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saleintothe90s · 3 years

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438. Initial Coverage of the World Trade Center Bombing, 2/26/1993

I was nine when this happened, and I’m pretty sure I was home sick from school that day. I just remembered recently that it was on a Friday.

The main thing nine year old me took away from that day was being scared by seeing all the people exiting the building with soot around their noses during this dreary day with snowflakes flying around everywhere among the smoke.

In present day, another thing that sends shivers down me is seeing the people breaking the windows, waiting for help.

(I remember this shot so well [source])

Stupid nine year old me also thought that bombings were a common occurrence. I mean, we did have the Unibomber running around back then and PanAm flight 103 bombing had just happened a few years earlier.

Years ago, I found the news footage from that day, from CBS 2 in NYC, the only local news channel that had non-cable reception that day because their antenna wasn’t on top of the World Trade Center Tower One. 1. A baby Brian Williams is there. ABC7 from NYC also has a playlist on their YouTube Channel from their coverage.

9 things I learned from reading and watching the initial coverage:

1. At first, it was speculated that the bombing had something to do with ongoing civil war turmoil in Yugoslavia. 2

2. There was a class of Kindergarteners from Brooklyn on the observation deck at the time of the bombing. Another group of kids were stuck in an elevator for around 5 hours. 3 The kids didn’t get back home until around 7pm that evening.

(source)

3. People had to go down pitch dark, smokey stairwells, and commented that there were no alarms, no announcements, and no instructions. 4 A lady who was being interviewed by ABC7 said “we just kept following everybody else down the stairs, and everybody was going, ‘faster, faster!’ ... it just kept getting darker and smokier the further you went down.” Another said the place was a deathtrap, and that in five minutes there was already smoke on the 107th floor. 3. The World Trade Center Director, Charles Maikish said that the emergency communication systems were destroyed in the bombing.

4. A couple of hours later, there was a bomb threat at the Empire State Building. It obviously was a false alarm. I guess people weren’t taking it seriously, because check out all the people crowded around that entrance.

5. People were calling the local news channels for assistance. At around 13:52 of this clip, the news anchors tell a caller named John to not break the windows, and to stay low to the floor. Cell phones were still very out of range for most people, so I’m gonna assume while the power was out, phone lines were still working. Also, CBS2 superimposing the fdny and nypd phone numbers over footage of people having trouble breathing is unsettling.

6. 19 callers claimed responsibility for the blast in the hours following the bombing. (source)

7. 50,000 people were evacuated. Six people died, Port Authority Workers around the blast site, and a man who was in the garage at the time. It’s a miracle more people didn’t die that day from the smoke inhalation.

8. CBS News reporter Scott Pelley had some haunting words the next day:

“there is an uneasy feeling among some Americans that after yesterday, somehow something has changed. Perhaps forever. A loss of our sense of security.”

9. Honorable mention: Carl Selinger: the salad man. Carl had gone to the cafeteria to get lunch and was coming back up to his office via the elevator when the bombing happened. Carl ate half his salad while waiting, but decided to ration the rest of it just in case. It was a good thing he did, because he was trapped in the elevator for five and a half hours:

When Sergeant Timothy Farrell pried open Mr. Selinger’s elevator, he found him in the doorway, holding his salad. To this day, Sergeant Farrell said he remembers him as “the one with the salad.”

“I may have freed 25 or 35 people from the elevators that day, but how I remembered Carl was the fact that he wasn’t really physically upset, or emotional,” Sergeant Farrell, now retired, said at the lecture, which brought the two men together publicly for the first time. “He was calm, he was jocular. And he talked about how he wasn’t sure what happened — and how he had first started to eat the salad for lunch.”5

[...]

For Mr. Selinger, humor has helped. “He was after my salad! That’s the bottom line here,” he said of the moment he was rescued 25 years ago. 5

---

1. Sontag, Deborah. “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: Disruptions; Manhattan Is Held in the Grip Of Traffic Snarls and Anxiety.” The New York Times, February 27, 1993, sec. New York. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/27/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-disruptions-manhattan-held-grip-traffic-snarls-anxiety.html. // https://web.archive.org/web/20180330012332/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/27/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-disruptions-manhattan-held-grip-traffic-snarls-anxiety.html

2. AP NEWS. “AP Was There: The 1993 Bombing of the World Trade Center.” Accessed September 12, 2021. https://apnews.com/article/north-america-us-news-ap-top-news-khalid-sheikh-mohammed-bombings-f4f1fd2b2d4b4a17b94ca7183fb65ba4.

3. C, Domenick and elieri. “LOOK BACK: Watch Archive News Coverage of 1993 World Trade Center Terror Bombing Attack.” ABC7 New York, February 25, 2020. https://abc7ny.com/3114288/ // https://web.archive.org/web/20201202035154/https://abc7ny.com/world-trade-center-bombing-1993-smoke-inhalation/3114288/

4. McFadden, Robert D. “EXPLOSION AT THE TWIN TOWERS: The Overview; BLAST HITS TRADE CENTER, BOMB SUSPECTED; 5 KILLED, THOUSANDS FLEE SMOKE IN TOWERS.” The New York Times, February 27, 1993, sec. New York. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/27/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-overview-blast-hits-trade-center-bomb-suspected-5-killed.html. // https://web.archive.org/web/20110909150957/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/27/nyregion/explosion-twin-towers-overview-blast-hits-trade-center-bomb-suspected-5-killed.html

5. Otterman, Sharon. “Finding Resilience, 25 Years After 1993 World Trade Center Bombing.” The New York Times, February 19, 2018, sec. New York. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/nyregion/first-terror-attack-world-trade-center-anniversary.html. // https://web.archive.org/web/20180221041320/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/nyregion/first-terror-attack-world-trade-center-anniversary.html

#world trade center #1993 #1993 world trade center bombing #bombing #brian williams #cbs2 #abc7 #new york #1990s news #1990s television #new york times

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oceanselevenism · 3 years

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If you're still doing them maybe number 12 with both the ocean's siblings and their partners?

hell yeah!! i’ve put it under the cut :)) it is Very Tangentially holiday-sweater-related but it is too long to not post now! hope you enjoy, and happy holidays :))

It’s the first Christmas they’ve spent together in... nearly a decade and a half, actually. The years had flown by, blurring into a mess of run-ins and arguments and you stay on your side, I’ll stay on mine, but hey, Danny can’t fault his sister for wanting to make up for lost time. No, he can’t fault her (after all, if she had been the one to fake her death, he’d probably have moved into her house for a week, just to make sure she didn’t do it again) but he can make fun of her, so that’s what he does. “Aw, you really did miss me,” he says when she gives him and Rusty perfunctory hugs on her way into his house (Lou just claps them both on the shoulder, and he’s not sure whether to feel snubbed or relieved). “I can’t believe my dear sister actually cares,” he tells her when she brings him a mug of cocoa, ingredients nabbed from some billionaire in Germany. “Pure family bonding for the whole family,” he remarks when she goes off on a drunken, expletive-filled tangent about the Met Gala’s security over a game of poker (they’ve given up on trying to enforce the no-cheating rule, and he’s pretty sure Lou takes the opportunity to peek at Debbie’s cards). But in all honesty, he can’t keep up the ribbing; it really is good to see her, even if she definitely gets along better with Rusty (she’s told him as much, and right to his face, too) and the third day ends in a bitter, wine-fueled not-argument about their mother and their father and they themselves. But on the fourth morning Danny gets up early (it’s five in the goddamn morning, why the fuck has Lou already left a note on the counter saying gone on a run) to make latkes, and when Debbie comes downstairs she scoops out a dollop of his favorite sour cream instead of her usual applesauce, so unless her latke preferences have done a complete 180 since the last time he’s seen her, they’ve forgiven each other.

She and Lou volunteer to go on a grocery run that evening, and Danny’s glad; he hasn’t had the chance to jump Rusty’s bones in, like, five days (turns out cleaning up for houseguests takes up way more time than anticipated) (hey, the only people they’ve had over in years have been the crew from the Benedict job, and he’s heard Reuben threaten to shit on Turk’s feet, they don’t need to clean up for them). And for a minute, as Rusty pins him up next to the to-be-composted bag that is currently overflowing with potato scraps, the only thought in his head is the usual why didn’t we do this sooner. But then Rusty pulls back-- “Rus,” Danny complains-- and he tilts his head in that We Need To Talk manner. Which would be hot, if not for the fact that Rusty probably wants to talk about Debbie.

“You’re good, right?”

“We were never on bad terms.”

“Liar.”

“Well, hostile terms, maybe,” Danny amends. “But never bad.”

Rusty shifts, adjusting his forearms so it’s more like they’re just two good pals having a conversation three inches from each others’ faces instead of two good pals about to do very unsanitary things in a kitchen, and says, “I think you’re putting too much water under the bridge.”

“What am I, a Dutch engineer?”

“You’re very funny.”

“I know I am. Now, are we gonna--”

The door opens. Danny swears. “We were gone for twenty minutes,” Debbie says. “Are you that desperate?” Danny regrets going for the open-concept first floor, and he regrets it even more as Rusty pushes himself off with an air of utmost nonchalance.

“Here,” Lou says, lobbing a ball of fabric at Rusty. Her aim is remarkable, and Danny almost asks if she ever played softball before deciding he likes his well-being more than teasing his sister’s motorcycle-riding, brass-knuckle-owning girlfriend. It’s fine; next to him, Rusty huffs an amused laugh at the unsaid comment anyway. “Happy Christmas Eve.”

Rusty unfolds the fabric to reveal a truly hideous (and possibly offensive) Christmas sweater. It’s got red sleeves, a green torso, and a large, colorful fruitcake emblazoned on the stomach. Above it, in red and yellow, is text that reads FRUIT CAKE. “I love it,” Rusty says, pressing his lips together in that way that says he’s trying his damndest not to laugh. “It’s perfect.”

Lou opens her coat to reveal her own sweater, hers saying Ho Ho Homo. “I thought the theme was appropriate.”

“And for you, dearest brother,” Debbie says, pulling an atrociously-colored wad of wool out of a paper bag and chucking it at him, “you get the best of both worlds.”

With a mounting sense of horror, he recalls the year that he insisted on putting teal and orange streamers across the house, because it’s Hanukkah and Christmas mixed! That was the last year their parents had lived in the same house; Danny used to joke that it had been the final nail in the coffin for their mother. He pinches an edge of the cloth between two fingers and lets the rest fall open. It’s a Miami Dolphins holiday sweater. A teal-and-orange, festively-patterned Miami Dolphins sweater. Oh, his Boston-bred father would be frothing at the mouth. “We’re in Canada,” Danny says, equal parts shocked and awed. “How the hell did you get this here so quick? We were supposed to be meeting in Quebec until three days ago--”

“Danny, please learn what priority shipping is,” Debbie says. “Now c’mon. Wear it.”

There’s no way he can back out of this. If he refuses, she’ll just play the I thought you were dead card. He’s never regretted a decision more.

He puts on the sweater. Rusty-- his partner, his right hand, the love of his life-- wolf-whistles.

“I’m divorcing you,” Danny announces.

“Don’t worry,” Lou says with a grin, and is that her phone oh fuck she’s got a picture-- “Debbie, take off your coat.”

With the air of someone who has suffered the weight of the world, Debbie shrugs off her jacket. She’s wearing a matching sweater, and the dolphin on this one has a lovingly-embroidered smiling mouth stitched into it. Danny tries very, very hard not to laugh. “Shut it,” Debbie warns him.

“Oh, I’m not saying a thing,” Danny replies.

“We actually did get groceries,” Lou says, turning back to the door, “so--”

“Lemme give you a hand,” Rusty says. “Let these two bask in the joy of their new sweaters.”

“Fuck off,” Danny and Debbie say in unison. Rusty grins, cheery as ever, and leaves Danny’s side to follow Lou out the door.

“Great gift,” Danny says. “I’ll be laughed at by Reuben for the rest of my days.”

Debbie snorts, walking into the kitchen and rooting around in his cabinets. “Well, actually he’d-- wait, please tell me you didn’t, like, have gross old people se--”

“Shut up, Deborah,” Danny replies, feeling his neck heat up. “I’m only two years older than you. And no.” He refrains from adding on a “not this time.”

“Thank God,” Debbie says, pulling a glass out of the cupboard. “Anyway. Reuben’s not gonna laugh at you, he’s just gonna talk about your embarrassing baby stories in whatever groupchat you people have.”

Danny wonders how his baby sister got to be cooler than him. It’s very distressing. “That’s worse.”

“Yep,” she says, putting the pitcher down and picking her now-full glass up. She leans on the wall across from him, sipping her water, and narrows her eyes at him. “Are we, y’know... good?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Danny says. Besides the thirty years of vaguely pretending the other didn’t exist.

“I’m not gonna answer that,” Debbie says. “But... I’d just like to make sure. ‘Cause you’re the only not-completely-insufferable blood relation I have.”

Neither of them say anything for a moment; Danny picks at a loose teal thread, trying to think of how best to phrase the thoughts rattling around in his head. “I don’t hate you,” he finally says. “And I don’t dislike you, either. You’re a pretty good sister. And a great thief.”

“I know,” she replies. “I’m not gonna say it back, ‘cause then you’re gonna get an inflated ego.”

“Works for me,” Danny says, grinning a little.

“I guess it’s just... I mean, I let all the old resentment get in the way of, y’know. Having a decent relationship, personally or professionally.”

Danny nods. He’s still got the scar from the time they both went after the Ruby of the Isle; he’d won, but just barely, and only because he had Rusty and she hadn’t found Lou. But at the end of the day, neither of them have tried to kill the other, and they still did grow up together, playing in Atlantic City casinos and building sand castles under the boardwalk. “I think we’re too old for that now.”

“You’re the old one here,” Debbie replies, no bite in the remark.

“Only two years,” he reminds her. “But I did the same thing as you, letting petty grudges get in the way of family, and for that I’m sorry.”

“I am, too.”

“Thanks, Debs.” He frowns. “They’re taking a really long time to get the groceries, aren’t they?”

As if summoned, the door opens, and Rusty and Lou, each with a measly two bags in their hands, walk in. And Rusty has his phone in his hands. “Rus, I swear--”

“Too late,” Rusty grins, as the shutter sound rings out through the living room. “That outfit has already been immortalized.”

“Have I already said I’m divorcing you? I’m divorcing you.”

“Does it count as fratricide if he’s your brother-in-law?” Debbie asks.

“Disproportionate reactions,” Rusty accuses. “Besides, I’ve already sent it to Linus.”

Danny’s eyes widen. “Not Linus.”

“You heard me.”

His phone vibrates in his pocket. It’s a text from Linus Caldwell himself, consisting of a single thumbs-up emoji and two grinning cats. “You’re all terrible people. Terrible, terrible people.”

(the sweater rusty is wearing is real) (as is lou’s) (and the ocean siblings’)

#oceans 11 #oceans 8 #danny ocean #debbie ocean #rusty ryan #danny x rusty #debbie x lou #lou miller #my writing

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thelatelockdownlist · 3 years

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A Series on Series 04: Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy: A Discovery of Witches/Season 1

Hi! I’m Alex, a YouTube Newbie and this is The Late Lockdown List where I talk about the list of things I’ve got on my mind since the lockdown started.

Today, on the fourth episode of A Series on Series, I’ll be talking about Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy, starting with the first book, A Discovery of Witches

and the basis of the season 1 of the TV series.

Let’s dive a little bit into it.

Why is it called the ‘All Souls Trilogy’?

I could do research, but having read the entire series, I think it’s because the male lead, Matthew Clairmont or Matthew de Clermont, in the book belongs to the All Souls College at Oxford University.

A bit of trivia: All Souls College does not have undergraduate members, and it’s unique in the sense that all members automatically become fellows -- full members of the college’s governing body. The examination for the fellowship has once been described as ‘the hardest exam in the world.”

If you’re not familiar with the book or the TV series, just know that there are going to be a lot of spoilers. With that out of the way, first a primer:

The two main characters here are Diana Bishop

-- a Yale historian, visiting scholar at Oxford (where she also got her PhD) and reluctant witch.

She’s the daughter of two very powerful witches,

but due to the tragic death of her parents she’s shied away from witchcraft and very seldom uses her power, if at all. After her parents’ death, she was raised by her maternal aunt Sarah and her partner Emily who are both witches.

They tried to teach her, but Diana’s grief at her parents’ death caused her to all but reject magic.

Then we have Matthew Clairmont (aka Matthew de Clermont of the powerful vampire de Clermont family, aka Matthew Roydon), a geneticist, All Souls College fellow and 1,500-year-old vampire.

There are creatures in this series: daemons, vampires and witches. They’re not HUMAN. That’s why they call themselves ‘creatures’ -- to differentiate themselves from us. Daemons

are blessed with creativity and cursed with madness.

Vampires

are -- well, the usual kind that we’re familiar with. Here, though, they mate for life, like wolves.

Witches

have magic -- different kinds like time walking, precognition, flight, transmogrification, telekinesis, witchwind, witchfire, witchwater, and manipulation of the elements.

Basically, if you’re familiar with Harry Potter and Twilight, then you know what witches and vampires are. Speaking of the whole Harry Potter and Twilight thing, The New York Times calls this the ‘Harry Potter for grownups’

and NPR calls it ‘Twilight for the intellectually restless.’

Make of that what you will.

For me, I don’t compare this with the other two. I think it stands very separately from those. Since this is written by an historian, the approach is markedly different. It’s well-researched -- as are most historical romance novels -- because it does deal with a certain time period.

What I love about this -- and you’ll be hearing this from me a lot -- is the world building. I judge a book by the world it creates for me. I have to be able to LIVE in that world. And in most cases, I have to WANT to live in that world.

This is a world inhabited by creatures I’ve been fascinated with my entire life -- except for daemons. I did my first thesis on vampires -- let’s not talk about why it didn’t get accepted. It’s still a sore point for me even after so many years later. And as for witches, well… family tradition has it that my maternal great grandmother was a witch. In fact, growing up, I’d heard

whispers of her supplementing her income by being a ‘healer.’ I’m not sure how much of that is true but I like to believe that it is.

So vampires and witches, I’m sold. I can tolerate the daemons.

Another thing I love about this are the well-written characters. While I can’t actually relate to Diana Bishop, I don’t have to for me to like her. She just needs to be alive for me in the book. And she is very much so. I envy her graduate degrees -- I wish I had the discipline to obtain a PhD. And spending time at the Bodleian. *sigh*

Anyway, I can understand her rejection of magic. After all, in a way it’s what took her parents away from her. But I like how she was able to adjust when she realizes that she’s got this power -- which is far stronger than anyone thought it would be.

As for Matthew -- *sigh* -- I’m a sucker for vampires. Yes, I went there. I love him. He’s a scientist and he’s good with his hands. By that, I mean he used to be a stone mason so he can build things. What? I like a guy who’s handy.

I also like the love story. Matthew and Diana are equals -- in the sense that they are partners in the relationship. Of course, with Matthew having been alive for more than a millennia -- plus vampire, plus a guy, he has a tendency to be domineering, convinced that he’s doing all things to protect Diana. However, Diana is a POWERFUL witch. She’s a scholar, too. She can take care of herself. Matthew may be physically stronger, but Diana is a POWER. And as she grows into that, Matthew struggles to keep up as well curb his tendency to be overprotective. For the most part, they do keep this balance.

On to the differences of the book from the show:

Overall, the TV series was faithful to the book. Most of the scenes in TV series are in the book. The show is gorgeous. I love the architecture and just the overall mood. I think Teresa Palmer makes a good Diana, but I love Matthew Goode. Period. But he is very, very good as Matthew Clairmont.

I know Teresa Palmer is Australian and Diana Bishop is American so I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I do hear Teresa’s native accent here and there. It’s not distracting, but since I know that the one she uses for her character is not her original accent, I can’t help but hear the Australian one. Matthew Goode, on the other hand, is British, and Matthew Clairmont is as well. Well, for the last couple of centuries he is, but he’s originally French. But overall, I have no problem believing they’re really Diana and Matthew.

As for Gillian Chamberlain,

the other witch at Oxford who in the TV series is sort of Diana’s friend… in the book, they’re merely acquaintances. She’s played by Louise Brealey aka Molly Hooper in Sherlock.

I love the actress and I love that I found Gillian both slightly annoying and a bit pathetic. Because in the book, she is. So I love that that’s how she’s also played in the series.

Then we have Aunt Sarah. When I saw Alex Kingston, my first thought was, “River!” If you don’t know, Alex Kingston played ‘River Song’ in Doctor Who.

And I loved her in that. So I knew I’d love her here, too. I do have the same ‘thing’ with her as with Teresa. Alex Kingston is British and here she plays an American. I can hear the accent. It’s not distracting, but it’s there.

And then there’s Peter Knox.

In the book, I found him arrogant, condescending and just a generally irritating person. In the series, he is more so. And the actor who plays him played Ser Alliser Thorne in ‘Game of Thrones.’

He was one of the Night’s Watch who tormented and had a hand, literally, in killing Jon Snow. But he got his comeuppance when he was hanged with the rest of the traitors. He was very convincing as a conniving SOB in GOT. And he is here, as well. In fact, he’s equal parts menacing and irritating. Which is a terrifying combination because if he’s just irritating, you can swat him away like a gnat. But because he’s menacing, you know you have to watch your back.

Satu Jarvinen

in the show is exactly how I thought she would look like when I read her in the book. In fact, the actress Malin Buska, infuses her with a somewhat edgy, emo attitude that really works. You can see why Satu and Peter work well because they seem to have something missing inside them that they think the other one has. It’s not a romantic connection -- more that of villains who don’t think they’re bad people.

And Ysabeau de Clermont.

Lindsay Duncan plays her, who also played Lady Smallwood in Sherlock.

She does have the whole ‘lady of the manor’ aura -- both regal and frightening. I really liked how she snobbishly said how modern day witches are so uneducated -- all because Diana even with her post graduate degrees didn’t speak Occitan.

FAVORITE SCENES:

The rowing scenes:

This is very self-serving because I like rowing. I haven’t had a lot of chances to row in the water. I bought a rowing machine at the start of the pandemic and actually did a few months of rowing for 20 minutes three times a week. Then I stopped. I can’t remember why. But I love the scenes of Diana rowing -- which she does to rid herself of excess energy caused by her power -- because I imagine rowing along the Thames myself.

Any time they’re in the Bodleian: I love libraries. I’ve loved them since I was a child. I loved them when I was in college. I was actually really excited that my university decided to extend the library hours on Fridays just so I could stay there and read to my heart’s content. Also, whenever I go to a foreign country, I always go to the national library.

This isn’t in the show, but in the book, but I love how everyone at the Bodleian scrambled to cater to Matthew when he went to the library. I liked how irritated Diana was that this guy took her spot… that they gave it to him solely on the basis of his being an All Souls fellow. In the TV series, they don’t really emphasize how much of a big shot Matthew is at Oxford.

I like how Matthew, when he was talking to his daemon friend, Hamish Osborne, was self-aware enough not to immediately think that Diana had the same feelings for him as he did for her. Since he’s a 1,500-year-old vampire who knew Charles Darwin, of course he’s a great resource for a history of science researcher.

I love that part when Diana was trying to guess how old Matthew was and she asked, “Survived the fall of Carthage?” and he says, “Which fall of Carthage?” It was a playful exchange, and you can see that he was showing off a bit.

Sept-Tours:

literally ‘Seven Towers’ and is the current family home of the de Clermonts. It must be hell to heat, but as most of the residents are vampires, it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s beautiful and like Matthew, I would probably claim my own tower as well.

While it’s not my favorite scene, I think they did the part of Satu torturing Diana

-- in the pretext of trying to ‘open her up’ to see what her power is -- was done well. When I read that scene, I was wondering how much of it they were going to put in the book. So it was heartening to see that ‘horrifying’ scene there.

I’m not sure how I feel about the ‘instalove.’ You know that thing that sometimes happens where the leads just fall in love at first sight? In the series, it feels like it’s instalove. Diana and Matthew first meet at the Bodleian -- the day after Diana experiences the magic in Ashmole 782. It’s a book all creatures have been trying to find. Matthew, in particular, has been searching for it for more than a century. It’s thought to explain the origins of all creatures. Matthew is initially drawn to Diana because she is able to “call” the book.

Anyway, going back to the idea of ‘instalove,’ I mean, sure there was chemistry… but... In the books, their connection was fostered both by the time they spent with each other and their curiosity about Ashmole 782. I was more convinced in the book about that part than in the TV series. Or maybe it’s my deep-seated and sometimes difficult to conceal bias FOR the book versus its live action adaptation.

The Congregation: Secret island!

It’s actually on an island in Venice, concealed from humans. It has nine members, 3 from each supernatural race. And since the de Clermont patriarch established it, one of the rules is to always have a de Clermont on the Congregation. It was created during the Crusades as a self-regulating body for the creatures. Because most of the creatures abused their powers and abilities to influence outcomes during the Crusades, they attracted unwanted attention from humans. Ostensibly to keep the creatures safe from humans, the congregation agreed to several covenants: the main ones being that they must not interfere in human politics and religion and for creatures not to mix together, especially in terms of romantic relationships.

This is the covenant Diana and Matthew break. In fairness to Diana, she had no idea. She didn’t even know about the existence of The Congregation, much less the covenant. And so Matthew does this whole ‘noble idiot’ thing where he denies his feelings for her… but of course, in the end, they end up together.

Moving on, the first book ends with Diana and Matthew going back to New York to Aunt Sarah’s and Aunt Em’s house. The original plan was for Diana to learn more about her magic from her witch aunts. The problem is that Diana’s magic isn’t the same as theirs. And they need someone to teach her so she can call the book again -- this time intentionally.

They’re joined by married daemons, Sophie and Nathaniel; two vampires: Marcus, Matthew’s vampire son, and Miriam, an ally of the de Clermonts and Matthew’s colleague at the lab, and Hamish. As there are now 3 witches (Sarah, Em and Diana), 3 vampires (including Matthew) and 3 demons, this is in effect a ‘coventicle’ -- this will be important later in the books.

They’re all gathered there for different reasons: Sophie, because she’s meant to give Diana something that has been passed down in her family for generations (and one that’s needed for the timewalk, the vampires to update Matthew regarding their research (and I guess for moral support as well), and Hamish both because he’s Matthew’s best friend and lawyer (real world legalities must be observed before one undertakes a timewalk).

They leave for Sept Tour, which Matthew volunteered as their HQ of sorts, on Halloween. That night, Matthew and Diana are going to timewalk. And seconds before they could do so, Gerbert de Aurillac, Peter Knox and Satu Jarvinen arrive to stop them.

Of course, they don’t and we see our couple land somewhat shakily in 1590 London…

And the season ends there, setting us up for the next one and The Book of Shadows.

FINAL NOTE:

I LOVE IT!

Like I said earlier, it’s faithful to the book in the sense that I didn’t find anything that was off.

If you loved the books, I’m sure you’ll love the TV adaptation as well.

I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t love it as much. I’d been burned before, you see. (I’m looking at you, American Gods. Even Ian McShane and Orlando Jones’ Mr. Nancy couldn’t keep me hooked.)

However, I wasn’t disappointed in this one. There’s a lot to love here and I’m glad that there’s a second season -- and now they’re even done filming the third.

So that’s it for the first book and Season 1. Catch you in the next episode for The Book of Shadows and Season 2. Bye!

#the late lockdown list #a series on series #a discovery of witches #review

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alcalavicci · 3 years

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So there’s a really interesting interview with Deborah Pratt here. If you don’t want to pay for it, I’ll paste what I can below, but a few points first.

Deborah says she doesn’t know where Dean is, and says she misses him. I guess she hasn’t had contact with him since he left for NZ? And with Russ Tamblyn saying Dean’s hanging in there in answer to a recent Twitter question, that brings up more questions about his condition.

Deborah claims she came up with the idea of Quantum Leap, which I’ve never seen come up before. Also Don wanted to send Sam home?? I feel like she’s misremembering a lot of details/making herself seem better than she is.

“Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished… He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time tht his next leap will be the leap home…”

The premise of Quantum Leap succinctly and empathetically explained by a voice that spoke to viewers week to week, setting the scene at the opening of the episode. It is a voice that left an indelible print on the show, from its inception to its finale. This is the voice of its Head Writer. No, not Donald P. Bellisario, but a woman of color who was leaps ahead of her time – co-executive producer and uncredited co-creator, Deborah M. Pratt.

Deborah wrote or co-wrote 40 episodes of this sci-fi gem and her authorship of the show runs deep through its five seasons. Aside from the opening narration, Deborah is audible as the voice of Admiral Al Calavicci’s pocket computer, Ziggy. She also guest stars in the episode ‘A Portrait for Troian’ (S2, Ep11) as a grieving widow who hears the voice of her husband calling her.

Deeper still, Quantum Leap was a family affair. It was co-created with her husband at the time, Bellisario, and their daughter, also named Troian, appears as a little girl in ‘Another Mother’ (S2, Ep13, who can not only see Al, but also sees Sam as he really is, rather than as her recently divorced mom.

Prior to helming Quantum Leap, Deborah rose through the ranks as an actress, racing the screen in Happy Days, CHiPS, The Dean Martin Show and many more, and was also a writer on shows such as Airwolf and Magnum P.I. She is a five-time Emmy nominee, Golden Globe nominee and winner of countless other awards. She went on to produce CBS comedy cop show, Tequila and Bonetti, and then to co-create and produce the TV series adaptation of Sandra Bullock tech thriller, The Net. But Quantum Leap was Deborah’s brainchild – one which is emblazoned on the hearts of its faithful fans.

Deborah has since moved into directing, including on hit show Grey’s Anatomy (2020), but was generous with her time when spoke in late 2020 to leap back into the past.

It does seem that you were really ahead of your time as a female head writer and a showrunner in the ’90s, especially in science fiction TV. Was it hard for you to progress and to get Quantum Leap made?

“Usually women were relegated to comedy, very rarely was it drama or heavy drama. It’s changed, finally, with people like Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Bridgerton, Scandal). But yes, I was a true pioneer, even though I don’t have a ‘created by’ credit, it was a ‘co-created by’ show – with Don. I brought him the original concept, and we were married, and he said ‘Let me just run with this. I can get it made.’ And to his credit, he understands how to tell a story to the audience. He simplified it in a way that you could welcome Quantum Leap into the world. But it was still a tough show to sell.

“I think we went back three times to pitch it to the network. It was complicated to explain. Brandon Tartikoff [the executive] said ‘It’s a great idea – It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen on TV. Let me think about it.’ Then he asked us to come back, ‘I want you to pitch it to me like I’m six years old, then pitch it to me like I’m 80 years old’ and finally he took it. Then even after the show first aired, they decided to introduce that opening where I tell the story. That was created to explain every week to a new viewer what was going on and it worked really well.”

On rewatch now, the best part of three decades later, the show feels groundbreaking in terms of the subjects you cover. Did you feel like you were pushing the envelope?

“I feel we got to do so much on that show. I remember when I did ‘Black on White on Fire’ [S3, Ep7], the networks in the South in the United States wouldn’t air it because it was a black/white relationship. Even though there is no scene where you see a black person and a white person being intimate.

You saw Sam, who was white, and the girl who was white, but because he was playing someone who was black, it was an issue. They wouldn’t air the show in the South. This was around 1992.

“It was challenging for sure. I think we pushed the limits.

“The beauty of the show too, was that it was about hope, which I see so little of on television today. Everything’s so dark, so mean, so vicious, bloody – how many people can you kill? How mean can you make your lead characters and antiheroes. I think it’s why I didn’t work as much afterwards. A) I was a woman, and B) a black woman. There weren’t any black female executive producers that I knew of in drama. I got to do The Net because it had a female lead, but that was almost ten years after Quantum Leap was created. Any show I brought in that had a black lead was never bought, or a female lead, was never bought.

“I remember I wrote a big action piece – like an Indiana Jones, but female-driven, feature film – and pitched it and the studio executive said, ‘Yeah, yeah, but when did the guy come and rescue her?’ And I said, ‘She doesn’t – she rescues him.’ The look on his face. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”

The show darted around TV schedules, but the fans remained with it, and still to this day hold it dear to their hearts. Was that palpable at the time, or has that grown since?

“I think near the end of the first season, Harriet Margulies [Production Assistant on the show] found a chat room after an episode where people from across the country talked about it and it became the ‘watercooler.’ We were the first television show that had a chat room as a watercooler. Before that, it was literally you going into your office and standing around the watercooler and talking about movies or TV shows you were watching. Suddenly, it was online. So we started to go into the chat room and talk to people about what they liked and what they didn’t. Not necessarily telling them who we were, but that fan base is what kept us on the air because the network didn’t know what to do with us. There was no show like it, so they couldn’t like pair us with anybody.

“In the five years we were on, I think they moved the show six times and the fans still found it, they followed it, they watched it. That’s how we knew we had something unique and special. To this day, I’ll go into a meeting with a young executive who’ll go, ‘I have to tell you, I loved Quantum Leap. I used to watch it with my mom and dad’.”

Scott Bakula was such a great hero and heartthrob as Dr. Sam. What was he like to work with?

“He was so approachable, you know, in the sense that he had this great, easy acting style. He took chances and he was likeable – in a way that he could be a man’s man and a woman’s man at the same time. He’s really a brilliant actor. I am saddened by the fact that he has not had the opportunity to do movies in the way that could really have lifted his career. He’s had an incredibly successful television career. He’s a good actor. He’s a kind man. I’ve always admired him and felt like when we were working together, I had a friend that I loved to write for because he was always so giving and willing and wanting to take chances as an actor. So it was fun to go down to the trailer and say, ‘Guess what? You’re going to be pregnant this week’.

He does everything in the show from sing and dance to baseball, football, hopping over car bonnets to fights and martial arts. Did you know he had such a wide skill set from the outset, or did you write the challenges for him to rise to?

“I think we had conversations with him about that. I also knew that he had been on Broadway doing musicals. I knew he could sing and dance. When I wrote ‘Sea Bride’ [S2, Ep20], I wrote a tango number – that was unique for him. When Don knew that he could play the guitar… We asked Scott, ‘What do you want to do?’ And he said he wanted to do a musical and I think that’s how the ‘Catch a Falling Star’ episode [S2, Ep10] came about, which involves a performance of ‘Man of LaMancha’.”

Admiral Al Calavicci – he’s so much more than wisecracking and surface jokes or flirtation. There’s so much depth to his character. Was that fleshed out early on with an end to end journey for him in mind, or did his character evolve through the seasons?

“It was a little bit of both. Dean Stockwell had been on Broadway at five-years-old and had been a major child movie star. I remember when we wrote the show where Sam had the chance to save Al – ‘The Leap B4, Ep1] – he was so good in that. I’ll never forget how beautiful that was. And then in the very, very end, I love the fact that Sam did change history and Al ended up wih his beautiful wife with five kids.

“I remember once asking Dean, ‘Do you want us to write more drama for you? Big dramatic moments?’ And he said, ‘I want you to look at me right now. I want you to tell me what you see.’ And I said, ‘Well, your performance, the pain, fear and loss and all that, because you’re such an incredible actor.’ And he said ‘For me to perform that, I have to be it and live it. So don’t do too many.’

“He had that depth of acting talent. He is so good – Dean, wherever you are, I love you. I miss you.”

The episodes that follow later in the seasons involving celebrities – Sam as Elvis, Dr. Ruth, or Lee Harvey Oswald, was that kind of a direction that you always foresaw? It feels like a sea change as the show progressed.

“The stories were designed, for the most part, to be so, so simple in that they were everyday stories. They weren’t change-the-world stories. I think the biggest one was Lee Harvey Oswald, and maybe the one involving Marilyn Monroe – those were with people that could have had a ripple effect.

“But there were other little kisses with history in the show, but they were very hard to do. They ran into a child version of Donald Trump in a taxi cab, [‘It’s A Wonderful Leap’ – S4, Ep18], then they ran into a little boy who is supposed to be Michael Jackson – Sam teaches him to moonwalk [‘Camikazi Kid’ – S1, Ep8]. The first time I did a kiss with history was ‘Star-Crossed’ [S1, Ep3] – Sam meets up with the woman that left him at the altar and they’re at the Watergate Hotel. That was fun stuff.”

Sam managed to awkwardly kiss lots of ladies in that sense of ‘Oh God, they’re going to kiss me and I’ve got to be this person, what am I supposed to do.’

“We never, ever really discussed what happened to Sam. We didn’t want him to be encumbered by a relationship. But I didn’t get to kiss him. My husband wouldn’t leave the set on the episode I was in!”

Your move into directing – from your TV drama Cora Unashamed back in 2000, to Grey’s Anatomy just last year. Is that something you wanted to do sooner? Were there barriers prohibiting you?

“I was supposed to direct on Quantum Leap four times. Every time it was coming up, something would happen. The only women who directed on the show were two black women – Debi Allen [Fame, Everybody Hate Chris, Jane the Virgin] and the other was a woman named Anita Addison. They each did two shows.

I said, ‘If I’m not doing this, I want black women.’ There were no other black women. And it was a fight. I tried to get black women directors on the show, but I could never get them past.

Then when I went to do The Net, the studio blocked it. I give huge amounts of credit for executive producing to Shonda Rhimes and what she has been able to do. She did what I thought I was going to be able to do. She’s so talented and I’m such a fan of her and her shows. I’m looking forward to what she’s going to do on Netflix. And it was an honour to do Grey’s Anatomy because I’m a fan of the show and I’m really grateful to have that opportunity.”

Has there been progress in terms of female directors and filmmakers being given opportunities?

“It’s very hard for women because there aren’t a lot of women executives at the studios. There are more now. And so there is an evolution that’s happening, but it still feels slow. There were shows run by people I gave opportunities to back in the day, but when I said, “hey, I want to direct on your show,” the response was, “oh, there’s too much machismo. There’s too many male hormones around here. They’ll eat you alive.” And I went, “no, they won’t, you’ll protect me. How about if I do my job?” And that was only last year. But there are more opportunities. There are more women making decisions, but we have to do more because women’s stories and women’s voices are more than half the population – we need to hear those stories. The historic ones as well as the contemporary ones.”

Is there a leap that was your favourite overall? That you feel made you made your mark with?

“’The Color of Truth’ [S1, Ep7] touched so many people and it opened a dialogue. I remember we got a letter from a teacher who said she brought the VHS in and she played it to her class, up until Jesse [Sam as an ageing black chauffeur in ’50s Deep South] goes and sits down at the counter in the restaurant. Then she stopped it and asked the students what they thought happened next. They thought that he just ordered lunch. And then she played the rest and that hostility and the animosity he endures and the fact that he had to get up and leave really incensed these children. They had never heard of or experienced racism. They didn’t want to believe that it really happened. This is how history gets buried and why television is so powerful and important. It opened a conversation that she could not have necessarily had in her classroom, according to her, had she not brought that show in to share with her students.

“We had another letter that was very moving, and I want to say it might’ve been ‘The Leap Home’ [S2, Ep1-2]. There was a couple who wrote and said they had a child that was on a cancer ward and every Thursday the whole ward would watch Quantum Leap. Their child was dying and they had kind of given up and it was just time to help that child transition out of this world. They watched the show and she said, ‘We realized we gave up hope. When we watched the show, we realized we didn’t have to give up hope and we wanted to write to you. It’s now six months later and the crisis has passed. The cancer is in remission. Our child is up and going back to school. And we just want to thank you for reminding us that hope has its own power’.”

Its power and poignancy has never diminished. Though the final episode, ‘Mirror Image’ (S5, Ep22), with the caption saying Sam doesn’t get to go home, does leave a sucker punch.

“That was our last fight. Don was going to send him home. And I said, ‘You can’t, you can’t send him home. If you ever, ever, which we’ve not ever been able to get Universal to let us do it, want to do a movie… If you want to keep the story going, you have to leave Sam out there in the hearts of people, leaving people thinking he could leap into their lives’. And at first Don said, ‘No, no, we need to bring him home’. And I said, ‘Do not bring him home. Or you will end the show. If you leave the hope out there, that Sam is out there and he could leap into your life and make a difference’. You keep the show alive in the hearts and the minds of the fans. And I think I was right.”

The ending was poetic for me as a viewer, but your point about Sam still being out there – Is there a leap back to the future for Quantum Leap?

“I started writing a project called Time Child about Sammy Jo Fuller. I actually wrote a trilogy in Season 5 where Sam leapt back three times into the same family and the second time he leapt he ended up in bed with this character and conceived a child. Then the third time he leapt in, he met her at 10 years old – a girl named Sammy Jo Fuller. So in my vision, Sammy Jo Fuller grows up. I actually have Al say, ‘Sammy is in the future with me. We’re trying to bring you home.’ That was my set-up way back in 1993, in Season 5, to say someday, Sammy Jo being his daughter might take over….

“This was the ’90s. Women heroes didn’t exist really – other than comic books – Wonder Woman was there, Super Girl was there. But I set it up in the show that Sammy Jo was going to bring him home. Sadly, I have not been able to get Don and the studio to give me the green light for Time Child. It might happen someday.”

Right now, it feels like we need more shows that offer hope. Is there a place for a reboot on streaming platforms?

“Universal keep saying they want to bring it back. They’re not going to give it up to Netflix because they have [US streaming service] Peacock now and still have NBC. I personally think it should be on a full blown network. The hard part would be that it would have to be recast if there was a female version using my character Sammy Jo Fuller. Or if they just redid the show, it would be interesting in the sense that there was such an innocence about the show. I still believe that there is an audience out there that wants it, that longs for looking at the past through the eyes of somebody in the present. But who would that person be if you did the show now, what are those eyes like?

“We’re living in the time of COVID and suddenly you go back in time. How do you warn people that this is going to happen? How do you warn people about 9/11? How do you warn people about things in the future?

“I mean, one of the beauties of that innocence too, and I thought that was a great gift from Don to the concept, was that Sam’s memory as Swiss cheese – he didn’t remember things and that made it a lot easier, and Al was not allowed to tell him what was happening in the present. There’s a lot of detail woven into the mythology that allowed it to be innocent and in the moment of time travel. You didn’t have to drag the future back with you.”

Do you have an actress in mind to play Sammy Jo in a reboot?

“Oh my gosh, Jennifer Garner. I always felt she would be a great female Sam. She’s an ‘every woman.’ She’s funny. She does great drama. When I think of a female Sam or even Sammy Jo, I think Jennifer – in a heartbeat. She’s so great in Alias. That show just never stopped. You couldn’t take a breath. If I had to go younger, somebody that would have that kind of believable humour that you think could actually rescue you – maybe Jennifer Lawrence. She’s pretty formidable in that sense.”

“To bring Quantum Leap back. If they’re thinking about it, now’s the time to happen. Tell people to write to Universal! Write for the attention of Pearlena Igbokwe – if anyone can bring it back, she can do it. Write! Write to Pearlena – she’s the one that’ll make it happen. That’s how we stayed on the air for five and a half years. Fans unite and write!”

#quantum leap #article

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stella-monstrum · 3 years

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Rob Zombie; "Why it's time to step outside the confinements of his own box."

For close to four decades,

Rob Zombie has brought nonstop psychedelic grooves and a rockstar presence while gracing his own music and the silver screen with gut-churning, drug-tripping visuals. He not only commands quite the presence in films (whether his own successes or others’), but also makes appearances within many other horror soundtracks. There’s no denying that Zombie is a bloodied savant who has stayed incredibly consistent.

[ᴿᵒᵇ ᶻᵒᵐᵇᶦᵉ. ⁽ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ: ᴳᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ ᴵᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ⁾]

(Written by Stella, edited by Jacob J.)

(Side note; tumblr’s photo formatting is a pain)

Let’s take a dive into his music before getting into his film library. From 1985-1997, White Zombie released six albums (between studio and compilations). La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One didn’t break into the Billboard 200 chart until a year after its 1992 release. Shortly thereafter, it became the hot and groovy bong success of the band, going on to sell two million copies. Astro Creep 2000, their final and fourth studio release, was their first and only album to chart within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 in 1995. Up to this day in 2020, “White Zombie” has been featured in 47 TV, film, and video game soundtracks, from Beavis & Butthead to Pen15 to Bride Of Chucky (which includes a personal favorite moment of mine), amongst many others.

After the disbandment and separation, Zombie continued on his solo journey. He has gone on to release six studio albums, with a seventh on the way in March 2021, titled The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. A multitude of hits—eight to be exact—sat within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 records.

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Zombie’s extensive film career is a “Super Beast” on its own.

He has been very vocal about gaining inspiration from 1920s-1980s horror culture. In many interviews, he’s cited Stan Lee, Bella Lugosi, Alice Cooper, and Steven Speilberg as being responsible for molding the brain that we know today.

Some of his influences include:

George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

The Shining (1980)

Zombie’s upbringing in the carnival industry alongside his family is another key influence.

[[I’ll only be focusing on Zombie’s live-action films here.]]

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In 2000, Rob made his directorial and (very memorable) screen debut with House Of 1000 Corpses.

It took three years to be released because of quarrels with major production companies regarding the film’s majorly aggressive themes of torture, blood, violence, sex—not to mention his arrogance with MGM, fighting to get rights back from Universal. Eventually, Lionsgate bit the bullet, albeit with the major stipulation of having Rob edit it down much further so House could pass with a “tame” R rating.

[[House of 1000 Corpses: Rainn Wilson as taxidermy merman (Source: Tumblr—and if you’re brave, you can view the scene here.)]]

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In 2005 and 2019, the franchise’s next two installments—Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell—were released. The franchise is heavily influenced by the shocking, sickening, and unforgettable ’70s classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It follows a family of psychotic, sadistic, and bloodthirsty (if I’m being honest) necrophiliacs. They kidnap, kill, torture and brutalize anyone who gets in their way. At the end of Devil’s Rejects, they somehow manage to survive a police shootout, escape prison, and waltz on into Mexico (as seen in the franchise finale 3 from Hell).

Look, it’s all complicated.

Main Characters from the franchise:

Captain Spaulding—Sid Haig

Baby Firefly—Sheri Moon Zombie

Otis B. Driftwood—Bill Moseley

Momma Firefly—Karen Black (recast as Leslie Easterbrook after Karen’s passing)

(Other notable appearances throughout: Chris Hardwick, Rainn Wilson, Danny Trejo, Dee Wallace, Ken Foree, and Diamond Dallas Page.)

⁽“ʰᵒᵘˢᵉˢ ᵗʳⁱˡᵒᵍʸ”, ᵈᵛᵈ ˢᵉᵗ﹔ ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹔ ᵗᵃʳᵍᵉᵗ.ᶜᵒᵐ⁾

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The notorious/controversial Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) remakes from 2007 and 2009.

(ᵃ ᵛⁱᵉʷ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ᵇᵒˣ ᵃʳᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ʰᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ ʳᵉᵐᵃᵏᵉˢ ⁽ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹕ ᵃᵐᵃᶻᵒⁿ⁾)

Look, this is a remake that you either adore or hate with a burning passion. If you’re a horror fanatic, you know what’s up with the original.

I personally adore Zombie’s take. The fact alone that he gave us an entire background story as to why Michael became the psychotic slasher that we’ve come to know and love. Plus, with an increased suspense and gore factor? Worked incredibly well and did justice (in my opinion).

The film made me feel bad for Michael, with moments of child Myers in therapy, particularly his love for making masks to pass the time while he was locked up and the touching family moments between him and his mother Deborah (Sheri Moon).

ᵈᵉᵇᵒʳᵃʰ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐⁱᶜʰᵃᵉˡ ᵐᵉʸᵉʳˢ ⁱⁿ ʲᵃⁱˡ ᵗʰᵉʳᵃᵖʸ. ⁽ˢᶜʳᵉᵉⁿᶜᵃᵖ, ʰᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ. ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹕ ᵍᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ⁾

[Michael’s cell in the 2007 Halloween remake. (Source: Google)]

Add in the supporting cast of Michael McDowell (Loomis), Brad Douriff (Sheriff Leigh), Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie Strode), etc., and I honestly think that it came together very well as a remake.

The films rated relatively low, but they did gross higher than the budgets that they originally had to film on. Again, I’m not going to give much attention to the higher-ups of critical perception—it all comes down to personal taste.

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“Lords of Salem” (2013)

[[Promotional art for Lords of Salem. (Souce: Google Images)]]

A film that’s centered within Salem, Massachusetts,

this film—you guessed it—tackles witches, occultism, possession, Satan, and all the usual topics. Heidi (Sherri Moon) is a radio DJ who gets sent a mysterious record that’s labeled as being from “The Lords.” From then on out, shit gets a little dicey and admittedly, very disjointed. You can’t fault the cast here, and I loved the visuals that they were going for. However, with set schedule conflicts and multiple rewrites, which led to essentially running out of time to film? As a whole, what looked great on paper just couldn’t be done justice.

My FAVORITE sequence within the film (SPOILERS):

youtube

I can forgive the disjointedness solely because of how mind-boggling and brilliant the film’s history and proper visuals were. Also, we got to see Dee Wallace, Judy Geeson, and Patricia Quinn as creepy and badass witches who moonlight as Heidi’s landlords. Also Meg Foster who leads their coven? Can we talk about what a femme-fueled power cast that is?!

[[Left to right: Patricia Quinn as Megan, Dee Wallace as Sonny, and Judy Geeson as Lacy Doyle. (Screencap, Lords of Salem. Source: Google) ]]

[[Meg Foster as coven leader Margaret Morgan. (Screencap, Lords of Salem. Source; google)]]

Like I said prior, the film gets a little wild. If you’re...well, buzzed prior to watching, it may make a little more sense.

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“31” (2016)

[[Film poster for 31 (Source: Google)]]

[Synopsis from IMDB; “Five carnival workers are kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned, hellish compound where they are forced to participate in a violent game, the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic clowns.”]

Here, we clearly see that Zombie is invoking his childhood growing up within carnivals. In a 2013 interview with LA Weekly, Zombie divulged more about it:

“When we were kids, my parents would [work at the carnivals], and me and my brother would get dragged along to these things all the time and have to work.”

He went further on to say;

“Yeah, and it's not the nicest world. As a kid, you get exposed to the crazier underworld of the carnival. Me and my brother, when we were very little, we'd be inside the haunted house playing all day. So, already, what people are paying money to be scared [of], we're just playing in because it's fun. We saw the inner workings behind the machines.”

youtube

(”31″ trailer, source; Youtube)

Once again in this film, Zombie brings a powerhouse cast:

Jeff Daniel Phillips as Roscoe Pepper

Meg Foster as Venus Virgo

Malcom McDowell as Father Murder

Judy Geeson as Sister Dragon

Richard Brake as Doom Head

You can view the entire cast at IMDB here.

Set in 1976, Zombie stays true to his nods. Again, depending on taste, this is a huge hit or a wild miss with mindless homicidal violence, campiness, and climbs across the monkey bar of standards that we’re used to seeing from him.

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So at this point, you’re probably wondering why I think that it’s time for Rob Zombie to step out of the confinements of his own box...

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It’s no secret that Zombie sticks to only a small group of tropes:

Slashers, families or groups of homicidals that lack remorse, the occult, etc. There’s no shame in sticking to what you know. Hell, Zombie has seemingly cracked the code over the past two decades that he’s been in the film industry that so many directors still don’t seem to get.

IMO, despite whatever you personally feel about the films mentioned above- I feel like we’re living a freaky groundhog day repeat within Zombie’s filmography.

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Now, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Look, I’m not saying that Zombie has to change anything. However, I would love to see him tackle some other nuances that we’ve already seen from him in small doses.

- Children: We haven’t seen Zombie exactly take on what horror films depict kids as. Sure, he made a breakout and impeccable choice with young Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) back in 2007. I personally would adore to see a reimagined (NOT remade) Children of the Corn on acid, one we all know Zombie can tackle and turn every existing view on its head.

- Witchcraft, The Occult, Satan, Voodoo: Zombie genuinely had a phenomenal concept (on paper) for 2012’s Lords of Salem. It was unfortunate that they ran out of resources and ran into unfortunate circumstances on set while filming.

The film wasn’t a total tank, though, given how inspiring and insane all the visuals were throughout the 1 hr, 41min film. I am absolutely positive that, given a full-force opportunity, Rob could rectify the mess that was out of his control. We completely saw that he provided visuals that left quite the impression, and he could take those taboo subjects by the goat horns.

- Animals (not the human form): It’s no secret that Rob and his wife Sherri are ethical vegetarians. It would be so tongue and cheek to see them take on such topics as animals getting their revenge, or even vegetarians torturing carnivores. This twist on the formula would make for an interesting viewing.

══════════════════

2.) In regard to time periods,

Zombie stays within—and pays homage to—the 1970s and 1980s quite a bit. Obviously, those are the eras that Zombie personally loves the most when it comes to filmmaking. However, it would be very interesting to see him take on current day settings.

Zombie has such a unique viewpoint. Given changing climates in politics, human decline/growth, the economy, etc., he would do work that could easily put Ryan Murphy to shame.

══════════════════

3.) He could also do with some different casting every now and then.

Let me preface this by saying that I adore every repeat casting choice that Zombie has made for his films.

Of course chemistry is a huge thing, and sticking to his friends is a very smart choice. However, he also has the potential to make new stars, boosting the power of those that may be under the radar. He can support those new stars with cameos from classic actors that we haven’t seen in awhile. I can’t begin to even fictionally cast those who fit the bill, but I do believe that with the “Zombie Touch,” he can bring so much more fresh air to the usual casting.

══════════════════

There’s no doubting what Rob Zombie is clearly very good at. Despite mixed reviews from the horror world and critics, it’s time that his fans open their eyes to new possibilities. Of course, there are die-hards, but digging your feet in further doesn’t allow the growth of horror and its ever evolving themes.

[[ʳᵒᵇ ᶻᵒᵐᵇⁱᵉ, ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹔ ᵍᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ ⁱᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ]]

This theory has been on my mind for a very long time—since 3 from Hell came out. I’m sure, in his usual fashion, we won’t be seeing any new films from Rob anytime soon (what with his new album set to release in March 2021, not to mention the toll that the pandemic has had on Hollywood.)

Still, it never hurts to challenge the set standards and ways.

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easily-distracted-ivashkov · 4 years

Text

Love of a Mother

( Cute lil fic I did that was inspired by my chats with these amazing and lovely people 💜 @rowenaaclark @ahighlyfunctioningfangirl @syn-a-min @gravedangerahead @lezzlesgarcia @thegoldenlily 💛💛💛)

If someone were to tell me a year ago that I would be driving around in a brown Toyota minivan? I'd have told them they were insane. If someone were to tell me that I would be driving my one year old son around? I'd have crumpled over in a fit of hysterical laughter. But yet? Here I was. Adrian Ivashkov. Driving my one year old son around in a minivan named Mocha. But I just lovingly referred to it as 'That Clunky Piece of Shit'.

It was nearing twelve-thirty when I had to take Declan to the doctors. Sydney had been stuck up at work whereas I had only needed to work a partial day thanks to only being part time. Eddie had kindly offered to take Declan and help out as always but I figured what better way to bond with my son than through terrifying doctors offices and needles? It was just his usual check up most babies had. The little guy got a couple of shots in the leg. It killed me to watch him sobbing as the needles pinched into his skin. Declan cried for a good five minutes before he was back to his jabbering little self. He couldn't form complete sentences yet but he was definitely beginning to get words down. Some English and much to my surprise, some Spanish. That was when I usually handed him over to Sydney. I couldn't take very good care of him if I didn't know what he was saying.

The appointment took just under an hour (most of that was just spent in the waiting room and trying to get Declan's shoes back on that he kept kicking off). I had just gotten Declan settled into his car seat and buckled myself back in when the phone over the speakers began ringing. I flipped it on and sure enough, it was Sydney's harmonic voice that rang through those low quality speakers. "Ah, there is my sweet little Sugarplum of love and sunshine." That just earned me an exasperated sigh followed by a light laugh on the other line. "Any crisis going on I should be worried about? Any uh... T-rex skeletons running loose in the workplace? Any Pharaohs hitting on you? I'll throw down with King Tut himself if he's flirting with my lady."

I could hear that amused laugh from over the speakers and I swore I could feel my heart melting in my chest. "No, there was no loose t-rex skeletons or any handsy Pharaohs. All normal over here. I'm coming home a little early. It turns out my Mom is coming tonight and not tomorrow. She came in early and neither of us feel like waiting." Sydney explained. "How's everything with Declan?"

"He's in tip-top shape!" I exclaimed as I turned to glance back at Declan who had one shoe on and the other kicked off. He gave me that little mischievous grin of his that he gave me every time he kicked off that shoe. "Currently missing a shoe but other than that, he's in one piece. Took his shots like a champ."

'Well. Hurry home, I miss my boys. I think Eddie misses you too. I love you."

There it was again, that swelling in my chest, that feeling that made me feel so light I'd start floating and defy gravity itself. Of course I didn't say any of this, instead I replied with a quick and abrupt 'I love you more!' And hanging up before Sydney could say she loved me more. Sydney always told me she'd win at the silly 'I love you more' arguments but she couldn't win if I hung up on her. Glancing back to Declan who now had his other shoe off, I chuckled lightly at him, "point seven for Daddy and nearing two-thousand and fifty-five for Mommy. We'll catch up eventually." This just earned me an excited 'ah!' From Declan.

Once we were back on the road, about ten minutes passed when I had heard something not sounding quite right in the van. I called this thing 'That Clunky Piece of Shit' for a reason. It. Was. Shit. I was just twenty minutes away from getting back home when suddenly, it stopped. The whole vehicle began slowing until it stopped. Thankfully we lived out near the countryside so traffic on these roads? Unheard of. Letting out a loud groan, I was able to drive it to the side of the road and got out to lift the hood. Everything seemed normal to me? Then again, I wasn't Sydney. I knew hardly anything about cars. Just knew enough to drive them. Even if I did know what was wrong with the thing, I wouldn't be able to fix it. Sighing, I reached into my pocket to call up Sydney in defeat but before I could even make that call - a red 1963 Chevy Impala pulled up beside me. Out stepped a women in maybe her mid-fourties. She had shoulder length brown hair with eyes that matched.

"Is everything alright over here? Do you need some help?" The woman offered kindly towards me.

Now. When I imagine a vehicle breaking down in the middle of nowhere, I imagine a half naked women strutting around in short shorts and a bikini top. Not some hopeless man that didn't know a thing about cars being helped being saved by some middle aged woman. I stepped away from the hood and offered the woman a polite smile. "Yeah. We could really use whatever help we could get. Thank you uh —" I trailed off, waiting for her name.

"Deborah. But you can just call me Deb." This caused the brunette to smile and retreat back to her own vehicle, only to yank out a huge tool box and heave it over to me. I moved out of her way and soon picked up on Declans whimpers and cries from the backseat. I wasted no time grabbing him from his carseat and resting him against my hip. I watched as she went straight to work on the hood. She was fast and knew what she was doing because within just eight minutes, she slammed the hood shut and smiled at me. "Cute little guy you got there. He yours?"

"Hm?" I hummed, not realizing she was speaking to me at first. My focus had been on Declan and keeping him calm. "Oh! Yeah. He's a little stinker. You got any of your own?"

She smiled and it seemed sorrowful and I immediately regretted saying anything. "I do. Just don't see them very much though. I suppose you've got places to be?"

I felt the need to apologize or even give her cash for her help but she didn't seem like the type of woman that would accept it. And well... I had no cash on me. "Yeah, yeah. Hey, thank you so much for the help. I really appreciate it, Deb." She gave me a curt nod before making her departure and I was soon to leave next after getting Declan back into his seat. Once arriving home, Declan was fast asleep in his carseat and I was glad he was a heavy sleeper whenever I had to carry him in.

I was instantly greeted by Sydney who was wearing a plain black dress and even had her hair up in a neat bun. I was expecting to see her in sweatpants and one of my shirt but then I'd remembered that her mother was coming over. Of course she got all dressed up for her mother. The moment Sydney saw me walk through that door, her entire face mirrored that of my own. Excitement. Joy. Love. These all lit her features no matter how much time we spent apart. I was pretty sure the whole reeducation played a huge part in that. Three months away from each other was far too long and one night to us felt like an eternity.

Sydney and I could easily have our own space for a few hours but the fact was, even while at work, we'd grow to miss each other in just those few hours. There was one night where I could recall that Sydney had been spending the night with a few friends she made here in Maine. It went fine and well — until neither of us were capable to find rest and so we caved and finally decided to fall asleep talking to each other over the phone. It's safe to say that we were damn near inseparable as a couple.

Sydney dashed straight into my me and my baby-free arm wrapped around her without a second of hesitation, "well hello my sweet honey bunches of sunshine and happiness—"

"I love you more." She interrupted. Of course she wasn't about to let me win that 'I love you more' debate.

"Oh ho, hey now. You gotta let me win a couple of times here and there, Ivashkov." I retorted, leaning down ever so slightly to peck my lips against Sydney's a good four times before pausing and leaning down to give her one last final kiss. "I'm gonna get the little guy settled and I'll be right back down to help with dinner." Another quick kiss and off I went to put Declan down for his nap.

I wasted no time getting Declan settled up in his crib. Usually he'd be back up and at it again in an hour or so. If he got too much sleep then he refused to sleep at all through the night. By the time I came back down, my mother was happily helping Sydney with the food. Smiling to myself, I walked up behind my wife and wrapped my arms around her. "I got it, babe. No cooking allowed when you're in a dress." I said, placing a gentle kiss to the side of her neck. Or well, no cooking at least if I was around. That was my thing. No one could compete with my casserole and that was just a fact.

I could hear a light chuckle coming from the back of Sydney's throat, and I knew what was coming. As she swayed slightly in my arms, those golden eyes peered up at me with a mischievous glint to them, that look alone made my heart race and the urge to throw her up against a wall or at the very least, on top of the nearest surface became nearly impossible to resist. Of course, she had to take it a step further, "I've done a lot worse in a dress." She whispered softly against my ear. Those amber eyes met with green and we stayed with locked gazes. A million of less than appropriate thoughts filling both of our minds at that same exact moment. Both of our minds in sync as if they were one.

Good. Lord. This woman.

"I thought that was sexual tension I sensed all the way from the living room." Came a familiar voice we all knew all too well. Eddie Castile. I glanced over to see him making his way into the kitchen, grabbing a quick snack for himself. I forgot how much Dhampir's needed to eat. Sometimes I forgot I even had to feed them!

"Hey, if you're not gonna help then you get your ass out and let the professionals handle the food." I countered in amusement, throwing a nearby oven mitt at Eddie's back as he ran off laughing with a bag of chips.

An hour and some minutes passed when finally that doorbell rang. I changed into something that was more 'meet the mother' appropriate. Sydney and I had just finished up everything and I already had Declan all settled into his high chair. Sydney fixed up her hair and straightened out her dress. She rushed off to answer the door. I heard the two women laughing as the footsteps approached the dining room. I cleared my throat and looked at Declan, "let's hope Daddy doesn't fuck this up." I spoke to him as he carelessly continued playing with his toy keys. Getting up from the table, to be met by a familiar face I had met recently. Very recently.

"Well howdy, Debbie." I greeted before Sydney could even introduce us. We'd already introduced ourselves when the hunk of junk decided to take a crap on the road earlier. Admittedly, I was thrown off. Very thrown off but I wouldn't show that. All confidence here. Sydney though? She looked flabbergasted. I was already giving her mother nicknames.

Deborah also was thrown off. Perhaps by my good looks or maybe the fact that I was the idiot she helped on the road. Or by the fact that I am in fact, a vampire. Sometimes I forgot that being surrounded by humans constantly.

"Uhm. Mom, this is —"

"Adrian Ivashkov." Deborah interrupted as she continued staring at me.

I didn't dare move. I wanted to extend a hand out to be polite but the possibility of her jumping back in absolute terror was very likely here. So I stayed where I was. "Do forgive me. I forgot my cape back in my coffin down in my cave. The bats made it impossible to get to it. Little brats. Especially Edgar." Was the first thing I thought to reply with. See, in my mind, that was funny. In Sydney's? She wasn't too impressed and I'm sure I'd hear about it later.

Much to mine and Sydney's surprise, Deborah began laughing. Oh, I like her already. "Those pesky bats," she began and gathered herself before she made the move to come shake my hand. "I remember when Sydney was about eight there was a bat in her bedroom. She refused to leave my room the next three nights." Deborah reminisced fondly before taking her seat. Everyone in the room visibly relaxed when we realized that Deb wasn't anything like Sydney's father.

"Oh, I sure hope you brought baby pictures of her," I couldn't keep from saying. I still had yet to see any baby pictures of my wife. Sydney's look of relief turned into a playful glare towards me. Until that turned into a look of exasperation when suddenly, Deborah Sage yanked out an entire scrapbook of yes... Baby pictures.

By the end of the night, Declan was in bed after a very hectic day of women giving him nonstop attention. A hard life that was. As the night wound down, us adults were settled in the living room. My mom was already half a bottle of wine down and so was Deb seeing as she was going to stay the night. The two women were giggling messes as they showcased our baby pictures to mostly each other. I quickly regretted even bringing up any baby pictures. Deborah and my mom became friends rather quickly. Hell, all of us did. It made my heart melt to see how undeniably loved Sydney was by her mother. That was what she deserved.

The best part of the night though, was right before everyone retired to bed. I'd gotten ready for bed and came down the stairs to get Sydney and I nearly began tearing up when I heard Deb tell Sydney that she approved of me. She approved of someone she hardly even knew, she approved of a vampire being married to her daughter. I felt the heart within my chest swell at that sort of acceptance. I wasn't her son but she was so ready to accept me as one because of Sydney's love for me.

This. This was a family. This was the place that life lead me to and it was here, where I belonged.

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letterboxd · 4 years

Photo

Lockdown Lens.

The filmmakers behind found-footage hits Searching and Host share their best tips for making movies in quarantine. Hint: you’ll need to tape your camera to your laptop, move away from the wall, and plump up the post-production budget.

“There is a really opportunistic moment here that you can take advantage of, if you come up with the right thing.” —Aneesh Chaganty, director of Searching

“You should never wait for the ideal circumstance because it doesn’t exist. Look at what you’ve got right now and use that.” —Rob Savage, director of Host

A low-budget thriller starring John Cho as a desperate dad, Aneesh Chaganty’s 2018 debut feature Searching, co-written with Sev Ohanian, shook up the found-footage genre with its seamless blend of content from chat rooms, social platforms, security-camera footage and news coverage. Chaganty and Ohanian’s next film, Run, which also takes place mostly inside one house, will debut on Hulu later this year after its theatrical release was quashed by Covid-19.

Meanwhile, a 56-minute séance horror that appears to take place entirely on a Zoom call became the most popular film on Letterboxd within a week of landing on Shudder in July (our popularity score is based on the amount of activity across our platform for each film, regardless of rating). Host—conceived and completed within just twelve weeks—was written by Gemma Hurley, Rob Savage and Jed Shepherd, and directed by Savage.

Our editor-in-chief Gemma Gracewood asked Chaganty, Hurley, Savage and Shepherd to draw on their expertise in making browser horrors and other limited-setting stories, to inspire other aspiring filmmakers sheltering in place.

Listen to the full interviews on the Lockdown Filmmaking episode of The Letterboxd Show.

Joseph Lee and John Cho in TV news footage from ‘Searching’.

Keep the parameters tight.

“Making a story in a limited setting is a very smart thing to do for an aspiring screenwriter—first and foremost because it’s produceable,” Aneesh Chaganty advises. ”If you’re an unknown entity in the film world, the cheaper your product takes to make is probably a better bet for you to be taking as opposed to writing a kajillion-dollar project. The first project that I wrote was a $90-million movie that Sev and I wrote. ‘Why did we do this?!’”

Chaganty also stresses the need to ensure your project wants to be a limited-setting story. “A lot of times I’ll read a found-footage script and it will often feel like all it wants to be is a not a found-footage script. There’s a lot of times where it feels like the writers don’t want it to be that.”

Explore the whole box.

Chaganty encourages aspiring writers to imagine your limited environment as a box. “You’re writing within this box, all the characters are in this box, I think the best way to examine it is not to ever try leaving the box, but make sure you explore it every which way. The box upside down, the box right side up, the box left, the box right…

“This is an objective that should apply to all films, but it’s easier to objectively analyze whether you’re doing it in a limited setting. With a film like Searching, we have to make sure that every possible iteration of how a narrative can take place on a computer screen is done. Looking at a movie like Buried, they’re doing every possible iteration of how that story can be told underground, in a coffin, before [the location] starts to change.”

(Good news for fans of Searching: with new tech platforms appearing all the time, it turns out there are more parts of the box to explore. A sequel is in the works, but Chaganty won’t be in the director’s chair.)

Give yourselves a deadline.

With no end to the pandemic in sight, it’s easy for one day to melt into the next. Keep your team motivated with a deadline. “I gave us two weeks,” says Rob Savage, Host’s director, who co-wrote the film with Jed Shepherd and Gemma Hurley, after his Twitter prank went viral.

“So we had two weeks, all three of us, to come together,” adds Hurley. “Let’s figure out a structure, let’s figure out these character dynamics, figure out a way to build tension around this idea of a séance and hang a story and a journey for the characters, for where we want the séance to end up. We had a Google doc where we were editing it together. I’d go away and do my pass, Rob would go away and do his pass, and Jed would. And that was it. It was really just like, run and gun, go go go.”

“If things had gone to plan we would have had this out in two months; in the end it took three,” Savage continues. ”It took twelve weeks from when I first called Jed up and said ‘let’s make a feature’, to delivering the movie—roughly breaks up as two weeks of writing, we shot for three weeks, and then a lot of editing and VFX time.”

Know your story inside-out, but don’t labor the script.

“We’ve got some hearts to break, here,” warns Hurley. “There was no official script in the standard way because there just wasn’t time. The whole point was capturing a zeitgeist moment… If we went away and wrote a feature-film script, well, ‘we’ll see you after the pandemic’s over, guys!’. You’d miss that moment. That was the joy of it. You didn’t have time to labor over every syllable.”

Some of Host’s key moments were scripted, Hurley reassures. “We had lines we wanted them to suggest, but more than giving them dialog it was about giving them prompts for every scene.”

Savage adds: “The thing that we did really well, at the end of the two weeks of writing, is every single scene, me, Jed and Gemma, you could quiz us all in separate interrogation rooms, we’d be able to tell you the purpose of every scene and what we wanted to get out of them. We had the movie so clearly in our heads in terms of how we wanted it to feel.”

An advantage of having a treatment rather than a completed script? “A sense of discovery every day,” says Savage. “The actors just brought that amazing spontaneity to it and these incredible performances, because we knew the parameters.”

Aneesh Chaganty and John Cho on the set of ‘Searching’, with a GoPro behind the laptop capturing the webcam view. / Photo by Elizabeth Kitchens

Choosing your camera (spoiler: it’s not your laptop’s).

“John is acting against a black screen,” Chaganty reveals. “There’s nothing on his computer, he’s literally looking at nothing.” To ensure complete control over their footage while preserving authentic eyelines, both sets of filmmakers taped additional cameras to the laptops of their key talent. In Host, each of the Zoom participants had iPhones recording at their highest resolution “so we knew we were getting a clean 1080p,” says Savage. In Searching’s case, it was a GoPro taped to the rear of the various computers used by John Cho.

“Before we started shooting the film,” Chaganty explains, “we had to make [an animatic] version using Adobe Premiere, because much of John’s performance is knowing his eyeline. He needs to know exactly where the iMessages open up—in order for us to know that we almost have to know those decisions already.” Chaganty and his team developed a 100-minute animatic cut, with Chaganty playing every role; “understanding where every window is, where every cursor is, so that by the time we get to set, what I’m doing is showing John ‘okay, this is where that message pops up, and while you’re talking to Deborah, you’re going to look over there, go down there, open Chrome, type in…’ So everything is very specific eyelines. Sometimes my notes after a take would just be ‘John that was great, just move the cursor a little further to the left this time’.”

Haley Bishop as séance host Haley in ‘Host’.

Develop your characters and the genre will take care of itself.

Chaganty and the Host team have the same advice for how to ratchet up the tension in a limited-setting film: it’s all about character. “If you’re going to end up putting these characters through tough times and potentially kill them,” says Shepherd, “develop them as real characters, so that we care about them.”

Although Host’s script was, in fact, only a seventeen-page beat-sheet, the most important part of its structure was the long stretch up front where the characters are dialling into the call and catching up—what Shepherd calls the “getting to know you bit”. “That first part is really important because if it wasn’t for that, the third act wouldn’t work at all. The best thing to do is make your characters real, authentic, believable. Everything else takes care of itself.”

Chaganty agrees: “When you are writing something that is genre, your other decisions don’t have to be genre, and in fact it might elevate it more when you don’t do that, because everything else is already doing that, you know?”

In particular, he advises, trust your talent to lean into their characters, rather than into the genre. “This was my challenge at least, as a totally amateur director: sometimes what I was looking for was the most obvious take as opposed to the most subtle take. “When we left the shoot I was thinking it was take six, or the one where it was most obvious [John] was angry or he was sad or something—and what we ended up using was the most subtle takes. That subtlety, that underneath layer, so much of that was him. He’s so good. He’s so good. I hate to say it, but I didn’t realize how good he was until we edited it together.”

Spend time getting the interface right.

“There’s not a frame of Zoom footage in the actual movie.”—Rob Savage

Found-footage films and browser horrors rely on the believability of the content. Searching and Host work because the footage feels real, even though the reality is there are multiple takes and a lot of post-production. Just as Searching was built around a detailed animatic, Host is, in fact, not a recorded Zoom call, but a result of three weeks of filming every actor in multiple takes, with stunt set-ups, followed by the addition of VFX and Zoom interface details.

“Originally the plan was just to screen-record a Zoom call, but then we realized that we were pumping so much money into doing these crazy stunts and effects that we could blow half the budget in 30 seconds,” says Savage. “You’re basically making five movies. We have to make sure the performances are all tight in every single screen. Radina might be amazing in take one and Jemma might nail it in take three and we have to cut them all together so they work seamlessly.”

Savage praises Host editor Brenna Rangott for pulling it all together, underscoring the importance of post-production in your budget and schedule. “Honestly, what Brenna did with all this footage? It’s her movie as much as it’s anyone else’s movie. She absolutely smashed it.”

The Host crew also relied on fellow filmmaker and designer Dan Hawkins to build the almost 4,000 individual assets in the film, and producer Douglas Cox, who went through the whole movie to type out every single name, label and other Zoom interface detail. “4,000 times he had to do that, and that’s what you see to make it play seamlessly.” (And, yes, they had Zoom’s permission.)

Jed Shepherd, Rob Savage and Gemma Hurley during a Zoom séance for Slashfilm with Chris Evangelista.

Trust your gut.

The Host team were pursued for a feature-length version of Savage’s Twitter prank by a “mind-blowing” number of studios—“it was a really competitive situation,” says Savage—but they went with Shudder for one reason: instinct.

“It was the height of the lockdown and a lot of production companies just started ringing and saying ‘Is there a longer version of this? Because it’s the only thing we can shoot right now’. So we pitched to a bunch of places, and the pitch was basically ‘a Zoom séance, we don’t know if it’s going to be any good, we’re going to use our mates, are you in or not?’ and Shudder [was] like ‘of course we are’.”

It wasn’t about the money. Some companies offered more generous budgets, but wanted to release six to eight months after filming. “We were like, ‘no, this needs to be out this week’.”

Move away from the wall.

Since so much of the movie business—all those endless meetings—has pivoted to video-calls, we asked the filmmakers for specific advice on how to present yourself online, in pitch meetings, table reads and the like.

The very minimum, they all agree, is to have good lighting. “It’s crazy what a difference a desk lamp can make to your environment,” says Chaganty. And move away from the wall. “Rule number one any director of photography will ever say, is don’t shoot at a wall,” he adds. “The further that you can place yourself from that wall, it’s just going to look better.” (It also gives you more protection from any demons that may burst from cupboards during your Zoom, Host’s filmmakers advise.)

Chaganty reveals that the pandemic has actually helped his pitching abilities in video meetings with executives. Chaganty and Ohanian are currently developing a heist movie, while simultaneously pitching a television show. “Right now pitches are all digital. Traditionally when you pitch something, it’s a lot of material and you just memorize it. But now, you can have your script with you—but you can’t make it seem like you’re reading off a screen.” The trick, he says, is to re-size the window of the person you’re pitching to, and re-size the script to the same dimensions, then place them directly over each other.

“So you’re reading and your eyeline is exactly where they are, and then you switch over, and they’ll never know and you’ve just pulled it off perfectly because you’re still looking at the exact same spot. It just kind of feels like an incredible performance where you’ve pulled these great words out of your mind and your heart, without anyone knowing.”

On the other hand, don’t put too much effort into details that nobody will notice. “We were doing a table read for a film,” says Host’s Shepherd, “and I thought it would be fun to change the background to correspond with what scene were were reading. I thought it was really clever but nobody noticed except me.”

Producer Natalie Qasabian, writer-producer Sev Ohanian and writer-director Aneesh Chaganty on the set of their forthcoming feature, ‘Run’.

There’s no time like the present.

“When digital cameras came out, everyone started saying ‘this is a great thing for filmmakers because it really democratizes filmmaking’,” says Chaganty. “We are in a very small bubble where it’s even more democratized than it was before—that’s because everybody has the same resources that we do right now.

“It feels like John Oliver and Hasan Minhaj and Trevor Noah are all making stuff with the same quality that you can make, that I can make, just in our own houses right now. The longer this pandemic goes on, and the longer that it feels that Hollywood can’t make traditional stuff the way it used to, the more likely it is that the demand for content is going to rise.

“If you can make something good in this time, I think you’re in a really good spot as far as getting eyeballs on it. And eyeballs essentially are the things that can propel a career to the next stage.”

Plus, there are mental health benefits to making movies together, at a time when we are all being urged to stay socially connected while physically distant. “What’s been really nice about the whole thing is it just made it so clear how collaborative a process filmmaking is,” says Savage. “Normally people kind of forget about that and you have ‘a film by’, but here you had to put so much trust in everyone. It was just a really fun way of working. I recommend it to everyone.”

‘Host’ is available now on Shudder. ‘Searching’ is available via VOD platforms. ‘Run’ is coming soon to Hulu in the US and will be released theatrically in international markets. (Aneesh Chaganty has been diligently updating his Letterboxd diary, which includes one of our favorite recent reviews of Steve Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion’.)

#filmmaking #filmmaking tips #filmmaking process #horror #thriller #aneesh chaganty #host #shudder #hulu #searching #run #sarah paulson #rob savage #jed shepherd #gemma hurley #browser horror #found footage #found footage film #letterboxd

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mgrgfan · 4 years

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Past of the future, future of the past...

Chapter 9. A strange beginning

25.06.2000, 20 years after the Shift Neighborly Town, Sinnoh

Gentle ringing sound filled the room. With a sigh, a boy with long blue hair has removed the blanket and got up, doing morning stretches. After he was done, he took a shower, changed from his favorite dark pajamas to something more suitable and left his room, going down to kitchen for breakfast.

As always, his mom Deborah has made something amazingly-smelling and his dad Yakob was trying to start himself up with a cup of some horrifying caffeine mix, as dark as…

"Oh, and there you are, just in time!" said Deborah, as a figure has arisen from the shadows in the far end of the room.

"Suppose so. Morning, everyone," replied the Pitch-Black Pokemon, crossing the room.

"Morning, Darkrai," sighed Tobias, taking a seat. Yakob mumbled something welcoming too, then returned to drinking his crime against coffee. Darkrai visibly shifted away from Yakob, still having highly unpleasant memories about that one time he tried whatever infernal substance Tobias' dad was brewing for himself. There was a good reason it was once nearly classified as a chemical weapon, as a wide-awake Komala in Yakob's lab, who also made a mistake of trying this liquid insanity, could attest to.

After a wonderful breakfast (with Latios joining them soon after the beginning), the entire group started to pack up for today's trip in Unova. Thankfully, whatever unholy mixture Yakob was taking was sufficient to finally wake him up, so, he took the wheel, leaving Deborah, Tobias and Darkrai free to take seats, while Latios has cloaked and clung to the car's roof, loving the thrill of "riding" like that.

With a silent hiss, hydrogen started flowing into the fuel cells. Seconds later, with a quiet whine, wheel hub motors kicked in, driving the car away from the home and towards the Sunyshore City - specifically, the Theta Spaceport.

----

The not-so-young-anymore dragon silently flew underneath the forest's canopy, using the flexibility of its serpentine body to maneuver between trees. Something in the back of its mind screamed, that it shouldn't be going like this, that it should be soaring free in the sky, but immediate concerns continued to override it for many years.

Jet-black Legendary knew, that here, it was in relative safety. Humans would have massive troubles searching for it there. They won't risk using their horrific weapons there… or, at least, so it hoped.

Right now, it was nearing the edge of the forest, near the road from place, known to humans as "Pallet Town". It has decided to stay here for a bit, until the night comes… which should happen relatively soon, in fact.

Rayquaza took a rest on a tree, monitoring the situation around. Thankfully, the road wasn't used this often and Rayquaza knew, how to hide, so, even with its jet-black scales, it didn't have much trouble hiding.

Some time later, it has noticed a single young human, who was traversing down the road with two Pokemon at his side - a Pikachu and a Solosis.

Sky High Pokemon knew this human - quite a few years ago, this young human got lost in the forest and ended up taking shelter from rain under the roots of a large tree, together with a lot of Pokemon. Rayquaza knew this moment very well, especially since it also took a shelter there, coiling around others… and, despite worries of the Legendary, it all went pretty nice.

Sensing no one else of note around, the not-so-young dragon decided to take a risk and lit up the bioluminescent stripes, then flew almost right in front of the young human, even showing off a bit. While human did end up taking some device and pointing it at Rayquaza, evidently, it has malfunctioned and produced no result of worth… although Sky High Pokemon decided to stop doing the risky things now, darkened the bioluminescent stripes again and disappeared under the canopy of the forest, barely noticing Ho-oh flying above it, to which none of the participants paid much attention.

----

"Good afternoon passengers," sounded from the speakers. "This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight P-52-4 to Nuvema, Unova. Please have your boarding pass, Pokeballs and identification ready. Boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time on Tower 12. Thank you."

Tobias, Deborah and Yakob nodded to each other and headed towards the appropriate access terminal. Two elevator and one travelator rides later, they were walking through the access arm to their vehicle, which was just finishing getting refueled with slush hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Seemingly short and stout (but only seemingly so), it, nonetheless, was capable of easily carrying up to 1000 people between any two points of Earth.

Family took their designated places, with Latios being confined to a Pokeball and Darkrai managing to secretly leave it and sneak into the shadow under Tobias' bunk.

"Attention, passengers, this is your captain speaking. The vessel will take off in ten minutes. Walkway is now retracting," sounded from speakers, as the doors to the outside world got closed and walkway got retracted. Passengers were still chatting, as they were taking their places and preparing for takeoff, some of them checking safety cards and/or watching the safety videos, some sharing their experiences, some merely talking… all was as usual.

"Attention, passengers, this is your captain speaking. The vessel will take off in five minutes. Make sure you're on your designated acceleration couch, safely strapped and with your Pokeballs put into the safe underneath it," sounded from the speakers again. Tobias, after a small check, found out Darkrai's small machination, but decided to stay quiet, knowing his oldest Pokemon partner all too well.

"Ten, nine, ignition sequence start, six, five, engine running fully... Liftoff! We have a liftoff on ballistic liner P-52-4! Tower cleared!"

As those words were being said, the plug-cluster aerospike engine has ignited and reached the nominal power. The launch clamps have opened too, letting the huge rocket soar into the sky and set the trajectory to suborbitals, while also making passengers experience moderate G-force. People, however, seem to take it just fine, some of them even joking about the flight being "Smooth, quiet and, in altogether, delightful experience".

Finally, all external fuel tanks ran dry and, with quiet dull clangs, separated from the rocket, starting their own flyback sequence to allow for easier recovery. In the meantime, ballistic liner finished the boost phase and entered the microgravity coast, with captain making another announcement:

"Good afternoon passengers. This is your captain speaking. First I'd like to welcome everyone on Talonflame Aerospace flight P-52-4. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 185 km at an speed of just under 7 km/s. The time is 1:25 pm. The weather under us looks good and with the lack of wind at the arrival point we are expecting to land in Nuvema with some fuel to spare. The weather in Nuvema is clear and sunny, with a high of 25 degrees for this afternoon. If the weather cooperates we should get a great view of the city as we descend. Right now, you will be able to unstrap yourself and to get some awesome views in the illuminators. I'll talk to you again before we reach our destination. Until then, relax and enjoy the rest of the flight."

Indeed, soon enough, people liberated themselves from the safety straps and started gathering around illuminators, with Darkrai managing to slip out of the shadows and get near Tobias too. While it did prompt some uneasiness, authority of Yakob and Deborah was sufficient to prevent it from escalating further, allowing a blue-haired boy and a white-haired Mythical to enjoy views of Earth from the space for a bit longer… until another announcement came through:

"Attention, passengers, this is your captain speaking. In five minutes, we will begin the flip maneuver. Please, return to your couches and strap yourselves back."

Grumbling, people have complied, returning back to their acceleration couches and strapping themselves in order to prevent flying away, when rocket fires maneuvering thrusters. In exactly five minutes from announcement, RCS engines rumbled and the rocket flipped around, pointing the main plug-cluster aerospike engine in the direction of travel. Soon, the main engine woke up again, decelerating the rocket a bit and correcting its trajectory.

The rocket plunged through the atmosphere, decelerating even further as it goes, with liquid hydrogen circulating through the truncated spike of main engine and cooling it down, allowing it to work as a heat shield. Soon, it ended its flight by a gentle hover landing, with exactly right position and heading to allow one of the access arms on the service tower to reach it. After the connection of access arm and opening of doors, Tobias and his family packed up and left the rocket, reaching their rented car two elevator and two travelator rides later.

As usual, human part of the family took their places in the vehicle, Latios cloaked and clung to the outside, while Darkrai stayed in shadows near the backseat.

"So…" started Tobias. "What's this conference's going to be about?"

"As always, yearly conference between researchers of Legendary and Mythical Pokemon," replied Yakob, driving the car to the hotel. "Thanks to your help, we've got some nice results."

"Yakob, if they ever try this again…" said Darkrai from the shadows in a pretty grim voice.

"I know, crouch, get to the nearest cover and wait for the Dark Void attacks to stop flying, then use the replicas of Lunar Wing over the victims, once you've cleared the area."

"Exactly. The fact of me deciding to follow Tobias and you two on my own volition does not mean me welcoming invasive experimentation."

"I sure remember the last time…" muttered Deborah in a strange voice.

"I didn't kill anyone back then, though," quickly replied the Pitch-Black Pokemon, as if slightly afraid, prompting Tobias to enter the conversation again:

"Mostly because of Latios with his Heal Pulse being capable of stabilizing their condition, until I was there to break the Lunar Wing replicas from my personal stash out."

"Yep. Exactly what I've counted on," said Darkrai, even leaving the shadow a bit and nodding.

"Not the best strategy… but, I guess, we'll have to let it slip for now." mumbled Tobias' mother, then sighed. "I hate the rocket lag, to be honest."

"We all do!" agreed everyone inside the car with her.

----

"Now arriving to the Space Colony Core-Middleway," sounded in the cabin of "Drapion" Galarian deep space transporter, as it was slowing down and preparing to dock to the still-unfinished Bernal Sphere - a greatest testament to the insane race of the Space Fever, alongside with automated factories on the Moon, as well as mass driver, which was used to deliver parts of the colony into space, where they were assembled.

"Finally…" mumbled a remarkably unremarkable human, cradling some strange case in his hands. Soon, a quiet, dull "clang" announced, that the ship has docked to the gigantic space installation. Man, blending in with the rest of passengers of the Earth-L5 express, left it through the docking tube and went through a route few people knew, heading straight to the biolabs block on the equator of the sphere.

Inside the Lab 14, another man was already waiting for him.

"So?.."

"Recovered," said the newcomer, opening his case and extracting a strange, tubular device with a faint glow inside the transparent middle section. "You have no idea, how hard it was, though. But old Fuji built some stuff real sturdy."

"Heh… brother was sure like this… was."

The colonial sighed, knowing too well, what's happened back on the planet, then went for another question:

"What about the second specimen?"

"Was unable to recover."

"Well… I guess we'll have to do with only her for now."

"I guess."

The newcomer gave the device to the colonial scientist, who, gently cradling it, took it to the adjacent room and placed it on the table, starting to connect it to the equipment.

"Lessons were learned, mistakes will not be repeated," mumbled the scientist, working on the device and, from time to time, looking at a huge empty biogrowth tube behind him. "I just hope you'll understand me, when the time comes…"

----

"Your Majesty?" sounded a message from the comm app.

"Yes?" replied the Empress.

"Project SAS is going almost as planned. Phase 2 is at 70%, industrial automation is progressing surely, second level networks are almost established."

"ISFs 3, 5 and 9?"

"Gave us all-clear on the technical side."

"And… what about possibility of Scenario 5?"

"Non-zero, but not too great. Roughly 3.6% possible."

"3.6% - not great, not terrible," concluded the Empress, before the call has ended and she relaxed in the chair, remembering, how has it all started fifteen years ago...

----

The Empress was sitting in her chair, listening to the group of scientists, who were standing before her and telling about a plan - a very audacious one, but, given, what has happened a week ago, worthy of consideration. When they've finished giving the explanation, she stood up a bit, walked to the window and, looking at the city outside of the Palace, asked:

"Automation of the economy, huh?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And… what does it promise for the Empire?"

"Well… an economic solvency that will eclipse that of the rest of the world, no corruption, once it's fully implemented, highly-reactive planning, allowance…"

"Enough. Tell me one thing… Does it mean, that, should it be fully and completely implemented, I will lose my power and be, in fact, left without ability to rule the Empire, remaining merely a face of the new, automatic government system?"

"... Yes."

"And… will this system bring more prosperity to the Empire, than I and the rest of the current rulers can?"

"... Yes."

"... Then you have my full approval."

"... Huh?"

"You are to begin the implementation process as soon as you can. If sacrifice of my position and power will mean the best for the Empire - I am ready to do that."

"... As you wish."

The group of scientists left the room, leaving Empress looking in the window and thinking, whether this decision was right or not and should she cancel this project, while there's still some time left.

Author's notes: The ballistic liner Tobias and his family rides is based on ITHACUS global transportation rocket; The "Drapion" is based on a real project of a "Scorpion" general-purpose space transportation system; Space Fever will be explained more, as the time goes; Can you guess, what was the device the newcomer gave to the scientist on the space colony? The hint is in the only name mentioned in this section...

#Shift Universe #mgrgfan writes a new fic #Ancient Soris Empire #tobias #darkrai

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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30 Rock’s Best Running Jokes

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When 30 Rock drew its final breath in 2013, yards of column inches were devoted – deservedly so – to praising the work of creator Tina Fey. Article upon article applauded the characters, cast, performances and seven seasons of energetic, inventive, satirical comedy.

More than anything else though, 30 Rock was always about the gags. It was fruitcake-dense with jokes, regularly fitting in more quotable laughs before its opening credits than many shows manage in a full half-hour. As it returns for a one-off reunion special, join us in celebrating the many, many running gags of its seven-season history, from the fake movies, to the terrible yet incredibly catchy songs, Frank’s hats, and those godawful TGS sketches…

The fake movies

The presence of Tracy Jordan (a bonafide Martin Lawrence meets the Wayans Brothers-style movie star) in the TGS cast opened up the world of film parody to 30 Rock.

Admittedly Jenna Maloney also enjoyed a movie career of sorts, but while she was being offered the part of “any blonde actress” in torture porn flicks by the producers who watched and rented Saw, Tracy was turning down the lead in Garfield 3: Feline Groovy to pursue his serious acting career. The latter climaxed with the release of spot-on Precious parody Hard To Watch (Based on the novel Stone Cold Bummer by Manipulate), for which Tracy received the O in his EGOT plan. Sheer class.

Over the years though, who couldn’t not smile at Tracy’s blaxpoitation-filled back catalogue, from the timeless romance of A Blaffair to Rememblack, to Sherlock Homie, Who Dat Ninja?, The Chunks 2: A Very Chunky Christmas, and last but by no means least, Honky Grandma Be Trippin’. The man is a chameleon (in that he’s always a lizard).

Two of Jenna’s TGS projects however, bring back the fondest memories of 30 Rock’s stinging movie satire: small-town legal drama The Rural Juror (based on a Kevin Grisham novel), and her GE-produced life rights-avoiding Janis Joplin biopic, Sing Them Blues White Girl: The Jackie Jormp Jomp Story.

The TGS sketches

The quality of TGS’ output was never under question in 30 Rock; the sketch show was unremittingly bad (when the absence of their star meant a ‘Best of TGS’ series had to be run in lieu of live shows, Legal objected to their use of the word ‘Best’, and when a review dubbed it the worst comedy ever made, Liz was thrilled they’d defined it as a comedy). Liz Lemon’s opus was a fluorescent collection of fart gags, dodgy caricatures, Jenna’s songs, and misjudged celebrity impressions.

Beginning life as, in Kenneth’s words, “a real fun ladies comedy show for ladies”, TGS was Saturday Night Live’s idiot brother, the unsophisticated thorn in NBC’s side, under constant threat of controversy and cancellation. Forced to synergise backward overflow, advertise parent company products and promote GE interests, 30 Rock’s show-within-a-show satirised both the TV industry and tired trends in comedy (the always hilarious combination of a fat woman who’s sexually confident! Old ladies are crazy! Farts!).

Lemon may have seduced pilot Carol (Matt Damon) with her Fart Doctor skits, but TGS failed to win many hearts. With sketches like Pam the Overly Confident Morbidly Obese Woman, Ching-Chong Man Who Loves to Play Ping-Pong, Fat Hillary Clinton, Bear vs. Killer Robots, Me Want Food, and Gaybraham Lincoln, why it wasn’t more successful is a mystery.

Astronaut Mike Dexter

Lemon may have ended up with James Marsden’s Criss Chros, but fictional boyfriend Astronaut Mike Dexter will always hold a special place in her heart. Handsomer than Dr Drew, less British than Wesley Snipes, less living-in-Cleveland than Floyd, and a million times better than Dennis Duffy, Astronaut Mike Dexter had it all… except of course, a corporeal self.

The fake songs

Over the years, Jenna Maroney’s singing career has vomited up some truly dreadful creations, and topping the list has to be Muffin Top (a big hit in the king-making music markets of Israel and Belgium). Seguing from its pop insanity chorus “My muffin top is all that, wholegrain, low-fat” into a Madonna-style spoken-word rap “I’m an independent lady, so please don’t try to play me. I run a tidy bakery. The boys all want my cake for free”, the song is a battery assault on the senses.

But is it worse than Jenna’s summer dance jam, Balls, which earned her the princely sum of $50 in royalties? Or her computer generated, generic benefit song in aid of an unspecific natural disaster, which urged viewers to donate to “help the people the thing that happened, happened to”? How about the Jackie Jormp Jomp performance she gave of Chunk Of My Lung, written by Jack five minutes before the show, containing the classic line “You know you’ve bought it if life makes you sweet food”? Or Fart So Loud, the un-Weird Al-able song she and Tracy wrote after he parodied the theme to Avery Jessup TV movie Kidnapped? Such riches…

It’s not only Jenna who’s provided 30 Rock’s musical intervals of course. Season three finale Kidney Now! welcomed an eclectic collection of stars including Sheryl Crow, Mary J Blige, Elvis Costello, Moby, two of the Beastie Boys, Wyclef Jean, and Cyndi Lauper to perform a We Are The World-style anthem at the Milton Green benefit gig. Angie Jordan famously released a fifteen-second single My Single Is Dropping, to ride on the wave of her reality-show fame, Frank and Pete’s Sound Mound came up with unforgettable rock anthem Weekend Woman, and in the very same episode, even Tina Fey got in on the action by providing excellent Joni Mitchell parody, Paints and Brushes.

The legacy award though, as in the 30 Rock fake song that will continue to bring joy to the hearts of fans decades from now, has to go to one song, and one song only: Tracy Jordan’s Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.

Frank’s hat slogans

Off-set, stand-up Judah Friedlander favours his ‘World Champion’ trucker hat, the one he claims to have been awarded as the winner of the World Championships of pretty much all sports, martial arts, and that time he karate kicked Chuck Norris’ beard off his face and forced him to legally change his name to Charles.

On-set as Frank Rossitano though, Friedlander wears a series of self-designed trucker hats, each bearing a different gnomic slogan. Often incongruous, sometimes suggestive, and always odd, Frank’s hat slogans are part of the bricks and mortar of 30 Rock. In terms of favourites, we’re quite fond of ‘Alabama Legsweep’, or the laconic enigma of ‘And’, though ‘Shark Cop’, ‘Half Centaur’ and ‘Space Gravy’ also caught our eye over the seasons.

Jenna’s Mickey Rourke sex stories

Like Dot Com’s intellectualism, this running gag may have been introduced late into proceedings, but Jenna’s torrid sexual history with putty-faced beefcake Mickey Rourke gave J-Mo some of her best lines. Jenna’s allusions to Rourke’s sexually deviant and murderous attempts on her life paint a fascinating picture for 30 Rock fans. Here are some of the finest:

“Your new vibe is a double-edged sword, much like the kind Mickey Rourke tried to kill me with”, “Nice try Hazel, but you made the same mistake Mickey Rourke made on that catamaran. You didn’t kill me when you had the chance.”, “I’m going to have to reinvent you. Break you down completely and build you up from scratch. Just like Mickey Rourke did to me sexually.” “Next time you’ll tell me Mickey Rourke catapulted you into the Hollywood sign.” “You know what they say, if you can’t stand the heat, get off Mickey Rourke’s sex grill.” Wise words.

Kenneth the immortal page

To this day Kenneth Ellen Parcell remains something of an enigma to 30 Rock viewers. In later seasons, Jack McBrayer’s character went from being a simple country rube from Stone Mountain, Georgia to the flesh vessel for a mysterious immortal with no reflection, no age, and links to a world beyond our own.

Plenty of reference has been made to Kenneth’s ageless and supernatural state over the years, including the suggestion that not only is he unable to die, but he’s also an angel, sent to oversee the transition of souls from one world to the next.

The fake TV shows

It’s either a credit to the 30 Rock team or a condemnation of our times that Jack Donaghy’s hit reality viewer vote show, MILF Island, no longer feels like a parody. In generations to come, time will no doubt erode the boundaries between fact and fiction, and we 30 Rock fans will be telling our kids about the time we watched Deborah beat her competitors and claim MILF victory in the same breath as educating them about those people who ate kangaroo anuses for public approval.

MILF Island stands head and shoulders above the rest of 30 Rock’s fake TV shows (including TGS itself, lest we not forget), but that doesn’t mean that Gold Case, Los Amantes Clandestinos, Black Frasier, Homonym, or the inimitable Bitch Hunter deserve any less respect. Our fallen brothers, we salute you.

We could go on indefinitely listing the recurring jokes that made 30 Rock great, from Liz’s sandwich lust and desire to go to there, to Jack’s gloriously thatched head of hair and Republican conspiracies. As the show prepares to return, which of the above will live again?

30 Rock: A One-Time Special lands on NBC on Thursday July 16th at 8pm in the US.

The post 30 Rock’s Best Running Jokes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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macklives · 5 years

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session 52 end

i feel like this is it for the intermission, and as much as i think the end is soon, i feel like there’s still lord english to get through and snowman and this whole vault situation despite everything being killed/destroyed. so i feel like the next session could be our last one for the midnight crew storyline. which is so great considering how much we did to get there. but also sad bc i want to explore more of the characters. they were all so fun.

i honestly expected this intermission to be fricking crazy long, but i guess just a week or so of doing it, has brought me so far already :) crazy huh

i still can’t believe boxcars did that tho, like that is inside my brain. i cant unsee it. ik he’s now potentially killed off but he haunts me now. i cant escape it. and if nobody knows what the taking of deborah logan is, ill look crazy bc this freakout wouldnt make sense to you all. youd just think it was me being grossed out by hearts boxcars. no, he does terrify me. but im going on and on about this bc of THAT MOVIE. you all dont know the shit i went through when i first watched it. man, it seriously reminds me of deborah logan. from the jaw hinge to the eating of the head. and that movie, as much as i lowkey loved it, was fricking nasty. but found footage horror films have that affect on me tbh. those are the most terrifying, solid facts.

id suggest to watch it but ik a lot of people wouldnt like that type of horror. its very similar to the blair witch project, in fact.

anyways, until the next session guys. perhaps even our last one before we see the kids again.

#homestuck #homestuck liveblog #hs52 #hs52 end

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mommy-and-leader · 4 years

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How Henrietta Lacks’ Story Taught Me How to be a More Compassionate Leader in Healthcare

The story of Henrietta Lacks is both a story of miracles and of tragedy. The history of the HeLa cell is truly the stuff of scientific miracles. However, the story of Henrietta Lacks, the patient who unwittingly donated the cells, and whose family has suffered as a result, is heartbreaking. In reading Rebecca Skloot’s best-selling book, I admit that I read the story through the eyes of a leader in healthcare. I was ready to defend my field and my peers in the field. However, as I read both the personal story of Henrietta Lacks and the Lacks family, as well as the story of the HeLa cell, I was astonished at the amount of betrayal I felt as a warrior of science. Many criticize Skloot’s book as reminiscent of a novel, and problematic in the way that she reports it like she sees it- from sexually transmitted diseases, child abuse, abusive marriage, child molestation- Rebecca leaves no stone unturned in her ten-year mission to learn about Henrietta Lacks and her contribution to science.

Christoph Lengauer, the first scientist that was willing to speak with the Lacks children, said it best by stating, “Whenever we read books about science, it’s always HeLa this and HeLa that. Some people know those are the initials of a person, but they don’t know who that person is. That’s important history” (Skloot, 2011, p. 266). Rebecca Skloot’s book was successful in uniting the person, Henrietta, with the cells. The cells were not the only important discovery in science. The story of the person was important for healthcare and could teach us a lesson about being a compassionate caregiver in healthcare.

Critics state there are problematic elements in Skloot’s portrayal

In a poetic analysis of the book, Lantos (2016) reinforces the idea that Skloot’s book further exploits the Lacks family in its overshare of private details of their lives, namely Deborah’s abusive marriage and divorce, the imprisonment of her children and details of the crimes, and even the amount of Deborah’s social security check. Daniel Podgorski, a literature reviewer for the Gemsbok, comments on Skloot’s exploitative position relative to the Lacks family, stating that she, however, tells an important and even story (Podgorski, 2016). Podgorski (2016) states:

Skloot adopts a neutral tone throughout her book and presents the facts of the cases and lives involved evenly, and, in doing so apolitically, manages to expose the inextricable story of racial segregation operating above and with scientific progress in the twentieth century without sacrificing journalistic integrity…she presents all people in her book as part of this one grand narrative of humanity, each a character as in a novel, susceptible to moral and critical judgments by the reader, and a human being, and so representative of a faction of reality (Podgorski, 2016).

While most of the Lacks family disagrees, two Lacks men have come forward regarding their feelings of contempt toward Rebecca Skloot, and HBO, who produced the film portrayal of Skloot’s book. Bustle reports that Lawrence and Ron Lacks (Henrietta’s son and grandson) feel exploited by Rebecca in the same way that they felt exploited by Johns Hopkins. “Skloot portrayed the Lacks family as falsely uneducated and poor. ‘She made us stereotypes…people think we’re dirt poor’” (Truffaut-Wong, 2017). Lawrence Lacks even goes on to tell the Bustle reporter, “It’s bad enough Johns Hopkins took advantage of us. Now Oprah, Rebecca, and HBO are doing the same thing. They’re no better than the people they say they hate” (Truffaut-Wong, 2017). However, the article goes on to give a comment by HBO, stating that the film had overwhelming support from many Lacks family members.

In my reading of the book, I found a number of details cringe-worthy in their honest horror, and I admit that they horrified me as a woman and as a mother. First, there was Day’s character as a young husband and father. Early on in the book, in Chapter 1, Day is painted as an adulterer (Skloot, 2011, p 13) and later on, it is explained that the sexually transmitted diseases he passes on to his wife, Henrietta, are the reason why her cervical cancer is so aggressive. Later, in Chapter 15, Deborah’s physical and sexual abuse by her uncle, Galen, is another one of those details that breaks your heart and keeps you up at night. You wonder if you can do without hearing these atrocities suffered by this family. Then you keep reading on and get to the part where Day, her father, did not protect her from this incestuous monster (Skloot, 2011, p. 113) and you want to both kill Day again and embrace Deborah in all her suffering. This rollercoaster of emotion keeps you reading voraciously and really humanizes this family.

While I do agree that these details are of a very private nature, they served their intended purpose in conveying the message that Henrietta was a real person. She is not just a cell. She is a real woman who had a real family- who are still alive today- and still suffering from the aftermath of the notoriety of the HeLa cells, which were taken without Henrietta or her family’s consent, and have changed the face of medicine (and made millions since their theft). What makes a person or a family more human than the reality of their flaws?

How the story helped me in my role as a leader in healthcare

This story is not only an exposé of all of the skeletons in the Lacks family closet, but it was a discussion on racial disparity and medical mistrust in the African American community, and of informed consent, or the lack thereof, for Henrietta and the Lacks family. It was the story of any and all of the above. As an African American woman visiting a public ward in the 1950s, Henrietta had no choice when it came to research, as was the same with all the black patients at Johns’ Hopkins’ public colored ward (Skloot, 2011, p. 29). This was the era of racism, segregation, and Jim Crow laws. Black patients had no choice but to trust the word of their doctors, and not many words came from these doctors. They weren’t informed of many details of the treatment for Henrietta’s cervical cancer, nor were they informed of the cells they took from her in research, nor were they informed of the fruit of those cells- a medical revolution.

These cells crossed the world. In 1952, they were the first living cells shipped via postal mail. They helped develop the polio vaccine, the cervical cancer vaccine, and many drugs. They were the first cells ever cloned and were also the first cells ever hybridized with the cells of an animal- a human-mouse hybrid. The discoveries were endless and are still being made. The fruit of the research of the HeLa cell was ample, and the financial gain was enormous. However, this was all unbeknownst to the Lacks family. In fact, they were unaware of the existence of these cells until 1973- more than 20 years later! It wasn’t until 1975 that the Lacks family knew of the immense contribution to science and the commercialization of the cells after a reporter for Rolling Stone interviewed them and published a story about Henrietta Lacks. Their mother’s cells now had a name, and a family, and her medical history was out for the world to read about.

This is what pulled on my heartstrings. As a medical professional, I am a bleeding heart. I regularly encounter some of the most vulnerable sick people who just need someone to take care of them and often to advocate for them. Here was this woman- a poor and educated minority who just wanted to trust her caregivers- who died at the age of 31. She left behind a family of many small children, one of whom was disabled. That family defined struggle. They were uneducated, poor, and struggled into adulthood. Henrietta needed a caregiver, an advocate. Her children needed this, too. When they learned of their mother’s cells and notoriety, they felt deceived and rightfully so. Here they were struggling from health issues of their own and could barely get medical insurance- yet their mother’s cells created much of what we think of when we think of modern-day healthcare. Where were the Lacks’ caregivers? Why did no one in the medical field feel that they needed to be taken care of, in their vulnerability?

With this lesson of bioethics and medical mistrust: How do we prevent this from happening again?

Though Henrietta’s contribution to science was immense, it was done without her consent or the consent of her family. When Henrietta was identified and her family was made aware of the enormity of this situation, the Lacks family was still kept in the dark. The scientific and medical community continued to take advantage of the Lacks’ by deceiving them into giving blood to further their research into Henrietta’s genome and disguised this as “cancer testing” (Skloot, 2001, pp. 183-189). There were so many opportunities for the medical community to make this right, but no one stepped up to bat.

So how do we make sure that this never happens again? First, we need to remember why we went into this field- to help others, to save lives. Some of those that I have worked with in healthcare are caregivers in every sense of the word- they are bleeding hearts and some of the most moral and ethical people that I have ever met. Physicians down to nurse’s aides, almost everyone I have worked with have come into this field to make this world a better place by helping those that we can. As a leader in the field, this is an important trait that I look for in all members and prospective members of my team. In order to prevent this from ever happening again, we must convey a culture of ethics and compassion. By selecting and hiring ethical employees and fostering ethical decisions by acting ethically and helping your employees act ethically, you instill a compassionate and compliant environment (“How Managers”, nd). Talking through decision-making and being seen as a moral authority are important to convey an ethical and compliant culture in your organization.

As a caregiver in healthcare, it is always important to put yourself into the patient’s shoes. What if this were you? What if this were your mother? Always treat the patient as you would like for your family to be treated- or like you would like to be treated, yourself. Always be an advocate- just because you understand doesn’t mean they do. Informed consent was a big deal in this book, and it is a big part of the mistake that we do not want to be duplicated. It is important to talk through every diagnosis, every treatment, every procedure, until they understand. It is good practice to make sure that they can reiterate and explain it back to you. Informed consent is not only a form to be signed- it is peace of mind for both the caregiver and the patient.

Conclusion

In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot goes into detail regarding Henrietta and her family’s life in order to tell a story apart from the story that was currently understood as conveyed by science- the story of the HeLa cell. By separating the story of the HeLa cell from the story of the Lacks family, Skloot effectively conveys the ramifications of the HeLa cells’ scientific contributions and commercialization on the Lacks family. Rebecca Skloot’s portrayal of Henrietta Lacks and her family may have been intense, but that intensity was key in conveying the central idea of the abhorrent treatment of the Lacks family by the medical and scientific community. This book was meant as a lesson, and I hope that the whole field hears it loud and clear.

References

How Managers Can Encourage Ethical Behavior. (nd). Lumen Learning: Principles of Management. Retrieved March 8, 2020 from: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-principlesofmanagement/chapter/how-managers-can-encourage-ethical-behavior/

Lantos, J. D. (2016). Thirteen Ways of Looking at Henrietta Lacks. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 59(2), 228-233. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/docview/1876059666?accountid=35812

Podgorski, D. (2016). Creative Journalism: American Race Politics, Perspective, and Shifting Culture in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The Gemsbok. Retrieved from: https://thegemsbok.com/art-reviews-and-articles/tuesday-tome-immortal-life-henrietta-lacks-rebecca-skloot/

Skloot, R (2011.) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York, NY: Broadway Books

Truffaut-Wong, O. (2017). What Does the Lacks Family Think Of 'The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks'? The Movie Portrays Their Heartbreaking Story. Bustle. Retrieved from: https://www.bustle.com/p/what-does-the-lacks-family-think-of-the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks-the-movie-portrays-their-heartbreaking-story-51712

#HeLa #Skloot #HenriettaLacks #ImmortalCells #Healthcare #HealthcareLeadership #MommyLeader #MomsinHealthcare #MommyCaregiver #EthicalLeadership #LeadWithCompassion

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chnat0wn · 5 years

Text

Black Irises

Relationship: Alfie Solomons/Original Female Character

01. The Closet

Deborah Castellano chose the most childish hideout possible. She decided to hide in the closet. She wasn't thinking much at the time, so only after a while she realized where she actually was. She was standing between her husband's shirts, being struck by the familiar scent of his perfumes and cigarettes from all around. She tried all the ways, but the smell of tobacco was a problem she couldn't get rid of.

Deborah had been reading or hearing about similar stories in books and legends that were told to her when she was a child. The victim of a mythological creature out of this world, sat in the closet and prayed that the monster wouldn’t find her. She didn't like these kind of stories, not because they were bloodcurdling, but because she found them absurd. However, in situations which she experienced on her own skin, she forgot about the absurdity. But there was something that distinguishes Deborah from each heroine. Deborah hadn't been begging for a chance to escape or a happy ending. Each time she just wished for a quick, painless death.

The bedroom door opened wide. Deborah held her breath and covered her mouth with her hand, in case she was going to make an uncontrollable sound. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think rationally, but couldn't make any logical move. She wanted to reveal her location and settle it as soon as possible.

“Debbie” the familiar voice sound in a way that wasn't revealing a predictable finale. Biagio was moving heavy, but carefully. He looked around the bedroom, since it was the only room he hadn't have a chance to search. “Where are you, mio tesoro? You're hiding from me. Again. But I always find you.”

Deborah swallowed hard. She didn’t react to the tears running down her cheeks. No matter how often she cried, she couldn't get use to her emotions exploding that way. Admittedly, she had been bravely accepting her husband's anger, gritting her teeth as he raised her hand. But when he terrorized her for a few days in a row, and then gave lessons she would remember for the rest of her life, she hadn't been able to stand the created tension.

Biagio grabbed the edges of the bedside table and threw it to the other side of the room. A loud slam made Deborah twitch and wince as if she just had been hit with it herself. Biagio's chest raised and fell a few more times. Then he ran his fingers through hair and rested his hands on his hips. Once again, he looked around the bedroom, this time deciding to take quieter steps. Deborah watched him through the gap between the wardrobe door. Sometimes she wondered if what he was doing was a game. It was impossible for him not to be aware of a slightly open door. Then she remembered how anger could blind him. She imagined his anger as blinkers dripping with venom. This venom got into Biagio's mind and told him to do all these terrible things.

Suddenly, the man's eyes fell directly on the gap Deborah was looking through. She was in a immediate cold sweat. Before Biagio approached the wardrobe, a smile slipped onto his mouth. A smile that made Deborah's guts overturn in paranoid fear. She instinctively squeezed deeper into the closet. Biagio moved forward quickly, opened the door and reached inside the piece of furniture. Luckily for Deborah, he missed the first attempt. He was furious, but joyous at the same time because he managed to find her. He was so happy knowing that he would be able to do his routine. When he reached out again, he grabbed Deborah's hand, wrapping his fingers around her wrist.

“No, my dear, please!” she moaned, hoping that she could do anything to stop him. She knew well how her attempts to beg Biagio for mercy would end. They always ended the same way. Still, the instinct for survival and awareness of the upcoming pain made her take the same attempts every time.

Biagio didn't have to use all his strength to get Deborah out of the closet. Nor did he have to yank that hard to get her on the floor, but he did anyway.

“What was you thinking? That you could get away with it? Sciocca e ingenua che non sei altro!” he smiled broadly, though his words weren't bringing anything good.

Deborah wasn't trying to stand on her feet. If Biagio was about to knock her down again, she'd rather wait. She looked at him from below, watching the satisfaction drawing on his face. He was pleased with himself whenever he managed to arouse fear in her. He often threatened her, but she usually took it indifferently. Sometimes she thought death would be a better option than enduring all of this. In other cases she was simply scared. Biagio saw the terror in her eyes, which made him eager for further action.

“Biagio...” she wailed, raising her hand. She hooked her fingers against the material of his pants and took a deep breath. Her cheeks were burning with tears, but Biagio seemed delighted with it. Delighted with his own masterpiece. “Don't do this. I'm begging you.”

He clenched his jaw. There was no trace left after his smile. So it will be worse, she thought. She knew this scheme by heart. Biagio was feeling an irresistible urge to slaughter his wife. He was extremely happy when he managed to raise an adequate level of fear in her. In the end he would found something that irritated him - something that was the final nail to Deborah's coffin.

He put his shoe on Deborah's shoulder and pushed her away. Deborah's back once again collided with the floor. Biagio always enjoyed playing with food before consummation. He didn't have to wonder much before he aimed a solid blow at her ribs. The tip of his shoe hit a hard surface that crunched under heavy pressure. Deborah screamed in pain, and once again she was in tears. This time not in fear but in pure agony.

“Stai zitto!” he screamed. He crouched beside the frail, writhing body and put his fingers around Deborah's jaw. His fingertips stuck in her cheeks.

“I will teach you how to behave properly. I am the only man in your life. When will you put it in your head?”

Deborah always knew the reason behind her punishment. None of them was serious enough for her to really deserve such a punishment. Biagio called it justice, he considered himself a judge, a masculine equivalent of Themis. This time, she regretted talking to the gardener longer than usual. In fact, they didn't talk that long, but long enough for Biagio to deduce Deborah's possible interest in the young man.

“Biagio, please...” she managed. She had trouble breathing. Crying forced her into deeper breaths, which in turn caused terrible pain. Biagio only shook his head and slapped Deborah's face. He learned this left much less marks than a fist.

Deborah repeatedly thought about killing Biagio in his sleep. She could strangle him with a pillow or cut his throat. She was afraid, however, that the plan would fail again. She tried to do it at the very beginning, when she was just getting used to the idea of Biagio having violent episodes for any reason. But one day he went a step further, and apart from a few bruises, he left a bloody gash on Deborah's shoulder. She had never thought about taking someone's life, because such drastic steps weren’t in her nature. But that one time she grabbed a kitchen knife and threw herself at Biagio. Not in a blind madness - she thought about every move she made. Nevertheless, Biagio quickly overpowered her and promised that if she tried to touch him again, he would kill her. And if he announced her that he would do it, he really meant it. Deborah promised herself that if she ever came to die, she will decide about it herself.

She hated everything associated with him. His smell, voice, the way he looked at her. It's true that she owed him a roof over her head, since her parents decided to arrange her future. Most of it. Otherwise she and Benjamin would have no place to go. Fortunately, Biagio didn't treat her son like he treated her. Nor was he a role model. Deborah prayed that Benjamin would never gain the qualities of his stepfather. For now, he was a sweet, brilliant boy. And she wanted him to stay like that.

Despite the events from last night, Biagio decided not to cancel the banquet. No wonder, since he had planned it for over a month. That's why Deborah had to try hard to cover all the marks he left on her body. She especially focused on her face. She applied as much makeup as possible, emphasizing the eye.

The banquet was meant to be an expression of gratitude to people who agreed to cooperate with Biagio. He wasn't hiding the fact that he led the local section of the Sicilian mafia. Despite this, he never put Deborah into details. She was familiar with gangs, she was aware what their job was. But she didn't particularly care about the interests of her husband.

She heard a grunt behind her back. She hurriedly threw a light material of her dressing-gown on her shoulders and looked back. She was afraid that she would find Benjamin. That the boy would appear faster than she had anticipated, so she couldn't manage to cover her bruised back in time. But that wasn't Benjamin. It was the latest acquisition of Biagio - a young maid, named Darlene.

Darlene was holding a hanger with the dress Deborah intended to put on tonight. The dress reached to the ground, it was sleeveless, ivory-colored, additionally covered with fringes, which were arranged in the shape of fish scales. She remembered the feelings that accompanied her when she bought this creation. She felt relief, because she managed to find something on time. And satisfaction, when it turned out that it lies perfectly and doesn't require any corrections.

“Thank you, Darlene. You can leave now.” she gave Darlene a smile and went back to the mirror of the dressing table she had been sitting in front of for more than an hour. Make-up usually didn't take her that much time. In this case, she was unable to perform too fast or sudden movements. The pain on the side of the chest radiated to her entire body whenever she raised her hand.

She wondered what should she do with her hair. Long, subtle curls framed her pale face She liked the apparent sense of freedom when her hair fell on her back, arms and every possible place. Biagio, however, loved when she revealed her neck and shoulders. She would act boldly, going her own way. For a long time she has been guided only by reason.

Deborah couldn't even see the exact moment when Darlene had left the room. Someone else appeared in the bedroom. Deborah knew the steps of her own child. Benjamin usually moved quietly, but this time he was too excited. Unlike Deborah, he liked Biagio’s parties. Not because of the enormity of the sumptuous, fanciful food, or new personalities who could threw at him a mass of presents as the new uncles and aunts. He liked these parties, because when everyone was taking care of the guests, Benjamin could go anywhere he wanted on the estate.

“You look very pretty, mummy.” he confessed, looking at the mirror reflection of Deborah. She looked away from the smooth surface and glanced at the boy's face, smiling warmly. Though he was unaware of this, Benjamin could always make her feel a little better.

“You think so?” she raised her eyebrow. He nodded willingly, so Deborah leaned forward and laid a tender kiss on her son's cheek. Then she got rid of the red lipstick, wiping it with her thumb.

No doubt she loved Benjamin. She couldn't imagine that it would ever be any different. He was her child, but also a memory that she held tightly. Her son had his father's face. She knew that when he will grow up, he would be just as handsome as his father. She already saw him in Benjamin's eyes. He also had his ears and even the same plump lips. After Deborah, he inherited his eyes in a cool shade of green. Whether she wanted it or not, Benjamin reminded her of her youth when she was really free and happy.

Benjamin left the bedroom, taking all the warmth and good energy with him. Deborah took a deep breath to get rid of tears that came to her eyes. Collecting and tensing her hair brought her another wave of pain.

Deborah was standing before the railing and looked down, where the ballroom was. She still couldn't understand why anyone would want something like that in their own home. A completely unnecessary room, testifying to an overgrown ego of the host. Whenever Deborah imagined her perfect house, she never saw the ballroom. She didn't like when crowds of strangers had access to places that should only be intended for family members. On the other hand, she didn't feel that the building she inhabited was a home . Home is a place where she should feel happy and safe.

Deborah went down the marble, wide staircase, moving her hand over the wooden varnished handrail. Most of the guests paid attention to her. The conversations fell silent, and a hundred pairs of eyes got stuck in the silhouette of Deborah. She couldn't help but feel that each step carried discomfort. She was sore, but she was giving a smile to every face she encountered. Biagio loved showing his wife to everyone, bragging about her. He had been doing it only in company. On a daily basis, he didn't appreciate her beauty because nobody could envy him when there was no audience.

Biagio appeared at her side. He placed a hand on the bottom of her back and laid a kiss on her cheek. A grimace of dissatisfaction passed over her face. She breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out that Biagio didn't pay attention to it.

“You look beautiful.” he said. “Bellissima.”

“Thank you, dear.” she replied blankly. Then she forced a smile and looked at his face with clear tiredness. The party didn't start yet, but Deborah would hide somewhere far away from the curious looks of the guests. Somewhere where it was quiet and peaceful enough. Somewhere where she could breathe, because she thought she would suffocate. The right dose of sleep should improve her well-being, maybe even her health. If only Biagio would agree. It was easier for him to deal a blow than to show a bit of goodwill.

“I want you to meet someone.” he said after a moment. He kept his hand on her back. As if he wanted to show everybody whose property she was. She had no choice but to nod in silence and accept everything he wanted from her.

She turned in the exact moment Biagio got her to understand that she should do it. Two men were standing in front of her. They didn't seem to feel comfortable in each other's company. Not to mention what they must have felt when it came to the people surrounding them.

At the beginning, Deborah looked at the familiar figure. Thomas Shelby was undoubtedly an interesting character, and the owner of the most blue eyes Deborah had ever seen. And often she had the opportunity to watch them, because Tommy was the older brother of Ada Shelby - a long-time friend of Deborah. In the past these two had much better contact, but they still happened to meet in one of the bars owned by Shelby family. Deborah loved the evenings during which she could at least for a moment forget about reality. She was helped by the right amount of whiskey. Or vodka.

“Hello, Tommy. It’s good to see you there. One familiar face in ocean of strangers.” she smiled warmly and shook his hand. Biagio frowned, but didn't say a word. Deborah guessed that they would talk about it later.

The other man watched her with unnatural interest. He was wrinkling his forehead hidden under the wide brim of the majestic hat. His face was covered with a thick, lush beard, and his eyes studied the silhouette of Deborah. Although the expression on his face indicated that he would most often break her and her husband in half, she didn't feel threatened. She was looking at him, tilting her head. Immediately afterwards she realized that she knew these eyes. She knew those facial expression, as well as plump lips, although in this case she had the opportunity to see only the bottom lip.

“And this is...” Biagio pointed to the man who had raised in Deborah bigger, definitely too big for Biagio, interest.

Deborah only heard part of the words that left Biagio's mouth. Suddenly she found herself in a completely different place. Everything around had died down, and in a room full of strangers, she could see only one person. She didn't expect that after all these years she would meet the only man she truly loved.

“Alfie Solomons.” Deborah whispered, staring at a familiar face with a longing. Over the years, she hasn't changed as drastically as Alfie. She was sure that he had to recognize her much earlier. That would explain the intensity of his sight that looked into her soul, and even pierced it through.

She parted her lips to say something or catch some air. Suddenly everything seemed to whirl and her view started to cover with dark spots. The pain in the chest pulsed, knocking out its own rhythm. Deborah could feel the heat spreading on her skin, then the chill of cold. She lost her balance, and from a forthcoming falling she was saved by a pair of strong arms that appeared out of nowhere.

#Alfie Solomons #alfie solomons fanfic #alfie solomons imagine #alfie solomons x oc #Peaky Blinders #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fanfiction #peaky blinders imagine

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anghraine · 4 years

Text

pro patria: chapters 36-42

Logan nodded thoughtfully. “It’s got to be someone else in the Ministry—someone with money, power, and ambition.” “That doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” he said.

title: pro patria (36-42/?) stuff that happens: Althea and Logan track down the enslaved survivors of Falcon Company.

verse: Ascalonian grudgefic characters/relationships: Althea Fairchild, Logan Thackeray, Deborah Fairchild; Ailoda Langmar, others; Althea & Logan, Althea & Deborah, Althea & Ailoda & Deborah chapters: 1-7, 8-14, 15-21, 22-28, 29-35

THIRTY-SIX 1 “Does the haven often fall under attacks like that?” Dansky seemed startled; whatever she might have expected, it was doubtless less inane. “Not quite like that,” she said. “Those bandits caught us off guard, but”—she frowned—“they didn’t steal anything. It was as if they just wanted to kill people.” I took a deep breath. “I suspect they were here to kill you.” 2 She stared at me. “I’m investigating accusations of treason related to the fall of Falcon Company,” I said. To my own astonishment, she grinned. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that!” she told me. “I always suspected Tervelan was rotten, but I had no proof.” I still held myself ready for danger—this was Kessex, after all—but tension drained out of my body. “What made you suspect him?” 3 She exhaled, her brief exuberance gone. “Falcon Company,” she said, “was the finest unit I ever served with. If I hadn’t been recovering from an injury, I’d have been with them that day.” I almost brought up Deborah, but I didn’t want to distract her; at this point, perhaps it would be better if she didn’t know I had a personal interest in the case. “You must know something,” I said urgently. “Tell me, did you ever see Tervelan meet with a minister?” She shook her head. 4 I’d never felt such a weight of disappointment in my life, and I wasn’t sure I could ever again. I nearly turned away; but some instinct told me to wait. “My job was to deliver messages for the Seraph,” she said, dropping her voice further. Something of Hal’s haunted anxiety seemed to touch her. “The ones I brought from Tervelan were addressed to ‘Minister Arton’—but I know for a fact that Arton never got those letters.” My head snapped up, Arton’s pained dignity fresh in my memory. It’d been so odd—what if— 5 Dansky blinked rapidly. “After Falcon Company fell,” she went on, “I found out that the guy I’d been delivering them to didn’t even work in Arton’s office. Nobody’d ever seen him before.” She took off her gauntlet and rubbed some dirt off her face. I chose to believe it was dirt, anyway. “I delivered Falcon Company’s last patrol to that guy, too. After the unit was attacked, I put it together … and I just couldn’t stay in the Seraph.” 6 “Understandably,” I said. “Do you know the route they were to patrol?” She brightened a little. “Sure.” Luckily, I’d brought a map with me to help make my way through Kessex Hills. She drew me over to a table, and inked out an oblong shape in red. I stared down at the route, struggling to believe my own eyes—all this, the work of a day, after so many years of grief and confusion. 7 “One more thing,” I said, my voice hoarse. “Is there any chance that part of Falcon Company could still be alive?” Unlike virtually everyone else, she didn’t immediately reject the idea, instead looking thoughtful. “If the centaurs took them captive,” she said at last, “they’d sell the prisoners to human slavers. There’s a bandit camp to the east that dabbles in the slave trade—you could look there.” Hope, so relentlessly quashed for so long, blazed within me like a star. I said, “Thank you for your help.” THIRTY-SEVEN 1 I sent another, slightly more detailed message to Logan, not expecting much more than quick affirmation that he’d received it, and an injunction to proceed carefully. Instead, minutes ticked by while I waited, anxious and increasingly impatient, for his reply. I had just decided that if I didn’t hear from him soon, I’d go ahead anyway, when an exhausted Seraph came running through the gates. “A message from Captain Thackeray, for the hero of Shaemoor,” she gasped out. The Lionguards glanced at each other in bewilderment, then at me. I sighed. “I’m the hero,” I said. 2 I tore Logan’s message open, then stared. Althea — Head to the bandit camp in an hour and a half from the sending of your first message. I’ll be there. Do not assault it on your own. An hour and a half left just twenty-five minutes to reach the camp—and I had no idea how Logan could make it from Divinity’s Reach so quickly. Then again, I had no idea how Logan got anywhere, really. I shoved the note into my pouch and with a garbled thanks, rushed out of the haven. 3 Once I found the camp, I snuck around its edges—and unsurprisingly, Logan was already there, skulking behind some trees in full armour, his white and gold surcoat all but glittering. “Captain Thackeray, you made it,” I said, as professionally as I could, and caught him up on what I’d learned from Hal and Dansky. I concluded, “Minister Arton’s not guilty; someone was framing him to take the fall if this treason was ever discovered.” Logan nodded thoughtfully. “It’s got to be someone else in the Ministry—someone with money, power, and ambition.” “That doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” he said. I couldn’t disagree with him there. 4 He went on, “Destroying Falcon Company weakened the Seraph, and turned public opinion against the queen. It was a clever plan, and it almost worked.” It had worked, for a time. I dug my nails into my palms. “I want to see if these bandits have any answers,” I told him, “and, if Dwayna is smiling on us, find my sister. Let’s go.” We crept closer. 5 We paused among a nearer stand of trees, where I—less obtrusive in blue and grey clothes—peered around to check for scouts. “I don’t see any, just a couple of guards,” I said, hiding in the trees once more. Logan shook his head. “So it’s come to this—people turning on each other when we need to be working together. If we can’t trust each other, we can’t possibly face the dragons.” I’d done my best not to think about the dragons, in perfect honesty; it wasn’t difficult, with centaurs and bandits and Charr and gods knew what else at our throats. I supposed it was something of an honour that he’d bring them up to me, of all people—if rather an unfortunate moment for it. 6 “There will always be villains,” I whispered, thinking of Zamon, Tervelan, the camp just ahead of us. “I suppose that’s why there needs to be heroes.” “Like me,” said Logan, his smile wry, but he sobered as he added, “and like you. You’ve done tremendous deeds for Kryta. They won’t be forgotten.” I smiled back at him. If we didn’t make it out of this—I couldn’t see any way to attack except a frontward assault—then there were worse notes to die on. 7 “Thanks, Logan,” I told him, genuinely grateful, and peered around again. Several figures stood guard at what looked like another cave system, braced by wooden beams; to go by the rocky hill beside us, it couldn’t be nearly as deep as the one I’d fought through with Faren. Neither guard had particularly good posture; one of them yawned, saying something in a bored drawl to the other. It must be nearly the end of their shift—I hoped. “Is it time?” murmured Logan. Sure enough, two figures emerged from the cave, speaking to the two tired ones. “It’s time,” I said. THIRTY-EIGHT 1 We rushed forward, Logan’s sword slashing at the guards, my own gleaming with aether as I blocked pistol fire with one hand and lashed chaos with the other. “Intruders! Wake up!” one guard screamed, just before I killed him. With that, we had a real fight on our hands, and an unpleasant one. Bandits, pistols, and small enclosed spaces made for an unfortunate combination at the best of times, and in this case, we had to do our best to shield the slaves in cages—gods—and others coughing and working at the rear of the cave. I finally dodged behind Logan and switched out my sword and sceptre for a tall staff: a weapon I always carried, but almost never used. The others helped channel my magic; the staff distilled it, ordinary spells concentrating into near-uncontrollable blasts of aether—but if there was any time to use it, that time was now. 2 With a shout, my magic spread throughout the chamber, purplish lightning crackling as it struck down at our enemies. Only our enemies. With sweat pouring down my face, I bent the spell to my will for as long as I could, then cut off the flow of magic before it could threaten anyone else. Logan was methodically cutting the throats of those struck down by the spell, holding off others with his shield, sword and shield ablaze with blue-white fire. I’d forgotten that he had magic of his own; it looked like he was pulling out all the stops, too. “Stay here—don’t let them through,” shouted a large bandit, who seemed to be the leader. “Get up and fight!” 3 The surviving bandits rushed us, but it didn’t matter; Logan shouted something that lit half of them on fire, while I cast through the staff again, my magic pouring out even as blue light flashed out to protect us, the blue and purple lights mingling. His sword and my clones did the rest of the work. In the back, someone cried, “I need your help!” It seemed a bandit had the clever idea of holding someone hostage; I sent a clone after him, and with a flare of light, he dropped to the ground. Logan was holding the last surviving bandit at swordpoint. He demanded, “Who were you working for? Who set this up?” 4 “Caudecus,” she grunted, clutching at her stomach. “But you’ll never … prove it …” She collapsed on the ground. I checked for a pulse, but she was gone. Caudecus—of course! Zamon, Tervelan, all of it: they weren’t just signs of general corruption, though they’d certainly had their own guilt. This was Caudecus’s handiwork—all of it! 5 “Curse it all,” snarled Logan, as angry as I’d ever heard him, “that bandit’s testimony was the only evidence we had!” “At least we know the truth,” I said, and remembering his weak spot, added, “and we can protect the queen. It’s not enough, but … it’ll have to do.” He immediately calmed. “You’re right. We’ll figure out what to do after we free these prisoners and get them back to the city.” I closed my eyes, fighting for my own calm, then opened them again; it was time to see who lived. 6 I slung my staff over my back and started opening cages as we headed towards the rear of the cave, where groups of slaves huddled or staggered. My heart thudded so hard that it felt like it might crack something, but this was more important. I took out my sword and started cutting bindings and shackles, while Logan cast a series of spells that flashed white light and left injured prisoners standing upright again. I helped brace them as they struggled to their feet, I supported those with remaining injuries, reassuring one after another. They all mattered, not just—if she were here—somewhere— Near the right-hand wall of the cave, another prisoner bent over with a coughing fit: a terribly thin woman, with faded blonde hair, and when she straightened up again, clear grey eyes. “Deborah!” 7 She peered through the gloom, her face drawn beneath layers of grime and weariness—but I knew her, I’d know her anywhere. “Althea?” she whispered incredulously, her eyes wide, and stumbled forwards, nearly falling into my arms. I caught her, dropping my sword and keeping my grip as gentle as I could; they all had bruises running up and down their arms and legs. “Merciful gods,” I said, hardly able to believe my own eyes, my own hands, “you’re alive!” Deborah—Deborah!—coughed into my shoulder. “It’s going to be okay,” I promised, stroking her hair. “I’m here.” THIRTY-NINE 1 I’d no sooner spoken than I remembered what sort of person I’d been when she got captured—how consumed with trivialities, foolish, near helpless. I’m here might not do much to reassure her of her safety, at least not until Logan made his way over. Deborah didn’t say anything about that. She just lifted her head and whispered, “Am I dreaming?” She coughed again. “Is that … Grenth torment me, is it really you?” “Yes,” I said, almost crying, “it is.” 2 My senses quickly returned. If she was in a condition to think me a hallucination, then— “Wait here, Debs,” I said, and ran for Logan. At his startled glance, I gasped out, “I found her, she’s alive, but … I don’t know, she needs help, she—” Without a word, he followed me over to where Deborah leaned against the wall. “You’re safe now, sergeant,” he said in his most official manner, but nearly staggered, himself, as he cast his glowing shield again. “Can you tell us what happened to the Falcons?” 3 As soon as he spoke, her tired eyes lifted up, widening at the sight of him. “Captain Thackeray?” Somehow, she scrounged up the strength for a respectful salute. “Sir! We were ambushed by centaurs.” After another gasping cough, she went on, “They knew our patrol routes, our tactics—everything!” The shield burst into scattered light, and Deborah finally drew a clear breath. 4 “It’s all right, Debs,” I said, clasping one of her hands. “We’ll make sure all of you get back to Divinity’s Reach. The nightmare’s over.” I could scarcely believe it myself. She nodded, rubbing tears out of her eyes with her free hand. “Thank you. And thank you, Captain Thackeray.” 5 She looked from Logan back to me, still wide-eyed. “You’re both heroes.” I could only imagine what it must be like for her: months of capture, suffering, and enslavement, and then out of nowhere, a Seraph and a lady showing up, wiping out the captors in a bloody battle, and then the Seraph turning out to be Logan Thackeray himself, and the lady—me! In her place, I’d be even more stunned than she seemed to be; as it was, I just tightened my grip on her hand, unable to think of a single thing to say. “I’ll take these Seraph home and inform the queen so that Minister Arton can be released,” said Logan. “No more innocents will suffer from this treasonous plot.” I hadn’t thought of Arton, the poor man—but I certainly agreed on the latter point. 6 With that, he started to turn away, but then jerked back to look at the two of us. Abruptly, he said, “Good work—hero.” Hero, I realized, meant more than Shaemoor now. I nodded my thanks, still at a loss for words. “The truth came out and these Seraph were saved,” he went on, “all because of you.” I was not normally one to refuse praise, but I could only reply, “Not only me, captain.” He paused, then inclined his head. 7 I led Deborah over to the other Seraph; it was time for her to go home. On the way, she murmured, “You never gave up on me.” But I did. We got that letter from godsdamned Tervelan and I believed it and did nothing until Logan asked me for help— “Thank you,” she went on, turning her head to meet my eyes. A shade of her old humour flickered into her face. “I’m lucky to have a hero in the family!” FORTY 1 “I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through, Debs,” I told my sister. My sister, alive. “You are stronger than you know.” Deborah gave a smile—a faint one, but it was there. “I missed you, Althea,” she said simply. I squeezed her hand. “I missed you, too.” 2 She re-joined her fellow soldiers, quickly taking the lead in their conversation and gesturing this way and that; Logan’s magic had done much of its work. One soldier crept forward to peer out the cave entrance, then returned, reaching out to shake my hand. “Sure am glad to see the colours of the Seraph,” he remarked. “If you and Captain Thackeray hadn’t shown up when you did, there wouldn’t be anything left of me to rescue—thanks!” He was still wheezing. “It’s okay,” I told him, “you’re safe now. Don’t try to talk.” 3 Another former prisoner, leaning against the back of the cave, grinned outright and said, “Tell those centaur slags I ain’t dead yet—they beat me, starved me, tortured me, and tried to sell me as a slave, but I’m still upright … with a little help from this wall here.” To my horror, I almost laughed. “Everything’s going to be all right,” I assured her. “You’re safe now.” She nodded, turning grave. “Deborah always said her family’d never forget her.” That much, I couldn’t deny, and had no desire to; of course we hadn’t forgotten her, couldn’t forget her—but if the thought had brought her comfort, then I was glad. 4 “There ain’t much left of Falcon Company,” the woman said, “but we’ll be back … thanks to you.” Overwhelmed, I could only say, “She was right. Get some rest, you’ll be home soon.” I’d scarcely uttered the words than Logan returned, a good strong cart following him; I had no idea how he’d acquired it out here, but had long since given up wondering about such things. Logan and I both hurried to help the now only moderately-wounded Seraph into the cart. “Nice work,” he told me, as if he hadn’t lavished me with praise already. “The Seraph will transport these injured soldiers to Divinity’s Reach—they’ll be given a hero’s welcome.” 5 “Thanks, Logan,” I told him, and felt my eyes burn. But I didn’t want Deborah to see me cry—least of all here and now. Instead, I held out my hand to him, bracing myself for his steely grip. He took his gauntlet off and shook my hand, as if we were ordinary people meeting in the halls of the Maiden’s Whisper. But we’d never be ordinary again, would we? I glanced at Deborah, then met his gaze squarely. “We’ll never forget what you did for us today.” 6 Logan looked exactly as I felt: gratified and very deeply uncomfortable. But it had to be said. “It wasn’t just me,” he told me. “You said it—we did this together. And whatever comes, well, we’ll do that together, too.” It had not, for a single moment, occurred to me that we might not. “That’s right,” I said firmly. 7 With that, we got back to work, hoisting the last of the soldiers into the cart, and paying the Lionguard driving it (I didn’t ask). She would take us to Black Haven, Logan told me, where the soldiers could get cleaned up and healed beyond what he’d been able to offer. After they rested, we’d take the nearest waypoint back to Divinity’s Reach. We did exactly that. By the time they’d healed and rested at the haven, Deborah and her companions were itching to go home. “We’ll see our families again,” said the man I’d spoken to before, with a smile, “and the Seraph, and probably the queen.” Deborah said, “Damned right we will.” FORTY-ONE 1 Had there been any meaningful distance to travel, we would have continued in the cart, for a particularly odd triumphal arrival; as it was, Logan and I led the Seraph to the Delanian waypoint just north of Black Haven, and emerged in the courtyard immediately in front of the throne room and Seraph Headquarters. Several of the Falcons wept at the sight—to the clear astonishment of the people milling around—before dutifully following Logan into headquarters. “Captain Thackeray,” began Lieutenant Groban, before catching sight of the others and nearly toppling over. “Can it—how—what—” “Lieutenant, sir,” Deborah said. She saluted him. “At ease, Sergeant Fairchild,” he said dazedly. 2 Whispers of Fairchild? and the Falcons! it’s them! raced around the room, and in an instant, every Seraph in the place clustered around, welcoming and exclaiming over them, a few wiping away tears while a handful of citizens watched in silent amazement. It took a good few minutes for Deborah to extricate herself. “It’s time,” she said, dry-eyed but smiling. After pulling on a hooded cloak that had been provided by the Lionguard, she followed me through the waypoint once again, the two of us stepping through to Salma. We climbed the stairs, Deborah refusing any help, and then—then we stood on the steps before our manor. She lifted her face, taking in the courtyard and the house’s façade, her breaths harsh and unsteady. Unnecessarily, I said, “Here we are.” 3 We made our way inside, Deborah still cloaked and hooded, both of us quiet. It was nearly evening, the tapers were lit, and the dim light of the entrance obscured what might have otherwise been glimpsed of her face. The handful of servants who passed by glanced at the mysterious figure in some bewilderment—but at this point used to my oddities, they simply continued about their business. She looked around, taking in the little changes and familiar arching lines of the manor, her breaths evening out a little. “Welcome home,” I told her. “Home,” she repeated wonderingly. “I’m home.” 4 We had only wandered about for a few minutes, Deborah trailing her fingers over furniture and ornaments, when we heard the front doors open, followed by our mother’s voice. “Yes, yes—that’s right—” My sister drew a sharp breath. “Come on,” I said, and led the way back to the entrance hall. Our mother had turned to slam the doors shut; she turned about again, catching sight of me—started to smile—then frowned at the cloaked figure beside me. “Who is this, Althea?” Deborah pushed her hood back. 5 Mother gasped. For a moment, she simply stared at her; then she took one hesitant step forward and whispered, “Deborah?” We nodded. “Deborah!” My mother ran towards us, and Deborah tore off the cloak and raced the rest of the way forwards, the two of them clasping each other in their arms. Mother ran her hands over Deborah’s cheeks, caught my sister’s face between her palms, kissed her hair and leaned her own face against it. She cried openly; and Deborah, at long last, sobbed too. 6 “My girl—oh, Deborah—how—” “Treason, Mama,” I said, drawing a little nearer. “Tervelan betrayed Falcon Company to the centaurs, but they sold Debs with some others.” “My poor girl,” said Mother, clutching Deborah tighter. Then she looked over her head at me. “You found her? You did this?” I hesitated, then answered, “Captain Thackeray helped.” 7 “Althea saved me,” Deborah insisted, sniffling. “Sweetheart,” said Mother, and I didn’t even know who she meant—I wasn’t sure she did, either—but then she tugged me closer and put her arms about us both, and we were all crying, and I’d never been so happy in my life. Once our tears dried, Mother led us over to her favourite parlour, sat us all down—though she kept her hands tightly clasped about ours—and urged us for an explanation. Deborah fell silent, and I could only imagine how little she wished to remember; instead, I quickly explained the plot and its discovery, and Logan’s role in all of it. “May Kormir bless Captain Thackeray,” said Mother. Then, turning to me, she touched my cheek. “And may all the Six bless you, Althea.” FORTY-TWO 1 For a week, Deborah slept on and off, while Mother hovered over her and I tried to quietly supply whatever she needed. It was easier for me in some ways; I’d grown used to something like the life Deborah had chosen, for something like the same reasons, and I’d been the one to rescue her. The mission, for all of its horrors, had given me a peace of soul—if not quite of mind—that our mother could not share. It didn’t stop me from occasionally haunting Debs’s doorstep, of course. But Mother was in torment, now that she knew the whole truth, and now that nothing could be done for Deborah except keeping her fed and letting her rest. “That’s exactly what she didn’t have before,” I said. It didn’t help; Mother flinched and looked away. 2 The week passed in a blur for me. I stayed at Deborah's side when our mother, very reluctantly, went about Ministry business; I talked to Deborah of nothing in particular when she woke, making her eat and drink; I obeyed periodic summons from Logan and/or Anise, who were orchestrating the official return of Falcon Company alongside new plans for the queen’s protection. When I had time to spare, I found myself unwilling to dwell very much on anything, yet unable to go out and attend events as if nothing had happened. Instead, I spent most of my free time in a training hall I’d fashioned (well, ordered fashioned) out of an abandoned gallery in the manor. I practiced creating clones that would rush up and attack, clones that would protect me, clones that would generate spells themselves, all as indistinguishable as possible. I adjusted the details of illusionary images I made up to confuse people before I blasted them. I turned clones on myself to practice with my sword, my skin damp with sweat—did anything but think of what my sister had suffered. 3 I was there at the end of the week, tossing my sword from one hand to the other, trying very hard not to think about centaurs, and then only about vengeance. I took up a focus for my magic—all the more useful with the chaos magic I drew on—and held my sword in my main hand, imagining Tervelan and then Caudecus. Slash, gash, stab. I ducked a bolt of chaos from the last clone and lashed out with a crippling curtain of light. Slash, gash, stab. Slash—the clone was down. And behind me, someone clapped. 4 I whirled around, one hand tight on the focus, the other already lifting my sword for attack. The stranger stepped out of the shadows— It was my sister. “Very impressive,” she said. Irrationally, I felt embarrassed. “I’m not anything to Anise.” “Nobody is anything to Anise,” said Deborah. 5 “That’s why she’s Master Exemplar, but what you’re doing is nothing to sneeze at.” She paused. “Your magic looks like hers, even.” “She trained me,” I replied, setting the focus down on a nearby table. Deborah was frowning a little, though I wasn’t sure why. I couldn’t read her. “You’ve changed, Althea,” she said quietly. 6 I sheathed my sword, unsure of what to say. Deborah headed for the door, gesturing for me to follow her. We walked a few steps through the high stone walls in silence. At last, I said, “I had to.” “No,” said Deborah, “you didn’t.” Puzzled, I glanced at her. I had made my choices, of course, but it often seemed that each step I took followed inexorably from the one before it—however far those steps might have taken me, might take me in the future. 7 “It felt like it,” I told her. “After you—afterwards, I couldn’t stop thinking of what you said when you joined the Seraph, about Ebonhawke and what it means to be a true Ascalonian, and I … I couldn’t ignore the rest of the world any more.” “I wasn’t talking about you!” exclaimed Deborah, her eyes growing wide. “I know,” I said, and I did, though that had never helped much, “but I just wanted to do something—I had to do something—so I asked Anise to teach me, and then the centaurs came to Shaemoor, and … and I couldn’t be you, but I did want to be someone you would have been proud of.” At her startled look, I hurried on, “But I still like the same things, clothes and mapmaking and—I’m still myself, Debs.” She grasped my arm and said, “You promise?” “I promise.”

#ascalonian grudgeblog #anghraine's gaming #anghraine's fic #ascalonian grudgefic #althea fairchild #deborah fairchild #ailoda langmar #logan thackeray #lionguard dansky #guild wars 2 #pro patria

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'I’ve never sought fame so I’m loving it ... I hope it lasts!': As she returns in the hit BBC sitcom Mum, Lesley Manville reveals how a surprise Oscar nomination finally made her hot in Hollywood at 63

By COLE MORETON FOR EVENT MAGAZINE PUBLISHED: 22:01, 27 April 2019

'I can’t believe this late flourish that I’m having,’ says Lesley Manville, beaming with happiness. ‘It just keeps on giving!’

She’s about to star in the third and final series of the brilliant BBC comedy Mum, playing the kind and loving widow Cathy, surrounded by a family of not-always-lovable fools, and slowly falling for her old friend Michael. It’s hugely popular, for reasons Event’s TV critic Deborah Ross explains below, but that’s not all. Suddenly, to her own astonishment, at the age of 63, Manville is Hollywood hot property.

‘I don’t really share this much, except to my very close friends, because you’ve got to let off steam to somebody about how extraordinary it is,’ says Manville, hand fluttering briefly as if to fan herself. ‘And the enormity of how it has shifted things. Everything has changed.’

Scripts and offers are flooding in since she was Oscar-nominated for her role in Daniel Day-Lewis’s 2018 film, Phantom Thread. After decades of working ‘under the radar’ – as she puts it – in the theatre, on television and in Mike Leigh movies such as High Hopes, Secrets & Lies and Another Year, Manville was thrust into the brightest spotlight of all. ‘I got to go to the Oscars with my sister and my son!

‘But, oh my God, it was a mad dash. I was on stage in the West End on the Saturday, got home at midnight, only had time to wash my hair and catch two hours’ sleep, then I was on a plane in the early hours.’ The Oscars were that Sunday night. ‘I got there with an hour-and-a-half to get ready.’

She rarely gives interviews and hasn’t talked about this publicly before, but there was something else remarkable about that night – her ex-husband Gary Oldman was also up for an Oscar, for his role as Sir Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. The Hollywood media went wild at the idea of divorcees being nominated at the same time, and there was even talk of ‘fisticuffs on the red carpet’ – particularly since he had walked out on her in 1989, when their child Alfie was only three months old.

‘I had a son to bring up,’ she says, sounding matter-of-fact rather than bitter after all these years. ‘I was 32 and I had a baby. I wanted to carry on working and I did. I must have been knackered. I was up at dawn and looked after Alfie all day. Then my sister, who was working for me, would come and do teatime and bedtime. I’d go to do Miss Julie or Top Girls. Nice light plays!’

Somehow she gave her all to those far from light works. ‘I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I never wanted to stop working. And also I didn’t want to be a slovenly mother – not bothering, just phoning in motherhood because I was working. I wanted to be the best mother, with a proper meal on the table every night, and proper things in the lunchbox. All of that. And I’ve done it. That’s my biggest achievement, I think.’

Did she feel that way because Gary had abandoned them? ‘No, I’m just like that – I’m quite a perfectionist in my life and my work.’

That’s easy to imagine. Manville is friendly and engaging but happily describes herself as ‘a control freak’ and looks very much like she’s got it together in her chic, cream baggy pants with matching boots, Breton striped top and leather jacket. She speaks with the diction and bearing of someone who has spent a lifetime on the stage. Does Alfie appreciate what she did for him? ‘Oh, yes. We’ve got a really nice relationship. We do argue, but we’re very close.’

Oldman later admitted that work and alcoholism had made him ‘anxious, neurotic and hell to live with’ – but he moved in with the much younger Uma Thurman soon after taking off to America. His fifth wife, Gisele Schmidt, attended the Oscars with him, while Manville is single and walked the red carpet with Alfie, now a cameraman. So just how awkward was this public reunion?

‘Gary and I are fine. We’re friends. We’re more than fine. People wanted to make something of it that didn’t exist. Christ almighty, we’re 60. We’ve got a 30-year-old son. Come on!’ She does understand why there was such interest. ‘I even stayed sober for one night in LA at the Oscars so that I could do a live interview on the Today programme. Something should be made of it, for the sake of our son. Very few children have been to the Oscars and seen both their parents nominated. It was nice because Gary was there with his wife – who I get on with very well – his other two sons and my son. We’re grown-ups.’

In her eagerness to demonstrate that they’ve worked out their differences, Manville even reveals that the two former partners are planning to work together again.

‘Gary’s asked me to be in a new film he’s hoping to shoot soon. So of course we’re fine. It’s a film about Eadweard Muybridge, the man who invented film.’ The Victorian photographer devised camera techniques that laid the foundations for the motion picture industry. He also shot and killed his wife’s lover, but was acquitted by a jury on the grounds of justifiable homicide. ‘It will be amazing.’

And although she did not win the Oscar for best supporting actress last year (Oldman did win best actor), Manville says she has been almost overwhelmed by offers since then. ‘You get inundated with scripts and immediately I got offered a film with Liam Neeson, Normal People, that’s virtually a two-hander. It comes out at the end of this year.’

Neeson got himself in a lot of trouble earlier this year by confessing that in the past, after the rape of a friend, he had taken to prowling the streets with a cosh, hoping ‘some black b******’ would come out of a pub looking for a fight. He was actually expressing shame at having had those feelings and drew support from Whoopi Goldberg and the England footballer John Barnes, but others called for his films to be pulled. Did that put Normal People in danger?

Manville draws in breath, pulls back her shoulders and says: ‘I’m not going to talk about it at all... except to say that Liam is one of the nicest gentlemen I’ve ever worked with. And he’s a friend.’

Is she just like Cathy in Mum, who insists on seeing the best in people? ‘Oh, I don’t compare to Cathy. I’m kind, but I’m a bit more judgmental than she is. I’m from this chippy world of acting, where people are beautifully acerbic, funny, and sarcastic and cutting. I enjoy all of that. It’s banter.’

Still, she is firmly supportive of Neeson then quickly moves on. ‘Then I got a film I haven’t shot yet, called Dali Land, about Salvador and Gala Dali. I’m going to play Gala. Last week I was filming the new series of Harlots [in which she plays the madam of a high-class 18th-century brothel], then preparing for the film Let Him Go with Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.’

Does Manville thrive on all this new attention? ‘My sister can’t believe I’m not exhausted. It is overwhelming at times, but I do sort of feel I’ve earned it. I’ve put in decades of doing what I feel were the right jobs. I’ve never sold out. I’ve never sought fame. So I’m genuinely loving it and I’m hoping it will last, but it will only last if I keep turning out the work.’

Does she wish this had all happened before? ‘No. I’ve had an amazing, steady career. And I’m grateful for that. A lot of young people who get success very quickly come under huge pressure to maintain it and that is very hard. Especially if they’re good-looking, because if you’ve built a career based on your good looks when you’re young, it’s very difficult to carry on in a real and proper vein.’ Has she come under any of Hollywood’s infamous pressure to go under the knife?

‘No. I went to a lot of meetings while we were there, and the reaction I got is: ‘Oh, you’ve done nothing to your face, isn’t that great!’ If I suddenly started doing all that, it would make nonsense of this career I’ve had for 40-plus years. I’m setting myself up as somebody who likes to play characters. This Bible-bashing mad woman with a gun that I’m playing in Let Him Go isn’t going to have gone under the knife in 1963. Just leave it alone.’

Manville grew up in Brighton, where her father was a taxi driver, and at the age of 15 she started commuting to the Italia Conti stage school in London. She declined the chance to join the steamy TV dance troupe Hot Gossip. ‘I thought, I can’t wear stockings and a suspender belt on telly with my dad watching! He wasn’t a prude – it was more that I was a bit of a prude. I was a good girl. I never broke the rules.’

Just like Cathy in Mum, then? ‘I am a good girl at heart, so there is a bit of Cathy there, but the other side of me is very driven and single-minded.’

Her father couldn’t believe it when she gave up a perfectly good, lucrative part on the soap Emmerdale Farm to concentrate on theatre. ‘My dad was like, “What are you doing? Why would you want to do plays?”’ But Manville went on to have a truly illustrious and highly acclaimed career on stage, from her early days at the Royal Court through numerous leading roles at the National Theatre, The Old Vic and with the Royal Shakespeare Company to her performance in Ibsen’s Ghosts, for which she won the Olivier in 2014. This was the pinnacle of her career at the time, and she said: ‘Ghosts is my Olympic moment.’

There was no way of knowing that the Hollywood legend Paul Thomas Anderson, director of There Will Be Blood and Magnolia, would call her out of the blue, having seen her in the Mike Leigh films he loved.

But before that happened and she got really famous, the director Richard Laxton approached Manville in 2016 about making Mum, and had some persuading to do.

‘My only experience of comedy was 25 years ago, a series called Ain’t Misbehavin’ with Peter Davison,’ says Manville. ‘It was well written, but you had to be funny. I didn’t enjoy it. I wasn’t very good.’

Laxton sent a script and a box set of Him And Her, a series also written by Mum creator Stefan Golaszewski and shot in a very similar, low-key way. The actors play the drama and not for laughs, although they certainly come. In Mum, we see the craziness of the family from Cathy’s point of view as she tries to keep going, do her best and be kind.

‘Just the slightest twinkle from Cathy, and the audience knows what it’s going to mean,’ says Manville.

Series one began just after Cathy had lost her husband Dave. Series two saw her become increasingly – but very slowly – close to old family friend Michael, before she finally declared her love. Now, at the start of the final series, they are together, but haven’t broken it to her son or anyone else yet. ‘I love the way the writer does that,’ she says. ‘We last saw them tentatively holding hands. At the start of this series she just gives him a very casual kiss on the lips, when she’s showing him the bedroom she is staying in.’

The inference is that they have made love. ‘You don’t see them having sex. You don’t see them having passionate kisses.’ Is that a relief? ‘Yes. You wouldn’t want to go there really, but I knew they were going to get together.’ The pair have such joy on their faces, as if they can’t believe their luck.

‘I think younger people – 20- and 30-year-olds – don’t think of anybody aged 60 falling in love. They don’t really imagine that all those feelings an 18-year-old in love has – all those butterflies, uncertainties and insecurities, all that joy – is the same for everyone, whatever your age. That’s an emotion and a set of feelings that we never lose. Thank God! I love Mum for showing that.’

The characters are also very understated. ‘I love the fact that Cathy and Michael are not glamorous, they’re not thinking about how they look. They’re good, kind, thoughtful people. They’re intelligent. They’re very in touch with their own feelings and emotions and reality. They have a very acute understanding of the people around them.’ The cast and crew all stayed in the same hotel and found a local pub to eat and drink. ‘Lots of times, someone would spot one of us up at the bar – say Lisa [McGrillis, who plays Kelly] – and they’d go: “That’s her from Mum!” Then they’d turn around to see where she was taking the drinks and we would all be sitting there!’

How are people with her? ‘Mum is the thing I get stopped in the street most about. They say very kind things. They love the series. When I say it’s back in May but this is the last series, they can’t bear it.’

So why is Mum finishing? ‘Stefan wants to move on to other things. But it’s got a nice finite ending and why would you do any more? Either they get together or they don’t. Either way, that’s it.’ We don’t see so-called late love like this on the television much, do we?

‘No, but I think that’s shifting very slowly. Women and men of my age want to see themselves represented. And there are those actresses who are just carrying on – not just Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, but Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Annette Bening.... We are fronting films. And all those female-led films like Mamma Mia!, Quartet and The Best Marigold Hotel that have been huge box- office successes have made studios think: ‘We can have a film about a 50-year-old that people want to see!’

She says ‘we’, but those women are older than her. Thanks to her sudden Indian summer, Manville is now poised to lead a new generation of female actors taking on those kinds of roles. ‘Those actors have opened up the way for us, absolutely. I’ve always felt my life was a slow burn. I’m pleased with the way it has all turned out. Delighted, really. I can’t wait to see what happens next!’

The final series 3 of ‘Mum’ begins on BBC 2 next month. Series 1 and 2 are available on iPlayer.

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