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felassan · 3 years

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Some DA trivia and dev commentary from Twitter

There’s a lot of different tweets, so I’m just pasting and linking to the source rather than screencapping them all or making several different posts or something. Post under cut for length.

User: Was dragon age 2 your favourite in the franchise?

David Gaider: DA2 was the project where my writing team was firing on all cylinders, and they wrote like the wind- because they had to! Second draft? Pfft. Plot reviews? Pfft. I was so proud of what we all accomplished in such a brief time. I didn't think it was possible. [source] DA2 is, however, also where the goal posts kept moving. Things kept getting cut, even while we worked. I had to write that dialogue where Orsino turned even if you sided with him, because his boss battle had been cut and there was no time to fix the plot. A real WTF moment. >:( [source]

Mike Rousseau: I remember bugging that! And then being told it wasn't a bug, and being so confused. Doing QA for DA2 was an experience. Trial by fire. [source]

DG: So I think it's safe to say DA2 is my favorite entry in the DA franchise and also the sort of thing I never want to live through ever again. Mixed feelings galore. [source]

User: (I personally blame whoever it was for ruining most romance arcs in other games for me; they don't live up to Fenris's romance storyline)

DG: I wrote Fenris, so uh - me, I guess? Or maybe his cinematic designer, who put in the puppy dog eyes. [source]

User: If DA2 had just been an expansion, do you think it would have been better received? There was a lot of great stuff in there, and I think my initial dislike of it was because of the zone reuse. If it hadn't needed to be a full game, would that issue not have arisen?

DG: Hard to say. It was either going to be an over-scoped expansion or an under-scoped sequel. If it had stayed an expansion, it might never have received the resources/push it DID get. [source]

User: I'd love to visit the universe where you had an extra year or so to work on it. You did a very good job as it stands, but it definitely had rough edges. Not just the writing team either. The whole game had hit and miss moments, that just a little more dev time could have fixed.

DG: On one hand, DA2 existed to fill a hole in the release schedule. More time was never in the cards. DA2 was originally planned as an expansion! On the other, if we had more time, would we have started doing that thing where we second guess/iterate ourselves into mediocrity? [shrug emoji] [source]

Jennifer Hepler: This is what I love about DA2. Personally, I greatly prefer something that's rough and raw and sincere to something that's had all the soul polished out of it. Extra time would have helped for art and levels, but it would have lost something too. [source]

DG: Right? I think we could have used some time for peer reviews (and fewer cuts), but I think the rawness of the writing lent a certain spark that we usually polished out. [source]

JH: Definitely. I think the structure (more character-driven) and the tightness of the timeframe let each individual writer's voice really come through. Polish can be very homogenizing. [source]

DG: I should add I'm not, by any means, against iteration. Some iteration is good and necessary. The problem that BioWare often had is that we never knew when to stop. Like a goldfish, we would fill the space given to us by constantly re-iterating on things that were "good enough". [source]

Patrick Weekes: I appreciate your incredibly diplomatic use of the past tense on "had". :D [source]

User: DA2 was my gateway into the series and I’m so happy it is. I love the game the way that it is. It’s one of my favorites of all time. But I am also aware of everything that was said here. If it were remastered, do you think it would change?

DG: I'd be surprised if it was ever remastered. If it was, do you really think they'd change things? Do remasters do that? No idea. [source]

User: Both sides got undercut as I recall. Didn't that whole sequence also end with the mage leader embracing blood magic? It was very much "a plague on both your houses" moment, at least for me.

DG: Yep. Orsino was supposed to have his own version of Meredith's end battle, which only happened if you sided with the templars. That got cut, but the team still wanted to use the model we'd made for him. So... that happened. [source]

DG: I would personally say that DA2 is a fantastic game hidden under a mountain of compromises, cut corners, and tight deadlines. If you can see past all that, you'll see a fantastic game. I don't doubt, however, that it's very difficult for most to do that. [source]

PW: I love DAI with all my selfish "I worked on this" heart, but DA2's follower arcs and relationships are probably my favorite in the series. [source]

User: As I've expressed many times, I love the game, especially it's writing and characters but, for me, the most impressive aspect of it, in consideration of it's lack of time for drafts and revisions, is the 2nd act with Arishok. What amazingly complex character and fantastic duel

User: Just played it again and I have to agree. Though he is bound by the harsher tenants of the Qun, he makes valid points about free marcher society. Though it is obvious that he and Hawke will come to blows eventually, the tension builds gradually and understandably

DG: Luke did such a fantastic job with the Arishok I found myself sometimes wishing the Qunari plot had just been THE plot. [source]

User: What do you think would have changed, story wise, if you had more time for DA2?

DG: I would have taken out that thing where Meredith gets the idol. It was forced on me because she needed to be "super-powered" with red lyrium for her final battle. Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that. [source]

User: I deeply lament that there wasn't/couldn't be some sort of DA2 equivalent of Throne of Bhaal's Ascension mod.

DG: I'd have done it, if DA2 had allowed for anything but the most rudimentary of modding. ;) [source]

User: I mean, and I think I understand where you were trying, but how much legitimacy did the Templars and her as top Templar have after they're keeping the mages locked up against their will in the old slave quarters? Feel free to not reply.

DG: I think it's the kind of discussion which requires nuance, and which discussions on the Internet are not prone to. [source]

User: Was a compromise that the quest lines don’t branch? It felt like it was supposed to be that way but then you end up in the same place later regardless of what you pick. Like I hoodwinked the templars so good to help the apostates escape but in Act II they were caught anyway.

DG: I remember us having a lot more branching in the initial planning yes. Most of this got trimmed out in the first or second wave of cuts, in an effort to not cut the plots altogether. [source]

DG: "If you could Zack Snyder DA2, what would you change?" Wow. I'm willing to bet Mark or Mike (or anyone else on the team) would give very different answers than me, but it's enough to give a sober man pause, because that was THE Project of Multiple Regrets. [source] I mean, it's the most hypothetical of hypotheticals. It's never gonna happen. I wouldn't be surprised if EA considered DA2 its embarrassing red-headed stepchild. We'd also need to ignore that in many ways DA2 was as good as it was bad BECAUSE of how it was made. But that aside? [source] First, either restore the progressive changes to Kirkwall we'd planned over the passing of in-game years or reduce the time between acts to months instead of years... which, in hindsight, probably should have been done as soon as the progressive stuff was cut. [source] I'm sure you're like "get rid of repeated levels!" ...but I don't care about that. All I wanted was for Kirkwall to feel like a bigger city. Way more crowded. More alive! Fewer blood mages. [source] I'd want to restore the plot where a mage Hawke came THIS close to becoming an abomination. An entire story spent trapped in one's own head while trapped on the edge of possession. Why? Because Hawke is the only mage who apparently never struggles with this. It was a hard cut. [source]

User: I would LOVE to hear more details about this! I don’t suppose there’s any chance of a short story?

DG: I don't even remember the details of the story, sorry. There was a fight, and you caught the bad guy and then realized none of it was real and woke up idk [source]

DG: I'd want to restore all those alternate lines we cut, meaning people forget they'd met you. Or that they knew you were a mage. Or, oh god, that maybe they'd romanced you in DAO. So much carnage. [source] I'd want to restore the Act 3 plots we cut only because they were worked on too late, but which would have made the buildup to the mage/templar clash less sudden. Though I don't remember what they were, now. Some never got beyond being index cards posted on the wall. [grimace emoji] [source] As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd want to restore Orsino's end battle so he wouldn't need to turn on you even if you sided with him. And I'd want an end fight with the templars that didn't require Meredith to have red lyrium and go full Tetsuo. [source] Heck, maybe an end decision where you sided with neither the mages nor the templars. Because it certainly ended up feeling like you could brand both sides as batshit pretty legitimately, no? That was never planned, tho. No idea how to make that feel like an actual path atm. [source] Maybe an option to go "umm, Anders... what are you DOING?" 👀 [source] And, of course, a Varric romance, because Mary took that "slimy car salesman" character we'd planned and did the impossible with him. I can feel Mary glaring at me for even suggesting this, tho. [source] Lastly, the original expanded opening to the game which allowed you to spend time with Bethany and Carver BEFORE the darkspawn attacked. And, um, that's about it off the top of my head. Zack Snyder, WHAT PANDORA'S BOX HAVE YOU OPENED. [source] Shit, I remembered two more things: 1) Restore the "Varric exaggerates the heck out of the story" at the beginning of every Act, until Cassandra calls him on it. Yes, that was a thing. 2) Make DA: Exodus. Yes, I am still bitter. [source] God damn it, I meant "Make DA: Exalted March". The DA2 expansion, NOT Exodus since that was DA2's original name and makes no sense. Because the expansion ended with Varric dying, and that will always be on my "things left undone" list. [source]

User: Whaaaat?

DG: Well, you know that scene in Wrath of Khan where Spock goes into the dilithium chamber because he's a Vulcan? Well, imagine that but with Varric and red lyrium and because he's a dwarf. ;) [source]

John Epler: I distinctly remember referencing the bit from MGS4 where you crawl through the microwave corridor in the split screen, while cinematic battle rages on the other half. [source]

DG: It would have been glorious, John. Glorious. [source]

JE: I don't think I've ever been so certain what a shot should look like as I did Hawke coming in and finding Varric in the broken throne, just like when he was telling Cassandra his story. [source]

DG: It would have come full circle! Auggghh, it still kills me. [source]

User: Lord, you folks are a little too good at this.

JE: The true secret behind videogame narrative is knowing how to make yourself seem a lot more clever than you actually are. [source] 'Oh, we TOTALLY planned that.' [source]

User: Ok, this thread [the DA2 regrets thread, which is the big chunks above] but Inquisition.

DG: My regrets about Inquisition are, more or less, the normal kind. Nothing so dramatic, I'm afraid. [source]

User: You can keep your Varric romance, I want a Flemeth romance goddamnit!

DG: I would allow for one flirt option, and then a recording of Kate Mulgrew laughing for three minutes straight. [source]

User: I had a hypothesis about the repetitive caves in DA2. They're repetitive because it's Varric telling the story and he didn't consider them important. They're like sets in a play. (Okay, I really suspect it was a time/money/resources thing but I like my fake explanation better.)

DG: Hang a lampshade on it, maybe? Cassandra: "But that's the exact cave you were in last time?" Varric: "Whatever. They all look the same, I'm not THAT kind of dwarf. Can we move on?" [source]

User: that makes sense, hypothetically to make Varric romanceable and keep his arc—that had to happen for the main plot—I imagine you would have to make double the content (or more)? which would've been a tall order given the time/budget constraints the game was under

DG: Right. When it comes to "romance arc" vs. "follower story arc", we generally only had time to do one or the other. Never both. Romancing Varric would have meant not getting the story of his that you did. [source]

Mary Kirby: The one exaggeration I really, REALLY wanted, that we never got to do was Varric narrating his own death scene with Hawke weeping over him, then cutting to Cassandra's pissed off glaring at him. [source]

DG: Haha! The one I wanted was Varric's plot where he takes on the baddies single-handedly, sliding across the floor like Jet Lee, action movie-style, until finally Cassandra gets irritated and he has to admit Hawke & the rest of the party showed up to help. [source]

MK: We did that one! (He didn't do any Jet Lee moves, though.) Jepler gave him letterboxing to get The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly showdown vibes while he shot a ton of mooks single-handed. [source]

DG: Wow. Shows how much I remember. [source]

JE: I found it! I remember seeing this sequence as my treat for doing a bunch of much more challenging work. It was fun to see how far I could push our limited library of animations. [link] [source]

DG: Heh awesome. I could have sworn it was cut, honestly. I think I was even in that meeting. [source]

User: no disrespect but that’s surprising and rich of Mary “Hard in Hightown” Kirby to think DA2 shouldn’t have had a Varric romance when she wrote an entire book of Varric’s self-insert character pining over his Hawke insert character… HIH is the reason we had VHawke Summer 2018

DG: I can't *really* speak for Mary, or how she feels about it now compared to back then. I only know how she felt about it back then, and I'm not sure it was as much the concept of the romance but that Varric's entire story would be bent to "romance arc" ...a very different thing. [source]

JH: I remember pushing to have the first DLC start with Hawke having an option to ask Varric, "Did you tell Cassandra about us?" and if you picked it, Varric would answer, "Of course not, baby. I told her you were sleeping with X..." and then proceed as if you had had a full romance. [source]

DG: I still wonder how that would have gone over. x) [source]

JE: Okay, one more DA2 thing. Putting together the cinematics for this scene was a blast. [link] [source]

MK: These lines are my greatest legacy. I want "Make sure the world knows I died... at Chateau Haine!" inscribed on my tombstone. [source]

JE: I was so glad no one said 'no' to the crane shot. [source]

MK: It needs that crane shot. It's the perfect icing on that cake made from solid cheese. [source]

DG: The designers were all "we need more combat" and I think we were all "I think you underestimate just HOW interesting we can make this dinner party". [source]

JE: And finally. I think @SherylChee wrote the one-liner. I think we had a collection of like, 20. [link] [source]

Sheryl Chee: Yeah! Something like that! I remember submitted a whole bunch and Frank said you only needed one. Wish I'd kept the other fifteen. [source]

JE: A random chooser where, each time through the scene, you get a different one-liner. [source]

JE: DA2 is the project I'm the proudest of. I also absolutely get that it didn't land for a lot of people. But I don't think it's inaccurate to say that, in a lot of ways, DA2 defined my career. [source] Everyone spent a year working at their maximum ability. I was a fresh cinematic designer and was given all of Varric's content, as well as the Act 1 Finale mission. It was a lot for someone who had been doing the Cinematics thing for literally 6 months. [source] There's some stuff in there I can't look at without wincing. And there's some stuff I'm genuinely proud of. Not to mention, it was my introduction to most of the writing team. Several of whom I'm still working with today! Albeit in a different capacity [source] Also, weirdly, one of my most enduring memories of Dragon Age 2 is how much Bad Company 2 we'd play at lunch. It was a LOT. [source] Every game I've worked on has a game I played attached to it. ME2 is Borderlands. DA2 is Bad Company 2. DAI is DayZ. I, hmm. There's a progression there. I don't know how I feel about it. [source]

User: Is DA4 going to be tarkov then?

JE: I've kind of churned out of Tarkov for now. Probably Hunt Showdown, at least right now. [source]

User: I think people also don't take nuance into consideration -- like I FULLY acknowledge the flaws in my favorite games and will openly criticize them, but that doesn't mean they're not my favorite games anymore??? You can like and thing and still be critical of it.

JE: A lot of my favourite shit is deeply flawed! I acknowledge it and I think it's interesting to dissect the flaws. [source]

User: I still wish Justice was an actual character in DA2 rather than a plot point.

DG: There was a moment during DAI where we *almost* put in you running into Justice with the Grey Wardens, and he's all "Kirkwall? I never went to Kirkwall" [source]

User: Does that imply that Justice was shoehorned in to DA2?

DG: Nah, it was an in-joke where we thought it'd be fun to suggest that "Justice" was simply some demon that tricked Anders in DA2. Wooo those tricky demons! We didn't do it, though. [source]

User: [about templars] except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

DG: I don't doubt that many people agree with you, and yet people can and do argue on behalf of the templars as well. My place isn't to pick a side, but to provide evidence that players can interpret for themselves [source]

User: Can you shed some light for us on how DA was able to do multiple same-sex romance options for different genders but the Mass Effect team treated them like the plague? What process existed for your team that just wasn't their for the other tentpole franchise?

DG: Different people making the decisions, almost different cultures. I don't know what it's like now, but for many years the Mass Effect team and the Dragon Age team were almost like two different studios working within the same building. [source]

User: It truly boggles the mind. Kudos for doing demonstrably better on consistent queer representation than the ME teams. Y'all never needed us to make petitions to try to get the studio's attention and ask them to do better by us. That's the fight we're once again embroiled in now.

DG: Honestly, I don't feel like tut-tutting the Mass Effect team. They did their part, and if they were a bit later to the show than the DA team they certainly did more than almost every other game out there -- and willingly. [source]

Updates begin here

User: So what was the reason for naming Dragon age 2 "Dragon age II" and not using a subtitle?

DG: As I recall, that was purely a publisher decision. I think they wanted to avoid the impression it was an expansion. [source]

User: Is there no chance of ever remaking DA2 under better circumstances? -Somehow remove the repetitiveness of gameplay by making changes and updating the tech and adding much more to the storyline. It could almost be a new very exciting game.

DG: I'd say there's zero chance of that. Let's keep our hopes up for the next DA title instead. [source]

User: I am a little confused here, help me out here please! How exactly was the cut boss battle with Orsino supposed to work out? How it would've kept him from turning against the player?

DG: It means that, if you sided with the templars, the entire boss bottle at the end would have been against Orsino and the mages. No fight against Meredith. The end decision would have been more divergent. [source]

User: I do remember that one of the reasons going around for that, was that resources were going to the transition to Frostbite. I'm still not fully sold on that having been a good choice. I felt that more time should have been given for that transition considering it was made for FPSs

DG: We didn't transition to Frostbite until DAI. Given our time frame for DA2, I don't think we *could* have transitioned to a new engine. [source]

User: Since your talking about the what could have been for DA2. Could you say what your script was for Anthem? Cause I remember reading that you wrote the plot on that game.

DG: I created a setting for Anthem and scripted out a plot - but, as I understand it, almost none of that ended up being used. So it's a bit pointless to talk about what I'd planned, as that'd be for some completely different type of game. [source]

User: [in reference to the exchange above where DG said “Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that.” re: Meredith] except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

If I missed a tweet, got the wrong source link or included a tweet twice, feel free to let me know and I’ll correct.

Edit / Update: Post update 22nd April

#dragon age #bioware #video games #fenris #the Fenaissance #long post #longpost #cassandra pentaghast #my lady paladin #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #mass effect

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 2 years

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In the Highlander reboot, I hope they cast David Tenant as Ramirez. Why? Because Ramirez (An Egyptian Spaniard) should only be played by the only Scottish actor in a movie called Highlander and set around a Scottish Character.

Though I could see Rami Malik (actual egyptian) in the role too.

Either would be a good choice, but it’s sad we’ll never get to know what Connery would think of those picks (or whoever they actually pick)

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whatdoesshedotothem · 3 years

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Saturday 12 August 1837

7 55

11 50

Slept with A- fine morning F69° now at 8 55 and sat down to breakfast with A- G- came soon – out at 10 – with Mark Hepworth on the embankment in front of the house – it looked tremendously dark – I went to see what was to be done when the carts could not drag thro’ the clay of the embankment – stuff to come from Northgate – the words hardly out of our mouths before a tremendous thunder shower came – with thunder and lightning – I got wet in getting to the west tower – the red room passage all open – the rain pouring in, and down thro’ the red room floor into the drawing room – a terrible mess – my magazines lying on the drawing room floor obliged to be laid before the upper kitchen fire – a perfect river running thro’ the entrance passage from court to gardens – the old china closet front (window frames unglazed) open, and the rain pouring in – one tremendous crash of thunder about 10 ½ just as I had finished changing my dress – then sat 1/2 hour with A- at my desk at 11 10 still raining but not heavily – coping out business letters and considering letter to be written respecting the Infant Graham’s money till went down to Mr. Charles Priestley at 1 50, and he staid till 5 ¼ - § vide next page sent for Mr. Charles P- to sound him about taking the Northgate hotel – began about the tap – would it be in his way? – should I let it or not? – mentioned what had passed with Thomas G- on the subject – yes! CP. would take it – but could not give me much for it – one thing led to another – the tap would be worth more it to sell both ale and spirits – and he said something about giving £60 a year for it – I fancy but am not certain, spirits might not be included in the sale at this rent? However I might tell the tenant whoever he might be he (CP) would take the tap, and give the utmost it was worth – I wish, said I, you would take tap and hotel too – this led to a long conversation much to the point and partly desultory – the hotel would be a very serious undertaking – would require a great deal of capital – the landlord of the Barnby moor Inn on the London rood had on retiring got £24000 for his stock in trade furniture and wines and farm stock (£8000 for the farm £16000 for the house and cellars) – I said the capital required for the Northgate hotel would not be so great as was supposed - £3000 (allowing £500 for wines) would suffice for the beginning – said I would myself advance capital towards furnishing – would CP. take the hotel in that case – still he declined it – I then turned to the 2 letters (applications) saying I particularly wished to consult him (CP.) on the application from Liverpool – the one from London was read 1st, and CP. thought this much the most business like and valuable – he spoke so knowingly, it was evident he had been making inquiries previously on the subject (no doubt he applied for the George Inn – when I said what its tap let for £100 a year) he gave no particular answer; but I saw from his look he knew the rent whatever it might be) – we talked over Mr. Carrs’ proposal – said I must try to gain time – I must try to get the coaches but put off their being given up to me as long as I can – it was not the passengers but the mileage (horses) that was the object – it was a poor coach that did not make £100 (a hundred) a year – Innkeepers got cent per cent on wine – talked over CP.’s brewery – answering very well – brews 6 loads i.e. 6x14 bushels? = 84 bushels per week – could do more business if he had capital – but has laid by something every ½ year and is contented to get on by [degrees] pays two hundred a year rent for his brewery his expense rent, delivery, labour and materials = £1800 a year – lives for next to nothing – his wife rheumatic since they came here, but always

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contrives to look after her house – 8 children – I congratulated him on doing well hoped the brewery would eventually pay better than the glass house and he seemed to hope and think it would – he seemed in very good spirits and said perhaps all was for the best – I said it was generally thought his failure bankruptcy did no discredit to his creditors than to himself – Mr. Price the York country joint stock banker seems to have behaved very ill, as I had understood from Mr Harper – but CP. appears to think he (Mr. Price)will not gain so much by it as was supposed – the concern is falling off in some respects – mention of Mr. Henry Priestley he was bound with CP. for five thousand pounds but CP. had paid and ought to have had by this time a balance of a few thousands – the 64ft. fall of water in Crag valley had been sold for £3500 – Mr. Rawson had offered at £700 for it – after higgling and trying to take advantage – some man had offered a mere acknowledgments of a few shillings a year and Mr. R- seeing a sort of beginning for taking the water offered by little and little having 1st tried to get the 1st refusal (as he did for my coal) this let poor HP. into the idea that the fall was of some value – he had it valued and it was sold at the above named just before his death or funeral I forget which – Mr. Edwards and his son Charles executors and trustees – consulted CP. about what answers should be sent and by whom to the applicants – his advice excellent and ready – took – wrote rough copy of 2 letters (to London and Liverpool) according to his dictation – and, with a little shorting and correction of style, wrote the former and sent it last night – the Liverpool letter I think of turning over to Mr. Parker – on the subject of farming and hay, CP. said I should mind that mine was put together in proper order; for at 13/. per DW. mowing making and carting and stacking the man who took it could not make his own of it – I said yes! he could – I should always mow early – have all done by 13 July in the fine long-day season, and my new hay-barn was very conveniently situated – besides the man was one of my tenants who lived within sight of his job – Mawson – mentioned his having the Stump X Inn – his rent and the 5p.c. additional to pay for the new building which would make his rent £140 per annum – took CP. into the west tower to shew him where all the wet had come from – (thro’ the open roof of the red room passage) and asked him to look at the new brew house – the copper he said should be a yard higher, and the [?] lower down – the proper temperature of the water before putting in the malt and mashing, should be 168° to 171° this very nearly indicated by the commonly used sign of seeing one’s face in the water as in a mirror – i.e. the steam being so abated as to allow one to see ones self –

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then had Booth Firth junior, [Culpan] brick-layer of the garden walls, and Parkinson – and afterwards Mawson and then Riley for Hilltop and busy settling with them till 7 – after banking hours – no money except gold by me for small bills – wrote and sent by Booth note to ‘Mr. McKean Yorkshire District Bank Halifax’ saying I should be much obliged to pay Mr. David Booth the bearer and my clerk of the works the enclosed check for £134.2.6 being one hundred in a/c for himself and ten pounds in a/c for Culpan garden walls, and the rest as by bills for Parkinson for work done at Shibden hall – top terrace walls – paving thro’ the barn (taking up and resetting) and the carriage court cistern arches – DB. had given Mr. Harper his accounts up to midsummer andat that time £333 the balance against me – gave Firth a check = £130 and Mawson for £67.18.0 as by SW.’s measurement for the Lodge road stoning and draining and Haybarn road thro’ the wood forming and draining and platform sods taking off and walling on the embankment in front of the house – (above 1200 yards super of sods at 2 ½d.) – A- returned between 6 and 7 – at 7 altered the style and curtailed the letter suggested by CP. to the London applicant for the hotel read it to A- and Mr. Gray (had the latter into my study) and sent the letter off by Frank tonight to ‘Mr. J. Hodgson, 69 Quadrant, Piccadilly, London’ – the hotel new and not quite finished – I am in treaty for nine old established coaches – not only a good opening for wine and spirit trade but the best cellars for the purpose (built expressively for the purpose) form part of the building – the success of the undertaking depends upon the capital at command and the exertion of the individual – the hotel has every modern convenience in superior style, and a casino, a splendid room, capable of dining 300 persons – no yet able to fix the rent but will do it as well as I can for the encouragement of the tenant – many advantages that can only be explained and understood upon the spot – dinner at 7 40 – coffee – skimmed over the newspaper – A- and I came upstairs at 10 ¼ - I sleepy lay on my bed in the blue room 20 minutes till A- came to say she was ready for bed – then undressed and sat undressed in my study from about 11 to 11 ¾ writing all but the 1st 11 lines of today and tidying my desk of bills etc fair before noon (very heavy rain (vid. line 4) from 10 am and thunder and lightning F56 ½° at 11 ¼ pm – note from Mr. Parker about one pm? while Mr. CP was with me enclosing Mr. Carr’s proposal respecting selling me his furniture coaches etc

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rgr-pop · 3 years

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i’m hosting in place of ben to record tomorrow because i’m getting to do something i’ve wanted to do for ages... have bri on! we’re going to, as i’m sure you can guess, respond to the events of last week in light of a history of modern american mlitias and their (mostly modern) relationship to the state, tinhat about ruby ridge or whatever, and (of course) relate it to jonestown. this is my first time “hosting” without ben and i don’t want to fuck it up! but i also will possibly have an opening since neither ben nor matias can make it. i’m really disappointed that i’m missing an extra voice from the “nobody remembers being an anarchist/witnessing white insanity in the 90s” or whatever demographic (eg: another me). if that’s you, you have opinions on how this shit comes together, and if we’re mutuals on here or twitter or we share a lot of mutuals, you’ve got some baseline mic and access to zoom, and you might be free around 7pm est tomorrow and want to come on a regional bernard brother pod.. lmk. punks never wanna talk :(

for context, this pod was inherited as kind of a regional progressive/demsoc politics podcast and in the past covered a lot of stuff like dsas, insurgent dem candidates, and they used to interview a lot of people in those areas (abdul el sayed former friend of the pod friendship ended, linda sarsour, that guy who tried to primary pelosi or whoever, bernie campaign people). since the pandemic there’s been more coverage of like protest politics, policing, worker struggles, mutual aid projects, tenants unions and stuff, but in general ben wants to branch out a little (which you’d see if you watch our streams). i’m trying to use my social capital to help him with this and bring him my interesting friends doing weird shit! last week we had a dc friend (not my friend actually, we got him from joe) as a guest “correspondent” and i really liked it, i might be interested in asking ben to bring on more “correspondents” from various places i have friends in, so... consider! some other episodes i’m helping ben put together right now: a few hot girls you probably know explaining david lynch to him and alex, and an earnestypoisoned ep on being a left gamer (i will not be participating i just put them together). stuff our listeners will enjoy but also grow from ^-^

#i'm also going to see if we can do an episode on the muppet gulag #matias and i are also planning some more art concepts #and want to do some kind of music topic - ?

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searchingwardrobes · 4 years

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The Convenient Groom: 1/?

Okay, I know what ya’ll are all thinking, and I agree: I don’t need another WIP! However, I woke up this morning with this idea, and I just had to write it. What’s more, I was looking for the perfect gift for @spartanguard. You see, I missed her birthday last year. I got on tumblr, saw all these birthday wishes for her, and my heart sank. For some reason, I didn’t have her birthday on my list! I hated it because not only is she one of my favorite writers, but she is also an incredibly kind person who I have come to know as a wonderful fandom friend. So, @spartanguard, I know it isn’t your birthday, but this fic is for you!

This fic has two inspirations: one, the Barenaked Ladies song “Alternative Girlfriend,” but mostly it’s a book I read called The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter. I normally avoid book aus because it feels way too close to plagiarism, but a Hallmark movie was made from the book and it was a HUGE disappointment. They made it an engagement of convenience instead of a marriage and basically got rid of all the steamy moments. It’s been forever since I read it, anyway, and this first chapter that came to me this morning has vast differences already. Anyhoo, I hope you like it @spartanguard !

Summary: (Is one even necessary? Haha!) Killian Jones just happens to be there when Emma Swan gets the phone call that changes everything: her fiance is leaving her at the altar. The thing is, it also could mean the end of her career. Convenient that Killian has nothing better to do that day. Convenient that he’s secretly in love with her. Not that Emma has to know that.

Rating: M

Words: 2,000 and some change in this chapter

Also on Ao3

Tagging the usuals: @snowbellewells @kmomof4 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @distant-rose @welllpthisishappening @optomisticgirl @ohmakemeahercules @teamhook @bethacaciakay @xhookswenchx @winterbaby89 @delirious-latenight-laughs @resident-of-storybrooke @vvbooklady1256 @thislassishooked @hollyethecurious @nikkiemms @jennjenn615 @stahlop @snidgetsafan @scientificapricot @shireness-says @spartanguard @wellhellotragic @tiganasummertree @branlovestowrite @let-it-raines @carpedzem @profdanglaisstuff

Killian Jones would never forget the first day he met Emma Swan. He’d been focused intently on the rocking chair that the Nolans had ordered for their new baby, and AC/DC’s “Back in Black” was booming throughout his workshop. He always worked to classic rock; it put him in the best creative zone.

Suddenly, the shop was plunged into silence, and he straightened in surprise. Standing there, with the cord to his portable speakers dangling from her hand, was a veritable goddess with anger sparking from her light green eyes. She was dressed in a simple pair of dark wash jeans topped with a cream blouse, yet her trim figure still drew his eyes. He’d never had a thing for blondes, but her golden hair had him re-thinking that. She had caught him so completely off guard, he stood there gaping like a mere boy.

“I’ve got a client upstairs trying to pour her damn heart out, but I can barely hear myself think with this noise rattling the walls.”

Ah, so this was the new tenant in the office upstairs. Killian smirked and sauntered into her personal space. “Well, love, I’ve been told I’m rather good at rattling the walls.”

He hardly knew what had possessed him to say such a thing. Before Milah, he was well known for his charms, but that had been years ago.

The blonde narrowed her eyes at his innuendo, though the blush upon her cheeks sent a far different message. “Not your love, buddy.” She tossed the cords at his chest, and one of them slapped him in the jaw. “Get yourself some damn earbuds.”

She strode towards the door, her high heeled boots tapping loudly on the concrete floor. “It’s Killian Jones, by the way,” he called out after her, “Ms . . . “

“Emma Swan,” she tossed over her shoulder, “and it’s doctor.”

He saw her often after that. It was difficult not to. Storybrooke was a small town, and they shared office space, after all. Their building on Main was also right across the street from Granny’s diner, the only place for a decent cup of coffee and a cheeseburger. Or grilled cheese and onion rings in Swan’s case. They’d crossed paths during their lunch break often enough for him to know her regular order. Yet to say Emma Swan had walls was an understatement, and just casual conversation was a challenge. One he had a rather enjoyable time tackling, honestly.

Yet she never came into his wood shop again. Until one day six months ago, to put in an order. She had stood there in his lobby where he met with clients and rough sketched their custom orders looking uncharacteristically nervous, her hands twisting at her waist. He had noticed the diamond sparkling on her left ring finger early on, and she fiddled with it now. He had never met the man who had given it to her, which he had always thought was odd. Especially considering how passionate Emma was about her career. Even stranger, Mary Margaret had never met him either, and Emma rented the loft from her and David. No one even knew the man’s name. Something was off about that, if you asked Killian. Not that anyone would.

“Can you make a wedding chuppa?” she blurted out.

“Aye,” he said as he leaned against the front counter, “I made one for Marco and Granny when they wed last fall.”

“Good,” Emma breathed out, but then her forehead creased with worry. “Marco’s Jewish, isn’t he? Is it okay to use a chuppa if you aren’t Jewish?”

“Hmmm,” Killian contemplated, rubbing at his chin, “is your fiance Jewish?”

“No,” Emma said with a shake of her head, “but we’re getting married outside, and I wanted some sort of focal point, you know?”

“Well, then,” he told her honestly, “I do think a chuppa has religious significance, so maybe an arbor or archway would be more appropriate? I’ve done those as well . . . “

He had come around the counter then and led her to the sitting area where he brainstormed with clients. He had shown her photos of an arbor he had made for his friends Eric and Ariel’s beach wedding, and several other options online. He found out many things that day: the location of the wedding (the gardens behind the old mansion on the outskirts of town), the flowers (middlemist roses), the color scheme (pale pink and wine red), and the date of the nuptials (late June). Yet he still didn’t know who this mysterious fiance was. Odd.

“He doesn’t like the attention from my career,” Emma had attempted to explain, twisting her engagement ring around her finger, “and I get it. There would be a lot of scrutiny on him and our relationship.”

Killian nodded. Everyone knew about Dr. Swan’s bestseller Seriously, Ladies? which supposedly guided any woman on how to avoid disastrous relationships. Women swore by it, and Emma also had a blog and a podcast. The media was salivating over her upcoming marriage, including the identity of Mr. Right himself.

“And I need your discretion on this,” Emma continued. “The media doesn’t know the wedding date yet, and I -”

Killian placed his hand on hers. “You can trust me, Emma. I won’t tell a soul about this order, much less when or where it will be delivered.”

He had worried that his word wouldn’t be enough, yet Emma had deflated with relief. “Thank you. I know this is a weird situation.”

“You deserve happiness, Swan.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “How do you know that? You know nothing about me.”

Killian had shrugged. “You’re somewhat of an open book, love.”

It was true. Despite her confidence, he could recognize another wounded heart when he saw one. Whoever this fiance was, he wasn’t doing a very good job of healing it, either, at least in Killian’s opinion. Otherwise her eyes wouldn’t still hold that haunted look.

The order meant, for both good and bad, that Killian saw Emma Swan more often. It was good in that he got to know her better, saw her smile, heard her laugh. It was bad for one horrible, terrible reason. For him, at least. Six months was long enough for him to fall in love with her - the woman he was making a wedding arbor for.

Killian sighed, his heart twisting painfully, as he covered the gorgeous arbor of carved mahogany with a moving blanket. Today was the day. For him, it felt more like the day of a funeral than a wedding. This man, whoever he was, better love her the way she deserved. It was all he could hope for now.

“Killian, what the hell do you think you’re doing!” He whirled from the arbor to see Emma marching angrily across his workshop. The scowl on her face was identical to the one almost a year ago when he first met her. “Why did you send the moving crew away empty handed? Please tell me you finished it.”

“Of course I finished it, Swan,” he retorted, unable to keep the bite out of his voice. Wasn’t she supposed to be giddy, flushed with eagerness, floating on air? Instead, she looked so stressed he feared she might give herself a heart attack.

“Then why didn’t you send it to the mansion? Are you being difficult on purpose?”

Killian tilted his head and grinned saucily at her. He couldn’t help it, teasing her was just too much fun. “Though getting you riled up is rather fun, I wouldn’t do that to you on your special day. I just didn’t trust anyone but myself to deliver it.”

“Oh,” she said lamely, biting on her lower lip.

“I was just about to load it up, actually. Want to see it?”

“If it’s not too much trouble . . .”

“Of course not.”

He pulled the moving blanket off, revealing the dark wood with intricate carvings of flowers, vines, and swans. Though the occasion it celebrated tore at his heart, he had never put so much work into a piece. He poured the beauty of the woman it represented into every detail. Emma’s eyes lit up as she ran her hands over the woodwork. The caramel stain brought out the natural beauty of the wood, but it would also make the delicate blush of the roses pop once the florist draped the arbor with them.

“It’s beautiful, Killian,” she told him softly, “exactly what I told you I wanted. More, actually.”

“Thank you,” he managed to tell her around the sudden lump in his throat.

The moment was broken by the ringing of Emma’s phone. She fished it out of her jeans pocket and pressed it to her ear. Killian busied himself covering the arbor and preparing it for transport while Emma paced across his workshop.

“Walsh, are you insane?” he heard her snap, “Our wedding is only six hours away!”

Killian tried not to eavesdrop, but as he glanced Emma’s way, he saw her face grow pale.

“Seriously? You’re doing this to me now?” Though her voice was harsh, her body trembled as she sank to an empty crate next to the table saw.

Killian frowned. He didn’t like how this sounded.

“These are all things you could have told me yesterday!” Emma’s voice rose. “Or better yet, last week, last month.”

She glanced over at Killian, and her face turned bright red. She shifted so that her back was to him. She lowered her voice as she spoke into her phone, but Killian still heard her.

“Is there someone else?”

Killian’s jaw clenched as he saw her shoulders fall and then begin to shake. The bastard.

Her voice was broken as she choked out her next words. “Well I hope you’re very happy together.”

She hung up and dropped her cell phone. Killian winced as it hit the cement floor. She covered her face with both hands and wept silently. He crossed the room and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry.”

“What am I going to do?” she wept. “Oh, God! What am I going to do?” She turned to Killian, her eyes wide and frantic as she clutched at the front of his shirt. “We invited the media to the wedding! It was the only way to keep them from hounding us during our engagement. Now they’ll get an even better story - relationship guru Dr. Emma Swan gets jilted at the altar. I’m ruined! My career is over!”

She was on her feet, pacing the floor, tugging at the ends of her hair. He wanted to tell her she was overreacting, but he couldn’t lie. In this day and age of cancel culture and internet trolls, she would be ruined.

“You’re going to think I’m an opportunist,” she continued, “but my wedding day was also going to be the kick off for my next book. Tomorrow they’re announcing it’s release.”

“I’m not judging you, Swan,” he assured her. “What’s the new book?”

“Ladies, It’s More Than a Wedding,” Emma said sheepishly, “about how to plan for your marriage and not just the wedding.”

Emma groaned and dropped her head against the nearest wall. Killian was silent for a long moment, rolling an idea around in his head. She might shoot him down, call him crazy, but it was worth a shot.

“No one knows who your fiance is, right?”

She looked at him curiously. “No.”

“So . . . couldn’t anyone stand in for him?”

Emma’s mouth dropped open. “Are you crazy? Once the media knew it was a farce, things would be even worse. I have interviews lined up already. A promotion tour for the book. It’s about more than just the wedding.” She barked out a laugh. “Isn’t that ironic?”

Killian leveled her with a steady gaze. “What if it wasn’t a farce?”

She blinked. “You mean . . . like, actually marry someone else? Today?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

Emma let out another sarcastic chuckle. “Who the hell would agree to that?”

Killian wet his lips nervously. “I would.”

Emma shook her head in surprise. “You?”

He shrugged. “Well, I’m here, and I have nothing better to do today.”

“We’re talking about getting married, Killian. You know, commitment? Till death do us part?”

“Well,” Killian said slowly, shoving his hands in his jean pockets, “you need to stay married to promote your book, right? What are we talking? Six months? A year, at most?”

Emma’s brow furrowed as if she were contemplating it. But then she shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this! It would never work! How would it look if I got divorced in a year?”

“Or an annulment. You could blame it on me. I cheated on you or something. Make me out to be the bad guy.” He chuckled sardonically. “You might even get another best seller out of it. Dump His Cheating Ass, Ladies.”

He managed to get a real laugh out of her at that, and he smiled. Her mirth was short-lived, however. “But why would you do that? Tie yourself to me for a year, let your own reputation be damaged? What’s in it for you?”

I’m in love with you.

“I could use your help. With my family. Professional help.”

Emma narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Okaaay. How so?”

“My brother and his wife. Their marriage is a little rocky.” LIe. Liam and Elsa were relationship goals if he ever saw it. “I think it’s because her sister Anna and her husband Kristoff had to move in with them.” Another lie. They had moved in, but no two sisters were closer than Anna and Elsa.

“So why don’t they just make an appointment?”

“They, uh, have this thing about therapy. They think it’s a sign of weakness. Or an embarrassment. Anyway, but if you were around, you could casually help them out. I think you and Elsa would hit it off.”

“So you want to marry me in exchange for free counseling for your brother and his wife?”

She sounded skeptical, and naturally so. He tried to play it off. “My brother means everything to me. He’s all the family I have left. Plus, my niece and nephew deserve a steady home life, unlike what we had as kids.”

Emma and Killian just stood there looking intently at one another. He held his breath, fully expecting her to call him crazy and walk out the door. Her gaze darted to the arbor, now ready to be loaded onto the trunk.

“It would be a shame not to use that beautiful piece you made.”

Killian tried to hold back his smile and failed. “Consider it my wedding gift to my bride.”

“Okay, groom,” she told him with her hand outstretched for him to shake, “it’s a deal.”

#cs ff #cs modern au #cs marriage of convenience #the convenient groom #for spartanguard #on her birthday

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bountyofbeads · 5 years

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https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/trump-organization-tax-fraud?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=vanity-fair&utm_social-type=earned

Which Trump Kid Will Take the Fall for Years of Tax Fraud? Your thoughts 💭

https://t.co/KUPKWGuv0J via @VanityFair

THE FALL FOR YEARS OF TAX FRAUD?

Junior and Eric, it’s time to prove your loyalty.

BY BESS LEVIN |Published October 16,

2019 | Vanity Fair | Posted October 16, 2019 7:40 PM ET |

Last February, not long before he reported to prison, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen testified that his boss had regularly inflated his personal assets when it served his purposes to do so, like to obtain loans, and deflated them when reporting lower numbers was to his benefit—like, for instance, in order to reduce his tax liability. Shortly thereafter, the House Oversight and Reform Committee subpoenaed Donald Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, for eight years of his financial records, a move the president did not respond well to, suing committee chairman Elijah Cummings and fighting tooth and nail to keep such information under lock and key. Last week a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the subpoena, which Trump is likely to appeal again, possibly to the Supreme Court. And based on a new report by ProPublica, which highlights apparent tax fraud by the Trump Organization, you can understand why!

Documents obtained by reporter Heather Vogell show major discrepancies in how the president’s companies reported expenses, profits, and occupancy rates for two buildings, making the properties appear more profitable to lenders and less profitable to tax authorities, just as Cohen testified. At 40 Wall Street, for example, the Trump Organization told Ladder Capital that the building was leased at 58.9% on December 31, 2012, and then shot up to 95% a few years later, knowing that lenders wanted to see rising occupancy levels, or “leasing momentum,” which was critical to obtaining a new $160 million loan with a lower interest rate. (Based on the figures the Trump Organization gave to them, Ladder’s underwriters predicted 40 Wall Street’s profits would more than double after 2015.) Yet, per ProPublica, as of 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, the building had never met profit expectations, lagging by more than 8%, which experts say is extremely unusual given the amount of due diligence underwriters are meant to do.

According to Kevin Riordan, a financing expert and real estate professor at Montclair State University, the rise in occupancy that the Trump Organization claimed was unusual, and what do you know? Documents submitted to tax officials showed no such surge. Instead the company told tax officials that the building was already 81% leased in 2012, the same figure it reported as of January 5, 2013. “There was a story crafted here,” Riordan said. “It’s contradicted by what we see in the tax filings.”

Also at 40 Wall Street, insurance costs for 2017—when Don Jr. and Eric had taken over the day-to-day business—were listed at $457,414 in loan records and $744,521 in tax documents, while Trump claimed to tax authorities in 2015 that he paid the actual owners of the building $1.65 million for the right to lease it out, despite telling the loan servicer the figure was $1.24 million. “It really feels like there’s two sets of books—it feels like a set of books for the tax guy and a set for the lender,” said Riordan. “It’s hard to argue numbers. That’s black and white.”

These discrepancies are “versions of fraud,” according to Berkeley professor of finance and real estate Nancy Wallace. “This kind of stuff is not okay.” And by not okay, she means potentially criminal. Per Vogell, New York City’s property tax forms clearly state that whoever signs them “affirms the truth of the statements made” and that “false filings are subject to all applicable civil and criminal penalties.”

Meanwhile, documents for the Trump International Hotel & Tower contain similar inconsistencies that, coincidentally, all worked out in Trump’s favor. The Trump Organization told tax officials it made roughly $822,000 renting space to commercial tenants at the building in 2017, but claimed to loan officials that the amount was $1.67 million. Examining eight years of data for the property, ProPublica found that the Trump Organization “reported gross income to tax authorities that was typically only about 81% of what it reported to the lender.” The business also seemed to leave out income it received for leasing the roof for TV antennas on its tax documents, leaving the line for that type of income blank on nine years of filings. And if you guessed such figures did appear on loan documents, as “major sources of income,” congratulations, you’ve cracked Trump’s (alleged!) scam.

While experts who spoke to ProPublica said there can sometimes be legal reasons for numbers to differ on tax and loan documents, they also said some of the discrepancies appeared to have no reasonable justification. “My gut reaction is it seems like there’s something amiss there,” said David Wilkes, a New York City tax lawyer who is chair of the National Association of Property Tax Attorneys.

The Trump Organization refused to respond on the record to the questions provided by ProPublica. A lawyer whose firm handles Trump’s property tax appeal filings for New York City said he was not authorized to discuss the documents. Ladder Capital declined to comment. A spokesperson for Mazars USA said it does not comment on its clients.

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IVANKA’S $360 MILLION VANCOUVER DEAL IS REPORTEDLY BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE F.B.I.

The First Daughter has her own set of problems.

BY ABIGAIL TRACY | Published MARCH 2, 2018 | Vanity Fair | Posted October 16, 2019 7:40 PM ET |

Even Ivanka Trump, the “princess royal” of the West Wing, is being sucked into the vortex of scandal that has encompassed her father’s administration. In the past week, her husband, Jared Kushner, lost his security clearance, lost his P.R. guard dog, was revealed as a top intelligence target for foreign spies, and was reported to have met with banking executives in the White House shortly before his family’s company received nearly half a billion dollars in loans. Donald Trump is said to be is “frustrated with Mr. Kushner, whom he now views as a liability” and “another problem to deal with,” and has suggested that both he and Ivanka move back to New York.

Ivanka, too, has her own set of problems. While the First Couple braced for an Intercept story that Kushner’s father had failed to secure a loan from the Qatari government just weeks before Kushner backed a blockade of Qatar, CNN dropped another bombshell: United States counterintelligence officials are probing a Trump Organization real-estate deal in Canada in which Ivanka played a leading role.

The financing and negotiations surrounding the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver have come under F.B.I. scrutiny, according to current and former U.S. officials who spoke with CNN. It’s unclear why the F.B.I. is interested in the deal, which dates back to 2013, and in which Ivanka played a key role. But CNN reports that foreign buyers involved, as well as the timing of the $360 million project’s opening in February 2017, may have caught the agency’s attention. Like many Trump Organization deals, the New York-based company does not own the building but rather is paid licensing and marketing fees by the developer, the Holborn Group. Joo Kim Tiah, a member of one of Malaysia’s wealthiest families, runs the Canada-based development firm, and said in October 2015 that the First Daughter was closely involved: “Ivanka and myself approved everything, everything in this project,” he said during an interview.

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Ivanka’s ethics counsel, dismissed the idea that there was anything untoward about the deal. “CNN is wrong that any hurdle, obstacle, concern, red flag, or problem has been raised with respect to Ms. Trump or her clearance application,” he said in a statement. He also denied that the investigation would impact Ivanka’s security clearance in any way: “Nothing in the new White House policy has changed Ms. Trump's ability to do the same work she has been doing since she joined the Administration.” Alan Garten, executive vice president and chief legal officer for the Trump Organization, similarly played down the report, saying that “the company’s role was and is limited to licensing its brand and managing the hotel. Accordingly, the company would have had no involvement in the financing of the project or the sale of units.”

Though it’s unclear whether special counsel Robert Mueller is interested in Ivanka’s involvement in the Vancouver deal, her husband’s contacts with foreign entities has certainly garnered his attention. Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that at least four foreign governments have discussed how they can use the Kushner Cos.’s financial woes and entanglements as leverage over the president’s son-in-law, The New York Times reported that Kushner Cos. received roughly $500 million in financing from two U.S. firms after Jared met with executives from the companies at the White House. (Christine Taylor, a spokeswoman for Kushner Cos., said in a statement that the Times story represented an “attempt to make insinuating connections that do not exist to disparage the financial institutions and companies involved.”)

The cascade of negative headlines has complicated matters for the duo in the White House. Amid an internal struggle with Kelly, who was responsible for altering the White House security-clearance policy—a move some saw as a targeted attack on Kushner—some aides have reportedly “expressed frustration that Mr. Kushner and his wife . . . have remained at the White House, despite Mr. Trump at times saying they never should have come to the White House and should leave.” The president, meanwhile, is reportedly mulling options to sideline them. Per the Times, while he has outwardly encouraged Jared and Ivanka to remain in their West Wing posts, he has also “privately asked Mr. Kelly for his help in moving them out.”

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REPORT: WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS “ALARMED” BY TRUMP’S UKRAINE DEALINGS EVEN BEFORE ZELENSKY CALL

At least four national security officials registered their concerns with a White House lawyer both before and immediately after the July 25 phone call.

BY ALISON DURKEE | Published October 11, 2019 | Vanity Fair | Posted October 16, 2019 7:40 PM ET |

For however “perfect” as he believed it to be, President Donald Trump's now-infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly raised concerns among administration officials as soon as Trump hung up the phone. As the Washington Post reported Thursday, however, that wasn't the first time aides had raised objections about how the president was dealing with Ukraine. According to the Post, at least four national security officials were so “alarmed” by Trump's apparent attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals that they “raised concerns” with National Security Council legal adviser John Eisenberg both before and immediately after Trump's July 25 phone call. The officials “were not a swamp, not a deep state,” a former senior official told the Post—but were simply White House officials “who got concerned about this because this is not the way they want to see the government run.”

Concerns over Trump's Ukrainian dealings both before and after the call were widespread even among Trump's top advisers, the Post reports, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton and then-acting deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman. The alarm bells reportedly started going off after the abrupt ouster of former Ambassador to Ukraine Masha Yovanovitch, and the Post notes NSC officials “were alternately baffled and alarmed” by the behavior of Rudy Giuliani, who pressed for Yovanovitch's removal and very publicly declared his plan to press Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden. (In addition to the Biden conspiracy, Trump also “became increasingly focused” on baseless right-wing conspiracy theories regarding Ukraine's supposed role in the 2016 election.) Worry among NSC officials escalated even further after U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland—who got his job after donating $1 million to Trump's inauguration—declared that Trump had put him in charge of relations with Kiev. During a meeting with Bolton, then-U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, and Zelensky aides about corruption in Ukraine's energy sector, Sondland “blurted out that there were also ‘investigations that were dropped that need to be started up again,’” the Post reports. “Bolton went ballistic” after the meeting, one official told the Post, and senior NSC officials “huddled” about their Ukraine concerns in the ensuing days. The senior officials also looped in acting U.S. Ambassador Bill Taylor, whose ensuing explosive text messages with Sondland and Volker have since been publicly released.

For as concerned as officials already were about Trump's Ukraine behavior, their concerns “soared” once Trump spoke to Zelensky. In line with previous reports, including the whistle-blower report, the Post notes that Bolton and other senior officials were being contacted “within minutes” of the call's end by their subordinates expressing concern, and a rough transcript of the conversation was moved to a highly secure computer network meant for classified material “within hours.” “When people were listening to this in real time there were significant concerns about what was going on—alarm bells were kind of ringing,” one source told the Post. “People were trying to figure out what to do, how to get a grasp on the situation.” White House officials were reportedly seeking ways to officially report the conversation, the Post notes, which was made challenging by “the lack of a White House equivalent to the inspector general positions found at other agencies.” So they went to Eisenberg, who reportedly vowed to “follow-up.” It's not clear that Eisenberg actually took any action, though—and his lack of any clear response, the Post speculates, could have contributed to White House officials' decisions to share their concerns with the whistle-blower, a CIA employee who was first contacted by a White House official hours after Trump and Zelensky's phone call. (It is unclear whether any of the officials who spoke with Eisenberg are the same ones who spoke with the whistle-blower.)

The reports of how acute the alarm was over Trump's behavior within the White House ranks isn't great for the president as he continues to downplay the allegations and insist he was in the right—and come as damning reports concerning his and Giuliani's Ukraine scheming only continue to escalate. In addition to the fallout over Trump's phone call, new reports this week have raised concerns about how the administration handled the freezing and reinstatement of aid to Ukraine—which could suggest the existence of a “quid pro quo”—with the Washington Post reporting Thursday that political appointees intervened to freeze the aid over the objections of career staffers, who feared the move would be “improper.” The Associated Press, meanwhile, reported Thursday that Yovanovitch was fired after pushing back against Giuliani's rogue Ukraine operation, marking yet another bad story for the lawyer after his clients were arrested earlier Thursday.

While tensions are already running high in Trumpworld, the president and his allies also may soon face even more detrimental details coming to light, should Yovanovitch and Fiona Hill, Trump’s former top aide on Russia and Europe, testify as planned in the coming days. NBC News reports that Hill is expected to testify that Giuliani and Sondland circumvented the National Security Council to pursue their “shadow policy” on Ukraine, and her impending testimony has reportedly “stoked fear” in the White House given that she's not a Trump loyalist. If Hill, now a private citizen, is able to testify without the White House attempting to exert executive privilege over her testimony, it could also give Democrats the green light to seek testimony from other former White House officials, including Bolton—who's already been very clear that he's totally willing to trash talk his former employer.

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TRUMP CRONY MICK MULVANEY EARNS HIS TURN IN THE BARREL

The perpetually “acting” White House chief of staff finds himself embroiled in the white-hot center of the Ukraine scandal.

BY ERIC LUTZ | Published October 16, 2019 | Vanity Fair | Posted October 16, 2019 7:40 PM ET |

onald Trump’s increasingly brazen attempts to pressure Volodymyr Zelensky into opening an investigation into Joe Biden have put a number of his cronies under the microscope. Rudy Giuliani, his personal lawyer, may have the most to lose, as prosecutors in New York scrutinize his work in Ukraine. Energy Secretary Rick Perry also appears in an unflattering light, as do diplomats Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland, all of whom were apparently involved in the Trump-Giuliani scheme. More recently, the spotlight has turned to “Acting” Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who is described in a new report as a lynchpin of Trump’s campaign to squeeze Zelensky.

According to the Washington Post, it was Mulvaney who coordinated Perry, Volker, and Sondland’s efforts to abscond with the Ukraine portfolio, moving the administration’s dealings with Kiev out of traditional foreign policy channels and onto more corrupt footing. Giuliani told the Post that he could not recall “any substantive conversation with Mick,” nor could he remember Mulvaney “approving, disapproving, getting involved, [or] having an interest” in the Ukraine imbroglio. But current and former United States officials have placed the acting chief of staff at the center of the scandal in Capitol Hill testimonies in recent days.

Fiona Hill, who had been Trump’s top Russia adviser, dropped Mulvaney’s name in her bombshell testimony on Monday. Speaking to House lawmakers, who are conducting an impeachment inquiry into the president, Hill reportedly testified that then-national security adviser John Bolton had raised alarms about the pressure campaign on Ukraine, describing Giuliani as a “hand grenade” and instructing her to tell White House lawyers that he was “not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up.” Hill also told congressional investigators that Sondland had described an “agreement” with Mulvaney to broker a White House meeting for Zelensky, who took office in May, if he authorized probes into the Bidens and the origins of the Russia inquiry.

George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for Ukraine, went even further in his testimony Tuesday, telling lawmakers that Mulvaney had told him to “lay low” and focus on other countries in his portfolio—giving control of the administration’s Ukraine policy to the so-called “three amigos” in what the top State department official took as a troubling sign that the White House was pursuing its own political agenda. Mulvaney told Kent to defer to Perry, Volker, and Sondland on matters related to Ukraine, Kent said in his testimony, and felt he was being sidelined “because what he was saying was not welcome” in the administration.

Perry, Sondland, and Volker have all come under intense scrutiny in the Ukraine scandal; explosive text messages released earlier this month show Volker, then-ambassador to Kiev, and Sondland, envoy to the European Union, suggesting that a White House visit for Zelensky and security aid for Ukraine was contingent on the probes Trump and Giuliani were seeking. Bill Taylor, Charge d'Affaires at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, raised concerns about the apparent quid pro quo in exchanges with the other officials: “I think it’s crazy to withhold security for help with a political campaign,” he wrote to Sondland at one point. Volker abruptly resigned his post earlier this month, and Perry’s involvement in the scandal has threatened his job security as Energy secretary.

Could Mulvaney’s position as acting chief of staff become similarly tenuous? Already, the former congressman is facing questions about his misadventures with the “amigos”—Sondland, Volker, and Perry. He is also expected to be called before Congress to testify about the hold he placed on some $400 million in military aid for Ukraine, on Trump’s orders, days before the president’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky.

The White House has already begun an internal review of the matter, reportedly encouraged by Mulvaney, that some insiders fear could be an effort to find a fall guy. But it’s also possible that Mulvaney, in his effort to please the president, could become a scapegoat himself.

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scottishhighlandtraditions · 5 years

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The Killing of Colin Campbell

This is a story you might be familiar with. The great Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson in his book Kidnapped made use of it as a sub-plot. The fictional character in the book, young David Balfour, meets the real-life person of Alan Breck Stewart. They accidentally witness and are suspected of the murder of a King’s agent, Colin Campbell. Their pursuit as suspected murderers makes Alan Breck’s position as an illegal Jacobite agent even more dangerous.

While three parts of RLS’s work is a marvel of fiction writing, one part is true story. Colin Campbell really was killed by an unknown gunman in 1752, just a day before he was due to evict tenants of the Crown. His plan to clear a dozen Stewarts from Glen Duror and put Campbells in their places was well known in the spring of 1752. James Stewart, a leading campaigner for the community, was the first man that the authorities suspected of the murder plot. The Georgian government came down hard on him, panicking that this killing might be the start of the 5th Jacobite uprising, just six years after the last and most famous rebellion.

On the afternoon of May 14th, Colin Campbell crossed the loch by the Bail’ a’ Chaolais ferry. The one-eyed ferryman, Archibald MacInnes*, had the second sight. Archibald advised Colin that it would be better not to go by the coast road to stay in Glen Duror that evening. It would be safer for Colin to take the hill route and go home instead.

Colin scoffed at this advice, saying that he would be perfectly safe, despite entering a land held by families of Stewarts (at Bail’ a Chaolais House and Ard Seile House). Archibald, countered with “Well, if you must go to Glen Duror, go by boat, not land, and have the boat go down the middle of the loch out of reach of a ball”, meaning a musket. Colin was not persuaded.

Half an hour later, he was dead. Shot in the back by assailants unknown. Whoever it was, even the Crown admitted it wasn’t James Stewart, but they hanged him anyway for being, under Scottish law, “Airt and Pairt” of the crime - that is, an accomplice.

The location of Colin’s death is both known and still marked to this day. I have spent much time in the area and at the various scenes of the real-life drama over the years. In this video, I take you there.

* Incidentally, 250 years later, I preformed a marriage ceremony for one of Archibald MacInnes’ clan.

youtube

#robert louis stevenson

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killhimagain · 5 years

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I should watch Good Omens because man are those two attractive men. Like, Michael Sheen and David Tenant are handsome as it is but whoever did their hair and makeup and costume design deserves an award because they made them like 10x better looking.

Also you know, the story is cool and all...

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crossroadart-seabear · 6 years

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How did you come up with your artist name? Looking for advice cause I'm struggling lol😅😂

So i wanted to tell stories and the crossroad is a common storytelling trope. Seriously, all round the world and every mythology, give a bard a crossroad and they’ll go, yeah i know what to do with this and it’s not give directions. It is the point of decision and the point at which character intersects with plot. It is also the place where weird shit goes down, relms to new worlds, the meeting point of people you may come to regret meeting and apparently a good place to bury the unfriendly breed of supernatural dead who u wish would stay dead (i don’t know what the road going users think of this though).

So yeah i picked a story telling trope.

As for other ways to pick your art (business) name

Actual Name:

Some people use their legal name but most of these people were working before the internet or even before they were exposed to the wonderful world of internet abuse. Also some of them just don’t give a shit.

Examples of this are Aaron Blaise, Loish and Brian Kesinger. (I don’t advise this but if u’re feeling it then go ahead)

Pen Name:

Then there’s the standard fake name, more commonly known as a Pen Name amongst writers or a Stage Name performers (David Tenant) ). As you’ll notice from the pen name business this is an old and therefor considered affective and comfortable way to work as an artist.

Nick Names work for this very well.

I actually have one of these in Bear Pettigrew.

You don’t have to have a pen name plus an art name, i did it incase people want to address me and due to my writing and comic work. But as i learnt people online will find a way to address u regardless.

I get called Bear, Seabear (i made my tumblr while i was traveling a lot), Crossie, Pettigrew and ‘you $&@*ing %#*+’.

Some of the more famous pen names out there are

Mark Twain

Dr. Seuss

Lemony Snicket

George Eliot

Gamer Name:

Some people first interactions online were with games and their community consisted of whoever they evaporate orcs into pixels with. Soon they can’t imagine been called anything else in aggressive caps lock or indeed reverberating through ur earpiece.

So their art names were their gaming handles

ie. Elentori and Shoomlah

Funny?(A Joke):

Don’t do this. The joke will die and you will grow to hate it. Or maybe you won’t, idk. Maybe there’s an account out there called ‘over9000’ or an old homestuck fan kid who went with ‘thestairs’ and now it’s just under the radar with the occasional wink and nod from someone who was there when it happened.

Although I think Silly can work. Just beware fridge magnet style jokes.

Personal story or journey:

I know @thecottonproject had a metaphor that in order to become a good artist they had to do a load of bad art which would just serve as stuffing for a cotton pillow before they could be comfortable.

This is a nice idea.

Pun? Sorta, idk:

I follow a dreadlock stylist that literally calls himself McDread, it's simple, satisfying and amusing. Sometimes just looking for puns and means to describe exactly what you do can work although i find some of these can go a bit whimsically pretentious. You know like ‘ink something’, ‘pen something’, ‘graphite whatever’. But maybe you come across a idea that just feels right in this bracket and that’s fine.

I Like The word:

Peter Jackson called his studio ‘Wing Nut’ as a young adult merely cause he liked the word. This is a good way to live life I think 😂. Don’t think too hard and just go ‘idk, it made me happy’.

Basic rule of thumb is:

- Make sure you like it (except that there are some days were u won’t though, we all do that)

- See if you can’t make is relatively easy to remember (this doesn’t mean super short, just easy the recall)

- that it has room to age (if it’s a pop culture joke then it needs to still be able to pass of as just interesting words in the future)

- that it’s not very obviously attached to a fandom

- that’s it’s not attached to things liable to massive and embarrassing change in the future (ei, a sweethearts name backwards before the inevitable breakup).

Hope this helps and good luck.

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aleatoryalarmalligator · 6 years

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Life Story Part 86

As my mother was driving through Clarkston, we looked out the window, and there we saw a clearly strung out woman walking down the road, walking sloppily and screaming into a phone. She didn't look all there. Her eyes were both dead and livid with rage. It was my sister Roxanne. My mother stopped by the road and we let her in to the back of the van. Roxanne didn't stop to say anything, just got in, continuing her phone babble as if nothing had changed and we weren't there. I am not entirely sure she even knew who's van it was she was getting into. It was getting to a point where we couldn't ignore it. We were all worried. Wes was put back into the hospital at this point and Roxanne, being that she was destitute, came to stay for a few weeks in the small upstairs bedroom – under the conditions that she had to stay clean. Nobody trusted her though – but she was supposed to be getting some help at some point.

Shortly after losing her daughter Meliah, she had been caught shoplifting from K-Mart and was awaiting charges for it. Her emotions were unstable. A lot had gone wrong. I had gone to the store one day, and upon my return I found that she had let herself in. Inside, I found her babbling on the phone again (this seemed to be a habit), with no breaks in her sentences, no indication to me entirely that she was even talking to anyone. I struggled to imagine who would subject themselves to this kind of phone call? Who would listen to this babbling? I had never seen her this frantic or frenzied in my entire life as I did this evening. I thought about calling the police, but I knew it wouldn't help. In her hysteria, she was going between manic laughing and sobbing. She strung along this way no coherent thoughts or sentences but a word salad of paranoia, unstable emotions and rageful vengeance against whoever it was she had chosen to hate in that one instance, only to move on to the next a moment later. I was a little bit afraid of her.

The house was set up in a way so that you could go in circles upstairs between three rooms, the living room, kitchen and dining room area, and as she was yelling into the phone, racing between these three rooms in circles. She seemed to believe someone was out to get her. When she finally got off the phone, I asked her what I could. She believed there was a biker gang that was looking for her. She believed Jeremy Frye had a gun and was driving around our house. After ending the conversation, she continued on, only to herself. Her eyes were wild, and turned her conversation towards me. She seemed to have no idea that she was acting strange – and almost seemed to think that it was all me. She believed in a conspiracy against her, that there were people waiting for her all around the house. I knew better than to tell her otherwise, so instead I listened.

After Roxanne began screaming in a blood curdling red scream, I swiftly looked out, only to see that despite her insistence, there was no ax welding hell's angel in the back yard. I told her I could see nothing, but she told me he had ran off somewhere. I asked her how. We looked all around the house. I decided and hoped that giving her paranoia some consideration might make her less paranoid – I might be able to take her through the steps to understand and feel safer. I looked around for the supposed clad leather biker with the bloody ax outside the house and down the street, but he was nowhere to be seen out there – as I sort of predicted, only the distant sound of a lawn mower – that I had to try and convince her wasn't Jeremy feeding body parts into like Fargo.

I was mildly concerned that there could be something to her paranoia. Jeremy would stalk her if he knew where she was. She might have stolen from the wrong people. The house was at the dead end of a very slummy area of Lewiston. Our house itself wasn't bad, but there was a home for elderly mentally unstable and violence prone tenants next door, and the area looked very run down. If we went into our own backyard, one woman who lived there would begin to shout at us delusionally, claiming that the home we were living in was hers and to get off the property. We learned to ignore her and she never followed through with her statements. Down the road there was a house that cooked meth. But honestly most of these people were alright – some of the houses were even fixed up and quaint in their own way – with elderly couples. I felt comfortable in this kind of neighborhood despite the problems it may have had. I looked out onto the cold rainy winter roads, hearing water splash under the tires as people drove down the main road. There were no biker gangs out there, no Jeremy. Only the big old world that I rarely stepped out to see.

She hadn't slept in three days and she had been doing drugs for days and had lost her mind. Sleep deprivation is a part of the methamphetamines ordeal – it can create all kinds of delusions and hallucinations. Eventually she passed out from exhaustion. But then she woke up in the morning and one of her 'friends' came to get her and she was off again looking for another hit. She threw this unnecessary fit before she left that came from the house. She couldn't find her shoe and it made her mad. Out of the complete blue – as my mother was sitting and playing Mahjong Champion on the computer and drinking her morning coffee and my siblings and myself were all still half asleep – peaking through the blankets at her confused, she began shouting and ranting wildly that all of us that we were on drugs. Then she was out the door with a hard slam. A few days later and she was arrested again, this time with Sagen, for shoplifting together Daughter mother duo. Sagen was sent down to Boise to some all girls teen drug addiction recovery camp, and Roxanne was sent to rehab in Wenatchee Washington for a month. We all hoped it would make a difference.

In the mean time, my Uncle Rick's hard work of remodeling the basement took place, and we all had to sleep in very uncomfortable places upstairs. The house was relatively small, so it was hard to not be in his way. When my uncle Rick worked, he always seemed angry and terse, and soon he came to realize, like we had, that my mom was actually going to sort of try to create problems with him doing the job he was supposed to get done – just for the sake of being a problem. I remember these days for the dreary uncertain times that they were – but there was some validation in seeing the look on an older person's face as he recognized fully the state of our well being. I also remember waking up one morning and finding out that Captain Beefheart died. I always associated the days of his death as if the times we were dealing with were mutually tied to his passing. I don't believe it, but the two ideas seem connected in the lucid plausibility of my psyche.

Allison wrote more songs when she could, locking herself away in a room when she could. But then there was some kind of ghost in the house, or at least she believed there was. When she went into rooms by herself the ghost would try to grab her. David remained quiet and angsty – sometimes in a terrible mood, sometimes not. I lost myself further in waves of euphoria and terror and confusion – waiting for the end of whatever this was to pass, for something new to swallow me up for better or worse. I had started this year off like a new ship ready to sail across a great ocean to explore new worlds. Now it felt like I had lost course, and was headed straight into no-man's land, perhaps getting ready to fall off the edge of the world completely.

Uncle Rick was staying in a cheap hotel at the end of Clarkston. After my mother refused to let him walk down some steps to get to the basement as she was sitting on those steps and in the middle of some farmville related activity and didn't want to let him get down with some heavy stuff he was bringing down for the job, and when a myriad of things about how we were struggling became apparent, that we were all lacking in basic goods – our diets weren't exactly nutritious, our ability to bathe was limited, we barely saw any sunlight, we were stuck with this crazy lady, and when we had to use the bathroom we had to travel to do it, he felt terrible, and he let us stay in his hotel for a few days. He also gave us money to eat at the nearby Subway. Given how truly minimalist we had been living, I remember all three of us, sitting in our appointed places, taking turns picking out old movies to watch, as well as history channel series and feeling like pampered royalty. I have always loved hotel rooms.

Rick thought it was best that we go up to our grandma's to stay until he could get the remodeling done. It was all very spur of the moment. I didn't get to bring very much as we left. I didn't have a book to read, only a few changes of clothing I could find, and my cheap mp3 players. Grandma Marie came and got us from our mothers and from there we headed back to her place, where we spent a very mindbogglingly boring three weeks – the most boring weeks of my life. There were only about three movies, The first being Conan the Barbarian, this sort of obscure TV Movie called The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns that had O'Brien from Star Trek in it, and District Nine. Since we all deemed Conan the Barbarian the best of the lot, not that it was saying much, I feel like we probably watched this movie twenty times in a row. I can still remember the more memorable scenes with a distinct nauseating clarity – particularly the scene where Arnold is having sex with the witch and she like, starts screaming and explodes or something. There was no cable else we would have watched that instead – my grandmother had gotten angry after Obama won and had ended it, and she rarely let us use the internet because she believed that since we were young we were going to fill her computer with viruses.

If we could have left the house it might have helped, but there was three feet of snow outside and rising. It wasn't easy for her to get into or out of the driveway. I had no money, and none of us had decent winter wear either so roughing it was out of the question. We were trapped in the house only with each other – and our grandma overlooking our conversations which limited our ability to speak freely. Most of the books I could find to read were either Hindu related or religious texts – which I wasn't feeling religious texts at the time, and books about how to 'harness your psychic potential', which didn't appeal very much. Mostly I just pet the dogs and slept. I would listen through my entire Nick Cave discography, only to listen to it again once it was over. I did this until I got mercifully tired enough to finally pass out. We were all given about forty minutes a day to be on the computer each and we had to make the best of it. I used this time to talk to Sarah and tell her what was happening – to boost my own morale, and to not give up. I felt this need to give up. She was still trying desperately to get me a job at Zany's as a dishwasher though. She wanted me to look for more work just as soon as I could get back into Lewiston.

On Christmas, my mother called and let us know that my father had come by Wes's and left Christmas gifts. According to her, he was a sobbing wreck. I didn't look forward to receiving the gifts – I knew they were soaked in his self pity. I knew him too well. Wes was also back home from the hospital and wanted to have another Christmas at the house in celebration of his return. The roads were just clear enough to drive miraculously so we all got into my grandma's car and drove the three slow hours back to the house. To all three of us Sanborn children, that ride back to my mother's was the grossest car trip we had ever taken. The heater was turned way up. She drove very slowly and took the most windiest way there. Just thinking back to that trip makes all of our stomachs hurt. She put on this loud cheesy Christmas music that was on the radio. I don't like Christmas music, and this was the worst. A lot of it were these horrific 80's ballads, which would have been something worth a chuckle in the store if I heard them while shopping, but quite another thing when we all felt acute carsickness and had barely any room in the hot car to breath and it went on and on.

And w were only there for about four hours before we got back into the car again. The main gift for all three of us that our dear old dad wanted us to have were these gold plated rings. Personally, this tied into the fact that he has a ring he generally always wore that came from his great grandfather. He had passed it down to David as a male heirloom for Christmas. It was his way of creating some kind of symbolic significance that we shared the same blood – that we could run but we could not hide. That this was the final Christmas gift. It was morbid. He was in a bad place. Then he had bought these other two somewhat cheap gold plated rings for Allison and I. This whole ring business was just a way to remind us all that it was 'he' who created us, maybe a way to make us feel guilty. And it did linger in my thoughts, which only really created a deeper bridge. I resented having to feel ashamed of myself. A reminder that, by all of us leaving him, we were forsaking our bloodline and we would be sorry when he died. I knew him too well, and I knew how he felt about his ring on his finger. The rings in and of themselves were fine enough gifts, though helping us get shoes that didn't have holes at the bottom might have been more thoughtful. It was the context of that gift that was miserable.

Wes gave us fifty dollars each and a lot of candy, which was nice. Manny, just like many a Christmas before was drunk and asleep on the same chair. There weren't any bikers over this year, though a few questionable sorts showed up at the house here and there asking Wes for money. Wes gave a lot of weird unsavory sorts money sometimes, I think because it made him feel needed when his health was otherwise deteriorating and nobody wanted to be around him. They made him feel valid. There was this one dude, Fast Eddie as he was called – who would always stop at the house, and start looking through Wes's cupboards looking for pills. You had to make sure you were subtly in the room with him at all times. When stuff went missing, we often times blamed Fast Eddie, though to be fair there was a chance Roxanne had stopped by too. There was also this other lady – whom we don't remember the name of. She was an old barfly, and we all suspected that she did loosely sexual favors for Wes for money, though we could never be sure and didn't want to be. One time she was walking in front of David as they were both outside, and she flew around with a coy seductive smile on her face accused David of having the hots for her, saying something along the lines 'you can looky but don't touchy' or something equally as cringeworthy, as she wagged her finger at him like he was naughty. David obviously hadn't been looking at her – was baffled and grossed out.

We drove back and suffered for two more weeks at my grandma's in utter boredom. My grandma found out Allison wanted to be a musician and singer and she started pressuring Allison that she needed to play something for her. She was skeptical and limited in her understanding of music, and we all knew she wasn't going to get it. My grandma Marie has this archaic idea about how music is supposed to be. She like two kinds of music – Enya and country western. She still believed that you made it big by sending your demo tapes to local radio stations in hopes they would play it like how it was done in the 40's. And she believed that new musicians used 'robotics' to make their voices sound different then there speaking voices. She couldn't tell the difference between techno rave music and neutral milk hotel. She accused heavily acoustic Wilco songs of being made by pushing buttons, not believing even that Jeff Tweedy's voice could be real and assumed he was generated via computers. She claimed songs weren't 'really' songs.

Allison eventually got brave one evening and performed in front of our grandma. To me, Allison's voice was lovely and haunting. I thought she was getting a lot better and had come a long way, she wrote most of her songs herself. There was so much good to be said for what she was doing. But surely enough, our bitter old grandma wasn't enthused at all. As Allison sang self consciously, my grandma literally scowled at Allison judgmentally for the whole thing – making everyone in the room uncomfortable, and when the song was over, she said something half-handedly insulting about the song and about Allison's voice and about how she shouldn't even want to make music or art ever again. She couldn't even pretend to be nice. I think I love my grandma most of the time – she helped me when I needed it. But I kind of didn't. How can you afford to love people who drag you down? We had so very little to look forward to. Allison's music was such a special thing – maybe one of only things she had to hold on to that was hers alone. And somehow this caused a very hostile reaction in the people around us.

My grandma had gone to bed, and I had sneakily hopped on facebook one night, and I noticed that Zack was on. Sarah was on as well. For whatever reason, out of all the times that we had seen but not particularly cared, we took note of it enough to mention him together in our conversation. Sarah expressed the wish that we could have him as a friend still. I told Sarah that we should try to reach out to him again. It suddenly made sense to the both of us. Maybe it was due to the guilt that when Jason had died, we hadn't really known him by that time and now he was dead and gone forever. Sarah then sort of told me that, according to her cousin – Zack was on meth in a very big way. Privately, I had misgivings about this, though Sarah didn't seem to grasp the whole addiction thing. Given what Roxanne was going through at the time, I felt a pang of regret in my heart though, and perhaps this is why I didn't try to explain much to Sarah. I felt maybe that perhaps I had failed him by not being his friend – and now look at him. He was on drugs – because he was alone. I wasn't in love with him anymore – and I felt pretty confident about that, but aside from everything that had gone on – I felt a strong nostalgic kinship with him still, and the idea of him being on meth made me very sad, it sat awkwardly with me, like a bowl of food just about to fall off a counter that you know will fall with the slightest breeze so you want to push it back in place. If I ignored him, if we ignored him I would always think about it for the rest of my life. I wondered if there was anything Sarah or I could have done.

We came to some conclusions that night. We were going to try again, at least halfheartedly, and by unconventional means to bring him back to us. We were like two witches concocting some kind of slow working spell that would bind us to him and what we mostly intended on was to get his attention subconsciously. We couldn't trap him – we knew that. If we set up a meeting he wasn't going to show up for it. I wanted to see if we could draw him in using some strange consciousness trick if we tried it together. Maybe this is what the universe was trying to tell me. Sarah and I both felt we could draw things and ideas towards us. I had had huge strides in my ability to shift the world around me – and I saw my having lost sixty pounds in a year a manifestation of that much deeper shift. And with every surreal factor that was happening to me emotionally/psychologically/philosophically, I wanted to see what it might be able to do for me other than make me feel crazy. I wanted to know if he would react organically without any kind of direct communication or physical contact. Perhaps he wouldn't. But perhaps he would.

And perhaps I was distracting myself because I felt lost. I was now realizing that goals were hard. Goals are hard to keep when your mind changes a lot. Goals are hard to maintain the clarity of. Goals are hard to remember when something new comes along. It's hard for a goal not to change when you are changing. It's hard to even have a goal to begin with. And when you meet a goal, what next? There is a sad after affect, a realization that death is creeping up on you. And with how uncomfortable my life had become, with the psychological shifts, everything was off balance. I needed a goal to center myself. It tied me closer to Sarah. I needed something to think about that wasn't my life at the moment.

And if we could make this happen, if he did come to us, then Sarah and I together were a force and I could know I wasn't crazy, and we could take that energy and manifest other things for ourselves. If I could just keep lofty goals coming I would never again have to feel the acceptance that one thing was over without another even bigger idea taking hold. Getting a job, though it was the goal in my life at that point by default and something Sarah seemed to focus on more than even me, didn't interest me or make me want to be alive. Getting a job was for me, more of a means to avoid the pain of living with my parents any longer – certainly a motivational goal, but what then and to what end would this really help me spiritually? It didn't give my heart something to reach out to. But there was something pleasing about Sarah and I being able to use our connection to manipulate someone into our lives, like Zack, and that seemed intriguing to me and exciting. It had mystery to it, and was a compelling enough distraction.

We set everything up as soon as we got back to my mother's. The basement was now completely remodeled, though all in all nothing really changed. My mother was talking to this young guy in India named Jaz who was eighteen, and according to what she told us, he became obsessed with her and wanted to fly out to our house and meet her in person. My mother never used an honest picture of herself as her profile picture – though he knew she was fifty, so in some level I had to either wonder if this was some kind of scam, or if this guy wasn't totally nuts. Jaz believed him and my mother were soulmates who had been together in a past life, and my mother went right along with this narrative wholeheartedly, recalling memories of them together on Himalayan peaks, a tear welling up in the corner of her eye as she remembered it all in vivid detail, but out of fear of having her fantasies dashed, she refused to give him her address as hard as he tried to get it from her.

According to what I was told, Jaz was betrothed to someone his parents had picked for him to marry, and he didn't want to marry her. This was a big deal for him, and it was some kind of bizarre retelling of Romeo and Juliette for the both of them. For about three weeks, all my mother could talk or think about. She wasn't sleeping. She just sat there at the computer playing farmville, waiting for Jaz to get on. She told us all that she fucking hated us. She swore that as soon as she lost the weight and got surgery to look young again, she was going to fly out to India to be with Jaz, and 'our free ride was over'. She said it as a threat to all of us, as though being born had all been our idea to begin with.

Then, Jaz's mother got involved and wrote my mom telling her that she had found out about the affair Jaz was having and to leave her son alone, you sick old lady - essentially. My mother, stricken with embarrassment and maybe some level of self realization and immediately ceased speaking with Jaz, like his mother had demanded. Conveniently, those memories of her previous life with Jaz began to slip away, only for her to be taken in and smitten with some other guy from India whom she remembered sharing a past life with. I didn't bother to remember these guys names. Some of them were more like sons to her, and she never tried to convince herself she was in love with any of the young ones. She continued sending money though. And on and on it went for several years. It was sort of like my father's experience dating online, only far weirder.

I couldn't wait forever to get a job, so I began putting out other applications. All in all, I ended up with four interviews that late winter. The first one was a call back from Jack in the Box which wasn't far from where Wes's house was at. I didn't want to work at Jack in the Box at all. This one in particular was trashed and dingy. The people always got your order wrong, were hostile, probably underpaid and in a bad place. Sarah and I had gone there one morning for a cheap coffee to talk and stay grounded – a way for me to escape the bleakness in and among bleakness of the place we were having coffee, as well as to look out at the bleak mindless rush of cars on the highway as they headed out to work.

Sarah and I overheard a manager walking around complaining that someone hadn't shown up for a shift and they would have to look into the new applications. Sarah gave me a look, kicked me and had to psychically pry me out of my seat with her eyes to go up to this manager and ask if there were any positions open. He was impressed and told me to get an application and be sure to come in that Sunday night for an interview.

I was nervous. This was sort of my first real interview with anyone (I really just don't count that experience at McDonald's). I made sure to straighten my hair – as people tended to trust me less with curls. I found a black dress jacket, wore a decent shirt, decent pants and shoes. I was nervous but ready to take on this interview for whatever it was worth. My mother pulled her van out and waited for me in the parking lot. Everyone wished me the best of luck, as I anxiously wormed up to the door. There is nothing more ugly to me then walking in for an interview. I hate interviews. The feeling I get when walking into an interview is on par with being sick with the flu, and no matter if I practice or not, I have no idea what I am going to say to the interviewer when they ask me stuff. I've come to the conclusion that there is no true way to prepare and calibrate yourself for a new experience. I try to remind myself as I enter those business doors that life is one big game, and that I could just as easily have been born in some war torn part of the world, I could be dead. I could have been born in the middle ages. I try to remind myself that even if I went in dressed like a clown and danced about the room theatrically, in the end life would be what it was. And life just wasn't that long. There aren't rules to life. Mercury is on fire right now. I am a fragment of a fragment of a fragment of a fragment. And nothing helps. I still feel like I have to manually remind myself to breath. I am still drowning in mysterious turmoil I don't understand.

I walked in, and the building was empty, which might be totally predictable on a Sunday night. There was this blonde pudgy man at the counter – not the one I had talked to earlier that week. He asked me what I wanted to eat, and I told him I was there for an interview. He didn't know anything about the interview but reluctantly agreed to conduct one. We sat down at the table, and he began asking me questions about, 'why I wanted to work at Jack in the Box.' I tried to be honest – because I wanted a job. Because I liked having a grounded sense of purpose. Because I needed money.' He looked at me and said nothing. And then he began explaining to me that he wasn't looking for someone who was 'looking for 'a job'' he was looking for someone who was passionate about food service. I smiled politely, though I was melting inside.

He didn't just explain this to me though, he went on a five minute explanation as to why my answer was wrong. He asked me to pick between quality and quantity, and I picked one (don't remember which), and he then smiled at me and began explaining how I was wrong again. After three or four questions, the interview was beginning to go on for twenty minutes, and every time he asked me something, I would meekly try to assert a sensible response, but he would shoot me down. Then he started talking about my appearance. He told me I looked like someone who would do better if I went to art school' instead of working at a fast food joint. He meant it as an insult. I was frustrated. Because of course I would love to go to art school, but I wasn't in any position to be going to art school and it was really none of his business. I knew he was breaking really weird boundaries by talking like this to me, but I felt like I had to give in to his assessment of me, and I was really beginning to internally crumble. It's true, I didn't want this job, I just needed it terribly. To go into this place and ask for work was already putting me in a situation where I felt like I was whoring myself as a product, and now I was being told I wasn't a good enough for even Jack in the Box.

He finally began to explain to me, that they were only looking for the perfect person, someone who would go 'above and beyond'. It was here where the interview got weirder. He started asking me if I would do any 'favors' for him in order to get the job. I looked at him blankly, not understanding. He explained that he didn't waste his time with employees who didn't give him special incentive to hire them. I blinked confused. Eventually, he told me we were done. I didn't even turn around to shake his hand. I was shaking too hard by this time. He had been essentially mentally fucking with me for half an hour, putting me down in these clever professional ways, and I had to just sit there and take it. I felt used and worthless. And as soon as I got to the van, I started to cry. It was hard to explain to everyone what he had been doing to me. I felt even more ashamed of myself for crying at all. Sarah wouldn't ever cry. How many cool people did I know that would cry over a bad interview?

I learned years later that this same guy, Ben – was hiring women based on if they would let him touch their breasts and go down on him and stuff. He had been putting me down so that I would feel vulnerable and weak and would do what he wanted. And, he had thoroughly enjoyed just making me feel terrible and confused. He had spent his merry time breaking me down till I didn't know up from down. He was high on his power in that Jack in the Box. Two weeks after that interview, he was fired for sexual misconduct with one of his employees. It was an ugly experience, but I guess if I could say I took anything from the interview, it was that this is extremely common. I walked into that building having no skin at all, and what he had thrown at me was far more than I could deal with. I would have walked out now. I would rather be homeless than blow some gross supervisor for a fucking job serving bad meat to people. I would be meeting Ben again a few years ahead.

The second one was at a successful bar/Italian dining restaurant owned by the same chain that owned Zany's, the Happy Day Corporation. My mother was being impossible to us that morning, and ended up bothering me and being so horrendous that on the way to the interview I snapped and started crying and called her a bitch. It was a very poor choice for me to let her get to me, but I was feeling extremely vulnerable and antsy. She might have been hoping to sabotage my interview, not for any reason other than she could. We were almost there, and it was almost time for me to go in. I didn't want to now at all. My emotions were off balance. My make up had smeared. I was angry and feeling nihilistic about doing anything after that. But I looked at myself in the mirror, wiped away the make up that had smeared, and I decided that I would go in anyway. Yes, I might look crazy. It might all be one big joke. But what was life anyway but one big joke?

Strangely enough, I suddenly felt, in my more emotionally unstable position – more confident to go in to the interview. I don't know why that was. I walked in, which still killed me, and I met with and sat down with the manager to have an interview. He could absolutely not believe I was twenty-one. He looked me over with disbelief, and kept saying I didn't look a day over fifteen. He probably meant that. I have always been confused with being six or more years younger than I am. It might be the round face. I look in my eyes and I see a two hundred year old forest hag, but apparently it isn't as noticeable if you aren't me.

His questions made a bit more sense than Ben's had, but at the end of the interview he told me that even though he really wanted to hire me, he wasn't going to because I was from Kendrick, and people who come from those little towns often times move back to the towns because the big ol' town of Lewiston is just too big for them and they have boyfriends and stuff in their hometowns and small town inertia always brings them back. I politely tried to explain that I didn't have anything holding me there, no family or friends to speak of (which was a half-lie, but I was learning that apparently you are supposed to lie for some reason – and besides I was never going to Kendrick). He still didn't want to give me the opportunity though, and it was fine. I walked out slightly recovering from the ordeal at Jack in the Box. At least he had been respectful to me, and had accepted my answers. Also, I had gone in mentally unbalanced, and it had actually worked for me rather than against me for some reason. That seemed counter intuitive, but I guess turmoil brought out the best in me. Which was a strange and confusing thing to realize about myself.

It felt weird to be rejected. I had come such a long way from that previous year. While Sarah walked me through some of it, she really didn't for most of it, and couldn't have had she wanted to. I had lost so much weight, had pulled myself from some apathetic fatalistic fog, had reached for goals and considering what an introverted nervous and at times antiperson I could be, I had reached out to the world and decided to try and live in it despite all odds, despite having severe anxiety and self doubt. It was all a lot. And yet, I still went out into the world and got rejected on these arbitrary merits and standards that didn't quite make sense to me at all. It was at times disheartening to know I had worked this far out of my cocoon only to discover that the world didn't want to see my wings and at times I wasn't sure I wanted to spread them in this world. The world couldn't see my strengths and I wasn't socially charming (or phony) enough to present myself in a fashion that seemed to work. And yet, I just had to pull myself through this mud. It was hard to remind myself why – but it was too late to turn back now.

PART 85 - https://tinyurl.com/y73j3s9z

PART 84 - https://tinyurl.com/y8chr6hw

PART 83 - https://tinyurl.com/yasrxfkj

PART 82 - https://tinyurl.com/y9wvecz3

PART 81 - https://tinyurl.com/yc7bm62r

My Life Story in Chapters, PARTS 1-80 (this link below will lead you to a list of all the chapters i have written thus far).

http://aleatoryalarmalligator.tumblr.com/post/168782771574/life-story-sections-1-8

#text #life story #writing #long text

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angel-princess-anna · 6 years

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Downton Abbey - References to Historical Figures + References to Other Fictional Characters and Works

The following are two lists; one are real people who where mentioned on Downton Abbey, and the other is fictional characters and works that were also mentioned in the show. I complied these two lists together (because sometimes I had to research what was indeed being referenced!). As I didn’t know if I’d ever been sharing these lists, I don’t have the episode numbers listed out, but they do go in order by mention.

Real Historical Figures Mentioned in Downton

* means that the person was not contemporary of the characters and there for famous or well-known to them. Others without it may not be known personally by them, but are their contemporaries. Some of these have made it to the character list, if for sure they did indeed know the Crawleys, or other any other major character.

- Lucy Rothes (Titanic survivor, friend of the Crawleys) - John Jacob "JJ" Astor (business man who died on Titanic, friend of the Crawleys) - Madeleine Astor (not mentioned by name, but as JJ's wife, Titanic survivor, Cora did not like her) - Sir Christopher Wren* (architect, designed the Dower House) - David Lloyd George (politician and Prime Minister starting in 1916) - William the Conqueror* - Mark Twain* (author) - Queen Mary (wife of King George V) [mentioned in S1, appears in S4CS] - Queen Catherine of Aragon* - Oliver Cromwell* - Bishop Richard de Warren* - Anthony Trollope* (author; he would have been somewhat contemporary, died in 1882) - Piero della Francesca* (painter) - Franz Anton Mesmer* (scientist) - Thomas Jefferson* (politician, inventor, third president of the United States) - Léon Bakst (Russian painter and scene- and costume designer) - Sergei Diaghilev (another Russian artist) - Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry (sounds like the Crawleys did attend her parties from time to time) - Emily Davison (suffragist) - Herbert Henry "H.H." Asquith (politician and Prime Minister until 1916) - Kaiser Wilheim (ruler of Germany; Sir Anthony personally visited him a few times) - Vincenzo Bellini* (composer) - Gioachino Rossini* (composer) - Giacomo Puccini* (composer) - Karl Marx* (philosopher) - John Ruskin* (social thinker and artist; he would have been somewhat contemporary, died in 1900) - John Stuart Mill* (philosopher) - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria - Guy Fawkes* - Gavrilo Princip (member of the Black Hand and Franz Ferdinand's assassin) - H.G. Wells (author) - Major General B. Burton - Heinrich Schliemann* (German businessman archaeologist, died in 1890; deleted scene mention) - General Douglas Haig (later a field marshal) - Belshazzar* (King of Babylon) - Mabel Normand (actress) - Plantagenets* - Eugene Suter (hair stylist) - Alexander Kerensky (Russian political leader) - Vladimir Lenin (Russian communist revolutionary) - Florence Nightingale* (nurse; died 1910) - Czar Nicholas II and the Romanov family (ruler of Russia) - Jack Robinson (footballer; he stopped playing in 1912) - Frederick Marryat* (author) - George Alfred "G.A." Henty* (author; he would have been somewhat contemporary, died in 1902) - Maximilien Robespierre* (French revolutionary) - Marie Antoinette* (French queen) - Erich Lundendorff (German commander) - Sylvia Pankhurst (suffragist) - Jack Johnson (boxer) - Commander Harold Lowe (Fifth Officer of the Titanic; if P. Gordon was really Patrick, he would have known him personally) - Theda Bara (actress) - Robert Burns* (poet, read by Bates; name is not uttered on screen, but it is clear on book cover) - Jules Verne* (author; he would have been somewhat contemporary, died in 1905) - Marion Harris (singer of "Look for the Silver Lining"; name is not uttered on screen) - Edward Shortt (Home Secretary from 1919-1922) - Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of York (one of the first actual historical figures in the show; married Matthew and Mary, visited Downton Abbey for dinner) - King George V (king of England) [mentioned in S3E1, appears in S4CS] - Charles Melville Hays (president of the Grand Trunk Railway that Robert invested in; died on the Titanic) - Robert Baden-Powell (founder of the Boy Scouts) - Lady Maureen Dufferin (socialite, friend of the Crawleys) - Georges Auguste Escoffier (famous chef and restaurateur) - Marie-Antoine Carême* (famous chef) - Queen of Sheba* - Napoleon Bonaparte* - The Bourbons* - The Buffs* (famous army regiment; "steady the Buffs" popularized by Kipling) - Croesus* (king of ancient Lydia; mention several times starting in S3 and through S4) - Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix (Wild West picture star) - Dr. Samuel Johnson* (English writer; quote paraphrased by Carson) - Jean Patou (dress designer; maker of Edith's S3 wedding dress in-show) - Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon (dress designer of "Lucille"; a survivor of the Titanic) - The Marlboroughs (famous family; mentioned like the Crawleys knew them personally, Sir Anthony did) - The Hapburgs* (rulers of the Holy Roman Empire) - Maud Gonne (English-born Irish revolutionary) - Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (Irish revolutionary) - Constance Georgine Markievicz, Countess Markievicz (Irish revolutionary and politician) - Lady Sarah Wilson (née Churchill) (female war correspondent) - Gwendolen Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (real person and friend of Violet's) - Pope Benedict XV - Lillian Gish (actress) - Ivy Close (actress) - Alfred the Great* (9th century ruler of England) - Oscar Wilde* (author; he would have been somewhat contemporary, died in 1900) - Nathaniel Hawthorne* (author) - Charles Ponzi - Walter Scott* (author) - Charles Dickens* (author) - Virgina Woolf (author, one of the first actual historical figures in the show, was not actually mentioned though, just a background guest at Gregson's party) - Roger Fry (artist, one of the first actual historical figures in the show, was not actually mentioned though, just a background guest at Gregson's party) - Sir Garnet Wolseley* - Phyllis Dare (singer and actress) - Zena Dare (singer and actress, sister to Phyllis) - Maurice Vyner Baliol Brett (the second son of the 2nd Viscount Esher, Zena Dare's husband) - King Canute* (Cnut the Great, norse king) - Nellie Melba (opera singer, one of the few actual historical figures in the show) - Al Jolson (singer) - Christina Rossetti* (poet) - Marie Stopes (feminist doctor and author of Married Love) - George III* (ruler of England) - Lord Byron* - Arsène Avignon (chef at Ritz in London, actual historical figure in the show) - Louis Diat (chef at Ritz in New York) - Jules Gouffé* (famous chef) - King of Sweden (whoever it was when Violet's husband was alive) - Rudolph Valentino (actor) - Agnes Ayres (actress) - Lord Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington* (Lord Chancellor and abolitionist) - Albert B. Fall (US senator and Secretary of the Interior) - King Ludwig* (I’m assuming of Bavaria) - John Ward MP (liberal politician, actual historical figure in the show) - Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe (Royal Navy, Blake and Tony served under him) - Benjamin Baruch Ambrose (bandleader at the Embassy Club, his band appears on-screen but it's not pointed out who he is) - The Prince of Wales (David, who became Edward VIII when King) - Freda Dudley Ward (socialite and mistress of the above) - The Queen of Naples* - Wat Tyler* (leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England) - Edmond Hoyle* (writer of card rules) - Ramsay MacDonald (Prime Minister Jan-Nov 1924) - Archimedes* - Boudicca* (Queen of the British Iceni tribe) - Rosa Luxemburg (Revolutionary) - Charles I* - Douglas Fairbanks (movie star) - Jack Hylton (English band leader) - Edward Molyneux (fashion designer; Cora has a fitting with him in S5E3) - The Brontë Sisters* (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, all authors. Anne's work The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was the charade answer in S2CS.) - Leo Tolstoy* (author) - Nikolai Gogol* (author) - Elinor Glyn (author of romantic fiction) - Czar Alexander II - Prince Alfred (son of Queen Victoria) - Grand Duchess Maria (wife of Alfred, daughter of the czar) - Peter Carl Fabergé (Russian jeweller) - Ralph Kerr (officer in the Royal Navy; Mabel mentions a man by this name as a friend) - Keir Hardie (Scottish socialist, died in 1915) - The Moonella Group (formed a nudist colony in 1924 in Wickford, Essex) - John Singer Sargent (American painter, died in 1925) - Rudyard Kipling (author and poet - often quoted starting in S1, but first mentioned by name in S5) - Mary Augusta Ward (Mrs. Humphrey Ward - author; I'm not adding her to the character list, died in 1920) - Adolf Hitler - Pola Negri (film star) - John Barrymore (actor [Drew Barrymore's grandfather]) - King Richard the III (of England)* - Hannah Rothschild and Lord Rosebery (British socialites Violet knew; Hannah died in 1890) - General Reginald Dyer - Lytton Strachey (supposedly was at Gregson's party) - Niccolo Machiavelli* - Adrienne Bolland (aviatrix) - The Fife Princesses (as listed by Sir Michael Reresby) - Duke of Arygll (as listed by Sir Michael Reresby) - The Queen of Spain (as listed by Sir Michael Reresby) - Lady Eltham (Dorothy Isabel Westenra Hastings) - King John* - Neville Chamberlain (Minister of Health in 1925, later Prime Minister; appears on-screen in S6E5) - Anne de Vere Cole (Neville Chamberlain's wife. Fictitiously, she is Robert's father's goddaughter. Her father is mentioned has having served in the Crimean War with Robert's) - Horace de Vere Cole (Anne de Vere Cole's brother) - Joshua Reynolds* (painter) - George Romney* (painter) - Franz Xaver Winterhalter* (painter) - Sir Charles Barry* (real architect of Highclere, cited here as one as Downton Abbey) - Tsar Nicholas I* - Teo (or Tiaa)* - Amenhotep II* - Tuthmosis IV* - King Charles* - Clara Bow (actress) [To my knowledge, the Ripon election candidates in S1E6 were not real people, as were not always the case for military personnel Robert referred to.] Fictional Characters and Works Mentioned in Downton - Long John Silver (referenced by Thomas) - Andromeda, Perseus, Cepheus (Greek mythology) (referenced by Mary) - Sydney Carton (A Tale of Two Cities) (referenced by Robert) - Princess Aurora, and later Sleeping Beauty (the ballet I presume) (referenced by Robert) - Horatio (Hamlet; Thomas quotes a line in a deleted scene) - "Gunga Din" (poem by Kipling; quoted by Bates and later quoted by Isobel) - Little Women (referenced by Cora) - The Lost World - Elizabeth and her German Garden (book given to Anna by Molesley) - Wind in the Willows (referenced by Violet) - "If You Were the Only Girl in the World" (sung by Mary, Matthew and cast) - "The Cat That Walked By Itself" (short story by Kipling; quoted by Matthew) - Iphigenia (Greek mythology, may be referenced in The Iliad but I cannot confirm) - Uncle Tom Cobley ("Widecombe Fair") (referenced by Sybil) - Alice and the Looking Glass - "The Rose of Picardy" (only a few strains played, possibly the John McCormack version which was out in 1919) - Zip Goes a Million and "Look for the Silver Lining" (song played by Matthew) - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (title used in The Game) - Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Angel Clare (referenced by Mary) - Lochinvar (from Sir Walter Scott) (referenced by Martha) - "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (played at Mary and Matthew's wedding) - "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (sung by Martha and cast) - "Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron" (English folk song sung by Carson) - Way Down East (film) - The Worldings (film) - "Molly Malone" (Irish song) - The Scarlet Letter (referenced by Isobel) - Lady of the Rose (musical) - The Lady of Shalott (ballad) - The Puccini pieces from S4E3 - The jazz pieces from S4E4 sung by Jack Ross ("A Rose By Any Other Name") - The Sheik (film) - The jazz pieces from S4E6 sung by Jack Ross ("Wild About Harry") - "The Second Mrs Tanqueray" (play and films) (referenced by Edith) - "The Sword of Damocles" (Greek myth) - Dr. Fu Manchu - Mrs. Bennett (Pride and Prejudice) - A vague allusion to Wuthering Heights (talking about the Brontë sisters and moors) (referenced by Rose) - Vanity Fair and Becky Sharp (Molesley reads this with Daisy) - "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (sung by Denker) - "The Fall of the House of Usher" (short story by Edgar Allen Poe) - Madame Defarge (A Tale of Two Cities) - Ariadne (Greek mythology) - "Cockles and Mussels" (Spratt sings a few bars in S6E5; this is also called "Molly Malone") - Elizabeth Bennett and Pemberley (Pride and Prejudice) (referenced by Violet) - Mr Squeers (Nicholas Nickleby) (referenced by Bertie) - The Prisoner of Zenda (adventure novel by Anthony Hope) (referenced by Tom) - "The course of true love never did run smooth" (quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream) Not included are proverbs or sayings (which Anna says a lot of), nor Biblical references. Do note that there's a lot of scenes with the characters reading, but we don't know exactly what.

#downton abbey #resources

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