse ranch alongside a therapy program for traumatized children and adults. She and her daughter also started teaching liberty for horses and even performed occasionally. In 2008 Sunyoung became a professional equestrian and expanded her ranch to have room for guests and offer vacation homes. She doesn't make a lot of money but she is happy. Since then, she has raised her daughter to be an independent and strong woman. Full of love, strength, heritage, and power.

💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤

©︎ svt-yeseul - all rights reserved. do not copy, repost, or translate my work on Tumblr or other platforms.

[yutopia-eleftheria]

Bill Edward Headcanons

One of the best Glow-Ups in history ! My man ♥

Full Name : Bill Henry Edward

Nickname(s) : Billie/Billy

Age : 38 (during the events of Another Code Two Memories)

40 (during the events of Another Code R : A Journey Into Lost Memories)

Species/Race : Earthling

Human (formerly)

Place of Birth : United States

Birthday : December 31st (born in 1966)

Zodiac Sign : Capricorn

Gender : Born Male ; Gender Neutral

Sexuality : Polyamorous Androgynosexual

Nationality : American / French and English (from his father)

Residence : United States (formerly)

Blood Edward Island, United States

MBTI : ENFJ

Occupation : M.J. Labs Scientist (formerly)

J.C. Valley Scientist

Element of Harmony Bearer (Element of Legacy)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appearance :

Eyes : Greyish Royal Blue (left eye became lighter after being "linked" with Ryan Gray)

Hair : Light/Platinum Blonde

Skin : Caucasian

Height : 6'4" (193cm)

Weight : 185lbs (84kg)

Special Traits : Slights eyebags

Sutured scar on the right side of their face, from the cheek to above the eye (after the fall)

Missing right arm ; reminiscent of their Grandfather Henry (had to be cut off because of massive infection due to the fall)

Multiple scars, wounds and contusions (after the fall)

Differents types of aches from time to time (after the fall)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Family and Relatives :

Parents : Frannie Edward {Mother} (deceased)

Unnamed Father (presumably deceased)

Siblings : None

Others : Henry Edward {Grandfather} (deceased)

Marie Edward {Grandmother} (deceased)

Thomas Edward {Great Uncle} (deceased)

Jane Edward {Great Aunt} (deceased)

Daniel Edward {Uncle/First Cousin Once Removed} (deceased)

Léonard Edward {Great Grandfather} (deceased)

Sally Edward {Great Grandmother} (deceased)

Lawrence Edward {Ancestor} (deceased)

Helen Edward {Ancestor} (deceased)

Richard Robbins {Brother-in-Law}

Ashley Mizuki Robbins {Niece-in-Law}

Significant Other(s) : Ryan Gray

Jessica Robbins

Best Friends : Sofia Callaghan (saved a 14 years old Sofia from being r*ped by someone when they were 23 years old, and fought them, leaving both men with bruises and blood on their shirts ; therefore a trusting relationship was created between them (Note : Momma Frannie was at first terrified but quickly became proud of her son for risking their lives to protect someone ♥)

Gets Alongs Well With : Matthew Crusoé (sees them as a "Cool Uncle")

Gina Barnes (They found her funny)

Tommy Harrisson, Elizabeth Alfred and Janet Rice (often accepts to help them train up in their songs and loves to listen to this young generation).

Captain Cliff Fox (the dude often came back to see how they handle the mansion as it is now Bill's belonging. You know, INHERITANCE).

Bob Fox (loves his recipes ever since Richard introduced them to their restaurant).

Doesn't Get Along Well With : Rex Alfred ('cuz they killed Sayoko, but they both tried their best to have a better relationship as Rex knows how great they are in their job (knows from Richard when they were working at M.J. Labs together. Because YES, as a sign of redemption, Bill works at J.C. Valley alongside the other (same for Sofia and Ryan who were hired again for the same reasons as Bill).).).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill was born in 1966 in an unknown city from North America. They were raised by their mother Frannie far away from Blood Edward Island as she considers it a cursed place since many members of her family had died there. However, Bill was supposed to be born at the beginning of the year 1967, but they end up being born the very last day of 1966.

Despite his descend into depression and madness, Frannie still gave Bill her father's name as a second name because he was an amazing father nonetheless before World War II. Therefore their full name is Bill Henry Edward.

Their father supposedly abandoned them at a very young age, presumably because he wanted to have a girl. When Bill identified themselves as Gender Neutral, they went to see their father, but he rejected his child once more. Bill seemingly never saw their father ever again after that.

They may have not shown it that much, but they loved their mother deeply. Having lost her left them a huge scar on their heart. One of the main reasons why Ryan managed to get them more easily, and manipulate them into murdering Sayoko (their mixed feeling of love and hate towards Sayoko was obviously a great help too).

When they were 18, they wanted to do a gap year abroad, so they go to England (Galar), which is where their father comes from. When their mother died, they went back to the United States, which means they stayed for about 10 years in England.

Someone from England may be related to Bill. Who knows ? (well me I guess...)

Bill always had a crush on Sayoko, and it is highly suspected that they used to sleep together before Sayoko will fall in love with Richard and married him. They loved Sayoko so much that when they pretend to be Richard Robbins, Ashley's father, they got into the game and really believed they were her father for a moment. (Honestly though, they look more like her father than her ACTUAL father OMG !)

Why do I keep on making that xD

The combination of their mother's death and being rejected by Sayoko was the perfect opportunity for Ryan to manipulate them into murdering Sayoko. That wasn't before Bill told Ryan the truth about his past (Judd being his father and erasing his painful memories of his mother, being a test subject, etc...)

Bill trusted the young Ryan and never really considers Ryan as an ennemy and never felt hatred towards him. The main reason is because they never knew Ryan manipulated them before (probably because they were so young back then).

They didn't actually die after falling off in Blood Edward Island, but their body was badly injured. And more importantly, their right arm was pierced by sharp reefs, leaving them in horrible pain and stuck down there.

They will eventually be found by Ryan who was wondering why they didn't came back from the island. He would look everywhere only to find Bill at the bottom of the cliff, unconscious and bleeding out. Their body were in severe hypothermia and they stayed in a coma for around 2 years (the gap between Another Code Two Memories (Trace Memory) and Another Code R : A Journey Into Lost Memories).

Ryan was regretful of his actions towards Bill as he realized he used them as a tool when he was actually in love with him. He didn't realized it before because he couldn't feel any emotions after his father's experiments on him when back when he was a child. He stayed by Bill's side when they were in a coma, praying for them to keep fighting and coming back to him. Ryan wanted to atone for his sins towards the only one that was bold enough to tell him the truth about his past.

However, as Ryan has stated to Ashley back in the small island at Lake Juliet, Ryan will disappear when the water will naturally purify soon enough. Bill, who was barely recovering and did not wanted Ryan to disappear right as they were becoming a couple, decided to find a way to make Ryan stay no matter what. They will eventually find a way to actually make Ryan immortal, but not without having to "rewrite" everything so Ryan could stay forever with them. This "rewritting" ended up linking the two together until the very end, which may never happen as they therefore are both immortals now (at least for aging. Let's make it clear though : they will look "older", but not that much older. And they can still die for multiple reasons). This link with seemingly "liquid memory" made Bill's left turn more bluish. Thankfully though, his "veins" did not turn blue, as they were starting to become when "rewritting" everything.

Ryan will be there for Bill's rehabilitation. They needed a long time to be able to walk again properly and even do any moves at first (the combination of falling and hypothermia is definitely a hard-to-handle situation and a really painful healing process, isn't it ?). However, to be able to move freely, Bill now had to wear orthosis/splints in their legs, otherwise the pain will strike back and it could even paralyze them. Bill and Ryan will eventually end up together and will live together at Blood Edward Island. They will slowly but surely rebuilt the mansion as it was back in the days.

Before the doctors had to remove Bill's right arm, they were sometimes recoiling after they touched some of the furnitures with the golden bird designs, as if they were electrocuted on their arm. It is most likely linked to their grandfather Henry who lost his right arm in World War II.

Jessica will eventually join them, despite Bill having knocked her unconscious and havind drugged her back in the events of Blood Edward Island. She had a crush on Bill ever since they worked together at MJ Labs after all... Perhaps Stockolm Syndrome ?

This is thanks to Jessica that Bill will eventually get along again with Richard. But they will absolutely love to tease Richard from time to time. They will also get along better with Ashley as, deep down, they loved her almost like a daughter.

They are actually a good singer, a great dancer and an amazing cook. They learned all of these from their mother Frannie. They are also playing various music instruments, one of them being their mother's signature instrument : the piano. They are also pretty good at drawing and writing, but mostly drawing. They inherited this talent for their grandfather Henry who was a painter, and from their great uncle Thomas, who was a writer.

After the events of Another Code R : A Journey Into Lost Memories, Bill, alongside Ashley, Jessica and Ryan, will be gifted an Element of Harmony each : Strength, Empathy, Mercy and Alchemy respectively. Bill's Element is a Golden and a Silver Bird (referencing the Edwards' legacy) and is located in his right shoulder when he wears it. As the Element of Strength, this Element gave them a specific arm replacing their lost one, with electricity running through it (another reference), being Golden. Their armor is mostly Golden, Silver and Red.

Before Jessica joined them, Bill and Ryan had a daughter named Harmonia Edward Fitzgerald. She is Bill's precious baby jewel.

When Jessica will join them, they will all together had triplet children, with 2 sons named Crimson Gray Edward and Ayden Edward ("Ay" meaning "Moon" in Turkish, a reference to Sayoko giving "Mizuki" for a second name to Ashley, also meaning "Moon", but in Japanese. Let's not forget that they regret killing Sayoko and still loved her after all), as well as a daughter named Licilla Edward Robbins. Ayden is the older triplet, Crimson in the middle, and Licilla is the youngest.

[shadydestinycollector]

Mahdeen Mays - Part I

The Texas Years {1894-1922}

The anecdote my father told me about my great-grandmother, Mahdeen, eventually became an evaporative myth. I’ll come back to the details in due time.

I wasn’t disappointed to find an indomitable woman born at the turn of the 20th century who bore witness to significant historical events, surrounded by brothers, seeking independence as a creative and single parent during the ‘20s and ‘30s.

Family Group Sheet Parents Walter M. Mays (1872-1901) Martha Aminee Rollins (1875-1957) Siblings Mahdeen Mays (1894-1968) - great grandmother Walter Edgar Mays (1896-1973) John Thomas Mays (1900-1986) Step-Father Andrew Jackson Mayberry Sr. (1857-1935) Step-siblings Lydia Ann Mayberry (1888-1952) Thomas Edward Mayberry (1889-1946) Charles Earl Mayberry Sr. (1892-1966) Half siblings Andrew Jackson Mayberry Jr. (1903-1981) Fred Monroe Mayberry (1905-1956) William Clyde Mayberry Sr. (1908-1986) Robert Earnest Mayberry (1910-1983) Spouse 1 and children; James William Roe Sr. (1887-1967) - great grandfather James William Roe Jr. (1915-1992) - grandfather John Ed Roe Sr. (1919-2000) Spouse 2 Anthony L. Ransdell (1885-?) Spouse 3  Arthur Roosevelt Summersett (1901-1990)

Note: citations that include links to news clippings should be viewable without a paywall.

Mahdeen Mays was my father’s paternal grandmother. She was born on 22 Feb 1894 in unspecified Texas, the oldest of the three Mays children. Her parents were Walter M. and Martha Aminee (Rollins) Mays.

Walter M. Mays, the fifth child among six siblings, was the son of a Confederate Civil War soldier. Walter's father, at age 18, served as a Private in the Texas Infantry & Cavalry, Company B, (Kirby’s) 3rd Battalion, and then, at age 19, as a Corporal in the Texas Infantry, Company F, (Allen’s) 17th Regiment. The Mays family were tried and true Texans.

Alabama, Texas, and Virginia, US Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958. Pension File Nos. 43291-43315. Application Years 1922-1927.

Martha Aminee Rollins, the eighth child among nine siblings, was the daughter of another Confederate Civil War soldier. Martha's father was 32 when he enlisted as a Private in the Mississippi Infantry, Company A, 35th Regiment. The Rollins family relocated from Kemper County, Mississippi, around 1869, after having lost and buried two children who died young. They settled in Brazos County, Texas, as evidenced by the 1870 census.

Alabama, Texas, and Virginia, US Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958. Pension File Nos. 05756-05810. Application Years 1844-1929. 1870 US Federal Census. Brazos County, Texas. Roll M593_1577. Page 66A. Image 135. FHL film 553076.

Mahdeen’s brother Walter Edgar was born on 24 Jun 1896, specifically in Caldwell, Burleson, Texas. During this period, Burleson County was renowned for ranching and cotton farming.

During the Jun 1900 census, Mahdeen, age 6, was living in Burleson with her father, Walter M., a farmer, age 27, mother Martha, who went by Mattie, age 24, and younger brother Walter, age 4.

Also living in the household was her widowed aunt by marriage, Mary Belle (Cunningham) Rollins, and her two children, Mahdeen’s cousins Mary Frances Rollins, age 14, and William Rollins, age 5. Although listed as widowed, I’ve been unable to find documentation regarding Mr. William W. Rollins’ death.

1900 US Federal Census. Justice Precinct 1, Burleson, Texas. Roll 1650. Page 22A. Enumeration District 0038. FHL microfilm 1241615.

Mahdeen’s baby brother, John Thomas, was born two months after the census on 28 Aug 1900, also in Caldwell. Their mother, Mattie, remarried in 1903, leaving a lingering question concerning the fate of their father, Walter.

Despite consulting conventional sources, information about Walter between 1900 and 1903 remained elusive and his death date was persistently left blank.

While looking for a public domain photo of Burleson County circa 1900 to add to this post, I came across a collection that included searchable Caldwell newspaper archives. I ran a search for Walter and lo and behold found his obituary.

Joiner, F. Lee. Caldwell News-Chronicle. Vol. 21 No. 44 Ed. 1. 29 Mar 1901. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth169333/m1/9/?q=%22Walter%20Mays%22: accessed 3 Mar 2024. University of North Texas Libraries. The Portal to Texas History. https://texashistory.unt.edu. Crediting Harrie P. Woodson Memorial Library.

The 1900 census had documented his birth as "Dec 1872.” With the help of an online date calculator, the obituary helped pinpoint the precise date as 17 Dec 1872. We now know that he died on 27 Mar 1901 and was laid to rest the following day at the Masonic Cemetery. His obituary was a touching tribute to the man, Walter M. Mays, my great-great-grandfather.

My question was what would cause the death of a young man who had been "sick only a short time" and render him unable to speak? A quick search returned a heartbreaking answer, Diphtheria.

We have to keep in mind that these rural families faced the indiscriminate mortality of yellow fever, influenza, pneumonia, whooping cough, tuberculosis, measles, typhoid, and diphtheria from intimate perspectives within their communities during the mid-19th to early 20th century.

Between the ages of 19 and 25, Mattie lost one family member each year: two nieces, a nephew, her father, a brother, and now her husband. Before Mattie was born, two of her siblings died young and an aunt had died at age 16. Due to the time and place, we have little in the way of death certificates to rely on regarding these deaths.

The earliest death certificate I found was for Mrs. Josie Greathouse, Walter’s younger sister. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 29 in 1912, leaving a husband and 3 children.

Walter and Mattie’s children and their ages at the time of Walter’s death:

Mahdeen, age 7

Walter, age 4

John, age 7 mos.

Several family events occurred after Walter’s death and before the 1910 census. In March 1903, Mahdeen's mother, Mattie, married Andrew J. Mayberry Sr. They were likely acquainted with each other's families years beforehand.

Mattie's sister, Mary Matilda (Rollins), had previously married Andrew's brother, Seaborn Burnett Mayberry, in 1889. Their first child, Ethel Aminee Mayberry, was born in 1890 and died when “the death angel visited” in 1899. Mattie attended her niece's funeral with her husband, who, at that time, was Walter.

Bryan-College Station Eagle. 31 Aug 1899. Page 3. https://www.newspapers.com/article/bryan-college-station-eagle-ethel-mayber/81529261/ : accessed 9 Mar 2024. clip page for the Obituary for Ethel Mayberry.

Andrew J. Mayberry Sr., at the time of his marriage to Mattie, was a widower whose first wife also died in 1901. From that marriage, he had three children, Lydia Ann, age 15, Thomas Edward, age 14, and Charles Earl Mayberry, age 11.

Lydia Ann Mayberry would marry at the age of 17 in 1905.

Mattie and Andrew J. Mayberry Sr. would have four children of their own;

Andrew Jackson Mayberry Jr. - 21 Dec 1903 - Merkel, Taylor, Texas

Fred Monroe Mayberry - 1 Dec 1905 - Merkel, Taylor, Texas

William Clyde Mayberry Sr. - 2 Mar 1908 - Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas

Robert Ernest Mayberry - 14 Dec 1909 - Merkel, Taylor, Texas

Andrew and Mattie (Rollins) Mayberry’s children would be double cousins or first cousins twice over to Seaborn and Mary (Rollins) Mayberry’s children...whenever siblings marry siblings, the children are double cousins.

My great-grandmother Mahdeen would marry my great-grandfather, James William Roe Sr., in Taylor County, Texas, early in the year, on 12 Jan 1910. She was one month shy of 16 years old. James was 22. She later testified during their 1923 divorce court proceedings that they met at a school party.

Texas, Select County Marriage Records, 1837-2015. Taylor County Clerk's Office. Abilene, Texas. Taylor County Marriage Records. Volume 6. Page 94.

In the Apr 1910 census of Merkel, Taylor, Texas, Mahdeen and her husband, Jim W., a farmer, resided with her stepfather who was a carpenter, her mother Mattie, two older stepbrothers, two younger brothers, and four younger half-brothers.

1910 US Federal Census. Merkel, Taylor, Texas. Roll T624_1593. Page 5A. Enumeration District 0272. FHL microfilm 1375606.

James and Mahdeen's sons, James William Roe Jr., my grandfather, and John Ed Roe, my granduncle, were born in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas. James was born on 29 Jul 1915, and John on 29 Oct 1919, both during the era of World War I. In the years preceding World War II, it was commonly referred to as the “War,” the "Great War,” or the “World War."

Of note: their son John's middle name was Ed, not Edward.

The only immediate family member who served in the war was her brother John Thomas Mays. He enlisted in the US Army at the age of 17 on 29 Jul 1918 and was discharged on 16 May 1921. His obituary published in Dec 1986 didn’t mention the US Army but reported that he served in the US Navy. I have yet to find proof of Naval service.

The post-war 1920s stood out as a notable decade. Prohibition, commencing in 1920, and the ratification of women's right to vote in August of the same year were pivotal historical moments. In Texas, the '20s heralded the onset of the oil boom. In the local context of Fort Worth, colloquially known as "Cowtown," an extensive network of railways from across the nation played a vital role in supporting the cattle industry centered at the Fort Worth Stockyards. The railroad infrastructure, as evidenced by the impressive 1888 map, laid the foundation for the region's visions of financial success and stability. Presently, the “stockyards" have become a cattle-free tourist destination.

Wikimedia Commons: Paddock Fort Worth, TX, and Rail-Roads, 1888

The census dated 6 Jan 1920 in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas, shows Mahdeen living with her husband Jim, now a carpenter, and two sons: James, age 4, and John, age 2 months. Also, a young couple who were roomers.

1920 US Federal Census. Fort Worth, Ward 8, Tarrant, Texas. Roll T625_1850. Page 7A. Enumeration District 134. Image 168.

In July, seven months later, Mahdeen initiated divorce proceedings.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 28 Jul 1920. Page 10. https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-maude-files-for/141681011/ : accessed 23 Feb 2024. clip page for Maude Files for Divorce.

After almost two years, in Mar 1922, Judge Terrell dismissed 171 divorce cases, including hers, all of them “for want of prosecution.” At first, it sounded to me like an easy day for the Judge. Then again, I’m unfamiliar with divorce law in Texas during the 1920s. The 171 cases that were listed take up an entire column of the newspaper.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 11 Mar 1922. Page 5. https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-171-divorce-cas/141681126/ : accessed 23 Feb 2024. clip page for 171 Divorce Cases Dismissed.

Mahdeen “ain't” givin' up just yet! Stay tuned for more...

[lawrence1825]

MY HAPPINESS IN MY LIFE

My name is Lawrence Dagdag Singit, and I am 18 year's old. I was born on October 18, 2005, in baloy cuyapo , Nueva Ecija, and now we live in Baranggay Sto.Domingo Talugtug Nueva Ecija My father's name is Johnny DL. Singit, born on January 18, 1967 and he was now 56 years old he was born in Baranggay Sto.Domingo Talugtug Nueva Ecija he is a father who support out family and my Mother's name is Elizabeth D. Singit she was born on December 12, 1966 and she is now 57 years old she was born in Baloy Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija. We are four siblings the name of my oldest brother is Jerome B. Singit he was born on January 2 1992 in Talugtug Nueva Ecija he is now 33 years old, the name of my second brother is Eric A. Singit he was born on April 18, 1994 he is now 28 years old and my sister bame is Lovely Princess S. Martil she was born on August 26, 1997 in Baloy Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija she is now 26 years old.

When I was a child, I love playing toy with my friends, specially when I woke up in the morning. We would play right away. When I was in Elementary School, I was very happy because there were times when I receive award in our school. I'm happy because I got award because I was able to get awards because of my hard working in studying. I'm very happy because my mother and my father is very supportive of me.

When I got to Junior High School, I was very happy and excited because I had new friend, but when the pandemic came due to the spreading desease, the face to face classes were stopped, and because of that, I became sad because I could no longer be with my friends. But I'm still thankful because my parents and siblings are Here, they are the ones I always spend time with everyday, and they support me, specially in my studies and. I would like to thank my parents and my siblings because they did not get tired of their support for my studies and want to repay the everything they did to support me.

[plscallmeeren]

P R O L O G U E

My eyes turned to the cool grey shades of winter just beyond the window pane. I couldn't settle on a single glimpse to inspect, so my gaze flitted from one ghost of a plant to the miserably alone woman in the office across from the one I was sitting in. Nothing deserved to be scrutinised. It had to be contemplated, conceptually, as one.

"Miss Crown? Miss Crown? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, doc, I can hear. Now please, indulge me. What do I have to tell me so that you can write on a slip of paper what's wrong with me, tell me to fuck off and then we all live happily ever after?" I didn't look away from the weeping lady or the snow-covered flowers or barren branches.

"I'm not quite that far yet. First, tell me of your life. Include your family and perhaps your closest friends and where they were at the time, but no one else. Chronological, if at all possible." His deeply troubling, trembling hands and glasses so thick he looked like a cartoon character were comically familiar. A doctor through and through. And yet, what did I know of a random psychologist with shaking limbs and incredibly enlarged eyes?

"M'kay", I murmured, still focusing my sight on nothing in particular, just as I intended to for the entire session.

"So, I give you this little summary of Raven and her family's backstory, because neither of us have the time to tell it? That's great. Okay. Here I go, then.

A PHOENIX TIGER STUDIOS PRODUCTION

The Crown family is made up of seven people; Khalil and Marie, and their five children, who are, from oldest to youngest, called Raven - as you very well know -, Miriam, Evangeline, and the twins Brynn and Favian.

WITH NETFLIX

I was born in the same year as my friend Eddie - 1966 - to a happy, newly wedded couple in California." I chuckled wryly and could almost see the doctor look up from the paper he was scribbling on fervently until then. California, baby, you heard it.

DIRECTED BY

"In 1967 Billy Hargrove was born to a loving mother and problematic father, if you know what we mean, although he kept his distance from his son, also in California, at the beach... nowhere near me though. Man, if he had been nearby, things might've went differently.

THE DUFFER BROTHERS

Miriam was born in 1969, both our parents and me delighted to have her as she was welcomed into the world. Sometime after this, however, Marie - our mother - started having an affair. I used to think it ridiculous, but I didn't get life yet, I don't think. Hadn't gotten the hang of it.

EXCECUTIVE PRODUCERS SHAWN LEVVY, DAN COHEN, BRIAN WRIGHT AND MORE

This... came to light when Evangeline, or Evan, or Angel, as we like to call her, was born in 1972, neither of Algerian nor European ethnicity. Upon this revelation, Khalil... dad... began drinking, soon falling into the common addiction.

CINEMATOGRAPHY BY TIM IVES, TOD CAMPBELL, LACHLAN MILNE, DAVID FRANCO, RICARDO DIAZ

In 1978, the twins - Favian and Brynn - were born, also not as his children. His alcohol problem only worsened, his person tending to long periods of depression due to this, making him practically unavailable to anyone. Marie's anger at the world and her... her life... had long come to light, especially me suffering from her issues as I was often... hit? Yelled at? Blamed? It doesn't feel like I'm doing it justice. Around this time - I hope you don't mind my controversial religion, doc -, I turned to Wicca, beginning our study of witchcraft. Sounds scary, doesn't it? Anyway.

EDITORS DEAN ZIMMERMANN, KEVIN D. ROSS, NAT FULLER, KATHERYN NARANJO

Marie waited until the twins no longer required breastfeeding - funny, isn't it? -, abandoning the family few months after they were born. Khalil- dad... continued drinking, only just managing to earn money, albeit little, otherwise unable to look after the kids. Due to this, at... twelve, maybe? Barely. We was already the main paternal figure in the kids' lives. Yay, am I right?

21 LAPS ENTERTAINMENT

That same year - 1979 - we moved to Hawkins, where we only just got by, the eldest - that'd be us - working whenever I could aside from my school life... that included babysitting Johnathon for a while, who is... Right. Chronological. This was also the year Billy moved to Hawkins, as well as Eddie lost his parents, moving in with his uncle Wayne. Crazy, how that happens, ain't it, hon'?

MONKEY MASSACRE PRODUCTIONS

1980 - great times - Eddie and us first shared classes together in eighth grade, the former continuously flirting with me, making up the most of our relationship. However, I was too preoccupied with my chores to consider romance, to be completely honest. This was also the time I actually befriended Johnathon, the two of us soon coming to call ourselves best friends. Then again, we were also each other's only friends, for that matter, apart from maybe Eddie, on my behalf. At this age I was also convinced by my fuck-wit of a sister to go see a free psychologist in order to get diagnosed with Anxiety. Or, well, so it seems."

I fell silent, the scribbling continuing. My head filled with useless visions of past, present and future.

UPSIDE DOWN PICTURES

In 1981 Billy and I meet and start dating. This only comes to be because Billy quickly grows to be emotionally dependant on me, my idiocy immediately realising this and feeling I owed my compassion to him, although I soon balanced the relationship out as it became less and less one-sided. At this time, I was 14, Billy being 13 - one year younger than me. Stupid, how that bothered me so damn much. Eddie continued to flirt with me relentlessly, causing much drama, the dynamic lasting all the way into the year of '83.

WRITTEN BY EREN

At the end of this year, however, Khalil passes away, leaving the children in my hands and with not enough money to survive. The twins had barely gotten prepared for first grade.

WITH INSPIRATION AND PHOTOS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

For this reason, before the next school year could start in 1984, I drop out, Billy consequently breaking up with me over apparent 'prioritising my siblings over him'. Motherfucker, I even believe it. At this time, Eddie and I had both just finished eleventh grade, though Eddie had to repeat. Searching desperately for a well-paid job, Jim Hopper discovered my troubles and offered me a spot at the station as a nurse, the eighteen-year-old me slowly passing more and more tests from afar so that I could be paid as a real nurse. Upon my father's death I fought to adopt my siblings now that I was an adult, social services agreeing reluctantly because it was easiest and there was no way they could all stay together if they were brought into the system, especially in the times of the Cold Wars.

WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT

In 1985 this life continued, Eddie now in twelfth grade, Billy dropping out of school for a year due to Max and Susan's presence. In this year, Eddie and I both turned 20, Billy aged 18 to 19, Miriam was 16, Evangeline 13 and the twins seven. For two years already Evan had been a part of the group including Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin, although she was unaware of... something. She befriended Max better than anyone, the two labelling themselves best friends within months.

STARRING JOSEPH QUINN AND SOFIA BOUTELLA

I finally tore my gaze away from the small birds chirping in the freezing haze outside upon hearing my name called out to me. The doctor sat with one leg perched on another, his eyes now seeming abnormally small as he had removed his glasses and was looking at me, rather bewildered.

"Yes?"

"I just have a question", he stuttered, almost shy all of a sudden, "Why... You keep saying 'we' or 'us' instead of 'I'... Why is that? You sound like you believe not to be alone?"

A smirk crept upon my lips at understanding searching for me, getting lost on the way and diving down a rabbit-hole to madness.

"Oh, doc, didn't you know?

We are never alone."

STRANGER THINGS: SOUL TRADE

[scotianostra]

Second Govan native today, the songwriter Bill Martin was born on November 9th 1938 in Glasgow.

Bill Martin really should be more well known, he penned some cracking songs, along with his songwriting partner Phil Coulter including Shang-a-lang,  Puppet on a String and Congratulations, he also co-penned Egland’s World Cup Song for 1970, Back Home, but we’ll forgive him for that! 

Born William Macpherson, the son of Letty (nee Wylie) and Ian Macpherson, in the dockside district of Glasgow, where his father worked in the shipyard. Like most folk back then his parents liked to socialise, and his father would entertain on accordion or piano, but at Govan high school their son was more interested in history and geography than music, Bill’s school mate became quite famous in his own right, a guy call Alex Ferguson.

After leaving school at 15, he worked in the shipyard himself, and then trained as a marine engineer. It was on a night shift doing that job, while listening to Bobby Darin’s Dream Lover playing on the radio, that he first seriously considered the idea of composing music. “The lyrics were tight and modern,” he said. “This was my kind of rock music and I felt then that I could make it as a songwriter.”

Martin did not take an immediate change in direction, however. Having married Margaret (Mag) Howe in 1960, he accepted a post as an engineer in South Africa, where, shortly after his arrival, he witnessed the Sharpsville Massacre watching from the safety of a tree as police fired on a crowd of anti-apartheid protestors, killing 69 people.

When he and Mag returned to the UK in 1962, Martin tried to interest Denmark Street publishers in songs that he had written while he was away. The music publisher Cyril Gee told him to change his name, suggesting that that any combination of 10 letters was lucky for songwriters – and so in early 1963 he became known as Bill Martin.

While writing songs for Dublin pop group the Bachelors, he befriended Northern Irishman Phil Coulter, their young arranger. Martin suggested the two of them write together, and their first success was Hi! Hi! Hazel, for Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band in 1966.

When Sandie Shaw was chosen to represent the UK in Vienna in 1967, Martin and Coulter were determined to write the winning song, and write it they did, Puppet on a String was a massive hit for her, but Shaw was not keen on entering the contest, there were five songs written for her, Puppet on a String was her least favourite, just shows you eh! Martin and Coulter had number one’s in every country in the world

Next year the duo were back with another great tune and they felt confident of repeating their success with a new composition, Congratulations. Although their composition lost out to Spain by one vote, Martin said later: “While it was embarrassing to come second to such a poor song as La,la,la really we won, because nobody plays La La La today and Congratulations is everywhere.” The Spanish entry disappeared without trace, but the runner-up got to No 1 in the UK singles chart, was a hit throughout the rest of Europe and remains played at weddings and the like today!

Martin and Coulter went on to write some of the biggest hits of the 70’s for the likes of The Bay City Rollers, Kenny and one of my fave songs by Slik, Forever and Ever, with Midge Ure on lead vocals.

There were three No. 1 hits in the US for the songwriters My Boy, by Elvis probably the most well known, although the pair adapted it from a French song.

Eventually, in 1983, he broke up his partnership with Coulter. The same year he also fell out with the entrepreneur Eddie Healey over the financing of a West End musical, Jukebox. His ambition to write his own hit musical was never realised; he came close with a proposed stage version of the 1979 film The Water Babies, which he had scored with Coulter, but the logistics of having a large water tank on stage were too great.

He and Mag divorced in 1970, after which he bought John Lennon’s former home, Kenwood, in Weybridge, Surrey, and moved in with Jan Olley, whom he married in 1972.

Sadly, just like my last post about Johnny Beattie, we also lost Bill Martin on March 26th 2020.

[buckleysbegins]

9-1-1 Main Character Ages and Birth Years

Bobby: ~54 (born ~1966) His dating profile says that he’s 52 in 1x10 (2018). Shoutout to romancing the uniform dot com for also making this one easy for me and showing Bobby’s age (and that he likes flan).

Athena: ~53-54 (born ~1966-1967) Athena would’ve been at least ~22 in 1989, as she (presumably) would’ve had to have completed a four year degree at college before starting law school. She could’ve been a few years older than 22 when she started law school (also possibly 21 or younger, but that’s less likely), but it’s lightly implied that she went to law school immediately after college (she’s still framed as being young, and there’s no mention of her having worked for a significant stretch of time between college and law school) I’m assuming she was ~22/23 in 1989.

Chimney: ~40-45 (born ~1979-1984) There’s actually very little information on how old Chim is, despite him being the only character to have his birthday celebrated on screen, so this is more of a guesstimate than anything, and this is primarily based on assumptions made off of ‘Chimney Begins.’ My guess is that Chim was ~25-30 in ‘Chimney Begins,’ which was set starting in 2005. It’s clear that he was into adulthood at the start of the episode, as he definitely had sort of a sense of feeling like he should be settled into a life path already (plus he’s had at least a few years of pitching ideas to banks for loan support), which makes me assume that he’s in his late twenties. They also used Kenny Choi instead of casting a ‘Young Chimney’ actor, and while the gap between Kenny Choi’s age and young twenties isn’t as big as the gap between Angela Bassett’s age and young twenties, which indicates that Chim was older in ‘Chimney Begins’ than Athena was in ‘Athena Begins.’ Going more based on the actors ages, mid 40s does feel accurate. Kenny Choi is 49 so Chim could be up towards that, but I think that Chim is at least a few years younger than (for no real reason other than the previous age framing, and that some of the other actors are 5ish years older than their characters). But like if you have a better idea of his age please let me know. I need help.

Hen: ~40 (born ~1980) Hen says that she’s 40 in 4x03 (2020). Shoutout to Sydney for annoying Hen into telling her her age and making this one easy for me.

Maddie: ~36-38 (born ~1982-1984) Margaret Buckley mentions her being over high-risk pregnancy 35 in 4x04. It’s unclear if Maddie’s older or younger than Daniel, but I’m assuming she was born close-ish to when Daniel was born (which would’ve been ~1983-1984, based on Daniel’s age at death and Buck’s defined age and other dates from Buck Begins). If she were the middle child she couldn’t have been much younger than Daniel (really 1 year younger max) as that would’ve made her under 35. Her also being a bit older makes more sense because it’s suggested that she remembers Daniel pre-diagnosis

Eddie: ~31-34 (born ~1986-1989) There’s not much to go on for Eddie. I wanna guess he was 22-25 when Christopher was born in 2011. It’s set up to be that he was still in early adulthood when Christopher was born, but also not super young (as in Eddie and Shannon had a kid when they were young, but not teen parents young). Ryan Guzman is 33, so Eddie being in that ballpark makes sense.

Buck: ~28 (born ~1991/1992) Says that he’s 26 1x09 (2018). Shoutout to Buck for just straight up telling Bobby his age, and for keeping this tidbit of information safe for work unlike a good chunk of what he shared.

[btzone]

Commonality of Buck-Tick member names

I was thinking that if you’re not Japanese, you might not know how common or rare the various Japanese names are. For Buck-Tick, the names of the band members are fairly common first names and surnames, not really anything unusual happening there. No native speaker should have trouble reading their names. However, the most interesting thing to note is that Hisashi’s kanji is not usually how one would think to read that name, which is how it ended up that on their very first release on an independent label, his name was typo-ed as Kotobuki instead of Hisashi. (To keep that kanji and reading, it is likely to add one more kanji to make Hisashi, much like how Atsushi’s name is 2 kanji.) Our Hisashi Imai is not the only one with that kanji and name reading, but it’s not the default way to read it. This is why when you fill out forms in Japan, you not only write your name’s kanji but you also write down how to read it because you never know what combos a parent came up with.

Some basic info about their surnames, such as how common it is and where in Japan is it most common. Excluding Hokkaido and Tokyo as the majority of people who live in those two places are “immigrants”, so to speak, and not native for several generations. (If you meet someone from those 2 places, ask them where their grandparents are from.) I need you to be able to track your family history in that general area for at least 150-200 years in Japan to call you a native of that region, sorry. (If you can’t claim that you’re the 19th generation descendant of so-and-so, what is your worth?) This sort of tracking is quite easy to do in Japan because we have family registry books that note the genealogy (patriarchal because who needs to remember the names of women) and also serves as a way of establishing citizenship. It’s also fairly common IMHO for the history of a surname to be like, well 1000 years ago this person did something good for the emperor/king so they were granted a gift and the gift was this name and some land. But, I digress. (Trust me, this whole paragraph is hilarious if you’re Japanese with a sense of humor because it’s true.)

Focusing on family names here. No info on their first names as I looked up what were the most common names given to boys in the years the members were born and though their names are common enough, only one of the members have a name in the top 10 most popular boys names for the year they were born. Takashi (same kanji as B-T member; real first name of Toll) was the 9th most common name given to a boy in 1962 (same year as Takashi the drummer). Yutaka gets an honorable mention. Yutaka (same kanji as B-T member) was the 3rd most common name given to a boy in 1962 and 1963; the 6th most common name given to a boy in 1964; the 7th most common name given to a boy in 1965 (Yutaka the bassist was born in 1967). Minor note: though the kanji is different, Atsushi was the 10th most common name given to a boy in 1968 (Atsushi the singer was born in 1966). To the rest of the band members, don’t feel so bad as my name isn’t in the top 10 either! And who can even read child names today. It’s crazy, right? (mic check, um, can I get a chuckle?)

What is not so commonly shared and do not expect to ever know this stuff is the family crest. The family crest is VERY specific to the son that you descended from. Japan be like, “We can’t have each of George Foreman’s kids named George AND have the same family crest!” This ain’t no google search thing. This ain’t no ask a librarian. This is in the family genealogical book and the only people who get to see that is family. Sure, there’s crests online. But don’t think that’s your crest or your favorite celebrity crest. That’s just some common crest that made it’s way to a scanner. Also, if you study a craft, it could be that craft is from a “school” that passes on a pseudonym once you’ve mastered the craft, complete with kanji and crest so unless you know the master’s birth name, you’re not even looking in the right direction. Example, one year someone with the same family name and kanji as mine got really famous in Japan and even made international headlines. Like, you’ve probably heard of this person famous. My mom was curious if we’re related (internet says there’s only 5400 of us so maybe) and while she was visiting relatives, happened to find out that we have different family crests, thus she gave up the search and declared we are not related. (She did not want to bother to go back 19 generations or so to the story of the king who passed out names.., see paragraph 2 above.)

On to the names! For reference, all Buck-Tick members are from Gunma prefecture. Japan has a population of 126,476,461 people. The most common surnames are Satō, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka, Itō, Watanabe, Yamamoto, Nakamura, and Kobayashi. Each of those surnames have over 1,000,000 people with that name residing in Japan. What’s a rare surname? Something with either 1 or 4+ kanji. (Except Hayashi.) They exist but. Really rare surnames? Well, those would be the names the Japanese government declared cannot exist anymore so those names tend to exist only outside of Japan. (Happened to one part of my family so I know this shit exists. Only 460 left. How did they get away with it? And how can I get hanko with this?)

Name info source: https://myoji-yurai.net/

桜井 (sakurai) literal meaning: cherry blossom-well (like a water well) This kanji for Sakurai is ranked #106 for most common surnames in Japan. This is the most common kanji for Sakurai. It is commonly found in Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures. (Kanto region) For cities, Takasaki, Gunma and Uonuma, Niigata have the most people named Sakurai. Roughly 172,000 people in the entire nation are named 桜井. In Gunma, almost 5% of Kanna town has this surname. Other famous Sakurais? Argh, someone in The Alfee. Better than that, Ao from Cali≠Gari.

櫻井 (sakurai) Same name as above, just different cherry blossom kanji (older version). This kanji for Sakurai is ranked #813 for most common surnames in Japan. It is commonly found in Kanagawa, Aichi, and Chiba prefectures (Kanto and Chubu regions) For cities, Takasaki, Gunma and Akashi, Hyogo have the most people named Sakurai. Roughly 23,600 people in the entire nation are named 櫻井. (The people who couldn’t be sussed to simplify their kanji.) 

今井 (imai) literal meaning: now-well (like a water well) This kanji for Imai is ranked #75 for most common surname in Japan. This is the most common kanji for Imai. It is commonly found in Kanagawa, Saitama, and Aichi prefectures. (Kanto region) For cities, Gero, Gifu and Ichinomiya, Aichi have the most people named Imai. Roughly 212,000 people in the entire nation are named 今井. In Gunma, 20% of Ueno village has this surname. Other famous Imais? Miki Imai, singer, wife to Tomoyasu Hotei. 星野 (hoshino) literal meaning: star-field This kanji for Hoshino is ranked #147 for most common surnames in Japan. This is the most common kanji for Hoshino. It is commonly found in Gunma, Saitama, and Kanagawa prefectures (Kanto region). For cities, Kiryu, Gunma and Nagaoka, Niigata have the most people named Hoshino. Roughly 137,000 people in the entire nation are named 星野. In Gunma, almost 36% of Katashina village has this surname. Other famous Hoshinos? Gen Hoshino wrote a song during the pandemic that got very popular and even Hisashi Imai posted a video of him playing along to that song.

樋口 (higuchi) literal meaning: gutter-mouth This kanji for Higuchi is ranked #132 for most common surnames in Japan. This is the most common kanji for Higuchi. It is commonly found in Fukuoka, Osaka, Niigata, and Kanagawa prefectures (Kansai to Chubu regions) but it’s safe to say it is common throughout all of Japan except for Okinawa. Roughly 146,000 people in the entire nation are named 樋口. In Gunma, there’s roughly 1,000 people named Higuchi in Takasaki and guess where our bassist is from. Other famous Higuchis? How about Yutaka Higuchi the figure skater.

Yagami...the stage name of the drummer. He never writes this in kanji but I imagined that if he did, he would write it as 八神. Or did he write it like that once so that’s why I imagine it that way? Anyway, there’s many possible kanji variations and I was surprised that the most common way to write it is actually 谷上. (For me, I’m like is that Tanuye? Taniue? because I’m Okinawan and we have weird place names.)

[nitrateglow]

Favorite films discovered in 2020

Well, this year sucked. I did see some good movies though. Some even made after I was born!

Perfect Blue (dir. Satoshi Kon, 1997)

I watch a lot of thrillers and horror movies, but precious few actually unsettle me in any lasting way. This cannot be said of Perfect Blue, which gave me one of the most visceral cinematic experiences of my life. Beyond the brief flashes of bloodletting (you will never look at a screwdriver the same way again), the scariest thing about Perfect Blue might be how the protagonist has both her life and her sense of self threatened by the villains. The movie’s prescience regarding public persona is also incredibly eerie, especially in our age of social media. While anime is seen as a very niche interest (albeit one that has become more mainstream in recent years), I would highly recommend this movie to thriller fans, whether they typically watch anime or not. It’s right up there with the best of Hitchcock or De Palma.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (dir. Sergio Leone, 1966)

Nothing is better than when an iconic movie lives up to the hype. Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef play off of one another perfectly. I was impressed by Wallach as Tuco in particular: his character initially seems like a one-dimensional greedy criminal, but the performance is packed with wonderful moments of humanity. Do I really need to say anything about the direction? Or about the wonderful storyline, which takes on an almost mythic feel in its grandeur? Or that soundtrack?

Die Niebelungen (both movies) (dir. Fritz Lang, 1924)

I did NOT expect to love these movies as much as I did. That they would be dazzlingly gorgeous I never doubted: the medieval world of the story is brought to vivid life through the geometrical mise en scene and detailed costuming. However, the plot itself is so, so riveting, never losing steam over the course of the four hours it takes to watch both movies. The first half is heroic fantasy; the second half involves a revenge plot of almost Shakespearean proportions. This might actually be my favorite silent Fritz Lang movie now.

Muppet Treasure Island (dir. Brian Henson, 1996)

I understand that people have different tastes and all, but how does this movie have such a mixed reception? It’s absolutely hilarious. How could anybody get through the scene with “THA BLACK SPOT AGGHHHHHHH” and not declare this a masterpiece of comedy? And I risk being excommunicated from the Muppet fandom for saying it, but I like this one more than The Great Muppet Caper. It’s probably now my second favorite Muppet movie.

Belle de Jour (dir. Luis Bunuel, 1967)

I confess I’m not terribly fond of “but was it real???” movies. They tend to feel gimmicky more often than not. Belle de Jour is an exception. This is about more than a repressed housewife getting her kicks working as a daytime prostitute. The film delves into victim blaming, trauma, class, and identity-- sure, this sounds academic and dry when I put it that way, but what I’m trying to say is that these are very complicated characters and the blurring of fantasy and reality becomes thought-provoking rather than trite due to that complexity.

Secondhand Lions (dir. Tim McCanlies, 2003)

The term “family movie” is often used as a synonym for “children’s movie.” However, there is an important distinction: children’s movies only appeal to kids, while family movies retain their appeal as one grows up. Secondhand Lions is perhaps a perfect family movie, with a great deal more nuance than one might expect regarding the need for storytelling and its purpose in creating meaning for one’s life. It’s also amazingly cast: Haley Joel Osment is excellent as the juvenile lead, and Michael Caine and Robert Duvall steal the show as Osment’s eccentric uncles.

The Pawnbroker (dir. Sidney Lumet, 1964)

Controversial in its day for depicting frontal nudity, The Pawnbroker shocks today for different reasons. As the top review of the film on IMDB says, we’re used to victims of great atrocities being presented as sympathetic, good people in fiction. Here, Rod Steiger’s Sol Nazerman subverts such a trope: his suffering at the hands of the Nazis has made him a hard, closed-off person, dismissive of his second wife (herself also a survivor of the Holocaust), cold to his friendly assistant, and bitter towards himself. The movie follows Nazerman’s postwar life, vividly presenting his inner pain in a way that is almost too much to bear. Gotta say, Steiger gives one of the best performances I have ever seen in a movie here: he’s so three-dimensional and complex. The emotions on his face are registered with Falconetti-level brilliance.

The Apartment (dir. Billy Wilder, 1960)

While not the most depressing Christmas movie ever, The Apartment certainly puts a good injection of cynicism into the season. I have rarely seen a movie so adept at blending comedy, romance, and satire without feeling tone-deaf. There are a lot of things to praise about The Apartment, but I want to give a special shoutout to the dialogue. “Witty” dialogue that sounds natural is hard to come by-- so often, it just feels smart-assy and strained. Not here.

Anatomy of a Murder (dir. Otto Preminger, 1959)

I’m not big into courtroom dramas, but Anatomy of a Murder is a big exception. Its morally ambiguous characters elevate it from being a mere “whodunit” (or I guess in the case of this movie, “whydunit”), because if there’s something you’re not going to get with this movie, it’s a clear answer as to what happened on the night of the crime. Jimmy Stewart gives one of his least characteristic performances as the cynical lawyer, and is absolutely brilliant. 

Oldboy (dir. Park Chan-Wook, 2003)

Oldboy reminded me a great deal of John Webster’s 17th century tragedy The Duchess of Malfi. Both are gruesome, frightening, and heartbreaking works of art, straddling the line between sensationalism and intelligence, proving the two are not mutually exclusive. It’s both entertaining and difficult to watch. The thought of revisiting it terrifies me but I feel there is so much more to appreciate about the sheer craft on display.

Family Plot (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1976)

Family Plot is an enjoyable comedy; you guys are just mean. I know in an ideal world, Hitchcock’s swan song would be a great thriller masterpiece in the vein of Vertigo or Psycho. Family Plot is instead a silly send-up of Hitchcock’s favorite tropes, lampooning everything from the dangerous blonde archetype (with not one but two characters) to complicated MacGuffin plots. You’ll probably demand my film buff card be revoked for my opinion, but to hell with it-- this is my favorite of Hitchcock’s post-Psycho movies.

My Best Girl (dir. Sam Taylor, 1927)

Mary Pickford’s farewell to silent film also happens to be among her best movies. It’s a simple, charming romantic comedy starring her future husband, Charles “Buddy” Rogers. Pickford also gets to play an adult character here, rather than the little girl parts her public demanded she essay even well into her thirties. She and Rogers are sweet together without being diabetes-inducing, and the comedy is often laugh out loud funny. It even mocks a few tropes that anyone who watches enough old movies will recognize and probably dislike-- such as “break his heart to save him!!” (my personal most loathed 1920s/1930s trope).

Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho, 2019)

This feels like such a zeitgeist movie. It’s about the gap between the rich and the poor, it’s ironic,  it’s depressing, it’s unpredictable as hell. I don’t like terms like “modern classic,” because by its very definition, a classic can only be deemed as such after a long passage of time, but I have a good feeling Parasite will be considered one of the definitive films of the 2010s in the years to come.

Indiscreet (dir. Stanley Donen, 1958)

Indiscreet often gets criticized for not being Notorious more or less, which is a shame. It’s not SUPPOSED to be-- it’s cinematic souffle and both Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant elevate that light material with their perfect chemistry and comedic timing. It’s also refreshing to see a rom-com with characters over 40 as the leads-- and the movie does not try to make them seem younger or less mature, making the zany moments all the more hilarious. It’s worth seeing for Cary Grant’s jig (picture above) alone.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (dir. Joseph Sargent, 1974)

This movie embodies so much of what I love about 70s cinema: it’s gritty, irreverent, and hard-hitting. It’s both hilarious and suspenseful-- I was tense all throughout the run time. I heard there was a remake and it just seems... so, so pointless when you already have this gem perfect as it is.

They All Laughed (dir. Peter Bogdonavich, 1981)

Bogdonavich’s lesser known homage to 1930s screwball comedy is also a weirdly autumnal movie. Among the last gasps of the New Hollywood movement, it is also marks the final time Audrey Hepburn would star in a theatrical release. The gentle comedy, excellent ensemble cast (John Ritter is the standout), and the mature but short-lived romance between Hepburn and Ben Gazarra’s characters make this a memorably bittersweet gem.

The Palm Beach Story (dir. Preston Sturges, 1942)

Absolutely hilarious. I was watching this with my parents in the room. My mom tends to like old movies while my dad doesn’t, but both of them were laughing aloud at this one. Not much else to say about it, other than I love Joel McCrea the more movies I see him in-- though it’s weird seeing him in comedies since I’m so used to him as a back-breaking man on the edge in The Most Dangerous Game!

Nothing Sacred (dir. William Wellman, 1937)

I tend to associate William Wellman with the pre-code era, so I’ve tried delving more into his post-code work. Nothing Sacred is easily my favorite of those films thus far, mainly for Carole Lombard but also because the story still feels pretty fresh due to the jabs it takes at celebrity worship and moral hypocrisy. For a satire, it’s still very warm towards its characters, even when they’re misbehaving or deluding themselves, so it’s oddly a feel-good film too.

Applause (dir. Rouben Mamoulian, 1929)

I love watching early sound movies, but my inner history nerd tends to enjoy them more than the part of me that, well, craves good, well-made movies. Most early sound films are pure awkward, but there’s always an exception and Applause is one of them. While the plot’s backstage melodrama is nothing special, the way the story is told is super sophisticated and expressive for this period of cinema history, and Helen Morgan makes the figure of the discarded burlesque queen seem truly human and tragic rather than merely sentimental.

Topaz (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1969)

Another late Hitchcock everyone but me seems to hate. After suffering through Torn Curtain, I expected Hitchcock’s other cold war thriller was going to be dull as dishwater, but instead I found an understated espionage movie standing in stark contrast to the more popular spy movies of the period. It’ll never be top Hitchcock, of course-- still it was stylish and enjoyable, with some truly haunting moments. I think it deserves more appreciation than it’s been given.

What were your favorite cinematic discoveries in 2020?