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honey-harper-official · 3 years

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We Were All Villains In the Beginning - Chapter 1

Background and Other Chapters

Word Count: 3127

This is an au where the Renegades are the villains and the Anarchists, now the Resistance, are the vigilantes. @healing-winston-pratt came up with this idea and I just ran with it.

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One more round Nova promised herself. Just one more.

She swung at the training dummy with her leg, the side of her foot crashing into the rubber head hard. The head jolted to the side, leaning over to touch the shoulder before it snapped back after Nova's foot had passed by completely.

Nova looked at the board which buzzed as her foot receded, signaling the end of the training round.

5000 newtons of force was on the board. It was a new high score and people in the training arena clapped politely.

"You did great kid," Ingrid said, giving Nova a high five while she wiped sweat off her brow and drank from her water bottle. "You keep getting better each time. I think you're about ready to be sent on your first mission."

"Really!" Nova exclaimed, her brown eyes lighting up. More then anything, Nova wanted to be sent on a mission for the Resistance so she could help take down the Renegades.

10 years ago, when Nova was nearly 7, a group of six prodigies called the Renegades took over the city of Gatlon. The previous government was oppressive of prodigies and needed to be replaced, but the Renegades only made problems worse and forced everyone into more tension.

Thanks to them, all prodigies, people with superhuman abilities, were forced to become Renegades if they somehow didn't manage to find a way to flee to a place where the Renegades hadn't taken hold. Cruel and brutal, the Renegades changed everything to the worse, both for those with powers and those without.

Tensions between the two groups only worsened and many, like Nova's family, had fled underground with the Resistance for shelter. Nova's family, her uncle Alec specifically, had been the ones to start the Resistance as immediately, they had gone too far.

Nova's dad, David Artino, had been a prodigy and saw the signs of brutality early, using his abilities to make a helmet to amplify powers that Alec could use to wipe out the Renegades before they took root. But the leader of the Renegades, Captain Chromium, or Hugh Everhart, had found out and killed David for it in front of Nova, taking the helmet and using it to supposedly then kill Alec and force the Resistance underground after they thought they had squashed it in it's start.

But that was far from the case as Alec and the Resistance was alive and thriving underground and Nova only had the most to gain by getting rid of the Renegades as she had already lost the most.

She didn't even want revenge for what happened to her father. She wanted safety for herself and others. She wanted actual justice and to end the tension as that was already happening in the Resistance where prodigies and non-prodigies alike were living in peace.

Most of all, Nova wanted to live a normal life. She wanted to see the sun and not have to flee back into the shadows. She wanted to be able to exist instead of her mother having to wipe any trace of their existence off the map after their father was killed, Nova using fake papers made by a woman named Millie to navigate the city above the one she resided in whenever she was forced to.

"I really do think you're ready for a mission and I'm sure your uncle and mom and the other heads of the Resistance will all agree," Ingrid said. "You're the most skilled person we have since you've been training so hard so long. I think of all people you're made for this stuff."

"I promise I won't let you down," Nova said, trying to keep her voice down so she didn't draw attention from the others.

"It's not official yet," Ingrid said. "So don't jump ahead. But I think you're ready and once I tell the Heads and your family this, I'm sure you'll be assigned a mission soon."

"I sure hope so," Nova said. She had been training her whole life to be assigned a mission and was the last of the people in her peer group that hadn't been assigned one if they wanted it. Narcissa already began taking up missions and Callum had progressed past the training stage so he could go work in the tech house and Kaden was already helping with teaching the younger kids in the Resistance.

"You go eat something while I talk to the Heads. Seriously kid you've been at it all day. Put something in your stomach and shower," Ingrid laughed, ruffling Nova's hair which had fallen out of its braids for the most part.

"Just one more round," Nova said.

"Fine," Ingrid agreed. "But then you have to go take care of yourself. I swear I'm about to put limits on your use of the training arena. Let other people take a turn."

Nova laughed as Ingrid left. She went to the touch screen against the wall to start up another round when a voice called out her name.

"Owl!" Someone, Maggie, yelled. Her family had always called her Owl since she didn't sleep and ironically Maggie got the bird themed nickname of Magpie since she was drawn to metal like a magnet. A power she got from the bullet that hit her in the back as a baby.

Nova looked up and saw her younger sister leaning over the railing, looking down into the training arena at her.

"Mom says come eat!"

"One more-"

"No! You say that every time! Now. I don't want to have to wait," Maggie complained.

"Okay! Okay! Fine!" Nova said, grabbing her things as she went up the steps to greet her sister at the platform above.

Maggie looked up and down at Nova.

"For your safety and health we're taking the elevator up to our compartment. I don't want Mom yelling at me after you pass our from exhaustion," she announced, grabbing Nova's hand and pulling her to the elevator before she could refuse.

The Resistance was entirely underground and wasn't a resistance so much as it was a town beneath the earth. It was a gigantic labyrinth beneath the ground that dug into the dirt, enforced with wood and metal and clay.

It was made up of homes, compartments they were called, of all sizes along with shops, restaurants, a schooling system, a greenhouse, a tech center, a training arena, community out reaches, and more. It truly was it's own functioning town and ran just like any other place that resided by Gatlon.

Frankly, the only reason it had an economy was because people needed a small amount of money to circulate through in case they needed to go to the city above to buy something like a specific medicine or a certain ingredient or something that wasn't a general thing that the Resistance couldn't make or grow with what they had available.

If the world were to collapse, the Resistance would be the only place on earth that would make it. They already lived in secret underground and had nearly everything they needed with growing numbers and a thriving population.

The Resistance, for the most part, was located underneath the Gatlon City Park which spanned 840 acres and they only took up a quarter of that space. It was safer to be under the park because there was no structure above that would collapse though it wasn't like immense amounts of safety measures were put in place just in case of an emergency.

Regardless, the Resistance had plenty of space to grow and since Nova had been part of it since the start ten years ago when she was 7, she single-handedly watched as it became more then just a small group of people going into hiding but instead nearly 3000 people of all ages and backgrounds coming together to form a community and safe haven for all.

The elevator whizzed up to the top platform and Nova looked down at the town beneath her, hundreds of levels filled to the brim with shops and houses and places of all skill sets.

Nova, along with the Heads of the Resistance and the earliest members of it, lived on the top tier of the bunker world. They just kept digging deeper and expanding outwards like roots as more and more people joined.

She watched happily as people sung down between the levels, taking the stairs or ladders or whatever there was to move from level to level as each floor had a hollowed out center and the buildings looked almost liked links in a chain that had been tossed in a pile, going in all directions.

Nova and Maggie reached the top floor and went into their compartment.

As soon as the door opened, Nova was hit with the smell of sinigang. Fish, rice, tamarind, and taro were just some of the few things she could pick out in the stew already and her mouth watered. It was her favorite and Nova wondered if it was some sort of special occasion that she had forgotten about.

Immediately, Nova went to grab a bowl but her mom, Tala, stopped her.

"Go shower first. Then you can eat. We wash off before supper."

"But I'm hungry."

"You're also covered in sweat. Go shower and Evelyn Margaret take off your shoes," Tala said.

Maggie, or Evelyn Margaret as that was her first and middle name, jumped and scurried to go put her shoes on the rack by the entrance. For the most part they called her Maggie, a nickname of her middle name, as that was the name Nova's father had wanted for her but instead it got turned into her middle name. Originally they had always called her Evie but after David's passing, Tala and Alec and eventually Nova and everyone else called her Maggie.

Nova went to the bathroom in between her and Maggie's rooms and turned on the shower before grabbing fresh shorts and a t-shirt as it was still decently hot and humid in the Resistance as it was summer though being underground and the AC kept the temperature a bit lower. Of course Nova was still going to be hot even after a cold shower as she had been training all day and her body temperature was probably that as someone with a bad fever.

Nova washed off as fast as she could so she could eat, hastily drying her hair and putting on fresh clothes before she raced out of the bathroom so she could eat. She was starving and went through a bowl of sinigang in seconds.

"Sweet rot you're hungry," Tala laughed. "It's a good thing I made plenty. I was hoping there would be leftovers for later but I guess not."

"Maybe that's a good thing," Nova said as she server herself a second helping. "Fish never does do well as a leftover."

"Yeah," Maggie agreed, nodding and pinching her nose while her face crinkled in disgust at the thought of day old fish in the fridge.

"Please tell me you did something besides train today," Tala asked as she began to rinse out her bowl and put it in the dishwasher.

"I did my normal chores today at home and then did my work in my centers before training for the rest of the day."

"You need to do something else."

"Hey I worked in the greenhouse, the tech center, and helped work with the younger kids in training today. That's a lot besides personal training," Nova said.

"And yet there's nothing besides training that you do for fun," Tala pointed out. "When you aren't at your dance classes or doing any work you're just training. Why not start back up with your drum set again or embroider something?"

"I embroider at night along with reading and my night rounds," Nova pointed out as she ate.

"Then practice drums again and find something else to do. I want you doing more then training and ballet for fun in the day time."

"But I have all night to do what I want."

"And how often do you do anything normal teenagers do like play video games or watch something on YouTube off your laptop?"

Nova bit her lip. Her mom had a point.

"Touche."

"Ha! Point Mom!" Tala said. "Now finish up and go down to Meeting Room 1. Your uncle and the rest of the Heads want to see you."

Nova's heart soared. The Heads wanted to see her and Ingrid said that once she told them that Nova was ready for a mission she should get one.

She was about to get her first mission.

Nova devoured the last of her food quickly and took care of her dishes before brushing her teeth and making herself look a bit neater. She was finally getting her first mission and she didn't care if it was being given to her by the very people who raised her, she was going to look as nice as she could for the event on such short notice.

Nova kissed Maggie and Tala on the cheek for goodbye and shoved on her shoes before going down to Meet Room One on the first level.

She straightened her clothes out one last time before knocking on the door.

It opened, and surrounding the table were all of the Heads; her uncle Alec, Honey Harper, Leroy Flinn, Ingrid Thompson, Winston Pratt, Malee Suwan, and Adriana Sandoya. While Malee and Adriana hadn't been part of the original Resistance members, they joined shortly after and were in charge of their own respective departments. There were other department leaders that weren't on the board but Malee and Adriana were the most prominent department leaders who joined later as they ran the biggest operations, putting them in charge.

Nova straightened her back and stepped in, trying to shove down her smile.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked.

Ingrid winked at her right away and Alec cleared his throat, the metal door shutting.

"Insomnia take a seat please," Alec said, using her alias meaning that they were talking business. Just because she was his niece didn't mean she was getting any privileges.

Nova sat in the last empty chair, leg bouncing and her fingers tapping against her legs.

"For a while, you've been the last person in your peer group to be assigned a mission after selecting that path despite being the most well trained," Alec, or Ace she should be calling him as it was a business matter and not a family one, said. "There is a reason for this."

"Insomnia we've been developing a more intense plan for the past few years," Ingrid, the Detonator, began. "We are planning on having someone go in as a spy into the Renegades and feed us back information as well as steal back the helmet your father made. This way we can use it to overthrow them like we had originally planned before the Captain took matters into his own hands."

Nova's lips quirked into a frown. They all knew what the Detonator meant. They all knew she was referring to how Hugh Everhart broke into the Artino family apartment and shot Maggie and David in front of Nova before taking the helmet and leaving. She would never forget it and she would never be able to properly sleep again because of it.

Nova remembered it vividly. She had been playing in her room while her mother was out to get more medicine and her dad was trying to get Maggie to stop crying from her fever when the door slammed open.

Nova heard yelling and Nova raced over to see what was happening, watching from the open door before Hugh pulled out a gun and fired. The first hit Maggie, maybe unintentionally or not, and the next hit David, sending both of them collapsing to the ground in a pool of blood.

Nova screamed and ran to the closet in her room for safety, trying not to sob so loud that Hugh would find her and kill her too. She remembered the closet door opening and Hugh just staring down at her before ignoring her and closing the closet door and leaving.

When Tala came home, Nova was over David and Maggie's bodies trying to get them to wake up. Luckily, and miraculously, Maggie had survived, gaining the ability to manipulate metal as she clutched onto the silver bullet. David was not as fortunate.

"So you want me to go in as a spy?" Nova asked.

"Yes," Honey Harper, Queen Bee, confirmed. "But we had you train much longer then others because it's such a dangerous task. We know of all people you're the one who's best fit for it. You're the best fighter we have who will for sure stay loyal and they don't know you exist at all."

"Don't you think Captain Chromium might recognize me. He's seen me before?" Nova asked.

"The Captain is as dense as a brick and more prideful then anyone. I doubt he will notice," Leroy, Cyanide, stated.

"But know that if you take up this mission, it is insanely risky and emotionally and mentally draining. You may very easily lose your life in this job if you aren't careful," Ariana, Equation, added.

"So it's your choice if you take this up or not," Winston, the Puppeteer said.

"Do my mom and sister already know about this as well as the details of the job?" Nova asked. She didn't want to come home and tell her family that she might be going on a suicide mission.

"Yes they are aware," Ace said. "I talked to your mom about it and told your sister. They are on board with it. As long as you're 100 percent sure you want this mission then it's yours."

"So do you want the mission?" Malee, the Architect, asked.

"Can I have more details if possible with how we're supposed to make me become a Renegade?" Nova asked.

"We'd stage a moment where you would use your power to knock others out in front of a Renegade so they pull you into their system," Cyanide told her.

Nova bit her lip. She knew how to use her powers but she hardly bothered to use them. She hadn't used them since she was little unless it was an emergency. The only power she had used was her ability to not sleep since she had little choice against it.

"Yes," Nova agreed anyways. "Yes I do."

She didn't care how risky it was. She wanted the Renegades to fall after all they had done and she wanted everyone to finally have back freedom.

"Then congratulations on your first mission Insomnia," the Detonator said, grinning.

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Tag List:

@healing-winston-pratt @dawniebb @obsidianfr3sk @quintericksons @nobellrenaissance @nova-artino @maya-livingstone @instantkamra @instant-karma-official @thepurpledragon4444 @novas-tunnel-of-anxiety @magykaldealings

#nevada fanfiction #renegades trilogy #renegades #archenemies #supernova #supernova spoilers #nova artino #adrian everhart #nodrian #danna bell #narcissa cronin #danissa #osby #tuckva #oscar silva #ruby tucker

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prittypony1 · 5 years

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Tigger’s Snoring Problem

It was Rabbit's and Tigger's first night together after their wedding. Tigger got on the right side of the bed and Rabbit on the other. "Goodnight long ears." Tigger yawned. "Goodnight Tigger." Rabbit said as he blew out the candle and lay down. He was dreaming about planting seeds in his garden when all of a sudden *snore*. Rabbit woke up with a start and sat up in bed. He looked over to his right and found that the snoring came from his husband, Tigger. He put his pillow over his ears but he could still hear the sound. Then he put his fingers in his ears but that didn't help either. So for the rest of the night, he was kept awake by Tigger’s snoring. The next morning Tigger awoke. "Morning Rabbit." Tigger said. "Hey, you look tired, did you have a nightmare or something."

"No, your snoring kept me up all night." Rabbit complained "I'm sorry long ears," Tigger said "It's all right Tigger, but from now on you'll have to sleep in the chair." "But Rabbit." "No buts." "Alright." And from that moment on Rabbit slept in his bed and Tigger slept on the chair. It was winter and Rabbit shivered through the comforter that he slept under to keep him warm. Now he regretted his decision for having Tigger sleeping in the chair. He missed the fact that someone was there sleeping next to him and the fact that, on a cold night like this, Tigger's body heat would have kept him warm. He imagined snuggling up to Tigger as the wind roared outside and drifted off into a dreamless sleep. It was close to Christmas and everyone in the Hundred-Acre Wood was making their Christmas lists. Rabbit guessed that the only thing on Pooh's list would be honey. "It's all that bear ever thinks about." Rabbit complained to himself as he walked in the door. Tigger was sitting at a writing desk that they had gotten as a wedding present from Christopher Robin, with ink and quill busily writing his Christmas list. Rabbit looked over his shoulder to see what he was writing. "Tigger, I can't even read that." Rabbit said as he jabbed a finger at the paper, "How do you think Santa's going to read it." It was true Tigger’s writing looked like a bunch of squiggles. "Signed Tigger," said Tigger as he shook the quill and made his signature, which was really just a spat of ink on the page. "There it's all finished," Tigger said proudly as he took the paper, folded it, put it into a white envelope, and licked it closed. The then put 'From Tigger' and under that, he put 'To Santa' "That way it'll know where to go when it flies to the North Pole." Tigger explained to himself. "Tigger, haven't you heard a word I just said." Rabbit was getting annoyed. Tigger finally looked up "Oh, hiya long ears," he said excitedly. "Tigger your writing looks like a bunch of squiggles," Rabbit jabbed his finger at the envelope this time," how is Santa going to read it." "He'll know how to read it. He knows my handwriting. Rabbit rolled his eyes. Have you made your list to Santa yet?" Tigger asked. "Well... no. I was too busy storing everything for winter." "But Rabbit, I helped you get ready for winter. Remember." Tigger was more a help than harm ever since he became his husband. 'l guess love can really change you' Rabbit thought the first time Tigger volunteered to help Rabbit. And the best part was that he didn't mess up his garden. He harvested his crops faster than he would have if he had done it himself. Tigger had also helped collect firewood for the winter, and all the food was stored in the pantry for the winter because of Tigger too. "I guess you’re right, Tigger, I guess I just forgot." "Well ya better get busy writing now because we're sending our lists this afternoon." So Rabbit grabbed some paper, pushed Tigger aside and swiped the quill from his hand. The only thing that he wrote down was: 'Dear Santa Please, all I ask for this Christmas is some earplugs. So Tigger can sleep together again. Tigger and I are married now if you didn't already know and on our first night together his snoring kept me up all night so from then on he has to sleep in the chair in my front room. I really miss his company. Signed Rabbit Ps. Get something for Tigger too. Then Rabbit folded the paper, got a white envelope, put the paper in and licked it. "All right, I'm all ready." Rabbit declared "We have to hurry because it's almost sunset." Tigger grabbed his hand and before Rabbit could protest he was put on Tigger’s back and bounced all the way to the big tree. "Tigger, Rabbit said as he tried to stay on the bouncing Tigger, "I thought that you said that we were supposed to meet the others in the afternoon?" "I forgot to mention the sunset part, sorry Rabbit." Tigger apologetically said. They finally got to the big tree and met with Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Pooh, Kanga, and Roo, who were already there. "Hello, Tigger dear," Kanga said "Hello Mises Kanga mam" Tigger called. Rabbit still gets jealous when Kanga calls Tigger "dear" Roo bounced over. "Hya Tigger." "Hi, Roo." "What did you wish for Tigger?" Roo asked. "A pogo stick, a banana split..." "You should have never asked." Rabbit complained as he and Roo had to listen to Tigger list everything he wished for. "And that's what I wished for." Tigger finished. By that time the sun had already begun to set and Rabbit and Roo had fallen asleep. They awoke with a start when Tigger had stopped talking. "And what did you wish for Roo?" "I wished for snowshoes," Roo said excitedly. Then Tigger turned to Christopher Robin. "Here ya go Christopher Robin," Tigger said as he handed him Rabbit's and his own Christmas list's Christopher Robin tied all the envelopes to a balloon and let the balloon go. The envelopes were lifted into the air by the wind and carried far away. They all watched as the balloon flew farther and farther away into the sky until it was nothing but a red dot in the sky. Then they said Merry Christmas to each other and headed to their own homes. Christmas Day came at last and Rabbit was the first one up. He tip-toed from his room, past Tigger, and to the tree that he and Tigger had decorated the night before. He spotted an orange and black striped package. He guessed that was for Tigger. Then he saw a red package tied with a green bow. On the tag, it said 'To Rabbit' and under that is said 'From Santa' "I wonder what it could be." Rabbit shook the box. He didn't hear anything. He wanted to open it but since it was their first Christmas together he decided to wait until Tigger woke up. He went and checked their stockings. They were filled to the brim. Then he went to the kitchen and the cookies and milk were gone. All that was left where cookie crumbs. The carrots that he had left on the plate for Santa's reindeer had nothing but crumbs too. There was a note left on the table and it said: Dear Rabbit Thanks' for the cookies I loved them. P.S. Thank you for leavening the reindeer something too. Signed Santa P.S.S I left something that you will like under the tree. Merry Christmas and see you both next year. Finally, Tigger awoke and saw Rabbit walking towards him. "Merry Christmas Tigger." Rabbit said as he held mistletoe up above Tigger’s head and kissed him on the lips. "Merry Christmas Rabbit." Tigger smiled. "Come one let's open our presents." Rabbit said excitedly. He ran to the tree and grabbed Tigger’s present and gave it to him. Rabbit got his gift and the one that he was giving Tigger. "Open yours first." Rabbit said to Tigger. Tigger ripped the present open and lifted the lid and pulled out two sweaters. One was blue and the other was green. Both had a white T in the middle. Rabbit gave his present to Tigger first. It had: A tail warmer, ear muffs, a hat with holes for Tigger’s ears, mittens and a scarf all orange and black. "I made them myself." "Thank you Rabbit." Tigger hugged Rabbit and Rabbit hugged back. "Here you go Rabbit." Tigger said as he handed a box wrapped awkwardly with carrot wrapping paper. Rabbit unwrapped it and pulled out: Carrot shaped ear muffs and a tail warmer that was orange and had a green stem on the top. A hat that was the same as the tail warmer except it had two holes for Rabbits ears. A scarf that had carrots on it. Mittens that were orange and had a green trim and on the top of each one had a carrot on top. And three sweaters. One was green. One was blue and one was purple. They all had an R in the middle. Rabbit smiled. "Thank You, Tigger." "But the best gift of all is that I get to spend Christmas and every day after that with you," Tigger said. Rabbit began to cry happy tears. "That's the sweetest thing that anybody has said to me," he said Rabbit opened the gift that he got from Santa. He untied the green bow carefully and lifted the lid to find earplugs. Carrot shaped earplugs. And in the box was a note: Dear Rabbit Congratulations on the marriage. Hope this helps with the snoring. Happy sleeping. Signed Santa Also, he pulled out a robe. It was red with white furry trim and a black rope around the waist. "Now you'll be warm during the day and the night," Tigger said. "Now that I have the earplugs I wished for, you can sleep with me tonight." "You really mean it!" Tigger jumped up excitedly. Rabbit nodded. That night as Rabbit snuggled close to Tigger he thought 'This has been the best Christmas I have ever had'

#winnie the pooh

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that-shamrock-vibe · 6 years

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Movie Review: Christopher Robin

Disclaimer: I am posting this review a week after the movie is released in the U.K, so if you haven’t seen the movie and want to go in with a clear mind then don’t read on.

General Reaction:

This movie is such a charming and emotional nostalgia trip to everyone who has grown up with Winnie the Pooh in their lives at some point that I am now thinking Mary Poppins Returns should be very worried, more-so than the worry it should already have for facing off against Aquaman because in terms of pure Disney, Christopher Robin has won the year for me.

Right from the start with that brilliant Disney Castle logo, which by the way when the music started for said logo I found myself asking “I wonder what they’re going to do with it this time?” because it is such a staple at this point for Disney to modify each castle for each movie, but when that logo led into that ingenious opening sequence where the book basically gave us a prologue, it is my favourite Disney opening since 2016’s The Jungle Book where the movie started by zooming out from the castle into the jungle.

As I said before, it is a nostalgia trip for anyone who grew up with Winnie the Pooh old or young. I myself grew up with the films, animated serials and books of Pooh, Christopher Robin, their friends and their adventures. I may not have been as interested in those books as I was the other Disney books because they were straight forward adaptations of the films, but I still enjoyed them at the time. It is also something I hope to keep alive by telling and showing my kids if/when I have them. Winnie the Pooh for me is the symbol of pure innocence and this movie highlights that beautifully, it and he epitomize the definition of childlike wonder which is not only an appropriate message for children but, as this movie points out, an appropriate message for adults who may have lost that childlike wonder.

For that reason, this is potentially a movie that probed more brooding questions than any movie I’ve seen, including Avengers: Infinity War. Walking home from the cinema with my partner, we did have quite a deep conversation about the things that Christopher went through in this movie; growing up, entering the real working world and losing that childlike wonder so then having to find it again. Also part the way through this movie during the scene from the trailers where Christopher and Pooh are on the train, my partner turned to me and said that they showed many similarities to the two of us with him being Christopher and me being Pooh.

Yes, I will admit I have never had a 9to5 job aside from one that lasted three days and my current part-time employment is once maybe twice a month, so I have not had that childlike spark squashed out of me by the working world. That’s not to say I don’t know the harsh realities of the world but I do keep that childlike spark alive in everyday life and that keeps me positive through the hard times. For a Disney movie no less to not only bring out that realisation but provoke it is something remarkable.

This movie is very much a sucker punch of emotion right the way through; not only the opening with a young Christopher Robin leaving Pooh and his friends to go to boarding school but also the neglect he shows his daughter and his old friend when Pooh returns for his help and Pooh asks Christopher “Did you let me go?” in response to Christopher talking about his job and having to potentially fire a bunch of people.

It was a real heartstring pulling moment and so relatable to anyone who has or has had an emotional attachment to a beloved childhood toy. Again, it is I am sure part of growing up and joining the real world and reminds me of another Disney classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks and the song “The Age of Not Believing”, but the beauty of this movie is it does show how to reclaim that childhood wonder.

I also love some of the great quotes this movie had, the writing by the way was very mature for a property aimed at children, but some of these expressions are very much life lessons for kids and adults. True life isn’t always balloons and honey but in the same line of thought doing nothing can often lead to the best something. For that reason, even though the main bulk of this movie is set soon after World War II but the movie feels timeless because of the messages and themes it brings out.

Now I said Mary Poppins Returns should feel nervous after this movie, but I think the first victim of this movie is Simon Curtis’ Goodbye, Christopher Robin released in 2017 and starring Domhnall Gleeson as Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne which is a biographical movie akin to Saving Mr. Banks but aside from one trailer I never heard anything more about it. This movie however like I said will go down as a timeless loveable telling of a Winnie the Pooh story.

Cast:

Now this isn’t an in-depth character analysis review like my blockbuster spoiler reviews, so I will not be talking about the cast individually and rather in groups.

The star is very much definitely Ewan McGregor in the starring role as Christopher Robin, Ewan McGregor is one of those actors like Hugh Jackman who just oozes charm and charisma. You can tell he’s a nice guy in his interviews and that likeability carries over in his performances even when he’s playing a not-so-nice guy. Yes when we first meet Ewan McGregor as Christopher Robin here he is a man beaten by the real world who has lost his childlike wonder and has a steel rod up his butt, but as the movie goes on and he regains that childlike spark you can tell it isn’t forced and it just comes effortlessly to him.

The fact he acted for most of the movie on-set with toys that were anthropomorphised in post was great, in fact in an interview he had he did say that he acted with the stuffed bear in different positions to get that feel of Pooh actually being there.

It was also great to see Hayley Atwell in a different role to what I’ve seen her in before, yes, I know she can be humorous, but Peggy Carter always had a short dry humour whereas here, one of my favourite lines was her first interaction with Eeyore it just made me laugh so much.

Also, Bronte Carmichael is the first child actor in a pure Disney movie who never has a cringe moment for me. I thought the fact Madeline was Christopher’s anchor to his childhood, but she didn’t realise it was a great realistic plot-point.

Then there’s Mark Gatiss and he is a typical pantomime kid’s movie villain like Nicole Kidman in Paddington complete with bad wig. He was terrible in the role and it was interesting to see Gatiss play a pantomime villain type of character.

Now before talking about the voice cast I want to quickly talk about the technology that went into bringing Pooh and his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood to life in live-action. Firstly, there were toy versions of Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga and Roo created for the film and used in scenes involving them. Then they had a scanned virtual copy created of each toy and those versions were anthropomorphised and put into the final film. This is such a brilliant step forward in technology and also a great promotion tool by Disney because they now have exact toy replicas to sell.

Jim Cummings has of course been Winnie the Pooh since Sterling Holloway passed away as well as voicing many other characters including here Tigger. However, because Pooh and Kaa have always shared the same voice actor and both haven’t really done much to distinguish the characters apart from each other it was slightly funny in places to hear Pooh say one or two lines that I can’t think of at this moment that reminded me more of Kaa than Pooh. Also, I didn’t know Cummings voiced Tigger which shows his range as an actor.

Brad Garrett returns as Eeyore, purely because I think he, as well as Jim Cummings, are too distinct in their roles to be changed. I have always loved Eeyore, he’s always been one of my favourite characters of the bunch and the fact the character is essentially a depiction of depression makes for some rather funny lines.

Peter Capaldi is having an interesting time in these adaptations of beloved bears having also appeared in Paddington, here he voices Rabbit who I always saw either as a female or a very effeminate if not outright closeted LGBT character. Now that’s not to say he has to be effeminate to also be LGBT but how he was always depicted in animation was always angling that way. But Capaldi made his voice almost unrecognizable while still keeping Rabbit’s iconic eccentricities.

Toby Jones was quite an interesting choice for Owl, Owl was always depicted as the old and wise member of the group and that to me does not equate to Toby Jones, but I was overall happy with his voicework and it didn’t take me out of the movie.

Nick Mohammed was the only voice that didn’t fit for me as Piglet, the voice felt a little bit too forced to try and be the timid and nerve-wrecked sidekick that Pooh is the older brother/father figure to. Again, it wasn’t enough to take me out of the movie and I did enjoy his character, but it just didn’t click for me like it did with the others.

Kanga and Roo were the only two who weren’t that well developed for me but in a cast focusing on 11 characters there’s always bound to be one or two that get left in the background and Roo at least did get some good lines it just wasn’t enough to stand out amongst the crowd.

Recommendation:

This is a movie to be seen and enjoyed by everyone of every age. If you are in the generations who have grown up with the A.A. Milne stories or the Disney animated adaptations, then you will enjoy the nostalgia trip. If you are bringing infants who are being introduced to Winnie the Pooh for the first time I do think it is a great place to start. As I said this is something I hope to show my kids if/when I have them just as I hope they enjoy growing up with Winnie the Pooh and the adventures of the Hundred Acre Wood just as I and many others have done.

Overall I rate this movie a solid 9/10, it was a real feel good movie and something I recommend everyone to see who has maybe lost that childlike wonder in their lives because hopefully this will help them find it again.

So that’s my review of Christopher Robin what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Disney Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.

#christopher robin #Disney #winnie the pooh #pooh bear #rabbit #tigger #piglet #owl #kanga #roo #eeyore #ewan mcgregor #hayley atwell #mark gatiss #bedknobs and broomsticks #aquaman #mary poppins returns

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sending-the-message · 6 years

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There was no joy on her face by Grandmapoopedtherug

This is a true witness account of a ghost sighting. I’m not a writer in any regard, however wanted to share this as it might help.

I grew up in a big red house in the woods that was built over a hundred years ago. It was so old that the foundation was sinking, and you could actually feel the downward angle of the floor as you walked on it, especially upstairs.

Creaky stairs, creaky doors, noises in the attic; this house had it all. We were on two acres of land with many acres of forest behind it. As kids we would play in the forest all the time. There was even an old dump way back in the woods, where you could find old cans and jars from the 1950's and earlier.

We had animals and lots of critters and bugs around, and we loved it. There were these giant wolf spiders that would drop from the ceiling to the wood deck with a loud ‘bang’. It was fantastic for two young energetic boys. House was heated by fire, and our water came from a well out in the back.

My father and his sister and three brothers also grew up in that house, and they had some good stories for my little brother and I.

One year in the late fall, when I was twelve years old, my aunt told us a story about the house. My aunt is probably the most level-headed, logical, intelligent person I know and is definitely not the kind of person to make up stories, so this one I would never forget.

She said that our house had been built by an Irish sea captain over a hundred years ago. He became very rich and built an even bigger house further down the street. He converted our house into the servants quarters. He married a beautiful English woman and they had several children.

Temptation followed. The successful and very married sea captain had an affair with one of the servants, a beautiful young Irish girl. Naturally, the girl got pregnant, and in order to save himself from a scandal that would destroy his reputation and his family, he arranged to send her back to Ireland.

Except she didn’t go back to Ireland. She showed up on the doorstep of the sea captain’s mansion in tears, confessing her love for him and that she couldn’t bear to leave him.

The sea captain, desperate to protect his name, murdered the girl and her unborn child. He buried her in the forest behind my house. People like to say she is buried under this massive tree that for some reason has grown wider and taller than any other in the forest. I actually remember when part of the top of that giant tree fell during a storm. The cracking noise was unlike anything I had ever heard.

The sea captain was never accused or tried for his crime, since the servants were basically powerless to do anything.

My aunt told me that the ghost of the murdered girl haunts both the house and the forest behind it. In fact, she has been seen moving through the trees at night and going up the stairs of the house to the room where my little brother and I slept.

When my aunt was young and lived in that house, she slept in the very same room as we did. She said that one night when she was fifteen years old a noise woke her. Probably just the house creaking, or maybe some trees branches hitting the windows.

She sat up and saw my dad lying asleep in the bed across from hers. He was her little brother, only five years old and the baby of the family. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and looked out the window. It was windy and raining heavily, but that wasn’t really uncommon. She turned back to look at the doorway that led to the stairs. The door was open.

She saw a young girl standing there.

She was maybe fourteen or fifteen years old. About the same age as my aunt. She was pretty and had dark hair and pale skin, and was wearing an old fashioned white nightgown that covered a pregnant belly. She was looking directly at my aunt's little brother - my father. She was smiling, but there was no joy on her face.

My aunt didn’t know what to do. She sat frozen in place and watched as the ghost raised her arm toward my dad and opened her mouth to whisper one word,

“Michael.”

Michael is my dad's name.

She then slowly turned to look at my aunt and her smile grew impossibly wider. Finally she turned around and went back down the stairs and disappeared. According to my aunt, this is a true story.

I lived in that old house for about ten years and never saw the ghost. I do remember waking up one night and thinking I saw a woman sitting on my little brother’s bed, however I guess I was half asleep and figured it was just my mom, so I went back to sleep. I heard a lot of noises and creaking and movement in the attic, but thankfully never encountered the ghost.

That was about 25 years ago. I’m married now and have two young boys, four and two years old. We live in a new townhouse in the city. The old house I grew up in has since been torn down. We actually drove by it a couple of years ago and were surprised to see that a significant part of the forest behind my old house has been cleared, including the giant tree, and probably two dozen new houses have been built.

So that would appear to be the end of it, however I decided to write this because something just happened last night.

I’m a night owl and typically stay up until about one or two in the morning. At about 1:30am last night I was sitting on the couch as usual working on my laptop when I sensed some movement in the room. I looked up and noticed that one of the blue placemats I had draped over a chair at the kitchen table started to move. It started moving rapidly back and forth and then fell onto the floor. Photo of the chair and blue placemats No windows were open and I did not feel a draft so I was spooked pretty good, but I thought maybe it was just the heater turning on or something. There’s always a logical explanation, right?

So I went back to work on my laptop and started typing when again I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up a second time.

A girl was sitting at my kitchen table.

She was looking directly at me. And she was smiling.

The hair on my arms stood on end and I felt this prickly sensation all over my body. The temperature dropped 20 degrees and I could see my breath as I exhaled.

The girl was young, had dark hair and pale skin, and was very pretty. She looked sad, but also angry. Her mouth was fixed in a tight smile however the rest of her face was not smiling with it. We sat there looking at each other for probably ten seconds.

Then she stood up. Well, she didn’t stand up exactly. She was sitting there on the chair and then all of the sudden she was standing maybe three feet directly in front of me. She had a sizeable red blood stain on the front of her white gown. She did not appear pregnant, at least as far as I could see.

She raised her arm and pointed toward the stairs heading up to my kid’s bedroom Photo of the stairs. She turned her head, opened her mouth and whispered one word,

“Michael”.

Michael is my youngest son. We named him after my dad. He is two years old and sleeping upstairs.

I wasn’t sure what to do, plus I was pretty much frozen in place. But as soon as she started moving to the stairs somehow I managed to get up. I sprang off the couch. I made the sign of the horns with my hand and climbed the first two steps. My heart was beating out of my chest. I turned to face the ghost.

She was gone. I was looking at nothing but my empty living room.

I wasn’t sure if she had passed me on the stairs, so I bolted up the steps. I found the boys both safe and asleep in bed. The temperature was way too cold so I tucked them in a little tighter and went back downstairs to turn up the heat. The placemat that fell earlier was still on the floor, so I tossed it into the sink.

I locked the doors, checked the windows and the thermostat, as well as the kids again, and then went to bed.

Since last night I've been researching on the topic to see if there is something I can do to protect my children. I even found a witch on reddit who provided some ideas on "warding" your house. I still feel pretty powerless but as far as I know a ghost wouldn’t just steal or harm a physical, human boy. I’ve never heard of that happening, outside of movies.

So not sure what to do if she appears again, and would welcome any suggestions.

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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josephkitchen0 · 6 years

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How to Make a Scarecrow That Actually Works

By Nathan Griffith – The best yields and the best quality of corn come from planting short-, mid- and long-season varieties all at once, not from planting the same variety every week or two. The latter method is just not in tune with nature’s rhythm and the harvest shows it. The real challenge is learning how to make a scarecrow to keep the crows away.

To reap the advantages of this single sowing, the corn should be planted at exactly the right time: when the sugar maple leaves are just about the size of a squirrel’s ear. This gives a window of about two weeks, because the leaves emerge differently at the top of the tree than near the ground.

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If this planting fails, the yields cannot be guaranteed if there’s drought or cool weather in the summer. Only planting on time is proof against weather.

The first planting takes about 10 days to two weeks to sprout.

Between sprouting and about eight inches worth of growth the plant is very sweet.

Learning how to grow sweet corn and keeping it safe from crows can be a challenge. Crows have a “sweet tooth,” along with superb eyesight, and will come from miles around to a newly sprouted early planting. Learn how to make a scarecrow to keep the crows away.

By the time this occurs, a re-planting (which may also be destroyed by the crows) is definitely going to yield less, and probably of lesser quality. This is true of field corn, popcorn, sweet corn and ornamental corn.

For years we tried all kinds of shenanigans to learn how to scare crows away and stop them from destroying our corn plantings. I vividly remember the first year we had trouble from them. One day, just after sun-up, I heard the merry call of “sis’ Crow” out in one of our fields: “Cawn! Cawn!”

“Not to worry,” I thought, “they’ll be gone by the time I get over there while doing my chores.”

I was right about that, but they were only gone because there wasn’t any more corn. The quarter-acre we’d planted for feeding green to our Cotswold sheep flock during the dry times of July and August was totally destroyed.

The crows had walked methodically down the rows, pulling up the just-emerged corn (couldn’t have been longer than a half-inch!) and eating the kernel at the bottom. Easy pickin’s.

Partial Solutions

We’ve all seen a set of old clothes, stuffed with straw, crucified on a pole out in a garden. Sometimes the crows land on them to survey the garden before they set about their digging.

We’ve seen those inflatable eyeballs and owl decoys. How decorative they are with the happy sounds of crows cheerfully bobbing all around them after only a few days!

And how about those rubber snakes? I had never tried ’em. If the other methods didn’t work, why should this one?

One old-timer advised me to soak the seed kernels in Warbex® cattle-grub killer before planting. The way he gleefully described the helter-skelter carcasses of dead and dying crows flopping around his corn patch about made me puke. Besides, just like you and me, plants are what they eat: and I didn’t want to eat that stuff. Unlike animals, plants don’t have livers and kidneys to filter out the poisons from their systems, so I was sure I’d be eating bug killer. (This is one of the reasons to feel safer with store-bought meat and milk than with store-bought vegetables, though we grow practically all we need of both.)

Years ago, a similar treatment was advocated by a so-called “organic” garden magazine. Except they recommended kerosene. I don’t want that kind of stuff in my dirt. We spent years learning to breed our own corn, harvest, select, save seeds, test and improve it. I explained all this in my book Husbandry—I certainly wasn’t interested in messing with all those “quick fixes.”

I sat for hours, no, days, in my old-fashioned slat-sided corncrib, which overlooks the main corn planting. I shot one crow. From that time on, they waited in the trees, just out of range of the old “shootin’ iron,” until I left. (Alas, I’ve never fooled much with scopes, decoys, calls or stuff like that.)

One year I even carefully buried a bunch of steel traps (#1-1/2 and #2 coil-spring and #1-1/2 single-long spring) besides the corn the way you do for trapping foxes, with a treadle-cover and the dirt sifted through ¼-inch rat-wire so stones wouldn’t clog it. Yep, now that surely caught crows. Usually by both feet and never with any broken bones or bloody skin, like the ARPI (Animal Rights Protest Industry) type-folks claim it “always” does. I just came along periodically and put ’em out of my misery. But you know what? That attracted more crows! Not less. Besides, it was way too much work, and quite distasteful at that.

Crow Psychology

Being basically a skinflint, I didn’t want to blow a hundred bucks or so on toy snakes for the whole field. But the toy snakes proved effective for one of our town-dwelling acquaintances, to keep pigeons from roosting on, breaking, and filling up his house’s gutters with the pigeons’ “you-know-what.”

I reflected, “If it works for pigeons, why not crows?”

So I rounded up some of that ubiquitous, brittle old garden hose one encounters on every small country place, and cut it into about eight to ten-foot lengths (guesstimated). I laid them out amid the corn rows, about one every 20-25 feet, each way. Mostly, I arranged them in “S” curves.

Presto! No crows!

Until a few days later. Then the crows pulled up all my corn.

I had to re-re-plant.

I wondered, “If I just stayed in the sweet-corn patch wheel-hoeing or otherwise puttering around, would those crows bother my just-sprouting corn?”

So I started cultivating the rows. To do that, I collected about eight rows worth of “snakes” and dragged ’em to the end of the rows, and began cultivating. Then I put the “snakes” back and went to lunch. When I got back, the crows had been at the other side of the patch, but not a single sprout had been bothered in the cultivated part.

Early next morning, all the corn was pulled up, except in the rows where the “snakes” had been relocated. Those rows hadn’t been bothered at all.

On a hunch, that evening I turned the “snakes” at right angles to where they’ve been that day.

No crows.

Next day, I did the same. Again no crows.

I continued doing it each morning until the corn was about a foot high and the crows never bothered a single stalk.

It was a revelation! If at dawn, the “snakes” weren’t lying in the same position they had the day before, the crows left the place alone. Since discovering on how to make a scarecrow that actually worked, we’ve never had crows tear up our corn, even when they nest and play in the woods immediately adjacent to it.

Deer and Apple Trees

I must say, I left out something else about our scarecrow plan: an old book said to make a scarecrow like this, so I did:

Take an old glass pop bottle, and sliding a metal rod down the bottle’s mouth, tap the bottom out.

Tie some string ( I used 10-pound test nylon fishing line) around the bottle’s neck, and tie it to a pole.

Drop the other end of the string down through the mouth of the bottle and tie a 20d (20-penny) nail to it so it’s hanging halfway past the bottom edges of the bottle, like a bell clapper.

Tie another string to the bottom of the nail, and to that, tie a shiny pie pan (I used one of those CD computer programs that come in junk mail—a good use for it, I think.)

The slightest breeze sets the shiny thing to spinning and flailing, which jiggles the nail, and makes a “tink-tink” noise in the bottle that carries a surprisingly long distance, considering how quiet it is.

Well, I suspended this from a 10-foot rod of common concrete reinforcement bar (rebar) that costs about $2 or $3 new. Mine wasn’t new. This can be easily thrust into the ground and pulled up, as necessary. It’s springy enough that if you lean it at a slant of about 75° it makes the scarecrow bob up and down a bit.

As with the “snakes,” crows will get used to this unless you move it now and then. A hundred feet apart is a good distance to have them. I alternate this sophisticated scarecrow with a plain old aluminum foil pie-pan every 100 feet, by about 25 feet apart, to keep those crows a-thinking.

Once my corn was up high enough to remove these gadgets, I placed ’em under a wild sport apple tree. (Now let me tell you, the apples on this tree are so good that deer come from miles around, forsaking most other apple trees. Even the crows come for them—and the geese wait under this tree to eat what the crows knock loose!) But when I took the pop bottle scarecrow out of the field and placed it so the pop bottled dangled about eight feet away from this tree, the deer left that side alone. In fact, I don’t think they ever really got used to its erratic “tink-tink.”

Conclusion

Growing sweet corn (watch those sugar maples!) on time will always give you more and better corn, especially if it’s unique growing conditions. The biggest problem with pests is they get your planting’s timing out of tune with nature’s rhythm, so you not only get less corn, but of lesser quality, too. Now that you know how to make a scarecrow for garden use that works you can use that instead of poisons, store-bought gadgets, cartridges, traps, or straw men.

Originally published in Countryside July / August 2002 and regularly vetted for accuracy.

How to Make a Scarecrow That Actually Works was originally posted by All About Chickens

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