#robin owens model

[ladykailitha]

Live model verse

WIP Wednesday! This is part of my 1 million word celebration. I'm just clearing out my inbox join me next week.

Other asks here, here, here.

Snippet

Steve lifted his head to look Eddie in the eyes. “Yeah, okay. I don’t trust myself, but I trust you and I trust Robin.”

Eddie kissed him soundly. “That’s a really big thing to admit, I think Dr. Owens would be proud of that one.”

Steve snorted. With Eddie making rockstar money, he got Steve into proper therapy. How to manage his panic attacks, what to do when he does get them, how to identify triggers and how to avoid them.

It was one of the reasons Steve was doing so well. He was getting the help he needed. Eddie also had sessions with a different therapist to make sure there weren’t any lingering feelings over the broken jaw incident. He wanted to be the best boyfriend Steve ever had, bar none.

[willowlovesthingsss]

about me!!!!!!

hi i’m willow!!! like the tree!!

i’ve been an avid fan fic reader (fluff, smut, angst yk me) since i was 11 and 2 years ago i discovered tumblr and it became my fav place for fics! i never posted anything or chatted with anyone but i want to change that so please don’t hesitate to say hello! i love everyone and anyone!

a little bit about me —

• 19 • cancer sun, virgo moon, scorpio rising• queer • vintage girl • huge music lover • roblox warrior • new calico critter collector • neurodivergent • wannabe comedian • mini cinephile• tarot reader on the weekends•

fandoms!!-

STRANGER THINGS- steve harrington 💋💋💋, eddie munson 👅👅👅, hopper, occasionally robin buckley

BRIDGERTON- anthony bridgerton, benedict bridgerton

OBX- rafe cameron🫦🫦🫦

HOZIER- till i die

TWISTERS- tyler owens

TOP GUN MAV- hangman

GLEN POWELL

ARIANA GRANDE- i do not play abt this woman.

SABRINA CARPENTER- since 2014 babay

SINJIN DROWNING

BRITTANY BROSKI

NOEL MILLER

miscellaneous-

four favorites!🟠🟢🔵

Almost Famous

The Holdovers

Pleasantville

Saturday Night

fav shows-

That’s 70s Show

Stranger Things

Sex and The City

Glee

SNL

Bridgerton

fav artists-

Ariana Grande

Hozier

Beyoncé

The Beatles

Role Model

Djo

Linda Ronstandt

Tyler the Creator

Sabrina Carpenter

Ethel Cain

Etta James

Chappell Roan

Carly Simon

and many many many more!!

other interests!!-

i’m new to it but i’m so into calico critters right now!!! i’m very much a beginner so if u have any tips pls share!!!

i also am a podcast host!! i may share ep links on here but idk yet!

i’m interested in writing a fic but i’ve never done it before… im contemplating.

that’s all folks!!! 🎥

please say hi and yap with me if u share interests!!

love ya!!!

[zahri-melitor]

DC Universe Holiday Special #1 (2008)

Another of my favourite Christmas Specials.

The Man In Red – Santa Claus. An origin story for Santa Claus, modelled on Clark’s histoy. (Hits all the beats of a Last Son of Krypton recounting)

Somewhere Beyond the Sea – Aquaman! You know who I haven’t seen in any of the compilations yet? Arthur! We’ve had Garth, but no Arthur. In any case this is uh quite a story. Arthur rescues a couple lost at sea in a boat, the woman extremely pregnant. He's guided to shore by his father's lighthouse...only to realise it was a star behind the lighthouse, not the lighthouse itself. When the couple gets ashore they're met by two men 'dressed like kings' (this is the point when I groaned). Yes, Arthur's the third Magi/Wise Man here.

Instinctively, willingly, I join them and knee before her and her unborn child. I look at the other men, who came bearing gifts. I feel ashamed because... "I'm sorry. I have no gifts to give." "No, Sea King, you gave me the most important gift of all." They walk away. I know I will never see her again, never meet her child, I should feel empty, but this is the most special of nights. I fight every urge to join them. Instead I make my way to my one true home, the sea.

Good King Wenceslas – this is a Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen team, if you need selling on it. It's just the main verses of the Christmas Carol, but it's done as an Elseworlds where the King is the Bat and the Page is a Robin (The peasant is Alfred).

A Day Without Sirens – Commissioner Gordon, Batman, Oracle. The premise is the city bands together for a day without the need for emergency calls or police intervention. Jim gets a little bit of hope (Oracle actually diverted the phones for a day and had Supergirl doing all the work, as a Christmas present for her dad).

Reminiscent of and in conversation with The Silent Night of the Batman from Batman #219.

It’s a Wonderful Night – Nightwing and Robin. This one I know inside and out. Tim goes to a Christmas Eve showing of It’s a Wonderful Life because it was Jack’s favourite Christmas movie. He runs into Owen Mercer there for the same reason, which makes things awkward as their dads killed each other. Dick, who’s been looking for Tim, arrives and gives Tim his Christmas present: one of Dick’s original costumes, a gift that he manages to sneak in RIGHT under the deadline of oncoming events, as Battle for the Cowl starts only three months later.

Christmas With The Beetles – Blue Beetle. The story of four generations of a criminal family and breaking the cycle, through the lens of three generations of Blue Beetle. (It's sweet. It's exactly the sort of ethos I love to see in a Blue Beetle story).

An Angel Told Me – Huntress. 'Teacher!Helena and her students'. In this one Helena lends a hand to one of her students, Alejandro, who is about to be suspended for bullying and who has an abusive homelife. She gets the kid's father locked up for drug possession and illegal firearms, so he'll be placed in care with his grandmother, and gets his suspension transferred to helping her with the 'Reach' program, which is community assistance for disabled students. (The depiction of autism in this is very stereotyped, and it's clearly not the ONLY disability in play)

The Night Before Christmas – Teen Titans. They all go to a Christmas market.

Jaime and Traci are an adorable couple in this.

But the meat of the story is Cassie and Tim, who are both more settled now, after One Year Later has finally fully spooled out, and able to talk about their losses.

(Also I've always adored the art and colour in this story, which is by Michael Dimotta and of a style you really don't see in superhero comics much)

Party Animal – JLA. John Stewart and Roy Harper capture Shaggyman right during the start of the JLA holiday party. Vixen, who's organising it, orders them both up there asap so the two decide to bring Shaggy along.

It's very much an office party.

Let There Be Light – Doctor Light. This is basically a character history piece of Kimiyo Hoshi for people unfamiliar with her backstory and motivations. The villain fight she's in knocks out the Metropolis power grid, so Doctor Light turns it back on.

[prettymvgic]

my muses ; this is temporary until i figure out how to make things mobile friendly !

FEMALES : poppy : age unknown, pixie, currently captive by a vampire - madelaine petsch. kiana murphy : 22, college student, waitress - samantha logan. kimberly vaughn : 24, 1990's - young!julia roberts. olivia harrington: 22, college student - grace van dien. robyn bailey : 29, model & influencer - laura harrier. sidney prescott : 17-22, scream 1-3 - neve campbell. samantha palmer : 18-23, hs student/college student - katherine langford. marianne parker : 55, ranger wife - diane lane. katherine foster : 42, conwoman - anne hathaway. andrea "annie" bennett : 41, inn owner & keeper, starting over - bethany joy lenz. mercedes hart: 27, influencer & industry plant, upcoming musical artist - ryan destiny. bristol harper : 35, online jewelry store owner, mother to two - hilary duff. evangelina constance : 48, owner of a cult - carla gugino. allison barnes : 38, former nurse now surviving the apocalypse - lauren cohen. lacey thomas : 18-20, college student - nicole wallace. seline castillo : 33, owner of flattop bar & grill, more info upon request - vanessa hudgens. cassandra foxx : better known in her world as ALASKA, 30, sugar baby/escort, more info upon request - vanessa hudgens. marzia vadala : 34, italian, jewelry store owner - phoebe tonkin. gianna ortiz : 34, spanish, receptionist for a corportation - ana de armas. mariana ruiz : 19-22, spanish, hs or college student - alexa demie. holland st. clair : 25, model trying to get her debut, trans-female - hunter schafer. angeline swanson : 23, pornstar - sabrina carpenter. first last : 40, prosecutor - kerry washington.

MALES : marshall "the judge" owens : 49, apocalyptic cult member - andrew lincoln. jude mitchell : 34, lives in an apartment in nyc, struggling artist - andrew garfield. david bascom : 26, 1950's, closeted homosexual - harry styles. casey theriot : 27, nomad. - tom holland. pak dae-hyun : 23, idol struggling with fame - junkook. patrick galloway : 29, blackballed actor starting over - nicholas galitzine. choi minho, 25, establishing actor, mostly indie films waiting for his break - kim jiwoong ( aki. ) hak su-jin : 31, book store / cafe manager in seoul - woo do-hwan. kai kahinu : 19, younger brother to zane, new zealand native, maori - matthew sato. wihan chen : 24, indie musician - first kanaphan puitrakul. ( tashi. ) felix maynard : 30, owner of tart & thyme restaurant, chef - will poulter. caskey dallas : 18-23, outcast, more info upon request - cole sprouse. robin sallow : 28, manager of off beat records, more info upon request - thomas doherty. jesse dylan : 18-30 ( 1985 - 1997 ), teen/convict, more info upon request - dacre montgomery. dean maddox : 22, college student, more info upon request - hero fiennes tiffin. simon parker : 29, lead singer & guitar player of killin' time, more info upon request - joe keery. maverick reed : 26, fisherman's son - rudy pankow. hwan van : 26, mechanic - cha eun-woo choi daehyun : 20, idol, au!fae - felix lee. trevor elliot : 24, college, indie musician, au!fame - felix mallard. kim hanuel : 26, ceo- yeo jin-goo. andrew baker : 19, homeless. - brandon flynn. casper cromwell : forever 20, ghostboy haunting a house. - louis patridge.

THEYS : zane kahinu, 22, older sibling to kai, new zealand native, maori - zoe terakes.

[pigeonflavouredcake]

My Grimoire Research Library

this is a list of my major resource I've referenced/am currently referencing in my big grimoire project. For books I'll be linking the Goodreads page, for pdfs, websites and videos i'll link them directly.

There are plenty of generalised practitioner resources that can work for everyone but as I have Irish ancestry and worship Hellenic deities quite a few of my resources are centred around Celtic Ireland, ancient Greece and the Olympic mythos. If you follow other sects of paganism you are more than welcome to reblog with your own list of resources.

Parts of my grimoire discuss topics of new age spiritualism, dangerous conspiracy theories, and bigotry in witchcraft so some resources in this list focus on that.

Books

Apollodorus - The Library of Greek Mythology

Astrea Taylor - Intuitive Witchcraft

Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham - Treasury of Folklore: Woodlands and Forests

John Ferguson - Among The Gods: An Archaeological Exploration of Ancient Greek Religion

Katharine Briggs - The Fairies in Tradition and Literature

Kevin Danaher - The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs

Laura O'Brien - Fairy Faith in Ireland

Lindsey C. Watson - Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome

Nicholas Culpeper - Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Plutarch - The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives

R.B. Parkinson - A Little Gay History: Desire and Diversity Around the World

Rachel Patterson - Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness

Raleigh Briggs - Make Your Place: Affordable & Sustainable Nesting Skills

Robin Wall Kimmerer - Braiding Sweetgrass

Ronald Hutton - The Witch: A History of Fear in Ancient Times

Rosemary Ellen Guiley - The Encyclopaedia of Witches and Witchcraft

Thomas N. Mitchell - Athens: A History of the World's First Democracy

Walter Stephens - Demon Lovers: Witchcraft S3x and the Crisis of Belief

Yvonne P. Chireau - Black Magic: Religion and The African American Conjuring Tradition

PDFs

Anti Defamation League - Hate on Display: Hate Symbols Database

Brandy Williams - White Light, Black Magic: Racism in Esoteric Thought

Cambridge SU Women’s Campaign - How to Spot TERF Ideology 2.0.

Blogs and Websites

Anti Defamation League

B. Ricardo Brown - Until Darwin: Science and the Origins of Race

Dr. S. Deacon Ritterbush - Dr Beachcomb

Folklore Thursday

Freedom of Mind Resource Centre - Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Authoritarian Control

Institute for Strategic Dialogue

Royal Horticultural Society

The Duchas Project -National Folklore Collection

Vivienne Mackie - Vivscelticconnections

YouTube Videos

ContraPoints - Gender Critical

Emma Thorne Videos - Christian Fundie Says Halloween is SATANIC!

Owen Morgan (Telltale) - The Source Of All Conspiracies: A 1902 Document Called "The Protocols"

The Belief it or Not Podcast - Ep. 40 Satanic Panic, Ep 92. Wicca

Wendigoon - The Conspiracy Theory Iceberg

Other videos I haven't referenced but you may still want to check out

Atun-Shei Films - Ancient Aryans: The History of Crackpot N@zi Archaeology

Belief It Or Not - Ep. 90 - Logical Fallacies

Dragon Talisman - Tarot Documentary (A re-upload of the 1997 documentary Strictly Supernatural: Tarot and Astrology)

Lindsay Ellis - Tracing the Roots of Pop Culture Transphobia

Overly Sarcastic Productions - Miscellaneous Myths Playlist

Owen Morgan (Telltale) - SATANIC PANIC! 90s Video Slanders Satanists | Pagan Invasion Saga | Part 1

ReignBot - How Ouija Boards Became "Evil" | Obscura Archive Ep. 2

Ryan Beard - Demi Lovato Promoted a R4cist Lizard Cult

Super Eyepatch Wolf - The Bizarre World of Fake Psychics, Faith Healers and Mediums

Weird Reads with Emily Louise -The Infamous Hoaxes Iceberg Playlist

Wendigoon - The True Stories of the Warren Hauntings: The Conjuring, Annabelle, Amityville, and Other Encounters

[strangertheories]

I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen in vol 2 because the duffers tend to accidentally write amazing things. But I don’t know if that’s enough this time with Choices.

Because this is like the One show keeping Netflix going (as is tua but that’s a different topic) and if they really do stuff that makes fans severely unhappy I’m not sure how many will watch s5, especially if they do a time jump which for me always seemed like lazy writing (ignoring the fact that I do that in my fics lol) because like is it gonna be used as an excuse for characters to not mourn other characters? (Kinda like Bob again)

At the same time I have no idea if they’re just saying body count and in reality all of our mains who we love are safe but people like parents or Brenner or Owens possibly Enzo and Murray aren’t. Or the blonde douchebag who’s name I constantly forget.

Like is it a body count we need to worry about or are they messing with us and pulling a s3 again but with more characters that we know well enough (ex. The doctors and parents, Murray, even Enzo)

I feel like a major major character is going to have to die this season for the stakes. The main characters have way too much plot armour. There is no way Hopper survived that explosion, we never saw how Brenner got attacked by a demogorgon and got just a scar and there's this general feeling that our characters aren't at any real risk. I get characters like Billy died but he was dead anyways like everyone else in the flayer. And all the other characters were kind of minor and were only introduced at the start of this season.

Characters like Eddie and Dmitri (or Enzo) are definitely at risk due to this pattern but I dunno, I kind of feel like someone needs to die. And I love all of these characters and would not wish death on any of them, but I feel like it's getting to the point in the show where they're not kids anymore and they're in serious danger so just kill one of them off. I think there's certain characters who are still safe because they'll be needed in S5, specifically Will and Eleven. They're needed for the origins of the UD so their plot armour doesn't feel like it's because they like them but because they're plot relevant.

On the other hand, there are some characters I will absolutely riot if they kill off and not just because I like them. If Will, Robin, Lucas or Erica dies I will be genuinely pissed off. This show does not have much queer rep and it only has two main black characters. They've all been sidelined way too much this season and their plot lines (at least Lucas and Robin's) were dropped so fast. If any of them die, the show is killing off representation and characters that black people and queer people can look up to. I get they shouldn't survive just because of their sexuality or race but if lots of straight/white characters get to survive, it just feeds into statistics about representation and takes away role models. This applies to Mike as well if he is confirmed as gay or bi.

I really hope that the Duffer brothers try to do what's right for the characters and the show and not what's popular. I get from a corporate pov this might not work but I think Netflix knows they just have to let the Duffers do their thing. If any of the characters listed above die, it'll be bad for the show. I also think it would be a huge loss for the show to have no Max or Steve because whilst it's sad, they're also very refreshing and integral to the plot and comic relief so it would hugely impact the show's dynamic and not nessecarily in a good way. I do in general have faith in the Duffers and Volume 2 though. S4 is one of the best seasons of the show and of television in general so far so it'll take a lot to screw it up.

Thanks for the ask (:

[total-ass]

You know what. You want hot takes. Have them

Who mains who in smash Bros ultimate:

Owen: Mario (if anyone says Sans Mii gunner "megalowenvania" I swear)

Gwen: Bayonetta in blue

Heather: Bayonetta in red

Duncan: Ganondorf (also kins Ganondorf)

LeShawna: Palutena (both goddesses)

Geoff: Pikachu (electrifying personality. Life of the party)

Izzy: Hero (you never know what bullshit they're gonna pull next)

DJ: doesn't really like violence. Has an extensive collection of amiibo of all the animal characters. Instead he makes Duncan play multiplayer Star Fox with him so he can play as Peppy. Duncan agrees if DJ would play one game of Smash. Duncan tells DJ that Kazooie would cuss at him if he lost so DJ will play as ROB since he probably doesn't feel pain)

Lindsay: Peach (she doesn't really play she just has her Peach amiibo do everything for her)

Bridgette: also Pikachu (doesn't know what a smash brothers is. But Geoff plays Pikachu and she heard Pikachu can surf in Pokémon so)

Trent: toon link (hears toon link has a knack for music and once was a train engineer. Resonates with Trent)

Eva: ryu. Doesn't bother with the special combos. She thinks the game is dumb but her gf Izzy loves it so she plays

Harold: terry (tries to do mad skills with the inputs but fails miraculously). Eventually picks up Sheik

Courtney: Steve (she likes building model UN in Minecraft and likes the resource management gimmick in ssbu. Is known to choose the Enderman skin)

Katie and Sadie: Villager. They both have an Animal Crossing town together and grow hybrids. It's very gay

Beth: joker. Her fujoshi heart refuses to pick anyone else

Cody: Ness. Dork

Tyler: Little Mac. Compensates for being shit at sport. Has a fear of Banjo and Kazooie players for uhh obvious reasons.

Justin: spends an hour trying to make a Mii that looks like him. Cries because Miis cannot capture his beauty. Instead he watches Trent spam arrow as Toon Link

Noah: Daisy

Ezekiel: doesn't know who any of these characters are. Picks Pit because he sorta looks like him

Alejandro: Pokémon trainer. We know he wants to be a lion tamer plus he gets a rush of controlling 3 things instead of 1

Sierra: Lucas. She tries to copy Cody but is also trying to be her own person

Cameron: did wanna play Dr Mario but probably moaned that he's not even medically accurate or that the trajectory of his pills are astronomical. Picks Ness because he can suspend belief for that

Lightning: doesn't have time for video games (canonically said this). Picks captain Falcon because he's buff. Sam laughs when he does so. Lightning only plays as Falcon to impress Sam now

Zoey: Jigglypuff. She thinks Jiggylpuff is cute but really she just gravitates towards them because they're capable of some evil shit or something

Scott: Pichu. Looks can be deceiving.

Jo: plays Ken but she can actually do the combos. Doesn't actually like video games but she commits to everything. Has hospitalised people at tourneys when she loses

Mike: fox (furry)

Svetlana: Zero Suit Samus (also has a crush on her)

Chester: "tf is suh-boo lol. Anyways I remember donkey Kang so i guess him"

Manitoba: Greninja

Vito: also Fox (Vito is not a furry)

Mal: does it need to be said? Sephiroth

Dakota: also Jigglypuff. Zoey falls out with Dakota because Dakota is better than Zoey at her. Sam gives Dakota training

Brick: Luigi. Total beta

Anne Maria: Samus. Would wear armour if it meant protecting her hair. "Anne Maria it's not real your hair is fine" they say. They weren't there when she played with Jo.

Sam: plays a bit of everyone. Secretly plays Sans costume Mii Gunner

Dawn: Zelda. Think she's so cool and magic

B: Snake. Likes the tactics of the bombs and stuff.

Staci: Kirby. Pink and has a big mouth.

Shawn: would've played minecraft Steve. Punched his screen when the zombie skin appeared and now he refuses to do so. Instead he plays Olimar

Sky: Wii Fit Trainer. It's the gymnastics for her

Sugar: Isabelle. Cries because she's awful at the game in private

Jasmine: kind hard to decide. Maybe Daisy also because she likes flowers and she's a bit tomboyish. Maybe Piranha Plant depending on how into the whole flower shop she is

Max: Bowser Jr Bowser Jr Bowser Jr. Plays Bowser in front of others though

Scarlett: sees Cloud has a big sword and chooses him

Dave: uhh. young link. Annoying

Topher: falco. Blue and loves himself too much

Ella: Jigglypuff. Only uses Sing. Congratulates those who beat her. Sugar always plays with her because Ella is the only person she can win against sometimes. Sugar is also the only person Ella has beaten in a smash game

Amy: picks Simon Belmont. Toxic as fuck

Sammy: Mewtwo. Was a massive Pokémon nerd growing up. Didn't like using Mewtwo on her Pokémon teams but because of balancing she feels okay using Mewtwo in smash

Rodney: ALL the female alts. Villager, Corrin, Robin. He cried when he found out Pyra and Mythra were 2 girls in 1. Bought the dlc immediately

Leonard: hero and robin. What more needs to be said?

Beardo: Mega Man. Really resonates with him as he's bionic

Chris: Richter Belmont. He's awful and he likes that Richter looks sorta like him

Chef: Link. Says he does it for the strategy. In reality it's just so he can spam projectiles at Chris to piss him off so he can't approach as R*chter

Blaineley: Wario.

[uwmspeccoll]

A Feathursday Farewell

As our spring semester ends, we bid a fond farewell and offer our very best wishes for a bright future to two of our graduating Special Collections Graduate Interns, Katie Stollenwerk and Morgan Ellsworth. We spotlight them on #Feathursday because, as some of you who have followed us for some time may remember, all of our staff members get assigned an Avian Avatar. This week we focus on Katie, and we’ll meet up with Morgan next Fearthursday.

Katie has been with us for three years and is one of senior Graduate Interns, and therefore serves on our leadership team along with the department head, department manager, and our other senior Graduate Intern Sarah Finn. Katie’s assigned avater is Wisconsin’s state bird, the American Robin. Much like her namesake, Katie may be found earnestly scampering about Special Collections, always with her “eye to the ground” seeking out departmental details to bring to light in social media, classroom instruction, online exhibitions, LibGuides, and patron assistance. Her departmental nest is tidy and a hub of activity with catalog verification and collections research. She literally moves about the department in almost the exact same, determined manner we find Robins pacing about our lawns!

Of her experience here, Katie writes:

As I graduate from my degree programs and transition into what people call the real world. I frequently get asked questions such as, "what did you learn at your internship?" or, "what did you gain from your internship experience?" Those asking always phrase these questions in a way that sort of implies that an internship is a lighter version of a professional counterpart. But to me, my three years in the Special Collections department wasn't just an internship—it was my real job. Did I learn new skills and gain new knowledge? Of course I did! And far more than can be quickly rattled off. Each day, I got to come to a job where I was intellectually stimulated and asked to perform the roles and functions of the real professionals. I was mentored by scholars who challenged my preconceived notions about media, libraries, and institutions of higher education. My supervisors didn't give me tasks to fill my shift; they gave me trust and latitude to try to identify issues on my own and then initiate and manage projects independently. They solicited my input, gave me thoughtful advice and feedback when I needed it, and always encouraged me to play, explore, and be curious.

So, what did I gain over the past three years at Special Collections? Gratitude. Gratitude for supervisors with high expectations; gratitude for mentors who understand librarians and educators as more than just professionals who have achieved specific competencies; gratitude for an internship that emphasized growing interpersonal capacities like collaboration and compassion as much as technical skills; gratitude for role models who showed me what kind of teacher and librarian I want to be. So, Max and Alice—thank you!

And we thank YOU so much, Katie!  Katie graduates with two Master’s degrees in History and Information Studies. Her History thesis “I'm a nurse, not a woman”: The Historical Significance of the UWM Nurse Romance Novel Collection was based on her research in our own History of American Nursing Collection and our Nurse Romance Novel Collection. 

The images of Robins are from a plate by Wisconsin ornithologist, conservationist, and nature artist Owen J Gromme from his outstanding 1963 book Birds of Wisconsin, published for the Milwaukee Public Museum, where Gromme was curator of birds and mammals, by the University of Wisconsin Press.

Congratulations Katie!!!!

[jaybeefoxy]

Just read this amazing article by the granddaughter of an amazing lady and one of the stalwarts of British Star Trek conventions in the 70s and 80s, Dot Owens. She was an amazing lady. My husband was one of Dot's Angels (modelled of course on Charlie's Angels) and they all did an amazing job stewarding conventions and running around making things go smoothly. I am proud to say I was there, I attended both 1980s Empathicons, plus loads more. I met Thom Christopher (I even have him as a friend on facebook these days), Ann McCaffrey, I've shaken hands with Jimmy Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek), and am still in touch with friends I made back then. I had so many great memories from British conventions in the 80s and 90s.

This is what UK conventions in the last ¼ of the 20th Century were like. None of your big business/pay for photos and autographs/hundreds-of-£s-to-attend events. You could be chatting with the guests in the hotel bar, dancing with them at the Saturday night disco (I have fond memories of the cast of Robin of Sherwood at the Greenwood cons in Shepperton in the 80s) and talks, photos and autographs were all part of the package, you didn't pay more for the privilege. The convention profits went to charity, every last penny, and that amounts to thousands in today's money. I've not been able to afford to attend any of the modern cons.

So go read this, for a bit of British fanlore. Thank you, Rachel. I miss your nan a lot.

[tabloidtoc]

Life & Style, May 25

Cover: 3 Country Stars Tell All -- Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire 

Page 1: Photo Flash -- Kelly Gale and Joel Kinnaman enjoy a PDA-filled sunset stroll in Santa Monica 

Page 2: Contents 

Page 4: The Top 10 Saint Laurent Looks -- Natalia Dyer, Alison Brie, Gal Gadot

Page 5: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Laura Dern, Dakota Johnson, Zoe Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez 

Page 6: Adele returned to Instagram on her 32nd birthday to thank her supporters and to show off her estimated 110-pound weight loss 

Page 7: Matthew Perry stepped out in public for the first time since splitting from longtime girlfriend Molly Hurwitz look worse for wear and he’s spiraling -- that’s why he and Molly broke up, Throwback -- Eva Longoria, Biggest Spenders -- Bill and Melissa Gates, Angelina Jolie, Miranda Lambert, Emma Roberts

Page 8: In honor of Ana de Armas’ 32nd birthday boyfriend Ben Affleck whisked her to Whisper Rock Ranch near California’s Yucca Valley, fitness tips from Kim Kardashian’s trainer Melissa Alcantara 

Page 10: The Week in Photos -- Reese Witherspoon and husband Jim Toth and sons Deacon and Tennessee ride bikes in Malibu 

Page 12: Gilles Marini, Robin Wright, Tori Spelling and kids Hattie and Beau 

Page 13: Mindy Kaling re-created Jared Leto’s 2019 Met Gala look 

Page 14: Family Fun -- Heidi Montag and son Gunner 

Page 15: Amy Schumer and son Gene, Gordon Ramsay and son Oscar 

Page 16: Stars Behaving Badly -- Vanessa Lachey spooning in bed with Lance Bass while he husband Nick Lachey lay beside them, Cameron Diaz with parakeets perched in her hair, Colin Hanks flips the bird 

Page 17: Sofia Richie poses topless for a fashion campaign 

Page 18: Say What?! Tracee Ellis Ross on her unique upbringing as the daughter of Diana Ross, Demi Lovato on not having a type when it comes to romance, Christina Hendricks revealing she gets in the tub every morning, Candace Cameron Bure dishing on her experience co-hosting The View in 2015 and 2016, Dwayne Johnson poking fun of his celeb pal Kevin Hart during the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2020 

Page 20: Scott Disick is dragging his feet when it comes to going back to rehab but it’s very obvious he still needs help and girlfriend Sofia Richie is starting to wonder whether he’ll ever sort himself out and has even threatened to dump him unless he starts taking his recovery process seriously 

Page 21: Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams had no choice but to postpone their nuptials amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, Jaime King and husband Kyle Newman on the rocks 

Page 22: Cover Story -- Country Confidential -- a baby for Miranda Lambert 

Page 23: Kelly Clarkson’s secret struggle 

Page 24: How Carrie Underwood saved her marriage 

Page 25: Reba McEntire is dating again 

Page 26: Ellen DeGeneres is still under fire -- for the third month in a row Ellen faces criticism about her poor treatment of others 

Page 28: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tell all -- the Royal Family betrayed -- a revealing new book destroys Harry and Meghan’s fragile truce with the palace 

Page 30: Loved Ones Warn Gigi Hadid -- Don’t Marry Zayn Malik -- as Gigi and Zayn prepare for the September birth of their first child the model’s family members remain skeptical of the duo’s romance 

Page 32: Who Lives Here? Jon Bon Jovi 

Page 34: Entertainment 

Page 35: Star Review -- Maria Menounos, As Seen On-Screen -- the dress Camila Mendes wore on a recent episode of Riverdale is Alice + Olivia’s Anette Deep Pleat Party Dress for $188  

Page 38: Beauty Beat -- nailed it -- Kaia Gerber, Ashley Graham 

Page 40: Diva or Down-to-Earth? Diva Lea Michele brings her own glam squad, Diva Kylie Jenner holds court in Chanel, Down-to-Earth Martha Stewart mows the lawn 

Page 42: Social Stars Posts of the Week -- Cindy Crawford, Reese Witherspoon and son Tennessee, Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell, Tiffani Thiessen and husband Brady Smith 

Page 43: Katy Perry, Anderson Cooper and son Wyatt, Madelaine Petsch, Chrissy Teigen and daughter Luna 

Page 44: Horoscope -- Taurus Tina Fey, They’re Not Together But They Should Be -- Gemini Lucy Hale and Aries Hayden Christensen 

Page 46: Made Ya Look! -- Arnold Schwarzenegger rides a bike with daughter Christina and pal Ralf Moeller 

Page 48: What I’m Into -- Jake Owen

[edgelordtozier]

new person (same old mistakes)

a/n: this is my steve and robin Friendship fic bc they're best friends 🥺🥺

AO3 LINK

description: After the events of The Battle of Starcourt, Steve Harrington finds himself going back to an all too quiet empty home. Overtaken by feelings and a sense of anxiety, he calls his new best friend Robin.

They have a sleepover.

Steve Harrington felt hopelessly hopeless. Grasping onto something small that would never actually happen anytime in his life, but something he longed for so deeply it pained him. Though he did not know precisely what it was he was longing for. Love, perhaps; or maybe just Nancy Wheeler, who was most definitely wrapped up in Jonathan Byers' arms right now, warm and protected despite the traumatic events of the day. 

Steve wished he could feel protected. 

He truly was alone if he really thought long and hard about it. His parents didn't give a shit about him, too busy with their jobs and their perfect lives without their imbecile of a son. He didn't have a girlfriend anymore, and even when he did she didn't truly love him as he did her. And his only real friends were children much younger than him, who would be busy soon at a school he'd already graduated from. 

To top it all off, he'd spent the last few days with terrifying Russians punching him around and drugging him up, all ended off with a huge monster that nearly killed everyone earlier in the day. And sure, it hadn't all been terrible; the parts where he got to joke around with Robin and Dustin and Erica made up for it all in a way he couldn't explain. 

The part where he professed his newfound feelings for Robin was embarrassing, though. Getting rejected always sucked. But he found it wasn't as bad as he expected it to be. Getting told by a girl he had feelings for that she didn't like him in that way —not because he was a bad person— but because she liked other girls herself was much easier to take, he found. And of course he respected her. He would have been stupid not to. She was hilarious, beautiful and so smart; it would have been a loss to not settle for just friends. 

His feelings hadn't dissipated just yet, but he knew they would soon. He wasn't desperately in love like he had been—or maybe even still was—with Nancy Wheeler. It was a crush, something that easily could have developed into more if he hadn't been let down in such a way. He didn't have a problem with the way she didn't like boys the way society told her she should have. 

Sure, if she would have told him a year or so ago he probably would have reacted in a much different way; but that was a result of the people he surrounded himself with. Tommy H. and those shitheads who emphasized what he already hated about himself and misconstrued everything to make it look like he was the bully, when it was really their actions that got them into mess after mess. And Steve played a part in most of them, he would admit. He wasn't just a bystander, watching and allowing. He partook in the shitty things they did, and he wasn't proud of it. But it was usually their plans and their pressure that pushed him into executing those things. 

He was glad he'd abandoned them after the fight with Jonathan Byers. After Jonathan had beat the living shit out of him while the love of his life— who he'd just called a slut publicly; painted by Tommy in red on the big sign in the front of the movie theater while Steve watched and didn't protest— watched and pleaded with them both to just stop fighting. Steve realized he probably should have on his own, rather than only stopping when the police arrived and acting on his own cowardice. Maybe Nancy would have thought higher of him and perhaps they would have still been together. But that probably wouldn't have happened anyway. Steve had done something fucked up, and he knew that helping clean it up afterwards didn't excuse it. 

Nancy just liked Jonathan more than she'd ever loved Steve. According to her, their relationship had been bullshit from the start; so maybe Steve shouldn't have put as much as he did into it. But he couldn't have helped it. He'd been in love with Nancy ever since he'd laid eyes on her; spoken to her and seen the way she smiled shyly and looked down at the ground. He wanted to protect her, love her, keep her happy. It seemed Steve was bad at doing anything right nowadays. 

He'd failed at that, failed so desperately to just keep Nancy happy. Maybe he didn't even put enough into the relationship in the first place, maybe he was just bad at being a good boyfriend, maybe he'd just always make the same mistakes over and over again. She'd left him and he'd been alone, so alone and so melancholy. 

He wanted to feel alive, so he fucked girls who just wanted a good hook up. He liked it, but the euphoria was never as much as it had been when he was with Nancy, so deeply in love and infatuated. It would never be the same. 

And then he'd graduated, and the loneliness jerked up to an all time high. He had Dustin Henderson, the curly haired kid he'd fought interdimensional monsters with a while before and become best friends with, giving him tips on picking up girls despite just how fucking atrocious he was at it himself, but that was all. Dustin looked up to him for whatever reason, and Steve couldn't bring himself to tell the kid he wasn't role model material. He was just Steve Harrington, the fuck up with good hair who somehow got lucky with girls when he had been in high school. 

Dustin had gone to camp the first month of summer. He'd shown up to Steve's high school graduation with his mom and a plate of cookies, congratulating him on actually finishing high school despite his low grades. He'd graduated high school, but that didn't mean he'd go to college, Dustin had joked. The poor kid didn't know just how true that statement really was. 

Dustin had sent him a toothless grin and thumbs up, performing the handshake they'd made up before Dustin announced he'd be leaving for camp the next day. They said goodbye on the field while Steve was in his cap and gown, holding a plate of cookies with foil on the top, as he watched Dustin Henderson walk away. After that Steve drove himself home to an empty house, where his parents were absent. They hadn't bothered to go to his graduation. They'd only left a note on the dining room table that said "congratulations," a one hundred dollar bill underneath. He'd pocketed the money, ate a cookie or two and went to bed, feeling worse than ever. 

In that month that Dustin was gone, the Starcourt Mall had opened. The town adored the place, despite the older residents protesting the fact that the downtown area was all too empty now. Steve found it to be an opportunity. 

He'd gotten a job at Scoops Ahoy alongside Robin, and it had been easy enough. He didn't make a lot of money an hour, and the job definitely wasn't his passion; but he had no other choice. His father didn't believe him to be smart enough to work for his company, despite Steve being his only son. It was unfair, infuriating and unprecedented. He could have at least given him a chance. But Steve had to settle for something else, something simple. 

He didn't know that working at the ice cream place would have such dire outcomes. But now, there he was, sitting on the sofa in his empty home late at night with a bruised face, clad in his bloodied Scoops Ahoy uniform, hands clasped together and nails scratching nervously at his palms. His house was too quiet, too silent for him to feel comfortable, safe, protected. Jesus, would he ever feel protected? 

The happenings of the day had been far too much for Steve to handle; the aftereffects of the Russians beating his ass and the hangover of whatever drugs they had given him only added to discomfort. Robin rejecting him and telling him she liked girls topped it all off; which wasn't nearly as horrible as the rest. He supposed all that mattered was their friendship remaining intact. But then there was coming face to face with Nancy and Jonathan again and the monster- huge and terrifying- trying to kill all of them. And then the end of it, when Billy Hargrove- the bastard- died on the ground with his sobbing step-sister beside him and Steve thanked fuck it wasn't him dead on the ground, with no one to cry by his side. 

The military had arrived after that—led by Dr. Owen's from Hawkins Lab—and they'd all gotten out of the mall. Steve was guided into an ambulance and his wounds were treated, though he'd played them down as if they hadn't mattered and told them all he needed was bandaids. After a while they hadn't bothered fighting him on it, ignoring his nasty black eye and the purple and yellow bruise taking over his cheek. 

He'd wrapped himself up in a blanket, walked over and made small talk with Nancy and Jonathan about what had happened. He'd asked them where they'd go after they were all released, and they'd told him they were going back to Nancy's house together. When they asked him the same question, he'd lied and said he was spending the night at a friends house. He didn't want them to pity him if he told the truth and said he was going to be completely and utterly alone all night.

After that he'd talked to Robin and Dustin, spoke to them animatedly about whatever came to mind in an attempt to get that thing out of his head. His parents didn't come to pick him up, as expected. The keys to his car had been taken by the Russians earlier so Steve, much like after his graduation, walked home. 

And now here he was, nervously picking at his fingernails, his teeth gnawing at his bottom lip hard enough to worsen the split of it from the earlier beating he'd endured. He still lived in his parents' home and he knew they didn't mind. Why would they? They were never home anyway and it didn’t tamper with their work. Though Steve hated the goddamn house, hated how large and quiet it was. 

And now it was too quiet. So, so, quiet;, quiet enough that Steve could hear his own heart beating rapidly; the sound of cars driving by outside; the phantom sound of footsteps that weren't really there, that he was really just making up in his mind out of nerves. He could turn on his TV, but the old thing barely worked anymore. It was an older model and he'd had it for a few years. He could have turned on his radio instead, but he didn't bother getting up. He didn't know if he refrained from turning it on because he was scared of the slight chance of hearing the familiar growl of the monster again or if he really was just too anxious to stand up. 

He could hear his breathing, the inhale and the exhale growing faster as time passed.

Steve shot up. He stood up so fast that his vision grew blotchy for a moment, and he clenched his jaw so tight that it hurt, grinding his teeth together out of annoyance. Annoyance towards what, he didn't know. Perhaps he was annoyed by the way he was acting. Big bad King Steve breaking down because it was a little too quiet and he felt lonely and scared. Jesus, he sounded like a child. 

Steve ran a shaking hand through his hair, ignoring the ache of his bruised knuckles; a wound he'd developed after hitting a Russian guard. Dustin had been so proud, and Steve found he felt pride in himself for even just a second. 

He shook off the initial blur of his vision, sighing under his breath as he found himself walking over to the telephone plugged into the wall in the kitchen above the counter. He had a phone in his room as well, but there was no use in walking all the way upstairs just for that. 

He grabbed the phone, holding it up to his ear as he used his other hand to dial the number, the number he'd memorized the day it had been told to him but had never called before. He'd never had a real reason to call it, they'd seen each other nearly every day all summer due to their shared job. 

"Hello?" A familiar tired voice on the other end rung out, breaking Steve out of his thoughts and making him jump in surprise. 

He let out a heavy sigh, running a frustrated hand down his face and wincing when he touched the prominent bruise on his cheek. "Robin? Hey, it's...uh...it's Steve. Y'know, Steve Harrington? The Steve you work with?" He rambled out. 

Robin laughed on the other end, a noise that Steve had found himself growing fond of. "You could have just said you were Steve, you dingus. I'd know which Steve we were talkin' about. I only know seventy other ones."

"Really? You know more Steves?" Steve asked with a chuckle, raising his eyebrow to himself. Talking to Robin helped him realize just how nervous he had been beforehand; made the shaking of his hands cease to a minimum. 

"No, dumbass," Robin spoke, and Steve swore he could almost hear her roll her eyes. "What did you call me for? I was like half asleep, man."

Steve bit the skin on the inside of his cheek too hard, flinching lightly at the pain before he let out a shaky sigh under his breath. He found himself sighing a lot nowadays. "This is a really weird question and you can say no if you want to, but uh…do you want to come over for the night?"

The other end was silent for a few long seconds and Steve hated how it made his stomach churn. Before he could open his mouth to assure Robin was still on the other end, she spoke, gently and tentatively. "Steve…. you remember what we talked about in the mall bathroom today, don't you?" 

Of course he did. The talk where Robin let him down and told him she liked Tammy Thompson rather than him, despite her singing sounding like Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear’s love child. Steve didn't mind, but the conversation was still fresh in his mind, made only more vivid by the shock that he had felt in that moment. Nonetheless though, it meant nothing now. Steve just wanted to be friends with Robin, and her sexual orientation didn't change that. Besides, he needed to withhold at least one friend his age.

Steve laughed, shaking his head. "Not like that. I'm not gonna make a move on you, don't worry. The embarrassing feelings are gone. Pretend I never said anything about them," He said simply before he cleared his throat almost awkwardly. "Y'know it's just my parents aren't home and… uh… kinda still fucked up over the Russians. I thought maybe you'd want some company too," He paused. "I've got a pool."

Steve heard Robin chuckle gently on the other end, letting out the slightest sigh before speaking. "Yeah sure, moron. But if my dad catches me sneaking out, it's all your fault. You've gotta use your rich boy money to pay him off," He heard Robin stand up, rustle through some things and open up her window. "What's your address, Harrington?" 

Steve told Robin where he lived, listened to the girl hum and explain how she wrote it on her arm in blue glitter gel pen before she hung up and presumably began her trip to Steve's house. He didn't know if she had a car, and he probably should have asked beforehand, but he hadn't thought about it in time. 

He set the phone back down on the wall, walking away and sitting back down on the sofa. It was two in the morning, still dark outside with barely any light seeping through the blinds over the windows. Steve had nothing on in the house but a measly lamp and he just hoped the monster was really dead and that the thing wouldn't start flashing the lights like it had that one time at Jonathan's house. 

The thought of the monster was a thought that seemed impossible to force out of his mind. His focus would stray at times, but mostly kept to that one thought, that one impending image of a monster running after a car and a teenage boy that could have been him dead on the floor. 

Steve hated it. 

He hated that the second he got home from the mall he'd found the bat he kept stowed away under his bed, the one with nails stuck inside of the wood; and he'd placed it on the coffee table in front of the sofa, eyeing it with unease as he sat down. 

Steve looked over at the bat, found himself swallowing thickly at the mere thought of those things he'd fought off by the abandoned bus; at the terrified look on those kids’ faces when they'd blocked off the entrance, held it down as a means to keep those things out; at Max's scream when she saw one pop it's head in through the top, growl at her with such vigor. He was a good babysitter, he supposed. At least, Nancy had thought so. But what does she know? 

Everything, maybe. Everything about Steve that he'd tried so hard to keep bottled up. She knew he was a shitty boyfriend. She knew that their relationship; that her love for Steve was bullshit. Though Steve's love for her was never bullshit. It was far from it.  

Steve averted his gaze from the bat, turning it up towards the ceiling. He could smoke something, numb the pain in his face and his knuckles and his brain. But that would just remind him of his father, the way he'd come home one day to Steve laying against the counter, a giggly mess with bloodshot eyes and terrible smelling breath. The way his father had pulled him up too roughly and yelled at him, asked him if he was doing drugs. The way Steve mumbled out "it's just marijuana, dad," had earned him an incredulously angry glare from his father. The way his father dropped him back down on the floor and muttered that he wished he'd gotten a better son than Steve.

Steve understood why they did. If he'd been a better son, perhaps he would be working happily in his father’s large company, not having to deal with all this… bullshit. Fuck, maybe Nancy would want him back if he wasn't full of so much bullshit. 

Steve jumped when the doorbell rang, more antsy than usual. Huffing to himself at his own behavior, Steve stood up and walked over to the door, opening it without bothering to look at who was there. 

Though he didn't have to, as Robin stood behind it as expected. She too was still wearing her Scoops Ahoy uniform—minus the hat—blue and white now stained with just the slightest amount of dirt and vomit and perhaps some blood, too. She looked tired, purple bags under her eyes and her hair tangled. But despite that, she smiled. "Ahoy," She greeted jokingly, eyeing Steve's uniform in amusement. He knew his was definitely covered with blood and vomit from earlier, as gross as it was, but he hadn't the energy to change. 

"Ahoy," Steve chuckled, stepping aside and gesturing for Robin to walk in. She did so, stepping foot in his home and almost immediately furrowing her eyebrows, looking around. He noticed the smeared ink on her arm, glittery blue just like she'd explained on the phone. He could have laughed if he weren't still so damn shaky.

"Shit, this is huge. Or bigger than my house, at least. I knew you were loaded but damn, dude," Robin laughed out, looking over at Steve with a grin before she plopped down on his couch, legs propped up on the coffee table, one crossed over the other.

Steve shut the front door, locking it and moving to sit down beside Robin. He watched as she scrunched her nose up in confusion, reaching out and grabbing the bat from the table, tracing her finger over the nails with a confused expression. "Something like this happened last year too. And a little before that," He explained in a mumble, pointing to the bat. 

"Holy shit. This town is mega fucked. I've never noticed anything before," Robin shrugged, placing the bat back down. "So, you scared or something? Of the huge monster?" 

Steve didn't find himself trying to argue on it because, yes, he supposed he was scared of the huge monster. He found himself nodding a bit, sighing. "A little. I just don't like being alone much. It's- iIt's lame, I know..." he trailed off. 

Robin nodded in understanding before she stood up. "Well, let's go to your room," She spoke, rolling her eyes at Steve's responding raised eyebrow. "Not for that, moron. I like girls, remember? Tammy Thompson?"

"Ah. How could I forget that you liked the muppet?" Steve joked with a laugh, shaking his head as he stood up, guiding Robin up to his bedroom. She followed, laughing at his words the same way she had in the bathroom at the mall. He loved her laugh; the way it sounded raspy, cracking just barely in the middle. 

"She was cute! And I liked her perm. Usually perms are godawful, but hers worked with her face shape," Robin explained with a chuckle, not wasting any time to sit herself down on Steve's bed when they walked inside his room, right down on his plain light blue bedsheets. Steve turned on the lamp placed on his bedside table.

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say. I still think hers was terrible," Steve spoke with a small grin, sitting beside Robin. "She looked like Barbra Streisand but worse."

"Hey! I'll have you know that Barbra Streisand is hot—smoking, even!" Robin exclaimed, looking at Steve with a wide smile. 

"Oh yeah, smoking in the crematorium. She's old, and if anyone looks like a muppet, it's her," Steve joked with a laugh, watching curiously as Robin stood up from the bed, moving to look through Steve's drawers. "What the hell are you doing?"

Robin chuckled, "You're being an ass to Barbra, so I'm gonna look through your stuff," She spoke, opening up the first drawer. Steve laughed as she snorted in amusement, holding up a box of condoms. "Gross. I'm assuming you haven't used these in a while?"

"Ha ha, very funny. I use them plenty," Steve deadpanned, rolling his eyes. That was a lie, of course. Steve hadn't had sex since a little before summer began, and even then it was a terrible hook up.

Robin placed the condoms down, opening up the second drawer. Her eyes widened, grabbing the magazine inside and holding it up in front of Steve, who's eyes widened as well at just which one she held. "You have Playboys?! You really are lonely. This room is a ‘Steve and his right hand’ zone, huh?"

"Of course. I should get a sign that says just that and put it on my door," Steve pointed out casually, nodding his head and watching as Robin pulled out the other three Playboy magazines out of the nightstand, walking back over and sitting down on the bed. 

Robin raised her eyebrow at the top one in the stack, chuckling. "You're real updated. You've got the July one and everything."

Steve chuckled, looking over at the magazine cover. "My dad has a subscription. He tells me not to look at his mail and just put it in his nightstand but I steal his Playboys sometimes. He gets pissed at the mailing company for screwing up and gets a new copy for free," He spoke. "I have the Madonna September issue too."

Robin's eyes widened as she picked up the Madonna 1985 September issue, flipping through the pages with an undeniably large amount of interest. "Tell your dad I said thank you," She joked. "You may suck, dingus, but you have good taste in women." 

"Maybe," Steve mumbled lightly, unable to help the image of Nancy Wheeler that popped into his brain. He swallowed hard, finding himself picking at his fingernails again. He stopped, shaking off those thoughts and mumbling a joking, "You can't really relate to the good taste in women part."

"Maybe not," Robin laughed out, nodding along to Steve's words before she closed the magazine. "Can I keep one? I'll give it back in like a week or something."

"Keep as many as you want," Steve shrugged. He didn't really mind. He had more under his bed anyway, if he really needed to let off some steam. It wasn’t like he’d found his libido to be too high nowadays.

Robin grinned widely, grabbing the Madonna issue and two other ones, placing the one she didn't want to keep back in Steve's nightstand, shutting it and setting the magazines on top. She turned back around, looking at Steve for a moment before chuckling. "Your face looks shitty."

Steve surprised himself by laughing, nodding a bit. "Gee, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better about myself," he joked, still grinning to himself. 

"You moron, I mean your bruises. You look stupid with those bandaids on your face. All of that is gonna get infected and you're gonna get like, Russian herpes or some shit," Robin explained, shaking her head. "Where the hell is your first aid kit?" 

"Russian herpes? What's the difference between American herpes and that?" Steve asked with a raised eyebrow, "and in the bathroom cupboard." 

Robin laughed, walking off to the bathroom connected to Steve's room, grabbing the first aid kit from the cupboard before coming back to the room. "Russian herpes is like a crazier, gooier herpes. You're gonna have huge warts on your face and when you touch them, they'll pop and there will be puss all over your face and in your hair and shit," she joked with a grin, opening up the first aid kit. 

"That's disgusting," Steve chuckled. "I knew a girl with herpes. She stopped showing up to school. I think she got pregnant," He mumbled, watching as Robin laughed, yanking the bandaids off of Steve's cuts before pouring some sort of liquid on a cotton swab before pressing it against Steve's wounds. He couldn't help but let out a yelp, flinching back. "What the fuck?"

"See, this is why I didn't warn you it would hurt," Robin huffed. "Stay fucking still." She spoke, dabbing the cotton against the rest of his cuts and bruises. Steve flinched every time as well, but tried to stay as still as possible. "Getting pregnant would blow. Good for us, huh? You're not gonna get pregnant, are you?"

Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "Not planning on it. Who knows, though? Maybe I'll get reckless one of these days," He joked with a grin, wincing when Robin began to place larger bandaids on his cuts, gentler than she applied the liquid to them. 

"That'd be a sight. Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington with a child. Or maybe herpes. Maybe...both, like that girl!" Robin laughed, moving away from Steve's face and closing up the first aid kit, going to put it away before coming back to the room. She sat down on his bed, raising her eyebrow. "Sleeping arrangements, hot shot. What's it gonna be?" She grinned. 

"I've got a sleeping bag if you wanna sleep on the floor. But you like girls, so us sleeping in the same bed shouldn't be a problem for you, should it?" Steve asked, genuinely asking. 

Robin chuckled. "Nah. Wouldn't bother me at all. You sure it wouldn't bother little Steve though?" She asked jokingly, wiggling her eyebrows. 

Steve rolled his eyes, finding his cheeks growing just barely red, simply out of embarrassment. "I'm sure! I would be fine! I told you, feelings are gone."

"Alrighty then, Stevey," Robin grinned, pulling off her shoes and lying on the right side of Steve's bed over the comforter, either lacking shame or just so comfortable around her newfound best friend Steve that it seemed she lacked shame. "You said you had a pool. I'm gonna swim in it tomorrow morning."

Steve chuckled at her bluntness, nodding his head and lying on the left side of the bed, hands clasped over his stomach as he stared up at the ceiling. "Sounds good," He smiled lightly, shrugging. He found himself comfortable around Robin;, more so than he probably ever had with Nancy. With Nancy, he was always so worried about being the perfect tough guy for her; the perfect guy who didn't feel anything heavy except for anger and protectiveness over his girlfriend. With Robin, he could be himself, because Robin was his best friend, nothing more, and that was much better than having a girlfriend; despite his earlier opinions. 

It was silent for a few minutes, comforting silence that didn't leave Steve anxious and worried. Nothing but the sound of their breathing and the occasional chuckle Robin would let out at nothing at all. 

"Do you still love Nancy Wheeler?" Robin asked after a while, catching Steve by surprise. He glanced over, eyes a bit wide, caught off guard. Robin was still looking up at the ceiling, smiling to herself. 

Steve thought of his answer for a moment, swallowed and averted his gaze back up at the ceiling as he poked his tongue out to lick his lips nervously. "A little, yeah," He whispered. "I think I always will."

Robin let out a laugh, a laugh that made Steve furrow his eyebrows and look over again, look over as Robin laughed harder. "That's so lame," She explained as she calmed down, looking over at Steve with a grin. "Nancy Wheeler is hot as hell, but you're Steve Harrington. All the girls that aren't lesbos like me are in love with you! So why are you so obsessed with Nancy, out of all people, when there are so many better girls out there?" 

Steve sighed, shaking his head with a bitter chuckle. "None of them like me anymore. I've lost it, I guess," he murmured, shrugging. 

"Exactly why I had that board. You suck," Robin smiled wide, "which is why you should take a break. Relationships are shitty and clearly you're not good at them. Word of advice, get over Nancy. She's over you." 

Steve knew it was true. As much as it pained him to hear it, Nancy was over him. And Steve should have been over her too. He shouldn't have been constantly reminiscing about what life was like with Nancy Wheeler, but he couldn't help it. She was the love of his life and getting over her would never be easy. For him, their love was nothing close to bullshit.

"It's not that easy," Steve mumbled simply, letting out a sigh. 

"I wouldn't know. I've never been in love. Guess I'm not educated enough to tell you what to do, but still. You should try to get over Nancy," Robin smiled gently, glancing over. "She's just fucking you over."

"I guess so…" Steve trailed off. "The monster today... did you think it was gonna kill you?" He asked curiously, mostly as a means to avert the topic. 

"Nah, man. I wasn't, like, petrified with fear or anything. Maybe I should have been but it was pretty cool to see. Same with the Russians but, hey, I wasn't the one getting my face bashed in," Robin laughed. "What about you, dingus? Were you scared?"

"Already told you; a little. I thought I was gonna get killed or something like that. And I probably would have been if Dustin and Erica hadn't shown up..." Steve spoke, nodding slowly. 

"Most likely. That little dude is cool as hell. Annoying, but cool," Robin grinned. "He reminds me of you, but nerdier."

"Come on! I'm not nerdy enough already?" Steve joked with a grin that mirrored Robin's, looking over. "You couldn't tell from my extensive Star Wars VHS collection?" He joked again. He definitely didn't have one. He'd only ever seen the first ever Star Wars movie, anyway. And during that, he'd only been  ten years old.

"How could I have possibly forgotten?! You're a new man! You know everything there is to know!" Robin smiled wide. "Who's your favorite Star Wars character?" 

"Uhhh… the little green guy with the sword," Steve said slowly, making little motions with his hands that really didn't help to explain at all. 

"You're amazing! Star Wars extraordinaire. You should partake in trivia, I'm sure it exists," Robin joked with an amused laugh. "You'll get tons of chicks if you join a fan club."

"Seriously?" Steve asked, genuinely curious as he held himself up by his elbows, glancing over at Robin with a grin. "I'm sure Dustin knows a few I could join. I just have to catch up on the last couple of movies and I'm golden."

"Oh, are you?" Robin mocked with a chuckle. "No, moron. Hot girls will scatter if you start talking about sith lords and R2D2."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows for a moment. "What the fuck is that?" 

"Exactly! You don't know anything about it either. Nerd girls will hate you and so will the popular girls! All the girls! Sucks for you, dingus." Robin smiled wide. 

"What will get me girls?" Steve huffed out, letting himself fall back down on his bed.  

"What did we just talk about, Steve? No relationships for you until you get over Nancy," Robin scolded, flicking Steve in the side of the forehead, to which he winced and rubbed the spot with the palm of his hand. 

"For future reference!" Steve defended, shaking his head. 

"You're asking the wrong girl, Harrington. Flirting is nowhere near my expertise," Robin chuckled, waving him off. 

"Then what is your expertise? Using your pointer and middle fingers?" Steve grinned, laughing at the resulting slap on the arm from Robin. 

"No, idiot! My expertise is bad advice. I'll give it to you if you give it to me," Robin grinned. 

"First of all, that sounds terrible," Steve pointed out with a chuckle. "Second of all, why would I want bad advice?" 

"Hey, advice is advice, Harrington. Take it or leave it. Maybe it'll be good advice in a box that looks like bad advice." Robin shrugged. 

"Wh-what…what the fuck does that mean?" Steve asked with furrowed eyebrows, confused. 

"You are such a dumbass. You know what? Never mind." Robin laughed out. 

"No! I want bad advice!" Steve protested, shaking his head. He found himself entirely forgetting all the happenings of the day. It was only him and his best friend, the girl who would give him shitty girl advice for a long time. Steve liked it that way. 

So Robin grinned and nodded her head, let out a laugh that filled the room and took over all the silence that Steve hated so much. After a few more hours of talking, Robin fell asleep, sprawled out in her Scoops Ahoy uniform on Steve's bed beside him and Steve shut off the lamp without any further concern of seeing a monster lurking through his window. 

The silence was filled with the sound of Robin's snores, snores that Steve found amusing and comforting rather than irritating. And Steve, despite believing that he wouldn't fall asleep that night, shut his eyes and didn't find himself dreaming of anything but the friends he had who loved him. That was what he had been longing for. Love, but not from Nancy. He didn't need Nancy Wheeler— or any girlfriend for that matter— when he had his friends who would love him more than she ever had and would never treat him like, well, bullshit.

Maybe this was where Steve Harrington felt protected. 

[amwilburn]

The Lego Movie 1 & 2 (and The Lego Batman Movie)

The first Lego Movie film simultaneously came out of nowhere (I didn't see a huge build up of hype), but at the same time, seemed long overdue. Yes, first and foremost, it's a way to keep the Lego brand front & centre on everyone's mind. But why not also cram it full of fun and heart?

The Lego Movie 2: The 2nd Part (2019)

Last month, we watched The Lego Movie 2: The 2nd Part at an advanced IMax screening on Feb 6th. We hadn't watched the original film in a couple of years, but had enjoyed it, and and *just* recently watched Lego Batman (which we also loved), were really looking forward to this.

TLM2 didn't disappoint, but didn't feel as satisfying as the 2 previous (no we haven't seen the Lego Ninjago film); it was full of laughs, and a song called "Catchy Song" that the film will *not* let you forget (think "Upbeat Inspirational Song" from "Teen Titans Go to the Movies".

In fact, I felt TLM2 film echoed the Teen Titans film in many ways, not just in having an intentionally silly & infectious song; from the overall tone, to even the general protagonist's plot arc.  Not that surprising, when both were produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

If you haven't seen the 1st film, the big reveal / twist at the end gave the 1st film a lot of heart.  In TLM2, I feel they spent *too* much time  on the same 'reveal', and it ground most of the plot pacing to a halt; I actually prefered the way that The Lego Batman Movie ignored the reveal at the end of TLM, but to be fair, you can feel this (along with the 1st film) are aimed at an even younger crowd, and I think it works for them (their attempt to inject heart into this film ended up being a little bit cheesy for me, but I think it works for the target audience), but the rest of the film delivers on laughs. Big time.

In fact, while the plot was nowhere as coherent or as smoothly transitioning as the 1st 2 films, TLM2 had us laughing throughout; in particular, I loved the meta humour as Christ Pratt as Emmet meets Rex Dangervest, a character who is the combination of Chris Pratt's Josh Faraday (Cowboy from Magnificent Seven), his Owen Grady from Jurassic World 1 & 2, and his Peter Quill / Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy.  The fact that Emmet is the everyman from every RPG / hero's journey from obscurity, who would of course be amazed by a wild west cowboy, a dinosaur cowboy, and a space cowboy.

The plot did stall in pacing a few times, especially while the characters were stumbling around, 'bewitched' by  Tiffany Haddish's Queen (the character's name will induce eye-rolling) and it felt like the film maker's themselves weren't sure how the middle portion of the film should connect the beginning and the end, they made sure there were laughs aplenty en route. And, as I'd mentioned, an ear-worm, catchy silly song that measure's up to the original's "Everything is Awesome". Oh, and stay for the credit's if you're also a fan of Andy Samberg's Lonely Island; unfortunately there's no post credits scene though.

Seriously, the soundtrack is so catchy, my wife immediately added it to her workout playlist.  Just going to leave "Catchy Song" from TLM2 here. You'll love it and hate it all at once.

YMMV: it's skewed a bit younger than the other 2 films mentioned here, so that may really bother some people. Conversely, if you were planning to take kids anyway, you may regard this even more highly.

Overall, B, 8.2/10

The Lego Move (2014)

Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, and Will Ferrell star in... well, essentially the film that everyone who grew up playing with Lego had imagined in some form. But voiced by huge stars; Morgan Freeman & Liam Neeson in particular add a nice gravitas to the film, which just adds to the enjoyable silliness.   Immediately after watching TLM2, we felt it wasn't quite as satisfying as the first and popped that in for a re-watch. We weren't wrong.

TLM's simple, staple RPG plot (the undiscovered diamond in the rough will save everyone) flows smoothly from point to point, and with virtually all the Lego licensed properties to parody, one scene in particular always gives me a chuckle: when Morgan Freeman's Vitruvius is addressing all the Lego licensed characters at once, juxtaposing Renaissance painters and Ninja Turtles, or the fact the Dumbledore and Gandalf are essentially the same character.  One of the great joys of this film is the sheer number of licensed character cameos that they simply crammed in because it was funny (and, probably also to sell some of said minifigs).

Emmet (Chris Pratt) is a nobody, recruited by Obi Wan (er Vitruvius) and who is predicted to be the chosen one to save Bricksburg from the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell). So while the plot itself is hardly new, it was all so charming. Set to the tune of "Everything is Awesome", the bright colourful characters and intricately modeled backgrounds will have you grinning. Plus, you get to hear Liam Neeson yelling "Darn Darn Darn Darny Darn!" Don't spoil the surprises for yourself if you haven't already seen this. A-, 8.9/10

Oh, also the 3d was great in this film; clear, not detracting or headache inducing. At least, for the rendered parts anyway. The bit at the end with the reveal could have been clearer, but the film didn't suffer for it. I've yet to see the other 2 above in 3d, but hope to someday to see if they're better or worse in 3d.

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

The Lego Batman Movie avoids the "pulling the curtain back moments" of the 2 main films of the franchise, and while that might give it less heart than TLM, it also doesn't have that same "younger audiences only" target demographic. It's clever and funny, never takes itself seriously, and while still quite slapstick, feels like it's aimed at all ages.

Bruce Wayne/ Batman thinks he works best alone, but accidentally adopts an orphan and discovers that maybe solo isn't the most satisfying way to live his life. The plot doesn't need a detailed synopsis; suffice it to say where TLM provides fan service via all the guest cameos of the various Lego licenses, this film provides fan service to every iteration of Batman, including long forgotten comic book villains you'll need to Google!

And somehow, replacing all the gunshot sounds with someone  literally yelling "Pew Pew Pew" all the way through this movie amps up the comedy (without crossing the line into pure silliness).

Will Arnett nails it as Lego Batman through all 3 of these films, but the casting of Michael Sera as Robin is genius. A, 9.1/10.

Oh, and Phil Lord (co-writer of both TLM1 & 2, producer for TLBM) also co-created Clone High, How I Met Your Mother... and wrote Spiderman Into the Spiderverse.

This guy's pretty good.

[tmbacorbett]

Release Blitz: Stand for Ukraine

  Title: Stand for Ukraine Series: The New Romance Cafe Collection (#13) Genre: Women’s Fiction, Romance, Flash Fiction, Poetry Model: Kevin R Davis Photographer: Golden Czermak Cover Design: The Cover Fling Charity: Save the Children Ukraine Publication Date: March 25th, 2022 Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:

Protect the innocent.

Provide for families.

We stand with Ukraine.

  Across the globe authors have come together to provide stories filled with hope, heart and understanding, inspired by the events of February 2022.

  STAND FOR UKRAINE is a collection of romance, women’s fiction and poetry. Proceeds go to Save the Children’s efforts to provide Ukrainian children with food, warmth, shelter and psychological support.

NOW LIVE!

Participating Authors: 

  Aarti V Raman,Ally Vance, Amanda Cuff, A McCarty, Andie Bale, Pandora Snow, Anna Klein, Anna Volkin, Annee Jones, April A. Luna, April D. Berry, M.A. Lee, A.M. Roark, Sarah Stein, Riana Everly, Lesley Hoover, Bria James, C.A. Rene, Caraway Carter, Cassie Simon, Corinne M Knight, Dakota Willink, Danielle Pays, Dawn McGraw, D A Nelson, Debra Elise, Demelza Carlton, Diane Jones, Sharon A. Mitchell, Emily Rose, EmKay Connor, Eva Moore, Ginger Ring, Dylan Quinn, Gwen Dylan, Caia Daniels, Harlow Layne, Harper Michaels, Heather D’Agostino,Heather Scarlett, Helena Novak, Carol Van Den Hende,Iuliana Foos, Jakki Frances, Jane Suen, Jeanette Taylor Ford, Jen Stevens, Jennifer M. Miller, Jenny Fenshaw, JCC Downing, Tasha Blythe, J. P. Uvalle, K Leigh, Karigan Hale, Kasey Hill, Élodie Garroway, Katherine Moore, Katie Rae, Kimberly Halstead, Kristie Leigh, Olivia Rhymer, Kristin T. De La Garza, Dakota Star, Lisa Wells, M.Culler, S.C. Principale, Maida Malby, Mandy Bee, Margaret Madigan, Maria Macdonald, Megan Ryder, M Jameson, Melissa Riddell, Lissa Lynn Thomas, Merrie Destefano, Chele Maccabe, Michelle Iannarelli, Maya Lemaire, Leila Coltyn, Kathleen Ryder, N.J. Ember, A.R. Bell, Remy Reigns, Renee Dahlia, Leann Castellanos, RJ Gray, Robin Andrews, Cass K, Rosie Wylor-Owen, Rubi Jade, Liz Martinson, Candace Sams, Guinevere Jordan, Shannon O’Connor, Miranda Jameson, Simone Leigh, Skye MacKinnon, Skye Turner, Sofia Aves, Jo Seysener, J. T. Silver, Susan Horsnell, Suki McMinn, Tanya Dawson, Tanya Nellestein, Taya Rune, T.R. Weatherly, T Wells Brown, Tina Glasneck, Tracy Broemmer, Tracy Reed, Trinity Wood, Yolanda Olson, Zoey Indiana, Daniel Cade Quinn, Sabrina Silvers, Kari Ganske, Faith Justice, Nina Knight, Michelle L. De La Garza, Sloane Nicole

NOW LIVE!

About The New Romance Cafe

The New Romance Café is the place to get your daily dose of romance books.

  Hang out with like-minded readers and authors at different stages of their writing journey, in a diverse and inclusive group.

  Find out about new releases, take part in fun discussions, and recommend your favourite reads in the safe space of the Café.

The post Release Blitz: Stand for Ukraine first appeared on TMBA Corbett Tries to Write.

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[ramajmedia]

10 Things In Sci-Fi Movies You Didn't Know Were CGI | ScreenRant

From early pioneers like Tron and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, to game changers like Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and The Matrix trilogy, CGI has been used to augment the ideas and themes presented in science-fiction films. Science fiction as a genre provides different perspectives on how we think of everything from the future of our race, to the perils of technological advancement and the complexities of space travel. Computer graphic imagery and the advancements in that field help filmmakers realize their visions in ways that weren't possible with practical effects alone.

These days, CGI is more prevalent in science-fiction films than ever before. We're used to seeing the big spectacle of space battles in the latest Star Wars film. We've become accustomed to the exotic aliens of Star Trek films. But what about when CGI is used so subtly you don't even notice it? Or for things other than giant spaceships and strange extraterrestrials? Below you'll find ten things in sci-fi movies you didn't know were CGI.

10 Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Sometimes the CGI in sci-fi films is used not for huge battles or giant creatures, but to fix mistakes or recreate common objects. CGI has become a staple in the latest Star Wars films, especially for obvious things like ships, planets, space. But it was also used rather subtly and to great effect in The Force Awakens.

RELATED: Star Wars: Kylo Ren's 10 Best Moments (So Far)

The dialogue between Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren about Ren really being Ben Solo, Han Solo's only son, was meant to be later on in the film. Therefore, it was filmed with Ren's helmet off. JJ Abrams decided the reveal should come sooner, and the scene had to be reshot, with a CGI mask placed over Adam Driver's face. You can't tell it isn't a real helmet.

9 Deus Ex Machina

Deus Ex Machina is a genre film that relies more heavily on ideas than visual effects, as implied by the nature of its title, which implies a plot contrivance. Alicia Vikander stars as the cybernetic artificial intelligence unit that is created by the minds of a brilliant programmer and a Dr. Frankenstein-like engineer.

While in many scenes it appears Vikander is wearing some sort of suit that might simulate her cybernetic bodyform, she isn't. Only her face, hands, and feet are her own; everything else is CGI. It moves with such synchronicity to her own body movements as to appear virtually indistinguishable.

8 E.T.

One of Spielberg's landmark films, E.T. didn't make a flashy use of CGI in 1982, with the renowned filmmaker electing to use puppetry and practical effects wherever possible (save of course for the iconic bicycles-to-the-moon-shot). All bets were off when it came to the 2002 DVD release, however.

RELATED: Steven Spielberg's 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

Spielberg had often said that if he could go back and "fix" anything in the film, it would be the guns used by the police who go after the escaping kids. He felt it was distasteful for officers of the law to draw weapons on children, and used CGI to swap the guns for walkie-talkies.

7 Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park is known for pioneering some incredible CGI effects, many of them the result of blending techniques used in stop-motion film making with modern innovations in computer graphic design. But the dinosaurs weren't the only things being rendered that way.

In the scene where Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, and John Hammond's grandchildren are forced to escape into the air ducts of the Visitor's Center, Lex nearly plunges to her doom. The moment where she nearly falls from the edge of the duct to the hungry velociraptor below featured a stunt girl that inadvertently looked into the camera. CGI had to be used to put the actress's face over hers rather than reshoot the scene.

6 War For The Planet Of The Apes

While audiences know that the talking bipedal apes featured in the new Planet of the Apes trilogy aren't real (and also not all played by Andy Serkis), they may not know how CGI is utilized in the rest of the films. Some of the most impressive uses of it are featured in the third film, War for the Planet of the Apes.

While CGI specialists were busy using programs to individually create strands of ape hair, they were also using them to create individual droplets of water, and leaves on trees. A great deal of the forest the apes used as their hideout area, as well as the terrain featured during the battle sequences, was entirely made of CGI despite looking incredibly life-like.

5 Children Of Men

Children of Men was a universally celebrated sci-fi movie when it debuted, in large part due to its visceral vision of a dystopian future. In a time when children aren't born due to infertility reasons, one man must protect the last child of humankind and defend it from a myriad of dangers.

RELATED: 10 Sci-Fi Movies To Watch If You Like Children Of Men

The last baby that Clive Owen's character protects wasn't a real baby at all due to the hazardous nature of the scenes it was featured in (especially him running and jumping across rooftops or amidst gunfire). Therefore it was necessary to use a CGI baby that's so life-like it fooled audiences completely.

4 Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

While most wouldn't classify Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as a sci-fi film, the ending would solidly place it in that category. It features the beginning of the Atomic Age, and positions Indy in a world that's beginning to become completely immersed in what lies among the stars.

RELATED:  Indiana Jones 5: 10 Scrapped Ideas From Previous Sequels It Should Use

In the opening sequence involving two hot-rods racing (a 1950 Ford Deluxe Army Staff Car vs a 1932 Ford Model B Roadster), one of them rides over a gopher hole. The little critter almost gets himself decapitated by the Model B, before scampering off. That gopher was entirely CGI...for some reason.

3 Waterworld

Waterworld was an ambitious project, some would say too ambitious for a sci-fi film. It was plagued by every conceivable problem on set, had an incredibly bloated budget, problems filming on oceanic locations, as well as hazardous working conditions. It also spent a hundred thousand dollars on making the ocean CGI.

Despite the fact that aerial shots exist, there are scenes in Waterworld where the ocean is CGI, and while it looks fantastic, this contrasts pretty spectacularly with shots of the real thing. This is why the budget ballooned from $100 million to $175 million.

2 Supernova

It's General Hospital, in space! Or it's Supernova, a sci-fi thriller that positions a hospital ship in deep space. Their continuing mission? To answer intergalactic 911 calls. When the Nightingale 229 answers a distress call from another ship, the survivor they bring on board and his alien artifact may trigger a supernova that will wipe out the galaxy.

RELATED: 10 Weirdest Places That Movie Characters Have Sex

Before that catastrophic event happens, there's time for a little hanky-panky. In zero gravity, Angela Bassett and James Spader's character have a sex scene, except they weren't on set to do it. It's really their co-stars, Peter Facinelli and Robin Tunney, with Tunney's skin tone altered in post-production to match Bassett's.

1 Return Of The Jedi

While some Star Wars fans found things to gripe about in the original trilogy's third installment it was, on the whole, a fitting climax to one of the most beloved saga's in sci-fi history.  George Lucas would later come out with a trilogy of prequels for Star Wars fans to complain about and, armed with new advancements in CGI, he would go back and alter their beloved film. If you've never seen any other version of the film, you may think the alterations were normal.

When Luke takes Vader's mask off so he can see his son with his own eyes, we see that Vader has no eyebrows in the 2004 Blu-Ray edition. This is because Lucas felt they should've been burned off on Mustafar where he sustained the injuries that put him in the mask to begin with, so CGI was used to remove them. Too bad he didn't stop there...

NEXT: 10 Amazing Movie Scenes That Did Not Use CGI

source https://screenrant.com/sci-fi-movies-cgi-surprise/

[changechest3-blog]

Could We Get Our First Community-Based Mental Health Clinic?

If you vote yes twice on the binding referendum Nov. 6, then yes—Logan Square, Avondale and Hermosa will get a community-based mental health clinic. If you have been out at community events, Farmer’s Markets or festivals it in the past months, it’s likely you heard about this initiative and perhaps even signed to get the referendum on the ballot.

In the past couple of months, volunteers from the Coalition to Save Our Mental Health Centers have been out in the neighborhood gathering signatures and spreading awareness for the possibility to have a community-based Expanded Mental Health Program (EMHP). In August, the group surpassed the required signature amount to get the tax referendum on the midterm ballot, getting over 9,000 signatures for both questions. The first question creates the EMHP and the second provides additional protection for taxpayers against an increase in the rate they have approved under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law.

The referendum asks residents to raise local taxes by .025 percent, which is about $16-24 per year or $4 for every $1000 that homeowners pay in property taxes. If this passes, it would be the third clinic in the city’s history following the successful model of the first EMHP clinic on the North Side, the Kedzie Center (4141 N. Kedzie Ave.). It opened four years ago on Oct. 29, 2014, after its community also passed the referendum with 74 percent of votes. The second clinic on the West Side is not open yet but is in its assessment stage after also getting community funding and approval in 2016 with 86 percent of votes. It is scheduled to open in early 2019.

Should the referendum pass, a mental health Needs Assessment will be created to find out what specific needs the community wants. Next, a governing body will be elected to oversee the clinic and pick the details of location, services, budgeting, etc.

The Coalition held a rally Aug. 3 at the Board of Elections when volunteers delivered the petition sheets to get the referendum on the ballot. Photo Courtesy the Coalition.

By the Community, For the Community

All of these strides have been community efforts to the core. In Logan Square, Avondale and Hermosa, The Coalition’s Action Team spent 12 weeks engaging with neighbors, schools, other nonprofits, religious groups and political candidates to get awareness and signatures signed. Megan Tress, a volunteer with the Coalition and a Logan Square resident, has dedicated about 500 hours to the effort and has personal passions for the cause.

“I lost my sister to suicide in January,” Tress said. This loss propelled her to dive headfirst into local efforts to destigmatize mental health and bring access to people suffering from various mental illnesses. She herself has dealt with depression and mental health issues, and is proud to say that she has had a therapist since she was about 14. At 30 years old, she carries a confident air about her mental health journey and said she is lucky to have had early intervention practices from a young age.

“People are very critical of psychiatric medication and don’t believe in therapy but you can’t deny my personal experience with it,” she said about those who are not sympathetic to medication or therapy as solutions to mental health issues. “I have seen it do really good things for me. I think it’s important we talk about that.”

With a background as a nurse working in the ER and now as a nurse practitioner, Tress said she has seen what the lack of mental health resources can do to patients and where they can end up—the ER, and worse, incarcerated. About 50 percent of the U.S. prison population suffers from mental health illness, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Special Report. According to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, 7,000 detainees in Cook County Jaim suffer from mental illness, according to a 2017 WTTV article. 

Tress strongly believes that mass incarceration, especially in Chicago that spends over a billion dollars on incarceration, should be funded less to give more public dollars to mental health services, an argument long battled in our state politics. More resources mean less people behind bars.

“I had always had a passion for mental health care and I was always the nurse advocating for psychiatric consoltations 100 percent of the time,” she said. 

Since Logan Square lost its mental health clinic in 2012 when Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed six of the 12 city-funded clinics, residents who need access to those kinds of services have limited access. The closest clinic is the North River Mental Health Clinic (5801 N. Pulaski Rd.), which is at least a 45-minute commute. And in a community dealing with rapid gentrification, higher rent costs and displacement of brown and black communities, that’s a far commute for someone to make with mental illnesses, notes Pastor Bruce Ray of Kimball Avenue Church (2324 N. Kimball Ave.).

“Who, struggling with mental illness, is going to take three bus routes to get services?” Ray said. “It’s not local; it’s not within the community.”

Pastor Ray is a big supporter of the proposed mental health clinic because it’s an opportunity to bring back a mental health clinic to the area, tailor its needs to the people of the community and show that mental wellness is just like any other type of healthcare. He said there are clinics doing good work but knows that the need is greater than what they can offer. Even in his congregation, there are people he said would benefit from more services that used to come to him for counseling. But he is not a mental health professional, he said. 

 “Finding places to refer people to is really difficult, and if you don’t have insurance, documentation and speak a language other than English, it becomes really problematic,” Ray said.

Supporting the mental health clinic initiative relays compassion and empowerment for people, Ray said, and putting people first is what it means to care for one another.

“Having a mental health clinic in our community is really important because it will give me as a pastor a place that I can get support or that can support members of my congregation.” 

Pastor Bruce Ray

The Coalition’s efforts have shown that mental health is a community issue and not an exclusive right; the Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance (made up of five local churches including Ray’s) stand with the Coalition and so does Trevor Grant, First Ward Alderman candidate. In a blog post to his site, he shared the impact a local shelter like this would have on children seeking counseling to veterans. Grant served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan from 2008-2009 as a combat medic. 

“As a veteran, I’m strongly in support of this center getting built. Approximately 20 veterans per day commit suicide nationwide.  When I returned from Afghanistan I would drive 45 minutes once every three months just to ‘keep an eye’ on my PTSD symptoms for three years,” Grant wrote. “I work on math and other problems to self-medicate symptoms, that works for me but not everyone. I know countless veterans who struggle with PTSD. Easy access to mental health can literally be the difference between a suicide attempt and seeking help.”

‘It’s OK Not to Be OK’: Stripping Away the Mental Health Stigma

These voices show the commitment of each community to mental healthcare access and its normalization, a growing trend in Chicago. Chance the Rapper recently started a nonprofit called SocialWorks, dedicated to providing arts and education through different initiatives. One such initiative is My State of Mind, which wants to unite the Chicago mental health community and publicly talk about mental health problems with no judgment. On Oct. 5, Chance pledged $1 million to help provide six mental health services during a summit for SocialWorks, receiving lots of social media buzz and gratitude.

Remember when dealing with friends or family with mental illness, that your expectations and their progess will always be separate. Its easy to become frustrated when dealing with someone you’re so familiar with but its integral to their growth that you are patient & supportive

— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) October 10, 2018

Chance is just one of several artists/activists in the public spotlight using their money and notoriety to progress a cause. Locally, Sip of Hope has already opened up the dialogue for mental health awareness—”it’s OK to not be OK”— and the Robin Williams mural, painted by Jerkface and Owen Dippie for Mental Health Awareness Week (the first week of October), had a similar, profound impact and was the talk of the town at the beginning of the month, leaving a mark on Logan Square.

Easy access to mental health can literally be the difference between a suicide attempt and seeking help.

Trevor Grant, First Ward Alderman Candidate

Residents like Tress and Ray are optimistic about the new clinic potentially opening up and see this step as an autonomous move to have more control over finances and services for the widespread need. 

“I don’t think opening one mental health center in our area is going to solve all this but I think it’s about hopefully creating a snowball effect of changing the culture and having people seek help,” Tress said.

Featured image: The Coalition delivered resident signatures to the Board of Elections Aug. 3 to get the referendum on the ballot. Photo Courtesy the Coalition.

Source: https://logansquarist.com/2018/10/23/could-logan-get-a-new-community-based-mental-health-clinic/