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hrtsdevils · 5 months

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dog-eared. | jh86

summary reader and jack broke up before he was drafted to the nhl. after years of watching from afar, jack finally sees y/n in person. past feelings are brought up to the surface.

pairing jack hughes x fem!reader

wc 2.6k

an my lovers… also another gracie fc sorry idk what to tell you! also for the sake of the plot pretend that the devils play the ducks on tuesday instead of vancouver thanks!!! loosely based off of everywhere everything by noah kahan ft gracie abrams

It had been years since you’d seen Jack. You broke up right before he started his NHL career as it seemed like your plans didn’t align. You’d be going to college in California, as USC had been your dream school your whole life. You dreamed of living somewhere where it was sunny and it was never freezing, unlike the weather in your hometown of Toronto. He dreamed of making it big in the professional league, which he was so close to achieving already.

The breakup between you two was mostly mutual. It happened in your 2005 Honda Civic, in the parking lot of a gas station after you had gone to buy soft drinks. The two of you could feel the breakup impending, and it felt as if the weather channel told you a meteor would be hitting Earth within minutes. As if the sun was about to collapse. The silence was deafening as you started your car, putting your drink in the cup holder. He followed suit.

“I..” He started before you cut him off.

“You think we need to break up?” You asked, giving him a soft smile. It wasn’t genuine, it was quite the opposite. You just didn’t want him to feel guilty, you thought it was the right thing as well.

He nodded softly, “I just think we’re on two separate paths… you know?”

“Yeah, I get it.” Your hands tensed under your thighs, as you were using them as hand warmers. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Buttons.” That had been his nickname for you since the 8th grade. You had a perfect little button nose, and it quickly caught on and everybody would use it for you as well.

The drive back to his parents’ house was in silence, as neither of you had much to say to each other. In about ten minutes, you were parked in front of his house. “You’re still going to come to my birthday party, right?” You asked. You were turning eighteen in a few weeks, June 7th.

“Yeah, I will.” He smiled sadly, “It’s not over. We’re just separating until we get brought back together.”

You huffed, “When’s that? Whenever fate decides?”

“Precisely. Call it a dog ear.. you like to read, right?”

“Yeah, I would never doggy ear my books though.” You giggled, “Bye, Jacky.”

That was the last you talked formally. He never did come to your party, texting you an excuse about how he had a training camp that day. You didn’t believe it, but you never said anything about it. It had been years, you watched him succeed from your dorm room and then to your small apartment couch. Your roommates never understood your love for the sport, but you always attributed it to being from up north.

That was a reason, but not the only one.

Every year you anticipated the Devils coming down to Anaheim to play the Ducks. That was practically the only time you watched Jack in person. You were particularly excited this year, as his little brother Luke would be playing too. You adored Luke, he was so sweet and well-mannered, especially to you. Trevor would also be there. He wouldn’t be playing as he was injured, but you’d caught him after a few games to catch up and he was your little piece of Michigan in California.

It was a Friday game, which met that the tickets were slightly higher and there were fewer of them. You finally got your good friend, Cecilia, to agree to go with you. She was familiar with your love of hockey, and she knew you went to a lot of games. She didn’t know you knew two players on the ice, and two players up in the press box. As you were buying your tickets with her, you got a text from Trevor.

trevor zegras 🐣 : hey buttons r u coming to the game? idk cause jacks playing

You hastily replied, trying to shield your phone from Cece in the most subtle way possible.

y/n buttons : yeahhhh i was jst about to buy my tickets bahaha

trevor zegras 🐣 : don’t buy them ❌❌ i have a club ticket right above the benches if u want it

y/n buttons : usually yes i’d love to but i’m bringing my friend cece

trevor zegras 🐣 : i have 2! i’ll send em to u later

y/n buttons : thanks trev i appreciate u ☺️

You put your phone down and closed your laptop. Cece was a couple feet away on hers, but looked at you when your laptop snapped shut. “Did you buy them?” She questioned, scooting closer to you. You shook your head.

“Kind of? Well, one of my friends is on the team and he’s injured, he offered us seats right behind the bench.”

Her jaw fell slightly, “You never told me you had connections!”

You smiled, “I don’t really, I usually buy my tickets. This was a first time thing, I think he might be drunk.” You tried to explain it in the least suspicious way possible. You didn’t want to seem boastful, but an explaination had to come from somewhere.

You two discussed the arrangements for a couple minutes longer. From outfits to hair to transportation, you were more excited for this game than you had been for any others. Maybe it was because it was Jack’s team, or maybe it was because someone finally seemed to share your admiration for the sport.

Who knows, it was probably the latter.

The day came quick, as it was only a day or two out from your initial conversation. The tickets usually dropped in price right before the game, but luckily you didn’t have to spend the money on it regardless. You lended Cece a Zegras jersey that he got you, while you chose to wear an unnamed 30th anniversary jersey. You still had a few hoodies with Jack’s last name on the back, from his time with USNDTP, but you wouldn’t be wearing those tonight.

You arrived shortly before warm-ups, but when you looked at your section and seat numbers you realized Trevor wasn’t lying about you being right behind the bench. He just never mentioned that it was the away bench. You watched from your seat as the boys entered from the tunnel. They weren’t facing you, but you watched to make sure they didn’t turn around at least not now.

You managed to go a little while without being seen by Luke or Jack, that was until Cecelia got extremely into the game. The Devils had a goal in the late first period, opening up the scoring. Luke was sitting on the bench about a foot to the left of Cece, and once they scored she started banging on the glass.

As he stood up to cheer, he turned around due to the banging. The first thing he did was make eye contact with you. His eyebrows raised, and he blinked as if you’d disappear when his eyes opened. He didn’t say anything as you tried to avoid his gaze, and simply turned back around.

The game continued on, and you didn’t see him say anything to Jack. Soon enough, it was intermission and you felt safer. Like eyes weren’t on you anymore, even though they never were. It went by fairly quickly as the two of you watched the silly halftime games that usually were played by young children. As soon as the Devils came back through the tunnel, Jack turned around and looked at you. He kept sneaking glances as they warmed up again before the start of the second.

The rest of the game wasn’t as fun, as the brunette kept staring at you. As if you couldn’t go to hockey games, his hockey games. As if he couldn’t help looking at you. As if he missed you.

It didn’t help that Cece kept shouting at you, telling you that the cute one kept staring at you and that he wanted you. You knew her best interest was at heart, but she had no idea the magnitude of your situation with said cute one. You entertained her teasing of you, and how she kept pointing at you everytime Jack glanced your way.

By the end of the game you were over it. You wanted to escape and go home before the off chance that you ran into Jack actually happened. It was relieving when you got into the car, but startling when your phone lit up with a single message from Jack. Cece was giggling to herself, looking up one of the cute guys she saw on Instagram. She was oblivious to the situation

jack hughes : hi why were u there

You tried to think of an excuse, but eventually you realized it wouldn’t matter if you told the truth or not.

buttons 🩷 : because i was given tix my trevor.. and i go to a lot of ducks games

jack hughes : oh no other reason?

buttons 🩷 : u think i went for u?

jack hughes : maybe a little. sorry for bothering u buttons.

buttons 🩷 : don’t be sorry. how long are you in anaheim?

jack hughes : tonight n then flying up to seattle

buttons 🩷 : where r u staying?

It was a twenty minute drive back up to your apartment, but with your speeding it was around seventeen. Cece didn’t question your urgency as you dropped her off at your shared apartment, and left immediately after. She was a little bit tipsy. As you drove to the Marriott in Anaheim, you thought about what you were doing.

Throwing away years of peace for the same boy who disrupted it all those years ago. If you started to have feelings for him again, who knows how much you life could be uprooted? Everything could be ruined. All the progress and the getting over Jack. Your Jack. You knew you were risking your own personal journey by going to see him, but at this point you didn’t care.

The hotel receptionist was reluctant to let you up, as she knew who was staying there. The skepticism on her face was present from the very moment you walked in.

“Look, I know him and I know his room number, so can you just let me go up?” You pleaded with hed. Going to a room usually wasn’t necessarily an issue, the issue here was that a sports team was staying. She might’ve thought you were a crazy stalker fan.

As she was about to answer, Jack exited the elevator and spotted you talking to the receptionist. “She’s with me.” He told her, as he walked up to the desk. “Thanks, though.” You had texted him a minute prior about the receptionist, but you didn’t expect him to rush down.

“Hi.” You breathed as you made your way toward the elevator, “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been good.” He stopped before the elevator, “Would you rather go for a drive? I’m sharing a room with Luke.”

Your story paused in a car, so you were unsure how this would turn out. Maybe it will be different this time. “Sure.” You replied softly.

You two walked to your car in silence. You were about to get in the driver’s seat, but he insisted on driving. “You should drive slow around here, there’s a bunch of cops at night because of drunk college students.” You chuckled, “I’ll tell you when you can speed.”

You buckled up, and he started your car. It was an upgrade from your Honda, being a more recent model of a Nissan. “So, why’d you come to the game?” He asked as he pulled out of the hotel’s parking lot.

“I go to a lot of Duck’s games. Trevor plays, of course I go watch him.” You started, “He offered me club tickets, and I figured they were behind his bench. They weren’t, obviously.”

“So you didn’t go for me?” He questioned once again, “I don’t believe that, Buttons.”

You rolled your eyes, “I kind of did. I’ve been while you were playing for the last three years, but I still like hockey in general.”

“I’ll believe that.” The silence sat for a little while as he drove 25 down the city roads, the radio wasn’t even playing. “Do you think we could’ve done long distance?”

You shook your head, “No, not then at least. That’s why we broke it off. Maybe now.” You said the last part quieter, just enough so that if he wasn’t paying attention he wouldn’t have heard it.

But of course he was paying attention. You were his everything before, and possibly even now.

“Now?” He questioned, “What do you mean by that?”

“When we broke up, you said our page was dog-eared. Bookmarked. It was more like a pause until we were ready and mature, or at least that’s how I took it.”

He smiled, “I remember that. Do you think we’re ready and mature?”

You shrugged, looking at him. “Maybe, just this semester and then I’m done. I chose to graduate a semester early. I could move back east, we could be closer. Even without I think we’d be mature enough for long distance.”

The chances of this moment happening just weeks before you graduated was an alignment of the stars in itself. This could be everything you wanted, without disrupting your peace.

“If you need a place to stay, you can always stay with me and Luke.” He offered, “To get on your feet, if you come back.”

“Maybe.” You hummed. His hand was resting on the gear shift, even though it was an automatic. You made a move to lay your hand on top of his, squeezing it gently.

It was a soft step in the right direction. A step to getting the love of your life back, which is what you’d wanted since the minute you broke it off. It’s been a long three years without him, he was your best friend and you intended to make up for the lost time soon enough. You wouldn’t bring up how he never contacted you either, because it was far in the past. You were both kids at the time and you can’t hold a grudge about that.

As he re-entered the hotel parking lot, you smiled at him. Your hands were now intertwined on top of the cup holder region, and you never wanted to let go. His hand was more rugged than before, matured and weathered, but it was still a comfort you had missed. He dropped it to shift the car into park.

“So, I’ll see you soon then?” He asked, as you got ready to get out. 45 minutes had passed between getting into the car and now. You conversed about your current life and your future. Your future together.

You nodded, “Yeah, hopefully. Keep in touch, okay? No ghosting me.” You stepped out of the car and walked around to the driver's side as he got out as well.

The two of you shared a hug, but exchanged little words. You could hear the cars around you, and the sounds of the city were still alive. “Bye, Jack.” You released him from your embrace.

“Bye, Buttons.” He smiled, “I’ll text you.” He turned around and walked back to the hotel as you watched, a smile gracing your features as well.

You’d love him forever, whether you got back together or not. You believed he felt the same. You were glad that Trevor had known about the seating on the tickets, and made sure they got to you. You were also glad Luke saw and recognized you. You were excited to see him. The end was over, and the new start was just beginning.

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veronicaleighauthor · 7 months

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Banned Books Week 2023

It’s that time of year again, when we honor and focus on the books out there that have been banned. And boy, it seems the last few years that book banning has been on the rise. You know if you don’t like a book and you don’t agree with it, no one is forcing you to read it. I’ll even go as far as understanding parents taking books out of their own kid’s hands. My objection is when parents take books out of some other kid’s or adult’s hand. Growing up, if someone had taken “The Diary of Anne Frank” off of my library’s shelf, I would have been lost.

This year I’m focusing on… “Anne of Green Gables,” by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Yes, you read that right, our dear old unromantic Anne Shirley was banned!

Description:

Eleven-year-old Anne Shirley has never known a real home. Since her parents’ deaths, she’s bounced around to foster homes and orphanages. When she is sent by mistake to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she wants to stay forever. But Anne is not the sturdy boy Matthew and Marilla were expecting. She’s a mischievous, talkative redheaded girl with a fierce temper, who tumbles into one scrape after another. Anne is not like anybody else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special, a girl with an enormous imagination. All she’s ever wanted is to belong somewhere. And the longer she stays at Green Gables, the harder it is for anyone to imagine life without her.

Author:

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, in 1874. Educated at Prince Edward College, Charlottetown, and Dalhousie University, she embarked on a career in teaching. From 1898 until 1911 she took care of her maternal grandmother in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, and during this time wrote many poems and stories for Canadian and American magazines. Montgomery’s first novel, Anne of Green Gables, met with immediate critical and popular acclaim, and its success, both national and international, led to seven sequels. Maud Montgomery also wrote the popular Emily of New Moon in 1923 followed by two sequels, and Pat of Silver Bush in 1933 with its sequel. L. M. Montgomery died in Toronto in 1942, but it is her early years of lush, green Prince Edward Island that live on in the delightful adventures of the impetuous redhead, the stories Mark Twain called “the sweetest creation of child life yet written.”

Why It was Banned:

You’re probably asking yourself, who on earth would ban something as adorable, and funny, and innocent as “Anne of Green Gables?” (Who on earth bans any book?) Well, let’s find out!

After “Anne of Green Gables,” was published in 1908, it wasn’t long before it was translated into other languages, that way others could fall in love with Anne Shirley. In 1912, it was translated to Polish and it found a captive audience amongst the Polish people. Soon, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s other works were translated, and she grew very popular there. Anne’s individuality was endearing. In 1939, when the Nazis invaded Poland, Polish soldiers were issued copies of Montgomery’s novels to take to the frontlines, as a means to raise the moral. When the Nazis occupied the country, “Anne of Green Gables” and Montgomery’s other works were banned, but that didn’t stop the Polish people. Copies were sold on the black market; resistance members carried them. Anne Shirley had become a beacon of hope. The war in Poland ended in 1945 and I’m sure the Polish people were looking forward to being free…unfortunately, they had been liberated by the Soviets and a Communistic government was put into place. Similarly, because Montgomery’s works were so beloved and “Anne’s resistance to authority” was a threat, the Soviets viewed it as “subversive” and banned “Anne of Green Gables” in 1953 to 1956.

My Thoughts:

I first read “Anne of Green Gables” when I was thirteen or fourteen. My family and I were visiting family up north and we stopped by this huge warehouse that sold old, used books for cheap. I stumbled across “Anne of Green Gables” and from the title I was intrigued, and it was one of the ones we bought. I devoured it and soon fell in love with odd, weird, red-haired girl. She turns her hair green, hits a boy with a slate, gets her friend drunk – what’s not to like? I had no idea it was Classic Lit – to me Anne Shirley felt modern and realistic. I went on to read the rest of the series, and re-read them off and on over the years. Then, I found the miniseries! Imagine my surprise when I learned it was a banned book.

So, you see, the Nazis and the Communists banned and censored books…Those who are on the side of good don’t ban and censor books. And I’ll leave it at that.

#banned books week #banned books #banned books week 2023 #anne of green gables #l. m. montgomery #lucy maud montgomery #anne shirley #classic literature #poland #communists #nazis #wwii

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art · 1 year

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Creator Spotlight: @kevinbparry

Kevin Parry is a stop-motion animator and visual effects artist in Toronto, Canada, who creates magical and mind-bending content for brands. Prior to working in social media full-time, he animated a number of stop-motion feature films at Portland-based LAIKA.

Check out our interview with Kevin below!

How did you get your start in stop motion and animation in general?

I was always very interested in moviemaking (monster makeup and visual effects), and that led to me studying animation in college, where I specialized in stop-motion.

How has technology changed the way you approach your work?

The shift to shorter content through social media feeds has made me approach storytelling in a more concise way. When I first started my career, ‘short form’ meant a story maybe 4 minutes in length. Now, I make videos that are as short as 4 seconds!

Over the years as an animator, who/what were your biggest inspirations behind your creativity?

I’m a big fan of directors and artists who have a bit more texture to their work - blending old-school, handcrafted techniques with modern technology. Filmmakers like Michel Gondry and Wes Anderson. And, of course, magicians! The surprise and delight of magic is something I try to capture in my work.

If there is one thing you want your audience to remember about your work, what would it be?

That I left them feeling stumped and curious about how I made it! It’s the best feeling when someone tells me they watched my video a dozen times and still can’t figure it out.

As we’re wrapping up with the year, what is one thing you learnt about yourself as a creator in 2022? Any goals for 2023?

This year, I’ve been focusing on making my work less polished. Meaning ditching green screens and doing a lot more of my stop-motion and visual effects in camera. It’s a bit of a battle with the perfectionist in me, but I think my work can have a lot more charm to it if I embrace mistakes and the rougher edges.

How did you transition from working for a company to working freelance?

I was working on stop-motion animated feature films at LAIKA and then eventually left to pursue social media full-time. There were a few years of overlap where I built up an audience and had already started to get offers from companies before finally making the leap. I’m thankful for all the years spent doing studio work because it prepared me for the business side of freelance—stuff like pitching concepts and understanding when work needs to serve the client and not myself.

Do you have any tips for creators out there looking to make the same move?

My two tips are:

Be as unique as possible. You want to give companies a reason to come to you, and not someone else.

Find a balance in your work between Hollywood and homemade. You want it to be professional enough that companies trust you with their brand but approachable enough that it blends in well on social media.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

To be honest, I’m new to Tumblr! I signed up a few weeks ago and have just begun to explore the fantastic content. If people can leave a comment with who I should check out, that would be fantastic!

Thank you for stopping by, Kevin! Be sure to check out more of their work over at @kevinbparry, and drop a comment below with who Kevin should check out on Tumblr!

#creator spotlight #artists on tumblr #animators on tumblr #stop motion #kevin parry #laika studios

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flanaganfilm · 11 months

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Hey Mike! Can you talk about your experience going from Absentia to Oculus? That process after Absentia went on its festival run to pitching Oculus? Would love to learn about that time in your life & career!

I moved to Los Angeles in 2003, right after I graduated college. I went to Towson University in Maryland, was an EMF major (Electronic Media & Film) and had wanted nothing more than to make movies my whole life. We were a comfortable middle class military family (my dad was in the Coast Guard) and for most of my life, making movies for a living felt like an impossible dream.

When I moved to LA I took whatever work I could find. I shot and edited those local car commercials you see on TV at 2am, I was a logger and an AE for reality TV shows, and I eventually worked my way to editing.

I said I'd give myself 5 years to make it in Hollwood. By the time we shot Absentia, I'd been here for 7 years, and in that time I hadn't gotten any closer to my dream.

I've already written at length about how Absentia came along and what it was like to make that little movie, and I've recently blogged about how the Oculus premiere changed my life and birthed my career, so I won't rehash those - but I don't often talk about what went on in between.

I finished editing Absentia just before my oldest son was born in 2010, and went back to working full-time as a reality TV editor. In fact, in the months leading up to his birth, I was working double-time - I spent my days at a company called Film Garden working on a series for DIY Network, and my nights editing packages at Nash Entertainment for those true crime clip shows. Whatever it took to keep the lights on and provide as much support as I could for my son.

While this was happening, I'd submitted Absentia to a pile of film festivals. We didn't get into any of the majors - Sundance, SXSW, and Toronto all passed on the film. Our world premiere was at the Fargo Film Festival, where Tom Brandau, one of my former professors from Towson - and one of my mentors - was teaching.

(Our original festival poster, WAY better than the weird clip art that would come later)

The movie got into a fair amount of film festivals, and we traveled with it as much as we could. I have fond memories of the Phoenix Film Festival, San Luis Obispo (where I met Greg Kinnear at a party and very awkwardly asked for a picture - you can see how thrilled he is about it) and my personal favorite: the Fantastia Film Festival in Montreal.

(At one of the screenings, I believe the San Luis Obispo Film Festival)

While this was happening, the film was picked up for a tiny VOD and DVD release through Phase 4 Films.

They were a Canadian distribution company whose claim to fame was putting out Kevin Smith's Red State under a very unusual distribution model. They acquired the movie, which led to a company holiday part in Hollywood.

There, I briefly met Kevin Smith for the first time. We've met again since, and I've now had a chance to thank him for the kindness he showed me back then - I was just some starstruck kid at a party, but he was gracious and available and inspiring. I really admire the way Kevin deals with his fans, and I've tried to emulate it over the years.

So that was kind of it for Absentia. We went to a few festivals, went to a few parties, and posed for a few pictures with some people we admired. Phase 4 designed some truly godawful cover art, dropped the movie into video stores, and that was that.

($2.99 is a pretty good deal)

So Absentia had pretty much run its course. It had a passionate following of fans, but between the crappy art design and glut of low budget horror films on the market, its moment had already come and gone. I was back at work, editing a series for DIY Network called Extra Yardage, and yearning for another chance to make a movie.

Absentia might not have broken open the industry doors like I'd wanted it to, but one thing it did yield was a meeting with an entertainment attorney named Joel VanderKloot.

I had been represented a few times over the years by various managers (to be honest, they were actually Jeff Howard's managers, and they took me on because we had a co-written project together.) But those relationships hadn't gone anywhere, I'd never sold a script or booked a job, and when I suggested making Absentia they were not supportive ("You've already tried the indie thing, haven't you?") so by the time Absentia was made, I was completely unrepped.

Joel was a family friend of Jason Poh, who was one of our Absentia Kickstarter backers. He was a guy who'd just found the project online and donated a thousand bucks. He kept up with us, and loved the final movie. He told me he knew an entertainment lawyer and offered to arrange a lunch.

I left my editing job at Film Garden for a long lunch and met Joel in Santa Monica (this was a day-killing drive for me). Joel had seen the movie and really liked it. We had a good lunch, but wasn't immediately sure about taking me on - it's a lot of work to take on a new client, and there wasn't much heat on my movie. But there was something there that he liked, and he called later that day to say he would take me on as a client.

I was elated. I felt like I'd made my movie to the best of my ability, and that it had flashed in the pan and then died... no one had noticed outside of a few festival audiences and critics. But here was someone who worked in the industry and he saw something in the film that he believed in.

Joel started looking for managers while I clung to my day job. He passed the movie around and we had a few nibbles, which led to the first manager in my career who wanted to simply represent ME: Nicholas Bogner.

Bogner went about setting general meetings at production companies who specialized in horror films. There weren't a lot of takers, and not everyone was willing to watch an entire feature film in consideration of a general meeting. So it was hit or miss - I was a nobody, after all, and they get these kinds of incoming inquiries all the time.

But there were a few takers. And the very first meeting I had was with Anil Kurian at Intrepid Pictures.

Again, I took an extended lunch from my editing job and drove across town to Intrepid's offices in Santa Monica. I was beyond nervous when I sat in the waiting room. The young man working the front desk signed me in and offered me a water. And then, just before the meeting started, he leaned over and he said "I loved Absentia, by the way."

Anil was a really cool executive and we had a good general meeting. At the end of it, he introduced me to the heads of Intrepid: Marc Evans, and Trevor Macy.

We all ended up in the conference room, where posters for Intrepid's other movies - at that time, The Strangers and The Raven - were hanging. I vividly remember staring at them while I pitched all five of the ideas I had for movies.

One of them was a story about a little boy whose dreams manifested in real life, and another was a take on Stephen King's novel Gerald's Game. But at the time, none of these ideas worked. The meeting was over, and everyone was politely going about their day.

I felt a panic in me. It was my first real meeting, the door had been cracked open just an inch by Absentia, and I was about to walk away with nothing. Would my new manager want to keep me? Would my new lawyer think he was wasting his time?

I stopped in the doorway and turned back. "I've got one other thing," I said. "I made a short years ago about a haunted mirror, and I have a take for a feature."

They kind of laughed at the idea of a haunted mirror. "How do you make that scary?" Trevor asked. I said "Think of it like a portable Overlook Hotel," and the room got a little quieter.

"I'd like to see that short," Trevor said. I agreed to send it immediately.

I ran back to work, stayed a few hours late to make up the time I'd burned on my lunch hour, and went home to find a DVD copy of Oculus: The Man with the Plan.

I'd made that short in 2005. It was 20 mins long, and a lot of fun. Over the years whenever I'd get into meetings (all courtesy of Jeff Howard, who had sold scripts long before we started writing together), people would see it and ask about a feature. Every time, though, the conversation stalled because they wanted the film to be a found footage movie, or they'd balk at the idea of me directing a feature.

I sent the DVD to Intrepid and waited. About a week later, they called and asked me to come back in.

I took another long lunch (this would become quite a habit as the project advanced) and drove back down. We met again in the conference room, but this time the mood was a little different.

Trevor said "We're interested in this. How would you expand it? I know there are cameras in the room with the man and the mirror, which begs the question of found footage..."

My heart sank.

"... but we're thinking that's a mistake. It looks like all the fun is in playing with reality, and you can't do that with found footage. So how would you do it?"

And we were off.

I won't rehash the long journey between this meeting and the Oculus premiere at Toronto (scroll down to find another blog about that), but that was really the moment when things changed.

I drove back to work a little giddy. Intrepid optioned the short film, I called Jeff Howard to see if he'd still want to work on a feature with me, and we were commissioned to write the script.

It was my first Hollywood job. I was paid the bare minimum, but I was also able to join the WGA because of the deal. I still didn't quit my day job (and wouldn't for a long time, not until the movie was really shooting in Alabama the following year) but I was off to the races.

Once the script was done, Oculus would lead to my first agents (at APA, and they treated me very well) and my first "real" movie.

What's particularly neat about this time, looking back, is that I owe it all to Absentia. We'd made this tiny little movie to try to kick open the door of Hollywood and start a career. And despite the enormous pride I had in the finished film, it felt for a long time like it hadn't quite succeeded in that.

But quietly, subtly, the movie did exactly what I hoped it would. The festival screenings built up a small but confident word of mouth. The movie led directly to my attorney Joel (who still represents me to this day), which led directly to my first real representation, which led directly to Intrepid Pictures.

Trevor Macy is now my business partner and has produced every single thing I've ever made since. We run Intrepid Pictures together, and I see that same eagerness in the faces of young filmmakers who find their way to us for general meetings. I try to be as supportive and accessible to them as I possibly can, because I remember very well what it feels like to stand in their shoes.

And Trevor even ended up making those other pitches he'd rejected all those years ago - Before I Wake and Gerald's Game followed soon after Oculus was done.

Absentia did everything I could have wanted it to do, and much more. I'll always remember that period of time with great affection... but man, it was stressful. The uncertainty of those years still exists in me, I don't think it'll ever leave.

Someone told me, along the way, that there wouldn't be a moment when I realized I "made it." It would happen while I wasn't looking. That ended up being absolutely true.

#absentia #oculus #intrepid pictures #hollywood dreams

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punisheddonjuan · 7 days

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I've been back at my apartment in Toronto for a little over a week now and in that time I've spoken less than fifty words. The single occasion where I've had reason or opportunity to say anything was when the Women's College clinic for chronic illness called, I've been waiting for almost three years to be scheduled for an intake appointment. They offered a last minute appointment at the beginning of May due to a cancellation, and I had to decline because it was scheduled at 09:00 and there was no possible way I could make it there that early. Trying to get there on the subway during rush hour and then having to walk would probably knock me out by the time I got there. I'm also thinking I should drag my mom along to the appointment because she's kept extensive notes dating back to '98 when my health issues started, plus it would be good to have a corroborating account, and she would have to drive from Hamilton. October would be the earliest they would be able to offer me an appointment with a timeslot later in the day. So that's depressing, but it's besides my initial point. As I predicted, V. unilaterally deciding to end our nearly six year relationship has resulted in almost tot social isolation. I chat a bit to people on here in replies, and there are a few people I chat with on Discord, and I have one or two old childhood buddies I text with every other week or so, and I appreciate that a lot, but it's not the same as someone being there face to face, or having an actual social life. This is untenable and intolerable. It's also not easily fixable. It's not exactly easy making new friends in your 30s, let alone when you have to do it from your bed. There's also this odd issue that happens when you're chronically ill like this, where it's like living in a warped state of arrested development where everything proceeds forward around you but you're stuck standing still; you miss so many milestones, starting a career, finishing grad school, getting married etc. that you really don't feel you have much in common with your peers anymore. I feel like I've been stuck in a weird post-university time loop since 2017. I also don't think it would be well received if I just invited new people to hang out in my room (because where else are we going to go). That would probably be read as potentially unsafe by many people. I hate my life, it's not very livable.

#blog #personal history

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justforbooks · 4 months

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With her book The Return of Martin Guerre (1983), the historian Natalie Zemon Davis, who has died aged 94, attracted a wide readership and inspired future historians. It came out of working as a historical consultant on a film of the same name released the previous year, starring Gérard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye, and directed by Daniel Vigne.

Martin Guerre, a peasant farmer in the 16th-century Pyrenees, left his wife Bertrande to go on a journey, only to have his marital role usurped by an impostor who “returned” pretending to be him. After some years of cohabitation, Bertrande denounced the impostor, her testimony seemingly confirmed by the return of the real Martin Guerre. The impostor was duly tried and executed.

The film-makers’ questions about period detail and behaviour intrigued Davis. But other aspects of the movie genre troubled her, so she went back to the archives and wrote up her own compact account of 120 pages.

A gripping narrative and a lesson in method, Davis’s book raised questions about the reliability of evidence and the motives and worldviews of peasant men and women from a faraway place and time. It is an example of a microhistory, where historians turn away from the big canvas of kings, queens and battles to understand ordinary lives, often through a highly localised case study.

The Return of Martin Guerre was one of a series of works including Society and Culture in Early Modern France (1975), Fiction in the Archives (1987), Women on the Margins (1995) and The Gift in Sixteenth-Century France (2000). Davis’s trademark was the longer essay or biographical study, often focused on marginal or misunderstood personalities, all spiced with a sharp attention to issues of religion, gender, sex, class, money and power. Historical records for her were never dull: she once described them as “a magic thread that links me to people long since dead and with situations that have crumbled to dust”.

Born in Detroit, Natalie was the daughter of Helen (nee Lamport) and Julian Zemon, a textile trader, both children of east European Jewish immigrants to the US. While studying at Smith College, Massachusetts, at the age of 19 she fell in love with Chandler Davis, a brilliant mathematician and socialist activist; they married in 1948 and went on to have a son and two daughters. Her first degree, from Smith (1949), was followed by a master’s at Radcliffe College (1950).

Her life with Davis was productive and fulfilling but also complicated her early career, as his principled stances against McCarthy-era restrictions on political expression led to both him and her being barred from a number of posts, and from travelling abroad. This she needed to do for her doctorate on 16th-century France.

After finally gaining her PhD at Michigan University in 1959, Davis went on to hold positions at Toronto, moved in 1971 to the University of California, Berkeley, where she was appointed professor, and in 1978 to Princeton, retiring in 1996. She became only the second woman to serve as president of the American Historical Association (1987), and the first to serve as Eastman professor at Oxford (1994). In 2012 she was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada, and in the US was awarded a National Humanities Medal.

Davis helped establish programmes in women’s studies and taught courses on history and film. Her AHA presidential address, History’s Two Bodies (1988), summed up her thinking about gender in history. It was also the first such address to be printed with illustrations. Her book Slaves on Screen (2002) was one of the first in-depth treatments of this topic by a professional historian.

In her last two books, Davis returned to the exploration of mixed identities. Trickster Travels (2006) was about the 16th-century scholar Leo Africanus, whose complicated Jewish and Muslim roots in North Africa she expertly unpicked. Listening to the Languages of the People (2022) focused on the 19th-century scholar Lazare Sainéan, a Romanian-Jewish folklorist and lexicographer who published one of the world’s first serious studies of Yiddish, but had to abandon his Romanian homeland for Paris in 1901.

At the time of her death, Davis was completing a study of slave families in colonial Suriname: it is hoped this will appear under the announced title of Braided Histories. In this way she continued to explore unconventional topics, going against the grain of Eurocentric history and looking instead at the boundaries of identity and belonging in very different settings.

Visiting many universities and research centres in her retirement, Davis encouraged younger scholars by conveying the potential of history to inspire empathy and hope for change. While at my own institution, the University of Amsterdam, in 2016, she made it her main aim to talk to students rather than to other professors. In 2022-23 she presented her latest work in online seminars, and wrote and corresponded actively until shortly before her death from cancer.

Chandler died in 2022. Natalie is survived by her three children, Aaron, Hannah and Simone; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and a brother, Stanley.

🔔 Natalie Zemon Davis, historian, born 8 November 1928; died 21 October 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

#just for books #Natalie Zemon Davis #in memoriam

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uispeccoll · 1 year

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#VoicesFromTheStacks

Anne Carson

Anne Carson is a classicist, poet, translator and essayist born in Toronto, Canada on June 21, 1950. She studied at the University of Toronto for her Bachelors, Masters, and PhD, as well as spending a year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland studying Greek metrics and textual criticism. Carson has taught at several colleges over her career, including McGill University, the University of Michigan, Stanford University, and New York University. She and her husband recently received Icelandic citizenship.

Carson photo by Jeff Brown from the New York Times

Carson translates and sometimes modernizes Greek and Latin works, including works from Euripides, Homer, Sappho, and Sophocles. She has published ten translations of ancient Greek tragedies, including seven by Euripides, and collections of Sappho's poetry. She has had a translation staged, a 2015 European and American tour of her translation of Antigone. She also publishes original works of poetry and essay collections.

Carson is a private person, though her poetry is often considered personal in nature. The University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections has her most explicitly personal work, Nox, an epitaph to her brother Michael Carson published in the form of a book-length poem. The siblings were not in contact from 1978 until 2000, and he passed away before they could see each other in person. This is at least the second work Carson created to honor a family member. She wrote an epitaph for her mother using the work of Virginia Woolf in her poem “Appendix to Ordinary Time” in Men in the Off Hours. Nox is a collection of fragments, photos, and writing that form a scrapbook-like work to honor her brother.

--Sarah Dodd, Olson Graduate Assistant

#voicesfromthestacks #anne carson #special collections #uiowa #libraries #poetry #translation #family #artist book

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mtm-college · 3 months

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Don't Forget! 🏠 MTM College's next ONLINE 🎉Open House🎉 is this SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3!! 🏠 Participants will learn about the College & our programs: Animation, Concept Art and Illustration. You will also have a chance to ask any questions you have.

#artschool #illustration #animation #careercollege #toronto career college #Concept Art #Open House #Virtual Open House #MTM College

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puckgoss · 27 days

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um girl can you do Jamie’s backstory or more facts ab him/his life he’s so private

sure!! i'm not gonna do too much on hockey related stuff bc it's all pretty basic and easy to find like highly-touted prospect, great skater, played for the toronto marlies, played for the toronto marlboros, erie otters, team canada, etc etc. here's an article that summarizes his pre-NHL hockey career.

first here's a pic of jamie & his mom tina, dad gary, and big brother charlie from jamie's ig. i'm sure you've seen it before. link

jamie grew up around yonge & lawrence in north toronto which is a very safe, family friendly and wealthy area. source 1, source 2

he went to st. michael's college school to play high school hockey before he was eligible for the OHL draft. this is a well-known private school in toronto that many NHL alumni have attended including tyler seguin, jason spezza, and tim horton himself. source 1, source 2

while playing for the erie otters, he attended fairview high school in fairview, pa. source 1

his billet family in erie described him as kind-hearted, quick-witted, and competitive. his coach in erie described him as a great teammate, selfless, and a great person. source 1

his mom tina appears to be the manager of finance & operations for the toronto marlboros. source 1

here is her twitter account

she went to havergal college which is a fancy independent girls school (pre-K to gr12) in toronto. she graduated in 1988 so she was born in around 1970. source 1

jamie's dad gary is very successful in the IT sector - previously he was vice-president of commercial and channel sales for Printing and Personal Systems with HP Canada. source 1, source 2

at one point he was on the canadian channel chiefs council (C4) board of directors. source 1

he is now the director of sales at intuit quickbooks canada. source 1, source 2, source 3 (source 3 is a video, you can see a couple pics of jamie in the background)

jamie's brother charlie is a biomechanical engineer who attended queen's university in kingston, ontario. source 1 (jamie used to have a pic of him w charlie at charlie's grad on ig but i think he archived it)

this was jamie's grandpa: richard. source 1, source 2

and this was his grandma: isabel. source 1, source 2

so in conclusion, jamie comes from a wealthy background and is kinda your typical toronto hockey boy, but everyone loves him and consistently talks about how lovely and sweet he is so his parents did a great job!

#most rich boys i know are complete assholes so it's refreshing that he apparently is not #j. drysdale #deep dive #hockey gossip #hockey tea #nhl gossip #ask!#philadelphia flyers #wasian prince proof btw!

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nicofms · 1 month

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( jack gilinsky . cismale . he/him ) - the new york city resident , niccolò ‘nico’ costa , was seen sporting armani on park avenue today . the twenty - five year old is a nba player in the city & has been here for two years . since being here , they have been told to be manipulative , but also resilient , who really knows ! according to nycslam , nico engaged in a locker room fight at his previous team before being traded . anyways , guess we'll find out for ourselves ! [ az , 20 , est , he/him ]

i. STATS !

full name : niccolò 'nico' costa

gender / pronouns : cismale ( he / him )

age : twenty - five

birthday : september 21st

zodiac : virgo

occupation : nba player ( point guard for the new york knicks )

height : 6 ' 5

sexuality : heterosexual

ii. BIO !

niccolò costa was born in florence, italy to two italian parents. well off was a way to describe the life nico lived even at a young age. his mom was a retired super model and his dad was a successful businessman. he lived in various parts of italy throughout his childhood and traveled frequently. when niccolò turned 13 his parents decided to move to los angeles, california at the request of their son. nico was always given what he wanted and when the boy came to his parents about wanting to move to america, in hopes of making his basketball dreams a potential reality, they didn’t think twice.

teenage niccolò arrived in california with a goal in mind and once he set his mind on something, there was no one that could stop him. so he practiced and practiced whenever he could, mastering any sort of skill that could attribute him to being the best player he could be. he had a successful high school career, winning back-to-back-to-back national championships with his high school team, and in his senior year he got offered a full ride, not that he needed it, to the university of kentucky where he had a great first season.

niccolò got drafted by the toronto raptors right after his first year of playing college basketball in the university of kentucky. he had a successful rookie year, coming in second for the rookie of the year award and helping his team have a successful playoff run. his success as a player only grew in his second year, leading the raptors to the number one spot in the eastern conference. unfortunately, his season came to an early close when he broke his leg just a couple of games before the playoffs.

heading into his third year, nico felt like he had a lot to prove. there was a lot of doubt on him being able to play at the same level in which he was playing at before his injury. making it his mission to prove that he could, nico became less of a team player and more about him. this caused a lot of tension between him and his teammates and coaches. his team failed to make it to the playoffs that year and a lot of the blame was put on him.

his fourth season had an immediate rocky start. the team couldn’t seem to make anything work and niccolò kept getting blamed. eventually, by the first half of the season the news broke out that nico was being traded to the new york knicks. admittedly, he wasn’t a fan of the move because he had too much pride to be happy about a trade he didn’t request. landing in new york, he felt he had even more to prove and he seemed to be redeeming himself by helping the knicks come back in the second half of the season.

nico has lived in new york for two years now since being traded. he’s found his peace with it but will still refuse to show to people that it was not his choice. and now in his sixth year in the league, nico wants to win. no more almosts or runner up spots, but an actual championship or award.

iii. PERSONALITY !

he grew up treated as a golden child so he's very self - centered and selfish. he can definitely be a hot head and rude / mean. he'll always do anything to get what he wants which causes him to be both determined but also manipulative. he can be a flirt but he typically just assumes girls would want him, his ego is huge. outside of his asshole exterior, though, he can be a softie if he feels safe enough to show that type of vulnerability with someone. and if you're one of the few people in his list of ' maybe not - so - terrible humans ', he'll take a bullet for you.

iv. WANTED CONNECTIONS !

possible friends ( probably one best friend as his right hand man / woman )

enemies / people that dislike him ( most likely has a few )

exes

flings / fwbs ( past or current )

family connections ( cousins, family friends, siblings ??, etc. )

these are just some ideas more can be plotted / discussed !

#richfm:intro #writing this at nearly 1am so if it comes out a mess i apologize #* 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐎 : intro .

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museum-spaces · 8 months

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Hi,

I recently graduated with a BA in archaeology and am thinking of continuing my studies in either museums or archives. I believe you either are Canadian or have worked in Canadian museums (sorry if I'm wrong) and I had a question about college vs university programs when it comes to museum studies. If you can't answer, no worries.

When it comes to employment, what difference does it make between having a college diploma or a master's in museum studies? Are there some jobs you can only get with a master's? Or are opportunities the same? Would both programs teach similar skills? I know the job market in museums and archives is rough and if a master's will get me further that's probably what I'll go with. I also know there's several diploma/certificate programs offered by universities and am unsure of where those would rank in comparison to a college diploma or master's degree.

Another issue is the main masters programs I know of are in BC and Toronto, places that are incredibly expensive to live rn, so if a college program will get me just as far, some of those schools are in cities with lower cost of living.

Thanks!

first of all; you're right I am Canadian and a graduate of a Canadian undergrad program. but my MA is from the UK.

secondly, for non-Canadians; college in Canada has a few meanings. One is very similar to the US - a particular grouping of students in a university. But the more common one is a bit harder to explain. It used to be that 'working' careers were from colleges [i.e. nursing vs. doctor; lumber jack vs. forester, etc] but these days the lines are more blurred. Colleges are seen by some academic fields as 'lesser' than universities but they actually just fill a different need.

thirdly; it depends on the job. For my job [Executive Director] you do not necessarily need a museum/gallery background but imo... you do need that. If your interest is in collections care, a college diploma in specifically collections care is very good - often better than a generalized masters because it shows dedication in that one area. If you are more interested in exhibition same thing - colleges are more likely to have hands-on mounting classes which will make you an asset.

If you want to work front of house - tours, guest interaction, education - university degrees will be seen as better because you are more likely to be academically inclined and things like that. You won't be unable to get a job like that with college, but given our sector, it will be very very hard.

I believe, but you would have to check, that UofT's ISchool has an online or distance Masters for museums you might want to check out. You could also go abroad like I did. University of Leicester [my alma mater] has a very good distance course though the fees for international students might make in-person just as hard. They're entry requirements for Canadians at a 4 point school is a cGPA of 3. Nice and attainable.

Its also worth noting that you do not need to have museum-focused degrees so long as you have work experience. Lets say your UG arch was focused on Coast Salish archaeology, a side focus on public history and volunteer or intern work experience in museums will make you more attractive to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC than my CV which has no native focus at all.

There's a lot of historic workers on Tumblr, I'll tag a few and hope a few others chime in to give you advice.

@grey-and-lavender @archaeologistproblems @chaotic-archaeologist @museeeuuuum

#museum #museums #education #college #university #canada #museum spaces #accessibility

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moregraceful · 6 months

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trick or treat 👻

a little ghost!!!

here is an outline of a cale/devon fic inspired by the time i clicked on the #contentking hashtag on twitter, expecting more devon Toews pictures and instead seeing a sea of gay porn!! I never really decided whether or not to commit to the fic so it just kinda languished on my gdrive lol, but I am very fond of thinking about only fans porn star devon and his nhl boyfriend who loves him and supports his sex work career

Cale is still a hockey player, still in Colorado, still signing a super big contract, still very stoic and doesn’t smile too much, except around Devon. Still went to UMass. Partnered with Gravy, Sammy, or Josh Manson. closeted to fans, not to teammates and management

Devon is an OF star, mostly gay (jock4jock), has a youtube channel where he does SFW sex toy reviews with drag queens and gives sex advice. Played college hockey at Quinnipiac still, but had blown out a knee in juniors so it didn’t go further than college hockey — was never drafted

Devon met Cale in a gay bar in Boston, post-Cale getting drafted, pre-Cale to NHL, started a relationship, then moved to Colorado when Cale signed his big contract. Active in the gay scene in Colorado, but travels a bit for work, usually to New York or Los Angeles

Big secret who Cale is — the fans know Cale exists bc Devon always looks esp happy when he talks abt “his boyfriend” and occasionally lets slip hints that he is dating a jock, or someone famous, or w/e but Cale is never in the videos and if Devon ever posts photos of him on Insta, it’s very, boyfriend soft launch shit, no faces, just hands or outlines

Cale has no intention of ever coming out, maybe after he’s retired but not really even then. He wants to spend his life with Devon though!! And Devon, comfortable and confident in who he is, is willing to wait for Cale as long as it takes. They’ll prob move to Toronto or Los Angeles or New York after Cale retires so Devon can have more resources at his disposal for his content, but for now it works out pretty well bc Cale is rich lol. It allows Devon a bit of freedom that he wouldn’t have otherwise, even if he is in Denver.

And they are stupid in love, like Cale loves him so so so much, he doesn’t give a shit at all that Devon is a gay porn star and his dick is all over the internet and that Devon has sex with other dudes (and enjoys it!) He knows Devon loves him first and foremost and that Devon will always come home to him. Also, it’s like, super hot. And Devon is over the moon in love with Cale, like just lights up when he mentions his boyfriend, loves him so much, wishes he could show Cale off but respects his privacy, but is genuinely so in love with him, and grateful Cale understands and supports his work and doesn’t get jealous or want him to stop. Sometimes Cale even meets other jocks and is like, hey talk to my bf :)

It all comes out when Devon is like, absolutely exhausted after sex one day, livestreaming in the bedroom they reserve for his OF stuff but HE FORGOT TO TELL CALE HE WAS STREAMING OH NO and Cale walks in like, you wrecked yourself that badly when I could have done you just as good? And Devon’s shit fuck oh no and Cale’s like OH FUCK and the stream ends abruptly and is deleted immediately

Unfortunately jock4jock, there are just enough people watching who recognize Cale and while only one person got a screenshot, it’s obvious enough who Cale is, even tho he’s flirty and smiling and it’s like this immediate social media shitstorm

Cale has to have the worst press conference in the entire world, but he deals with it very stoicly. No he’s never been in Devon’s videos. Yes he supports Devon’s job. No it does not distract from his gameplay — they’ve been dating for four years at this point, if that tells you anything abt how much of a distraction it was. Joe Sakic is there and he’s like we support Cale 100%. Yes I have met Devon, he’s a charming young man and no he’s never been a distraction for Cale. We have spoken to Cale and he will not be appearing in Devon’s videos and yes, we believe him when he says that he’s never been in them. Don’t fuck with me or my team or I’ll take away your press credentials

Cale goes home and him and Devon have the longest tenderest hug in the world. Devon is like, can I reveal you on insta and Cale’s like, you know what? Let’s fucking go. Devon does a boyfriend reveal of Cale looking soft across the kitchen table over a cup of tea on Instagram. It breaks the gay internet. Cale says, hey, um. You ever think about a commitment ceremony?

#i simply cannot and will not stop being deranged about cale and devon #like a brain disease you get from drinking fishtank water #hockey for ts #rpf for ts #cage replies #selkiefinalist

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