#( I need more aesop interaction I love that boy )

[mrs-scarecrow]

* for embalmer!

( Aesop!! I'll give you headcanons based on the GENERAL version of embalmer--I know there are like 500 variations here... )

Send ✵ and my muse will answer the following.  

Their first impression of your muse:

Lisa's first impression of Aesop was that he didn't like her. With the body language he gives off, the expression he has, and overall cold vibe he gives off, she's never been brave enough to try and get close. Emma was probably annoying at first, but her impression of him was positive. She didn't have any problem with Aesop. He was quiet and a little standoffish, but so is Lisa so she wasn't going to just give up on him like that. Annecy, surprisingly, I think wouldn't have a bad first impression of Aesop. He doesn't stir things up much, he keeps to his own most of the time, and Annecy is very cool with that.

Current impression:   

I think Lisa... still probably thinks Aesop hates her. HOWEVER... probably less so now. More of a "he secretly can't stand me and won't say anything" thing. Emma loves Aesop qAq she sees him as like a awkward brother. She probably goes to him for makeup advice and to give him yellow roses for his coffin. Annecy has a teammate relationship with 'Sop. He doesn't by any means get close to the guy. I think they keep a respectful distance, but Annecy does think he's a little 'weird'.

Are they attracted to your muse?:  

All three of them are not... if anyone WAS attracted to him, it would probably be Lisa.

(Aesack supremacy)

Something they find frightening about your muse:

Lisa is FREAKED out by his coffins. She always has a little chill that runs down her spine every time she reanimates during a match, and hates when the doll looks like her. Emma actually is frightened by the same thing, but to a lesser extent. She doesn't like to see Lisa dead, even if it's fake. Annecy is frightened by the vibe that Aesop definitely did something terrible and he can't put his finger on what it was he did. He just gets that vibe.

Something they find adorable about your muse:  

Lisa loves Aesop's obsession with cats.

Emma thinks his mannerisms are cute and especially the way his eyes crinkle up when he smiles under his mask.

Annecy admires probably his commitment to his craft.

Would my muse sacrifice themselves for yours?:  

Lisa? Mm... I don't think they're close enough.

Emma? Absolutely. She's protective over him for sure.

Annecy? Hm... you know? Maybe in a match, yeah.

Would my muse go on a date with yours?  platonic/romantic:  

Lisa would be willing to try to go on a date.

Emma would be willing to go on a platonic date.

Annecy would be willing to go on a platonic date as well.

One word my muse would use to describe yours:  

Lisa: "Death"

Emma: "Baby" <3

Annecy: "Shut-in"

Would my muse slap yours if they could?: 

None of them would.

Would my muse hug/kiss yours?:

Lisa would probably be too scared to try--it doesn't seem like he likes physical contact very much.

Emma would give him a hug and a kiss on top of his head.

Annecy would not touch him.

[turbulentscrawl]

i haven't seen lots of edgar content lately,, maybe general hcs for edgar valden if you can? :D

👌

-Edgar is a tunnel-visioned, broken-hearted creator who spends most of his energy seeking out the meaning of life and a reason to live. After the death of his mother and sister, he gave up on fulfillment through love or friendship, and now appreciates the world only through his art. Otherwise, he is apathetic. He does remain cordial with people, though, like his mother taught him to be.

-Edgar is an observer in most senses of the word. He rarely cares to devote energy to conversation himself, so he watches and listens instead. He doesn’t have much remaining interest in participating in the ‘game’ that is society, or the subtle mind-games it requires, but he is intrigued by other people’s reactions to them. When he does interact with others, he expects it to be strait-laced. Anything else is a waste of his time. (In short, he’s nosey. He enjoys knowing all the gossip but very rarely spreads it himself.)

-In that same vein, if Edgar has a specific opinion on something, you know it’s because that something has inspired him in some way. Edgar is a Centrist and does not hold very strong views of political or social situations one way or the other. In general, he thinks it’s best to let people do what they want, so long as it doesn’t interfere with what he or anyone else wants.

-Since the betrayal of his master, he’s developed a strikingly low tolerance for interruptions and interference. Edgar’s artistic muse is the most important thing in life to him, and he’s already lost it once. He’s not willing to lose it again, and does not give a damn about what anyone else thinks about his methods of maintaining it.

-Edgar was used by people for so long for his artistic skills that he has a hard time connecting with anyone who’s first interest in him relates to that. Ironically, with time Edgar gets along well with people like Kevin, who was confrontational and distrusting of Edgar in the beginning. Kevin did not give a fuck about Edgar’s art, and disliked him for some entirely different principal. And his art neither salvaged Kevin’s opinion nor won him over when they were finally on neutral terms. People like that can be trusted to be genuine, as far as Edgar is concerned, and frankly Edgar doesn’t see conflict as a dealbreaker for friendships or relationships. Disagreements happen.

-He’s physically weak—this boy has never seen a day of recreational exercise in his life. He is, however, not squeamish or easily disgusted. He dislikes what he perceives as ugliness, but has no issues witnessing or interacting with dirt, grime, or gore. He’s also not easily frightened and tends to be one of the more level-headed survivors in matches. He holds a similar reverence to death as Aesop and isn’t afraid of dying in matches. Some little part of him wishes it could be permanent—as some final devotion to his art, his Swan Song.

-Edgar cross-dresses sometimes. He needs no particular reason for it, as far as he’s concerned, but if you must know it just comes down to ‘he likes what he likes.’ And he likes flowy skirts. He’s not the type to let the gender roles of a society he’s not even part of anymore dictate what he wears. Were he alive in a modern world, he may identity as Agender. He doesn’t care much about gender and just presents however he feels like on a given day.

-Outside of his art studio and bedroom, Edgar is terrible at keeping track of things. He’s blind to anything he sets down outside of those two spaces, it simply no longer exists to him. Other people in the manor are often returning his things to him (especially Joker, who has a knack for finding things without even knowing they were lost.)

-When he was younger, he was taught several other skills that were normal for young men of high class. Piano and dancing, for instance. he didn't like them enough to practice much after his mother died, but he's still decent at them.

-Edgar has commandeered several hallways of the manor to hang his art. He’ll probably take over more later—he’s got an eternity to make his art, after all.

[ladyelizabethraven]

Oh, oh, this is a hard one... Let's write the list, shall we?

(thanks @gufu-vire for the tag)

1. Aesop Sharp (Hogwarts Legacy) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - Welp, I'm currently studying how tf I'm going to bring this man to my IRL. I'm not content with him being a fictional character alone. 😂

2. Ominis Gaunt (Hogwarts Legacy) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - Not much. But I do want to create an MC for him. That boy deserves better.

3. Garreth Weasely (Hogwarts Legacy) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - Again, not much. But I do want to write an MC for him again someday. And it's too bad we haven't had more quests /interactions with him.

4. Agent Twilight / Loid Forger (Spy X Family) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - I'm more of a TwiYor fan. But let's face it, the man's a fine specimen.

5. Nanami Kento (Jujutsu Kaisen) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - I will forever hate Gege for killing him off. I don't care if his final scene is so poignant. FU Gege. I'm reading AU's where he survived and had his well earned vacation in Malaysia.

5. Hiromi Higuruma (Jujutsu Kaisen) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - The ace attorney of the series 😂. I love how unique his cursed technique is. But...

SPOILERS - I think Gege fucking killed him also in the latest chapters.. I swear to God I hate that mangaka already.

6. Gale Dekarios (Baldur's Gate 3) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - Not yet quite since I haven't even finished Act 1 just yet. But meeting him the first time and I like him already.

7. Yuri Briar (Spy X Family) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - Honestly my favorite side character in the series. A complicated guy who prolly needs a lot of therapy lol. But I'm glad that he's having some character development in the manga already. I almost wrote an OC for him, but since he looks so great with Chloe, looks like I'm going to have another ship sailing in the future. 😂

8. Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3) -

Level of how bad I'm simping - I haven't met her yet in my playthrough but one look in a yt let's play video and I know...

So these are the ones on top of my head. There may be others but I kinda forgot about them lol.

My 2023 Simp Recap

So, out of curiosity, I tried to keep a "simp list" of my hyperfixations in my notes app for all the ppl I ended up siming for this year and rank the obsession levels. I did this for 2022 as well but here is my 2023 recap!

These are mostly in order and the rank is how I felt about them initially. The rank is not what my current obsession is for them. (some of these obsessions are non-existent now)

They only qualify as 8's and up if I made/consumed content about them.

My 2023 List:

-Howl Pendragon (Howls Moving Castle) (8/10)

-Ghost Call Of Duty (9/10)

-König COD (10/10) (This blog was a König blog before it was a Garreth/HP blog!)

-Soap COD (5/10)

- Sebastian Sallow HL (8/10)

- Ominis Gaunt HL (9/10)

- Garreth Weasely HL (20/10) (help me) (full blown tumblr and multiple fics just for him)

-Aesop Sharp HL (8/10)

-Richard Jackdaw HL (9/10)

-Imelda Reyes HL (6/10)

-Astarion (Baldurs Gate 3) (10/10)

-The Weasely Twins HP (8/10)

-Andrew Larson HL (9/10)

-Draco Malfoy HP (8/10)

-Theodore Nott HP (11/10)

-Lorenzo Zurzolo - Actor (8/10)

-Mattheo Riddle HP OC (7/10)

-Lorenzo Berkshire HP OC (7/10)

-Tom Riddle HP (7/10)

-----

Whats yours?! lol

[dayiights]

hey hey hey fellow aesop & hoeseph i meant joseph- simp☺️💞 i just stumbled across your blog, and you’re just really cool and nice nd chill & very epic ily !!! anyways- i hope you don’t mind me requesting an idv matchup aaahh.

i’d like to be matched with a male survivor please! i’m an INTP, slytherin, true neutral, and my zodiac is cancer! i major in computer science and i enjoy robotics and engineering as well! i’m more scientific than artsy i’d say :0 i’m also very passionate about debate and competitive speaking! although i’m often told that i’m a good public speaker, i’m very introverted and bad at communicating with others.. like i could give a speech in front of hundreds of other people but i’d die if i had to interact with at least one person from the crowd T_T. i don’t enjoy talking about my interests openly but when asked i’m very prone to passionately nerding out and talking in shakespearean lmao, i appreciate it when anyone listens to my rambles about technological breakthroughs and mathematical concepts and theorems despite not fully understanding (tho i love when people do! i like debating ideas!) i’m incredibly goal oriented and ambitious but it’s easy for me to fall short sighted of what i really want. i’m also very competitive over.. anything really? i secretly care deeply about what others think of me and i’m bad at dealing with my emotions and other people’s, i’m not the most affectionate person but i show my love subtly. i’m told i’m chill yet i’m incredibly blunt and snarky, i dislike how impulsive i can be with my words and it’s easy for me to offend others and criticize them in areas of insecurity without meaning to. my brutal honesty and sharp tongue makes it difficult for me to form relationships i’ll be honest. i have a really dry and mordbid sense of humor if that isn’t already off putting enough aahh. my sincerest apologies if this is quite long aahh 😔,, i hope you have a great day! thanks so much 💞💞

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OH GOODNESS hello everyone !!! i am very much alive i promise !! i am working on everyone’s requests as we speak 🖤 !!! headcanons and matchups may be done quicker than imagines, however! this is because it takes me more time to write out an actual story than it does a few little loose snippets !! i hope that will not be a problem!!

@eli-clark i hope that you enjoy this as much as i did writing it sweetie !! i am sorry for the wait, and it is no worry! you are okay mwah !! you as well sweetie 🖤🖤🖤 💖〰️💖 !!

while i am sure that this is quite obvious;

ɪ ᴍᴀᴛᴄʜ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪᴛʜ...

𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘢

you both have a knack for robotics, which is a bonding point that you two would be able to have! i could see you trying to give him an idea to add to an invention of his and he would either a) debate on why it’s not needed b) do it and learn from it, in the end he would learn from it and appreciate it regardless, but he gets defensive whenever it comes to his creations and what he does, he is also rather talkative, which could make things easier on you yourself whenever it came to talking, he would try to get you out of your shell, and if you don’t, he understands, but will still try to help you to open up to others and be able to communicate more. he doesn’t necessarily understand it, per say, but he does know how to try to help you, he’s learned it from trying to help victor and andrew. he will also 100% cheer on anything you decide to do, and would love to listen to you talk about things passionately! he would pitch in most likely if you would let him! you are both into the same thing, after all! sometimes you both may get into arguments about some petty things, but never worry about it too much, you both will always end up making everything to one another after everyone has had enough time to think. he admires how forward you are whenever you speak to people and tell your thoughts or feelings, it’s different from everyone else he sees, who keep from doing it and sugarcoat things as best that they can. he will try to help you through everything you dislike! he doesn’t think you need to change at all, but if that’s what you want to do, he will absolutely be there for you and try to help you in the process however he can! though, he has moments where he forgets everything and everyone, he tends to have panic attacks while he’s in that state, so it’s best to either leave him be and try to be there for him after the fact, or just sit down with him and let him cry to you, try taking care of him. he’s a confident boy, but he also has a rather fragile state of mind, regardless of how stubborn and defensive he is, he would like it if you would help him, too.

[threewaysdivided]

I appreciate the response. Yeah, among other adjustments, had the plot been handled a little differently, I feel like Sam’s relationship with her parents could have evolved into something like that of Danny and Jazz and their parents. And don’t get me wrong; I still like Sam, too.

(In reference to this post and follow-up ask.)

Good to hear from you again 😊

I think there were a lot of things across the board that could have been tweaked or edited to improve the integrity of the series.  If I had to boil down the problem with DP to a single point I’d probably say it’s that the most interesting parts of the show are the characters/world/implications but the writers (or some of them anyway - I suspect there might have been some conflict between Hartman, the lead writers and the execs’) wanted certain plots, aesops and gags, and chose to brute-force them in regardless of whether they actually worked with what was already there.  Basically, it lacks consistency and internal logic.

For Sam in particular I think there are a few things that could have been handled better:

First one’s more a general complaint at the show and might light a fire under my notes but heck lets go there anyway but the writing has kind of a sexist bent that really doesn’t fit the characters or need to be there. Considering how much Danny and Jack are shown to love and respect Maddie and Jazz there’s no way they’d call their involvement in Genius Magazine “the swimsuit edition”.  Paulina might be traditionally feminine but “She surrendered her individuality for a boy! I’m so proud of her!” is not a line that any human girl in the history of human girls would say unironically.  There’s also a few too many jokes that basically boil down to “male character is emasculated/ vulnerable/ likes feminine-coded things, hyuk hyuk hyuk”.

I’m bringing this up not just because they’re gross cheap gags but because for Sam specifically, this pervasive low-key contempt for women and femininity in the writing, especially the tendency to portray almost every non-sympathetic girl her age as one-note, brainless boy-crazy cliches that she can’t connect with, really does not help her character.  I would have loved to see more genuine interaction between Sam and the other girls, even if it most of it was Kim Possible-Bonnie Rockwaller style antagonistic rapport.  We could have seen her develop some kind of tenuous connection with one of the A-listers, or even just have a secondary-female-character to be cordial towards - kind of like Mikey is for Danny and Tucker.  Hold up, outside of Valerie, Star and Paulina are there any named secondary girls at Casper High?  Sam doesn’t seem to have a single female friend in the show and considering how vocally judgemental she is, it can almost read like she’s rejecting them outright for being girls, which really undercuts attempts to make her seem feminist. (I mentioned it in a past tag but this feels like an early-2000s-male-writer mistake of equating Female Empowerment™ with the ability to tear down other women and belittle traditional femininity - which isn’t so much Feminism as it is Internalised Misogyny.)  Even just mixing up the pairings to put her with Star instead of Kwan in Lucky in Love would have helped.

I’d have also liked to see more awareness of and consistency in the conflict between her activism and her wealth.  It kind of undercuts the significance of her activism when you realise that she’s wealthy enough to make these choices with little cost to herself; it’s much easier to go vegan or buy renewable/ recyclable /sustainable /fair-trade when price isn’t an issue, especially if you also have serving staff to offset the time cost.  Once you notice this it makes her activism feel more tokenistic, and also like she doesn’t really understand her own privilege when she tries to push her agendas onto the school/ her classmates without considering why they mightn’t be able to do so as easily.  It’s also weird because the source of her family’s wealth is a cellophane-toothpick-wrapper (i.e. something that basically produces litter) but she still seems very comfortable enjoying the material benefits despite her pro-eco anti-consumerism sentiments.  It’s bizarre that she’s more concerned with the social consequence of ‘fake friends’ than the ethics of capitalism.  It can come off a bit “do as I say, not as I do”. 

It would have been nice for the show to give more screen time to reinforcing that Sam is aware of that conflict and is making an active effort to hold to her principles even at the cost of personal comfort; maybe showing some unease at the source of her wealth, trying to live below her means and only spend up on ethical/ eco-friendly/ sustainable products, op-shopping or hand-making her goth accessories, going out of her way to re-use or re-purpose things even if buying a new one would be ‘better’, actually showing or referencing her doing substantial hands-on activities (e.g. going off-screen or taking the boys to do tree-planting, litter pickups, soup kitchens, animal-shelter work etc).  Just something to help make it clearer that she genuinely cares and isn’t just doing the low-mess lip-service activities because she enjoys indulging in the image of Wokeness™.

These things would have helped regardless of how her family was written but let’s hop back on topic and talk about them.  I don’t have any prescriptive preference but let’s spitball a few different options and how they could have played:

#1 Sam’s parents don’t respect her interests and want her to fit a mold

In this case I’d make it that they don’t really pay attention or show much caring for who Sam really is as a person; their image of and interactions with her are more of a fantasised version of the ‘perfect’ daughter they want, they make very little effort to encourage her actual interests and are perhaps restrictive about what they let her do in the few moments when they do bother paying close attention (you might compare to some versions of Tim Drake’s Parents from DC Comics).  Classist, overly image-conscious, snobby and superficial.  

This would be the most sympathetic portrayal of her character without changing it very far from how it is in DP canon - helping contextualise why Sam is so fiercely defensive of her autonomy, why she pushes so hard when trying to get her opinions across and why she’s so judgemental of rich people and disdainful towards classic femininity - even possibly explaining her more hypocritical/ manipulative/ entitled traits as learned behaviours.  It would also give her more legitimate reason to be less empathetic towards others - after all even if they have struggles and family troubles it’s still better than what she’s dealing with (Danny’s parents may not be attentive but hey, at least they love him for himself, right?)

For this version I’d probably put her arc around growing past the “suffering olympics” model of viewing other people’s pain, but also in her finding family in Danny/Tucker/her Grandmother’s circle of connections, learning how to have healthy power-balance and communication in her relationships with others (aka: getting over her hypocrisy and realising that assertiveness is about communicating that “I matter, and so do you”) and pulling away from her parents’ influence - maybe even living with Ida a lot of the time.

#2 Sam’s parents are well-intentioned but overbearing

For this one, Sam’s parents would genuinely want the best for her… only they have an overly old-fashioned and restrictive view of what “the best” is and are a bit set-in-their-ways.  They’d probably view “hippies” and “goth” stuff as “dangerously rebellious hooligan-activities” and likely to be somewhat patronising about Sam’s passion for it being “just a phase”.   They’d be worried about her hanging around “the Fenton Kid” and “the Foley Kid” both because Danny’s parents are kind of irresponsible screwballs about safety but also because they put a lot of value in image due to their belief in social connections being the way to get ahead.  Them pushing Sam towards classic femininity and specific activities would be less about disrespecting her identity and more about their overly narrow view of “success” and worrying that she’s going to end up losing valuable opportunities and “wasting her life” if she keeps on down her current path.

This would still give Sam more sympathetic context for her views on femininity and pushiness about self-expression. 

Personally I think the arc I’d like to see here is one themed around responsible/considerate assertiveness and valuing alternative perspectives.  Sam coming to realise her own hypocrisy - that she can’t push her views onto others while complaining about her parents doing the same - developing more sympathy for Danny as she realises that he’s in a similar position with Jack’s insistence that he’ll inherent Fentonworks and his parents’ narrow-mindedness about ghosts, interacting with other girls and seeing their perspective, learning how to assert her opinion while making allowances for others’ (maybe an alternative version where she connects with Star in Lucky in Love and, after Aragon’s defeat in Beauty Marked, Sam still says she personally thinks it’s dumb but then steps down and lets Star win because she understands that Star values it), and getting her Grandma’s help in convincing her parents to widen their perspective while still responding to their concerns.

(This one has the overall kindest message and I think I like it best).

#3 Sam’s parents are trying and Sam’s actually the problem 

This one is the one that’s the least sympathetic to Sam.  Her parents still don’t get the Goth/Activist thing and they have some concerns about safety but they understand that it makes her happy and they’re okay with it so long as she’s not getting into trouble or mixing up with anyone that could hurt her.  Them pushing her towards more feminine/optimistic things is less pushing and more trying to encourage some hobbies that offer a bit more common ground.  They might have reservations, and they might not always have time, but they would like to be part of their daughter’s life… except for the problem that Sam has wrapped herself up in a teen-drama persecution complex and got it into her head that they “won’t accept her” are “pushing her to be someone else” and “don’t understand” so there’s no point even trying to explain or connect.  In this one Ida isn’t taking sides on purpose but she ends up accidentally enabling Sam a little because Sam reminds her of her younger days and she likes spoiling her granddaughter (and doesn’t much care for her daughter-in-law).

In this case Sam’s flaws would be framed much more as flaws born of her making superficial snap judgements, thinking she knows better and being too proud to admit she’s wrong.  There would definitely be moments of her coming across as an entitled, privileged holier-than-thou brat who invents problems because she likes feeling sorry for herself, especially early in her arc.

This version of the story would go the hardest on Sam with the general lesson being “you need to respect that other people are people who have their own problems, feelings and needs that are as real and valid as yours”.  She’d still have good qualities and Danny and Tucker would still obviously like and value her but there’d also be times of strain where they don’t want to hurt her feelings but are clearly getting worn out with the nonsense.  At its worst, maybe a “you’re like mustard. Great in small quantities, but a lot of you is…a lot” type confrontation.

I’d also give the secondary cast the most fleshing out, agency and sympathetic-ness here, and have beats where Sam has to realise that they’re lot more complex than her 2D stereotyped view of them and are dealing with actual serious problems to which hers are largely non-issues by comparison.  I’d probably play Dash and Paulina similar to in the fic Alibi (go read it, it’s good) - Dash being gay and performing aggression because toxic masculinity, insecurity, and being terrified of anyone outside the A-listers finding out (still not okay that he’s a bully but at least more understandable), while Paulina is hiding high emotional perceptiveness behind her pretty face and deliberately bearding for him to keep bigoted parents/ teachers off his back.  I’d also probably have a subplot in an alternate Life Lessons where Sam follows Valerie around because jealous/possessive and, like Danny, ends up realising that she’s working two jobs to help her Dad with their financial problems.  Basically she’d be getting hit with the Reality Stick a lot.

There’d also be more instances of Sam getting directly called out by the other girls. Fleshing them out as people and showing that their dislike is less superficiality and more because she unfairly judges and antagonises them all the time.  Giving them more agency in Beauty Marked and have them be direct about “we know you’re just here to be smug about how much ‘Better’ you are but have you considered that we’re doing this for ourselves and actually enjoy it?”.  Having Paulina be less “tee hee I am indeed a Witch” in Parental Bonding and more “Ugh fine, fine, I don’t really like him that much but you were being so obviously Jealous and Judge-y and I figured if I played a little you might actually step up.  But fine, if you’re sure.  Here’s your necklace back, I’ll let your dorky ‘friend’ down tomorrow.  But pro-tip?  You like someone you gotta go for it - otherwise don’t complain when your boy-toy gets taken by someone who actually means it.”  (Still petty, but emotionally intelligent pettiness, which… not really much better, but at least more interesting.)  A lot more of Sam realising that she’s not a particularly good feminist and that she’s no more entitled to Danny’s affections than anyone else.

To be honest, while I could say the most about this version and there’s a lot of potential drama there it’s the one I like the least because it means canonising my least favourite proto-abusive bad-faith narcissistic reading of Sam, casting her as an almost-villain and essentially punishing her over and over until she character develops into a decent human being.  Sure it’s an important message about how you treat others but it’s not a very nice or kind story and while there might be the odd fic that makes it cathartic I can’t say I’m a huge fan.

Again, if I had to pick, I’d probably go with something like #2. 

But there we go.  Another thrilling instalment in the “overly long posts about Sam Manson” saga.  

Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for stopping by!

[kurenaiwataru]

Victor Grantz Observations

I’ve been playing Victor Grantz the Postman for 4 days now, and I’ve decided to compile some observations and headcanons into a convenient post for my own benefit. If anyone else finds this interesting, that’s cool, but this will be mainly for my own personal use. Check the Read More for my humongous paragraphs filled with Victor Grantz observations and headcanons. They’ll probably show up in my fics at some point, whenever I get around to writing again. Until then, enjoy all of this nonsense.

1. Firstly, Victor is a lot quieter than the other survivors. Yes, he pants and moans and makes ghastly noises from time to time, but on the whole, he keeps his mouth shut. Quite literally. The voice recorded for him, in addition to being extremely soft and light, has mainly an array of muffled throat noises to pair with the fact that his mouth is sewn shut. Even when he gets sent off on the rocket chair, he doesn’t scream but lets out a muffled cry. It’s very cute and I do enjoy it.

2. Victor is a genuinely good boy. Despite how he seems to not enjoy people in face-to-face settings, he has a deep rooted belief in the morality and goodness of people, finding that humanity’s moral goodness is merely hidden beneath the veneer each person shows to the world. This is in contrast to how Aesop views people, where he would rather interact with a dead thing rather than a living person. In that way, Victor has a charm that reminds me of Kurenai Wataru from Kamen Rider Kiva. I mentioned this on Twitter, and I still hold to it now that I’ve had so much time with the character. Wataru was also one to think that humanity was depraved and unclean, yet he believed in the hidden goodness of mankind and fought for them as Kiva. That is also Victor’s charm, only with handwritten letters instead of vampire armor and a demonic horse motorcycle.

3. Victor’s empathy shines through via his in-game actions. One of his traits is that he is empathetic, and I feel it whenever I play as him. I’m sure it’s because I’m a weirdo, but whenever I send off a letter, I hope it arrives safely. When Wick barks to indicate the letter has been delivered, relief washes over me and I feel so much joy that it was received safely. I’ll often get thanked for the letters, which isn’t necessary but greatly appreciated. It makes me feel like I’m doing a good job, even when I’m not utilizing the benefits of the buff. And Wick the Post Dog is very cute and hardworking. I always feel bad when he can’t deliver a letter or I send him off and it’s too late.

4. Speaking of Wick, here are some observations about him. He’s a weird mix of the seer’s owl and the wildling’s boar. When you use owl sight, the observed character can’t see the owl until it’s needed, which is how Wick is sometimes. Wick isn’t seen unless he’s needed, making him invisible until you’ve decided on the letter you wish to send. Once you give Wick a letter, he will appear visibly on the field like the boar and you can crash into him if you’re not looking. I think hunters can hit Wick, too, but I’ve never seen it since I give Wick letters and don’t see him until I send another letter. The only other times I see him are if we happen to be running in the same direction or if I accidentally crash into him while we’re going opposite directions. He’s very small and hard to see if you’re wearing The Embrace, since it makes him black. I’ve been using Victor’s base skin since Friday after crashing into Wick several times during one match. He’s a lot easier to see when he’s a bright yellow dog. Darned good doggo, 13/10, would pet infinitely.

5. From here on out, it’s headcanons. While playing Victor for… 4 hours… yesterday, I started to wonder what exactly was inside the envelopes he sends out. I then envisioned him writing each letter by hand before his matches, making sure he has a surplus to send to people. Sometimes he gets so excited about how well he’s written a letter that he wishes to read it again, which is why he opens letters surreptitiously during matches, as though to remind himself of what good writing skills he has.

Anyway, after thinking about that, I decided to try my hand at writing such letters given the letter types he has available as prompts:

Urgent Letter

Farewell Letter

I am writing you this to inform you that I am leaving. The time we spent together was beautiful, but it had to end. To part ways is a normal experience, as people ebb and flow from our lives like the tide. Each new phase of the moon brings new people for us to experience and love, just as it takes people away, and I now must away with the tide.

Should we see each other again someday, I hope that you will remember the happiness we felt. There is no malice in this parting, for farewells are hope for a bright future apart. May time be gentle as the waves of change flow over you.

Victor

Tranquility Letter

I hope this letter finds you well, for now there is peace, though its tranquility I know is fleeting. Time will find us, and when it does, hardship will prevail again. The waltz of time dances around us, and we are in one upward beat of its musical rhythm. The next beat will fall upon us, and time will rage with its horrors again. Yet now we can ease ourselves into this momentary peace.

Do not think to darkness. Do not think to tragedy. If famine and war and violence befall us, we will be together in it. We will persevere and strive towards living, to find that beat of tranquility again.

Time dances on to its own beat, and we can join its dance if we are surefooted.

Be safe and at peace,

Victor

Bravery Letter

Rise up, my friend and ally, and throw yourself into the fray! You are strong and brave beyond compare; have confidence in yourself and we shall not lose. Fight on, brethren! Victory shall be in our grasp should we merely strive to obtain it. Reach out your hand and grasp victory! Hold it firm in your hand and never let go. We must survive to another day. Be like the sun, rising and setting in glory with each turning of the Earth. Do not think to failure. Do not think to the endless bitter outcomes. We can win the day.

Stay safe, my dear friend and ally.

Victor

Inspiring Letter

Have you ever looked to the sky and thought of its brilliance? On a summer day, bright and warm, we are treated to bountiful warmth and beauty. Each day sprawls before us in splendid colors, radiating their joy endlessly. Everything is verdant and rich, succulent in its glory each day. Even in rain and gloom, colors shine to warm even a dull day.

That is you. You are the summer. When you smile, birds sing of its radiance and send those songs to the wind. You are the brightest and the warmest. You are brilliant in intelligence and warm in kindness. You exude life and color to all who see you, even on days when you lack the confidence to shine. I have seen you shine, and you are stunning.

Shine for everyone. Be brilliant and bright. You are resilient and true willful. Use that willfulness to your advantage and become a beacon in the dark. The path you forge blazes only for you. Cleave the darkness before you and shine towards a brighter tomorrow.

Ever faithful under your light,

Victor

Hope Letter

Do you believe in anything? Do you believe in God? Do you believe in science? Do you believe in the morality of humanity at all? Belief is what drives us to be so resilient and adaptive. We drive ourselves toward betterment because we simply believe that we can be better. What an incredible drive we have!

Tantamount to this drive is a simple belief in hope. A hope is like a wish, but more tangible and real. A hope can be so simple. I hope that you will see me. I hope that you will smile for me. I hope that you will say my name. Such simple desires can keep us motivated for short intervals. On a day that drudges on, one can merely hope that it will be lunchtime soon. On a day when the air is cold and the sky is dark, one can hope that the clouds will part and bring the sun back to smile on us. Hope isn’t as lofty as wishing. I could wish for something unfathomable, such as a giant swimming pool filled of ice cream and chocolate pudding, but wishes rarely come true. With hope, there is a flicker of reality in them and with enough hard work that hope can be obtained.

I hope that you have belief in hope. I am sending you this in the hope that you receive it. I am sending you this in the hope that it will aid you in some way. I know not how, but if it is helpful to you in anyway, that is all I hope for.

I hope to see you again. I hope that we will share a knowing smile between us. I hope that you will say my name and that the word is filled with your gratitude that I helped you, even if my aid was so small.

Those are my sincerest hopes and I have put all of my belief into each one.

Stay safe, my friend, and return to me.

Victor

These are just quick samples that I whipped up, but I’d like to think that he is feverishly writing, knowing that his letters inspire hope in the hearts of those he sends them to. I feel like it’s a lovely sentiment that he endeavors to bring just a modicum of inspiration to his teammates, even if he fails in the match. Especially if he’s sending out the permanent buffs. That’s his last wish, essentially. He wants you to succeed where he has failed because he has faith that you can triumph.

Those screenshots are mine btw. If you want to see them all in tweet format, you can find them on my Twitter account. Feel free to RT if you think it’ll help someone.

6. Victor is quiet, meek, and a nervous wreck, but he has a heart of gold. Much like Aesop, he’s shy and not the most forthright with his emotions. He hides himself behind a mask of silence, as I enumerated in How Do You Explain Love? I wouldn’t say that he’s afraid of intimacy, but more that he worries that intimacy may shatter his worldview. I doubt that having his world be shattered in such a way would leave Victor in a poor situation. He already has belief in the goodness of humanity, as witnessed by his introductory video, yet he could be left shaken by the thought that not all people wear such reprehensible masks. To know that there are people who wear their honesty plain as the nose on their face would be a shock to him, but I think he would readily accept it. Despite how he hasn’t experienced much kindness in his life, he’s always open to giving kindness to anyone he meets.

7. And I believe that that kindness could be extended even to hunters. Though they pursue him daily for death, he likely understands that it’s merely their job and laments not being able to give them letters as he can for his allies. Perhaps if the hunters got warm, heartfelt letters like the survivors do, then they would not be so cruel and heartless. He knows that many of the hunters were human once, and he would likely want to appeal to the remainder of their humanity by offering them comfort in the form of a beautiful letter. A wonderfully crafted letter can bring even the strongest men to tears, and I’m certain that Victor would feel that the hunters are deserving of that kindness despite how terrifying and terrible they are.

…Okay, I think I’m done. Sorry this is so long. If you see me in game, I’ll try my best to be a good letter fairy, delivering hope and inspiration to all!

[moviegroovies]

so to me, one of the hallmarks of a good piece of media is people willingly thinking about the characters after it’s over.

obviously, this isn’t like, a 100% success rate kind of thing. there are objectively good, enjoyable pieces of media out there that have no “fandom” type presence on the internet, because, while it exhibited great worldbuilding/storytelling/framing/what have you, it just wasn’t made up of the kinds of characters that people latch on to; the joke about avatar (2009) having less than 100 fics on ao3 despite being the best selling movie of all time for a solid decade is well known because of this phenomenon exactly. amazing cgi, solid plot, but at the end of the day, not that many people cared about jake sully. even still, i think this character-imprinting thing has an important, often overlooked role in intrinsically endearing people to movies that, outside of this factor, might be easily forgettable or even outright disliked. 

case in point: my movie of the day/week/month (how often do i post on this blog, anyway?)....

that’s right, lads, today i’m going to talk about the lost boys. 

if you’ve seen the lost boys, you’ll probably know that it’s not like, objectively, a masterpiece. in fact, if i were feeling particularly uncharitable, it would be easy for me to describe it as a fairly straightforward, low-budget horror b-movie, with a aesop-heavy and simplistic plot and a penchant for cheesy special effects, saved only by its rockin’ soundtrack.

...but i won’t.

i won’t, because using that description would leave out a detail i think it’s completely unfair of me not to touch on: the characters. i love them!! i was hooked from just about the very start of the movie by david’s creepy, affably evil leadership style, sam’s dorky little brother-ness, and michael’s 3cool5school airs. each of the characters, down to the frog brothers (named edgar and allan after the esteemed mr. poe, which really tickled me), the other lost boys, grandpa, lucy, and max, have their own distinct quirkiness that makes them memorable and draws me to want to explore more of their world, more of their stories. 

not enough to watch the infamous direct-to-dvd sequels, of course, but you get what i’m saying. 

there’s an old tip in writing that says something along the lines of “good characters can save a bad plot, but a good plot can’t save bad characters,” and that pretty much sums up my thoughts exactly on this movie. like, the plot itself is pretty much the message ‘peer pressure is bad’ wrapped up in some ugly monster makeup; not exactly cult classic material. however, like i’ve said, the characters and the fact that we get genuine, endearing interactions between them outside of just furthering the plot save it from the dumpster fire and, together, put together a story greater than the sum of its parts. no, it’s not a fuckin’ cinematic masterpiece by any stretch of the words, but it’s a fun movie, and there’s a reason i’ve watched it four times in the past three days, you know? 

(a good chunk of that reason was me slowly losing my grip on my sanity as i frantically put in the dvd over and over again, desperately trying to make myself attracted to kiefer sutherland so i could enjoy the movie to the fullest extent of my ability. i’m proud to announce a perfect success rate, and a slightly degraded sense of taste in men, reflecting the completion of that goal. 

if you too want to find something to lust after beyond his objectively ugly as sin face, trust me when i say it’s all in the voice. mmmmm) 

my favorite thing that the lost boys did was the exploration of different types of friendship and familial bonds. that’s the most striking thing about the movie for me; not only are the characters individuals whom i would like to explore, their interactions with each other are touching and worth exploring in their own right. there’s definitely something about some stories that drives people to write fanfiction (or is that just me? ha ha), and imo, the lost boys totally has it. in fact, while the fandom is sitting pretty at 600+ fics on ao3 (take that, avatar), i was honestly sort of surprised there weren’t more, exploring all the interesting ‘what if’s’ the film presented, and expounding on the bonds that we got to see the effects of in the limited screentime we had. 

what i liked about those bonds was that there were such a multitude of them. there were quite a few platonic bonds making up the crux of the movie (being, in my opinion, much more interesting than the main romantic bond which was explored through star and michael, although isn’t that kind of always the case in these 80′s teen movies? i can’t think of a single designated couple i was actually invested in except for veronica sawyer and jason dean... ferris bueller and sloane peterson, maybe? but i also feel like those two were making a cameron sandwich, so idk if it counts lol), but the way they were treated was cool in that they were unique: we got to see two different kinds of sibling bonds, with michael and sam emerson joking around in an easy, teasing way that totally screamed “wow, this movie was written by someone who actually has a brother” to me (isn’t it sad that some people have clearly never so much as seen a set of siblings in their life, judging by the way they write them?) while edgar and allan frog seem to take themselves more seriously, like a pair of army buddies, we got to see the pack-like bond of the lost boys and the (mostly) good-natured way they hazed michael into their group before things went to shit with them, we got to see star (and some of the lost boys, if you pay attention) being protective and maternal around laddie, and we got to see the uneasy alliance turned nerdy friendship between the frogs and sam. there are also three parent-child bonds that get explored, between lucy and her father (it’s a pretty sweet take on the kindhearted grown child taking care of senile-ish father thing) and lucy and her boys, each of which she has a distinct relationship with: sam is the baby, while michael she seems to level with and trust more, even after he starts getting into trouble and acting up. 

then of course there are two (three, if you count the widow johnson/grandpa emerson subplot, which.... i totally do) romantic relationships: star and michael falling in a sort of love-at-first-sight passionate relationship that soon dooms mikey and eventually saves star, while lucy tries her best to get back into the dating game with max, who is nefarious, of course, but also a little bit sad. remember what i said about what-ifs? i would love to see a fic exploring what might have happened had max’s plan worked out after all, but i guess that’s neither here nor there.

not to be a blatant slash shipper jumping on any two male characters who move or anything, but i think possibly the most important/influential relationship in the whole thing was that between david and michael; michael, obviously, got drawn into the lost boys’ circle by his insta-attraction to star, but he sticks around because of david. he pretty much ignores star once they get to the cliff that night, his attention focused on david because he’s there, and he’s intense, and michael is kind of a dumb bi bitch totally captivated. he drinks max’s blood at david’s taunting, and in direct opposition to star’s advice. there’s a lot i could say on this subject but tbh i’m running out of steam, so that might be a thing for a whole different post.

basically, there are a lot of cool interactions in this movie, and i think a lot of film makers could take note of that. even critically acclaimed, award winning movies being made in today’s world tend to fail to hit that special note, that character-imprintation which makes the audience not only stay engaged to the end, but also to care. not every movie needs that, of course; not everything can launch a darkhorse fandom the way the lost boys has, and honestly, not everything should... unless it’s trying to cater to my interests, in which case, well. 

if all movies were made to cater to my interests, i would have the time of my fucking life, but it’d probably be dark days for the rest of y’all.

thinking about it now, the lack of that element is kind of what makes me wary of the horror genre in the first place; i find so many of those movies just boring as all hell, because they’re too into the “scaring” thing without any of the “caring” thing. people, if we don’t care about the characters we’re watching, then who the fuck gives a shit if they get devoured by shitsucking vampires, anyway? finding the lost boys, a “horror” (i guess i use the term loosely) movie which relied heavily on those character interactions was honestly a godsend, because THIS is what i want to see more of. going down that line of thought, i think it’s honestly a shame and a half that the sequels which joel schumacher planned never got to see the light of day (and, of course, that we were instead left with the tribe, which for the life of me i refuse to fucking watch). the interactions between the lost boys could have been the most interesting part of the movie, if only they had been spotlighted a bit more. that would have been the case in the proposed prequel, the beginning, which would see the boys start out before they became vampires at all. reading about the script for that is honestly sending me, tbh. we could have seen that, and what we got instead were “sequels” that focused mainly on the frogs, when they connected to the original movie at all? where’s the fucking justice?

whatever. that’s the one thing about this franchise i never could stomach; all the damn frog brothers.

(till next time!)

[thefitnesspreacher-blog]

I've spent the last few years working in the gym industry. I started at an entry level sales position, and quickly moved my way up the ladder to Sales Manager, even landing at General Manager after a short while. Through this climb I have witnessed the importance of OTHER PEOPLE on YOUR success​. When I first got started, I had a manager, who I'll call M. M was not the most naturally gifted sales guy. He was hardly the most attractive guy either (taking pride in his BRUTE appearance as a professional wrestler), being 6'3 with a caveman beard and well above 250 he actually was quite intimidating from afar. But when you got to know M as a person, he was one of the most genuinely caring individuals I ever worked for. He would go above and beyond to build relationships even with the lowest level employees. Because of this employees would love to work for M. He had each department manager running full steam, club was hitting goal and everyone was happy. M was quickly promoted to a larger location in the area, and my direct sales manager, J, was promoted to replace him. Things changed tremendously when J took over. For years, he was by far the most talented sales guy in the company, leading all sales reps for most of his tenure in the gym. He was an HR nightmare in his youth and had a pretty bad reputation in the area. But he was the most skilled guy around, and boy could he talk. J, groomed myself to be his replacement. He knew I had the skill set, and with a little manipulation and guarantee of promotion and increase pay, he quickly had me on board. Because of this we never skipped a beat with our sales numbers as I was prepared to follow J up the "ladder to success". But it didn't take long to notice something changing, the morale of the club had dropped significantly. Although J still knew everyone's name and said hello every morning, his superficial interaction techniques worked on prospects, but people that interacted with him daily could see his insincerity, and selfishness behind his pretty smile. I lived in that gym to make it run. I worked 65-70 hours a week, took no days off, all while maintaining my 2 a day bodybuilding program and 6 meals a day. I spent more time there than anywhere else in the world. As did my best friend and my fellow manager, AJ. She was there as much as I was and she put her heart and soul into the PEOPLE that worked for her. She had flourished under M, but she began to hate it under J. He only cared about performance and production, he didn't care about the person. After a few months of "success" on paper, the club was beginning to crumble. Nobody wanted to work for J and he thought he was the most important cog in the wheel so he would just replace anyone who didn't see his vision. After a while because I had learned from the best, I was "living the dream" (this is how we would both respond whenever asked how we were doing) I had the best sales numbers around, so much so I began to make more money than J based off the way my comp plan was structured. This did not sit well with J. He began to find all the many reasons why I was unprepared for my new position and began to nitpick at my downfall. How could he turn on ME, of all people, his faithful protege?! One day, shortly after that he let go of my friend, AJ. This was the last straw for myself as well. I told him how I felt then hit him with a mic drop and he didn't know how to respond. He tried to convince me to stay, but he thought he could handle it alone. Long story short, after losing his 2 best employees the club was never the same. J couldn't maintain the sales performance I did with so many other responsibilities on his plate, and put simply, AJ's former staff all hated him because her attitude toward him had trickled down. A few months later J was let go. I had already moved on to be GM at my own gym. But after the situation with J, I realized how important other people, and their support is to your individual success. I vowed as a leader I would always strive to put the people first. Not performance. J had overlooked something very key, performance is important, but continued performance is better. He focused on his success first and people second. We were no more, or less, skilled working under M, but we WANTED to work for him. So we would give even more than necessary. In the long run the relationship with others he built FIRST, actually drove further success for himself SECOND. This was the approach I chose as a manager and I rapidly grew mentally, and financially. I strived to have a team that WANTED to work for me. So much so that when I finally stepped out of the gym industry recently and into Real Estate Investment, the gym I left fell to pieces because they "didn't have the same vibe", "it wasn't the same working for another manager." Look at it through Aesop's idiom and I'll be done, if you had a goose that could lay golden eggs, (Production) would you kill the goose to get the egg inside? Or would you acknowledge the ability of the goose to produce golden eggs (Production Capability) Then take care of the goose, feed it, make it comfortable for the goose to continue to push out the golden eggs moving forward? If you want to be successful, if you want to lead others in any extent you MUST understand this concept. Others can make the golden egg, it is your job to see their production capability and not just what you see they can do for you right now. You cannot do it alone, you need others, and you must be intentional to add value and build relationships to continue the production of golden eggs. I could go on forever here, but I'll leave that for an upcoming YouTube video (keep a look out). I challenge you to spend this week putting yourself second, and finding at least 1 golden goose in your life, that maybe you have not acknowledged before, and find 3 ways to build that golden eggs production. If you can't, maybe you can find a goose you've already killed just to get the golden egg and find 3 things you could, or should have done differently. Growing physically is cool guys, but this is next level stuff. #MindOverMuscle

[jam2289]

Creating Opportunities

I've had more opportunities than most. I've let many slip through my hands. Nevertheless, I create more.

I remember the first time that I realized creating your own opportunities was unusual. I wanted to get a glimpse into the world of real estate when I was in high school. I was going to the Muskegon Area Career Technical Center for marketing and accounting. I went to the office and inquired into doing a real estate internship, how that would work, and if they could help me with it. This was not a normal inquiry and the woman was quite excited about it. I suspect that her normal job was boring and she was happy to break up the monotony with something new and interesting.

I did the real estate internship in the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. I still remember one of my classmates, Aaron, asking how I was able to arrange unique things like that, because it wasn't my first unique activity. I'm not sure I even answered him, I'm sure that if I did it wasn't a good answer. I didn't fully realize it was a unique thing to arrange something like that, I wanted to do it, it seemed like a good idea, I tried to do it, and it happened.

After I turned 18 in February I took a two-week intensive real estate course and got my salesperson license over spring break. When I went back to school I remember sitting at this round table with a few people at it. People were talking about what we had done over spring break, kids had gone on different vacations and such. Someone asked me and I told them I had gotten my real estate license at a course in Grand Rapids. It stopped the conversation. I was not well versed in interpersonal interactions at the time, social interactions in general kind of confused me. It was just a novel enough answer to make everyone have to reorient themselves. One girl, Ashley, looked at me in that flirtatious way that is so disorienting to teenage boys and said, "Oh!, hello Jeff." I had no idea how to process that at the time.

I've done quite a number of things like this. Most of them don't come through: like when I applied to the Peace Corp after I did EMT training, or when I was invited to interview for Who Wants To Be a Millionaire because I was a member of Mensa. Some of them do work out and then I get the questions about how I did it: like when I started teaching English online - I thought it might be worth looking into, I messaged 50 people that were doing it about what I should do, 10 responded, 5 were useful, and 1 offered me a job and I started taking a course another had recommended. Now I've taught over 1,200 students online.

I'm almost always throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. I'm right in the middle of a bunch of these things, so I figured I would take this opportunity to show what the chaos is like when you're in the middle of trying to find interesting opportunities.

I have a few ongoing things of note. One, I'm writing a comic book with an illustrator. How that happened is simple, but not straightforward. I went to a venture capital fund meeting where I saw several people I know. One of them I knew from Toastmasters. Michelle was judging pitches that night. We talked and I told her about the writing I've been doing. She wanted to connect me with a friend of hers that's an illustrator and had an idea for a comic book, he just needed a writer. Chuck and I met the next week, now I'm writing a comic book, "Dungeon Buddies".

I used to listen to 88.9 Hey Radio in the car (my radio is broken right now). They are a volunteer organization. I figured I would message them and see if there was something that I could do from home that might be helpful. Bill asked me what I wanted to do. I said I didn't know and sent him my resume. Bill said he had thought about doing a blog for the radio station for years, he just hadn't gotten around to it. I thought that would be perfect. We tried it. Now I write a column for a radio station analyzing the lyrics of Christian rock songs.

I started sending those articles to the bands that I was writing about. Several of the bands really liked how I went into depth about their lyrics. They had never seen anything like it before. I thought it might be interesting to do in a speech format.

I've done quite a bit of public speaking, mostly through Toastmasters. I've won a number of speaking contests, spoken at the Gerber Baby Food Festival, given a keynote address that the billion dollar company Sodexo uses for new hires, and a few other things. I'm also giving speeches at the Harry Potter festival in Sparta, MI this year. I wrote a few articles on Harry Potter. The organizer of the festival, Rebecca, saw one of the articles and loved it. She invited me to participate. I said yes. She asked me what I would like to do. I said I could write or speak. She said she has wanted to have a Professor of Muggle Studies presentation for years, she just hadn't been able to arrange it yet. I said I could do that. Now I'm doing it.

Jerry, a friend from Toastmasters gives presentations at Christian Haven Home in Grand Haven once a month. I asked him if I could help. He said yes. He asked if I wanted to speak, I said yes. I prepared a speech about resentment as the most destructive emotion based on an article I wrote. There was some miscommunication about the time so I ended up opening the meeting before Jerry arrived. I gave that speech. At the end of Jerry's presentation there was a little more time so I gave another speech about the depths of philosophical, psychological, and theological questions that are explored in rock lyrics. It went well.

I thought this might be a cool thing to do at rock concerts. I messaged the two bands that were the most excited about how I went into depth with their lyrics: Collision of Innocence and Amongst the Giants. They both thought it was an interesting idea, maybe even a good one. It won't work on their current tours, but it might on the next ones. Since that didn't go through I messaged Bill at the radio station and asked if he had any connections that could get me on stage at the Unity rock festival in Muskegon for the same thing. He's looking into it.

Here's what these conversations look like with the bands. Collision of Innocence first.

- - - - - - -

Hi Jeffrey, This is Randy. This is one of the most amazing things. I’m pretty much speechless. Thanks for diving so deep into these words and meanings and offering your time and effort in to doing so! I also like the fact that although we are a faith based band, you didn’t kill the article with religion. It was well thought out but it still offered what we set out to do, which was to create a relationship between those who are struggling and a God through Christ. Amazing work my friend. God Bless & thanks for the work. Keep in touch and hope you can catch our music as it is being released!

COI~

*God through Christ (not a God through Christ). Sorry typo...

I appreciate it. I'm never sure who is going to like that style. I've tried taking a deep approach and a light approach. Bill from the radio station and several people I know have commented on how much they like it when I go deep. I like it too, so I do it. Amongst the Giants also loved my deep dive into their lyrics. That was the first time that I went really intense with this series. It's a real challenge to write about all of these different perspectives at once about controversial topics in a technical way that people can connect with and understand. I've never discussed this with a band before and I have no idea if this would work, so I want your opinion on it. I also do various public speaking. I'm giving over an hour of speeches in front of a crowd of hundreds of people this summer at a Harry Potter festival, for instance. Do you think it would work, and would anyone be interested in, having me speak at a concert about these things? Talking about the layers of meaning behind lyrics and such.

Actually that would be pretty great. Just a word of “the musical” side of it, it would be great if you could get the band to do backing music while you talk. I would say as well it would have to be quick and to the point, entertaining, and passionate. Just like music, it’s also entertainment but the entertainment brings a great message. God Bless brother. Appreciate the good vibes.

That's a good idea. Yeah, it would have to be presented differently than the writing, with shorter more impactful packaging, and just focusing on a piece or two of the lyrics I think.

Are you guys coming to Michigan any time soon?

Not as of now. We do have a show in Indiana for Kingdom Come Fest. June 15th

That's not too bad, about 4 hours for me. Would you be interested in doing it? I gave two speeches yesterday at a senior center. The first was about how resentment is the most destructive emotion and went from Aesop's fable of the Fox and the Grapes, through Cain and Able as the main emphasis, and how it shows the underlying motivations that lead to things like Columbine. The second was on the first stanza of your song and how popular Christian music has depth and meaning to it. They liked it, but the old people said they can't understand the words in rock, lol. I gave a speech today about Leprechauns.

Hey Jeffrey, man that’s super awesome of you to offer. Unfortunately, we only have a 30 minute time slot and 15 minute set up time so we wouldn’t be able to spare any extra time at a Festival event. If we somehow do something with more flexible time we would definetly like to chat further about it. Thank you once again brother. Great talent!!! ☝️

God Bless

Sounds good.

- - - - - - -

And here's the conversation with Amongst the Giants.

- - - - - - -

I know you guys really liked the article that I wrote about you for 88.9 Hey Radio. I just wrote one for Collision of Innocence and they really liked it. Here it is: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/03/889-hey-radio-collision-of-innocence.html

I was chatting with them about an idea I had and I wanted your opinion on it. Do you think it would work, and would people be interested, in having something like this done as a speech before or during a concert? Collision of Innocence thought it might be a good idea to have a bit of the instrumental music playing in the background. I have some public speaking experience, for instance I'm giving over an hour of speeches in front of crowds with hundreds of people this summer at a Harry Potter festival. The spoken form would have to have a bit of a different approach from the written articles. I would pull out just a few lyrics and make a few points to help people look deeper into the depths of the lyrics and what they could mean to them. What do you think?

Awesome man!

That could be cool! :-)

Are you guys coming to Michigan any time soon?

I don’t think on this tour but possibly the summer rock fest

Sounds good.

- - - - - - -

Will anything come of it? I don't know. Does it matter? It might.

In this very article I've tried starting a few stories with "I remember...". That's because I'm thinking about writing a series of memoirs. I've been told by dozens of people at this point that "You should write a book on that!" after I've told them about my trip climbing Mt. Rainier, or my misadventure in Kenya. I've felt odd about the idea of writing a memoir, but I've been keeping notes on it for a few months now. I'm thinking about calling it "I Remember", so I'm trying it here. It might become something.

I'm editing a flash fiction horror story anthology that I also contributed a story to with my friend Oleg from Russia, "Horror Without Borders". I joined VK, the Russian social network site to see what it was like. Its design is better than Facebook. I didn't know anyone on there so I joined a writing group. I made a few comments. I chatted with Oleg. He liked what I said and asked me if I would edit some subtitle translations he had done for some short horror films his friends had made. I did that. I did more. Now I'm editing two books for his publishing firm, Horrorscope Press.

I just recently sent out this email which explains itself. I attached a story that I wrote in this blog called "The City of Peace". The title of the posts that contain that story are "The XPRIZE Writing Contest...".

- - - - - - -

Last year I met one of your reps at the Logging Festival in Newaygo, Michigan. I had never heard of Usborne Books. We talked for a while and they seemed like nice books. My mother has purchased a few for my niece.

Yesterday my sister hosted a Facebook party for Usborne and it reminded me of something that may interest you. I like framed stories, where we dive into a story from another story. James Cameron used that technique in Titanic, Patrick Rothfuss used it in The Kingkiller Chronicle, and there are many other examples throughout history, like Arabian Nights.

It would be great to use the frame of a bedtime story for a series of books designed as bedtime stories. I've done one chapter of a science fiction story like this. I could do this with different fantasy stories, historical fiction stories, etc. It would be easy to make each chapter come to a single day of reading, a full story fit into a week, a set of stories into a month, and the sets into a year. It would make an excellent program promoted as "A Year of Bedtime Stories for You and Your Kid", "A Year of Bedtime Stories to Share with Your Child", or something to that effect. This example is heavy science fiction, maybe a whole series of genres would be successful. Let me know what you think.

Jeff Martin

- - - - - - -

Will Usborne ever even read my email? Maybe. Will they read my story? Probably not. So! they might.

I'm taking a psychology course on Youtube from Jon Vervaeke called "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis". It's excellent. In there he recommends a book by Susan Wolf called "Meaning in Life and Why It Matters". I don't think it's a very good book. I think parts of it are even dangerous for psychological health. I feel like I should refute it. A commentary would probably work well, where I show what she wrote and I comment on it. I looked in the copyright. To do it commercially would cost thousands of dollars, but if I did it as a dissertation I could get a free academic permission. I'm looking at doing that.

I gave an impromptu speech at a Toastmasters open house at The Book Nook and Java Shop in Montague a few days ago. It was about Leprechauns and an ancient Irish saying. It went off well. Several people commented on how much they liked the speech. Forbes invited me to visit his club and give a speech there. I sent him these options.

- - - - - - -

Alligator Wrestling and the Meaning of Life

Philosophical, Psychological, and Theological Depth in Contemporary Rock Lyrics

How to Not be Suicidal

The How and Why of Writing Comic Books

Resentment as the Path to Destruction

How to Fail and Succeed at Mountain Climbing at the Same Time

- - - - - - -

Here's what the general outline of the first speech would look like. I could use this for any adventure.

- - - - - - -

jump into adventure (alligator wrestling Cujo, mountain climbing cliff, etc.)

3 values - Viktor Frankl - experiential, more than that, attitudinal, (approach to anxiety, approach to uncertainty, approach to the unknown, approach to the world)

personal

3 levels of knowing - Jerome Bruner and Endel Tulving - enactive

some knowledge is lost at each level, if you really want to know you have to do it

is it just a test? It’s an experience, an experience of what?

the loss of control, and regaining

step into the unknown, and conquer it

face anxiety, and overcome it

I encourage you to do the same.

- - - - - - -

A friend of mine, Jon, mentioned after the speech that I should be making money off these speeches. I'm always hesitant about making money off of my abilities, which is a bad life habit and shows marked insecurity, but he also mentioned doing open mic nights. I had never thought about that before. I always think of open mic as music. But, I can give dynamic and interesting speeches. People might like them. I might do that. Maybe I should contact some festivals about giving speeches too. Maybe, maybe. Maybe I should contact adventure companies about giving speeches promoting them and selling tours.

There are other things big and small on my list as well. Health experiments, psychology experiments, social experiments, and the like. Life is much more engaging when you are developing an opportunity, that's why I create them. I encourage you to do that same.

________________________________________________

You can find more of what I'm doing at http://www.JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com

[poeplepound]

!!! i !!!! love these guys so much!! theyre so spectacular omfg !

also i tried to do this once already ! and i was very far into a very long info dump about these guys and i was ALmost done ,,, and my browser crashed, but im doing it again anyway because i need it (i might make typos and sound like a bum jus btw)

sean bonnette and benjamin gallaty started releasing musci together in 2005 after having worked together in a coffeeshop in pheonix arizona - sean was 18, and the buds released their debut album “candy cigarettes and cap guns” and have since released four other full albums, a handful of singles, two eps, and a compilation

sean has a bachelors degree in social work, and has always been working in homeless shelters, volunteering with youth programs, and trying to give a voice to one of the largest groups of stigmatized humans on our planet

candy cigarettes and cap guns was released when sean (30 y/o) was only 18 - and he has since recieved lots of negative feedback on offensive content in ajj’s older songs - to this, sean apologizes but says , quite frankly , that he was a yung edgy boi at that time in his life, and even if his music was offensive then , it represents a time in his life and hes not going to let its content discount that relevance

this is similar to how ajj changed their name from “Andrew jackson jihad”, sean and ben publicly decided to stop using the old band name because they aren’t muslim and have to right to use the term jihad as a part of an aesthetic - neither of the guys expected ajj to get so big, and andrew jackson jihad was adequate for a yung edgy boi garage band

ajjs vast discography centers around themes of social anxiety, privilege, depression, mania, loving how horrible life is, making the most of nothing, being nothing, and how wonderful our shitty planet is

ajj is considered folk-punk, and to a certain degree i agree with that, but to me music genres are irrelevant, and often times musicians fail to fit a category

the idea of organizing music by genres is restricting to a musician and songs and music grow as people do.  in an interview with verbicide, sean said that he acknowledges ajj’s influence on “folk punk” but how the identification of what folk-punk actually is is very vague and unclear, what really Is folk-punk?

ajj has albums that are way more based in folk music, and some that are way more based in punk - some songs are very poppy, some kind of choral in nature - but somehow, ajj has a very cohesive, recognizable sound that never fails to impress and comfort me

this is in part to sean’s wonderful lyrics, they are so very very raw and uncut - he is incredibly relatable while staying poetic, and i admire that So Much.  his use of metaphor in his lyrics has alwasy been apparent, but even more so in his more recent albums, and his political commentary songs are more prevalent in older songs - but they stay SO RE l AT a b LE !! every time i listen to ajj, i feel so whole and accepted and like im listening to my deepest internal thoughts and feelings in the form of beautiful lyrics and entrancing music

when asked if sean’s lyrics are a reflection of a darkness inside of him, he usualyl replies by saying that hes no darker than anyone else is - he just has a way to express and expel that darkness.  after the release of knife man, sean was asked if his emotional songs were about his past and what he’s been through as a person, and hes replied by saying that a lot of what he sings about is stuff that hes seen through his job, and learned about through people he’s met and interacted with.

shortly before christmas island was recorded, sean’s grandfather passed away.  his grandpa had lived with him from the time he was 13 tot he time he was 18, and he was a very major male role model in his life.  christmas island has lots of imagery around death, and a lot of the songs on the album personify grief and death.  sean has said that christmas island is an album about “pre-grief” meaning the way that people feel bad about death and grieve loses before theyve even happen, just beause they know theyre coming.  sean’s grandfather’s death was not unexpected or sudden, and he died very happily - surrounded by all of his grandchildren, and the feeling of knowing someone you love will die shortly is what fueled a lot of the tone of christmas island.

sean is a big big fan of 90′s hip hop, and a lot of his lyrics and writing style is heavily influenced by his favorites - aesop rock, brother lynch hung, biggie, and ol dirty bastard (seriously sean is SO Iconic)

i’ve been listening to ajj since their release of “knife man” in 2011, i could never pick a favorite album of theirs  - i love each of them and theyre each incredibly important to me

their 2007 album “people who can eat people are the luckiest people in the world” gave me a completely new worldview , and showed me that the world is incredibly imperfect, and humans are incredibly imperfect, but life is so worth living, and there is still so much good amazing stuff in the world

in 2008 they released the ep “plant your roots” and in 2009 “cant maintain” - both of theses eps were the first time i had found relatable emotional music that felt so accurate to myself - it was raw, it was unapologetic, it was beautiful, and it was sad.  these eps have an incredible tone, and theyre both so different (cant maintain being more light and - dare i say - playful) but still so connected and deeply rooted (pun intended ;) ) in my head as near perfect expressions of my feelings

“knife man” was released in 2011 and it came into my life at a time where i was trying to learn about myself and discover who i was, and this album guided me in such a strong positive direction - it introduced me to white privilege, taught me about forgiveness, how to be unapologetically me, but still let me stay in touch with my dark, cynical, pessimistic side of myself - knife man is somehow so negative but still so positive and i think thats how a lot of real life is, and ajj captures that incredibly well 

knife man was the first ajj show i ever saw, and i will never forget how captivating sean is when he preforms, his body language and his expressions reflect so much of what he’s singing, theyre so true

in 2014 they released “christmas island” and im not gonna lie when i first heard it i really didnt like it - i thought it was too poppy, and not raw enough like how ajj usually is - it felt wrong to me.  but alas, i kept listening, and i soon fell in love with this album.  it is indeed poppier than their other stuff, and when it came out in may of that year, i didnt really want to like it that much - and so i avoided it, and once Taylor Swift’s super poppy 1989 came out that october, i avoided it Even Harder because i felt like 2014 would be the year of great musicians selling out to labels to gain hits.  eventually, i let myself sink into christmas island - i allowed myself to like it, and boy o boy did i fall in love. i saw the show and i cried. the album seamlessly ties together themes from older albums - optimism, death, unrest, self-loathing - but it introduces a new style to seans words - theyre less direct, less blunt, less in-your-face , he starts using metaphors that dont make sense the first time you listen, his lyrics take on a new type of poetry on this album - and its beautiful

christmas island is softer, its more about introspection and knowing why youre the way you are - its about emotional intelligence - this album taught me how to know whats happening, and how to accept it and learn form it and let myself dream and live, despite how shitty stuff is, and i love it.

in 2016 “the bible 2″ was released, and i waited to listen to any of it until i went to see the show - i binged the album twice through right before i went to see them, and i had really really mixed feelings about it - some of the songs i didnt understand, i didnt like the sound of some of them, and i felt like they got very preachy.  once i saw them play the song “small red boy” though, i was 110% hooked - it suddenly made sense to me as an album.  the sound is so personal to me, and i connect with the radio static and the messy raw noise, and the lyrics take on such a poetic, innocent tone, and all the songs are equal parts inspiring, funny, and dark.  i really really really truly love this album.

this is kind of just a silly extra, but in 2015 they released a single called “keep on chooglin” and i honeslty dont understand what most of the song means, but its really a bop and its poppy and upbeat and positive, and i can gather that basically to “choogle” is to be yourself unapologetically and just do your own thing and basically fucc the haters, and its a nice song to listen to if youre feeling down because the lyrics are funny and the message is bright

ajj’s discography has gotten me through some of the hardest years of my life, and have seriously, literally, kept me from killing myself on so many occasions and i am forever grateful - if i had not stayed alive until now, i would miss so much and i would throw away my life, just because i didnt feel like making it, and now i can say in full confidence that this band has ridded me of all my suicidal ideation , and if anyone is down here reading this, im gonna make an ajj “dont die” playlist that i Will post here

in 2012, ben gallaty recorded a couple songs under the name wiccan babysitter, adn then a few years later (2016) he recorded a few more under the name benjamin galaxy - he compiled these songs in 2016 onto an lp, one side being the wiccan babysitter ep and the other being the ben galaxy ep.  i didnt know this was a thing until recently? which is weird? but i have listened through the lp many times - i still dont have a strong grip on what the songs mean, but i can say that the wiccan babysitter/benjamin galaxy lp is super comforting to me as well.  the sound is unique and different from ajj, but it is still warm and whole feeling, and the lyrics are still relatable to me, and i want to read more about what ben wrote about and why, but im having trouble finding info on this project

im mostly done for now, it’s very late at night, and i have work tomorrow morning, but i’ll leave u with this - youre an irreplaceable human soul with your own understanding of what it means to suffer, and thats a huge bummer

[nottherealericcarle-blog]

List of published works.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin Jr, 1967 Appealing animals in bold colors are seen and named in a rhyming question-and-response text that delights as it invites young readers and listeners to participate actively.

1, 2, 3 to the Zoo, 1968 Fun and learning add up to a perfect 10 in this eloquent but wordless counting book. Bright pictures tell the story: each car on the train has one more zoo animal than the one before it, and all arrive happily at the zoo in a dramatic foldout finale.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, 1969 This all-time favorite not only follows the very hungry caterpillar as it grows from egg to cocoon to beautiful butterfly, but also teaches the days of the week, counting, good nutrition and more. Striking pictures and cleverly die-cut pages offer interactive fun.

Pancakes, Pancakes!, 1970 Jack wants some pancakes, but first he must gather eggs from the chickens, wheat from the farmer, flour from the miller, milk from the cow, etc. His mother shows him how to cook and flip them, and hungry Jack knows what to do with them next.

The Tiny Seed, 1970 Poetic but simple text and lovely collage pictures dramatize the life cycle of all plants, as one tiny seed grows into an enormous sunflower, which then produces more seeds in its turn.

Tales of the Nimipoo by Eleanor B. Hardy, 1970 (out of print) Native American stories, with woodcut illustrations.

The Boastful Fisherman by William Knowlton, 1970 (out of print) An old Hawaiian tale of boastful fishermen who learn their lesson as they try to prove their fishing prowess. Colorful linoleum block print illustrations.

Feathered Ones and Furry by Aileen Fisher, 1971 (out of print) Gentle nature poems with woodcut illustrations, on acetate and art paper.

The Scarecrow Clock by George Mendoza, 1971 (out of print) Full color collages illustrate an amusing fantasy.

Do You Want to Be My Friend?, 1971 In few words but expressive pictures, a little mouse looks for a friend - and happily finds one just in time to save himself from a predator who has been hiding there all the time - unseen, but in plain sight! A simple story on the universal theme of friendship.

Rooster’s Off to See the World, 1972 Rooster and the colorful animals that join him on his journey to see the world, provide an enjoyable introduction to the meaning of numbers and sets.

The Very Long Tail (Folding Book), 1972 (out of print)  

The Very Long Train (Folding Book), 1972 (out of print) These two wordless books (now collectors’ items) are printed on heavy stock, accordion-folded, and come in their own plastic cases. “Read” or looked at in sequence, each tells a story in bright collage pictures. These innovative books can also stand alone, toy like, to form a decorated wall or play area for a child of pre-reading age.

The Secret Birthday Message, 1972 A message in code starts Tim off on an exciting treasure hunt through a dark cave, an underground tunnel, and other strange places until he finds a happy surprise. Die-cut pages demonstrate in a “hands on” way the meanings of place-words like up, below, through, etc.

Walter the Baker, 1972 By order of the Duke, Walter the Baker must invent a tasty roll through which the rising sun can shine three times. A lively and colorful retelling of the legend of the invention of the pretzel.

Do Bears Have Mothers Too? by Aileen Fisher, 1973 (out of print) Striking, poster-like pictures of a variety of animal mothers with their offspring - cubs, kittens, cygnets, and other charmers - are accompanied by verses by a beloved nature-poet.

Have You Seen My Cat?, 1973 A boy’s beloved pet cat has disappeared and he sets out to find it. In his search he meets many different kinds of cats, both wild and domesticated, before he finally discovers his own cat, who has a happy surprise for him. (Can you guess what it is?)

I See a Song, 1973 As a violinist, shown in black and white, starts to play, colorful semi-abstract images emerge from his music, transmuting magically from one to the next until the end, when the violinist, himself transformed into a many-colored figure, bows and leaves. Wordless, this beautiful book encourages children to develop their own visual and musical imagination and creativity.

My Very First Book of Numbers My Very First Book of Colors   My Very First Book of Shapes   My Very First Book of Words, 1974 A collection of split-page books in which children can match various familiar objects with numbers, colors, shapes, and words. A gamelike approach to learning, for very young children.

Why Noah Chose the Dove written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1974 Master story-teller and master illustrator combine their brilliant talents to produce a fresh and lively version of this favorite Old Testament tale of the animals as they vie with one another for a place of honor on Noah’s Ark. For all ages.

All About Arthur, 1974 (out of print) An Amusing And Articulate Alphabet-ical story for all ages, in well-chosen words and Zany pictures.

The Hole in the Dike written by Norma Green, 1975 The classic tale of the brave little Dutch boy who kept his finger in a leak in the dike all night long, preventing the damage from spreading, and so saved his town from a devastating flood. Inspiring story of a courageous small boy.

The Mixed-Up Chameleon, 1975 Hilarious pictures show what happens when a bored chameleon wishes it could be more like other animals, but is finally convinced it would rather just be itself. An imagination-stretcher for children.

Eric Carle’s Storybook, Seven Tales by the Brothers Grimm, 1976   (out of print) Seven of the most popular tales by the Brothers Grimm, retold by Eric Carle and illustrated in full color.

The Grouchy Ladybug, 1977 A grouchy ladybug who is looking for a fight challenges everyone it meets regardless of their size or strength. How this bumptious bug gets its comeuppance and learns the pleasures to be gained by cheerfulness and good manners is an amusing lesson in social behavior. Die-cut pages add drama and dimension.

Watch Out! A Giant!, 1978 Die-cut pages add to the excitement as two children outwit a scary giant.

Seven Stories by Hans Christian Andersen, 1978 (out of print) A companion to Eric Carle’s Storybook (above), this features seven favorite stories retold and illustrated by Eric Carle.

Twelve Tales from Aesop, 1980 (out of print) Familiar classic fables retold and illustrated by Eric Carle.

The Honeybee and the Robber, 1981 A brave little honeybee saves the day when a big hungry bear attacks the beehive. Ingenious pop-ups and other movable images bring this funny and informative story to vivid life.

Otter Nonsense by Norton Juster, 1982 (out of print) Very amusing, cartoon-like line drawings illustrate excruciatingly clever puns by noted author Norton Juster. Fun for all ages.

Catch the Ball! Let’s Paint A Rainbow   What’s For Lunch?, 1982 This delightful series incorporates movable parts, cutout shapes, and sturdy board pages that have been designed to encourage counting, adding, color naming, object identification, beginning reading, and manual dexterity.

Chip Has Many Brothers written by Hans Baumann, 1983 new title: Thank You, Brother Bear, 1995 An original tale,which skillfully combines elements of both North European and Native American traditions, tells of a little boy, Chip, who must make a long and dangerous journey to get the medicine that will cure his sick sister. Because he is both brave and kind, he is helped by the animals he meets along the way.  

The Very Busy Spider, 1984 With the use of raised printing, this innovative book adds the sense of touch to vision and hearing as ways to understand and enjoy the strikingly designed illustrations and the memorable story. Various farm animals try to divert a busy little spider from spinning her web, but she persists and produces a thing of both beauty and usefulness. Enjoyed by all audiences, this book’s tactile element makes it especially interesting to the visually-impaired.

The Foolish Tortoise written by Richard Buckley, 1985 A witty modern fable tells how a tortoise discovers the need for a shell after several scary encounters.  

The Greedy Python written by Richard Buckley, 1985 A companion book to The Foolish Tortoise (above), this tells of a python who is so excessively greedy that it finally eats itself.  

The Mountain that Loved a Bird written by Alice McLerran, 1985 A sensitive, poetic text inspires handsome, semi-abstract college illustrations, in this tale of a little bird that brings a renewal of life and happiness to a lonely, barren mountain.

All Around Us, 1986, (out of print)  

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, 1986 Beautiful illustrations are enhanced by dramatic fold-out pages in this moving and imaginative tale of a father’s love for his daughter. Monica’s father fulfills her request by bringing the moon down from the sky after it’s small enough to carry, but it continues to change in size.

My Very First Book of Sounds My Very First Book of Food My Very First Book of Tools My Very First Book of Touch My Very First Book of Motion My Very First Book of Growth My Very First Book of Homes My Very First Book of Heads, 1986, (all out of print) A group of small-format books with bold, simple images and words, designed, as the titles indicate, for the very young child who is just learning to identify, name, and classify familiar objects.  

All in a Day collected by Mitsumasa Anno, 1986 Eric Carle, in collaboration with nine other internationally-acclaimed artists, reveals events in a day in the lives of children in various countries all over the world, showing time, climate, environmental and social differences but emphasizing the commonality of humankind everywhere. Thought-provoking as well as entertaining.  

A House for Hermit Crab, 1987 An underwater fantasy based on the true habits of hermit crabs and the flora and fauna of their marine environment, this book offers young readers an interesting first introduction to marine biology as well as an appealing story of Hermit Crab’s search for a house he can really call his home, as he grows throughout one year’s cycle.

The Lamb and the Butterfly written by Arnold Sundgaard, 1988 A protected lamb and an independent butterfly discuss their very different ways of living in a charmingly simple yet philosophical text on the themes of tolerance and diversity. Lovely full-color illustrations appeal to a wide audience range.

Eric Carle’s Treasury of Classic Stories for Children, 1988 A delightfully illustrated retelling of 22 favorite folktales, fairytales, and fables that every child should know. Retold from the works of Aesop, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm.

Animals Animals compiled by Laura Whipple, 1989 A generously illustrated collection of poems by a variety of authors, describing the peculiarities and charms of pets as well as both wild and domestic animals. Eric Carle is noted for his depiction of animals and this colorful anthology contains some of his finest works.

The Very Quiet Cricket, 1990 The surprise ending of this enormously popular book features a chip that perfectly reproduces the real sound of a cricket’s song. In the story, a young cricket longs to make a sound by rubbing his wings together as many other crickets do. How he finally gets his wish is a romantic tale as well as a first look at natural history for the very young.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? written by Bill Martin Jr, 1991 Easy, repetitive question-and-response text draws children into joyful interaction as they imitate the sounds of a variety of zoo animals for the zookeeper. Big, bold animal illustrations and lots of noisy fun.

Dragons Dragons compiled by Laura Whipple, 1991 Fearsome dragons and other fantastic legend creatures abound in this collection of poems, both modern and classic, all gloriously illustrated in full color, that will expand the world of a reader’s imagination.

Draw Me a Star, 1992 The artist’s drawing of a star begins the creation of an entire universe around him as each successive pictured object requests that he draw more. Based on Eric Carle’s recollection of his grandmother’s way of drawing a star (directions included), this seemingly simple story also provides insights into an artist’s private world of creativity. An inspiring book.

Today Is Monday, 1993 Based on the well-known children’s song, funny, full-color pictures show the foods featured for each day of the week. In a thoughtful new ending to the familiar text, all the world’s children are invited on Sunday to come and eat it up.

My Apron, 1994 A little boy longs to help his uncle, a mason, plaster the chimney. He feels very grown-up when he gets a work-apron of his own and the chance to do his own small share in real “grown-up” work. A touching story with a valuable message, illustrated in a striking technique using a strong black outline over bright color. A usable, child-size work-apron is included with the book for the reader who can’t wait to get started on his or her own work project.

The Very Lonely Firefly, 1995 Young readers empathize with the lonely firefly who makes many errors as he looks for the group where he will really “belong.” In his search for compatible companions, he meets many other night creatures, but none is quite right—until the happy surprise at the very end when the illustration of a swarm of friendly fireflies literally shines and twinkles a welcome in the night. Heartwarming.

Little Cloud, 1996 Every child loves to see fanciful shapes in the clouds. But what are clouds really for? Here a little cloud slips away from its parent clouds and turns itself into a series of wonderful forms - a sheep, an airplane, a hat, a clown - before rejoining the other clouds as they perform their real function: making rain.

The Art of Eric Carle, 1996 This handsomely-designed volume explores many facets of Eric Carle’s life and work. It includes an autobiography, illustrated with many photographs, telling of his early years in the United States, describing the roots of his inspiration, his art education in Germany, his career as a commercial artist on his return to the land of his birth, and his almost accidental discovery of his real vocation—creating beautiful picture books for young children. Essays and critical appreciations of his works, and color photographs showing how the artist creates his unique collage illustrations add to the interest and usefulness of this book. Fine reproductions of many of his best illustrations and a complete list of his books are included.

From Head to Toe, 1997 “I can do it!” is the confidence-building message of this book. As young children copy the antics of Eric Carle’s animals, they’ll learn such important skills as careful listening, focusing attention, and following instructions. Just as alphabet books introduce letters and simple words, From Head to Toe introduces the basic body parts and simple body movements - the ABC’s of dancing, gymnastics, and other sports activities.

Flora and Tiger: 19 very short stories from my life, 1997 Every so often, children who have grown up enjoying Eric Carle’s books ask him whether he has written “older” books. Inspired by his questioners, Eric Carle has written this delightful collection of short stories. The events in these stories take place from his earliest childhood to the present. All of the stories are true. But they are set down, not in the order in which they happened, but as they occurred to the author. They come from various places and times of his life and have three things in common: animals or insects, friends or relatives, and Eric Carle.

Hello, Red Fox, 1998 Mama Frog gets a big surprise when the guests arrive for Little Frog’s birthday party: Red Fox looks green to her! Orange Cat looks blue! With the active help of the reader, Little Frog shows Mama Frog how to see the animals in their more familiar colors. In this book, Eric Carle invites readers to discover complementary colors while enjoying the amusing story of Little Frog and his colorful friends.

You Can Make a Collage: A Very Simple How-to Book, 1998 Many people ask Eric Carle how he makes his pictures. Klutz Press and Eric Carle got together to answer that question in this simple how-to book, featuring 72 full-color printed tissue papers painted by Eric Carle with instructions and inspirations and even a bit of encouragement for those in a bit of need.

The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, 1999 HEAR the beetle CLICK as it flips through the pages of this book and learns how to land on its feet! Small readers will recognize and empathize with the clumsy little beetle’s eagerness to learn what the older beetle can already do so well. They will understand, too, its frustration when at first it fails. And they will surely rejoice in its eventual spectacular triumph.

Does A Kangaroo Have A Mother, Too?, 2000 Meet the little joey, whose kangaroo mother carries him in her pouch. See the cygnet riding on the back of the mother swan. Eric Carle’s colorful collages of animal babies with their caring and affectionate mothers offer small readers visual delight as well as comforting reassurance.

Dream Snow, 2000 It’s Christmas Eve, and an old farmer settles down for nap, wondering how Christmas can come when it hasn't snowed yet. The farmer falls asleep and in his dream, he imagines snowflakes covering him and his animals. He awakens to discover it really has snowed. A surprise at the end of the book makes this a truly magical Christmas.

“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth, 2002 Slowly, slowly, slowly... that’s how the sloth lives. He hangs upside-down from the branch of a tree, night and day, in the sun and in the rain, while the other animals of the rain forest rush past him. “Why are you so slow? Why are you so quiet? Why are you so lazy?” the others ask the sloth. And, after a long, long time, the sloth finally tells them!.

Where Are You Going? To See My Friend!, 2003 A dog, a cat, a rooster, a goat, a rabbit, and finally a child join together on a journey to see their friends in this unique bilingual collaboration that unites cultures and languages.

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin Jr, 2003 Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? is told from the point of view of endangered creatures, and one dreaming child; each page a tribute to wild animals and their freedom.

Mister Seahorse, 2004 Mister Seahorse and fellow fish fathers who care for their soon-to-be-hatched offspring, share their stories while acetate pages reveal camouflaged creatures who bear witness to the conversation between fathers with fins.

10 Little Rubber Ducks, 2005 10 Little Rubber Ducks fall overboard and land on shores all around the world. Inspired by the true story of these ducks at sea, Eric Carle has imagined their voyage in the wide open waters and the creatures they meet who live in and around the ocean.

Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?, 2007 Join Baby Bear as he sets out to look for his beloved Mama Bear, meeting a diverse cast of North American animals along the way. Readers of all ages will enjoy the rich, colorful illustrations and heartfelt story of this last collaboration in a series that has helped millions learn to read.

The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse, 2011  

FRIENDS, 2013  

The Nonsense Show, 2015