#basically I took One Of Us Ford and took away the god powers and made him hate bill with a passion
A what if...
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ford darling
character inspirations: matilda, #5, villanelle, a tweet i read where a girl’s mom kicks her out of the house and the girl’s friend’s mom takes her in (god i wish I could find it, it’s somewhere in my likes)
Ford Darling’s beginnings were somewhat lonely. His mother only kept him out of obligation and his father left her when he figured out she was pregnant. She didn’t treat him awful per-say, but she did treat him as though he wasn’t there most of the time. As a child, he longed for the warmth of his mother and her love. And this longing only intensified when he started preschool and he saw how loving and affectionate other mothers were when it came to their children. He tried to convince his mother to love him by attempting to impress her with grades and positive behavior but he ended up growing farther apart from her as time went on. Instead, he gained the attention of his teachers and the owner of a bookstore and bakery.
His teachers would take care of him by paying for his lunch when his mother forgot to give him money for it, or they’d find him clothes when he grew out of them. They’d praise him whenever he came in for tutoring or during lunch to study. He appreciated this quite a lot because it was the attention he longed for from his mother but never really received. Then, from the bakery-bookshop owner, he became friends with her son and she became something of a Miss Honey-Type for him, which ended in him visiting the bakery for free pastries - because she gave them to him - or nights where he spent the night at her place and hung out with her son.
He basically stayed there quite a lot, and it got to the point where people saw him as her son. She never argued against these statements, which always made him feel really good. However, one day, his biological mother got a boyfriend and he didn’t like him very much. He told him to his face as much one day, and asked Ford’s mother to choose him or Ford, and his mother chose the boyfriend. Without even blinking an eye, his mother kicked him out of the house. And not knowing where else to go, he rode the bus to the bookstore-bakery owner’s house and told her the story.
The woman, Claudia, was furious and drove over to his mother’s house and angry smacked her as soon as she opened the door, telling her that she should be lucky to have Ford as a son. Ford was shocked by this and was even more shocked when his mother said she’d give the owner guardianship over him because she just couldn’t handle him anymore and just wanted to be with her boyfriend. Ford gathered his things after that, and then he set off to live with Claudia who continued to treat him as a son - only this time she was his actual mother now.
Ford went to private school on scholarship and knew Claudia’s son, Rory, before he began to visit her bookstore-bakery a lot for food and drink. Rory had told him about it one day made a point to tell him about how he hung out there a lot with his mom and how he could hang out with him, too. The two of them hung out a lot there and frequently played scrabble, connect four, and chess together. They formed a strong bond and might as well have been brothers before they became actual brothers.
Ford’s been called a sassy little shit and this description of him has been stated even throughout his adulthood. He’s also very deadpan and serious, and his emotions are there but due to his upbringing, he’s somewhat lowkey about showing how he feels. He also has to keep his emotions in check since in verses where he has superpowers he’s telekentic and when his temper acts up shit floats or explodes and occasionally people get hurt. He prefers that not to happen and sees a therapist to find coping mechanisms to control his anger and upset, and so far this keeps his feelings and powers in check. It should also be noted that another power that Ford has is healing, and when he’s hurt or someone else is hurt, he can’t heal if he’s angry. Anger only manages to make things worse. In verses where he doesn’t have superpowers, he did get into fights while attending school because at his private school talked shit about him being on scholarship and because he was a bit of a teacher’s pet. He kind started to not give in after he moved in with the Darlings.
When it comes to love his love language receiving gifts. He likes making playlists with songs that remind him of friends, family members, and romantic partners and gives them to them discreetly - usually on CD, but sometimes through Spotify. He can be playful despite being serious, so at times he’ll leave little messages through the Spotify song titles. On the subject of musis an adult, he can play guitar so he sometimes plays guitar in small bars. Usually with music that isn’t written by him and that’s written by other people. He has a good voice though and makes habit of teaching himself to get better at using his voice and playing his guitar. This originally was something he did to distract himself while in law school, but now as a criminal defense attorney, like Claudia’s wife Beth, he just does it for fun and gets a lot of joy from it.
When he wants to get away from everyone he goes to the local aquarium. As a child, he’d sneak out of his new mother’s house and when he lived with his biological mother, her house, to go to the aquarium. He’d stay there for hours and just think about everything and nothing particular. It kept him occupied because he enjoyed watching sealife and learning the names of the fish and plants. As an adult, he’ll go to the aquarium with his tablet and go over notes for his cases while people around him chatted and communicated amongst each other.
Knows a lot of useless facts but can’t retain information for anything super important. You ask him what people’s names mean or how licks it does take to get to the center of tootsie pop and he’ll tell yah, but when asked what he had for breakfast what he wore the day before he won’t recall the information at all. However, when it comes to the details of other people - specifically friends and family - he’ll remember everything from their favorite color to how quickly it usually takes them to eat a bowl or top ramen.
Isn’t much of a reader or writer but he loves to watch movies and can quote lines verbatim without so much as a pause. He’s been obsessed with films - specifically old Hollywood films and musicals - since he was a child and took comfort in movies like “some like it hot” , “how to marry a millionair” and “the big sleep” by watching them repetitively. They hold a special place in his heart and if he really cares for you he’ll tell you about his favorite movies and watch all of your favorites and least favorites because that’s how he thinks he’ll get to know you. He also enjoys watching Shakesphere adaptions and ballets. Was in awe of the first play and ballet he’s ever seen and as an adult will go to them for fun and just to get his mind off things.
As a criminal defense attorney he is BRUTAL in the courtroom and takes no prisoners whatsoever. He is loyal to his client and does his job so good that people or horrified to be on the other end of the courtroom against him. He thinks it’s fun because he gets to argue for free and to /help/ somebody and it’s honestly his dream job because of that. A lot of people at the courthouse hate him though since he’s so goddamn full of himself when it comes to work and he doesn’t try to get on anyone’s good side, minus his ex-wife, who he is close to even after their divorce.
For someone who can come off as an ego-centric asshole, he’s loyal and caring towards his friends. He doesn’t show it through words or through acts of service, but he does give gifts - like I said above - and he does listen and give great advice. He can be easy-going company with the right person and not a complete and utter jerk. People like that are rare though since he puts up that personality so people avoid that side of him and the vulnerability that comes with it.
friendship
“talk less, smile” or “nod” more, is a very specific ford thing to do. he’s not the most chatty person in the world and is more likely to shower you with gifts than anything else -- like he’ll sing you a song or make you a playlist or an origami bird -- when it comes to meeting new acquaintances and friends. he’s a cool person to be around because he’s mello and isn’t much for starting drama unless people piss him off and start it. he’s the type of friend who will chill with you indoors, outdoors, whatever - as long as he gets some you time. he is something of a trouble-maker though, so some of his friends are probably gonna be troublemakers too. and his friends who aren’t troublemakers are probably goody-two-shoes who go to columbia law that he either tries to make troublemakers, or tries to learn from. it all depends on where he’s at and his mindset. but he is an alright friend. just not super well-behaved and he kinda is in love with himself. so i doubt he’d be friends with anyone is constantly talking shit about or judging him.
antagonistic
ford has a temper on him when he’s pressed or when he feels like someone can’t defend themselves. he is calm for the most part, but if you call him names or egg him on by pushing him, there’s a one-hundred percent chance you are getting decked in the face. he’s also gotten into trouble at random bars and clubs for getting into fights with men who just won’t leave women alone. and when he gets into trouble for it, he doesn’t apologize because he thinks he’s doing the right thing. Which is another thing, the fact that he’s so goddamn self-assured could be something that bothered people. Oh, and his mouth.
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This is part two of this list here HANGED MAN PROMO REC LIST. I’m going to split these up in a slightly different way than the other list, but I will still go into a bit of detail as to why I think a fan of The Last Sun would enjoy these books too.
Fey Novels
I’m going to start with basically anything and everything by Holly Black, because she knows how to build fantastical, beautiful, scary worlds that are detailed and fleshed out in a similar way to how the world of The Last Sun is.
The Folk of the Air series is comprised of three books, The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing, and I devoured all three as soon as I got my hands on them. I’m typing this fresh off of having read the third and last book of the trilogy in fact. In terms of LGBT rep the main character’s sister has a female love interest and there are other characters scattered throughout who are very obviously not heterosexual. Lots of political intrigue and power moves between the courts too, which is another reason why TLS readers might enjoy!
The Darkest Part of the Forest is a stand alone novel (sadly). “Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.” It’s just really good in all honesty, kick ass characters, strong friendships and family bonds, great plot and one of the main characters is gay and another is bisexual.
Tithe and the sequel Ironside are both very good and a more ‘urban’ fantasy than Folk or Forest which, to me at least, are more pure fantasy in a way although all of them take place in the modern world. It’s been a while since I read these two specifically, Tithe has a gay main supporting character who I really liked, and he’s also in Ironside too.
Moving away from Holly Black but staying within the realm of fey magic the Wicked Lovely series is a beautiful mix of urban and fey magic. Each book in the series stays within the same world and plot line but generally delves into a different character’s POV. Ink Exchange is technically the second book in the series but my favourite and IMO can be read alone, but I would recommend the entire thing. Two of my favourite bisexual characters are heavily featured in this and pop up through out the rest of the series, sometimes only a little and sometimes a whole lot.
Prince of Air and Darkness by M.A. Grant. “The only human student at Mather’s School of Magick, Phineas Smith has a target on his back. Born with the rare ability to tap into unlimited magick, he finds both Faerie Courts want his allegiance—and will do anything to get it. They don’t realize he can’t levitate a feather, much less defend the Faerie Realm as it slips into civil war.” I MEAN how could you read that description as a TLS reader and NOT want to give this one a go????
Abhorsen Series
In another realm entirely the Abhorsen series is a stunning example of world building which starts with the novel Sabriel, then Lirael and then Abhorsen. I can’t remember there being any lgbt characters in these three, I read them like ten years ago and they were published in 1996 so that kind of explains that, but I love them so much, they’re so well written and I really think fans of TLS will like these. They aren’t urban, but they’re very fantasy and the magic system is super interesting. Possibly one of my favourites in any book ever.
“Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.”
Comics
I recommended the Batwoman series last time, this time the rec I’m making is for a comic series called The Wicked & the Divine. The art work is beautiful and concept is unique and intriguing: “Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead.” It’s also lovely and diverse in it’s cast. I think fans of TLS will enjoy the characters in this especially.
Saga is also very popular with sci fi fantasy fans, so I think a lot of TLS fan will be into this if they wanna give comics a go. “When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.” I’ve only personally read the first issue of this but I enjoyed it a lot. The art is really pretty and it’s quite diverse from what I’ve heard/seen, but I’m not 100% sure about lgbt characters. I know there are some in but I’m not sure how prominent they are.
DRAGONS
Dragons. That’s all i’m saying. If Rune could turn into a dragon or ride a dragon... ahh the possibilities are endless. If anyone asks why this rec section is on the list i’m just gonna say its part of my shiny new determination to see Rune turn into a dragon in a sequel later down the line. I think we only see a dragon once in The Last Sun right at the start but man. It got me hankering for more you know? K.D. Edwards if you’re reading this... you know what to do ;) .
The King’s Dragon by W.M. Fawkes and Sam Burns. “Lord Tristram Radcliffe has a secret—he is the only dragon at the king’s court in Llangard. It’s a secret he’s kept from the knights he’s fought beside, from the ladies who bat their lashes at him, and from his closest companion, Prince Reynold. If it were to get out, he’d be banished to the Mawrcraig Mountains along with the rest of his kind, but the kingdom of men is the only one he’s ever known, and his heart lives in the stone halls of those who’d count him an enemy.”
Silk & Steel by Ariana Nash. “A tormented dragon prince. A captured elven assassin. Duty demands they fight for their people, but love has other plans.”
Other
Spellbound by Allie Therin. “Arthur Kenzie’s life’s work is protecting the world from the supernatural relics that could destroy it. When an amulet with the power to control the tides is shipped to New York, he must intercept it before it can be used to devastating effects. This time, in order to succeed, he needs a powerful psychometric…and the only one available has sworn off his abilities altogether.” Another disclaimer: I haven’t read this one yet but the reason it’s on my list in the first place is because it gave me some TLS vibes so I thought i’d bring it to everyone else’s attention too!
Black Dog Blues by Rhys Ford. “Ever since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone's rescue when something shadowy appears.”
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan. THIS BOOK. oh my god. “Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for...and the most demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.” Such a beautiful, well crafted fantasy world. Such rich characters. Ugh i love it and the f/f romance it brings to the table.
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Do you know of any good resources on how and why Reagan won? He seemed to have a lot of resistance from the Republican old guard and all four of my grandparents absolutely despised him. But he somehow won with what sounded like was a very unpopular platform, and I don't understand exactly what happened.
I mean most electoral histories will have you covered, are you looking from a cultural perspective or an electoral perspective, or just a general overview of the 1980 election? Personally I recommend the book “Backlash” on the larger reactionary movement of the 80s which is in no way relevant today...
But in short there are many reasons why Reagan won, many of them depressing familiar today
1) Ronald Reagan was an actor and was a really charismatic speaker, specifically he was very good at seeming friendly, approachable and non condescending. It was extremely easy to understand Reagan’s message if you weren’t paying attention and he didn’t seem like some sort of elite who understood policies or knew where Cambodia was on a map, because he didn’t either. With the possible exceptions of JFK, and OBama, Reagan is likely the most charismatic president in the last century and that makes a big difference in the election
2) Jimmy Carter was a bit of a mess. I love Carter and I think he is one of the most moral people to ever be president (judging on a scale) but...his administration was extremely chaotic, inept, and really bad at messaging.
3) Reagan cheated. At his most famous debate with Carter, it turns out Reagan’s team had actaully managed to get Carter’s debate plans before hand, so Reagan knew exactly what Carter was going to say which is why Reagan seemed so invincible in the debate
4) The Economy. Due to a wide variety of reasons including but not limited too the fallout of the Vietnam War, the OPEC oil crisis, the natural eb and flow of the market, and the failure of Kenysian economics meant that when the 1980 election was happening, America was in a pretty bad economic place. Unemployment was high, inflation was spiraling and for many white people it was the first time they had ever experienced an economic downturn
This wasn’t really Carter’s fault, just like the economic boom in the 80s wasn’t really Reagan’s fault (though the initial crash certainly was) but that is how it was perceived.
5) The Failure of Kenysian Economics. Now when I say “failure” i don’t actually mean “this is a bad system” Kenysan economics got us out of the Great Depression after all and lead to the largest economic boom in US history. However they aren’t the end all, especially when politicians running things don’t really understand what they are doing. So while they aren’t nearly as awful as the Free market economics that would follow, people were becoming disillusioned with the prior economic model
6) Vietnam. Oh dear god Vietnam. Reagan would be the first president who didn’t preside over Vietnam in any way, which meant he wasn’t tainted by the total fuck up that was that war. America was still reeling from losing our first major war to a small nation that nobody had heard off before they started to kick our ass, and the battle over Vietnam has basically torn the country apart. A huge amount of people felt pissed and humiliated over the defeat, and rather than question why we went to war or the morality of our tactics, blamed protesters and leftists for not supporting the war enough, a stabbed in the back myth if you will. Also Vietnam was a Democrat fuck up, Republicans weren’t in power when it started under JFK and LBG, who collectively created the horrific circumstances of the war. The republicans who oversaw it were the comparatively (to Reagan) more ‘moderates” of Nixon and Ford. So American both felt humiliated and weak from looking a major war to a people we saw as inferior and was blaming everything associated with the left for it. Reagan’s “Make America Great Again” message was extremely attractive to a lot of people, and since he didn’t have anything to do with the war, you couldn’t blame him for its failure.
7) The Soviet Union. The presence of the USSR hung over every US election since Woodrow Wilson, but after Vietnam a lot of Americans felt like the USSR was winning. This was ironically utterly untrue as the Soviet Union would collapse only 11 years later, but the perception in America was that the US had been defeated by COMMUNISM and needed to get our groove back for round II. And Reagan was by far the most aggressively confrontational anti Communist president we have had since FDR, so much so that he accidentally almost triggered a nuclear war and destroyed all of civilizations...whoops. But that is what American wanted back then
8) The rise of the religious right. For most of the 20th century, while religion was certainly a thing which effected politics, the US political landscape was largely secular, religion being evoked more than it made its own demands. But due to rise of the Counter Culture movement, religious folks sort of went into panic mode and suddenly conservative fundamentalist Christianity was one the rise. And Reagan embraced them 100%, leading to the fundementalist cancer that lives with us to this day
9) The death of the Counterculture. At the exact same time as the Religious Right came into power, the group it was opposing had largely collapsed. I mentioned this before when talking about the civil Rights movement, but once overt legal segregation had been outlawed, what was left were the far more serious, complicated and unclear problems, which lead to a lot of hippies burning out, falling into infighting, declaring victory and going home, or turning to more radical and largely ineffectual approaches. And since so much of the counter culture was linked to to its fashion and aethetic, as the Hippie style/music/clothing/demeanor became lame and uncool, the causes behind them were seen as uncool as well. Also the most dedicated leftists quickly turned to auto cannibalism and spent more time fighting each other rather than focusing on their enemy a dynamic which the left can always be counted on (cough what happened to Counterpoints cough)
10) The larger cultural backlash. America as a whole was feeling threaten by the left, and by extention the progressive made for women, racial minorities, and sexual minorities, and was pushing back against them. The 60s and 70s was a moment of sudden shocking change which took the old guard by surprise and they didn’t know what to do, but once the left had burned themselves out a bit, the Right was able to reorganize, refocus their efforts, and remake their arguments to reassert the oppressive systems they so valued. And for a lot of Americans who were passively bigoted, the incredibly fast pace of change got them scared and they sought comfort in the return of the familiar. Again Reagan wasn’t just an actor, he was a cowboy actor from shitty kitch family films. And as we’ve seen before in terms of Whitelash or Male Fragility, fear of losing privilege can get people to vote against their own interest (cough union workers cough)
11) America was facing a big choice. After WWII, we were basically the only major nation with a good economy, which we were able to turn into a great economy, and had an over 20 year post war high. But other nations started to compete with us (most notably Japan) and our status as the singular nation started to be threatened by the EU, India, China, Latin America, and our own changing history. For the first time, Americans started to realize that maybe, not right away, but eventually, we would just be one nation among many again, rather than the only superpower. Simultaneous, the threat of Climate change first started to be noticed, and Americans started to realize that maybe we should tone down the materialism, the consumerism, and the reliance on fossile fuels. Carter infamously wore sweaters in the white house to save on gas and put solar panels on the roof, which was seen by many Americans (idiots) as weakness.
Basically we had a choice, we could either
A) Prepare our nation for the transformation period we were going for, and slowly start to move off oil as our economy changed and we had to make adjustments for it
or
B) FUCK THAT. THIS IS AMERICA AND WE DON”T COMPROMISE FOR ANYTHING. YOU KNOW WHAT...LETS BE EVEN MORE RECKLESS
Americans were asked to choose between accepting an uncomfortable reality or embracing a comforting delusion.
12) The Iran Hostage crisis. This made Carter look weak internationally and everybody knows that America looking weak is worth destroying our own internal economy.
13) The Democrats were in the middle of a civil war. The Civil Rights movement and the Great Society had torn the democrats apart which means Carter was never really able to get his own party to obey him like the Republicans did. WHats worse is that the aftereffect of the Vietnam War had basically crippled LBJ’s Great Society Program, meaning the Democrats were really chaotic
14) Finally, it is important to remember, the Democrats had held power from 1932 all the way to 1980s, the US was kind of a single party state for most of the century, and a lot of people were pretty sick of them. Corruption, incompetence and hypocrisy are around in every party and the democratic congress in particular was widely hated, so the Republicans felt like this new exciting thing, something which could maybe bring a new era in America. “Its morning in America”
And of course, Reagan was in many ways what white America wants, a giant self congratulatory message that lets us avoid dealing with real issues....
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Earth Angel
(Greaser!Tom x Soc!Fem!Reader)
This is for @fratboievans’s and @wayfaring’s writing challenge. I hope you all enjoy!
Prompt: Movie/Tv Show Quote 7- “You keep saying shit like that and you’re gonna get punched.” and I’ve also added a Greaser! AU.
Pairing: Greaser!Tom Holland x Fem!Soc!Reader
Word Count: 4793
Summary: When the school dance comes around, infamous greaser Tom Holland is dared by his friends to go after the new girl in town that no other guy has asked to go with. Only problem is that one of the popular soc’s is going after her as well. Of course, that doesn’t stop Tom, not wanting to back down from the dare, but it does make things more difficult.
Warnings: Angst(?), fighting, smoking, cursing, sexual references/harassment, kinda a slow burn, fluff in the end.
Tags: @naturallytom @hr-hxlland @loverholland
Monday
“‘Ey, Tom, what’re we gonna do this weekend?”
“Stay as far away from here as possible.”
Tom and his gang had just finished their day at school, heading to the car. It hadn’t been a long day persay, but definitely a boring one. But it was only Monday, and god knows what’ll happen this particular week.
To kickstart the day, almost everyone was freaking out about the school dance this weekend, whether it was getting their clothes, finding dates, you name it. Teens of every age and social class were getting ready for the fateful day. And that only meant that every other place in town would not be packed to the brim with people Tom didn’t like.
Tom Holland was one of the many greaser’s in town, his group being one of the most well known in the town. They hadn’t gotten into any major trouble, most stuff being caused from soc’s wanting to pick fights and the police just not being fond of them. But everyone knew they all weren’t afraid to fight and do what they wanted, so most people just stayed away. There was Dylan, Harrison, Johnny, Zach, and lastly, the leader, Tom. They all had been friends for the longest time, and were basically brothers at this point.
As the group was heading to Tom’s car, a 1952 Ford convertible, when Zach had spoke up. “Hey, who’s the new chick?”
The rest of them turned to look in the direction he was looking in, surprised to see a girl that none of them knew at all. She was clearly lost, not sure where to go after leaving the school doors. Johnny was the first to comment, being the biggest flirt of the group.
“I don’t know, but I would love to get under that skirt of hers.” Dylan chuckled, hitting Johnny’s shoulder in agreement as the two of them looked the girl up and down. “She’d neva’ go for you, Dylan.”
“How do you know that?”
“Cause I’m the one in the group who’s gotten with the most girls, and I know she’d go for someone like me.” Johnny gestured to himself, smirking proudly. “I can only imagine what she’s gotta offer.”
Harrison laughed along with Dylan. “Even if she would be willing to go out with someone like us, it would not be you.”
“Then who would it be if not one of us?”
“I didn’t say it wouldn’t be one of us, but she would most likely go after Tom.”
If there was one thing that everyone in the group would agree on, it would be that quite a few girls would almost fling themselves at Tom. Of course Tom didn’t mind flirting with them, but he didn’t wanna bother with going out with the girls. He had enough to worry about as far as his friends and his family. Not to mention that he knew he couldn’t offer much for a girl if he had one to begin with. So for now, he just acted like he didn’t care for them.
He scoffed at Harrison’s statement, glancing at him before looking back at the girl to get a good look at her. “I wouldn’t waste my time. She seems to be a soc. I doubt she would even go for me much less Johnny.” He smiled to himself, pulling a cigarette from his jean pocket as well as a lighter.
Johnny glared at Tom, pushing his shoulder and stopping him from lighting the cigarette. “Like you would care. If I knew any better I’d say you were scared of going over and talking to her.” He was half joking, half serious with his words. He was sick of Tom not wanting to get with the ladies like he was, and almost challenged him. Tom lit his cigarette as he thought over Johnny’s statement.
“You sayin’ I don’t want to get with that?”
“I’m sayin’ you’re too chicken to ask her to the dance on Saturday.”
Harrison, Dylan, and Zach looked between Tom and Johnny, laughing in shock and waiting for one of the two to speak up (mainly Tom). If there was one thing they knew about Tom, it’s that he does like to back down from a challenge. It’s what got him to where he was today. If it wasn’t for soc’s picking fights with him as a kid he maybe would have a broader future, but Tom is glad to be where and who he is today. His position brings him protection and power to not only himself and his friends, but his family as well. As long as they’re okay, so is he.
Tom took a puff from his cigarette before speaking, clearly annoyed slightly yet also thinking over Johnny’s words once again. “What’s in it for me if I go with her?”
“I’ll buy a month’s worth of cigarettes for you.”
“And if I don’t get her to say yes?”
“You’re gonna have to find someone else to help you with your math homework for the next month.”
Math wasn’t Tom’s best subject, but it definitely wasn’t his worst either. If worse came to worse, then he’d cheat/copy off of other people in his class. But he would love not to have to worry about his next supply of cigarettes. Not to mention getting to fool around for the first time in awhile didn’t sound too bad either.
Tom chuckled softly, eyeing the girl one more time before looking to his friends, specifically Johnny. “Alright, man, I accept those terms.” He held his cigarette in his mouth as well as his hand out in front of Johnny to fully make the deal. Johnny grinned, laughing softly as he shook Tom’s hand.
“I wish you the best of luck man. She may be new around town but she probably has an idea on who we are. It’ll be tough to even get near her.”
Tom let go of his hand, taking another swig from his cigarette and turning around to see if the girl was still there. She was, clearly trying to get somewhere, and Tom saw his chance to introduce himself. He quickly finished his cigarette before adjusting his leather jacket. “Watch and learn guys.” He walked in your direction, planning out what to say.
Zach laughed. “Whatever you say!” He and the others chilled by the car, secretly watching and trying not to seem too obvious about it. Eventually, Tom made his over to the girl.
“Excuse me darling, you need help getting somewhere?”
The girl looked up at him, at first shocked that someone like him walked up to her, but then happy at the offer. She moved some hair out of her face, smiling shyly. “Actually, yeah. I’m trying to find the bus stop so I can get home. I’m new around here and I accidentally missed the school bus.” She laughed softly, kinda embarrassed.
Tom put on a fake yet convincing smile. This was gonna be easier than he thought. “You’re in luck, it’s right around the corner.” He pointed to the left side of the school, watching the girl look in the direction. “But if you really need a ride home,” she looked back up at Tom as he spoke. “I don’t mind taking you.” He gestured behind him to his car where his friends where leaning against the side of it. He laughed awkwardly, trying to see the deal. “Without my friends of course.”
The girl giggled, taking a step towards him and biting her lip. Tom couldn’t help the smirk on his face, this was way too easy. She spoke up again.
“However, there is one problem.”
“And what would that be, love?”
“I’m not saying any of this just to get with you.”
She immediately turned around and walked away towards the bus stop that was in fact around the corner as Tom stared at her in complete and utter shock. He didn’t even move from where he stood as he watched her leave. Eventually Harrison walked over to him.
“Did she surprise you? Say somethin’ dirty and made everything happen faster?” He laughed softly, waiting for Tom’s response; however he was still in the process of getting over the fact that a girl read through his act that would usually work with any other girl. What made this time so different? Harrison shaking his shoulder brought him back.
“Tom what the hell happened.”
“I don’t know,” he looked to his friend. “But I’m not losing this bet. Especially because of this girl.”
Tuesday
The next day, Tom had gotten to school just a few minutes early just to see where her locker was as well as her first class. He hadn’t gotten her name yet so he didn’t have much to go off of when trying to find her. As it turns out, her locker was right next to her first class. As for lunch, she sat at one of the picnic tables outside with a couple girls she seemed to had befriended. He didn’t have any classes with her, but he soon knew her entire schedule, but never her name. So when school ended, he stood by his car waiting for his friends to meet him before heading to the diner that day; however, he was also looking for the girl, hoping to catch her and talk to her again. He liked a challenge and she was definitely one for him to take on.
Zach and Dylan had already gotten to the car, talking about god knows what as Tom continued to watch for the girl. Once most people had left he finally caught sight of her, but not the way he hoped. She was clearly in a hurry and kept looking behind and over her shoulder as if someone was following her. Tom watched her, confused and intrigued by what was going on. A moment later he saw a soc he knew all too well come out of the building, Carl Dietz
Carl was the one that started picking fights with Tom when they were younger. His father was the coach of the football team at the school and his uncle the chief of police. His family was the definition of privileged and rich and the most of it in the town. The only thing Carl didn’t have was a girlfriend. He was a player for sure, getting with any girl he possible could, but never got or even wanted more than that.
Carl was eyeing the girl, walking about 10 feet behind her before stopping at the top of the steps that lead to the school. He was watching her intensely as she walked away and smirking at her before heading back into the school. Tom looked back at the girl, seeing how upset she was. He glanced over at his friends before quickly walking over to her. Yes, he needed to win the bet, but the very last thing he wanted was for Carl Dietz to ruin someone else’s life.
The moment she saw him and their eyes met, she glared, sighing to herself before walking away from him. Of course, Tom was relentless and continued to follow her. She stopped walking and turned to face him, making Tom stop dead in his tracks. “Look, I don’t want to deal with anymore of you so please just leave me alone.”
She stared at him for a moment before leaving once again, quickly getting away before anything else happened. Of course, Tom didn’t know what had gone down before Carl and her walked out of the school, but he didn’t want it to happen again. If there was one thing his mother taught him, it was to respect and treat women right, and never as an object.
Wednesday
Tom had once again gotten to school a little bit earlier that day in hopes of seeing the girl and talking to her properly (and finally get her name). He did see her at her locker, but she seemed to be too much in a hurry again to even try and talk to her.
So Tom tried again during lunch, seeing that she was alone for a brief moment while she waited for her friends to sit with her; however, someone beat him to talking to her.
Carl Dietz had sat down beside her, smirking and looking her up and down as he put an arm around her. Tom didn’t hear what he said but Carl clearly whispered something in her ear that she did not like and tried to get away, only to be brought back into her seat by Carl. Tom couldn’t help but be angered. No one, especially a young lady, should have to deal with people like Carl. Tom began to hear Carl say things like ‘You know you want it’ and ‘Why don’t we meet up Saturday night after the dance’ and that’s when he had had enough.
Tom began to walk over to the two of them, ready to start a fight when she freed a hand from Carl’s grip and slapped him in the face. “Stop it, Carl. I’m not that kind of girl.” Tom stopped walking when he saw her slap him, shocked that she would do that. But when he saw Carl glare at her harshly and grab at you again, Tom saw the fear return to her eyes and quickly continued his way over to the table.
“Get your hands off me!” She said, trying to sound confident when Tom had grabbed Carl by his shirt and pulled him up to his feet to let go of her and face Tom instead.
“You heard her, Carl, and if you keep saying shit like that you’re gonna get punched.” He paused for a moment, thinking over the outcome of this. Either they would fight, resulting in one/both getting detention, or somehow being stopped before the fight started. Tom cleared his throat, remember what was happening and what he was doing. The least he could do was try to be civil. “She said to leave her alone.” He glanced at the girl, seeing her shocked yet touched expression. She didn’t even know him, neither him to her, and he was willing to fight this guy.
Carl death glared Tom, clenching his fists before grabbing tom by the collar of his leather jacket and getting ready to punch him. A bunch of students starting calling out, some betting who would win, others just yelling to start the fight, but before anything could happen, the principal, Mr. Downey, had showed up. He crossed his arms, eyeing Carl to see if he would officially start the fight or not. Yes, the kid was the star of the football team, but he was always getting into trouble constantly, whether it was getting into fights or not doing school work.
Silence rang through the cafeteria as everyone waited to see what would happen next. A moment later, Carl looked down and laughed dryly to hide his anger. He looked back at Tom.
“You know what, for old times sake, I’ll cut you a break. Today.”
They both glared at one another, sharing the same annoyed and a fake smile they had to keep for the time being. Carl finally let go of Tom and Tom did the same.
“So, Holland, why don’t you make like a tree and get out of here.”
Tom didn’t bother correcting Carl and just nodded, glancing once more at the girl and leaving the cafeteria. Harrison and the others followed Tom as well.
Dylan was the first person to reach him. “Hey, Tom, what the hell was that about back there?” He grabbed Tom’s shoulder, making him stop walking. Tom sighed, looking around the hallways before speaking quietly. “Johnny bet that I couldn’t get with that girl and I’m trying to. I’m not gonna pass up a month’s worth of cigs either.”
Harrison chimed into the conversation. “Yeah but that didn’t include you almost getting into a fight with Carl. That’s the last thing we need to worry about right now.”
Johnny smirked. “Plus, if you get in trouble with Downey, you may not even be allowed to go to the dance. And that’ll make the bet finish faster.”
Tom ran a hand through his hair, thinking over his options and how he could still win the bet. He couldn’t risk failing his math class either. He didn’t want his mother to worry about him even more. But one thing the group didn’t know was that Tom was worrying for this girl. She was new and hardly knew anyone. He didn’t know what it was like to not know anyone in your town, but he knew what it was like to be taken advantage of.
Zach took a step towards Tom. “You can do whatever you want to try and win the bet. Just..” He looked between the rest of the guys. “Just don’t get yourself in more trouble than usual.”
Tom nodded, looking at his friends and seeing how genuinely worried they seemed to be. The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, and other students began filling the hallways to get to their next class. The group of greasers did the same, acting like the (almost) fight today didn’t happen.
Thursday
After school, Tom once again waited by his car to see the girl again. He was running out of time and he needed to do something. This time, however, it was the girl that walked up to him. “Excuse me?”
Tom looked to her, almost shocked that she had even walked over to him. She looked nervous, rarely ever meeting his eye.
“I just..” She took a deep breath, gaining the confidence to look up at him. “I wanted to say thank you, for yesterday, and,” she smiled shyly, almost embarrassed. “I’m sorry for telling you off Tuesday afternoon. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Tom was touched by her words at first, surprised that she would apologize to him for her actions. At first he really was playing with her, but maybe, just maybe, she was something special. Tom smiled at her, deciding to be honest.
“You’re alright. You’d be surprised how many times I get told off by all kinds of people.” He leaned against the side of his car, still looking at her. “And I’m just glad that you’re okay. Carl Dietz isn’t the,” he paused, trying to find the right word. “Nicest guy at this school. You need to be careful when you meet new people.”
“Maybe that’s why I didn’t want to bother with you on Monday.” She laughed awkwardly, feeling bad about the situation. “I’m sorry that I misjudged you. I bet you’re a really nice guy.” She glanced at the ground, smiling shyly and blushing a little.
Tom grinned, chuckling softly. She may had been sweet, but she was oblivious about reading into who he really was. He was nice to his friends and family, but everyone else he was cautious around. For all he knew this girl was someone else entirely. He looked behind her, seeing his friends walk towards the car while making rude gestures towards/about the girl and how (they believed) Tom was going to get with her over the weekend. He had to finish the conversation before she saw them and changed her mind about him. He could practically smell all the cigs he was going to get next month.
Tom quickly stood up straight, already having a plan in mind.
“Listen, uh,” he froze, remembering how he still didn’t know her name. She giggled, smiling as she answered. “(Y/N). (Y/N) (L/N). And may I ask who you are?”
“Tom. Tom Holland.”
They smiled at one another for a moment, causing (Y/N) to blush.
“So, (Y/N),” he chuckled softly. “Would you be interested in hanging out some time?”
He saw her eyes light up in shock and excitement. “Y-You mean like a date?”
Tom almost laughed at her statement. Tom Holland may flirt and fool around every now and, but he never did dates. But this was for the bet. For the bet.
He nodded. “Yeah. When are you free?”
“I’m actually free tomorrow night. I heard they have a few new movies out at the drive in if you’re up for that.”
“That sounds great. I’ll pick you up tomorrow?”
“Sure. See you then, Tom.”
(Y/N) grinned and walked away, waving goodbye to Tom and passing his friends as she walked away. All of them but Johnny smiled and cheered for Tom finally getting a date for the dance.
“Did you seriously ask her to the dance?” Johnny looked to Tom, shocked and not thinking he’d actually be able to do it. Tom shook his head. “Not exactly. I didn’t want ‘er to think I was some creep like Carl by suggesting the dance for a,” he made air quotes, “‘first date’, so she suggested the drive in tomorrow night.”
Johnny laughed, pushing his hair back, making Tom groan in annoyance. He honestly didn’t want to more work than he had to just to win the bet. “Can this count as takin’ her out? It’s basically the same thing.”
Johnny shook his head. “Nope! I would’ve counted it if it was you that asked her on the date, but she did that part for you.” He laughed more, leaning over and resting on his knees. “I seriously can’t believe this is happening.”
Tom sighed, grumbling under his breath. “Me neither.”
Friday
After school, (Y/N) met Tom by his car again, asking what time he would pick her up (7pm) before heading on her way. Tom was starting to regret his decision about accepting the date rather than suggesting the dance himself, but it was too late to back out now.
Before he left his house to get her, his friends stopped by; they teased him about what to do and not to do, how he should dress, and many other things just to annoy him and make him dread the date even more. But in the words of Johnny, “Do it for the cigs, Tom.”
Tom picked (Y/N) up around 7:15, claiming to have trouble his car and making her a little nervous. The last thing she wanted was to get into a wreck and not be allowed on dates anymore unless she walked there. The drive there was mostly silent, both not really knowing what to say to one another. They only just properly met yesterday. Eventually (Y/N) broke the silence when they were about to reach the drive in.
“By the way, if you wouldn’t mind not smoking during the movie, I’d greatly appreciate it.”
Tom, shocked yet amused by her words, chuckled softly. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” He was used to being stereotyped, but this was different. For one, they were on a date. Shouldn’t she be cuddling up to him and wanting to get to second base? Then again, she was clearly not like any other Soc, or girl for that matter, in town.
“I said, could you not smoke during the movie? I don’t want to be lectured when I get home from my father for suspecting that I’ve been doing things in not supposed to.”
Tom was about to reply, with a snarky remark no less, but he had pulled up to pay for the entry to the drive in. (Y/N) reached into her purse. “I brought enough money for the both of us.” She mumbled to herself. “In case you had assumed that I would pay for everything tonight.”
Tom bit his tongue to keep from lashing out at her. Yes, he knew he didn’t have that much money, and sometimes he and his mom weren’t able to pay every bill on time, but he wasn’t the type of guy to go out with a rich girl so that she would pay for everything. He pulled out some money from his jacket pocket, enough for both of them, as he looked her in the eye harshly. “Actually I do have enough for both of us, thank you very much.” He didn’t look back at her after he paid and drove forward to find a place to park. “Isn’t that what the guy is supposed to do on a date?”
Not only was he annoyed with her intentions and words, but he knew the bet would be harder to win now. At the moment, however, he cared less about the bet. He wouldn’t admit it, but a small part of him was looking forward to tonight. (Y/N) was a different girl compared to the other ones in town, and he thought he might have an actual shot. Of course, he should have known better than to hope that someone like her would trust or even like someone like him.
Once they were parked, he still didn’t look at her and focuses on the blank wall of a screen up ahead. The movie hadn’t started yet so they were stuck to bearing in the silence between them as other couples and groups of friends surrounding them enjoyed their time.
(Y/N), once again about 5 minutes after they parked, broke the silence first. “Look, I-”
Tom cut her off, not wanting to hear any excuse or stereotype she had to say next.
“Forget it. I know how the world views people like me. I should have known better than to think you were someone different.”
(Y/N) fell silent again, starting to feel guilty. She had grown up being taught looks can be deceiving, yet almost truthful depending on how people acted. She always tried her best to listen to her family’s rules, yet also be herself, but where was the line? When could she be what she wanted and when was she supposed to listen to the rules she was taught? Could she do/be both? She took a deep breath.
“Tom, I,” she struggled with her words, feeling his glare on her now. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Tom scoffed. “Obviously-”
“Let me finish.”
They stared each other down for a minute until Tom sighed, gesturing for (Y/N) to continue.
“I was wrong to act like that. I just.. I don’t want to be taken advantage of, or be sent to jail for doing illegal things and be under house arrest until my father marries me off.” She looked down, holding her arms close to herself. “I didn’t..” Her voice dropped down to a whisper. “I didn’t want to get my hopes up with you and have you turn out to be someone like Carl.”
Tom processed her words slowly before replying. “(Y/N), I know that you’ve just met me, but please know one thing.” He reached out and held her hand, making her look him in the eye.
“I will never be someone as awful as him. When I saw him trying to get with you, I.. I had to do something. I was taught to respect women, to never take advantage of them, and you,” he chuckled softly, smiling at her. “You’re something special, (Y/N). You really are.”
(Y/N) smiled, feeling her heart beat fast. She felt happiness on a whole new level. More than her vinyl records, more than Christmas day with her family. She felt.. Surreal.
She moved over to him so that their shoulders were touching. “Do you mind if I sit here?” She bit her lip shyly, looking up at Tom. He nodded, trying to get over the shock that she was this close. “Sure.”
(Y/N) grinned and resting her head on his shoulder and he let go of her hand to put his arm around her. They continued to watch the movie, enjoying it as well as making conversation about it as well as their lives. They still had lots to learn about one another.
After the movie ended, Tom started up the car and drove (Y/N) home as she rested still snuggled up to him as the radio played softly.
‘Earth angel, earth angel, please be mine.’
Tom smiled to himself, glancing down at her.
‘My darling dear, love you all the time.’
At this moment, he cared less about everything else around him. The bet he and Johnny made, the teasing he would get from his friends as well as his mom and brothers, the way Soc’s would push him around, the danger he could possibly be in from being with a Soc. Once again, he didn’t care. For once, he felt happy for something he chose to do in the end.
‘I’m just a fool. A fool in love with you.’
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Superhero/villain AU - Back to School
Clearly, I’m very good at this whole “taking a break from writing so I can focus on research thing”. But what can I say? When your muse hits you over the head with a frying pan of inspiration, what else can you do but write? Especially when you’ve had a shitty day like I did.
So here. Have Emmett going to his first day of villain school in the Superhero/villain AU.
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Stan’s red El Diablo came to a much more careful stop than usual. Slumped in the passenger seat, Emmett morosely stared out the window at his new school. Nothing about the outward appearance of Sycamore Grove High School would indicate it was anything special. In fact, it looked almost exactly like the school Emily had been dropped off at a few minutes ago, only nicer, almost like it was private, not public. The dread that had been churning in Emmett’s stomach amplified.
“Emmett?” Emmett didn’t respond to his father’s voice. “Emmett.” Emmett slouched further down his seat. Stan sighed. “C’mon, kid. You gotta get out.”
“Just homeschool me,” Emmett mumbled.
“Your ma and I have jobs.”
“Yeah, and yours is being a stay-at-home dad. You’re supposed to do things like homeschooling.”
“You really don’t want me to be your teacher, okay? Trust me on that.”
“Uncle Ford-”
“Emmett.” Stan’s voice got sharper. Emmett’s shoulders slumped.
There goes the idea I could talk my way outta this at the last second.
“You need to go here.”
“I was s’pposed to go to high school with Emily.”
“If you get things under control, that might still work out. But right now, this is the school you’re gonna go to,” Stan said. “I’m not happy about it either. You know that. But we don’t have any other options.” Emmett didn’t respond. “Get your stuff.”
“…Fine.” Emmet reluctantly grabbed his backpack and opened the door. He didn’t make any move to get outside.
“For the love of-” Stan exited the car and made his way to Emmett. “Emmett Stanley McGucket. Get your butt out of the car now,” he said firmly, crossing his arms. Emmett did as he was told. “You better not act like this all day, you hear me?”
“Loud and clear,” Emmett mumbled. Tears began to prick the corners of his eyes. Stan let out a soft sigh.
“C’mere, sport.” Stan wrapped Emmett in a tight embrace. Emmett returned the gesture, burying his face into his father’s shirt.
“Dad, I don’t like this.”
“I know, I know.” Stan’s voice was gentler than it had been a moment ago. “I don’t, either.”
“It sucks.”
“Yeah, it does.” Stan broke off the hug and held Emmett at arm’s length. “But you’re a Pines man.” Emmett nodded. “And what do Pines men do when they get knocked down?”
“They get back up.”
“That’s right.” Stan smiled at Emmett. “You’ll be fine. Find yourself a friend or two and before you know it, you’ll be graduating.”
“…I guess.” Emmett looked over at the students mingling in the courtyard. “How am I gonna make friends, though? No one from my middle school is gonna go here. And you and Ma never had me spend time with her coworkers’ kids. I’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”
“Feeling like you don’t belong anywhere is part of the freshman experience. Your ma said most kids here have never been to a villain-only school before either. Trust me. Everything’s gonna go great.”
“Okay.” Emmett swallowed. “Are ya sure ya can’t homeschool me?”
“Sorry, kid. No dice.”
“Will you at least pick me up?” Emmett asked. Stan’s face fell. “What?”
“This is a one-time thing. It’s too dangerous for me to drop you off and pick you up all the time. We can’t risk anyone recognizing me.”
“Do I have to take the bus home?”
“Hell, no,” Stan said firmly. “Your Uncle Lute is gonna pick you up.” He forced a grin. “And pretty soon, you’ll be able to drive yourself to school and back home.” Emmett nodded silently. There was a loud honk. “Dangit,” Stan muttered. “People are getting upset I’m parked.” He met Emmett’s eyes. “If something happens and you need to come home early, just call. But try to make it through the day, okay?”
“Okay, Dad.”
“That’s my son.” Stan embraced Emmett one last time. “Have fun, sport.”
“I’ll do my best,” Emmett said. Stan smiled at him, then got back into his car, waving off the frustrated driver behind him. Emmett watched the car pull away. He took a deep breath and turned around to face his school. He swallowed.
It’ll be fine. Like Dad said, it’ll be fine.
-----
Emmett walked into his first class, Advanced Art History. He looked around the room. Students were clustered in small groups as they chatted about their summer vacations. Ducking his head to avoid eye contact with anyone, Emmett made his way to a desk in the back of the room. He set his bag down.
“Hey.” Emmett looked up. A girl with dyed green hair eyed him suspiciously. “That’s not your seat.”
“It doesn’t look taken,” Emmett said softly. The girl rolled her eyes.
“It’s assigned seating, freshman. So there aren’t any interactions between different powers. God.” She turned to her friends. “Why do they let freshmen into upper level classes? It’s so stupid.” Emmett snatched his bag up and held it close to his chest. He could feel panic starting to build.
“Do you need some help?” someone asked. Emmett spun around. A boy about his age smiled sheepishly at him. “You look a bit nervous.”
“It’s- um-” Emmett started. The boy grinned.
“Your first time at an all-supers school?” he asked. Emmett nodded reluctantly. “Don’t worry, most of the freshmen are dealing with that. And most upperclassmen are nice to freshmen who don’t know the rules,” the boy said, glaring at the girl who had spoken to Emmett earlier. She rolled her eyes. “Ignore Lacey. She’s just angry her boyfriend’s going to a normal school this year.” The girl – Lacey – glowered. “C’mon, the seating chart’s always at the front of the class.” Emmett silently followed the boy to the teacher’s desk. “Right here.” The boy pointed to a piece of paper on the desk. Emmett nodded. The boy quirked a half-smile. “It doesn’t bite.”
“I know,” Emmett mumbled. He didn’t move. The boy put a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s gonna be all right. I know all-supers schools can be scary the first time. I’m just lucky that I’ve been going to them my whole life. Legally required to.” Emmett furrowed his brow. The boy shrugged. “Psionics usually don’t get their powers until they’re like twenty. But mine showed up when I was one. So right off the bat, I couldn’t be around people who weren’t trained on how to handle powers.”
“My sister’s power manifested when she was one,” Emmett said quietly. “She’s an elemental, though, so…”
“Kinda expected,” the boy finished. He looked down at the seating chart. “What’s your name?”
“Emmett.”
“Emmett…M?”
“That’s my last initial, yeah.”
“You’re sitting next to me.” The boy stuck out his hand. “I should probably introduce myself, then. I’m Carter. Carter Jones.” Emmett shook Carter’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Carter.”
“So, what brings you to Sycamore Grove?”
“My power.”
“Lemme guess. Psychic?” Carter asked. Emmett shrugged.
“Technically, I guess. How’d ya know?”
“Psychics and psionics are usually paired up. I’m immune to psychic powers, after all.”
“Oh. Well, that’s not necessary. I’ve got a power dampener.”
“You do? Dude, that sucks,” Carter said emphatically. Emmett blinked.
“It does? Why?”
“‘Cause kids who rely on power dampeners have to take a special class on controlling their powers.”
“But my grandma’s been giving me lessons-”
“Is she a professional villain?”
“No.”
Professional, yes. Villain, no. Carter nodded.
“That’s why you still need dampeners. You haven’t gotten proper training. But don’t worry, the psychic teachers here are really good. My big brother’s power manifested late, so he got stuck with a power dampener while he was a junior. Before the year was even over, he didn’t need it anymore.”
“…I would like to not have to use it.”
“Well, duh. It’s basically training wheels.” The bell rang. “We better sit down.” Emmett followed Carter to the back of the room. Carter pointed out his desk. Emmett sat down. Carter followed suit, letting out a small chuckle.
“What?” Emmett asked.
“I just think it’s kinda funny.”
“What is?”
“I’ve been going to all-supers schools my whole life, so I basically know everyone in this room except you. And so far, you’re the only person in here that I actually like.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Carter grinned at Emmett. Emmett smiled back. “At lunch, want me to introduce you to some other people who don’t suck?”
“That would be nice.”
“You got it,” Carter said. The teacher walked into the room. Silence fell. Emmett smiled down at his desk as the teacher took roll call.
Dad was right. I can make friends. Carter nudged Emmett. Emmett looked up. Carter nodded at the teacher. She had gotten to last names starting with “L”.
“Thanks,” Emmett mouthed to Carter. Carter winked.
“Emmett…” the teacher started, reading off a piece of paper. Her eyes widened. “McGucket?” Emmett raised his hand.
“Present,” he replied. The entire classroom turned to stare at him, including the teacher. “Um, is there a problem?” he asked.
“No. Not- not at all,” the teacher said. “…Thank you for attending Sycamore Grove, Emmett.” She resumed going through the roll call. Emmett chewed on his lip.
That was weird. Someone poked him. Emmett looked over. Carter had gone completely pale.
“What’s wrong?” Emmett whispered.
“You’re a McGucket?” Carter hissed back. Emmett nodded. “Like, the Twister Twins? Sirocco? Hemlock?” Emmett nodded again. “Holy shit, dude.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Bad thing? No, it’s the exact opposite. You didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
“The McGuckets are famous in the villain community,” Carter whispered. Dread began to grow in Emmett’s chest. “And if you’re a McGucket, that means you’re gonna be famous, too.” Emmett’s eyes widened. He looked towards the front of the classroom. A few students were still watching him, visibly intrigued. Emmett swallowed.
Oh. Oh, no.
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Well guys, I had a hell of a morning!
I’m putting this under a read more because there are LOTS of words ahead, but a good amount of Mission content and film location photos if you’re interested!
Today was the day of my helicopter flight. My first ever, and man was I nervous. I like flying in a commercial plane, the bigger the better, because it hardly feels like you’re in the air most of the time. But I have a major fear of heights - or more accurately of falling to my death. When I went up the Queenstown Skyline gondola earlier in the week, which is very steep, I felt sick to my stomach - so understandably I was pretty scared about the idea of flying in a little helicopter no matter how much I wanted to do it.
I was half convinced the flight was going to be cancelled anyway, because of the weather the previous day being terrible, but when I woke up this morning it was blue skies and almost no clouds as far as the eye could see - literally perfect flying conditions. It was meant to be, and this was further proved to me later in the morning too. So off I went, to the airport where Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters operate out of. A quick drive from Queenstown itself.
In no time I was checked in and boarding the little Airbus B3E Squirrel along with four other people. Now, I had booked a short flight over the Remarkables mountain range because it was the cheapest option I could combo with a jetboat. Since everyone else had booked the longer alpine scenic flight that’s what I got too. Win! We took off after a quick briefing, looking awesome in our huge noise cancelling headsets. The take off was so smooth, in fact the entire flight was
The alpine scenic takes you up the mountains to land in snow, no matter what season (it’s summer here). But it also takes you OVER Skippers Canyon - and this is the location where the low level chase scenes in Fallout were filmed. AMAZING, I AM SOLD. NO MORE FEAR. I AM BASICALLY ETHAN HUNT AT THIS POINT (lol lets hope not, I don’t want my helicopter to burst in to flames).
Anyway, before we got there we flew over some incredible mountain ranges to get to Arthur's Point.
I mean...wow. Right?
We eventually landed, right next to some snow, obviously there isn’t a lot left this time of year unless you go much higher up to Coronet Peak or something. Here I am standing in said snow
After playing around for a bit it’s back in the heli for the rest of the flight and more unbelievable views. Weirdly although the noise of the blades is extremely loud, flying like this is very serene and the views are much better than those of a normal plane because obviously you’re nowhere near as high up. This is when our pilot, Jeremy, tells us about some films that used the area for. He mentioned some little films you might’ve heard of; The Lord of the Rings, and Mission: Impossible - Fallout. If you don’t already know, LotR was my entire life for most of my teenage years and I still love it dearly, and obviously Fallout is everything to me. So although I didn’t say anything during the flight, I was living.
We flew over Skippers Canyon, which as I said before is the location of the low level scenes in the helicopter chase. It was impossible to know from there the exact bit of river used and I was too busy taking in all the scenery to ask - I also didn’t think my pilot would know exact locations. From what information I do have though, thanks to Film Otago Southland, it was around the Skippers Canyon bridge, so I think these are pretty accurate
Obviously we couldn’t fly as low as they did in the film, because that would be massively dangerous and I don’t want to die. There were a couple instances of turbulence which felt like a slight drop, which was scary but I was too in the moment to be scared I guess. And I thought at those times, “at least if I have to take over for some reason I know one thing - POWER” thx Ethan you wonderful idiot.
The rest of the flight was just beautifully scenic, taking us over the Shotover river, and over the Ford of Bruinen for any fellow Rings fans, then back over Queenstown itself to land back at base in Frankton. I was grinning from ear to ear by the time we landed, and straight away I wanted to go up again. I’m absolutely blown away by how smooth and comfortable a flight it was, and just what you get to see from the air. I can really imagine now how much the cast and crew must have enjoyed themselves filming here.
Anyway, I thought it was all over then - back at base waiting for our transfer back to the city, when one of the employees said “Oh, did Jeremy tell you that he was a stunt pilot for the new Mission Impossible?”
NO. N O. JEREMY WTF.
Now, I knew that Glacier Southern Lakes was the company McQuarrie chose to work with on helicopter scenes. That is the reason I chose to fly with them. I also knew they had one pilot on their fleet who had assisted with filming but I thought they had brought their stunt team in entirely from the US. I had no idea I was being flown by someone who had been IN THE FILM. OH MY GOD.
At this point, I embarrassed myself in front of everyone else and rightfully freaked out. I explained to the team that I Fallout was possibly my favourite film ever and how much I love the Mission series as a whole. They told me about how the cast and crew had been with them on base for two months planning and filming. Several of their pilot team had worked with them, not just in terms of planning routes and providing helicopters for the crew for filming, but also transporting cast and crew to other locations (such as Milford Sound). They told me that everyone was incredibly friendly, and professional. They also told me no one else has reacted like I did about this film.
Finally Jeremy shows up again and I HAVE to go and talk to him, and shake his hand. I admit I did go a bit fangirl and had to tell him how much I love those scenes and compliment him on his work there, and he was clearly taken aback because no one usually is that interested in it apparently. Let alone 28 year old women who have been fairly quiet and unassuming up until now. Everyone wants to know about Lord of the Rings usually.
He tells me how, yes, he was a stunt pilot during the low level scenes. He piloted the other helicopter. OH, just the one Henry was in. YOu know, no big deal. Okay then. I ask him for a picture, everyone laughs at me but he very happily says yes. So here we are. Jeremy is my new fave tbh. I hope he has a lovely day. He certainly made mine.
So there you go, that’s my adventure. I took a jetboat later in the morning but I got my locations wrong and it did not take me to Skippers Canyon as I had hoped. Also, I think I saw the medical camp location yesterday on my Rings tour, but I’m not entirely sure and my guide had no idea whatsoever.
All in all - one of the best experiences of my life. I had a brilliant time and I would do it again without hesitation. I’d highly recommend if you’re in the Queenstown area you take a flight with Glacier Southern Lakes.
I’m so sad to be leaving NZ tomorrow, but having memories like this certainly helps!
P.S - I spoke with the team at Film Otago Southland recently about filming locations, as well as getting a little more info from the GSLH team too - so if you want a list of rough filming locations please let me know. I can always do a post about it!
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Episode 21: Walk the Line & The Impossible
Both
Welcome to The Costume Plot.
Jojo
I'm Jojo Siu.
Sarah
And I’m Sarah Timm. We're professional designers with a passion for costume design and the performing arts. Our podcast does contain spoilers. Accompanying slideshows for each movie are linked in the episode description.
Jojo
We hope you'll join us every other week as we delve into the wonderful world of costume design in The Costume Plot. [music]
Sarah
Hello!
Jojo
Hello, welcome back.
Sarah
How's it going?
Jojo
Yay. We actually recorded more often this month, and I still feel like it's been forever. [both laugh]
Sarah
I know! We're curring it fine again, too, where we're not that long from release. But that's okay. We have time. It's great. Here we are. We made it.
Jojo
Sorry. It's been a busy month.
Sarah
Jojo's had a lot going on. But we're glad. I'm glad you've made it. Here you are.
Jojo
Thanks. Still surviving somehow. [laughs]
Sarah
Yeah. So I have a thing that I want to talk about at the top of the show today. It's a little bit of self promotion. So I hope our listeners are okay with that. I am competing in the Her Universe Fashion Show, as you guys might know. And it's virtual this year, and there is an audience vote. [editor's note: Votes are now closed! I didn't win!] So I'm campaigning for votes right now! I need your vote. [laughs]
Jojo
Yay!
Sarah
If I win, if I win, I get the chance to design a line with Her Universe that gets sold in Hot Topic. So it's a really big deal. My look is "Hamilton"-inspired. And if you listen to the show, you know I am a big fan of "Hamilton".
Jojo
Yes.
Sarah
I'm really proud of it. And I got to shoot in a theater, like an abandoned theater, from the 20s. So like, I'm just so excited. So all the links that I have so far will be in the description of this episode. We haven't given been giving a lot information. It's on... I'll back up. It's on July 23. [laughs] At 5pm pacific time.
Jojo
Very important.
Sarah
Yeah, that's the important information. And it's part of Comic-Con@Home, San Diego Comic Con. And so we don't have any specific links for where to watch it yet. But I do have a link that will hopefully be updated as the info gets released. And then that will hopefully also have voting stuff. But yes, please watch. And then please vote for me, if you like my look.
Jojo
Yay! Definitely vote for Sarah.
Sarah
Thank you so much.
Jojo
I'm so excited to see it in person.
Sarah
I'm so excited too.
Jojo
I've only been seeing snippets of it.
Sarah
I know. If you follow me on social media, I've been trying my best to kind of like build some suspense. I made a little trailer in iMovie. I'm doing the thing.
Jojo
I saw that. I love it.
Sarah
I'm working hard on trying to get people interested, because I mean... more power to them, but I'm competing against some people who have multiple thousands of followers. Like, 25-100k. So I gotta find a way to stand out, you know, when I don't have that big of a fan base.
Jojo
Mmhmm. Right.
Sarah
Which, like, I'm excited for them that they have that. I just don't.
Jojo
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Sarah
So.
Jojo
We'll get there eventually.
Sarah
I mean, maybe I'll win and then I'll be... my followers will just "whoosh!"... through the roof.
Jojo
That would be great.
Sarah
So then I'm Instagram famous. [both laugh] Okay. Yeah.
Jojo
Perfect. Onto our theme!
Sarah
Our theme this week! I'm going first this week, our theme is... are we calling this "based on real life events"? Is that what we're...?
Jojo
I think so. I think that's what we ended up deciding, like, based on true events.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
And however loosely that is, that is true.
Sarah
Yeah. So real people or real historical events. So I chose "Walk the Line". Because I'm not usually a biopic person. I often find them to be a little bit... I don't wanna say "heavy handed," but it's sort of like they're always sort of Oscar-bait movies. And they're really melodramatic sometimes, but I really like "Walk the Line". And I'm not even a giant Johnny Cash fan. I just love this movie.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
I think I also just really love Reese Witherspoon. So that helps a lot. She's...
Jojo
She's pretty great.
Sarah
...one of my faves. Okay, so I'll just dive in. It was released in 2005. So I was like, you know... it still feels like a very current movie to me, but it's very much not. Because that was...
Jojo
I know, I forget how far away 2005 was. Like, that really wasn't that long ago, but...
Sarah
Once again, just facing our own mortality on this show. Going, "What? ...Okay."
Jojo
How have we passed this many years already?
Sarah
[laughs] Exactly. It was directed by James Mangold, who is a very prolific director. He's done "Logan," "Ford v. Ferrari," "3:10 to Yuma," "Girl, Interrupted," and he's also a producer. So he produced "Greatest Showman," lots of blockbuster movies. And the costumes were designed by Arianne Phillips, who works a lot with James Mangold. So she designed a lot of those movies that I just mentioned, in addition to "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," "Kingsman: The Golden Circle," "Nocturnal Animals," which I heard is not a very good movie, but the costumes are great. [laughs]
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And then she also has a really long-standing working relationship with Madonna. So she has styled basically everything Madonna has done, like in the last...
Jojo
That's amazing.
Sarah
...decade, at least. So, good for her. That's great.
Jojo
Yeah, exactly.
Sarah
Oh, and she also did a couple of really iconic movies that I haven't even seen. But if I can... I can imagine the looks from them. So those are "Tank Girl" and "The Crow". And I'm like...
Jojo
[gasps] Ooooh.
Sarah
...I know both of those visually, even though I haven't seen them.
Jojo
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sarah
So she's done a lot of great work.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
She has been nominated for three Oscars, one for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," one for "W.E.,", which makes sense, because didn't Madonna direct that?
Jojo
I think so.
Sarah
And then this movie. And she has not won an Oscar yet, but she probably will eventually.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
And she has been nominated for a lot of Costume Designers' Guild Awards, and she won one for "W.E.". And then she also has a Tony for "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" on Broadway, because I think she did the movie as well.
Jojo
Oh yeah, I forgot she did that one. Yeah.
Sarah
Yeah. So it's cool... I like when-- it happened with my movie last week, too, where the designers also got to design the stage adaptation of the movie that they designed. I think that's cool. Okay, so the movie itself was in part based on two autobiographies, "Man in Black" from 1975, and "Cash: the Autobiography" from 1997. Although they say that the film goes deeper into some painful sort of subjects that Johnny Cash himself didn't really dive into in those books.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
I don't really have any other like background on the movie itself. I think they were trying to get it made for a really long time. And it just like, finally happened in 2005. So let me share my screen. I have a lot of pictures this week. So I think that, you know, I'll obviously put all of them on Pinterest, but I might have to weed out a few for Instagram, or I might have to do two posts, we'll kind of see how I feel.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
Partly because I have some real life pictures, as you can see, to compare to the movie.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And then also because we go through, like, three decades. We go from the 40s through to the late 60s. So there's a lot of periods being represented.
Jojo
A lot of period wear.
Sarah
I don't know why put this one first. That doesn't go first. That's not it. [both laugh] That one's first. Okay, so we open in 1944. I mean, basically, the story of this movie is Johnny Cash's life, which is... he starts growing up in rural Arkansas. And he loses his older brother very young, in a tablesaw accident, which is really sad. And it seems like it informs a lot of his life, and his trauma, throughout the movie.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
And then he joins the military and gets married. And then he kind of hits it big in music. And then it's basically just about his musical career, and also his struggle with drugs and alcohol. And then also his eventual relationship with June Carter, who he falls in love with when he's already married to his first wife. And he doesn't exactly stay faithful to her. But then he and June...
Jojo
[laughs] As we well know.
Sarah
[laughs] Yeah. He and June eventually do get married. And, you know, after the events of this movie, they were married for like 35 years. Until they both passed away. So that's the story. It's Johnny Cash's life. Okay. So here we are in 1940s Arkansas, and I like these sort of first scenes, they're very warm in color, I feel like. Everything looks kind of dusty, but also really hot, you know, and it kind of sets the mood of this. They're very poor. So this is him and his brother, he... Johnny is on the left. And when he's young, he goes by the name JR. And he has a lot of guilt because his brother, he says, is the good son. Basically, his brother wants to be a preacher and is really good at minding his parents and is really helpful, and JR just feels lesser-than, like he's not as good as his brother. So.... Oh, also his dad is abusive. And his dad even says, after his brother dies, he says, "God took the wrong son," basically.
Jojo
Mmhmm. Yeah.
Sarah
So that's gonna really impart some trauma on your child, to say something like that.
Jojo
Just a little bit.
Sarah
Just a little bit. Yeah, so this is them going fishing. And their little relationship is so cute, they're clearly very close. And so it's even more heartbreaking that one of them dies. And then this is his mom, who is the one who teaches him to sing and stuff. And this is... oh, I have this, and I was thinking about cutting it, but I have a picture of her later in the movie. So I wanted to compare, you know, her. Because she's not in a lot in the movie. But we see her go through a big change, you know, after Johnny is successful and is probably like, paying for her to have a happy life. A happy, comfortable life later in life.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
So, yeah... oh... yeah, I put these in a dumb order. Okay, this one. [both laugh] Sometimes I label them wrong.
Jojo
I do the same thing.
Sarah
So this is Johnny thing after he goes and serves in Germany. And that's kind of like... not really focused on in the movie. But... this is... he has a job, basically, as a door to door salesman, and he's not doing a very good job at it. So this outfit really says to me a real lack of personality, because he hasn't really found who he is yet. He hasn't found his own identity. He hasn't found even-- he knows that he likes to sing. But he hasn't really let himself think that maybe he could be a successful music artist.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
And also, when he first tries, when he first starts a band, they do exclusively gospel music. And the radio guy who they meet with is like, "Gospel music doesn't sell anymore. What do you have?" And so he like, on a whim, plays him... the famous song about shooting man in Reno. Can't remember what it's called. [editor's note: "Folsom Prison Blues"]
Jojo
You're asking the wrong person, I'm so bad with names. [laughs]
Sarah
I don't know.
Jojo
I know what you're talking about, though.
Sarah
I honestly... "I hear a train a-comin'." I don't know. Anyway, I really liked this soundtrack in high school when it came out.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
I just don't remember the names of the songs. So this is them playing for that radio guy.
Jojo
Mmm.
Sarah
And it's not really communicated why he chose black. But black becomes, obviously, his signature color. Maybe it's just like, they all had black in their wardrobe. So they were like, "let's all just wear black."
Jojo
Right. Pretty standard color.
Sarah
Yeah. And his wife says, "It looks like you're going to a funeral." And throughout the movie, people tell him that. And he's like, "maybe I am."
Jojo
[laughs] "Maybe that's exactly what I'm doing."
Sarah
Let's see. So there's an LA Times article that's an interview with Arianne Phillips, and she says, "You can read a lot into it. Black is a very humble color, and Cash was a working man's man. He was also an outsider who didn't belong to the rock world, or the country world. And there was something shocking at the time about wearing all black. It's what you wore to funerals. So it worked for him on many levels." So he just becomes... he becomes the man in black, you know.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
This is his wife, Vivian. And I have a lot to say about her.
Jojo
[laughs]
Sarah
Because... so she's played by Ginnifer Goodwin, who we can see here, I like this. I really like this pattern of this gingham with the stripe, with the cardigan on top.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
I pulled it because it's like my favorite look of hers. But I want to talk about stuff that isn't even costume related when it comes to her character. So his wife, Vivian, let's get into it. She was...
Jojo
[laughs] Let's dive deep.
Sarah
I'm ready. She was a mixed race woman. And I found this out because a Twitter thread came across my page recently where it was like, "can't believe they cast Ginnifer Goodwin to play a black woman," basically. And I was like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are we talking about here?" So I did some research. Her grandparents were from Italy. And then Vivian, according to her at the time, her grandmother--I mean, her mother's family--was like, German and Irish.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
So in real life, Vivian was photographed at a court hearing with Johnny when he was arrested for drug possession. And in the photo, she looks darker skinned than him. And so at the time, I found an article... oh, in the Washington Post, and it said, "at the time in the eyes of most Americans, you were either black or you weren't." And interracial marriage would not become legal until 1967. So leaders of the racist National State's Rights Party in Alabama ran an article in their newspaper "exposing" Johnny for having a "Negro" wife, basically being like, "they're trying to hide the fact that she's black."
Jojo
Ahh. Right.
Sarah
And they were connected to the KKK, this organization was, and they boycotted him for like a year. So he had to basically file a counter attack and sue them for this, because Vivian at the time thought that she was white. She had gone to all white schools, and on her birth certificate, marriage certificate, it says Caucasian, because...
Jojo
Ah, right.
Sarah
That's what their whole family thought they were. So in THIS year, February of 2021, Roseanne Cash--Johnny's daughter, who is also a country star in her own right--went on the show "Finding Your Roots". Which is about genealogy and DNA tracing.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
And they found that Vivian Cash's--so Vivian, the wife's--maternal great great grandmother was an enslaved black woman named Sarah Shields, whose white Father, in 1848, had "granted her and her eight siblings their freedom and their passage into whiteness." So she married a white man. And by the time Jim Crow arrived in the 1930s, all of her children and their descendants were listed as white. So...
Jojo
Wow.
Sarah
...she had basically erased her own blackness, Sarah Shields did, from her descendants.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
So Vivian Cash did not even know that she had a black ancestor.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
So, I was ready to come on the podcast and be like, "Can you believe they whitewashed this character?" But in 2005...
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
...we were still taking Vivian's word for it--and her whole family's word for it--that she didn't have any black relatives.
Jojo
Yeah. Yeah.
Sarah
So isn't that interesting? [laughs]
Jojo
That's so crazy. Like to, I mean, to not know that, too. I feel like...
Sarah
I know.
Jojo
...that's such a huge part of your identity, to not know for your entire-- I mean, for your adult life too, not even... like, it's one thing if you didn't know as a kid, because you just didn't know any better. But to have have that all throughout your adulthood, like, that's crazy.
Sarah
Yeah, it probably made the real Vivian's life easier that she had been passing, you know?
Jojo
Oh, yeah. Right.
Sarah
But it is kind of heartbreaking to know that, like, this enslaved woman's story wasn't known until now.
Jojo
Yeah. Until many, many, many years later.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
That's crazy!
Sarah
I know! So I just thought it was really interesting. The other thing I'll say about this character is that... this is the thing I don't like about biopics. It's that there's often, in the stories of great men--like, genius men--there's often a first wife or a first girlfriend who is just seen as a long-suffering wife, who has his children. But basically, the audience is kind of meant to see her as a complainer who's holding him back from achieving his destiny.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
And I definitely think that she serves that role in this movie. And it kind of is a disservice to her, because they were married for like 12 years.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And probably a lot of those years were really difficult for her. So I think it sucks for her to just be portrayed as like, she's holding him back from being the real Johnny Cash, and also holding him back from his relationship with June, which is also problematic.
Jojo
Right, right. I think that's a lot of biopics, too, it's like, you know.... Oh, you're right. She definitely... she definitely looks like she has some sort of Black in her history.
Sarah
Yeah, she looks darker skinned. And like, you know, at the time, she was probably just like, "Oh, I have olive tone. I have Italian, you know, Mediterranean DNA."
Jojo
Right, right. Right.
Sarah
Yeah. So that's the real life Vivian and Johnny. Okay.
Jojo
So interesting.
Sarah
I know, right? So I... that just kind of gave me the lesson of, like: don't get mad about things you see on Twitter without actually reading what they're about. [laughs]
Jojo
Do the research first.
Sarah
Yeah. All right. Moving on. Moving on. So this is Jerry Lee Lewis, and I love him. He's sort of... he has a more flamboyant style, obviously. My brother was watching this movie with me and said he looked really 70s, and I could agree with that.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
Even though this is the 50s at this point. He has sort of, like, unbuttoned... very rakish hair. And then this is him in real life. So I feel like it's a pretty good job casting.
Jojo
Ohh. Yeah.
Sarah
Okay, let's talk about June because let's get to the main event, honestly.
Jojo
Yeah!
Sarah
This is a picture of Reese on set. So her hair is not... like, I think her hair is in rollers.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And she's just walking to or from. But this is the best picture I could find of this whole dress. There's not a lot of really good high quality pictures out there.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
And Arianne talks about this costume. So she says for June Carter Cash, she referenced 1950s Howdy Doody culture and Minnie Pearl, who... I don't know really who that is. Didn't Google it. "She found her talisman for the character at the Santa Monica Vintage Expo, a ruffled red organza dress with a sweetheart neckline and Swiss dot overlay," that she wears in basically her first scene. And they had to rework it, and redo it, because it was rotting, apparently.
Jojo
Ohh.
Sarah
So I wonder if that means that they replaced the whole lining, or did they take a pattern off it and basically make a replica? Unclear. Yeah. And she says, "the dress summed up for me the place that June Carter comes from as a child performer, as this comedic character at the Grand Ole Opry. I knew we would see her transform into a woman but the starting point was this cartoonish country girl." So June says in the movie that her sisters are the pretty ones and the talented ones, and that she had to learn to be funny.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
And so we can see, sort of, it's a little immature and young-looking, and definitely sort of cartoony.
Jojo
Mmhmm. Very comedic.
Sarah
Yes, exactly. Here is that dress onstage. And they said... I watched an interview with her on YouTube as well. She said that they did a screen test in this video.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
And the... not the network. The... the studio! That's the word I'm looking for. [both laugh] The studio got worried because the sleeves were really poofy. And it was just this sort of... it was more cartoony than they were originally... thinking.
Jojo
...Expecting. Yeah.
Sarah
Yeah. And when you book a name as big as Reese Witherspoon, the studio definitely wants Reese Witherspoon's fans to come to the movie and see Reese Witherspoon.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
Like, people are expecting to recognize her. So they don't want the costume to swallow her and be all that people can focus on. So...
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
...studio notes are often like, "Oh, make the lead sexier," or "tone this down."
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And I think that they took some extra ruffles off the sleeves from what it originally looked like. But it looks pretty-- they showed some footage of the screen test and it looks pretty much the same.
Jojo
Mmhmm. I mean, they still kept that poof sleeve too. I feel like there's still that. It doesn't take away enough from her, that you're not like, "oh, who is that?" Or like, "I'm so distracted."
Sarah
Yeah. Exactly. Agreed. So this is Johnny onstage. And he goes... we see a few of his sort of onstage outfits before he starts only wearing black. It seems like he started wearing exclusively black on stage in the 60s. So this is him in the 50s, it's this lovely red- burgundy.
Jojo
Yeah. Oooh.
Sarah
I like that.
Jojo
Does he have a design on his lapel too?
Sarah
Oh, it... does it say JC?
Jojo
Or J... oh yeah, that's pretty cool.
Sarah
It's hard to find pictures of this movie, which is surprising.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
Like, I always expect, if it was nominated for costumes, that I'll be able to find really good pictures of the costumes.
Jojo
That's what you would think!
Sarah
Not so much.
Jojo
Nope.
Sarah
So this is June later on when they're on tour. And they're kind of just walking through town, having some time off. And so we see this in contrast to her stage persona, her real life wardrobe is a lot more subdued. It's still very sweet and feminine, but it's definitely more grown up, and as she goes through the movie, it definitely gets more and more grown up as she evolves and comes into her own. Oh... do have a picture? I don't think I do. So in the interview Arianne said she found an orange and green flowered dress, a vintage one, because apparently the budget was pretty small for this.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
So she used a lot of actual vintage, borrowed... you know, found for cheap. And one of them she found, she found an actual picture of June Carter Cash in that exact same dress! Like, she found the actual dress.
Jojo
Oooh. Yeah.
Sarah
But I couldn't figure out which dress it was, because she wears two that are orange and green floral. [laughs]
Jojo
"Which one?!"
Sarah
And it's not this one, but they're later in the movie. So I think I got rid of the pictures because I was like, "I don't know which one it is." So I can't really hold this up and be like, "See?"
Jojo
[laughs] Right. Right.
Sarah
So that was frustrating.
Jojo
I do love the floral motif that she has on a lot of her stuff.
Sarah
Yeah, I like the colors that she wears too. She doesn't stick to certain colors.
Jojo
Right. Right.
Sarah
I would say generally it's pretty warm. She does wear a little bit of blue. But yeah, it's just like a nice... you know, wardrobe.
Jojo
Fun. I would wear this skirt.
Sarah
Yeah, it's cute.
Jojo
If I wore skirts more often. [laughs]
Sarah
I wear too many skirts. Like, when I go to thrift stores I go to the skirts first and I ended up with... I have so many of them, and I keep buying them because I love them. Anyway.
Jojo
[laughs] They're great.
Sarah
So this is her onstage singing later in the movie. I think we might be moving into late 50s at this point. And then I have a full body shot of this. So once again with a floral motif.
Jojo
So cute!
Sarah
I know, right? She's got a little bit of a bouffant happening.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
And this is definitely more streamlined in silhouette than that frilly one was at the beginning. So she's moving away from her cartoony image and into more of a serious singer.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
This is her onstage again. Once again, could not find great picture. I found some on a mannequin.
Jojo
So sad!
Sarah
I think it was auctioned, so here's this.
Jojo
So cute.
Sarah
And I thought, looking at this picture of her onstage, that it was beaded.
Jojo
Yeah, I was gonna say that's what I thought too.
Sarah
Yeah, cuz it's sparkly. But I found this, and you can see that it's like a metallic embroidery?
Jojo
Oh, yeah. It's almost like a trim.
Sarah
Yeah, it's very sparkly, but it's not actually beads. It's the fabric.
Jojo
I wonder if it's real metal, because you know how they used to have that on some of the trims?
Sarah
Right.
Jojo
That's probably what's creating that extra sparkle
Sarah
Could totally be. Okay, so what's next? We're moving into.... Okay, I have this picture, it's called "John is a mess."
Jojo
[laughs]
Sarah
Because he's a mess. This is when he basically has lost everything, he had a breakdown on stage. He's drinking too much. He's doing drugs. Vivian has left him at this point. So he's living in this nasty apartment.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
And he's wearing this, it looks like a tux shirt, because of the pleats.
Jojo
Oh, yeah.
Sarah
But it's clearly very... he hasn't showered, it's very yellowed. Looking pretty gross. And then... oh, I liked this. Because we got to see some period children's wear. This is an upsetting scene, as you can see, the children are crying. [laughs] But...
Jojo
It's so funny to me, because it's always those little scenes of children that we're always like, "Okay, we HAVE to get these images." Because you just don't see them very often.
Sarah
I love period children's wear!
Jojo
I know. It's great.
Sarah
Children look so cute in vintage clothes.
Jojo
So cute. I can't wait.
Sarah
I was at a party the other day and one of the kids running around was wearing... it looked like a little Oktoberfest dirndl, but it was vintage.
Jojo
Yes!
Sarah
It was like a three year old girl wearing a vintage dress.
Jojo
Love that.
Sarah
And I was like, "that girl looks so good."
Jojo
On point, mom! On point.
Sarah
I know. I was like, "you're doing it correctly." I love that. Yeah, I mean... I haven't anything to say about them. They're just cute. And I like seeing period kid's clothes.
Jojo
Yeah. Yep. Agreed.
Sarah
Okay, how am I doing on time? I'm doing great on time! Yay.
Jojo
Woohoo!
Sarah
This is Thanksgiving, later when Johnny is starting to get his act together, but hasn't quite. But he invites basically his parents and then June and her parents, and it ends up getting very awkward because his dad is very... his dad sucks, basically, his dad is really mean. But this is in the 60s, as you can see from the hair, and such. [laughs]
Jojo
Yep.
Sarah
And on the left here, this is Johnny's mom. So she's gone through a big transformation since we saw her in the 40s, of course. She has money. She's hopefully happier, even though her husband sucks.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And then June in the middle is... oh, I have this dress. Here it is.
Jojo
So beautiful.
Sarah
It's pretty.
Jojo
It's that lantern sleeve that I love again!
Sarah
I know, we love a lantern sleeve.
Jojo
So funny. I keep seeing that everywhere. I'm like, "just looks good every time I see it."
Sarah
It does. And also, in my opinion, it's timeless.
Jojo
Yeah, I agree. It's a really elegant look.
Sarah
Yes.
Jojo
Especially, I mean, most of the ones I've seen happen to be transparent or some kind of see-through material. So maybe I'm just a little more biased, but I just think it looks really nice. And it's just, I don't know, it's kind of secretive and seductive while also being classy.
Sarah
Yeah, you're covered up, but you're not.
Jojo
Right, exactly.
Sarah
Totally. So this dress is, I think it's probably chiffon. It's this gorgeous burgundy. It looks so good with her brown hair.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And it's totally free of surface decoration, you know? So it's like her final sort of evolution into a more mature adult woman. And then, I would say, we talk a lot about how in period movies you can kind of tell what era they're made in, because they don't quite go all the way to the period.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
And I think that we can see that in Reese's hair for a lot of the movie, and probably a little bit in the makeup too, because her makeup looks pretty modern for the time in a lot of the shots, like this one right here. I mean, she has a maybe a little liquid eyeliner on. And the lipstick is definitely pink. You know, that's definitely a 50s/60s color. But...
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
I think the way she's styled, they clearly wanted to make sure ...like I said, the studio wanted to make sure that people saw her.
Jojo
...It was a good enough balance that it still felt like it could relate to contemporary audience.
Sarah
Exactly. They don't want to make... they don't want to alienate her from her audience by making her look too removed from the Reese that we know and love. So I think that that's a pretty good balance, actually, that they struck, because this hairstyle is pretty period looking. But it's also... it also looks kind of 2005, so there's that.
Jojo
Yeah, seriously.
Sarah
All right. Oh, I was close to cutting this picture. But I was like, "couldn't possibly do it." This coat.
Jojo
I love it. Love it so much.
Sarah
So good.
Jojo
I do love a good pea coat. in general.
Sarah
It's... I love all coats. I love codes from all periods. I think everybody looks good in coats. I like summer a lot, but I will say some of my best outfits involve a jacket, because I love jackets and coats.
Jojo
Yeah. That's why I miss fall so much. All the pea coats you can wear.
Sarah
This is when she she takes him to... she's basically helping him get his his life together. And she takes him to church. So here they are going to church. And he's kind of like, I don't know... I like a lot of his offstage wear and I would have pulled some of it but this movie stays really tight on like, heads and shoulders. So there weren't any good screencaps I could find of most of the stuff he wears offstage. So, you'll just have to trust me that a lot of it's really cute. [laughs]
Jojo
I trust you, Sarah.
Sarah
All right. And here is his freakin'... like, he's back. He's at the record label being like, "guess what? I'm gonna play a show at Folsom Prison." And they're like, "Say what?" And actually, I enjoyed this because there was a scene of him getting dressed. So... ta-da. Close up on that fabric. I love it.
Jojo
Mmhmm. Ooh, yeah.
Sarah
Arianne said that while they had a small budget, the money they did spend was getting a lot of his stuff custom made. So...
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
...you can kind of tell, you know, it looks great, especially this outfit.
Jojo
That's usually how we prioritize, you know. The lead character usually is who gets kind of the more custom made items, or at least the ones that are... a little more focus are put on them.
Sarah
Exactly. And I think she probably saved a lot of money on shoes, because like I said, hardly any shots of anybody's full body in this movie. [laughs]
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
Okay, and then here's him performing at Folsom. And I like this because of the the stark visual contrast between all of the inmates in blue, and then him in black in the middle. I just think it's a really effective picture.
Jojo
Mmhmm. Yeah.
Sarah
And then I have one last one. This is when they're performing on stage. And he proposes her onstage, which is a very sweet scene. But she also had said no to him so many times. Like, obviously, he knew that she was in love with him. And he could feel that and probably could feel that she wanted to marry him. But he also... it's also just a little bit like he pressures her into it. Just a tiny... it's still very sweet, though.
Jojo
Juuust a little bit.
Sarah
It's... Yeah.
Jojo
I mean, anytime you do something that public.
Sarah
Right, you're like...
Jojo
They don't really have another option.
Sarah
Exactly. You're like, "Oh, so you won't say yes on the tour bus. So you'll say yes onstage in front of hundreds of people." [both laugh] I like this outfit on June. I think it looks a little bit 2000s-y. But I wonder if it is vintage. And it just kind of happens to look contemporary?
Jojo
Yeah, like maybe a repeated silhouette or something.
Sarah
Yeah, exactly. But it's very nice. Oh, and then this is when we come to this picture, because this is them onstage in the 60s.
Jojo
Oh, cute.
Sarah
I know. As we can see, the hair; very different. They did not go for a full 60s bouffant on her.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
For reasons as we have discussed. But I love this little dress. Look at this kicky little skirt. So cute!
Jojo
Very cute.
Sarah
Okay, so the thing I just wanted to finish up saying, is I watched... like I said, I watched an interview with her. It was at a film festival of some kind, and it was her and James Mangold.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
The director. And she just brought up a couple points. And I was like, "let's chat about that a little bit." She talked a lot about how the wardrobe department is an actor's, basically, first foray into their character.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
It's often the first thing they do on the movie, having a costume fitting and meeting with the costume designer.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
So lots of times, the movie actor is coming from another project, they're really busy. You know, this is the first chance they've had to kind of stand there and be like, "oh, who is this character? What did they look like? How do they stand?"
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
So I just thought that was really interesting, that costumes are often their first chance to see themselves as the character.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And they also they find a lot of their physicality in costume fittings, how are they going to stand? How are they going to walk?
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
So I just thought that was a really good point. And probably something that average people don't necessarily know, is that like, the first thing is not a rehearsal, sometimes. Sometimes the first thing is costumes.
Jojo
Yeah. And that happens often very late in the game, especially for theatre. So it's like, sometimes... I mean, they have been doing their own research into the character, but once they actually see themselves. And I had that conversation with a few actors too, where they're like, "I was getting into my character, and I was understanding them a little bit. But it wasn't until I got into the costume that I fully embodied, like, who this character was." So that's always a kind of rewarding moment, I feel like, for designers. Because it really does mean you've thought about it... I mean, you both have thought about it. And you've clearly made those choices very intentionally. But to see the actor really get into the character that you've created for them too is a really nice part of the collaboration, I think.
Sarah
Totally. And things can change, obviously, that's what fittings are for.
Jojo
Yeah, absolutely.
Sarah
And so something that you as a designer might think was perfect for the character, the actor might be like, "Well, I'm not sure, you know, if this is right, because of these reasons," and then you find, and you explore it together. And that's how it should be. It should be a dialogue and a relationship between you--the designer--the actor, and the director. It should be a collaboration and that's what I love about it.
Jojo
Right. And that's what makes it so collaborative, is that you are having an open dialogue about it, and that it's not just "you just do whatever I want." Although that sometimes may be the case, if you've had a really extensive conversation with a director. But yeah, I think that's very important. So that's cool.
Sarah
Yeah. And then the other thing she talks about is like, she said that she specializes in distracting actors during fittings. And I was like, "that's interesting." Because actors can often feel really objectified.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And I think it can be dehumanizing, especially, to be in a costume fitting when people are staring at your body, talking about your body, like you aren't in the room.
Jojo
Right?
Sarah
So it can be really hard when you make your living off of partially how you look.
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
So she said she likes to just chat with them and get them out of their head and get them out of focusing on the flaws they see in the mirror and just really work on her relationship with them in the fitting. And I was like, "yeah, that's a good thing to do." Because you don't want them to feel like they're just a mannequin being dressed.
Jojo
Yeah. Yeah, I feel like sometimes those are the most.... Well, I guess I'm a little more biased, because most of the costume designers that I know, that I think are really successful, are the ones that do build that rapport with their actors, and sometimes become friends with their actors, because they've built up that relationship. And they've built that trust. And that's also-- I mean, you never know, an actor sometimes can be the one getting you the next job, too.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
Even though people don't necessarily think about it that way. But you know, it's such a small industry, you really don't ever know who's going to get you your next job.
Sarah
Totally.
Jojo
So I think building that relationship with whoever you're working with, and in this case with actors, it's the most intimate relationship that you can have. It really does go a long way, when you're able to build that trust. I mean, you know, Arianne is the perfect example with Madonna, building up that trust and being that person that becomes her go-to. That's how she got a lot of her other work.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
So it's kind of a cool... like, you get to see sort of how the relationship changes and shifts and builds and still kind of benefits both parties, because of that trust. So that's always important.
Sarah
Totally. Yeah. Yeah.
Jojo
So excitiing.
Sarah
So that's "Walk the Line". And those are my little side tangents that I was like, "let's chat about this, this will be fun."
Jojo
Good sidewalk conversations. [both laugh]
Sarah
Yeah. We like sort of diving into stuff that, you know, average, people who don't necessarily work in the industry might not think about or know. And it's all about shedding light and opening people up to what they might not know about.
Jojo
Yeah. And hopefully that's, you know, that's what makes our podcast interesting, too, is...
Sarah
I hope so too. [laughs]
Jojo
... hearing more of that stuff. And even though it is costume related, but yeah.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Opening it up to other things, because we don't just live in a vacuum of costume.
Sarah
Totally, it's not just about the pretty dresses, even though it we like those too.
Jojo
Yeah, very true.
Sarah
All right.
Jojo
Okay, let me...
Sarah
Are you ready? What's your movie?
Jojo
I'm doing "The Impossible," which... I'm just trying to get my stuff loaded up. So I can see my notes, as well as my pictures.
Sarah
Yeah, no problem.
Jojo
And I don't have a ton of pictures for this. Because again, very similar to Sarah, even though this movie actually got quite a few nominations, and Oscar wins, there were just really not a ton of pictures of this. And I mean, some of it is kind of understandable. Because it is a movie that is about a natural disaster. And so, you know, a lot of the costumes are naturally very, very distressed.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
And it's not like it's some beautiful thing that you see on a mannequin that you can put on afterwards. It's really more about kind of seeing the realistic, I guess, and natural way that costumes can break down over time. So I kind of wanted to choose it for that reason, because as many of you know, I am really into distressing costumes. And I've talked about this in the past. So this, unfortunately... there were not a lot of pictures of all kind of the step by steps, which I wish that I could have gotten. But I'm going to try and at least get some kind of important beats throughout the movie, where we can actually see how the costume kind of changed, at least. And sort of how the the costume designer-- it was actually multiple--how they were sort of coming up with, you know, where these outfits came from and that kind of thing.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
Okay, so really quick, just talking about some of the background for "The Impossible". The director is J.A. Bay... Bayona? I think that's how you say his name. I believe he's actually a Spanish--like, from Spain--director. I don't know exactly what his ethnicity is, but he did projects like "The Orphanage," which was his directorial debut. He also did "A Monster Calls," which I've never...
Sarah
Oh yeah.
Jojo
...I've never actually seen the movie but I have a whole book on all of the the creative visual effects that they did for that movie, which is phenomenal.
Sarah
I've read the book that that's based on, but I have not seen the movie.
Jojo
Okay. Yeah. And then he also did "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom". So one of the newer ones.
Sarah
Okay! Wow.
Jojo
So his choices of what he directs is very, very eclectic and very versatile. So that was kind of interesting. But his directorial resume actually is not super long. But the fact is, even though he hasn't done a ton of projects, they've all been pretty big and well recognized at least. And then in terms of the costume designer, it was actually three people. And again, they're all... none of them are very big designers. Anne Bingeman, I think is how you say her name. She did "Deception". And she also did the the comedy "Bachelorette".
Sarah
Oh yeah, I've seen that.
Jojo
Yeah. Which I was like, "Oh, that's interesting." Very different movies.
Sarah
Did we watch that together?
Jojo
We might have! I feel like we did.
Sarah
With Jessica?
Jojo
Oh yeah, I think we did.
Sarah
[both laugh] I think we did!
Jojo
That's so funny, because I was like, "I know I watched it with somebody."
Sarah
That's really funny.
Jojo
And then Sparka Lee, which I thought was a very interesting name, literally spelled "spark" with an A at the end. She's mostly a costume supervisor and assistant. And I think that was kind of her role in this as well.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
But she did "The Constant Gardener". She was an assistant, I believe, for "Resident Evil," "Speed Racer," "The Reader," and then she was a supervisor for a lot of "The Queen's Gambit".
Sarah
Oh, nice.
Jojo
So she's probably had a little bit more of a recognizable career than the other two. And then the third costume designer was Maria Reyes. And she does a lot more foreign TV shows. So I don't think... there was a lot of stuff that I didn't recognize, I wrote them down. But they're not things-- they're not titles that I recognize. They're "Merli," "Oh Happy Day," which is also a TV show. And then "La torre de Suso," which I think is also a movie. But again, all titles that I was like, "I've never heard of any of these things." But maybe it's just because it's in a different country. And I've just haven't seen them.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
So yeah, so that's just a little bit of background. Just to tell you a little bit more about the actual event that this was based on... it follows a tourist family who ends up heading to Thailand, and this was back in like 2004. So there was a huge tsunami, which is actually... it said that it was one of the largest tsunamis in record, even to today. And that occurred in the Indian Ocean. So basically it pretty much wiped out the entire coast of Thailand in 2004. So there were, let's see, what were the statistics that I wrote down? It was considered the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. It was a 200 foot wave. It wiped away entire towns and the lives of over 200,000 people across 14 countries.
Sarah
Oh my god.
Jojo
So this thing was huge. And it was traveling from Indonesia. But this this particular movie focuses mostly on Thailand. And then the death toll in Thailand was nearly 5400, including 2000 foreign tourists.
Sarah
Wow.
Jojo
So this focuses on one specific tourist family who, miraculously, all five of the family members ended up surviving. But there were obviously a lot of other tourist deaths that were also happening at this time.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
So just to give you a little bit more background, because again, I don't have a ton of pictures. But I was curious how well they translated, I guess, what happened in real life versus what happened to this family, because it is a very isolated event. And actually, it only took place over about two days.
Sarah
Oh, wow.
Jojo
But of course, the entire time during the movie, you're just like... I was like crying and tense and all these other emotions, just because I was like, "I don't know what's going to happen to these people, even though I kind of do."
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
And also you're just watching them almost drown multiple times. And I think he spends a lot of time focusing on them underwater, getting hit and all this debris and everything. So of course, all those moments, you're kind of just sitting in tension, waiting, and hoping that they're going to resurface and and be able to breathe and survive. But the original family... and this is what I wanted to kind of touch base on, because I was a little confused. And there is a lot of critiquing about how they portrayed this movie, because the original family that survived was actually Spanish.
Sarah
Oh.
Jojo
And of course, all the actors that they cast for this were all well known white actors. And I think there was a back and forth of like, well, they chose these white actors. And there's a lot of white savior complex in there, even though there is you know, obviously they were in Thailand, and so they took a lot of the locals to portray, you know, the hospitals and the nurses and all the people that ended up helping. But the big critique was that it was essentially at the very end of it, the white family that survived while they didn't really focus on how much it actually affected the Thai people in the aftermath.
Sarah
Do you know if if the family, the original family, was Spanish from Spain? Or were they Hispanic?
Jojo
I believe they were from Spain. So yeah, not Hispanic, sorry.
Sarah
There are white people in Spain but like...
Jojo
Correct.
Sarah
...it still would have been better to cast actual Spanish people.
Jojo
Yeah. And I mean, it's very clear, the original lady was named Maria Belón. She was a physician. And then her husband's name is Enrique Álvarez. So you know, it's interesting the choices that they made. And you know, in justification, they actually did have the original Maria Belón come back, and literally be an advisor on--and guider on--the entire film.
Sarah
That's good.
Jojo
So she had a lot of, like... she was telling a lot of her own experience. And they said that their first interview with her... because I think she was also trying to figure out if these filmmakers were the right people to tell her story. Her first interview with them was actually five hours long, just her telling what happened.
Sarah
Wow.
Jojo
And I was like, "five hours?" Like, I can't even imagine. So a lot of, actually, what happened to Naomi Watts in the movie did in fact happen to Maria, in very much the same way. Even the way that the tsunami originally, or initially, approached them or attacked them. Like, they said that they actually had the family members standing in the same exact spot at that resort, where their family was. And I was like, "yikes." Like, I don't-- as an actor...
Sarah
Wow.
Jojo
...I don't know that I would.... Like, that would have been so mentally like... I'm not ready for this.
Sarah
That's a... that's heavy. That's like...
Jojo
It is.
Sarah
...that's a lot.
Jojo
Definitely. And they actually, so they were from Japan originally. Sorry-- they lived in Japan for Álvarez's job. And then they ended up going to Thailand for Christmas. So they were actually there for holiday.
Sarah
It was Christmas time?
Jojo
Yeah. So crazy.
Sarah
That is heartbreaking.
Jojo
And then they said that in terms of the actual injuries that she suffered--because I was also curious about how much of that they translated--Belón apparently suffered severe thigh and chest injuries, which is also what they did in the movie for Naomi Watts. So like, very, very much exactly like what she experienced was what they kind of recreated.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Both parents ended up being separated from their children. So they had three sons, Lucas, Simón, and Tomás were the original names. They changed them to very white names of Lucas, Simon and Thomas.
Sarah
Ooh.
Jojo
And then even Enrique, they changed to Henry. Maria, they kept as Maria. But their last name was actually Bennett instead of, you know, Maria Belón and Álvarez.
Sarah
That's...
Jojo
So like that part of it, I was a little bit like, "uhhhh..."
Sarah
How do you excuse that? Like, how do you... we wanted to get the movie made, and we didn't think that they would fund a movie with no white people in it?
Both
[editor's note: our apologies, we do know that Spain is primarily Caucasian. Our use of "white people" in these exchanges is incorrect. We meant that instead of casting people who looked like the familiy--dark hair and olive skin--they cast very fair people and Anglicized their names, essentially changing the fact that the family is Spanish.]
Jojo
Right. And I think that was the one person that critiqued it. They were like, "why did they choose not to use a, you know, a more well known celebrity that was from Spain?"
Sarah
There are a lot, yeah.
Jojo
Like, I think they had mentioned Penélope Cruz as an option, you know, things like that. And it was interesting because Maria, the original lady, actually said that when she talked to Naomi Watts, she felt the most... like she could relate to her the most when they were talking about the role.
Sarah
Okay.
Jojo
So I was like, "Oh, that's interesting that she connected the most with a white lady to represent her." Like...
Sarah
Yeah, I'm glad that basically she gave her blessing on it.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
Like, I'm glad she's not upset by the decision. Yeah, but it is kind of bad optics, you know?
Jojo
Very much so, especially now. I mean, this was created a couple years ago, but like...
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
...you know, it's just weird to think about it now, when everything is so much more sensitive about that.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Okay. So let's see. One thing that I did want to mention, Naomi Watts quoted Belón when they spoke, she said, "Belón felt completely sure of her instinct." And this was like, during the time of the tsunami, everything that happened. She said, "Nothing got in the way of her instinct, and she'd never had that feeling before." So I think that was something that really helped Naomi kind of get into her character as well. Which you definitely do see that, like they make Naomi a little bit more fearful, I think, in the movie. Like she... when they start off on the plane flying to Thailand. She's already nervous about all the bumpiness on the plane.
Sarah
Hmm.
Jojo
And then when she goes into the actual... when she actually has to save her son, or try to reach her son, there's a little bit more of a jump of her anxiety, becoming a mother and trying to save her children. So moving on to costumes.
Sarah
Costumes!
Jojo
Sorry, I spent way too long talking about that, but I figured I would at least show some background. [laughs]
Sarah
Yeah, it's good to have that information.
Jojo
Before we talked about it.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
So I wanted to show you the original family. And you can tell they're... they look very Spanish, like from Spain. Like, all their features are very "from Spain." And then you have the white family that represents them. So... so yeah, it's quite a big difference. Ewan McGregor plays Henry.
Sarah
[laughs] I'm sorry.
Jojo
Naomi Watts plays Maria, obviously... I know.
Sarah
We couldn't even put them in dark hair? Like, we couldn't even dye their hair? Okay. All right.
Jojo
Yeah, yeah.
Sarah
They had to be blonde.
Jojo
And then we had, interestingly enough, this is actually Tom Holland.
Sarah
Oh my god!
Jojo
So funny, because I was like, "Oh, yeah, I forgot he was in this movie!"
Sarah
Little baby.
Jojo
He's so, so young in this movie. And he plays our oldest child, Lucas. And then we have our middle child, our little blond, blue eyed kid, who I believe is Simon. And then our youngest is Thomas. So I kind of wanted to pull this picture out, just because throughout the movie, the designers actually kept a really, really tight palette for them. So it was a lot of really nice earth tones. They're mostly in... like, if it's white, it's a kind of cream. I mean, this is probably the lightest white, and it's only the mom.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
The rest of the time, most of the guys are either in blues or greens, you'll see a lot of kind of deep grays, or kind of cooler tone grays. So I think they really did a good job of kind of sticking to that.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
And then... and this is all, of course, before everything happens.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
This is a little out of order. But this was the original outfit that Maria is in. And this is pretty much the outfit she's in the entire time she's suffering through this tsunami. So she starts off, obviously, in this white tank top and the blue shorts. And of course, throughout the movie, there's so much that's happened. She's like, drowning in muddy water. So this totally looks like a completely different outfit by the end of this.
Sarah
Right.
Jojo
But this is sort of where she starts.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
Okay, and then... so this was actually supposed to be before the other one. But this was basically one of the nights before the tsunami hits. They actually have a little lantern, which is very famous in Thailand, they do the lantern release.
Sarah
Oh yeah. Mmhmm.
Jojo
Where they're seeing the lanterns fly into the sky. And this is kind of their last calm and nice moment as a family. So I love that, again, it's still earth tones, but these beautiful greens that the costume designers decided to use here really kind of ties them into the the natural setting of Thailand as well.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
She actually ends up putting these kind of tropical flowers in her hair. So it's this very tropical feeling, you know, they are on vacation.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
So I did love that they kind of tied everyone together very tightly, in terms of color. Alright, so...
Sarah
Oh boy. Here we go.
Jojo
...after the tsunami hits, you can already see her white tank top has turned yellow.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
She's already covered in mud. And even her blue shorts have kind of turned sort of a gray. It looks like they've kind of given her some... almost like salt stains.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
Because this is after the water has kind of died down. But she's sort of still... kind of trying to find her way to help. They end up picking up this kid, which apparently this also happened in real life. They actually found a stray kid that they helped for a little while named Daniel.
Sarah
Oh my gosh.
Jojo
And in the movie they totally just make it a happy ending where he finds his dad, and they see him reunite with his dad. In the real situation, apparently Daniel was never found again. Like, somehow he got separated from them a second time and they never found out what happened to him.
Sarah
Oh, no.
Jojo
So it's like... it's just this really heartbreaking moment.
Sarah
That's too dark, too dark for the movie, I guess.
Jojo
It really is, it really is.
Sarah
Oh, that's so sad.
Jojo
And you can kind of see even with Lucas, he, you know, he's still got that kind of blue swimming shorts. I mean, like I said, there's not a ton of costume, interesting things here because they're in swimwear.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
They're at the pool when the tsunami hits. So it's like, very kind of bare minimum clothing.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
But you do start seeing how much this kind of changes, even just seeing all of the different details of what water does to our clothes, after being in a muddy tsunami. And the other thing, too, that's interesting is she was wearing a swimming suit under this when everything happened, and somehow the swimsuit has just sort of disappeared.
Sarah
Oh!
Jojo
Because during this time, she actually... underwater, gets stabbed in this, in the rib cage. And also a whole chunk of her back thigh is just missing. So there's a scene where-- I didn't want to show it because it was just very, very graphic.
Sarah
That's fine. [laughs]
Jojo
But you see the kid walking behind her, and he just sees a chunk of her leg just flapping down and he's like, "I can't."
Sarah
Ugh!
Jojo
He's like, "I can look at you right now," and so she makes him walk in front of her, so he doesn't have to look at it. And that's why she has this little thing tied around her leg, to like, keep the skin up. And I'm like, "oh my god."
Sarah
Oh god. [laughs]
Jojo
But yes, it's a lot of... and again, this is where it kind of gets down to the nitty gritty of like, this costume crafts person had to understand what each of these steps were. Like, everything that hits her has to somehow show up on her clothes.
Sarah
Yes.
Jojo
So you know, you start seeing the blood kind of dripping and staining from the side-- the side injury, but then you also see the blood kind of getting on some of her pants.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
It's just like, I don't know, it's so much to think about. Especially in a natural disaster, this where literally everything is making you dirty. [laughs]
Sarah
Yes, that's the daunting part of distressing, I think. Like, you must have to completely storyboard it.
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
And then that's how you figure out how many duplicates you need. And you must have to like, just lay it all out.
Jojo
Yeah. And I... you know, even in this, it's like, they must have had to have, you know, 15 or 16 copies of this shirt alone.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Like, even just for a 20 minute segment, just because she goes through so much trauma, and she's still wading through water even after it kind of subsides. So like, there's still things that are happening, because she's still trudging through terrain, so...
Sarah
Well, and then you're like, "Okay, so how many times does she have to do to the take," you know.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
"Do we need a fresh one at the beginning of every take, so that she can get wet?"
Jojo
Right, exactly.
Sarah
So yeah, it's so much to think about.
Jojo
And that also makes me wonder why we have, you know... it's probably why they had three costume people.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
And also why they had a supervisor in addition to, you know, maybe a more seasoned designer, because someone who's a supervisor understands more of that craft stuff. And usually, they'll either at least have someone on hand that they know who can do that, or they're often the ones doing some of the craft stuff.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
So it's, you know, it's sort of interesting how they pulled together their team. Like, it makes a lot more sense when you're looking at the amount of craziness that has to happen to these costumes in terms of breaking them down.
Sarah
Yeah. And you need people on set who know exactly what is supposed to be happening when.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
So I think that is... that's kind of probably what a supervisor would do too, right? Is be, like...
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
...in charge of knowing which one is for which scene.
Jojo
Right, right, and making sure everything is organized in such a way that they don't get those mixed up.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
But yeah. Okay.
Sarah
Wow, oh no.
Jojo
So this is the next stage. She gets basically dragged through... I mean, there's quite a few things that happen in between this, of course, but a big part of this--the original story, too--was that a Thai man actually ended up dragging her through the mud. And like, this is so hard to watch, because she's just screaming in pain the entire time. And they just-- they're just dragging her through grass, and like...
Sarah
Ohh.
Jojo
...mud and all these other things. And she... you know, it's the back of her leg. So it's just getting ripped up even more. But that's his only way of trying to get her to a hospital and get her to somewhere safe.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
And you see her son in the front. Like, it's interesting, because clearly the people making this movie did not want to hurt children or make them look hurt. So like, the two youngest kids, don't look distressed or dirty or anything at all.
Sarah
[laughs] Not bloody.
Jojo
You see maybe one or two scenes where Tom Holland gets kind of beat up under the water, but you know, in terms of the amount of pain and injury that he sustained, it's much, much less than...
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
...what Naomi Watts goes through.
Sarah
People don't want to see kids getting hurt.
Jojo
It's so true. So yeah, they definitely kept them pretty clean in general. But she, again, she gets stabbed right in the side. And then it's really gross. Like, they actually show her boob all sliced up underneath. And so, you know, her son's obviously freaking out because she's like, falling apart in front of him.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
And so she ends up having to tie one of her tank top straps to the other side, just to, like, cover herself.
Sarah
Uh huh.
Jojo
So yeah, it's just, you know, this looks so horrible here. But again, it just shows you this is sort of the next few steps that our craftsperson had to pay attention to.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
She's getting dragged through the mud. She's also got all the blood on top, she's probably bleeding more because she's being dragged through other stuff. So it's just all those things that you have to pay attention to. Because as humans, that's what would happen in real life.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
So yes, so she ends up wearing pretty much this outfit for the rest of the time until she's she's able to get to the hospital.
Sarah
Wow.
Jojo
Okay, so Tom Holland. Obviously when he gets to the hospital, somehow he finds a shirt. Or like, they end up... so when they get to the actual Thai village, where it's a little safer, they actually have a-- it's basically like all the local people end up coming and, you know, putting... they end up giving her a shirt. They end up, you know, giving Lucas another shirt. But one of the reasons I wanted to pull this image is not just because it's like, "Okay, great, now we have a costume change." But it kind of also goes to show the kind of clothes that are overseas. Because a lot of times, overseas countries do end up just getting, essentially, the waste that America gets rid of.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
So it's interesting that we're looking at graphics that look a little bit more American, but it's almost like it's faded out, or it's not quite there anymore.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Like these are old clothes that have been discarded from elsewhere.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
So I kinda want to just pull that in. Because I mean, it just says... even with how kind of dingy it looks, it tells you a lot about what's actually in the rest of the world, and how other people manufacture clothing, or even get clothing from other places. Or wealthier places.
Sarah
Yeah, I think, you know, Americans at large don't necessarily think about what happens to our clothes when...
Jojo
Mmhmm.
Sarah
...you know, they can't even be sold in Goodwill or whatever.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
That's what happens, is that we ship them to other countries and just... make it their problem instead of ours.
Jojo
Yeah. Yeah. And like, he gets this as a new shirt, but you can see how torn up the collar is, and how the sleeves are all torn up.
Sarah
Yeah. And the graphic is faded.
Jojo
So yes, I just thought that was a really interesting way to kind of introduce that.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
Okay, so then the second half of the movie, they kind of go... I mean, because the first half of the movie you're really focusing on how Naomi is able to find her son, and they stay together, and how they're able to get to the hospital.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
And hers is probably the much more traumatic experience, because I think she obviously went through a lot more injuries. Somehow, Ewan McGregor stays fairly intact and untouched through all of this. Which is weird. But he's also in the pool with his kids when he starts.
Sarah
Oh.
Jojo
And I wanted to pull this image, even though it's the dirty version of this, because he has these pretty standard Hawaiian blue swimming trunks. But in the beginning, his kids are just making fun of how ugly they are. [laughs] And so it's just funny that, you know, it... obviously, it's not a huge thing, but then they just get so dirty and ripped up by the time he gets through the tsunami. And yet, somehow, the only injuries he sustains are maybe a few scars here and there on his face.
Sarah
Wow.
Jojo
And when they find him, or when he starts his kind of portion of the story, he's still back at the resort. So somehow, he's survived enough after the water has kind of subsided, to still remain at the resort. And he's somehow found his two kids. So like, apparently, they were also clinging to a tree. And that's how he found both of them. Like, they were both, you know, just holding on.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
And so at this point, the water has subsided. The rest of the movie, his goal is to just basically find his wife and his kids, because he feels like they're alive, even though no one else seems to think so. So I just wanted to pull that image really quick, because that's mostly what he's in until he's able to find a shirt.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Later on, this is still him looking for his wife, he's kind of talking to his kids and trying to convince his middle child that he has to take care of Thomas, because you know, they're going to go somewhere safe to the top of the mountain so that it's far away from the water. And then he's going to keep looking for his wife. So basically, this is sort of like a "grow up, you gotta man up and take care of your younger brother."
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
Because he's also the kid that's afraid of everything at the beginning of the movie.
Sarah
Aww. I relate to that.
Jojo
Okay, so moving on. This is actually... I believe this is one of my last ones. I wanted to pull this because she's one of the few characters that kind of gets a little bit more screen time, other than the guy that drags Naomi Watts through the mud. And she actually does speak pretty fluent English, because she's one of the ones that finally kind of is able to converse with Lucas when he's trying to find... at a certain point in the hospital, he loses his mom temporarily. So she finally is able to converse with him and calm him down and try to help him find his mom again. And so she's kind of... it's still a really, really small role. And again, another big critique is that the local people just aren't given much of a character in this movie. But she ends up kind of having this big long conversation with him and she ends up kind of being his trustworthy, like, go-to nurse.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
So she has a very small part, but you do see her represented a little bit more. And I kind of just wanted to show, again, their uniform is clearly not pristine, like we are used to seeing in the States.
Sarah
Right.
Jojo
It's clearly like, this is the shirt that she got. And it's probably whatever "Goodwill" version that she got out of wherever she could find. And that's their uniform for the hospital.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
So I just thought that was interesting, to sort of represent kind of what the local people were wearing. And I didn't do enough research to find out how accurate this actually was.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Or if this is just something she wore on her own, versus an actual, you know, hospital issued uniform.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
And then last one.. they talked about-- like, I just kind of pulled this image because again, they haven't really changed. But this is sort of where they finally find each other. And this is after a very long like hour and a half of the movie. So within that last half hour, Lucas finally finds his two brothers, and then they finally find their dad.
Sarah
Aww.
Jojo
So there was this really heartwarming moment. And again, it's sort of like a double edged sword, right? There's so many other people that die during the tsunami that aren't focused on in this movie. And yet, the white family is the one that survives. So I think that was one of the biggest critiques of this movie, of how whitewashed everything was.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
But you know, it's at the end of it, it's still a very heartwarming happy ending, I think. Unfortunately, audiences don't... well, I shouldn't say "unfortunately," but audiences don't really like to see a sad ending for things like this, where it is a natural disaster that's totally out of your control.
Sarah
Right.
Jojo
But it is also one of those things where, you know, it makes you wonder, what about all those other families that didn't make it? So... Yeah, anyways, that was the last thing I had for this movie. Again, a really hard thing to watch.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
But I did like that they at least brought the original survivor into the discussion and didn't just try and like, fake it or make something happen that wasn't really happening.
Sarah
I feel like if I was making this movie, which... I don't make movies, so whatever. But I would probably try to tell a bunch of family's stories, you know?
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
Instead of... you can get the real life testimony from the survivors and try to do justice to their actual story.
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
But you could also add in some side characters who are on their own sort of struggle and journey, and maybe not all of them have happy endings, you know?
Jojo
Yeah.
Sarah
Like, you could tell the story in a way that was sensitive to the actual family who survived this. And then... but also sensitive to everybody else who didn't find their family.
Jojo
Right. Which... I think, you know, they did do a little bit of that.
Sarah
Yeah?
Jojo
When Lucas is running through the hospital. Because while his mom is laying kind of in the hospital ready for surgery, he ends up... just because he doesn't know what to do with himself. So he ends up running around the hospital, and all these people end up reaching out to him and being like, you know, "have you seen this person?"
Sarah
Mmm.
Jojo
Like, most of them are parents asking for their sons, or their kids.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
And so he starts going around, he starts taking their names down, and walking around the hospital and just yelling out names, being like, "anybody recognize this name?" So there is a little bit of that, that I think they tried to throw in there to like, redeem some of it.
Sarah
[laughs] Yeah.
Jojo
But yeah, you know, it is one of those things where I think you see maybe two families reunite-- including that kid Daniel, who in real life, we never find out what actually happens to him. But there is another family who... the son and the father get reunited, because Lucas ends up finding him.
Sarah
Mmhmm.
Jojo
And then there's another mom who also goes, like... she has a similar situation and ends up having to go into surgery kind of right next to Maria's character. And you never find out what happens to her. Like, she goes into surgery. And she, I think she writes her name on Maria's arm, so that she won't forget her name, because she was like, "I have a family too. And I just want to say bye to them one last time before... I don't know if I'm going to survive this surgery," kind of thing.
Sarah
Oh, wow.
Jojo
And then she goes into surgery, and you never see her come back out. So you know, there's a lot of unfinished stories, which, you know, I think they tried to do that. Which is probably why this movie lasted two hours. Like, I forgot that that was long it was. [laughs] And I was like, "how are they going to make a movie about a tsunami last two hours?" [both laugh] But you know, they did it. So... so yes, it was interesting to see how they were able to kind of translate some of that. And like, show all of it. I think, you know, again, at the end of the day, I'm kind of like, "what was the reasoning behind switching to a white family when it didn't have to be done that way?"
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Like, you know, it's one thing if you're resonating with that particular actress. But like, they could have even kept her husband, you know, Spanish. Or... I don't know, something like that.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
I'm not a filmmaker. So who knows? But...
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
...but yes, it does make me wonder what their choices are, what their motivations behind those choices were.
Sarah
It's hard to justify that, you know, in a way that really makes a lot of sense. Other than...
Jojo
Right.
Sarah
"...we were worried about money. We were worried that people wouldn't pay to see a movie about people who weren't white," which is like... [grimace sound] [laughs]
Jojo
Right. And then last fun fact I wanted to share was when they did the tsunami, apparently he built a water tank. And that's how they filmed the whole movie. I think it was very similar... I can't remember the other movie you said that they did that for. But there was another one.
Sarah
"Parasite"?
Jojo
Yes. Yeah.
Sarah
Yeah, I just transcribed that one.
Jojo
They built a water tank. And like, they just... you know, they kind of just did most of their swimming in there.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
And then they just added some digital, you know, extra effects or visual effects afterwards for the extra stuff. But I was like, "That's so crazy," because I can't imagine trying to film. He tried to use as much real water as possible, though.
Sarah
Oh, wow.
Jojo
He was like, "I wanted it to be as authentic as possible." So a lot of the tidal waves that come in, and things like that, all of that happened for real. And I was like, "yikes," that's... that's so crazy and scary. Like, I can't imagine.
Sarah
Yes, I feel like that would be very hard. But also I think about actors and I'm like, "a movie where you're wet the whole time?" That just has to suck to shoot.
Jojo
Yeah. [laughs] Yeah.
Sarah
Just wet for two months.
Jojo
And where you have to constantly change costumes, just to make sure you're continuous. Like...
Sarah
They're like, dumping buckets on you before they start. Ugh.
Jojo
Yep, yep. So yeah, must have been a very grueling process. For sure.
Sarah
Yeah. Yeah.
Jojo
But yeah, that's my coverage of "The Impossible."
Sarah
Great job.
Jojo
Thanks, Sarah.
Sarah
I'm glad you covered that, because I am glad I know about that movie now. But that's the kind of movie that would stress me out deeply to watch. So now I got the experience of watching it without having to actually watch it. [both laugh]
Jojo
So funny. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. I will definitely say, the scene where she reunites with her son--and she's trying to get back to him because they're so far apart--and they see each other and they're both screaming for each other, but they can't get close enough to each other. And there's a whole scene where they're reaching across a mattress, but they can't touch hands, because it's too far away. And they're still also trying to avoid debris under the water that they can't see. And I'm just like, "this is so stressful!" And I feel like I don't know what I'd do if this was me, and my parents. Or like, me and a child that I cared about. [laughs]
Sarah
I hope we never have to find out what that's like.
Jojo
Agreed. Agreed. [both laugh]
Sarah
Oh, man.
Jojo
But yes. So yeah, that's our coverage of true event movies.
Sarah
Very different films we picked, from each other. [laughs]
Jojo
Absolutely.
Sarah
That's good. We like to keep it spicy. Keep it fresh.
Jojo
That's true. It's very true.
Sarah
Yeah.
Jojo
Keep your interest peaked.
Sarah
Exactly. [both laugh]
Jojo
Oh, man. Well.
Sarah
Okay.
Jojo
Thank you so much, Sarah, that was so much fun.
Sarah
Thank you, JoJo.
Jojo
Thank you guys for joining us. And again, if you have any comments or questions or just other things you want to add, maybe more information about either of our movies that maybe we didn't cover, please feel free to add or comment on Instagram.
Sarah
Yes! Totally.
Jojo
We are behind on YouTube. So I will get back on that this week. Sorry. It's been a crazy month. But thank you for being patient with us.
Sarah
Yes.
Jojo
And we look forward to hearing all of your comments and notes and questions and everything else.
Sarah
Yes, we appreciate your patience as we, you know, try to fit doing this podcast around our regular lives. [laughs]
Jojo
So true. Well, thanks again and we'll see you on the next one.
Sarah
See ya. Bye.
Jojo
Bye!
[OUTRO]
Jojo
Thank you for listening to The Costume Plot! You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thecostumeplot. If you have a question, comment, or movie suggestion you can email us at
[email protected].
Sarah
Our theme music is by Jesse Timm, and our artwork is by Jojo Siu. Please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts.
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The Beast, The False Jesus, & The Rapture, Part 4 - Double-Cross
February 25, 2021
In 1598 BC, on Mt. Sinai, (Exodus 24), Moses spent six evenings and mornings in a cloud, being shown six days (and informed of a seventh day) from seven different weeks, taken from seven different time periods. On the seventh day in Genesis chapter one, Yehovah rested after restoring life on Earth, in about 24 Million BC. This was Restoration Week Three, the fourth advent of mankind, and the second to be made in God’s image. Yehovah always tells the truth to those that hear His voice. But Lucifer tells lies to those that listen to him, and will double cross those that believe and follow him.
There are hidden documents that link the Vatican to the creation of Islam. Both Islam and Roman Catholicism have so much secret information on each other, that it would be a major worldwide scandal, leading to disaster for both religions, if they were exposed. As revealed in Part 2, a secret deal was made to kill or run off true Christians and Jews in Asia Minor and Africa, but not to damage the Catholic shrines, nor hurt Catholics and Augustine monks, also to turn over Jerusalem to the Pope. The Vatican mostly financed the building of the Islamic massive armies, in exchange for handing over Jerusalem. But the Muslims double-crossed the Pope, and kept Jerusalem, and built a Mosque, making it their
“second most holy” site.
However, we’re not finished with the Jesuits. Part of their catechism is that when the Pope says something that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, “the Scriptures must be thrown aside”. It is stated that the Pope is “the Vicar (replacement) of Christ, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and there is but one Judgment-Seat belonging to God and the Pope”. These are quotes from the book Understanding the New Age: World Government and World Religion (New Wine Press, 1998, p. 104). The present Pope Francis (Jorge Bergoglio), who is the first Jesuit to be elected to the (white) Papacy, earlier said that “Christians do not exist outside the Roman Catholic Church. People can not be Christians without the (Catholic) Church. A Christian’s identity is rooted in it, and that believers can not stand alone”. Now that a Jesuit is the white Pope, you can expect a more “hard lined” approach from Catholicism.
Yet there is another “front” group that the Jesuits control. It is the Freemasons. Freemasonry started from medieval stonemasons, after castle building became an industry. By the 1100’s AD, a religious zeal resulted in the construction of thousands of imposing stone cathedrals across Western Europe. The skills of a stonemason were in high demand, as were members of the guild. This gave rise to classes of stonemasons, which were apprentices, journeymen, and master masons. Apprentices were bound to their masters for the cost of their training. The journeymen had a higher level of skill and could travel (journey) to assist their masters. A master mason was considered a “freeman”, who could travel as he wished to work on projects. During the Renaissance, the stonemason's guild admitted members who were not stonemasons, and eventually evolved into the Society of Freemasonry. These became fraternal groups which observe the traditional culture of stonemasons, but are not typically involved in construction projects
Remember the Knights of Templars, from Part 2? Their leader was Jacques De Molay, and before he was executed, he passed on certain “rituals and guidelines” to what became the Freemasons. Even today, freemasonry has a youth group called “the order of De Molay”. The Jesuits infiltrated the Freemasons, and perfected it to be their tool to “deceived and to conquer”. It was further advanced by Albert Pike, who is said to had begun the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan. In the book “Morals and Dogma”, he wrote “Masonry, like all the religions…, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts (insiders)…, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those (on the outside) who deserve to be misled: to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it… So masonry jealously conceals its secrets, and intentionally leads conceited interpreters astray”. pp. 104-105. He also writes: “the Templars, like all other Secret Orders and Associations, had two doctrines, one concealed and reserved for the Masters, which was Johannism (Lucifer worship); the other public, which was Roman Catholic”, p. 817.
From the first, to the thirty-second degree, masons are taught that Freemasonry follows the Bible in Christian lodges, the Pentateuch in Jewish lodges, and the Koran in Muslim lodges. That is the sham fed to new members (outsiders). Only when you become a 33rd degree are you told who the god of Freemasonry is. It is Lucifer. In the book The Secret Doctrine, it says “Lucifer represents Life... Thought… Progress… Civilization… Liberty… Independence. Lucifer is the Logos (the Word)… the Serpent, the Savior”. “It is Satan who is the God of our planet and the only God”. This was written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, which many world leaders adhere to, which are 33rd degree Freemasons. The Jesuits have seen to it that Protestant churches and seminaries have been infiltrated with these teachings.
You might be surprised to learn who are, and have been, 33rd degree Freemasons, and I question their allegiance. Some of them are/have been FDR, Karl Marx, J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph Stalin, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, Vladimir Lenin, Yasser Arafat, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Gore, Billy Graham, Tony Blair (England), Bill Clinton, Barry Goldwater, and Colin Powell. What surprised me was that Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel) is a 33rd degree Freemason. No matter what “front” these people may have shown the public, they did, and do not, worship the true God (Yehovah).
We finally come to the origins of the Illuminati. Basically, the Jesuits were banned in 83 countries, so they had to come up with a plan to remain in power. The Bavarian Illuminati was born in 1776, and soon made its way to the USA. There are many who are Jewish by name, but are Jesuit by philosophy (like The Rothschilds and Rockefellers), and have obtained about all of the important financial positions. They are in league with the Knights of Malta. Some of the Illuminati’s front groups are, the Committee of 300, the Trilateral Commission, the Club of Rome, the United Nations, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and the Bilderberg Group. Some current members of the above groups which we are familiar with, have been Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton (6th degree Grand Dame of Illuminati), Allen Greenspan, Jimmy Carter, even Henry Kissinger. It is certain that former President Obama was brought into the group, and was part of the secret Bilderberg meeting, when he won the Democratic nomination, and left members of the press on the plane.
Therefore, for decades, we have had a string of undesirable Presidents, since JFK. The Republicans and Democrats have been taking turns, destroying our nation, both in the White house, and in the House of Representatives and the Senate, selling out the American people. It finally became expos d when Donald Trump, the best President ever, took office. Only massive election fraud could defeat him. But yet another double cross is on the horizon. We’ve now laid the groundwork, giving the history behind “the whore”. Now, the stage is set for the entry of “the Beast”, in Part 5.
Love, Debbie
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Visitor Pt. 3
A/N: I’m having fun with this story, more fun than I originally thought I would have, and a couple of you still seem to like it ( @alix-the-skeleton I’m looking at you, pal. ;) ). So I wrote another bit! Enjoy! Part 1 and Part 2.
The air was cold, tonight, and filled with gentle music from the party still going on inside. William laughed as Celine pulled him along by the sleeves of his uncharacteristically dapper suit, running with him in tow to the edge of the balcony and only letting him go so that she could jump gracefully to sit on the stone railings. She looked beautiful, a bright red ballgown that hugged her in all the right places and flowed, light as a butterfly's wings, away from her at the hips, her short hair swept neatly underneath a scarlet hairclip. She kicked off her heels and swung her feet, patting the railing beside her.
"Really, now, Cel, you want me to try that in this getup? I'll rip something in this bloody monkey suit."
"Oh, live a little, Wil," she laughed as he hopped up anyway. "You're reckless any other time, why care about some cloth now?"
"Well, it's a loan, first of all, if Mark knew I was running about in his suit-"
"Oh please, as if he doesn't run around in it enough."
He laughed, shaking his head. They went quiet for a moment, listening to the music swell inside, and Wil watched the smile slide off of her face.
"It's hard to believe you're leaving tomorrow. How long will you be gone?"
"Well," he sighed, taking her hand and staring up at the stars. They were so bright tonight. "It's only basic training, so only a few weeks." A few too many weeks, anyway. "I'll be home again before you know it." He chanced a glace. "And you've got Dames and Mark to keep you company."
"Yes..." She bobbed along to the start of the new song, smoothing her dress with one hand.
"Wil?"
"Yes?"
"What do you think is out there?"
"Out there? As in, in space?"
"Yes."
He studied the sky for a moment. "Well...stars and planets and all that, of course...some ice, so Mark tells me..."
"Other life?"
"You're asking if I believe in aliens?" He chuckled, and she swatted him playfully.
"Don't make it sound silly. It's totally plausible." He rubbed his arm, feigning offence, but she brushed him off. "But, no, that's not what I was asking. I was thinking more...I don't know. Spirits, or...or powers, or something."
"So...God?"
"Maybe not capital-G God. But yes, something along that line."
William took a long time to answer, getting back to his feet as he finally spoke. "I...don't know, honestly. But I like to think that perhaps there's more to this universe than we know."
Celine smiled, and stood as well. As the music swelled again, she suddenly took his hands, putting one around her waist, pulling him to her as she started to dance. He gaped at her for a second before settling into it as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I'm really going to miss you, Wil."
He pulled her a little closer. "I'm...I'm going to miss you too, Celine. So much."
If Wil could've frozen a moment in time, he would have lived right there, with her in his arms, dancing under the stars, forever.
"I think I'm going to ask her to marry me."
William was slow to respond. "You're...you mean...Celine?"
"Yes, of course I do," Mark laughed, "who else?" He leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head as he looked over at Damien. "What do you think, Dames? Have I got your approval?"
Damien smiled brightly. "Mark...of course you have my blessing. God, of course you do." He stood and embraced him, clapping him on the back as both men laughed. Wil smiled tightly as Mark turned back to him.
"C'mon then, gents, let's celebrate."
"She hasn't even said yes yet," Wil said quietly, but followed the other two to the bar, which Mark leapt over, grabbing three tumblers and a bottle of Fireball and setting them down on the bar. That made him smile a bit as he slapped Damien's back.
"Think you can handle a shot or two of this, this time?"
"Of course I can, don't be ridiculous," Damien muttered, smiling slightly as Mark laughed loudly, pouring them each a generous shot. They each grabbed a glass and raised it.
"To a yes," Mark said.
"To a new brother in law," Damien added.
"To...us," Wil said, and the other two grinned at him, Mark nodding and throwing an arm around his would-be brother, agreeing, "to us."
They downed their shots and immediately started giggling as Damien choked.
"Wil?"
"Go away."
"Wil, please, talk to me."
"No."
"William, be sensible. You can't lock yourself away forever."
He shoved the door open roughly, swaying slightly as he glared through his blackened eye at a disheveled Damien, cane twisting in his hands. He huffed and turned away, stumbling back to the quickly emptying liquor cabinet in the corner of his hotel room.
"And what do you want?"
"To talk to you, to work things out! Dammit, man, you left so quickly-"
"OF COURSE I DID!" he roared, and Damien flinched. "THAT BASTARD WAS TRYING TO KILL ME! HE WOULD HAVE, IF HE'D BEEN GIVEN THE CHANCE!"
"You slept with his wife! My sister!" Damien yelled desperately, and Wil grabbed him by the lapels.
"You've seen what he's become! What a selfish, pompous son of a bitch he is now! He's not the man she married! He's not the same Mark that I grew up with! And she loves me, Dames, she loves me! Not him!"
"Then let her get-!"
"Get what, Dames, a divorce? Make her wait, and wait, trapped with him in that godforsaken house-?"
"BETTER THAN RUINING HER LIFE!"
Crack.
Wil stumbled back with a grunt, clutching his face as Damien stared at him, wide eyed.
"Wil...Wil, no, I didn't mean..."
"What the bloody hell was that for?" He ran forward, grabbing Damien's lapel again with one hand, raising the other as if to hit him. "What the actual hell, Damien?"
"I-It was an accident, Wil, I didn't mean to hurt you-"
"Get. Out." Wil shoved Damien into the door with a dull thud. Damien looked as if he wanted to say more, but decided against it. He sighed heavily, resignedly, and pulled it open, stepping out.
"I don't blame you Wil. And...and I'm sorry."
"Go!"
A bottle smashed against the closing door, and Wil finally broke down, sobbing silently as he curled up on the floor of the vacant, anonymous hotel room, far away from home.
Wilford gasped, bolting upright.
He'd fallen asleep at his desk, apparently, which wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. He breathed heavily for a moment, shoving aside some empty bottles as he tried to remember where he was, who he was, what he was doing. The usual checklist.
His dreams, tonight, they'd felt so...real. So vivid. He tried desperately to remember what they were about, but...no. They were already gone. Still, he was shaken. All he could recall was the name Damien.
Damien. That name again, the one he'd called Dark. Who was Damien, to him? Had he ever even known a Damien? He couldn't recall one. All the name brought to his mind was a vague sadness, a vague nostalgia. As if he should know who is was, but didn't. He shook his head, standing and grunting as he stretched, old bones clicking. How old was he, he wondered? He wasn't sure anymore. Frowning, he tried to think of a time when he had known his age, or even his birthday.
Further from that...where had he come from? He was sure he'd been born somewhere, he'd had a family, but, much to his mounting alarm, he found he couldn't remember them at all.
He started to panic. Wilford Warfstache, he was Wilford Warfstache, world famous ace reporter, right? Wasn't that right? That's what everyone called him, that's how the others here knew him. So of course, he came from the Warfstache family, didn't he? But the more he said it in his head, the worse it sounded, the more...fake. Who had the last name of Warfstache, honestly? And even his first name, his perfectly normal first name, Wilford, the one he'd known for so long, felt...wrong, now. Felt rushed.
The more he thought, the more it sounded like two different words.
Wilford.
Wil Ford.
He jumped sharply as someone knocked loudly on his door.
"Wilford? Hey, Wilford, dude, you up yet?"
"Jesus, Bing, let a man have his beauty sleep!" Wil snapped angrily. "Go away! Tell the studio we're on hiatus!"
There was a pause.
"...seriously? Hiatus? Like, since when do you ever wanna go on-?"
"GO!" Wil shouted, and he heard scuffling as Bing stumbled down the hall, probably wearing his Heeleys and tripping over them. On any other day, that would've made him laugh. Today, he scowled at his desk and pulled a flask out from under it, spinning the cap off in a smooth, practiced motion, but he paused before taking a sip.
If he drank...would he forget again? Forget more than he already had?
Why hadn't it occured to him sooner that he couldn't remember...anything?
Wil put the flask back down, without taking a sip, and instead pulled out a legal pad and a pencil, beginning to write furiously.
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easy co as kids? 👦👦
Dick Winters
actual angel child
there’s a real story in dick’s book about him as a child: he used to round up a pen of imaginary “sheep” in the backyard. he would give them names and everything, and always remembered exactly which sheep was which. he treated them like they were real.
a very thoughtful kid, sort of cautious. never too rambunctious. he didn’t cause any problems in school.
the kid whose parents give him a banana as a joke, and he’s absolutely thrilled.
he wasn’t a straight-A student, just because he didn’t put too much effort into it. he had more important things to think about than school– family, friends, people in general, things he was interested in. it’s not that he didn’t care, just that he didn’t care enough.
was very close to his parents and grandparents. they sort of doted on him – never spoiled him – but he was definitely the apple of their eyes.
his hair started off blond, and only got redder as he grew older.
a very active kid. he would ride his bike everywhere, always played outside, and grew up to be physically strong.
Lewis Nixon
sad, sad little boy with the biggest doe eyes you’ve ever seen.
as a child, people really did not pay baby nix much attention. which is a shame, because the kid was sharp as a tack – one of those dangerously smart kids, the ones who don’t do as well in school because they question the point early-on.
because of this, nix was written off as a lazy child. he was given tutors he didn’t need (and tortured them, of course). meanwhile his mother was off busying herself with socialite events, and his father was gambling and drinking the business into a hole.
his sister blanche was given a bit more attention, but lewis never rivalled her for it. they were both pretty isolated throughout their childhoods.
he had a mischievous streak a mile wide. he knew how to play pranks and not get caught for them. he used to terrorize the house maids by putting spiders in their beds and hot pepper in their food. he even pranked his parents a few times. he had to take his fun where he could get it.
had a lot of imaginary friends, but always knew that they weren’t real.
he used to get nightmares a lot, and even wet the bed a few times. he’d scream and scream, but the only people who would ever come help him were the maids. after a while, lewis learned to calm himself down.
Carwood Lipton
actual angel child pt. deux
carwood grew up in a really nice, normal home. he had one little brother, and the two of them always played together with the neighborhood kids.
they formed a bit of a group, all the kids who lived in carwood’s neighborhood. carwood was never the leader; he took on a big-brother role in the group, looking out for the little ones and making sure they kept up.
his father loved cars. carwood always used to help him fix the shiny ford car he bought when his first son was born. carwood learned a lot about automobiles from his father, as well as how to put various things together. carwood’s father was a psuedo-inventor. he taught carwood a lot about how to make things, and he got his interest in engineering from him.
(carwood had a crush on the little girl who lived next door, so he used to put together tiny metal figurines and give them to her as presents.)
he also loved to help his mother around the house. not actual chores – he couldn’t stand those – but she found out he had an eye for details, so started to teach him how to sew. they also loved baking together. carwood’s mother taught him how to make cakes, cookies, and all sorts of delicious things.
after the car accident which killed carwood’s father and put his mother in a wheelchair, carwood grew up fast.
he had to learn how to be the man of the house. he took on responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, and towing his family through the depression.
when his mother opened up the boarding house to make ends meet, he did everything he could to help. carwood learned how to look after people from a young age, and that was a quality he kept for the rest of his life.
Ronald Speirs
“does this kid ever smile wtf” “honey i think we may have given birth to one of the children of the corn” “we could just leave the baby and run it might be safer for everyone”
no, actually, speirs was a pretty normal kid.
he was a little antisocial, didn’t get along well with his peers. he was always more interested in reading than making friends.
teachers always used to remark on how serious he was. his parents were a little worried, and thought moving from scotland to america would do him good.
ron didn’t adjust to the move well. he retreated into himself even more, and didn’t do much socially.
that one kid with REALLY OBSESSIVE interests. like, he was obsessed with roman history for a while. then it was greek mythology. egyptian gods. foreign languages.
(at the age of twelve he actually managed to teach himself spanish?? like, really well?? wtf)
he wasn’t very social, but didn’t need to be. he rarely got lonely.
Harry Welsh
small irish devil
had really red hair as a kid, it lightened over time. his mother used to call him her “little leprechaun”.
he was a wild child. he was always getting into things he shouldn’t, teasing people, and causing trouble.
he was the kid who would make fun of the girls he liked. he was never really mean, but he used to tap on their shoulders and run away, or throw paper balls at them and laugh when it hit him in the back of the head.
he teased a LOT of people, actually. he got in more than a few fights.
(even though he was smaller than a lot of the other kids, he didn’t lose often.)
he always had a lot of friends growing up. he hated to be alone, so he made a point of surrounding himself with people. as a natural people person, this came naturally to him.
harry used to sing to himself all the time. he loved singing and dancing as a kid, and he’d often coerce his family members into having “dance parties” with him whenever he heard music playing.
had a stuffed giraffe toy that he freaking adored. like, it didn’t leave his side for an entire year. he named it Wuzzle, and it was his favorite thing in the world.
Wuzzle suffered a sad fate when he fell down a gutter and was never seen again. harry cried for an entire week straight.
(he never really got over it.)
Eugene Roe
he was a very fighty child
he took a long time to develop good impulse control, so he was pretty mischievous and rash. not exactly a wild child, but he came close enough to cause everyone grief.
he was always the kid coming home with a black eye and scraped knees. he never started the fights on the playground, but wasn’t afraid to get involved – usually on behalf of someone who was getting picked on.
used to get a kick out of teasing his big sisters. he’d pull their hair, hide their toys, and wrinkle their dresses. they would always shriek and run him off if he tried to play with them, so they kind of deserved it.
his parents fought a lot, so he was very close with his grandmother. she taught him a lot – about faith, healing, and things just beyond what most people can see.
she was the one who taught gene the power of a calm face and a cool head. she helped him learn to reign himself in and gave him ways to express his anger besides hitting things. she taught him prayers, introduced him to his religion, and overall helped gene grow up.
she died when gene was fifteen, and he was left devastated.
Babe Heffron
basically the human version of a puppy.
that’s the whole heffron family, tbh. just like a whole litter of rowdy little puppies, with mama and papa heffron being like “WHOA, where’d all these gingers come from?!”
the baby with no center of balance. he fell over a lot. just, like. on his face.
he didn’t learn to sit up until his parents literally strapped baby babe to one of his toys to keep him upright.
babe was a rowdy kid. he was always getting into everything – he had no sense of “touch vs. do not touch”
he had the creamiest skin as a little boy, and only got freckled when he fell in love with playing outside. he was the kid always covered in dirt and mud, and it’s like??? where are you finding all this?? we live in a city???
he has his ways
knew his way around philly from a really early age. he was always finding shortcuts, darting through alleys, running a little wild.
as a kid, he used to shoplift. like, it was his thing, and tied into the “touch vs do not touch” thing. he just started taking anything he liked when he went into stores, didn’t get caught, and… kept doing it. he didn’t realize it was wrong until his mother caught him one day and almost threw him out of the car.
needless to say, he never took anything that didn’t belong to him again.
had a really big imagination. he used to imagine monsters in his closets, ghosts under his bed, and fairies outside his bedroom window. his grandmother used to tell him stories about irish fae, so that probably explains a bit.
bawled like a banshee when he found out santa didn’t exist. he never quite got over it.
Bill Guarnere
the most adorable brat
seriously, have you read bill’s book? Baby Bill was a BLAST okay this dude was awesome from the day he was born
he is the youngest of many, many siblings, and knows how to use this to his advantage. very good at getting what he wants, and not above crying to do so. he’s got those big baby brown eyes, so it works to his advantage.
absolute mama’s boy, to the extreme. he’d help his mother with everything he could, and she always gave him a little extra attention because of it. she’s the one who taught him how to cook.
very sociable, so he knew all the neighbors. he was the kid to tease the hunchbacked old woman who lived next door, but as soon as she dropped her groceries he’d be right there to pick them up for her.
was the leader of a pack of kids who ran through the city like wild children. they sometimes clashed with babe’s group of friends, actually, but it was always friendly after all was said and done. no grudges were held.
he was a total flirt. he used to hit on all the pretty neighborhood girls – that’s actually how he met frannie, who was the first one to not only flirt with him back, but could keep up with his fast mouth.
Joe Toye
joe was the baby of the family.
he was never pampered for it, but he had to endure the attention of two older sisters who treated him like their doll half the time. many unwilling games of dress up and tea party were played. any time they played camelot, joe had to be the damsel in distress while his sisters got to be dragons and knights.
okay, i’m just gonna be honest
joe was a biter.
like, not even as a baby. he bit one of the kids in kindergarten. joe just didn’t care. he was kind of nuts.
he actually had more than a few discipline problems growing up. he didn’t like to sit still, didn’t have much patience, and preferred to be running around. he was a tough kid to handle.
he grew out of it, however. by the time he got to middle school he was less bratty and more quiet. he wasn’t really sullen, but he was no social butterfly.
in high school, he had a small group of friends, and he was an athlete, so he found his niche. but he always kept to himself a bit; he was very hesitant to open up to people and reveal parts of himself that he didn’t think anyone would like.
George Luz
very, very, very precocious child
“georgie, baby, we love you. just… go somewhere else for a little while, okay?”
george immediately climbs a tree and gets stuck.
“that’s not what we meant, georgie.”
in a family of ten kids, it would be really easy to be overshadowed, especially when you’re smack in the middle. right???
WRONG. try to forget about george luz. like. just try. it’s not possible.
george made himself visible by any means possible. he was kid of an attention hog, and if he had to resort to underhanded tactics (fake-crying, being the sweetest of all his siblings) to get it, he would.
grew up in a portuguese neighborhood, with a family that spoke mostly portuguese around each other. he didn’t actually learn english until he started school, around six years old. he took to it like a duck to water. (yes, this is a true thing)
was that one kid who teachers were always telling to “calm the fuck down” in less-explicit terms.
had an irrational fear of snakes. he would scream like a banshee every time one showed up in a picture book he was reading. (it’s all tied into a childhood trauma involving his oldest brother, a rubber snake, and his crib. george doesn’t like talking about it.)
as a baby, he used to babble to himself all the time. even in his sleep, he would be muttering things.
constantly asking questions. like, not even because he’s curious, just because he wants to talk.
had a weird habit of throwing his toys. he frequently hit people with them, on purpose or not. he grew out of it (mostly).
David Webster
The Book Kid
he was born with eyes that blue, and they never faded to a different color.
a very, very curious child. always asking questions. kind of annoying, doesn’t really know how to take a hint.
that’s only after he gets past his initial layer of shyness. and web was a really shy kid. he had a lot of thoughts, a lot of opinions, and could be a total chatterbox when he got going –
but very few people could get him going. very few people even knew how to get him started.
web always had a few close friends in school, but he drifted a lot. he talked a lot to his parents, but some of his ideas were too creative for them to understand. he told stories about aliens, about pirates, about monsters.
it got to the point where they were really concerned about what he was reading –he had a reading level suited to a high schooler when he was in second grade – so they started looking at his books.
that’s when they realized that david wasn’t telling stories from books. he was making them up.
web was also very observant. he noticed things about people, and filed them away for later. that’s a trait he never lost.
Joseph Liebgott
adorable, to an alarming degree
okay, first off, joe was definitely a chubby baby. he was like… a tiny roly-poly ball of cuteness, and he kept this up until he learned how to move.
that was the end of “oh my god, what an angel,” and the beginning of “is this a toddler or a demon?”
he just had a LOT of energy, and as soon as he figured out how to walk he spent it in every way he could. no naps for baby joe – he crashed like a helicopter.
he lost all his baby fat early on, and became a very skinny kid. he was the type of kid who people would worry about, like he wasn’t eating enough. people always use to try to push food on him, and joe had an appetite like a lion, so he loved it.
he was kind of a playground bully. not mean-spirited, exactly, but childishly cruel. he used to make fun of the bookish kids. (kids like web, basically.)
that said, he also had really, really sweet moments. for as much as he made fun of some kids, he was also very defensive of smaller kids. he was a very protective, loyal friend, and would help out in the classroom at random.
thanks to this, people loved him despite his hyperactivity and immaturity. he was always a favorite of teachers, and doted on by his mother and grandparents.
Shifty Powers
actual baby deer
shifty is the second of five kids, but the fact that he’s his mother’s favorite isn’t much of a secret. he’s the sweetest natured of all the powers kids, and he’s been that way since he was a baby.
he was pretty shy throughout elementary school. he didn’t talk much, and didn’t do phenomenally in school, but he made up for it by being a good classmate and friend.
has one little sister who he dotes on. when he was little, his mother let him hold her for the first time, and that’s when he totally fell in love. ever since, he takes care of her every chance he gets – for she drops a toy, he picks it up. if she needs to be fed, he volunteers to do it.
“If you don’t know the horse girl, you are the horse girl.”
Shifty was the horse girl.
he LOVED animals. he had a pet bunny when he was a little boy that he used to carry around everywhere. (he found it abandoned, so his mother helped him raise it, and the bunny adored shifty as much as he adored it)
going hunting with his father was hard for him at first, because he didn’t want to hurt animals. gradually he got to understand the circle of life, and it gave him a deeper understanding of life and death. it wound up being beneficial for him, to everyone’s surprise.
Floyd Talbert
okay basically
you know who tab is
that one kid who always flirts with you while your babysitting and it’s a little uncomfortable because he’s like five but is still smoother than most guys your age
had his first girlfriend in pre-school, and his first kiss in first grade. bby boy moves fast.
tab had some serious attachment issues for a while. he was afraid of being left alone, because he got it in his head for some reason that his parents would not come back
they couldn’t leave him with anyone else for a long time because he’d throw a tantrum. going to school was really hard for him, at first, but only after he got used to being away from home did this problem lessen.
by the time he reached his teens, he was perfectly adjusted. tab always had a lot of girlfriends, and a lot of friends. he was one of the popular boys in school.
Bull Randleman
was a very, very small baby
a preemie, actually! doctors weren’t sure if he was going to survive, and if he did, they told his parents that he would never be physically strong.
WELL.
he sure showed them.
bull had his moments of rambunctiousness, but he was a pretty easy kid.
had a lot of siblings, so he was looked after by the older ones and took care of the little ones. he was the best big brother.
didn’t go through his growth spurt until late middle school, which took everybody by surprise. he went from runt of the litter to being taller than the teacher in a few months. it was wild.
used to get the worst growing pains, so his mother would always lay him down flat and massage all the aches out. by the time he grew up, bull knew how to give a damn good massage.
actually pretty good in school. he was quiet, but he paid attention, and was a good student in all of his subjects.
Buck Compton
actual ray of sunshine
seriously, everyone loved buck.
do i even have to say he was one of the popular kids? he was popular in elementary school. everyone wanted to be buck’s friend, and that was cool, because buck was a really great friend.
he was really sensitive when he was little. there’s always that one kid in every elementary school class who will cry over everything. EVERY class has that kid, and for like three years, that kid was buck.
he just got very emotional, okay? because he loved everyone a lot and wanted everyone to be nice but sometimes people weren’t nice –
and sometimes his crayons broke and sometimes he couldn’t find a shoe and sometimes it RAINED and it was all a lot for buck to handle
but he was such a friendly kid that it didn’t matter. like, he was not shy whatsoever. he had no fear of going up and talking to people. he was the friendliest kid ever.
he was always surrounded by friends, all the time. he drew people to him like flies to honey.
Skip Muck
actual ray of sunshine pt. deux
he got his name because he skipped everywhere he went. he never walked anywhere.
he was also a really cheerful kid – and funny, genuinely funny. he was sort of a class clown, but he was never meanspirited towards anyone.
a very musical child. when his father was still around (before he left the family to become a travelling musician, because that’s totally a thing you do) he used to sit skip on his knee and sing songs with him for hours. he taught skip how to play the guitar.
skip loved to sing. he knew all sorts of songs, and anytime he saw his mother looking sad, he’d ask her if she wanted to sing with him.
hated bullies. if he saw anyone picking on another person, he’d snap at them; he wasn’t afraid to get into a physical fight if it came to that.
had the curliest hair as a little boy – like, bouncy waves that were always falling in his face. one day he got lice and had to have his head shaved. after that, it grew back much straighter.
Don Malarkey
okay, don was bald as an egg until he was like two years old
he also didn’t talk for a couple years. like, at all
no one knew what was going on
he was just. donny. his family sort of treated him like a doll. they’d carry him around, bounce him on their hips, and just sort of dote on him while he’d give them great big gummy smiles.
he took a really long time for his teeth to come in, too.
don was the smiliest baby. he was so cheerful, and making him laugh was the easiest thing in the world…until he started teething.
dear, god, the teething
his mother swears that he cried for a month straight. it was torment. no one in his neighborhood slept. don was as red as his (slowly coming in) hair, and he basically had no need to breathe at that point.
as he got older, he became more normal. he started talking, walking, and then just never stopped moving. he was a pretty energized kid – he hated naps – and his parents favorite way of tiring him out was just letting him bounce on the couch until he collapsed.
he was really good at making friends. always a really cheerful kid, don has a sunshine grin and an easygoing nature that drew people to him. he didn’t excel in school, but people liked him because he was such a sweet, helpful boy.
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Boonville – Is this how the Family cared for its children?
from Moonie Buddhist Catholic: A Spiritual Odyssey.
by Thomas W. Case (pages 106-109)
Another time when I took it into my head to drive up to the Boonville camp I found a locked gate across the dirt road, and a couple of Moonie guards a short distance away. I pulled up in my little red Subaru and stopped, feeling that this gate was something I wanted to crush. I wanted to drive my car right through it. Instead I climbed out of the car and felt immediately suspected. The gate reflected on me. I was under observation. The tone of things had tightened up. I realized there had been trouble. The recent publicity flashed through my mind. A TV show on deprogramming. An interview with Dr. Durst on local TV, where he was asked about a couple of organizations he was involved with called “Creative Community Project” and “Ethical Management Project”; and he insisted that these organizations had nothing to do with the Unification Church. I knew better and the TV interviewer knew better. This was stonewalling, and it was tied up with the kidnappings and deprogrammings and the first public contentions, a story just beginning that caught hold of something basic in the infantile heart of America. The question was put immediately into the framework of parents and children, their mutual fight for ownership and autonomy. The question of adult liberty versus psychological control of adults was hardly touched on. (It was too touchy a subject.) The question of spiritual validity was not mentioned. Dr. Durst obviously felt that “you people would just not understand.” So he stonewalled. He was bound to a Higher Truth.
The gate across the road meant that there was suddenly a chill to the proceedings. It wasn’t just private deliberations anymore, it was “which side are you on?” There was a scary excitement inappropriate to the subtle longing towards the place where God lives—a place blocked off by anger or fear.
The gate was opened after I convinced the guard that I was here to see Christina, my good friend, and that I was a member of the “extended Family.” I drove on down the dusty road for several hundred feet and stopped at a conglomeration of brown wood buildings, unkempt vestiges of barns and coops and pens that had once been part of the thriving farm. It was August and very dry, and as I walked, little pools of dust rose up from the ground and disappeared into the general haze. It was hot. Five or six dirty children were playing or crying or whining around the area. I walked into the barn, and saw a couple of harried young women, and more children wandering around in the dust. The children—there were babies and toddlers up to the age of five or so—seemed uncared for, and a number of them were whining for attention. The two women whose charge they were talked to me, explaining that these were the children of Family members who lived at the Boonville camp or who were on missions. This is where they were housed. The two women were in their twenties, very tired looking, but they attempted to express a kind of gladness through baggy eyes. The idealism was intact, but the smiles twitched a little when a nearby two-year-old began to cry. One of the women went over and picked up the baby and cooed to it. It didn’t help. She put the child down and walked over to the phone which was blaring loudly from a post in the center of the barn. She didn’t ask for relief, but that was certainly what she wanted and needed.
Too much was being put on these women, I thought. And there was something out of synch. The women were good Moonies, but bad mothers. Moonie life had strained out any maternal instincts they possessed. To be a good mother you have to have your own warmth and your own power. The powerlessness and the strain communicated itself to the children, and they cried and were lonely and perhaps frightened. The women tried to be warm and kind, but somehow it didn’t come off.
I walked out of the barn and looked at the children hanging around the fencepost or playing in the dust. Flies buzzed around my head. I was irritated and slapped away at my forehead, and I realized the children and the women were undergoing the same mid-summer agony.
This was not right. Is this how the Family cared for its children? Shunted aside. An embarrassment. The Family was moving too fast—great things were to be accomplished—there was just no time to bring the children up, to spend the time to attend to their developing personalities, to give them individual attention and affection and guidance—for Chrissake, just to have enough adults around to pick them up and wipe their tears away.
In the Family’s economy there was just not enough allowance made for the next generation. This generation would make or break the world, and the kids were not a part of the picture. Two harried, worn-out young women to be surrogate mothers for fifteen or twenty kids, while the kids’ real parents worked the farm or attended lectures or sold flowers in distant cities. Not right. Something hypocritical here. Something thin about the whole effort when you didn’t take the time to love the children. As if you didn’t take the whole thing seriously in the first place. As if all the importance was in the picture show going on down the road in the dodge ball games and skits and seduction into “our” idea of God and the Ideal World, while the children who were the real continuity of life were shunted aside, burdens to “our” getting on with it. It was here that the spiritual validity broke down, because the key to spiritual validity is continued life and care, especially care for the children. I was unhappy for the kids. They were not being loved, while down the road in the training session everyone talked about love.
One Family meeting with Onni Durst scarred my soul
Childcare in the Unification Church of Oakland
Why Love Matters
Infants abandoned by UC parents in the US. Two die at Jacob House.
Boonville in the spring of 1974
Inside Look at a Boonville Moonie Training Session
Ford Greene – the former Moonie became an attorney
Papasan Choi and Boonville’s Japanese origins
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Here have some Elijabeth porn
I wrote this in one sitting and am not looking over it because I do not write smut and if i read it over i will end up not sending this. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apologies for any errors as again, written over the past five hours with no review.
The late afternoon sun slanted across the old Mikaelson property as Liz pulled up to the drive, dust trailing her police-issue Ford. The property’s caretaker had called in a report of a suspicious character around the edges of the back of the property, and Liz had jumped to take the call. If the disturbance had anything to do with the original family, she’d rather it be her that found it out than some poor officer who knew nothing of the supernatural.
The house loomed over her almost menacingly as she circled it, heading towards the property line, and she wondered at the horrors its occupants had wreaked. Regardless of her daughter’s feelings - and oh what a pill to swallow that relationship had been - she refused to believe that the Mikaelsons were anything but bad news.
Anyways, the report was probably nothing, an animal. Despite the supernatural presence, nine times out of ten disturbances were based on the sleepy town’s proximity to hundreds of acres of forest. Still, her hand stayed near her hip where her .357 caliber rested in its holster, her vervain mace in a small pocket next to it.
She paused and studied the treeline as she rounded the back of the house, noting the dip down towards the forest as the land dropped off. If there was someone back there, she’d have to get closer to spot them. She walked forward, eyes training across the landscape for any movement. Despite the winter’s chill a bead of sweat trailed from her temples and she cursed inwardly for letting an absent family’s legacy get to her. Get it together, Liz.
She crested the drop and scanned again, heading into the forest. She’d been back here a few times after caroline had told her about the caves dotting Mystic Falls’ landscape, but hadn’t found any secret supernatural cave prisons with ancient spells woven through them. And god, wasn’t that ridiculous? Sometimes she wondered if she should just move to Fiji and forget about all the craziness with vampires, her daughter excepted.
Lost in her thoughts but still alert, she scooted over a ridge of stone as the forest descended into a low valley. At the other end of the town lay the falls, here the ridge was dense with greenery and she found herself detangling branches damp from last night’s storm in order to push through. There wasn’t a clear path, but the forest reclaimed and closed in behind her, and if there was something back here she’d have to go a bit deeper to find -
Her foot slipped on a damp patch of moss that clung to the foot of an oak tree and she began sliding, her ankle twisting as she landed on her side, sliding down the mix of damp earth and greenery that paved the sharp incline. She reached her hands out, trying to grab at anything, but the roots of the nearby plants were too weak to hold her weight. She was gaining speed and slipped over hte edge of the next ridge, freefalling for a moment in the air before landing with unruly limbs on a patch of tall grass. She squinted as the sun stabbed her in the eye, a break in the western canopy, and took a deep breath.
And felt herself plummet.
The earth had been loose on top of the spreading roots of a river birch, and she fell, sliding down the roots before freefalling and landing with a splash and a disturbingly jarring clack of her teeth.
“Unnnghhgh.” It was about all she could manage as she rolled out of the pool that may have saved her life and lay damp and shivering, assessing her injuries, the sun still filtering down in a cruel taunt several feet above her. Ok, I don’t think anything’s broken, the pain’s too bad in my ankle to be anything but a sprain. My hip feels bruised and I’ll want to be careful with my ribs. She pulled herself to sitting, heaving deep gasping breaths from the pain and the shock of the fall, and tried to calm her breathing using the yoga technique from that class Caroline had made her take.
She took a look at her surroundings as she let her belly expand in deep breaths in through the nose out through the mouth. It was a narrow cavern, the stone walls damp and the air chill and musty, the roots of the tree weaving across the ceiling where the dirt still lay packed. The roots stopped abruptly at the curve of the stone that rose up to meet it, natural stone bubbled and ridged and glimmering in the fading light with minerals. Shit it’s getting dark. She reached to her belt and pulled out her radio, pressing the button and hearing a dull click. She tried again - no lights, nothing. It had been freshly charged when she had left her vehicle, so something must have happened in the fall. She slid her hand inside her coat and grabbed her phone, sending up a prayer to find the screen intact. She pressed her thumb to the pad. Nothing. She held down the power button, thinking she might’ve turned it off earlier. Nada.
Well, shit.
She clambered to standing, only having to duck slightly as she moved across the room parallel to the water that split the cavern in two. She flicked her led flashlight on at least that was working and headed further into the cave, the sound of her footfalls echoing alongside a slow steady drip coming from further in the cave. How far does this go back? She wondered, ducking a root that acted as a door jamb separating this cavern from the next. She swept her light back and forth, her pulse suddenly skyrocketing. Someone was in here, she was sure of it. She reached a hand down to her holster and peeled the snap free as quietly as she could. Whoever was here would have seen her already from the light, but they didn’t need to know she was armed.
“I suggest you leave the gun in its holster,” a clipped voice issued from right next to her ear and she couldn’t hold back the sharp intake of breath even as she drew the weapon and swung around, cold metal meeting a hard chest. She trailed her flashlight up a suit jacket, the loose knot of an undone tie. Elijah Mikaelson
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
“I’d ask you the same, sheriff. It is my family’s property, after all.” Elijah gently pushed the barrel of the gun down and she thought for a second before re-holstering it. Even if she’d loaded her wooden bullets, they wouldn’t be much help against an Original, and the ricochet in this space may well kill her.
“The caretaker called in a report, mentioned he’d thought he saw someone messing around the property line.”
She caught Elijah’s smile in the sliver of light from her flashlight. “Ah yes, Samuel has been with our family for years. A good employee.”
Liz was struck by the absurdity of this strangely civil conversation in these surroundings and shook her head with a laugh. “Yes, well, I’ll definitely make sure he’s awarded the Neighborhood Watch award but for now, can you help me get out of this cave? Or for that matter, what are you doing down here?”
His response was a gentle hand at her elbow and a murmured, “I’ll explain in a moment, if you’ll follow me.”
Liz curled her hand around his bicep, surprised by the hard muscle beneath her palm. Elijah’s suits were clearly deceptive. He led her confidently, weaving through the cave with a solicitous air, and Liz had to calm her fight or flight instinct from being led deep into a cave by a known predator. She thought of the woefully inadequate police handbook, and even the Mystic Falls Council couldn’t really offer adequate advice in this situation. She had to trust in Elijah’s sense of honor, which she knew from Caroline and her friends was deeply ingrained. If there was a trustworthy Mikaelson, Elijah was the closest thing to it.
Light flickered ahead as they turned down a small tunnel that narrowed before opening up into a small room, alit with candles. The shadows danced on the walls, and Liz thought she could see some kind of marking on the walls. She turned her head to look up at Elijah and he gave her a small grin, letting go of her elbow as she moved forward, her hand reaching out to touch the wall. Part of the wall was grooved deep with etchings in a language indecipherable to her. She traced the letters and looked back again at Elijah, wonderingly.
“Old Norse,” he said with a smile. “from my homestead.”
“When you were alive? Did you -” she cut off, the question clear.
“No, this was done by witches. It’s a,” Elijah glanced away, almost awkwardly, “marriage cave. The witches would come and imbue the caves here with spells to ensure a fruitful wedding night.”
Liz had to fight her grin down at his embarrassment. Never thought I’d find a vampire endearing. “So are you saying that I might be standing in the exact place Vikings boned a thousand years ago?” She flashed a wicked grin, eager to embarrass him further, but was surprised when his eyes drifted to her lips. Was he-?
Elijah coughed to hide his own smile, noting her confused reaction. He’d been impressed with Sheriff Forbes when his family had lived in, or perhaps terrorized, Mystic Falls. She clearly had a good head on her shoulders, and her instincts were top notch. He rubbed his chest absently where her gun had pressed. “And here is where we come to a dilemma,” he said, gesturing for her to sit on the outcropping of stone that had been smoothed by human hands centuries ago.
“Part of the spellwork on the cave was to keep the bride and groom inside, and any detractors of the marriage out, for a full week. Forcing post-marital confinement helped ensure propagation of the Viking line. “
“You’re so serious about what basically amounts to the ancient equivalent of the marriage suite,” Liz said, laughing before her face sobered. “Wait, are you saying we’re trapped in here?”
He looked at her apologetically. “I’ve been here five days. We’ve got two more to go.”
“No no no no no way,” Liz stammered, flicking back on her flashlight and heading back the way they’d come to the larger cavern. Her ankle throbbed as she made her way back to where a faint sliver of moonlight shone through the hole she’d fallen through. She heard Elijah behind her. “Could you boost me up?” She heard him sigh, but felt his hands circle her waist before lifted her, and she grabbed a root and pulled herself up, making her way up towards the hole. She was within reach and snaked an arm over the - thunk - her hand flattened against an invisible wall. She pushed at it, testing its boundaries. Solid.
It was her turn to sigh as she gingerly let herself down, the adrenaline rush fading and the throb of her ankle beating in time with her heart. Elijah seemed to notice and rose up to meet her, gently cradling her in his arms as he lowered her to the ground.
“You’re hurt,” he said quietly and studied her a moment before biting into his wrist and lifting it to her mouth.
“Oh no, no i can’t,” Liz responded, shaking her head violently, and Elijah’s face softened at her clear discomfort with the idea of drinking blood.
“Well then, you leave me no choice,” he said, sweeping her into his arms and carrying her back towards the candlelit cavern, her voice an echoing whoop.
She was breathless from the quick journey and from laughing at the rush of it, being sped through the cavern held in his strong arms and did he really need to let her down with his arm still holding her close so she slid down every muscled inch of him? Wait, why was she complaining?
Wait number 2, was she seriously getting turned on by Elijah Mikaelson?
She backed up a few steps, searching for a distraction and avoiding his gaze. “Why are you in here in the first place? If you knew?”
He sat down on the stone bench, gathering his words before he replied. “I didn’t. I was turned before I was married, I didn’t know this was where the marriage caves lay. I just knew -” he paused and looked up sharply at her, studying her face in the flickering shadows, before nodding as if to himself. “I’m here for a grimoire page, missing from my mother’s spellbook all these years. I tracked it back to this cave, and in my haste to attain it, I ignored the sting of magic as I entered.”
Liz gave a half-smile in acknowledgment. “Well I for one am glad you did. I don’t know what I’d do here for seven full days.” She looked up in alarm. “Wait, are you - are you hungry? Do you need -” she trailed off, sweeping a nervous hand across her offered wrist.
His estimation of Liz Forbes went up yet again.
“I’ll be fine. I don’t need sustenance as much as a younger vampire. But what about you?” Elijah asked, sniffing delicately. “Ahh, protein bars. An officer is always prepared, yes?”
She smiled at him and he was surprised by the warmth in his chest. “Yeah, I’ll be ok. Seems like there’s plenty of water here too.” She pulled out her phone again, looking forlornly at it. “Seems like Viking spells beat modern technology too.”
“A witch is a thing to be feared,” Elijah responded darkly, and Liz shrugged off the strange instinct to apologize at the turn in his mood. She searched for something to say.
“Did - did you want to be married, when you were a child?”
His eyes snapped up at her and narrowed, and by now Liz noted it as Elijah’s signature way of focusing on something that interested him. Score 1 for Liz distraction
“I was…engaged when we were turned by the blood of my fiancee,” he replied. Score -1 for Liz distraction. “My family didn’t know, Tatia and I were to elope. But I discovered she was sleeping with my brother and the rage consumed me for many years.”
“I’m sorry, I keep seeming to bring up painful things,” Liz said, the pain in her ankle finally prompting her to sit. She turned to face him, her eyes soft, and laid a hand on his shoulder, giving a small squeeze.
“Life is full of pain, Mz Forbes, but also moments of joy,” Elijah said, his voice gentle. His eyes cut to hers. “Of connection.” The unspoken passed between them as they held each other’s gazes, and Liz thought of how she had misjudged this vampire, and she wondered how many more. She broke his gaze by closing her eyes, her brow furrowed.
“What is it,” Elijah said softly, and there was something so sweetly sincere in that well-mannered tone that Liz just broke, a small sob escaping her as she thought of Caroline, of how she had almost killed her own daughter, and she was babbling and crying and his arms encircled her and she buried her face in what she recognized through her tears as a very fancy suit. His broad palm swept through her hair in calming repetition and she pulled away with a watery smile.
“Sorry to mess up your suit.”
He grinned, “I think the cave ruined it well before your tears, Mz Forbes.” His expression turned serious. “You can’t blame yourself for reacting to natural predators in the most sensible way possible.”
“But she’s my daughter,” Liz said, shaking her head. “Regardless of council training or instinct, I should have fought harder.” Her expression was fierce and he nodded in acquiescence.
“Maybe you should have,” she looked up, surprised, and he cocked his head to the side as he continued. “But what good is regret? And what does it matter now?”
Liz was again struck by the surrealness of the encounter and laughed. “I’m sitting in an ancient cave taking parental advice from a thousand-year-old vampire and could this get any stranger?”
Elijah surprised her with a laugh of his own, his eyes once again glued to the curve of her smile. “I could think of a few ways.” Wait, wait. Wait.
Was Elijah flirting with her? Holy crap.
Liz narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you sure you don’t need to eat?”
His eyes darkened and traced the line of her neck. “Would you be willing to let me feed from you, Elizabeth?”
She licked her lips as an acknowledgment and he moved closer, pulling her up on his lap so that she rested on a strong thigh, her legs stretched across the rest of his lap. He cupped her face and looked deep into her eyes, searching for something in their depths, giving her a last chance to turn back.
“It’s ok,” she said in the softest of exhales. “I want it,” she continued, her heart pumping with the thrill of it. His fangs lowered and his eyes turned impossibly dark and what was she doing and why was it so hot and his fangs sliced into the thin skin of her neck and oh my god.
Liz had attended one of those sex toy parties an embarrassing total of once, and that had been quite enough. She just couldn’t get into the group swooning over male strippers and public discussion of dildos, not to mention shrugging off the sympathetic looks the housewives of Mystic Falls sent her way when they thought she wasn’t looking. Gossip scandal of the year, her husband left her for a man, didn’t you hear? Poor thing. I heard she caught them in bed together, can you imagine?
So yeah, it had been a while, but that hadn’t really been an issue for her, to be completely honest. Until now. As his mouth suctioned her neck and his arm banded across her back, pulling her close. She was more turned on than she had been in forever, it felt like, and she almost laughed aloud as her libido took over her brain with the singular thought - Carpe…whatever dick is in Latin.
Elijah’s eyes snapped open as her hand brushed up the front of his trousers and the metal of his belt buckle clinked with its undoing. He pulled away from her neck with a slow lick of blood and met her eyes, his own still bearing marks of his monster’s visage, the black veins streaks down his face. She stared confidently back at him, almost challenging, and his lips tipped up in a smile before a soft, almost surprised sound fell from his lips as she slid his zipper down.
They could both feel it, this hovering on the edge of choice - the air almost tangible in its thickness. His eyes opened again to stare at her, his jaw tight and his lower lip almost pursed, tension held in a tight coil. She held his gaze, slowly licking her lips and giving him another squeeze and that was it.
She found herself on her back, her sheriff’s jacket padded behind her head and her legs lifted as he stripped away her uniform pants before shoving them beneath her hips along with his suit coat. Liz almost laughed at the courteousness of the gesture, so very him and such a contrast to the image of a vampire. He’ll suck your blood and your clit and the laugh bubbled up and escaped.
“Forgive me, but I don’t believe I’m in on the joke,” he said, confusion in his eyes, and she shook her head in dismissal, sitting up and reaching her arms down to pull him up her body.
“Ignore me. Well, ignore that,” she said with another huff of laughter, cradling his face and kissing him. She could feel his lips relax underneath hers, and she sucked his lower lip into her mouth and bit down gently. The hand that reached up to firmly grasp the back of her head was its own reward, and the kiss deepened quickly, the weight of him firmly on top of her as he lowered her back towards the ground.
His hand slid across her sheriff’s badge and she felt his lips curve in a smile before he pulled away, soft kisses a path down her throat, her shirt pulling open as the buttons popped. Elijah was a man of contrasts in bed, she thought, before her brain left her entirely. Oh my god how could I forget?
His hand pushed up her breast as he teased it with his tongue, slow, languid licks and the barest touch of her nipple. She arched against him, pressing her chest forward to seek more and he pulled back because he was apparently the devil and the noise she made would have embarrassed her twenty years ago.
But not now. There wasn’t really time for propriety, only time for the thick weight of him between her legs. She bent her knees, clasping her ankles behind his back and he laughed against her breasts, the cool rush of air
“There’s no rush, Liz. We have all night, and I intend to pleasure you until the spell is released.”
“I’m not 20 anymore, Elijah. As wonderful as that seems I don’t know if -” her words cut off as he finally finally closed his mouth around a nipple and sucked and she could feel the prick of his fangs as a testament to his own arousal. “Do it,” she gasped, forcing a hand between them to slip between her legs and he moaned and bit down, his tongue still playing with her nipple as his fangs pierced her skin. The sensation was almost unbearable and her hands almost slipped from the wetness on her clit and she groaned out his name, shortened in her pleasure to ‘Lijah.
He pulled away and she breathed an internal sigh of relief, she was so oversensitive that touch was almost too much, but the reprieve was just for him to free his erection and soon she found herself impaled on his thick cock.
She was beyond wet, but it had been years and the stretch of him was considerable. His teeth flashed in the low light of the cave and she knew he was fucking with her while he fucked her and she clenched around him, grinning her own grin as his smile dropped and he groaned. Round one to Liz. He pulled out slowly, regaining control, and began a measured pace, the only thing betraying his passion the grip he held on her hips, his hands spread across her ass and fingers squeezing. She’d be embarrassed by the flesh that poked through if it had been twenty years ago.
But not now. There wasn’t really any room for worry when his cock was spreading her wide and she just wanted him to go faster. She made a small frustrated noise and he smiled again, meeting her eyes before looking down to where they joined. Liz pulled herself up to her elbows and watched with him, slanting her hand across her chest to play with her nipples as she watched his slick cock pump in and out. He let out a small groan at the sight of her touching herself and picked up the pace. Just what she wanted. The rock scraped her back as the cloth of his suit shifted with the motions but she couldn’t find it in herself to care as he added a twist to at the end of his thrusts, hitting her deep inside. He balanced on an arm and reached between them, rubbing her clit in tandem with his thrusts, and her voice spiraled up and out as she came, her vision going white for a moment, stark in the darkness of the cave. She felt Elijah push back her legs, and he slammed into her, crying out his own release as her fading orgasm had her contracting around his cock.
They really just did that.
“We really just did that.”
“Yes, Mz. Forbes, we did. And that certainly won’t be the last time, marriage cave or not.”
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I don’t know how this happened, to be honest. I saw JCap and a car, and my mind went off with it. Thanks for all of the support, though. <3
Robbins Automotive (Part I)
“It looks amazing,” Callie said, walking around to inspect the now pristine rear bumper of her 1957 Ford Thunderbird. “How did you find the color? Didn’t they discontinue it ages ago?”
The tall, well-muscled mechanic with a military crewcut and sparkling blue eyes shrugged. “It beats me. I wasn’t the mechanic on this job.”
“Oh, well then can you bring him out so I thank him?” Callie asked. “I’d really appreciate that,” she craned her neck to read the nametag on the man’s shirt, “Tim.” She flashed her most dazzling smile.
Tim turned away and cupped his hands around his mouth, so he could be heard through the expansive garage. “Hey, sis!”
A few seconds later, a captivating woman in a white tank top and tight blue jeans made her way over. Callie couldn’t help but watch her blonde curls bounce with the woman’s every step. She couldn’t be the mechanic, could she? Callie had never seen a mechanic look like that.
“Hey, what’s up?” She nudged Tim with her elbow, wearing a playful grin.
For some reason, Callie still couldn’t seem to pry her eyes from the mysterious, perky woman. She had to fight the impulse to wipe the small grease stain from the woman’s hairline. The blonde was positively mesmerizing.
“Yeah, this lovely lady here wanted to talk to you about the ‘57 T-Bird.” Tim explained, gesturing towards Callie. “I’ll leave you ladies to it.” And with that, he went back to his workstation.
So the blonde was the mechanic. Callie found herself a little shocked at that. She certainly didn’t look like any mechanic Callie had seen. There was something effervescent and ethereal about her. It was almost hard to believe she was real.
Arizona brazenly reached her hand out for Callie to shake with a dimpled smile. She also had sparkling blue eyes, an even deeper shade than Tim’s. “Arizona Robbins.”
Once Callie had gotten her bearings, she met the proffered hand. The electricity of the contact was startling, exciting every nerve in her body, leaving goosebumps on her skin. Touching someone’s hand had never felt like that before. Her heart was racing. Callie felt like the conduit to a power surge. And that spark when their hands met – Arizona had to have felt that too.
It took a few seconds for Arizona to forfeit the intense staring contest. She looked at her pink floral converse as she absently scuffed them against the concrete floor. Arizona didn’t believe in true love, or love at first sight, or soulmates, but she couldn’t deny that this was the most profound and intense connection she’d ever shared with a perfect stranger. The woman before her was enthralling. She was an enigma, and there was something about her obsidian hair and ochroid complexion that made Arizona want to spend her life trying to decrypt her.
“Hi. Calliope Torres. No, it’s Callie Torres. No one calls me Calliope besides my dad. And, I have no idea why I just said that,” Callie rambled, shifting awkwardly with reddening cheeks. Way to go Callie ‘Verbal Diarrhea’ Torres.
What Callie internally chastised herself for, Arizona found positively charming. “Calliope. That’s a beautiful name,” she said with a soft smile.
“You don’t have to say that,” Callie said with an awkward laugh. “It isn’t. It makes me sound like some stupid ancient greek marble statue.”
“Well, I happen to like stupid ancient greek marble statues,” Arizona declared. “And your car. It’s super cool.”
“Uh, thanks,” Callie smiled. “It’s my baby. I can’t believe I let it get banged up.”
“How did you manage that?” Arizona asked with a quirky smile.
“Oh, God, so I made a bet with my ass of a best friend, Mark, that I could handle more tequila shots than him – and I can – but apparently I forfeited our bet because someone asked me to dance, and I really liked her, and I didn’t want to make a bad impression by keeling over on the dance floor.” Callie laughed softly.
“So, did it at least work out with the girl?” Arizona silently hoped that it didn’t.
“No. It felt sort of mediocre once we got sober,” Callie said with a laugh. “As most drunken hookups are. And Mark came to collect on the bet, and failed to mention that he didn’t know how to drive a manual before he backed into a light pole.”
Arizona tried to hide her smirk when she realized that the attraction between the two probably wasn’t one-sided. “Oof,” Arizona said. “I’d have killed him.”
“Yeah, I wanted to,” Callie said, rolling her eyes. “The idiot thought that a ‘57 Thunderbird had an automatic transmission.”
“I mean, a two-speed automatic transmission was introduced as an option for the T-Bird in 1955, so he’s not totally wrong,” Arizona supplied. “But, it certainly wasn’t standard, or even common.”
“You, uh, know a lot about cars,” Callie said with a laugh.
“I kinda have to. It’s my job.” Arizona smiled, gesturing to the bustling garage behind her. “Anyway, what did you need me for?”
“Oh, um, I’m just surprised you found the right paint color. Wasn’t it discontinued?”
“Yes, it was, but you are in luck. A couple years back that this guy brought a beat up T-Bird to Tim and I for a total restoration, and he was ridiculously rich. So rich, he actually had a paint company custom-make more paint in starmist blue.” Arizona laughed. “I remembered that there was some extra paint left from the job, and the guy didn’t want it, so it’s been sitting around in the storage room, and now some of it is on your bumper.”
“Oh, wow! I, um– Thanks. But I should totally pay you back for the paint,” Callie said, reaching for her purse.
“It’s not a problem. We don’t see Thunderbirds all that often,” Arizona said with a laugh, running her hand along the smooth exterior of Callie’s car.
The brunette couldn’t help but noticed the way her muscular arm flexed when she moved it. She wondered what it would look like flexing in other settings, namely on her bed, holding that toned body above her. Callie then promptly dismissed that line of pondering.
“But I feel like I should do something. You went to all this extra trouble for me. There’s got to be something I can do to repay you.” Callie leaned against her car and smiled softly, her eyes drawn to glimmering azure ones yet again.
“Just come back here next time this beauty needs attention,” Arizona said, laughing lightly. She was only half-referring to the car. “And, if you ever need someone experienced with a manual transmission to take it for a spin, you know where to find me.”
“You’ll definitely see me around,” Callie replied.
Arizona looked at the clock hanging on the wall. “I’ve got to get back to work. I promised I’d have a tune-up done by four. But I– ...I’ll look forward to seeing you around,” she said with a flirty smile. She really didn’t want to leave.
“Definitely.” Callie nodded. “It was nice meeting you, Arizona. Thanks for making my car look good as new.”
“My pleasure,” Arizona said, making her way into the garage and to her work station.
Once Arizona – or, more accurately, Arizona’s pert bottom – was out of view, Callie leaned back against her car, letting out a breath.
What the hell had just happened?
XXX
“So, what was up with the eye sex with that customer?” Tim hopped up onto the trunk of a car facing Arizona’s workstation, adjusting his Robbins Automotive baseball cap.
“You noticed?” Arizona asked sheepishly from the hood of the car she was working in.
“Everyone in the building felt that,” Tim explained, chuckling.
Arizona shook her head and rolled her eyes. “It was inappropriate, I know. It won’t happen again.”
“No, I, um, I have no idea what that was or how it happened, but she made you smile. You haven’t smiled like that since... Well, since Joanne. And before her, you used to smile all the time. You were the smiliest person I knew, Zo.” Tim shot Arizona a near mirror image of her dimpled grin.
Arizona cringed at the mention of her ex. “Don’t call me that,” she said, rolling her eyes, grabbing another wrench. “It wasn’t all her. I grew up, Tim. It was time for me to stop skating around on heelys and talking about things that won’t ever happen. It was time to face reality.”
“Med school could still happen,” Tim said. “And facing reality doesn’t mean giving up the things that make you, ...well, you. I miss the heelys, and I think any girl that can make you smile like that again is worth a shot. She could be good for you. Did you get her number?”
“Med school isn’t going to happen. That ship sailed. I said I’d work here for a year at most, just to pull together some savings, and then I’d take the MCATs. Three years later, I haven’t even began studying.” Arizona closed the hood of the shiny red pickup truck and turned to face her brother. “And I didn’t get her number, because I’m her mechanic. I doubt she’d be interested in me. She seems like she has better things to do.”
“You’ll never know what you’re capable of if you don’t even try. Just think about it. You’re the smartest person I know.” Tim shrugged, hopping off the trunk of the car. He hoped that maybe this time he’d get through to his stubborn sister. “And that customer sure seemed interested to me,” he remarked, walking towards his own station.
So Arizona wasn’t just imagining things?
XXX
Pulling into a spot beside her best friend’s shiny black BMW, Callie grabbed her bag and phone from the passenger seat, and began walking towards the building for her next class. She found Addison leaning against the brick building, looking perfect, as always, in her oversized sunglasses.
“Have I told you how much I hate psychiatry? Why on earth do we have to take this? I’m going to be a surgeon, not a shrink,” Addison ranted, walking into the building with Callie.
“I can see why having a basic understanding of psychiatry would be helpful to a surgeon,” Callie said, shrugging.
“Cal, you’re supposed to be bitching about psychiatry with me, not being reasonable,” Addison groaned with a perfectly manicured hand on her slim hip. “What’s got you all happy, anyway?”
“What do you mean?” Callie asked.
“I mean you look happy. You’re even walking happy,” Addison grumbled.
“Walking happy? Is that even a thing? How does one walk happy?” Callie asked.
“Torres!” Mark called from behind the duo, quickly catching up with them. “You look happy. Did you get laid?”
“No! Why is everyone asking me that?” Callie rolled her eyes.
“You are walking all girly and bouncy,” Mark explained.
“See, I told you it was a thing! So dish. Why are you so cheery?” Addison asked.
They walked over to the couches they always monopolized, down the hall from their next class.
Callie set her bag down and slumped into an armchair. “Nothing happened! I just got my car fixed. The mechanic, well, uh, they– they had the right paint, even though it was discontinued years ago. They did a really good job.”
“Okay, I know you love your car a lot, but I’m not buying that,” Addison said. “What, did you flirt with the mechanic?”
When Callie looked away with a blush on her cheeks, Addison smirked.
“The mechanic? Really, Cal?” Mark nudged her with his elbow, smirking. “You could do better, like a ruggedly handsome plastic-surgeon-to-be.”
Callie laughed dryly. “Yeah, this,” she said, gesturing between herself and Mark, “is never going to happen again.”
“Don’t look at me!” Addison exclaimed, when Mark looked her way. “So, is the mechanic hot?”
Callie couldn’t help but smile. “The mechanic is very attractive, yes.”
“You should bring him to Joe’s on friday. Maybe see if you can take him home after,” Addison suggested with a raised eyebrow, poking Callie in the arm.
“I’d probably do something different for the first date,” Callie said, pulling out her phone to evade eye contact.
“Date? You’re ready to date again after the whole Hahn incident?” Mark asked.
Callie set her phone down a little harder than she meant to. “Can we not talk about Erica, please? But yeah, it’s been like five months. I think I should be over that by now.” It’d actually been four months and 23 days, not that she’d been intentionally counting.
“But your mechanic, Callie? Really? I get that you’re hurt and She-who-must-not-be-named probably destroyed your self esteem, but you could do better,” Addison stated, examining her manicured nails.
“What is wrong with a mechanic?” Callie asked, putting a hand on her hip.
“Nothing per se. It’s just, you’re a highly educated, ambitious orthopedic surgery superstar in the making, from a highly educated, successful family. You could do a lot better than a mechanic. Besides, if you brought a mechanic home, your dad would tear him to shreds.”
“When did you become such an elitist ass, Addie? Why can’t a mechanic be educated and ambitious?” Callie started collecting her things. “Not everyone starts out with parents on Forbes’ list, like Mark and I, or parents that are The Forbes.”
“Look, Cal, I don’t think she meant it like that,” Mark reasoned.
“I really like the mechanic. We flirted. It isn’t a thing! At least it’s not a thing yet. I mean, I don’t even have her number, and you’re so quick to judge her!”
“Oh, she’s a girl? We’re speaking the vagina monologues again?” Addison asked. “The devil in prada wasn’t an isolated incident?”
“Can girls even be mechanics?” Mark asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“Ugh!” Callie stood abruptly. “I’ll see you around,” she said tersely, walking away.
XXX
For the next three days, Callie found one reason or another to stop by Robbins Automotive. The first day, she bought an air freshener. The second day she pretended to have a question about whether a car wash could compromise the new paint on her bumper. The third day, she needed air in her tires. The real reason she was there, of course, was to steal glimpses of the enthralling blonde mechanic she couldn’t stop thinking about.
And Arizona, of course, pretended not to notice, hard at work at her station. She couldn’t have the brunette catching on that she spent all day glancing at the door, waiting for her to come in. If she didn’t play hard to get, she’d be playing pathetic, single, and desperately enamored.
But today was Friday, and she had Saturday off. She didn’t want to make Callie keep coming by, hoping she’d notice her, which she did, because how could she not notice a woman that beautiful walking in? But still, it was time for this game to end. Callie wouldn’t keep coming around forever if she didn’t make a move.
When Callie entered the store and began pretending to look at windshield wiper model samples and air fresheners yet again, Arizona took a deep breath and did what she wanted for once. Not what she felt like she should do, or the only thing she could do. For the first time in a very long time, Arizona did something for herself.
“You could take me for coffee,” Arizona said with a heart-stopping dimpled grin.
Callie recognized her voice, whipping her head around from the now-familiar air fresheners to find the beautiful face that had been pervading her thoughts for days. She couldn’t stop the smile that broke out across her face. “I’m sorry?”
“When we last spoke, you asked if there was anything you could do to repay me for the custom paint. I really like coffee, and I’d really like to have some with you.” Arizona’s blue eyes were sparkling.
“I can definitely manage that,” Callie replied, unable to shake the stupid grin. “When were you thinking?”
Arizona looked at the clock, pretending to give it serious thought. “How about now?”
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memories of 1977
1977 The first Apple Computer goes on sale. Quebec adopts French as the official language. Jimmy Carter is elected as the President of United States and the first oil flows through the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline. The precursor to the GPS system in use today is started by US Department of defense. Elvis Presley Dies from a heart attack aged 42.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ-k3oblIM8
British Public sector trade unions including Firefighters strike for wage increases over the 10% ceiling imposed by the British government. The first ever Quadraphonic concert in London by Pink Floyd. The first commercial flight Concord London to New York. NASA space shuttle makes its first test flight off the back of a jetliner. Voyager I and Voyager II are launched unmanned to explore the outer solar system.
When Britain’s fire crews walked out on national strike, members of the public were advised to take matters into their own hands. Although the armed services, with their so-called "Green Goddess" fire engines, were drafted in, they were seen by many as a last line of defence.
As the strike took hold in the encroaching winter of November 1977, people were encouraged to keep buckets of sand and water at home. And at a time when many still relied on open fires for heating, householders were advised to have their chimneys cleaned. The London Fire Brigade issued its own 11-point safety guide, advising checking for smouldering cigarettes and leaving only essential electrical appliances like fridges plugged in. The strike began on 14 November and lasted for nine weeks, running through to the New Year. At the time fire fighters worked a basic 48-hour week, for which they were paid an average of £71.10, which amounted to £3,700 a year.
The fire fighters finally agreed to settle for a 10% pay rise with guarantees of future increases and they went back to work on 16 January.
Silver Jubilee of 1977
The Queen’s first biggie was the Silver Jubilee of 1977. The two previous monarchs had not reached this milestone; the Queen’s father King George VI died after only 15 years and two months on the throne and her uncle Edward VIII did not even make it to a year.
Britain in 1977 had recently experienced power cuts, a forerunner of the Winter of Discontent.
No wonder the country was in the mood for a party. But celebrations were different then. Children’s parties used to consist of jelly and ice-cream and Pass The Parcel; now they want a cabaret show and expensive goody bags. Similarly, the Diamond Jubilee involves a cast of thousands and many hours of airtime each day over the better part of a week. The Silver Jubilee coverage consisted of less than seven hours in total, mostly on Jubilee day itself, with not a single celebrity in sight – unless you count Margot (actress Penelope Keith) from The Good Life presenting Jubilee Jackanory.
The Royal Family was smaller 35 years ago so the Queen had to carry out all her own Jubilee engagements.
She went on a royal progress through Britain, much of it by car, so that she could be seen by as many people as possible, even if time did not allow for a walkabout in every town. Late in Jubilee year, a newspaper published a picture of her looking weary, with the comment “Well she IS 51.” And now here she is doing just as much at 86.
The tide was already turning in 1977 as that was the first year when foreign cars outsold British ones.
In Silver Jubilee year leisure for most people meant watching your newly-acquired (but in many cases rented) colour TV. There were only three channels – BBC1, BBC2 and ITV – but somehow there was always something worth watching. The Professionals was a favourite, starring Martin Shaw (sporting a bubble perm) and Lewis Collins and their Ford Capri, as was The New Avengers, a revival of the Sixties series, starring Joanna Lumley and her Purdey hairdo, a modern take on the pudding bowl. Roots, the ground-breaking mini-series tracing a black man’s family history from capture in West Africa, was broadcast in April 1977. Morecambe and Wise ruled the comedy roost. A staggering 28million – half the population at the time – watched their 1977 Christmas show, a figure unlikely to be exceeded.
Sadly the same might be said of Britain’s Wimbledon hopes. No one has really come close since Virginia Wade won in Silver Jubilee year in front of the Queen.
Before videos and DVDs, people still went to the cinema and in December 1977 everyone wanted to see Star Wars, a new kind of fantasy film about “a galaxy far, far away”, that spawned the genre that now includes The Lord Of The Rings and even Harry Potter. Meanwhile the pop world was fragmenting. On one side there was glam rock and disco; on the other, punk. The Sex Pistols’ snarling version of God Save The Queen was released in Jubilee week and their manager Malcolm McLaren said it was proof that there were “barbarians at the gate”.
They never made it through. The popularity of the Royal Family surged in Silver Jubilee year just as it had in Diamond Jubilee year.
We are not the same country we were in 1977. But perhaps we are not entirely different either.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV3hC1-JVbg
Cost of Living
In 1977, 56 per cent of Britons owned one car or more, 74 per cent owned a washing machine. 50 per cent of people had central heating in their homes. Computers, DVD and CD players were non-existent. A couple with two children had an average net income of £363 a week. A single pensioner received an income of £180 a week. We spent 25 per cent of our income on food. We spent 10 per cent of our income on leisure and holidays. In 1977, 93 per cent of men aged 25-54 were in work. However female employment in the same age group was 59 per cent. 26 per cent of jobs were in manufacturing.
Despite the vast majority of adults thinking that things were better in the 1970s, figures from that era suggest that life was not easy.
1977: Star Wars fever hits Britain
Thousands of people were flocking to cinemas in the UK to watch the long-awaited blockbuster, Star Wars – a movie which is already setting US box offices alight. Bracing the cold weather, young and old queued from 0700 GMT in London at the Dominion, and Leicester Square cinemas, to snatch up non-reserved tickets which were otherwise booked until March.
Star Wars, which was first released in America seven months ago, has taken audiences by storm and outstripped last year’s blockbuster Jaws to gross $156m (£108m) at the box office. Carrie Fisher, Sir Alec Guiness and little known Harrison Ford star in this fairytale set in space. Produced by Gary Kurtz, written and directed by George Lucas who directed American Graffitti, the U-classified sci-fi film is a classic epic of good versus evil. It has enthralled audiences under a dazzle of special effects with wizards, heroes, monsters in "a galaxy far, far away".
The 900 people involved in the film included giants, dwarfs, artists and the man who built machines for James Bond. Many of the optical special effects were developed in California by Industrial Light and Magic, a George Lucas company. The on-stage special effects were put together at Elstree studios in Britain. Filming took the cast to Tunisia, Death Valley California, Guatemala and the EMI soundstage at Elstree.
The build-up and hype has led to store wars over Star Wars with products including T-shirts, sweets, jig-saw puzzle, watches and food to name but a few. Mr Lucas has published a paperback version and Marvel comics have produced a special edition to meet the thirst for Star Wars’ merchandise. But for those queuing today nothing will satisfy them but a chance to see the film itself – easy targets for touts trying to sell £2.20 tickets for £30.
1977 The Murders of the Yorkshire Ripper
5 February – 28-year-old homeless woman Irene Richardson is murdered in Leeds, at almost the exact location where prostitute Marcella Claxton was badly injured nine months ago. Police believe that this murder and attempted murder may be connected, along with the murders of Wilma McCann, Emily Jackson and the attempted murders of at least three other women.
Near the body, the police discovered an important clue. The killer had driven his car onto the soft ground of Soldiers Field. The police were able to determine the tire marks as being two India Autoway tires, a Pneumant, and an Esso 110, all cross-ply. With a rear track width of between 4′ 1 1/2" and 4′ 2 1/2", the number of vehicles that it could apply to was twenty-six, including Ford Corsairs. A staggering 100,000 vehicles in West Yorkshire would have to be checked, and before the killer changed any of his tires.
23 April – Prostitute Patricia Atkinson is murdered in Bradford; she is believed to be the fourth woman to die at the hands of the mysterious Yorkshire Ripper.
Patricia Atkinson, aged 32, a prostitute, was the second murder victim in 1977 by Peter Sutcliffe. To the police, the Leeds killer had now expanded his territory to include Bradford. A blood sample showed that Patricia Atkinson had consumed about twenty measures of spirits. The police also found a bloody foot print on a bottom bed sheet from a size seven Dunlop Warwick wellington boot, which matched the foot prints found at the Emily Jackson murder scene. It was clear, from this, and from the injuries sustained, that the Yorkshire Ripper had now expanded his territory to include Bradford. As well, for what would be the only time, he had committed a murder indoors.
26 June – 16-year-old shop assistant Jayne McDonald is found battered and stabbed to death in Chapeltown, Leeds; police believe she is the fifth person to be murdered by the Yorkshire Ripper. About 30 yards into Reginald Street, near an adventure playground, Sutcliffe struck Jayne MacDonald with the hammer on the back of the head. After she fell down, he then dragged her, face down, about 20 yards into the corner of the play area. Her shoes made a "horrible scraping noise" along the ground as he dragged her. He hit her again with the hammer and then pulled her clothes up and stabbed her several times in the chest and in the back.
The slaying of a young girl, not connected to the prostitute trade, an "innocent", brought not only national attention to the case, and outrage from the public not seen in the earlier murder cases, but also caused Chief Constable Ronald Gregory to appoint his most senior detective, Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield to be in overall charge of the escalating Ripper murder investigations. Peter Sutcliffe claims to have been shocked when he saw the newspaper headlines that Jayne MacDonald had not been a prostitute as he had assumed.
Jayne’s father, Wilf MacDonald, a former railwayman, was to die two years after her murder, never having recovered from the ordeal of her murder.
10 July – Bradford woman Maureen Long, 42 is injured in an attack believed to have been committed by the Yorkshire Ripper in the West Yorkshire city.
Maureen Long had remembered going to the cloak room at the club, and walking towards the city centre. She also remembered his white Ford with the black roof. But the description of her attacker that she was able to provide – white, well-built man, aged 36 or 37, about 6ft. 1in. tall, puffy cheeks, thickish eyebrows, collar-length wiry blond hair, with noticeably large hands – relieved Peter Sutcliffe of some of his worries about being caught. His only concern was the description of his car by the nightwatchman. In August he sold the white Ford Corsair to Ronnie Barker. When it broke down, Sutcliffe reluctantly took it back, stripped the car down, and redistributed the spare parts around the replacement car he had bought in September 1977, a red Ford Corsair.
10 October – Missing 20-year-old prostitute Jean Jordan is found dead in Chorlton, Manchester, nine days after she was last seen alive. Police believe that the Yorkshire Ripper may have killed her; the first crime outside Yorkshire which the killer has been suspected of.
Jean Jordan, also known as Jean Royle, and a prostitute, was killed on October 1 1977 as the Yorkshire Ripper expanded his territory to include Manchester. The events of the murder resulted in the Yorkshire Ripper leaving a clue that could be (and was) directly traced to him. Sutcliffe would also return to the body nine days later to try and recover the incriminating £5 pound note evidence, and when he failed, would carry out the worst attack and mutilations on any of his victims.
The handbag had not been found on October 10th, as it was just outside the police search area. The £5 note, which Peter Sutcliffe had been searching for on his return visit to Manchester, had finally been found. The incriminating note, the police discovered, had been from a batch issued in pay packets days before the murder.
Unfortunately, the five day delay in its discovery, coupled with the delay caused by the fact the body had not been discovered before Sutcliffe returned to it, and other factors, such as the delay by the police it announcing its discovery and the serial number, meant that too much time had passed to further narrow the search for its owner by any public input (see £5 Note Clue for information about the hunt for the owner of the note).
28 October – Police in Yorkshire appeal for help in finding the Yorkshire Ripper, who is believed to be responsible for a series of murders and attacks on women across the county during the last two years.
14 December – 25-year-old Leeds prostitute Marilyn Moore is injured in an attack believed to have been committed by the Yorkshire Ripper.
Marilyn Moore, a 25-year-old prostitute, survived an attack by Peter Sutcliffe, and provided one of the best photofits of the suspect from a known Ripper victim. As well, a clue found at the scene tied this attack to the Irene Richardson murder. Her description of the car was that is was a dark coloured or maroon vehicle, about the size of a Morris Oxford. Sutcliffe was, in fact, driving his red Ford Corsair. The police found an important clue in the tire track evidence that they found at the scene of the attack on Marilyn Moore. The tire tracks where consistent with the tire track evidence found at the Irene Richardson murder scene, the same India Autoway cross-ply tires were on the front wheels. There was no doubt that the Yorkshire Ripper had been the one who had attacked Marilyn Moore.
1977 Timeline
January–June – The United Knigdom holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time.
January – The Ford Fiesta goes on sale in the UK.
1 January – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy.
3 January – Roy Jenkins, the Home Secretary, announces he is leaving the House of Commons to become President of the European Commission.
6 January – Record company EMI sacks the controversial British punk rock group the Sex Pistols for their behaviour on ITV’s Today Show, whose presenter Bill Grundy was also dismissed by his employers for inciting them.
10 January – Clive Sinclair introduces his new two-inch screen television set, which retails at £175.
29 January – Seven Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs explode in the West End of London, but there are no fatalities or serious injuries.
4 February – Fleetwood Mac’s Grammy-winning album Rumours is released, featuring songs that include "The Chain", "Don’t Stop", and "Go Your Own Way".
Police discover an IRA bomb factory in Liverpool.
5 February – 28-year-old homeless woman Irene Richardson is murdered in Leeds, at almost the exact location where prostitute Marcella Claxton was badly injured nine months ago. Police believe that this murder and attempted murder may be connected, along with the murders of Wilma McCann, Emily Jackson and the attempted murders of at least three other women.
10 February – Elizabeth II visits American Samoa.
The three IRA terrorists involved in the 1975 Balcombe Street Siege in London are sentenced to life imprisonment on six charges of murder.
11 February – Elizabeth II visits Western Samoa.
13 February – Anthony Crosland, Foreign Secretary, is seriously ill in hospital after suffering a stroke.
14 February – Elizabeth II visits Tonga.
16–17 February – Elizabeth II visits Fiji.
17 February – George Newman, chairman of Staffordshire County Council, is sentenced to 15 months in prison for corruption.
22 February – David Owen, 38, becomes the youngest post-Second World War Foreign Secretary, succeeding the late Anthony Crosland, who died 3 days earlier.
22 February – 7 March – Elizabeth II visits New Zealand.
28 February – State Opening of the Parliament of New Zealand, by Elizabeth II.
1 March – James Callaghan threatens to withdraw state aid to British Leyland unless it puts an end to strikes.
7–30 March – Elizabeth II visits Australia.
8 March – State Opening of the Australian Parliament, Canberra by Elizabeth II.
12 March – The Centenary Test between Australia and England begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
14 March – The government reveals that inflation has pushed prices up by nearly 70% within three years.
15 March – British Leyland managers announce intention to dismiss 40,000 toolmakers who have gone on strike at the company’s Longbridge plant in Birmingham, action which is costing the state-owned carmaker more than £10million a week.
17–23 March – The Prince of Wales visits Ghana.
19 March – The last Rover P6 rolls off the production line after 14 years.
23 March – Government wins a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons after James Callaghan strikes a deal with the leader of the Liberal Party, David Steel.
23–25 March – Elizabeth II visits Papua New Guinea.
29 March – Income tax is slashed to 33p in the pound from 35p in the budget.
31 March – Elizabeth II visits Muscat.
April – Mike Leigh’s comedy of manners Abigail’s Party opens at the Hampstead Theatre, starring Alison Steadman.
2 April – Red Rum wins the Grand National for the third time.
8 April – Punk band The Clash’s debut album The Clash is released in the UK through CBS Records.
11 April – London Transport’s Silver Jubilee buses are launched.
18–30 April – The Embassy World Snooker Championship moves to the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, and attracts television coverage for the first time.
23 April – National Front marchers clash with anti-Nazi protesters in London.
Prostitute Patricia Atkinson is murdered in Bradford; she is believed to be the fourth woman to die at the hands of the mysterious Yorkshire Ripper.
29 April – British Aerospace is formed to run the nationalised aviation industry.
30 April – Mid Hants Railway reopened.
3 May – HMS Invincible is launched at Barrow-in-Furness by Elizabeth II.
5 May – Silver Jubilee review of the Police at Hendon by Elizabeth II.
Conservatives make gains in local council elections, including winning the Greater London Council from Labour.
7 May – 3rd G7 summit held in London.
Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliot Trudeau does a pirouette behind the back of Elizabeth II.
The 22nd Eurovision Song Contest is held in London. With Angela Rippon as the presenter, the contest is won by Marie Myriam representing France, with her song "L’oiseau et l’enfant" ("The Bird and the Child").
13 May – The Silver Jubilee Air Fair is held at Biggin Hill.
15 May – Liverpool F.C. are English league champions for the tenth time.
17 May – Elizabeth II commences her Jubilee tour in Glasgow.
18 May – The UK is among 29 signatories of a Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques.
Elizabeth II visits Cumbernauld and Stirling.
19 May – Elizabeth II visits Perth and Dundee.
21 May – Manchester United win the FA Cup for the fourth time by defeating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley Stadium in the final. It is their first major trophy since they won the European Cup in 1968.
23–27 May – Elizabeth II visits Edinburgh.
25 May – Liverpool win their first European Cup by defeating the West German league champions Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 in the final in Rome.
27 May – Elizabeth II opens the new Air Terminal Building at Edinburgh Airport.
Prime Minister James Callaghan officially opens the M5 motorway, which is now complete with the opening of the final stretch around Exeter, 15 years after the first stretch of the motorway (beginning near Birmingham) was opened.
28 May – Climax of Windsor Silver Jubilee celebrations: Elizabeth II visits the town on her Jubilee tour.
30 May – A gala performance for the Silver Jubilee is held at the Royal Opera House, London.
6–9 June – Jubilee celebrations are held in the United Kingdom to celebrate twenty-five years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, with a public holiday on 7 June.
17 June – Wimbledon F.C., champions of the Isthmian League, are elected to the Football League in place of Workington in the Fourth Division.
20 June – Anglia Television broadcasts the fake documentary "Alternative 3". It enters into the conspiracy theory canon.
Seventeen people are arrested during clashes between pickets and police at the Grunwick film processing laboratory.
26 June – 16-year-old shop assistant Jayne McDonald is found battered and stabbed to death in Chapeltown, Leeds; police believe she is the fifth person to be murdered by the Yorkshire Ripper.
4 July – Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty is sensationally dismissed by the club’s directors due to his affair with the wife of the club’s physiotherapist.
7 July – The first episode of the BBC documentary series Brass Tacks is aired, featuring a debate as to whether Myra Hindley should be considered for parole from the life sentence she received for her role in the Moors Murders in 1966.
10 July – Bradford woman Maureen Long, 42 is injured in an attack believed to have been committed by the Yorkshire Ripper in the West Yorkshire city.
11 July – Gay News found guilty of blasphemous libel in a case (Whitehouse v. Lemon) brought by Mary Whitehouse’s National Viewers and Listeners Association.
Don Revie announces his resignation after three years as manager of the England national football team.
12 July – Within 24 hours of resigning as manager of the England national football team, Don Revie accepts an offer to become the highest paid football manager in the world when he is appointed manager of the United Arab Emirates national football team on a four-year contract worth £340,000.
14 July – Manchester United appoint Dave Sexton, manager of Queen’s Park Rangers and previously Chelsea, as their new manager.
23 July – Chrysler Europe launched the Sunbeam, a three-door rear-wheel drive small hatchback similar in concept to the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Chevette.
29 July – Finance Act abolishes the collection of tithes.
August – Government introduces voluntary Stage III one-year pay restraint.
10 August – The Queen visits Northern Ireland as part of her Jubilee celebrations under tight security.
Kenny Dalglish, 26-year-old Scotland striker, becomes Britain’s most expensive footballer in a £440,000 transfer from Glasgow Celtic to Liverpool.
11 August – Cricketer Geoff Boycott scores the 100th century of his career for England against Australia at Headingley, Leeds.
12 August – 19 September – Union-Castle Line RMS Windsor Castle (1959) makes the line’s last passenger mail voyage out of Southampton for Cape Town, the last major British ship to operate in the regular ocean liner trade.
13 August – Battle of Lewisham: an attempt by the far-right National Front to march from New Cross to Lewisham in southeast London leads to counter-demonstrations and violent clashes.
15 August – Rioting breaks out in Birmingham during demonstrations against the National Front.
17 August – Ron Greenwood, general manager of West Ham United, who guided the East London club to FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup glory as their team manager during the 1960s, accepts an offer from the Football Association to manage the England team on a temporary basis until December.
23 August – A new, smaller, £1 note is introduced.
September – Ford launches the second generation of its popular Granada model.
6 September – Car industry figures show that foreign cars are outselling British-built ones for the first time. Japanese built Datsuns, German Volkswagens and French Renaults are proving particularly popular with buyers, although British-built products from Ford, British Leyland, Vauxhall and Chrysler UK are still the most popular.
16 September – Rock star Marc Bolan, pioneer of the glam rock movement at the start of the 1970s with T. Rex, is killed in a car crash in Barnes, London, two weeks before his 30th birthday. His girlfriend Gloria Jones, the driver of the car, is seriously injured.
19 September – Manchester United, the English FA Cup holders, are expelled from the European Cup Winners’ Cup after their fans rioted in France during a first round first leg game with AS Saint-Etienne (which ended in a 1-1 draw) five days ago.
26 September – Freddie Laker launches his new budget Skytrain airline, with the first single fare from Gatwick to New York costing £59 compared to the normal price of £186.
UEFA reinstates Manchester United to the European Cup Winners’ Cup on appeal. However, they are ordered to play their return leg against AS Saint-Etienne at least 120 miles away from their Old Trafford stadium.
3 October – Undertakers go on strike in London, leaving more than 800 corpses unburied.
10 October – Missing 20-year-old prostitute Jean Jordan is found dead in Chorlton, Manchester, nine days after she was last seen alive. Police believe that the Yorkshire Ripper may have killed her; the first crime outside Yorkshire which the killer has been suspected of.
14 October – Fourteen people are injured in a bomb explosion at a London pub.
25 October – Michael Edwardes succeeds Richard Dobson as chief of British Leyland.
27 October – Former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe denies allegations of attempted murder of and having a relationship with male model Norman Scott.
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols is released in the United Kingdom, and the Sex Pistols perform on a boat on the River Thames shortly afterwards, only for the police to wait for them and several arrests occurred, including that of Malcolm McLaren, the band’s manager at the time.
28 October – Police in Yorkshire appeal for help in finding the Yorkshire Ripper, who is believed to be responsible for a series of murders and attacks on women across the county during the last two years.
14 November – Firefighters go on their first ever national strike, in hope of getting a 30% wage increase.
15 November – The Queen becomes a grandmother for the first time when Princess Anne gives birth to a son.
The first SavaCentre hypermarket, a venture between J Sainsbury and British Home Stores, opens at Washington, Tyne and Wear.
22 November – British Airways inaugurates regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
3 December – The England football team fails to achieve World Cup qualification for the second tournament in succession.
10 December – James Meade wins the 1977 Nobel Prize in Economics jointly with the Norwegian Bertil Ohlin for their "Pathbreaking contribution to the theory of international trade and international capital movements."
Nevill Francis Mott wins the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Philip Warren Anderson and John Hasbrouck van Vleck "for their fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems".
12 December – Chrysler Europe announces its new Horizon range of five-door front-wheel drive hatchbacks, which will be built in Britain as a Chrysler and France as a Simca. It will give buyers a more modern alternative to the Avenger range of rear-wheel drive saloons and estates.
Ron Greenwood signs a permanent contract as England manager, despite England’s failure to qualify for next summer’s World Cup. The appointment is controversial, as there had been widespread support for Brian Clough of Nottingham Forest to be appointed.
14 December – 25-year-old Leeds prostitute Marilyn Moore is injured in an attack believed to have been committed by the Yorkshire Ripper.
16 December – The Queen opens a £71million extension to the London Underground which runs to Heathrow Airport.
21 December – Four children die at a house fire in Wednesbury, West Midlands, as Green Goddess fire appliances crewed by hastily-trained troops are sent to deal with the blaze while firefighters are still on strike. 119 people have now died as a result of fires since the strike began, but this is the first fire during the strike which has resulted in more than two deaths.
22 December – The Queen’s first grandchild is christened Peter Mark Andrew Phillips.
25 December – The Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show on BBC 1 television attracts an audience of more than 28 million viewers, one of the highest ever in U.K. television history.
27 December – The much-acclaimed Star Wars film, which has been a massive hit in the United States, is screened in British cinemas for the first time.
Inflation has fallen slightly this year to 15.8%, but it is the fourth successive year that has seen double digit inflation.
Colour television licences exceed black and white licences for the first time in the U.K.
Lynsey De Paul teamed up with Mike Moran as the UK entry for Eurovision in 1977, staged at Wembley Conference Centre, and finished in second place with Rock Bottom.
Music Events
1 January – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy.
22 January – Maria Kliegel makes her London début at the Wigmore Hall, with a programme of Bach, Kodály, and Franck.
26 January – Fleetwood Mac’s original lead guitarist, Peter Green, is committed to a mental hospital in England after firing a pistol at a delivery boy bringing him a royalties check.
27 January – After releasing only one single for the band, EMI Records terminates its contract with the Sex Pistols.
4 February – Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is released; it goes on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.
15 February – Sid Vicious replaces Glen Matlock as the bassist of the Sex Pistols.
10 March – A&M Records signs the Sex Pistols in a ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace. The contract is terminated on 16 March as a result of the band vandalizing property and verbally abusing employees during a visit to the record company’s office.
2 May – Elton John performs the first of six consecutive nights at London’s Rainbow Theatre, his first concert in eight months. John keeps a low profile in 1977, not releasing any new music for the first year since his recording career began eight years previously.
7 May – Having been postponed from 2 April because of a BBC technicians’ strike, the 22nd Eurovision Song Contest finally goes ahead in London’s Wembley Conference Centre.
11 May – The Stranglers and support band London start a 10-week national tour.
12 May – Virgin Records announces that they have signed the Sex Pistols.
7 June – The Sex Pistols attempt to interrupt Silver Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II by performing "God Save the Queen" from a boat on the River Thames. Police force the boat to dock and several arrests are made following a scuffle.
12 June – Guitarist Michael Schenker vanishes after a UFO concert at The Roundhouse in London. He is replaced for several months by Paul Chapman until he appears again to rejoin the group in October.
15 June – The Snape Maltings Training Orchestra makes its London debut at St John’s, Smith Square.
25 June – The Young Musicians’ Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by James Blair, gives the belated première of William Walton’s 1962 composition Prelude for Orchestra.
6 July – During a Pink Floyd concert before a crowd of 80,000 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Bassist Roger Waters having become increasingly irritated by a fan until he exerts his frustration by spitting on him. The incident becomes the catalyst for the group’s next album, The Wall.
22 July – The first night of The Proms is broadcast by BBC Radio 3 for the first time in quadraphonic sound.
26 July – Led Zeppelin cancels the last seven dates of their American tour after lead singer Robert Plant learns that his six-year-old son Karac has died of a respiratory virus. The show two days before in Oakland proves to be the band’s last ever in the United States.
1 September – World première at the Royal Albert Hall in London of the expanded version of Luciano Berio’s Coro.
16 September – T.Rex frontman Marc Bolan is killed in an automobile accident.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgCNm6eNLAw
27 October – The Sex Pistols release their controversial album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, which would be their only studio album.
Number-one singles
Wings – Mull Of Kintyre
Abba – Name Of The Game
Baccara – Yes Sir I Can Boogie
David Soul – Silver Lady
Elvis Presley – Way Down
The Floaters – Float On
Brotherhood Of Man – Angelo
Donna Summer – I Feel Love
Hot Chocolate – So You Win Again
The Jacksons – Show You The Way To Go
Kenny Rogers – Lucille
Rod Stewart – I Dont Want To Talk About It
Deniece Williams – Free
Abba – Knowing Me Knowing You
Abba – The Name of the Game
Manhattan Transfer – Chanson DAmour
Leo Sayer – When I Need You
Julie Covington – Dont Cry For Me Argentina
Johnny Mathis – When a Child is Born
David Soul – Dont Give Up On Us
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYwR7_EHPA0
Television
Mike Yarwood’s 1977 Christmas Show tops the list of most-watched Christmas programmes.
27 March – Jesus of Nazareth, a British-Italian television miniseries dramatizing the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus based on the accounts in the four New Testament Gospels debuts on British television, starring Robert Powell as Jesus.
28 March – Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television launch a nine-week breakfast television experiment. It is credited as being the United Kingdom’s first breakfast television programme, six years before the launch of TV-am and the BBC’s Breakfast Time. Both programmes run at the same time, with Tyne Tees, Good Morning North, and Yorkshire’s Good Morning Calendar. Both programmes finish on Friday 27 May.
22 April – The original series of motoring programme Top Gear begins as a local magazine format produced by BBC Midlands from its Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, presented by Angela Rippon and Tom Coyne. In 1978 it is offered to BBC2 where it airs until 2001. In 2002 the series is relaunched in a new format.
7 May – The 22nd Eurovision Song Contest is held in London. With Angela Rippon as the presenter, the contest is won by Marie Myriam representing France, with her song "L’oiseau et l’enfant" ("The Bird and the Child").
6 June-9 June – Television viewers in Britain and around the world watch live coverage of the celebrations of the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, while the soap opera Coronation Street features an elaborate Jubilee parade in the storyline, having Rovers’ Return Inn manageress Annie Walker dress up in elaborate costume as Queen Elizabeth I. Ken Barlow and "Uncle Albert" play Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing respectively.
20 June – Anglia Television broadcasts the fake documentary "Alternative 3". It enters into the conspiracy theory canon.
7 July – The first episode of the BBC documentary series Brass Tacks is aired, featuring a debate as to whether Myra Hindley should be considered for parole from the life sentence she received for her role in the Moors Murders in 1966.
7 September – The Krypton Factor makes its debut on ITV.
18 September – The occasional ITV bloopers programme It’ll be Alright on the Night is first aired.
1 October – Ian Trethowan succeeds Charles Curran as Director-General of the BBC.
26 November – Southern Television broadcast interruption: Just after 5.10pm in the Southern Television ITV region, a hoaxer hijacks the sound of Independent Television News from the IBA transmitter at Hannington, Hampshire, and broadcasts a message claiming to be Asteron of the Ashtar Galactic Command. Thousands of viewers ring STV, ITN or the police for an explanation; the identity of the intruder was never confirmed.
25 December – Both the Mike Yarwood Christmas Show and The Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show on BBC 1 attracts an audience of more than 28 million, one of the highest ever in U.K. television history.
Scum, an entry in BBC1’s Play for Today anthology strand, is pulled from transmission due to controversy over its depiction of life in a Young Offenders’ Institution (at this time known in the U.K. as a borstal). Two years later the director Alan Clarke makes a film version with most of the same cast, and the original play itself is eventually transmitted on Channel Four in 1991.
Colour television licenses exceed black and white licenses for the first time in the U.K.
First edition of BBC Top Gear
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-y-FgOikNQ
BBC1
2 January – Wings (1977–1978)
15 February – Take Hart (1977–1983)
12 April – Citizen Smith (1977–1980)
7 July – Brass Tacks (1977–1988)
7 September – Secret Army (1977–1979)
17 October – Des O’Connor Tonight (1977–2002)
ITV
11 January – Robin’s Nest (1977–1981)
8 May – King of the Castle (1977)
18 May – A Bunch of Fives (1977–1978)
6 September – You’re Only Young Twice (1977–1981)
7 September – The Krypton Factor (1977–1995, 2009–2010)
18 September – It’ll Be Alright On The Night (1977–present)
30 December – The Professionals (1977–1983)
Posted by brizzle born and bred on 2017-11-23 09:32:34
Tagged: , memories of 1977 , 1977
The post memories of 1977 appeared first on Good Info.
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New Post has been published on http://fastmusclecar.com/best-muscle-cars/what-is-and-is-not-a-muscle-car/
What Is and Is Not A Muscle Car
Dave Ashton
We have written in the past about the definitions of the muscle car, its origins and what can be classed as a muscle car in the past and today. Simply put, a muscle car is a mid to full-sized American derived vehicle with a large, powerful V8 engine, rearwheel drive, two doors and generally affordable to the masses. Examples being the Plymouth Road Runner and the current Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Demon.
To further complicate things you have pony cars, which started with the 1964 Ford Mustang and you can throw into the mix Camaros. The terms of muscle car and pony car can easily intermix, especially these days as you could argue the only true modern muscle car is the Dodge Challenger and Charger, so vehicle choices are thin on the ground, thus the grouping. I personally don’t have a problem with using the naming conventions of muscle car or a pony car with describing anything from a Barracuda to even a Mustang, especially today. Sacrilege to some, but until there is a wider choice of muscle cars on the market, lumping in Mustangs and Camaros to the muscle car market can only further promote the description and give some idea of the origins to the uninitiated, but this is where the definition should end.
Not set in stone
The definition of a muscle car is not really set in stone, steel or carbon fibre and never was. There is still debate over whether certain models in the range are indeed muscle cars or pony cars, i.e. the difference between a base model Challenger and a Challenger T/A or a Pontiac Firebird or a Firebird Trans-Am. Arguments can go on for days if these are muscle cars, pony cars or neither. Muscle cars and pony cars do derive from the same American DNA and a healthy V8 engine to an extent, so I don’t think you need to get hot around the collar between interchanging these terms for both classes of vehicle. What should be the debatable point is when a completely unrelated vehicle is referred to as a muscle car. If it’s a hot hatch, it is not a muscle car, if it European and has had a V8 engine crowbarred into it, its not a muscle car. In other words, it’s when the term is thrown around readily to denote a car you want to describe as having size and power.
If it’s not American or Australian it’s not a muscle car
Yeah, Australia are the next nearest breed to true muscle cars in the shape of the Ford Falcon, Holden Monaro, Holden Torana, Holden Commodore, HSV and FPV. These come from the factory with muscle car DNA and principles. However, to be really definitive the true thoroughbreds are American (there goes the pony reference…). What are not are basically anything else and that is where the line should be drawn. Arguing over the merits of a pony car or base model muscle car brand to join the true muscle car ranks is really futile. You can’t join the muscle car club if you have a Mercedes-Benz with a V8 engine. To be very generic, anything built outside these two landmasses doesn’t even start to count. The ubiquitous V8 engine as used in all muscle cars did start in Europe in 1902, but it was really America that took the V8 design to heart with Cadillac in 1914, Oldsmobile in 1916, the Ford Flathead V8 and the Oldsmobile Rocket in 1949. Classic American V8 engines also have a distinctive sound with its uneven burble. The American culture surrounding the small and big block V-8 engine far surpasses anything elsewhere and this is tied very closely to muscle cars. You can argue the merits between a flat plane and cross plane V8 and many modern V8 engines have design inspirations from everywhere, but the V8 engine is most closely associated with American vehicles and muscle cars. Get over it…..
This car has muscle….
Many car reviews will use the term ‘muscle car’ as a description. It’s a cool sounding name, so why not. To the uninitiated, it conjures up the images of a vehicle with power and performance, a cut above the rest in power, which is why the term is borrowed so frequently. It happens in written articles and TV shows across the board. So this is where the arguments should be when it comes to the muscle car definition. Just as you wouldn’t refer to a Plymouth Superbird or Dodge Demon as a sports car, you shouldn’t refer to a Lamborghini, BMW V8 or the like as a muscle car. The term can be borrowed, but it’s not the definition of a muscle car. It’s probably why even to this day, the term is still argued over and which makes and models can join the club. It’s a term that is thrown around so readily, so no wonder the definition is so argued.
There is no one definitive source or point of origin for the term, but at the least, the term is still fenced off to refer to American V8 vehicles of a particular make and model. The definition ‘muscle car’ probably came from someone, somewhere, referring to the original vehicles as having ‘muscle’ and the term stuck. Everyone else just wishes they could join the club, but we got there first, so blah. The Dodge Challenger, Barracuda, Superbird Roadrunner got their cool names first, everyone else wishes they had thought of it first. Supercars and hyper cars may sound exclusive, but a muscle car denotes something raw and untamed, something that still appeals to our basic instincts. Probably why the Ford Mustang got away with having a ‘live axle’ for so long and V8 engines are so amazingly loud. We like a bit of seat of your pants driving.
When it comes down to it, the term muscle car and even pony car was never set in stone by the automotive gods of old, never to be questioned. It’s a term that slowly, over time came to denote a certain class of American V8 vehicle, that still stands as a mark of raw power most notably to the masses. They are raw, sometimes unrefined, but the main point is they should be accessible to everybody. Supercars and hyper cars can arguably be more powerful, but affordable to only the select few. Muscle cars on the other hand, are the great levellers where the average guy can still enjoy huge power and performance and is even encouraged to work on their own vehicle to get even more muscle. The muscle car also denotes a time of the free spirit where you wanted to make it more powerful, you simply made it bigger and a free rein to do so. A 454ci/7.4 litre engine from a 1970 Chevelle SS is ridiculously non eco-friendly by today’s standards, but if you wanted to have more horses back in the day, you simply made it bigger. Even with today’s electric vehicles, you want more power, you make it bigger. The muscle car stands for this raw principle.
Therefore, muscle cars and pony cars shouldn’t be argued over in the same camp. It should be sort of a loose fit today, but not too lose to eradicate the definition completely. I.e. if you have a Dodge Challenger your in, a Honda Civic with a V8 engine, you’re out. An AMC Gremlin is pushing it a bit, though………………
More Muscle Cars For Sale – http://fastmusclecar.com/muscle-car-for-sale/
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