#Fanshawe we need more details

[jamesfitzjamesdotcom]

After Fitzjames and Edward Fanshawe met in the Mediterranean they became very intimate. Fitzjames was noted for his strength and agility which he later displayed in Fanshawe's lodgings in Portsmouth when he broke a chair. As you do.

- Admiral Sir Edward Gennys Fanshawe G.C.B.: A Record. Notes Journals Letters edited by Alice Fanshawe, 1904

[elias-magnusnt]

Apologies coming in with such an, ah, personal ask, but I'm sure you will be able to understand my.. curiosity, to put it simply.

As I understand your Barnabas.. met quite an unfortunate fate. And having been through some eerily similar situations myself, I can't help but wonder about your feelings on the whole thing.

The choice you made. Was it quite difficult for you as well? No need to go into any of the finer details, of course, I wouldn't want to spoil anything for your Barnabas, but I feel the need to ask. The need to Know, if you will.

-👁️(AKA yet another Elias)

What a delight to receive such a missive... Hello to you too, good sir!

To answer the question, mmh. Well. How could I not, really? Would the man even be worth mentionning if I didn't? Yes, I truly did care about him, I'd even call my feelings something like love. But I sacrificed him -or let him die, whatever you want to call it- all the same. It was necessary. Because the hunger inside me was relentless and intoxicating, and I couldn't stand to not know. How he'd die, what would happened, the effect on me, on the other people who cared about him. Because Beholding fed on my misery and loss as well, and I knew It's presence always at my back would make things quite a lot more tolerable and even enjoyable.

Let me ask you a question in turn, then: What about Jonathan Fanshawe's, er. Shall we call it a betrayal? I will admit I felt more sorrow over this particular loss, mostly because it wasn't a decision of mine (although obviously not helped by my actions.)

[mttstructures]

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[aflyingcontradiction]

The Magnus Archives Relisten: Episode 127 - Remains to be seen

First of all: This title is too damn punny. That said, let us proceed...

In the light of what I have so recently witnessed, I can no longer in good conscience associate with any of your endeavors. Nor will I continue to collect or provide those accounts of the esoteric and otherworldly that you and your… Institute so eagerly require. - Statement of Dr. Jonathan Fanshawe

Good choice, probably. Ironically enough, he is currently doing exactly what he said he wasn't going to do anymore.

My German is… fine, though I have had little cause to use it of late, but his accent was thick, and all that I could get from him was a sense of… resignation, and the insistence that his master, who I took to be Albrecht, wanted the tree dead. I’m sure that he used that word, though. Not burned, not removed, or destroyed. Dead. I resolved to ask Albrecht about it when I saw him.

What's the deal with the tree? What am I missing here?

Greta, her name was, a pleasant, red-faced young woman with a smattering of English that she insisted on using at every opportunity.

He sounds so judgmental but that is actually kinda cute, isn't it?

And there, looming over me, was a face, pale and shaking. The eyes sunken, and the cheeks were dirty and unshaved. It was the face of Albrecht von Closen. In the light, his eyes met mine, and his mouth began to work furiously, repeating the same phrase over and over, increasing in volume until he was screaming it into my face

Oh, this is definitely reminiscent of some nightmares I've had. Especially the rising volume.

He told me of a seamstress, who laced her body with fine black thread, and when she pulled it all out in a single swift motion, her skin dropped away like a loose shift. He told me of a man so scared to die he spent a year weaving a rope blindfolded, so he would not know the length, and could not foresee the moment it would tighten around his neck when he finally threw himself into the void. He told me of a fire that burns so hot and fierce that to even know about it is enough to burn a man’s tongue from his head. He told me so many terrible things.

So poor Albrecht has apparently gained Beholding powers he didn't want by taking the books out of the tomb and now he knows all these things he would really rather not know. Also: Story 2 is about the End and story 3 is obviously about the Desolation, but story 1? The Web, what with the spider-reminiscent imagery? Or something else?

I expected some stiff resistance on the subject, but Albrecht’s response seemed closer to relief than any sort of distress.

I mean, he DID literally scream at you to put them back, what did you THINK he meant?

Do I need to detail what covered his organs, his bones, the inside of his skin? What clustered together in their dozens, and all turned as one to focus on me as I opened his chest, their pupils constricting in the light, with irises of every hue and color?

Oh. Lovely imagery, that.

Whatever is happening now has its origins two hundred years ago, in the work of an evil man. - Jon

You're more correct about this than you think, Jon!

Jon: Just another scar for the collection.

Oh god, and this is some major foreshadowing, right here!

Basira: She says she can cry now, which is, um – progress? I think?

Oh, that is absolutely fucking progress! The idea of being so filled with rage that you can't even cry anymore, not just for a moment but ALL THE FUCKING TIME is pretty horrifying.

Jon: It’s – hard. It’s like there’s a, a door, in my mind. A-a-and behind it is, is the entire ocean. (...) I can keep it closed. But sometimes, when I’m around p-people, or.. places, or.. ideas? A drop or two will push through the cracks at the edges of the door. And I’ll… know something. Basira: What happens if you open the door? Jon: I drown.

The idea of drowning in knowledge is perhaps a bit abstract, but I guess we see something quite like it when Jonah becomes the pupil of the Eye. Also, yet another moment of few words, massive impact.

Basira: The part where you pretend you don’t spend your whole time watching us. Elias: Sometimes I'm eating.

Pfffffft.

My impression of this episode

I barely remembered this episode, but I'm not sure why, because the statement most definitely rises at least to the level of "spooky". And the post-statement conversation of Basira and Jon does ... a lot. Mostly on the level of character and relationship development, not so much with regard to moving the plot forward, though. And then there's Basira's prison visit and now THAT is plot-important (but I did actually remember that).

[miss-bibliophile]

Is Everyone Related?, part one

I started reading library books using Overdrive and the new Kindle Paperwhite that my mom gave me for my birthday. I was surprised to find out that for my new library card, I did not have to pay anything. Maybe it’s because different counties have different rules? Anyways, before I digress... I wanted to make my first review of a book. I picked something short but what I think I might enjoy.

Title: My Lady’s Choosing, An Interactive Romance Novel Author: Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris Genre: Historical Fiction

As the title points out, this is an interactive novel. Better known as a Choose Your Own Adventure book. CYOA for short. I chose this because I have been craving a decent CYOA story for a long while. I didn’t know what to expect when I started this: how long it would take, how far the romance would go, what type of characters are involved, and if my choices would have any influence on the main character.

* I have yet to finish reading the full novel, so any part of this review may change in the second part I will submit later.

My Kindle says that average reading time has been six hours for a total of 352 pages. That seems pretty meaty for a CYOA book - at least as I remember them from days of youth.

One thing that I like and dislike is that at the beginning of the book, it gives a description and cameo-like drawing of each character that will be focused on in the novel. I liked it because it gives you an idea of who you want to romance. What I don’t like about it: it makes the reader plan ahead of who they want to romance instead of giving the reader a more natural chance to figure out who they want to romance, and the lack of options other than male characters.

So far, the reading has been decent. Though I find that some dialogue is written as if we are reading not a CYOA novel but a hybrid of one and a novella that the authors originally wanted to write. I noticed this when our character first interacts with the Sir Benedict Granville.

In his description, Sir Granville, affectionately referred to as ‘Benny’ by the Lady Evangeline, is said to be...

“[t]oo clever by half for most of the half-wits he interacts with, .... meets his match only when you deign to engage him in a battle of wits-and base desires.”

It is obvious before you get to the choices to be introduced to him or another eventual suitor that Sir Granville is one of those men who is bored of women because they all seem only interested in his salary. He is doesn’t seem as sardonic as the authors described - just cynical. It is at the point when you choose him for your first partner for a quadrille that there doesn’t seem to be much choice in choosing how your character reacts. This is shown by the back-and-forth that your almost-spinster lady and the eligible Mr. Darcy - I mean Sir Granville - share. It gives you no room to really give your character the personality that you want to give her. For example:

“Rather old for you, isn’t he? Or do you care not so long as his purse is full?”

Every suspicion you held about Sir Benedict has been confirmed. Insufferable man! Lady Evangeline said the only thing sharper than the lines on his suit is his tongue. Still, it didn’t prepare you for the sting. Or the sweetness of a returned volley.

Now - just to interrupt for a moment - at no point up until now had I read that Lady Evangeline had described Sir Benedict in such a way. It seemed like an added detail the authors thought they might summarize for modern audiences in case they didn’t quite yet understand just how Mr. Darcy-like this man is supposed to be.

At this point, you don’t get a choice in how you react to his remark (and I wouldn’t describe it as a sweet returned volley). To be fully honest, I would have had my character react differently than what is said thereafter Sir Benedict’s ‘unexpected sting’.

“.... you are too kind to pay such interest in the life of a simple girl such as myself,” you retort, a fixed smile upon your face. “But I assure you that the only thing I am looking for, should I marry....”

Again, to interrupt, it was up until this point that the reader is given insight into their character that the up-in-the-air choice to marry the yet-to-be-introduced Sir Charles Burley-Fanshaw is out of need to avoid becoming a spinster, not so much because of his wealth. But in the retort, your character feels the need to defend herself not with explaining (as I would have had my character react) that it was out of need to stay in a good home as was expected of the fairer sex before she was at the age of being undesirable - but explaining with the cliche.

“.... a man who displays wit, good sense, and kindness.”

To explain this to Sir Benedict would tell him that you were just trying to be clever to get closer to him and his purse. Which is what he would have experience with given how sardonic the authors try to write his personality. In the next page, he reacts as if you’ve just played the part of Lizzy perfectly and he’d never had anyone try to sway him with cleverness to get closer to him.

I have barely been formally introduced to the second eligible bachelor and I have already had some issues with the ability to really choose. At this point, it may be that I am reading more of a satire or some kind of play on the historical romance tropes made popular by Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and others of their time period. It may very well be - but I just wish that I, as the reader, were given more ability to choose how the character reacts.

[soveryanon]

Reviewing time for MAG127 /o/ (with rambling/pondering/speculating/ etc.)

- Albrecht Von Closen’s letter from MAG023 had been referenced twice in the series so far, and reminding myself of both gave me different kind of heartbreak. First… Tim mentioned it at the beginning of MAG033:

(MAG033) ARCHIVIST: […] Was there anything else? TIM: Oh yeah, just one. ARCHIVIST: Good lord. TIM: So, in case 8163103… it isn’t clear if Albrecht’s wife is called “Clara” or “Carla”, ‘cause you keep switching back and forth… ARCHIVIST: Well, I’m sorry if I found it hard to read a two-hundred-year-old letter, written in cursive by a native German speaker. Who complained about that one? TIM: Oh, it’s, it’s not a complaint. Hum, I just noticed actually!

94 episodes later… Tim finally got his answer ;_; It was distinctively “Carla” in MAG127. Second thing: Martin came very close to destroying Albrecht’s statement in MAG118! It was actually the statement he was about to burn when Elias finally managed to unlock the door.

(MAG0118) MARTIN: Hello. ELIAS: What. Are you. Doing. MARTIN: That one… that one was Benjamin Hatendi. You weren’t fast enough for the key! ELIAS: What. Are. You. Doing. […] MARTIN: Oh sorry! Sorry, I’m not keeping you from the show, am I? Well, well you head back, I’ll keep myself busy here. Albrecht von Closen is next, I think. It’s quite an old one! Should go up very quickly.

I really doubt that Martin meaning harm to Albrecht’s statement made Elias try to go faster to stop him or anything – he was already seething and had already left to get the key, it was really a matter of Martin burning statements which, overall, made him unable to fully focus on the group’s expedition and why he snapped hard at Martin (all going according to Martin’s keikaku). I’m more curious as to whether or not Martin… picking up this one was a total coincidence, or something partially spooky (Beholding-related intuition or Web drawing Martin towards it), since we now have confirmation that this letter was one chapter in a bigger story intrinsically tied to the creation of the Institute, and that Jon was spookily redirected towards another chapter in MAG127.

- That episode was very packed in… almost all aspects? Characters-wise, we learned about Melanie’s current state, a bit more about Martin’s state of mind when he began working with Peter, and about Jon’s own situation; we also got to hear ~*Elias*~ which gives some more food to speculate about what the eff is happening… and the statement, hoooooly Mew, the statement. Offering us a follow-up on MAG023, giving us another peek at Jonah Magnus, giving us a reminder that HI? NO, NOP, BEHOLDING IS NOT A HARMLESS ENTITY. IT’S JUST AS TERRIFYING AS THE OTHERS., and giving soooo many bits to speculate here and there…

- Jonathan Fanshawe immediately secured a place amongst the (very restricted) club of statement-givers with self-preservation skills.

(MAG127, Jonathan Fanshawe) Jonah, I must first and foremost decline your generous offer of a medical position servicing Millbank Penitentiary. While the terms you’ve laid out are no doubt more than adequate, I have, over these last months, come to the unfortunate conclusion that our intimacy and friendship must cease immediately. […] In the light of what I have so recently witnessed, I can no longer in good conscience associate with any of your endeavours. Nor will I continue to collect or provide all those accounts of the esoteric and otherworldly, that you and your… Institute so eagerly require. Consider this the severing of our acquaintance. […] … Do I need to tell you what I found, Jonah? Do I need to detail what covered his organs? His bones? The inside of his skin? What clustered together in their dozens, and all turned as to focus on me as I opened his chest? Their pupils constricting in the light, with irises of every hue and colour. Because whatever it was that did this to him, I know in my heart that it is your fault. I’ve had the body burned. Please, do not write to me again. Your obedient servant, Doctor Jonathan Fanshawe.

He sounded so, so cold and rigid and deadpan and dry and accusatory, hhh… That was an excellent tone. Very satisfying. We tend to hear fear, despair, vulnerability; here, it was… covered up with a veil of unimpressed anger and resentment?

- Regarding Jonah Magnus: Jon had described in MAG041 how Robert Smirke took over the Millbank prison project in 1815 and finished it in 1821. Jon had already theorized that the tunnels under the Institute couldn’t be remnants from the old prison, but probably tunnels constructed below it (MAG041: “when it was finally closed in 1890, it was demolished. Flattened. Which meant that what I was in now couldn’t be the old prison itself. It had to be something built below it.”); we know that the Institute was founded in 1818, and though I think it’s still not confirmed whether Smirke was behind the building or not (I assumed he was but can’t find any mention about it anymore?), Leitner referred to its tunnels as part of Smirke’s work (MAG080: “Over the years I have found that it interacts with Smirke’s architecture, and those tunnels specifically, in a more predictable way.”). The whole… concept behind the Millbank prison already reeked of Beholding (MAG041, Jon: “First proposed and designed in 1799 by Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher who wished to test his theories of the panopticon prison, where cells would be arranged in a circle around a single, central guard tower, so all cells were observable at once. It was to have six such areas, arranged in hexagons, giving it from the air the shape of a vast, angular flower.”); with Jonathan Fanshawe mentioning Jonah’s offer of a job in the prison (MAG127: “I must first and foremost decline your generous offer of a medical position servicing Millbank Penitentiary. […] I do not know what interest you have in the poor condemned souls within those walls, nor do I care to guess.”), it sounds more and more likely that Jonah and Robert Smirke did actually collaborate? How did Jonah Magnus come to have such an influence in Millbank, and what was his aim, indeed?

- Chronologically, the few things we know about Jonah Magnus:

*Jonah was already known for his interest in the supernatural:

(MAG023, Albrecht von Closen) […] I recall that during your visit last spring you mentioned your… fascination with the macabre and strange, and pressed upon me as to whether there were any such lore or legends that I myself were familiar with. Wolfgang writes me that you are acquiring quite the collection, and I feel that I now have something that belongs with it, far more than any of the fairy stories or old maids’ tales that I told you before.

*On March 31st 1816, Albrecht von Closen sent Jonah a letter, describing his adventure and a book he had retrieved, promising Jonah to show it to him:

(MAG023, Albrecht von Closen) a book, perhaps fallen from the shelves long ago. It was in far better condition than the others, perhaps due to where it had lain, and I was able to very carefully open it. I was disappointed to see that was not written in German, or even French or Latin, but appeared to be in Arabic. It seemed to be an illuminated manuscript of sorts, produced by hand and utterly beautiful, though I could not for the life of me have told you what it concerned. […] The book, though beautiful, stubbornly refused to offer up any clues to its contents. With your permission, I’ll bring it over for your expert eyes next time I have the pleasure of your company. […] Still, I look forward to showing you the book I have acquired, and the revelations you will no doubt glean from it.

*Sometime in 1818, Jonah Magnus founded the Magnus Institute.

*On April 9th 1824, Barnabas Bennett, prisoner in Mordechai Lukas’s dimension, pleaded Jonah for his help by leaving his letter in the Institute. Jonah, according to Elias, only witnessed his demise and collected his bones. (MAG092)

[*One year prior to April 1831, Albrecht von Closen, who had previously acquired the books from the Black Forest’s mausoleum at some point, had them rebound. Jonah Magnus apparently exchanged them with fakes at this time.]

*On November 21st 1831, Jonathan Fanshawe sent a letter to Jonah about the illness and death of Albrecht von Closen, after they returned the (fake) books to the mausoleum. Albrecht’s body was filled with eyes; his wife was already dead, and he had sons at the time of his passing. What happened to the sons afterwards is unclear. (MAG127)

*On June 12th 1841, Sampson Kempthorne sent Jonah a letter about the workhouse architecture of George Gilbert Scott (Robert Smirke’s disciple’s disciple, who was a bit dangerous according to Smirke). Sampson mentioned Jonah’s state:

(MAG050, Sampson Kempthorne) Dear Jonah, It is my fondest wish that this message should find you in good health, as I have heard more than one mutual acquaintance remark on your current state of overwork. While I earnestly hope it is merely idle gossip, my knowledge of your character leads me to entreat that you allow yourself some respite, or at the very least take some further secretarial staff into your employ. Certain uncharitable quarters would have it that your life consists of little but rattling around in Edinburgh Townhouse, surrounded by piles of ghostly accounts and lunatic documentation. Piles, I am afraid to say, to which I am about to make an addition.

I’m not sure if Jon making his mind about Jonah Magnus is a Certainty (inspired by spooky Beholding magic) or an assumption:

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: […] “Jonah Magnus”. I’ve never really given much thought to him. Not nearly as much as I should have. I suppose I had always hoped there was a chance he was… innocent, in all this. I know, I know! But I had… [EXHALE] I had just… hoped that maybe the founding of the Institute was in earnest. And not simply the foundation stone for all the terrible things that have happened here. … But no. Whatever is happening now… has its origins two hundred years ago. In the work of an evil man.

But if it’s the latter… I’m not sure that Jon is making a good decision by shutting down other possibilities: he’s absolutely following Jonathan Fanshawe’s opinion here, but there might have been other interpretations for what Jonah did and why? After all, he could have stolen the books in an attempt to protect Albrecht from their influence (while he had probably been heavily contaminated by them already)? I’m mostly surprised at the fact that Jon just went ahead and labelled Jonah Magnus an “evil man” and assumed that the Institute was founded for bad reasons, as if suddenly this statement was proving a point, when… it was the opinion of one person, who felt betrayed, hurt (and partially worried for) a(n ex)friend. And time had passed since the founding: maybe the Institute had originally been founded with better intentions, and maybe Jonah got worse and worse… just like Jon could. Maybe there would be more to learn about Jonah’s life, if it was a gradual descent into Beholding – maybe knowing a bit more about it could help Jon find counter-measures. But maybe it’s also an easier story for Jon to swallow, right now: to think that people don’t change, can’t become corrupted, can’t start out good and gradually lose their ability to want to protect the people they care about.

- And now, this statement put the damn books back at the forefront: indeed… where do they come from? … technically, Jonah Magnus here didn’t remind me so much of Elias or of an Archivist, but more of… Jurgen Leitner? (That’s mean, I know!)

(MAG080) LEITNER: I… thought that I could control them. That I alone had the knowledge to contain them. Back then, I believed they were simply books. Horrifying, powerful, yes; but with rules, limits that could be charted. … I was a fool. I had no idea what forces lay behind them, or that they had other servants that might come searching. I was ruthless, I will admit that. I don’t know how many assistants I sacrificed to learn the secrets of the volumes I collected. Dozens, at least. Only a few escaped with their life and mind intact, and even then they were deeply marked. But I was relentless. I saw myself as a guardian, a reverse Pandora, gathering the evils of the world and locking them away.

Accumulating statements (and books) like Leitner was accumulating books, in his own personal building constructed through Smirke’s principles? Leitner was even known for getting his books custom-(re)bound!

(MAG004, Dominic Swain) The last seller I went to did recognise the name Jurgen Leitner, though. She told me Leitner had been a big name in the literary scene during the 1990s; some rich Scandinavian recluse paying absurd amounts of money for whatever books took his fancy. It was said he’d often have books custom-bound after providing a manuscript, or even commission authors to produce works to his brief – although she didn’t actually know any writers who had worked with Leitner.

Jon had been suspicious of the amount of books in circulation, even before discovering that Leitner had only applied his seal on some but not all of them (and that he had absolutely no involvement in their creation):

(MAG070) ARCHIVIST: […] It seems to support the theory that, whatever these books are, Leitner is not entirely responsible for them. […] Books. Again and again it always seems to come back to those books. There are other artefacts that hold sinister power, certainly, but none of them seem to be quite so prevalent or… insidious as those damn books. But why? I had always assumed that Leitner had created them somehow, leasing parts of his own damned soul to give them power, or… some similar nonsense. But no. I’ve heard enough now to be sure that these books existed long before he managed to hunt them down. Not all of them, though, it would seem.

And it’s true that we only had questions in that regard. We know that the books can be anachronistic:

(MAG080) LEITNER: An unexpurgated copy of Ruskin’s The Seven Lamps of Architecture, published in 1845. Of course, Ruskin didn’t even begin writing the book until 1846, and the text of this one varies markedly from the version that was distributed.

We know that some of the books are old, written in different languages, and that a few of them must have appeared fairly recently (A Guest For Mr. Spider, and the one from MAG125 which looked like a paperback). We know that a few can write themselves (the unnamed Book of the Dead) or have new content added to it (Mary Keay’s book in human skin). We know that they can bind monsters (Ex Altiora). We’d already had one mention of a book that just tagged along or perhaps showed up out of nowhere and tried to read its reader (MAG091, Mike Crew: “I spent some time with a small grey volume, I think it was in Cyrillic, that decided it was at home amongst my bookshelves. I couldn’t read it, of course, but… when it tried to read me back, I buried it on a lonely stretch of moorland.”).  Leitner mentioned that in rare cases, they can host multiple powers (such as The Key of Solomon) – in most cases, they seem to be tied to only one. Some of them can apparently be destroyed (Gertrude and Leitner managed it in the tunnels), though some could just shift or resist (MAG080, Leitner: “Many of them wouldn’t have burned, and some even liked the flames. And those that did, I now believe, would have been released to take a different form.”), but Jon discovered recently that some can apparently lose their powers:

(MAG125, Terrance Simpson) All I could see for certain… was that she held a book in her hands. It was a paperback, old and unloved, with obvious signs of wear long before it found itself in this chaos. The cover and title were unrecognizable, now far too soaked in blood, but it was clear that at some point the woman holding it had torn it, clean in two down the spine, and now held half in each of what was left of her hands. Ross told me later that she’d gotten a good look at the pages, and that every single one of them was blank.

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: […] Another Leitner, obviously. Not one I can readily identify, though it sounds like it would now be… inert, anyway. Given the blank pages, I do wonder whether its destruction was a last-ditch effort to stop its effects, or the exact thing that released its power in such an… extreme way.

So where do they come from and/or how are they produced? Are they just… emanations, like the monsters? Are they purposefully created by avatars? Leitner told Jon that he had gathered 978 of those when his library was attacked; it’s… not that much – the Black Forest’s mausoleum could have contained more than that, and we even know that new books have appeared since then. … However, I do wonder if the books in the mausoleum weren’t rather a precursor/equivalent of… statements? I had already wondered whether “Johann von Württemberg” might be an ancient Archivist (especially after MAG053), and now that we’ve been told about the contents of the books…

(MAG127, Jonathan Fanshawe ) […] [Albrecht] took the seat opposite me, and started to tell me… a story. And then another. And another. A stream of… strange tales began to pour out of him, and I just sat there, transfixed, [STATIC–], desperately wishing I had the strength of will to leave, but all I could do was listen. He told me of a seamstress, who laced her body with fine black thread; and when she pulled it all out in a single swift motion, her skin dropped away like a loose shift. He told me of a man so scared to die he spent a year weaving a rope blindfolded, so that he would not know the length, and could not foresee the moment it would tighten around his neck when he finally threw himself into the void. He told me of a fire that burns so hot and fierce, that to even know about it is enough to burn a man’s tongue from his head. He told me so many terrible things. [/STATIC] And at the end of it all, the only thing I could think to ask him was where he read them. My eyes darted to the books that surrounded us, but Albrecht laughed at this, and placed his hands across a spine that was simply labelled A Warning. For a moment, he looked as though he were about to wrench it from its place and hurl it into the fire. But it passed. He turned back to me. [STATIC–] “You do not understand,” he said to me in German. “I do not read the books. They read me.” [/STATIC]

… they were all stories. Like Jon himself is receiving stories through the statements… Could the Beholding folks be responsible for the books, binding a bit of other powers in them to spread them, ensuring a never-ending self-sustaining cycle of stories – people finding the books, getting terrorized by them, and the survivors having new stories to tell? What happened to the books that Jonah Magnus stole? Are they still somewhere in the Institute, did he destroy them, did he release them into circulation…?

- Even before that: when did Albrecht get his hands on the books? Had he stolen them back in 1816, and concealed that fact to Jonah in his letter? Or did he go back later? With or without Jonah? It is now… striking, that in MAG023, Albrecht was insisting on the fact that he missed his own library (MAG023: “And so began what was to be a lengthy sojourn near Schramberg, and truly have I never wished more keenly that I had been able to bring my library with me. I had but a few books with me and Wilhelm, despite his not-inconsiderable intelligence, had even fewer.”) when, oops, he got his hands on another’s in the end. The only thing he said was that he had them rebound one year prior to April 1831, and he had already been able to tell in 1816 that they were in a terrible state:

(MAG023, Albrecht von Closen) I walked cautiously closer, until my lantern illuminated it clearly. The walls were covered with bookshelves. Packed in with such a density that it was impossible to tell if there was a real wall behind them or if the books themselves formed the only bulwark against the soil. They were, unfortunately, terribly rotten. The centuries had not been kind to them, and as I tried to move one of them, I realised that the damp had, over time, caused them to merge into a single mass of paper and bookcloth. Predictable as this may have been, I still felt the most acute pang of loss. To see such a volume of knowledge, possibly unique in all the world, utterly destroyed, was incredibly painful to me. The actual shelves were formed of the same marble as the two blocks, and seemed to have fared better. As I looked at them, I noticed a small engraving, carved at regular intervals along the edge of each one. It was a small eye, open and staring. For some reason, it was only at that moment that I began to feel afraid. Of what, I couldn’t tell you, but those small eyes filled me with a dread that I have trouble describing to you now.

(MAG127, Jonathan Fanshawe) As he walked the shelves, stroking the spines of each book in turn, I started to ask him about his health, and explained why I was there, but he showed not the slightest sign that he was listening. “I had them rebound last year,” he said. “Damp can do terrible things to a book.”

- There were so many “WHAM” moments in that statement… the fact that it was another letter to Jonah! That it was once again about Albrecht von Closen! The fact that the uncanny atmosphere began even before Jonathan reached Albrecht’s house (because people were burning the tree)! The very casual mention that Carla had died and that there were now sons in the family, although they were explicitly childless and Jon hadn’t been able to trace the family line down back in MAG023! The fact that the spooky house gave me a Lonely/Beholding vibe somehow (rather than Beholding only), even before Albrecht showed up? And then, the… fact that nothing physical happened to Jonathan: but that he witnessed, had to hear and couldn’t really understand, though he was trying to work a way out. The resignation, in the fact that he was forced to hear Albrecht’s stories, and that Albrecht couldn’t stop them nor harm the books? All the mysteries as to what happened and why Jonah had apparently been involved? What was inside Albrecht’s corpse? (HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THANKS JONNY…) The attempt at returning the books, Albrecht’s sudden death, the reveal that Jonah had actually stolen the real books when they were rebound?

(MAG127, Jonathan Fanshawe) I do not know how he died. I saw nothing and no one with him, and his body seemed whole and undamaged. But I do have some idea as to why it happened. For as I filled those dead shelves with freshly bound volumes, I could not help but notice that every page was blank. I have since checked with Payne’s, who I believe to be your preferred bookbinders. And I know that the books poor Albrecht was returning to the grave were not the books that were taken. I hope they bring you much wisdom, Jonah, for the cost was dear enough.

(Roger Payne was a famous bookbinder from the 18th, already dead by then, so it was probably his shop. Still, another historical figure /o/) There were so many little things changing perspective, and it raised so many questions, aaaaah!! It was definitely a very strong episode…

I don’t know what to think of what happened to Albrecht; was he a failed Archivist? The fact that he almost threw one of the books to the fire but couldn’t, that he needed help to manage top ut them back, that stories were pouring out of him… Is that another red flag about what could ultimately happen to Jon? Or was it just a Beholding curse/influence, since he had been in close contact to the books? Or was it something that Albrecht had brought down on himself since the first time he had entered the mausoleum?

(Aza confirmed me that:

(MAG127, Jonathan Fanshawe) It was the face of Albrecht von Closen. In the light, his eyes met mine, and his mouth began to work furiously, repeating the same phrase [STATIC–] over and over, increasing in volume until he was screaming it into my face: “Leg sie alle zurück. Leg sie alle zurück.” [/STATIC] Put them back. Put them back.

=> can’t be about the children, because “sie alle” means “them all” and wouldn't be used for just two things, and the verb used conveys the sense of putting things lying down and wouldn't be used for people. That's assuming that Jonny knows that much German, though.)

Big Questions, too, about… the tree. What was the deal with that one?

(MAG127, Jonathan Fanshawe) […] as we got closer, I could see that it was… a single tree that was burning: a gnarled and ancient elm, that sat removed from the rest of the forest. A small crowd surrounded the spectacle. One man, who I took to be a groundskeeper, stood closer than the others, with a lit torch in his hand. […] I asked the man why they were burning the tree when the rain was coming down so heavily. Surely it could have waited for drier weather. The man simply shrugged. […] all that I could get from him was a sense of resignation, and the insistence that his master, who I took to be Albrecht, wanted the tree dead. I’m sure that he used that word, though. Not “burned”, not “removed”, or “destroyed”. Dead. I resolved to ask Albrecht about it when I saw him.

The only “main” tree we’ve got before was at Hill Top Road: is it the same kind of thing…? What did it do, here…? (Where spiders involved in the shadows, again.)

- I remember how quick Aza had been to jump on me after I had listened to MAG023, a few months ago, because there was a Big Fandom Joke about the easter egg of the “Schwarzwald statement” directly following Martin Blackwood’s, AND NOW IT HAS COME BACK TO HAUNT US since!! Surprise surprise!! Fifteen years after his letter to Jonah from MAG023 (March 31st 1816), Albrecht, who had mentioned never managing to have children with his wife… suddenly had sons as of November 21st, 1831:

(MAG023, Albrecht von Closen) myself and Clara [sic] have since made every effort to provide [our nephew Wilhelm] with guidance and such affection as he may have lost. This felt especially keen as we have ourselves been unable to conceive a child, and so we felt it our duty to teach Wilhelm what we would have impressed upon a son of our own.

(MAG127, Jonathan Fanshawe) As I’m sure you’re aware, Albrecht’s wife Carla was taken by a fever some years ago, and his sons were away at school; so it was the housekeeper who greeted me when I arrived.

Back in MAG023, Jon had managed to track down Wilhelm’s genealogy, to discover that some of his descendants might have been Mary and Gerry Keay (which Gerry confirmed in MAG111), but he had found nothing about Albrecht:

(MAG023) ARCHIVIST: […] I did try to find out what happened to Albrecht von Closen and his book, but I can find no mention of him in any volume of history nor anywhere online. Perhaps I might find out more if I spent months sifting through the historical statements in the Archives’ back rooms, but I simply don’t have time to indulge my own curiosity like that.

(ISN’T IT CUTE HOW BEHOLDING IS SHOWING UP TWO YEARS LATE WITH ANOTHER VON CLOSEN STATEMENT WHEN JON FINALLY HAS TIME TO INDULGE HIS OWN CURIOSITY.......) So, Albrecht managed to get descendants of his own, after his adventure in the Black Forest. We know nothing about them, just that they happened, so there might be another branch of the Von Closen somewhere, with perhaps a change of name at some point. As @justasmalltownai​ highlighted, there is an old (historical and literary) tradition of naming abandoned/magic children after the place they were found, which would be “Schwartzwald” for them… Which…………………. indeed……………. puts Martin Blackwood to mind………… … On a meta level, Jonny Sims not above giving reasons to yell at him with random things, either. Remember how, in MAG017, Jon was reading about how someone should have had trouble with the police when he was interrupted by Elias “I Have Killed And Will Kill Again And Will Be Sent To Prison For This” Bouchard of all people?

(MAG017) ARCHIVIST: […] He was always very careful to stop before he did anything that might get the police involved, and I guess there was enough leftover affection from a childhood spent together that I never really thought about reporting him. It wa– [DOOR OPENING] ARCHIVIST: Oh, erm, hello Elias. ELIAS: Do you have a moment?

(Yes, that one is a very “jONNY” scene in retrospect. And trousersless!Martin interrupted Albrecht’s statement in the same fashion, when Albrecht was getting ready to enter the crypt.)

On the one hand, Gerry asserted that blood ties don’t matter for the Entities – and, indeed, it sounds… more in synch with the series to think that choices and personality are the things that determine you(r fate). But on the other hand: it’s still so curious that Gerry was so deeply rooted into Beholding powers, when Wilhelm von Closen had been so close to the Beholding mausoleum?

(MAG012, Lesere Saraki) […] watching [Gerard], standing and walking despite the burns covering eighty percent of his body, despite the sheer quantity of painkillers we had given him… he just made me very afraid. […] I followed him, asked what he was doing. I got no answer, but he seemed to know the code to the door immediately and strode right in, scanning the shelves for something. He saw what he was after and picked up a small object wrapped in paper and plastic. I recognised it immediately as a sterile scalpel.

(Gerry even technically demonstrated powers that were… very close to Jon’s? His body was still able to function when it shouldn’t have been able to; he just knew things; he was able to tell that MAG048’s statement-giver had been “marked” just by staring at her…)

So. While we were all focusing on the potential of Martin Lukas, was it actually Martin von Closen (/whatever Albrecht’s sons were: monsters stolen from the crypt? Emanations from the books? Non-spooky babies who got contaminated by the books? The Beholding equivalent of whatever Agnès was for the Desolation?) all along, or The Unholy Encounter Of The Two.

(Or as usual: is Martin still… absolutely normal, without any spooky roots nor anything.)

- Biggest initial shock was to hear Jon… revealing that he was Genre Savvy.

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: [SHARP INHALE, FAST] Statement of doctor Jonathan Fanshawe, regarding the months leading up to the death and autopsy of Albrecht Von Closen. […] Disconcerting to find my namesake in a statement. Especially one connected so directly to the Institute. […] Whatever is happening now… has its origins two hundred years ago. In the work of an evil man. … Exactly two hundred years, in fact. Don’t think that little detail has evaded me.

(Jon, stop staring at the camera/tape recorder, I feel called out.) He spotted the name (though there have been a lot of variations around “John” in all the names involved in all the statements), he revealed that he’s aware that is the 200th anniversary, and that something bad is likely coming. That’s a lot from him!

- Amazingly, we’ve already learned where Jon was hurt and what with!

(MAG127) BASIRA: But she did want me to… apologise. ARCHIVIST: Oh. BASIRA: From her. For… the shoulder. ARCHIVIST: Oh. It, it’s fine; scalpel wounds… they heal quickly. BASIRA: Hm. ARCHIVIST: Too quickly, really. BASIRA: Already? ARCHIVIST: Just another scar for the collection! BASIRA: Hm.

Jon’s self-deprecative dry humour makes me laugh and cry at the same time, and ha, in the list of things he’s savvy about: the fact that he’s collecting them indeed. (Now, to know whether that serves a grand purpose…)

- I LOVE THAT OVERALL, JON IS TRYING…………..

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: […] I’m sorry Basira, I–I will try to keep anything I learn about you to myself. My priorities haven’t changed; I hope you can believe that. [SIGHS] I’m still on your side. You can trust me.

And I perfectly understand that Basira might want to stay cautious: of course, a liar would lie about that, too ;; And Jon, after all, is trying a new approach – laying it all down in the open, instead of hiding himself. It’s good, but it can understandably raise suspicions for Basira ;;

- The trend of Jon sounding So Thirsty about getting anything about Martin, any news about Martin, is still going strong:

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: […] I’m still on your side. You can trust me. BASIRA: [EXHALES] … Yeah. People keep saying that. ARCHIVIST: Do they? … W–w–who else– Did Martin say something?

I KNOW THAT HE HAS LEGITIMATE REASONS TO BE WORRIED… but w o w Jon, you’re sounding more and more desperate. (I do understand!! Last original assistant alive, Martin being in a bad place since he’s working with Peter and all… But the sheer contrast with season 1 is just astounding, and I’m still not getting used to it. I’m used to Martin gratuitously thinking about Jon; not to Jon… spontaneously thinking about Martin, as one of his concerns.)

- Jon’s life sounds like a succession of… doors? It’s definitely his biggest recurring motif. Mr. Spider’s door, that he never knocked on. “Michael”-then-“Helen”’s door: the one through which Helen disappeared right in front of him (MAG047), the one he used to flee from Not!Sasha (MAG079), the one he should have opened to die and the one that ultimately saved him from Nikola (MAG101), the one that had been haunting his dreams:

(MAG120) ELIAS: […] There is a door in front of him. A yellow door. He knows the dream it used to lead to; he knows it well. But that’s not where it leads anymore. He does not know what is behind it anymore, and he is deathly afraid of finding out. The Archivist turns away.

And now, the image of the “door” he used to describe the power that has been the most prevalent since he woke up:

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: I’m not “snooping”, I’m not looking. That’s not… how this works. BASIRA: Explain it, then. ARCHIVIST: I, I’m not sure I can. BASIRA: Humour me. ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] It’s… hard. It’s like there’s a–a–a door, in my mind. And behind it, is… i–is the entire ocean. Before, I didn’t notice it, but now, I know it’s there, and I can’t forget it, and I can feel the pressure of the water on it. I, I, I can keep it closed… but sometimes, when I’m around p–people, or–or places, or… ideas, a drop or two will push through the cracks, at the edges of the door. And I’ll… know something. BASIRA: … What happens, if you open the door? [PAUSE] ARCHIVIST: I drown.

Jon ;; (That mental picture… was really striking, and now, we know what could ultimately happen, what will probably happen…)

- Same as last episode: Jon’s powers, when they direct him towards statements… make him dig into the past? Is it a way to keep him detached from the present, as time continues to pass and as Jon knows that something is coming?

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: […] Whatever is happening now… has its origins two hundred years ago. In the work of an evil man. … Exactly two hundred years, in fact. Don’t think that little detail has evaded me. I don’t know the precise date the Institute was founded, but I do know that it was in 1818. … Something’s coming. I know it is. … But I just don’t know what I need to do. […] BASIRA: And what was that you were doing yesterday? ARCHIVIST: … When…? BASIRA: You were sat on the floor for like four hours. ARCHIVIST: … Oh! Er, n–n–no, I was, er, I was… listening. Y’know, it’s, trying to see if any of the statements… called to me. BASIRA: And? ARCHIVIST: [FLIPS PAPER] BASIRA: Brilliant.

(yfhudscjnfed I love getting something about how Jon is perceived from the outside, but at the same time? At the same time, isn’t it a fairly standard thing to sit or lay on the floor while you’re waiting for something or inspiration to strike, Basira, why do you depict it as odd.) (Does it mean that Basira regularly went to take a peak during these four hours, though.)

Or is Beholding trying to give Jon a clue to assert the situation, to get the bigger picture and to understand what he could do (whether it’s to… contribute to The Watcher’s Crown or to sabotage it)? Jon once again acknowledged that he is lacking direction:

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: […] Something’s coming. I know it is. … But I just don’t know what I need to do. […] [SIGHS] So what do we do now…? BASIRA: You tell me. Just don’t expect much on trust these days. ARCHIVIST: … Yes, I… I suppose that’s fair. [CLICK.]

And ;; I guess that either he’s still waiting for spooky insights directing him towards some statements, either he’ll have to wait for something else (the tapes Elias mentioned? Getting a hold on Martin again? Waiting for Peter Lukas to reveal himself? Waiting to get a visitor?), either he’ll have to get a bit more creative (leaving the Institute again to try to talk with other avatars? Tracking Adelard down, since Jon knows that he knew Gertrude and worked with her a bit, having even moved out the explosives for her?).

- I’m sad but also relieved for Melanie… Even though we’re not hearing her, it seems like she’s getting back some of her feelings, some of her individuality; she’s not a ball of nerves and instinct anymore? It sounds like she’s having a rough time but… also like she’s recovering a bit? ;;

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: How’s Melanie? BASIRA: How do you think? ARCHIVIST: I, er, I should probably… talk to h– BASIRA: You should probably stay as far away as possible. She doesn’t want to see you. ARCHIVIST: No. No, o–o–of course. Er, she has… […] Do–do you think it worked? Is she… BASIRA: I don’t know. She seems more… coherent, I guess. And you did get an apology. ARCHIVIST: Yeah. BASIRA: She said she can cry now, which is, hum… ARCHIVIST: Oh… BASIRA: Progress, I think? ARCHIVIST: Uh… BASIRA: She’s still angry but, she hasn’t attacked anyone. Not even sure she has it in her anymore. ARCHIVIST: Well that’s, that’s good! BASIRA: Hm.

(It’s also good that Jon quickly accepted that if Melanie doesn’t want to see him, it means he won’t try to see her? He’s trying so hard to fix things, but also to manoeuvre without hurting others, and gosh ;;) (… Now that Melanie is out of her downwards spiral, maybe Jon will switch his focus to getting Martin back?)

- I’m a bit torn about Martin’s mother: on the one hand, I’m obviously “AOUCH???” and almost offended because??? Can we give Martin a break p l e a s e??? He had learned about Sasha’s death in April 2017 (and also that, surprise! He was bound forever to the Archives.), Tim died and Jon fell into a coma in August, his mom died around October, that’s a rough six months??? On the other hand, that’s still textbook fridging, and it felt a bit dry to me (even for the series!) given that… we only knew about her through indirect mentions and violations of privacy: Jon digging through Martin’s stuff to discover the letter to his mother, and Elias using his powers on Martin in MAG118. The only time Martin himself mentioned her was to contextualize why he had lied on his application:

(MAG042) ARCHIVIST: […] there is an unfinished letter, addressed to his mother in Devon, in which he mentions that he is worried about “the others finding out I’ve been lying”. It may be nothing, some… inconsequential deception or other – after all, it is ostensibly written to his mother – but if it was actually to be sent to someone else… I will keep my eye on Martin.

(MAG056) MARTIN: I don’t have a Master’s in parapsychology, I don’t even have a degree. When I was 17, my mom, she… had… she had some problems, and I ended up dropping out of school, t– trying to support us.

The fact that he had to take care of his mother shaped Martin’s whole life; it contributed to leading him to the Institute, it probably prevented him from socializing much, it’s probably why he doesn’t live very well (Stockwell isn’t the fanciest of neighbourhoods), since he had to pay for her care and then carehome. Yet, even with Elias, Martin avoided to mention his relationship with her and, obviously, we never heard her (we don’t even know what illness she was afflicted with!). She was distant in all senses (geographically, communication-wise, information-wise). The thing I mostly hope for (and which would feel a bit better for me?) would be to finally get Martin… talking about his relationship with her?, instead of having people doing that in his stead. It was obviously a sore spot already; after MAG118, it… was probably worse (Elias wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t supposed to hurt on the long run and keep Martin in check.) I don’t know if we’ll have the time for characters to even consider that they can afford to take care of themselves and treat themselves a bit by trying to unpack their issues, though. But I’d really love to finally hear Martin talk about his mother, and not other characters describing their relationship from the outside? (I want to think she died of natural causes, since she was sick for a long time, but obviously, can’t help but wonder if Lonely fuckedupness didn’t contribute somehow, since Peter wanted Martin. Though I doubt it for meta-reasons, since killing/hurting someone just to get a reaction out of one of the main characters, without hearing the victim’s own feelings about it, wouldn’t feel like the series, I think?)

- What happened to Martin’s mother… also explains why Basira was a bit defensive of him back in MAG123:

(MAG123) BASIRA: Yeah, he comes and goes. He’s busy. Well, he seems it. ARCHIVIST: Working for Peter Lukas. BASIRA: Don’t be too hard on him, Jon. Your, er… “situation”, it hit him. Hard. ARCHIVIST: [LONG EXHALES] Yes. Well, I’m sure there are better ways to deal with it than getting cosy with Elias’s successor. Who I’ve yet to meet, by the way.

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: […] W–w–who else– Did Martin say something? BASIRA: … It was a few months back. After the attack. He’d started spending time with Lukas. At least, he said he was. And I wanted answers. He kept telling me to trust him, to hear the guy out even though he still wouldn’t actually show his face. I told him he could… drop me an email or vanish me. ARCHIVIST: … Right. BASIRA: Honestly, I kind of regret not just… grabbing Martin and shaking an explanation out of him. But I didn’t want to push it. He was in a… bad place, what with the attack and his mom and everything, so I didn’t press it. Now, I try and bring it up, he just… disappears. Nothing to be done. ARCHIVIST: So–sorry, you said… What happened with his mother? BASIRA: Oh, yeah. She died. About two months– ARCHIVIST: Oh… BASIRA: –after you, er… … Martin was… … He tried to stay strong. Keep it together but, that sort of thing… ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] BASIRA: [SIGHS] Then those Flesh things busted in, and well, here we are! ARCHIVIST: … God. BASIRA: He didn’t tell you? ARCHIVIST: No… BASIRA: Hm. Guess you don’t know everything, then. ARCHIVIST: No, I, I–I guess not.

(I wonder if Basira’s mention that Martin “just… disappears” is literal, or if she means that he just leaves? We heard him walk away, back in MAG125 with Jon, but… Peter just appears Like That, so…)

;; Slowly, we’re also filling in the gap between MAG120 and MAG121 a bit – at the same time as Jon does. Tim died, Jon went into his “coma”; Elias was arrested, Peter became Head of the Institute; two months after, Martin’s mother died; two months after, The Flesh attacked (Basira told Jon it happened “About two months ago” in MAG123); two months after, Jon woke up. We’re still not sure when the season 4 trailer happened exactly – was it before or after The Flesh? (Martin sounded at his end, back then, so I’d like to think right after but the other option is not impossible either…).

- GODS, I LOVE BASIRA… She’s Judging and assessing, not talking a lot with Jon (so many non-committal “Hm.”), but also frankly expressing her disapproval or that she thinks Jon is crossing lines; not closing communication but also highlighting the limits… And what a LEGEND, honestly. The fact that she didn’t even threaten to leave but just started to leave as soon as Elias began to Act All Elias. Not taking any of his bullshit (SHE GOT HIS POSH MOUTH TO SAY “BULLSHIT” =D) redjrefdujire,d. I’m love her. And I’m also so worried for her because Elias talking to you means Problems in general.

- Squinting at how Elias “I Can Complain About How ‘Oh, good lord, don’t be so dramatic, Jon!’ Because I’m An S-Class Dramatist Myself Have You Heard MAG092 And MAG120 And My Perfect Sense Of Timing” Bouchard greeted Basira with that… “Detective”?

(MAG127) ELIAS: … Good evening. Detective. [STEPS COMING CLOSER] BASIRA: I’m not a detective. ELIAS: Of course.

Elias rarely says seemingly gratuitous things if it’s not actually meant to hurt (even a few months later), or to mock, or to manipulate, so what’s the deal there. It could be a nod to Daisy (since she was the detective), or… a kind of ~I know what you’ve been doing~, if Basira has been researching on some delicate matters (that she still wouldn’t have shared with Jon)? I also wonder if it’s not… once again, Elias just quoting what other people said when he wasn’t there and shouldn’t have known, since Georgie had also called Basira a “detective” in MAG122 (right before they discovered that Jon had woken up), and Basira hadn’t reacted back then:

(MAG122) BASIRA: Alright. And you don’t know why this guy would have left a tape recorder? GEORGIE: You’re the detective. BASIRA: And you’re sure it was him who left it?

Reminder: Elias Does That and has a sucky sense of humour. He was already doing it back in season 1 (MAG039, Jon: “I can’t really stand up yet. I need you to describe what’s going on. For the record.” / Elias, in another place, right after: “You [Sasha] did bring a tape recorder. I just thought Jon would appreciate as many supplementary recordings as possible. For the record.”). We know that Basira wasn’t against presenting herself as an “investigator” for fun:

(MAG106) BASIRA: I should probably go check in with Martin. Y’know, if he’s in for drinks. MELANIE: So you can double-check your gossip~? BASIRA: I don’t gossip! I have the mind of an investigator.

… but that’s not the term that Elias used. Sooo… why the “Detective”, indeed. It doesn’t sound like a Beholding title (a bit too police-oriented) compared to “Watcher” or “Archivist” (Leitner had also called Jon “the observer”)…

- Elias is having it rough in prison, it’s a treat to hear <333 Kudos to Ben for the… raspier, tighter, incommodious? voice that deeeefinitely conveyed that Elias is not sitting on his throne anymore. … Actually, some of it reminded me a bit of Jon going through statements-withdrawal in MAG107, so I wonder if Elias isn’t having a personal form of withdrawal somehow, too, by being far from the Institute for such an extended period of time?

I’m… a bit lost as to why he even tried to pretend that he wasn’t spying on Basira&co in the first place, only to admit that he knew things when Basira told him off?

(MAG127) ELIAS: Er, I’ve found one of these in my cell? It, it wasn’t recording, but… I assume this means he’s awake. BASIRA: … ELIAS: … Basira? BASIRA: Can we cut the bullshit? ELIAS: What “bullshit” might that be? BASIRA: The part where you pretend you don’t spend your whole time watching us. ELIAS: … Sometimes I’m eating. BASIRA: You know he’s back. You’ve seen him. ELIAS: Fine! Yes.

Why even bother? He had implied to Martin that the distance wouldn’t prevent him from spying on them (MAG120: “Best of luck, Martin. Ah, let the others know I shall be thinking of them. […] G–goodbye, Martin. Be seeing you.”) and his comments to Basira about “trust” are a clear reference to her discussion with Jon earlier in the episode:

(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: […] I’m still on your side. You can trust me. BASIRA: [EXHALES] … Yeah. People keep saying that. […] Just don’t expect much on trust these days. ARCHIVIST: … Yes, I… I suppose that’s fair.

(MAG127) BASIRA: Right. So, what? You figured you’d record us for him? Sow some distrust from afar? ELIAS: Our… arrangement with the Inspector notwithstanding, I… rather feel that right now all the distrust is very much your own.

So nop, he’s still a pesky misery-sucking voyeuristic mosquito even from further distance and even though Peter/the Lonely has taken over the Institute – he’s still able to spy on them.

One thing I wondered was whether he wasn’t having trouble watching Jon, with his new status and all, hence the pretending that he had guessed that Jon was awake through deduction and not just… sheer observation; but he did admit that he knew and had indeed seen him when Basira pushed it. So!! That actually clears something up for me: Elias might be using the “I assume(d)” expression as a loophole when he’s lying-without-personally-feeling-that-he’s-lying (MAG040, Elias: “so, I assumed [Gertrude] was dead and left the investigation to the police, for all that good it did me.”). That counts as lying for me, but maybe not for him, apparently :w

Plus, Elias’s reasoning about the tape recorders seem to follow Jon’s, a bit in the same fashion (possibly overheard him, and is using his arguments?):

(MAG126) ARCHIVIST: […] There was a tape recorder waiting for me when I sat down. […] I’ve decided to let the tapes run. They’ve… proved useful before, so…

(MAG127) ELIAS: […] And as to whether he will ever hear this, maybe he’ll get the tapes. Maybe he won’t. But the recordings have helped so far, so…

Not the exact same phrasing for once, but roughly the same intention, except for one thing: “THE RECORDINGS HAVE HELPED” WHOM/WHAT, ELIAS. (I’m really not sure he meant “they helped Jon in the past” here.)

- In the same fashion: I wonder whether he can see what Martin is currently doing, or if Peter’s influence prevents him from accessing him, since they’re working closely together? What does Elias think of Martin working directly under Peter, and “isolating” himself? You’d think that even if Elias only felt mostly disgust towards Martin, cheating on Beholding would be a big enough offender for him to snap about that…?

FUN THING: Elias… still has NEVER EVER. MENTIONED. EVEN. ONCE. “PETER LUKAS”.

He never acknowledged that Peter had taken over the Institute. He didn’t even mention that Peter might be supposed to protect the Archives team? If Peter is not great with computers and with administration work with “too many variables” (from a sea captain??? Really??), nor is he supposed to protect the Archives, nor does he share Elias’s priority of setting off the Watcher's Crown (as Peter is focusing on Adelard’s investigations instead)… why was Peter chosen as an interim director? What was he supposed to do, in Elias’s mind? I’m going back to this, once again: does Elias even know that Peter has taken over the Institute? And/or does “Peter” truly exist as a person/avatar/monster? Jon had immediately thought about the possibility that he wasn’t “real”:

(MAG123) ARCHIVIST: Sorry, you haven’t– BASIRA: Nop. Never seen him. As far as I can tell, Martin’s the only one who has. ARCHIVIST: … right. A–and you’re sure he’s… real? BASIRA: We get emails from him. Memos. […] ARCHIVIST: But i–if you’ve never…seen him, I mean…

And it’s true that Peter wasn’t exactly interacting with his surroundings in past appearances: he was isolated when drinking his coffee in MAG033 and then… didn’t actually command The Tundra (Carlita only spotted him when they left the boat at night). In-series, he only appeared to people when they were alone (MAG100 for Bryan; MAG108, MAG120, MAG126 for Martin). The only cases in which there were multiple people involved around him were in MAG066, when he and Salesa freed Vincent Yang from the box (… and Peter was implied to have betted on Vincent having died in said box), and in MAG101, when Michael recounted that Michael Shelley and Gertrude had met with Peter to get transportation to the Great Twisting. MAG126 implied that Martin might have been the one writing Peter’s emails (since Peter ~can’t stand computers~): is that because Peter can barely interact with the world around him / is only perceptible to people who have been marked by the Lonely? Or is that part of the plan to isolate Martin further – by making everyone think that Martin is actually “Peter Lukas” and deceiving everyone?

Alternatively: Elias is not mentioning Peter on purpose, knows in excruciating detail what is happening around Peter, and, whatever is currently happening, they’re in on it together, and it really doesn’t bode well for Martin even if the New Threat is actually a thing. ;;

- Biggest plot-twist, for me, was to learn that Elias doesn’t want Jon to see him and has taken extra measures to ensure that they wouldn’t meet. Basira had already mentioned that Elias had made a deal with the police (MAG122: “A bunch of Section’d officers took him in. He made some sort of deal, I think. But… he’s not getting out anytime soon.”) and we still don’t know the details of that one, though Elias just mentioned his “cooperation” (is it just behaving without making people’s lives hell in the prison? Or is it actively helping Section 31’d officers? I’m guessing that… selective omniscient powers might be relevant to their interests?)

Elias not wanting Jon to see him leads me to wonder about two things: what is Elias waiting for – he described Jon as being in transition, so when and how is Jon supposed to reach the next stage (AND HOW CAN HE AVOID IT)? And why does Elias want to avoid being in Jon’s presence? Because Jon would punch him in the face? (Definitely, but there is a long queue :w) Because Jon would most definitely do the exact contrary of what Elias seems to be aiming for? (Nothing new in that regard :w) Orrr… because Elias thinks that Jon has reached a stage where Jon’s compulsion might work on him?

Anyway: there is something definitely funny in the way that… for both Martin and Elias, Jon is a ~*HIM*~-who-doesn’t-need-to-be-named:

(MAG126) MARTIN: […] It’s because he’s back, isn’t it. [SIGHS] He’s back, so now you’re going to be… around, again. Listening in. Mff. You missed him, didn’t you. … Yeah. … [VERY SHARP SQUEAL OF DISTORTION] Yeah, me too. […] PETER: You talked to him. MARTIN: I… I, I tried not to, I–I, I didn’t mean to… PETER: You talked to him. And that’s understandable, Martin, of course it is! Please don’t think I’m upset, it’s just… not ideal. Shows how much work we still have ahead of us. MARTIN: If I keep avoiding him, people will get suspicious. […] You said he’d probably never wake up. […] When all this is over, I’m telling him everything, with or without your permission.

(MAG127) ELIAS: […] It, it wasn’t recording, but… I assume this means he’s awake. […] BASIRA: You know he’s back. You’ve seen him. […] You figured you’d record us for him? […] Fine. So you won’t see him, but you’re happy for him to hear our conversations. ELIAS: He can listen all he wants, but he’s at a very delicate stage right now, and I… fear my presence would be a… a distraction. I’ve made it clear my cooperation’s contingent on his not seeing me, and my terms have been accepted thus far.

(Only moment Elias said Jon’s name was to diss him: “Then again: you are beset by enemies on all sides, Basira. And unless you expect Jon to record them into submission […]”. So Jon only has a name when it’s about trashing him and the fact he’s a nerd who can’t win in a fight. Elias, please.)

- By the way! The many shackle sounds gave us an indication: Elias must have the habit of using a loooot of hand gestures for emphasis, since it was clicking all the time when he was talking!

- Not the first time that Elias has acknowledged the tape recorders (MAG098: Melanie: “… Did…? Did you turn that on?” / Elias: “Hmm? Oh. You get used to it.”) or used them as a means of communication between him and Jon (he addressed Jon directly when recording in MAG092 and MAG120), but first time that he’s been directly asked about what he knows about them!

(MAG127) ELIAS: […] And as to whether he will ever hear this, maybe he’ll get the tapes. Maybe he won’t. But the recordings have helped so far, so… BASIRA: … Do you know what they are? ELIAS: What a question.

WHICH TECHNICALLY MEANS SHIT, THANK YOU E-LIE-AS. Could mean that He Knows Exactly What They Are And How They Operate; could mean that he has a vague idea; could mean that he has absolutely no idea and is bullshitting his way out of the question. Eff you, grinning man. (Sidenote: Ben’s delivery on that last line was so satisfying somehow??)

- “Sometimes I’m eating.” … Yyyyyeah but, Elias. Do you sleep? Jury’s out on the question. Relatedly: I wonder if Jon is wishing he didn’t need to sleep, but at the same time… he hasn’t mentioned sleeping since season 4 started, and we still don’t know if he’s still having The Dreams. When Basira listed off the overview of Jon’s powers, it would have been the perfect moment to try to sort out what’s up with those:

(MAG127) BASIRA: … So. You can’t be killed by a collapsing building. Major injuries scar up fast. You can force the truth out of people and knowledge pops into your head whenever you need it. ARCHIVIST: Yes. I, I think that about, that about covers it.

But Jon didn’t add anything. I have no inkling of what is going on in Jon’s head: was he actually less aware of the true nature of his dreams than we had accounted for at the end of season 3 (MAG113: “I’m not too concerned, to be honest, my dreams are, uh… Well, let’s just say I don’t think they’re going to be letting anyone else in… any time soon.”)? Was he made to forget about the content of his dreams when he woke up from his coma, in the same way that he forgot the end of the Unknowing? Is he hiding that information from Basira because he’s trying to make her trust him again, and feels like it could be a deal-breaker? (He’s making efforts to be transparent with her, though… but is he exhaustive in that transparency? He, of all people, should know that hiding things has proven to be a wrong course of action, and so far in season 4 he has been precisely sharing and trying to talk to people, though…).

I guess that we’ll need to wait for a push in order to find out what Jon knows/remembers about his dreams: whether an old statement-giver coming back, whether a new person coming to give a live statement (what will Jon do in such a situation?), whether… MAG120’s tape resurfacing, which could be soon.

(MAG126) ARCHIVIST: […] There was a tape recorder waiting for me when I sat down. They’re not even hiding it anymore. There weren’t any tapes from when I was… away – I checked. Whatever they are, they are here for me.

(MAG127) ELIAS: Er, I’ve found one of these in my cell? It, it wasn’t recording, but… I assume this means he’s awake. […] And as to whether he will ever hear this, maybe he’ll get the tapes. Maybe he won’t. But the recordings have helped so far, so…

^He’s probably referring to the time he was comatose but, technically, Jon went “away” at the end of MAG117, so that could include the tapes of MAG118 and MAG120. Both involving Elias. Elias clearly said “the tapes”, plural, in MAG127, so maybe getting that tape recorder will unlock the missing ones, which could just… reappear? No idea.

- Oh My Gods, Elias:

(MAG127) BASIRA: … So why am I here? What do you want that’s so important you needed to tell me to my face? ELIAS: I believe you’ve recently lost Melanie. BASIRA: … We saved Melanie. ELIAS: As a person, yes, but as a defender…

Melanie, from off-screen: STOP TELLING PEOPLE I’M DEAD. (That was so mean and gratuitous and savage, ELIAS???)

There is something absolutely disgusting in the way Elias managed to turn one of the only good things that have happened recently (they managed to remove the bullet from Melanie! She’s a bit more of herself again! She’s getting emotions back!) into… a loss. Was it because she was infected by The Slaughter that Elias wanted to hire her in MAG084? We know from MAG106 that the fact that she didn’t have many people around her helped:

(MAG106) MELANIE: Threaten then. I’ve got nothing. ELIAS: That’s… almost true. Your life is indeed shockingly absent of any meaningful connections. That’s actually one of the reasons I chose you for this job. [PAUSE] Your father was your last real anchor, wasn’t he? [STATIC BEGINS.]

But it was “one of the reasons” (potential others being: Melanie listing how she’s reached the end of her options in MAG084); did Elias already know about the Slaughter-infected wound?

… ;; I REALLY don’t like that Elias is ~offering his help~ for the Archives now that this part is getting better. What is the trick. How is he planning to get some power back through the option he’s ~generously~ mentioning to Basira.

(MAG127) ELIAS: As a person, yes, but as a defender… I would have thought you would want all the help you could get, or… have you forgotten what happened last time you lay your guard down? BASIRA: … We’ll work it out. ELIAS: Possibly. Then again: you are beset by enemies on all sides, Basira. And unless you expect Jon to record them into submission, it would seem you’re in rather dire need of another option. BASIRA: … And you just happen to have one. ELIAS: I might have an idea, yes. BASIRA: And what does it cost? ELIAS: Just some of your time, Basira. Just your time. BASIRA: … [SIGHS] Okay. Let’s hear it.

(Gods!!! I hate it!! I love how he’s good at what he’s doing!! Hitting where it hurts – that “last time you lay your guard down” might be about The Flesh attack? And as usual, he sounds totally rational, getting you when you’re in a weak spot, when you’d need help!! There are obvious parallels with the way Peter handled Martin in the meantime: both playing on the way Basira&Martin feel responsible for the others’ safety, both being ~logical~ and insisting that their deal is mostly in your interest…)

What is the triiiiiiiiiick, WHAT IS THAT INSISTENCE ABOUT “TIME”………..

1°) I really hope that whatever he told Basira, Basira won’t play along with his game. The tape recorder cut at this point; Jon won’t know about Elias’s offer if Basira doesn’t tell him. I really hope that she’s not planning dissimulation – Martin is already doing that and it… doesn’t sound good already. If they scatter, if they hide and keep things from each other, they can be sure that Elias will get some power back this way……………

2°) Regarding the ~cliffhanger~ of Elias having a suggestion to make regarding the Archives team’s new “Defender”, there are many options and, even amongst characters we have already met, they’re all interesting.

Daisy? Sounds the most logical, since we can assume (from a narrative standpoint) that she’s not totally dead + Elias mistakenly called Basira “detective” and called her in – she would be the one who would agree to do anything to get Daisy back. (Though… anyway, Elias couldn’t have called anyone else: Melanie would have skinned him anyway, Martin is off, and Elias doesn’t want Jon to see him.) Is the mention that Basira would only have to give “time” because she would be supposed to take her place inside of the coffin…? (Past victims seem to just disappear inside of it, though.)

Simon Fairchild? Jon said that he didn’t want to meet him a few episodes ago (MAG124: “Fairchild seems to travel far and wide for his victims, with no motivation other than… variety. I do not think I ever wish to meet him.”), would be Very Elias to just throw the old man at Jon as a result.

The Section’d officer who arrested Elias / the Legend who punched Elias? He sounded like an awful guy but HEY!!! He punched Elias. Melanie would love to hear about how it felt, and she needs some cheering up. And I wouldn’t put it past Elias to rec the guy who punched him.

JUDE PERRY? Would be amazingly awful for Jon and also worst choice ever, which is why Elias could go for that one.

Julia&Trevor, having managed to come back from the US? Look me in the eyes and tell me you wouldn’t dream of Trevor hunting in the Archives. (Okay, maybe I just want to hear Julia again because nnggg. Maybe.) (Also!! They burned down Ivy Meadows (and Melanie’s father), so if anyone should get to meet them, it’s Melanie.)

Spider-people and/or Annabelle? Can’t say for sure, but I feel like whatever the spiders are doing, they’re enjoying their lurking in the shadows for now (and given that they sent Oliver to wake up Jon, they seem to avoid direct interactions with him).

Mikaele Salesa? He had contacts with the Institute, knew Gertrude a bit, and we only know that he disappeared(status is unknown, “he hasn’t been seen for almost two years now” in MAG045, which took place in September 2016). Plus, Salesa knew Peter Lukas…

Breekon or Hope, depending on which of them survived Daisy’s wrath? I really don’t think so (if anything… the surviving one might be a threat for the Archives), but their fake accent would drive Jon CRAZY so fast, probably, and I’d be here for this.

Sadly, if Jon’s dreams from MAG120 are any indication, he’s presumably dead, but I can’t help but think about Mike Crew for the Hilarity. I mean! He wrecked Jon (a bit) and:

(MAG091) MIKE: You’re sure I can’t get you a cup of tea? ARCHIVIST: Uh, it–it’s fine, really. MIKE: Okay. You just seem a bit… jumpy, is all. […] ARCHIVIST: You… There was, there was a book? Er, two of them, at least. Er… Ex Altiora, The Boneturner’s Tale. You, uh… I think you threw a guy off a skyscraper in Paris. MIKE: Hmm. Last chance for that cup of tea. ARCHIVIST: I… [STATIC] Where did you get that scar? MIKE: [LONG SIGH AS THE SOUND OF RUSHING AIR RISES] And I was trying so hard to be polite. […] We have a lot in common, really. After all, what, what good’s the height, the terrifying draw of gravity, unless you, unless you really know the scale of what you’re facing?

He said they Vast and Beholding had “lot in common”! He makes tea!! (Wrong person, but still. He likes to make and offer tea. A spot was left… vacant, for that role.)

tl:dr BEHOLDING-STATEMENT YIIISSS, and I’m so glad and mad to have heard Elias again, already =DD

We already have MAG128’s title soooo… personal speculation would be about Breekon &/or Hope, maybe the coffin already? And/or a Buried statement? Regarding the title’s double-meaning (/if taken literally): Sounds Like A Big Lie anyway :|

[sinemeter]

marriage story

“Listen, if we start from a place of reasonable, and they start from a place of crazy, when we settle, we’ll be somewhere between reasonable and crazy.”

Charlie dan Nicole sudah hidup bersama dalam waktu yang lumayan lama─mungkin sekitar 10 tahun─dan mereka sudah dikaruniai seorang anak usia 8 tahun; waktu yang cukup lama untuk mengantar mereka ke gerbang perceraian.

Silang Sengkarut Urusan Perceraian

Charlie (Adam Driver) di New York menjalani karier sebagai pemilik sekaligus sutradara kelompok teater yang sedang berkembang, dan kesibukannya akhir-akhir ini adalah mempersiapkan timnya untuk tampil di Broadway. Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) terbang ke Los Angeles bersama anak semata wayangnya, Henry, tinggal di rumah ibunya sementara ia mengikuti syuting episode pilot sebuah serial TV. Selama ini mereka tinggal satu atap di sebuah apartemen di New York. Charlie dan Nicole bahkan bekerja di bawah satu atap pula; Charlie adalah si sutradara teater dan Nicole adalah sang aktris yang berperan di atas panggungnya. Maka perpisahan tersebut awalnya direncanakan hanya berlangsung sementara, bukan sesuatu yang mesti dikhawatirkan, terutama oleh Charlie, sama sekali tak ada yang perlu diwaspadai walaupun akhir-akhir ini hubungan mereka memang sedang agak renggang.

Namun, berselang dua minggu kemudian, ketika Charlie menyusul ke LA untuk bereuni dengan istri dan anaknya di rumah mertuanya, sepasang kejutan diberitakan. Kejutan pertama, yang disampaikan oleh Charlie dengan berseri-seri, adalah tentang hibah MacArthur Fellowship sebesar $650.000 yang diberikan kepada kelompok teaternya. Kejutan kedua, yang disampaikan oleh Nicole dengan serius (ditimpali pula dengan upaya untuk tetap bersikap kasual), adalah gugatan perceraian yang secara resmi tertulis dalam surat pengadilan LA berbungkus amplop manila. Bagi Charlie, ini adalah sebuah gumpalan besar masalah yang butuh proses buat dicerna.

Memang benar, bahwa selama beberapa waktu terakhir hubungan keduanya tidak begitu harmonis. Mereka secara rutin menjalani sesi konseling dengan konsultan pernikahan yang memediasi ketegangan di antara keduanya. Prosesnya memang tak selalu berjalan lancar tapi setidaknya mereka sepakat untuk tidak membawa urusan rumah tangga ke pengacara apalagi sampai ke pengadilan. Mereka sepakat untuk mengusahakan segalanya secara “kekeluargaan”, sepakat untuk tidak bercerai─sampai waktu yang sebenarnya belum mereka sepakati bersama.

Akan tetapi selama di LA Nicole telah mengambil 2-3 langkah lebih dulu daripada Charlie. Ia mendatangi seorang pengacara perceraian yang cukup handal di LA, Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern), lalu mengadukan ganjalan hatinya secara terang-terangan─hal-hal yang selama ini tertahan untuk disampaikan kepada konsultan pernikahannya, atau bahkan kepada Charlie juga. Hal-hal itu bersumber kepada nilai esensi dirinya yang selama ini selalu tertutup oleh bayang-bayang Charlie. Ia seolah kehilangan jati dirinya sebagai seorang seniman karena tak punya cukup ruang kesempatan untuk menjadi seperti apa yang ia inginkan.

Nicole: “To be honest, all the problems were there in the beginning too. But I just went along with him and his life because it felt so damn good to feel myself alive. In the beginning, I was the actress, the star, and that felt like something, you know, people came to see me at first, but the farther away I got from that and the more acclaim the company got, and I had less and less weight. I just became … ‘Who? Well, you know, the actress that was in that thing that time.’ And he was the draw. And that would’ve been fine, but I got smaller. I realized I didn’t ever come alive for myself. I was just feeding his aliveness.”

Pernyataan lain yang diungkapkan Nicole menyangkut perannya sebagai seorang wanita yang seolah terbatas oleh peran gandanya sebagai istri dan ibu di dalam rumah. Ia sangat menyayangi anaknya tapi di sisi lain ia juga merasa kehilangan siapa dirinya setelah menjadi ibu. Dalam konteksnya sebagai istri, ia pun merasa Charlie terlalu mendiktenya. Charlie-lah yang “memaksanya” untuk tinggal di New York, hidup di apartemen yang bahkan perabotan di dalamnya mengikuti selera pribadi Charlie. Ia merasa Charlie tak cukup sensitif untuk memperhatikan perasaannya, kebahagiaannya, kebutuhan hidupnya. Dan pada puncaknya, Nicole telah mengendus perselingkuhan Charlie dengan salah satu karyawan yang terjadi di belakangnya.

Tuntutan perceraian dari Nicole cukup jelas yaitu ia bisa tinggal di LA, kota yang lebih dicintainya daripada New York, dan mendapat hak asuh penuh atas Henry. Tapi di tangan Nora, tuntutannya bisa melebar ke mana-mana termasuk pembagian harta gono-gini yang cukup rinci mengenai siapa yang berhak mengambil apa dan bagaimana.

Sebagai awam, tentu banyak hal yang tidak dipersiapkan oleh Charlie dalam menghadapi ajuan cerai istrinya itu. Ia bisa saja sepakat dengan Nicole untuk tidak terlalu buru-buru mengurusi perkara ini, tapi sistem hukum perceraian LA mendorongnya agar segera menyewa pengacara dan merespons kuasa hukum istrinya kalau tidak mau kehilangan seluruh harta dan hak asuhnya. Ia bisa saja coba meyakinkan diri untuk tetap menyelesaikan proses tanpa harus melibatkan persidangan, tapi yang terjadi ia sudah berada dalam pusaran arena pertandingan pengacara perceraian yang mengangkat kasusnya jadi perkara menang atau kalah.

Dengan budget yang agak terbatas serta biaya transportasi yang cukup lumayan untuk perjalanan bolak-balik New York-LA demi mengurus perceraian, Charlie awalnya hanya bisa menyewa pengacara bertarif “murah”. Tapi tetap saja itu tidak berhenti menguras keuangannya. Sebagai strategi agar bisa mendapatkan hak asuh atas Henry, Charlie disarankan untuk menyewa apartemen di LA untuk menegaskan kedekatan jaraknya dengan teritori Henry yang baru, sebab Nicole sudah lebih dulu mendaftarkan Henry sekolah di LA untuk mengunci yurisdiksinya.

Mediasi pertama yang dilakukan antara tim Nicole dan tim Charlie bisa dibilang berat sebelah. Melalui argumenn-argumen cerdik Nora, Charlie terpojok oleh fakta yang dicetuskan bahwa keengganannya untuk mengabulkan permintaan istrinya yang sejak lama ingin pindah ke LA itu adalah bukti sifat otoriternya. Tudingan tersebut tentu sangat memberatkan dan bila Charlie berhenti di sini maka hak asuhnya akan dengan mudahnya hilang. Mau tak mau perkara ini harus dilanjutkan ke pengadilan dengan daftar tuntutan yang lebih panjang, tim pengacara yang lebih mahal, serta biaya akomodasi yang makin membengkak sehingga Charlie pun sempat harus menggunakan sebagian dana hibah MacArthur-nya untuk menalangi (“You’re doing this because you love your kid, and in doing so, you’re draining money from your kid’s education”).

Di ruang pengadilan, Charlie mempersenjatai diri dengan pengacara perceraian yang lebih mahal, jauh lebih bonafid daripada sebelumnya, dan tentu saja lebih lihai berargumen (“I needed my own asshole”). Namun drama di ruang pengadilan ternyata memberikan pengalaman yang sama-sama tak mengenakkan bagi Charlie dan Nicole. Melalui mulut masing-masing pengacaranya, pasangan suami-istri itu secara tak langsung mengkomunikasikan kekesalan masing-masing lewat daftar dosa yang tak bisa dielakkan. Kesalahan-kesalahan kecil diungkit sebagai amunisi serangan─Charlie yang dianggap lalai karena lupa memasang kursi penumpang buat anaknya di mobil; Nicole yang dituding alkoholik hanya gara-gara hampir terpeleset di tangga rumahnya setelah meminum wine.

Charlie dan Nicole jadi penonton dari pertarungan jalanan antara kedua pengacara yang mengatasnamakan “kepentingan” mereka berdua. Hal tersebut tentunya tak terbendung karena bagi para pengacara itu setiap perkara perceraian adalah tentang menang-kalah, untung-rugi, serta reputasi mereka masing-masing dalam menjalankan profesinya (“Criminal lawyers see bad people at their best, divorce lawyers see good people at their worst”). Sedangkan Charlie dan Nicole hanya bisa duduk menahan rasa bersalahnya masing-masing setelah membeberkan cerita mereka secara detail kepada tiap pengacara, yang ternyata digunakan untuk memojokkan satu sama lain di depan hakim yang terhormat.

Di titik ini, agaknya keduanya sudah sepenuhnya menyadari bahwa perceraian memang harus dilakukan. Tak ada jalan balik untuk rujuk atau rekonsiliasi. Yang tersisa dari keduanya adalah tentang bagaimana mengkomunikasikan ketidakcocokan masing-masing secara lebih personal─bukan formal, dan lebih terbuka─tanpa pihak ketiga.

Komunikasi, Seburuk Apa Pun Caranya

Hampir dalam setiap prahara pernikahan, nasihat terbaik yang selalu diberikan adalah komunikasi; buka keran obrolan dengan pasangan masing-masing, ungkap setiap ganjalan yang terpendam di balik dada, keluarkan. Dengan komunikasi sebagai solusi, itu juga berarti masing-masing pihak harus siap mendengar dan menerima hal-hal negatif tentang dirinya, baik yang harfiah maupun yang metaforis.

Nicole dan Charlie bertemu di apartemen Charlie sesudah melewati drama di persidangan, lalu memutuskan untuk bicara baik-baik dari hati ke hati mengenai hal-hal yang belum terungkap di antara keduanya. Sebuah keputusan yang sebenarnya dilandasi niat baik rekonsiliasi dan tampak seperti sesuatu yang layak diperjuangkan. Namun, apa yang terungkap kemudian adalah ekspresi kemarahan yang saling menyerang di depan tameng masing-masing. Nicole menyebutkan kalau kulitnya serasa terkelupas setiap kali Charlie menyentuhnya; menegaskan secara tersirat bahwa seks tidak lagi mengikat dan menumbuhkan rasa seperti biasanya. Charlie bahkan dengan sangat agresif mengharapkan Nicole mati tertabrak mobil di jalan raya sehingga istrinya itu bisa enyah dari hidupnya. Adu mulut saling hina dan menyumpahi memang menemui momen terburuknya ketika dua pihak yang terlibat adalah mereka yang telah saling mengenal  dengan sangat baik.

Nicole: “You’re being so much like your father.”

Charlie: “Do not compare me to my father!”

Nicole: “I didn’t compare you to him. I said you were acting like him.”

Charlie: “You’re exactly like your mother. Everything you were complaining about her, you’re doing. You’re suffocating Henry.”

Nicole: “First of all, I love my mother. She was wonderful mother. Secondly, how dare you compare my mothering to my mother! I may be like my father, but I am not like my mother.”

Charlie: “You are! And you’re like my father! You’re also like my mother! You’re all the bad things about all these people! But mostly your mother. When we’d lie in bed together, sometimes I would look at you and see her and just feel so gross!”

Bagi Nicole, permasalahan utama dari kehidupan rumah tangganya adalah tak mendapat ruang apresiasi dan aktualisasi yang cukup menguatkan keberadaan dirinya sebagai perempuan. Kondisi itu diperparah oleh kecenderungan Charlie menyikapi dirinya sebagai “pendukung” bagi karier dan teaternya (“He didn’t see me as something separate from himself”). Nicole membutuhkan ruangannya sendiri, sebuah pulau kreasi yang hanya dihuni dirinya di mana ia bebas menanam dan memanen apa saja yang ia inginkan. Tawaran membintangi serial TV sempat jadi oase yang bisa menyelamatkan hubungan kering Nicole dengan Charlie, andai saja Charlie tidak keceplosan mengatakan bagaimana penghasilan istrinya nanti bisa diinvestasikan ke kelompok teaternya. Apa yang tertangkap oleh radar emosional Nicole adalah satu bukti kuat lain tentang arogansi Charlie.

Jadi, semua itu bukan sebatas isu keinginan Nicole mudik ke kota kelahirannya atau problem sakit hati karena diselingkuhi, perceraian itu diajukan atas dasar rasa keterkungkungan psikologis yang tak kuasa lagi ditolerir. Tapi patut disayangkan bahwa Nicole tak cukup cakap mengartikulasikan kerisauan itu kepada Charlie selama ini. Ia lebih memilih “bungkam” dan menyimpannya di dalam hati, lalu secara sepihak mempersiapkan proses perceraian, seolah-olah tabungan kesalnya itu memang disiapkan sebagai poin-poin pembelaan hukum. Maka wajar saja jika kemudian Charlie merasa kaget dengan berondongan curhat Nicole yang menyudutkannya sebagai subjek perenggut kebahagiaan (“You were happy. You’ve just decided you weren’t now”); semua itu tanpa preseden yang jelas mengenai apa dan kenapa, dan tentunya terasa sangat tidak adil di satu pihak.

Bagi Charlie, permasalahan utama dari keretakan rumah tangganya adalah preferensi fokusnya yang mengarah ke karier. Sebagai pengelola sekaligus baterai kreatif dari kelompok teaternya, ia terpikat pada ide untuk membuatnya jadi lebih besar lagi, terutama karena dirinya masih cukup muda untuk bisa mewujudkannya. Perselingkuhannya dengan seorang manajer panggung menyiratkan bukti bahwa pekerjaan jadi ladang hidup utamanya, tempat segala perasaannya bersemi, dan itu menciptakan situasi yang berbalik dengan ranjang apartemennya yang hambar. Ia tak bisa lagi melihat Nicole sebagai suatu percikan yang dengan penuh mengisi dayanya (“You shouldn’t be upset that I fucked her! You should be upset that I had a laugh with her!”). Ia berada di tengah-tengah proses besar mengembangkan nama teaternya ke panggung yang lebih besar─panggung Broadway─dan di dalam sana Nicole tak lebih dari sekadar aktris pemeran pendukung dari ambisinya.

Tapi sama seperti Nicole, Charlie tampak enggan menyampaikan itu semua saat keduanya masih bersama. Tak ada kata yang terucap di antara keduanya, semua hal ditunjukkan lewat laku masing-masing yang bahkan itu pun dihiasi tingkah untuk menyembunyikan kenyataan dalam-dalam. Mereka merasakan adanya keretakan tapi kemudian hanya menonton, menanti, dan membiarkannya sampai benar-benar jebol. Yang lucu adalah ketika akhirnya mereka siap berkomunikasi berbagi keresahan masing-masing, semuanya sudah kadung tidak gratis. Di belakangnya ada biaya pengacara, transportasi, sewa apartemen, dan proses pengadilan.

Di dalam apartemen sewaan Charlie, hanya berdua, komunikasi yang mereka bangun dengan baik-baik itu malah berkembang jadi pertengkaran yang tak diinginkan. Atau barangkali justru itulah yang mereka butuhkan; saluran pelepasan emosi yang jujur dan terbuka. Kemarahan dan air mata yang muncul merupakan tanda keintiman yang baru dalam situasi pernikahan mereka saat ini, menggantikan belaian dan persetubuhan yang justru terdengar seperti gagasan yang destruktif bagi hubungan mereka. Pertandingan saling bela diri dan saling tuding itu memang harus disampaikan dengan bentakan karena setiap pihak punya rasionalisasi yang ingin dipertahankan, dan itu justru menunjukkan proses argumentasi yang sehat, tanpa ada satu pihak yang terus terpojok lalu diam.

“You’re so merged with your own selfishness, you don’t even identify it as selfishness anymore!” ujar Nicole kepada Charlie. “You pulled the rug out from under me and you’re putting me through hell,” ujar Charlie kepada Nicole. Jika ada satu titik temu yang mereka sepakati bersama dari percekcokan tersebut adalah kenyataan bahwa mereka memang harus bercerai. Kesimpulan itu terasa lebih baik sebab diambil melalui kesadaran penuh. Tak ada jalur perantara yang selama ini mendistraksi kesadaran mereka lewat kerumitan prosedur dan birokrasi yang membuat titik temu itu jadi saru. Kesadaran itulah yang mereka perlukan, bukan hanya pemahaman sepihak yang secara egois diasumsikan terhadap pihak yang lain. Perlu ada kemufakatan yang bulat, yang meskipun diambil lewat proses yang berlangsung buruk namun segala halnya telah dikomunikasikan bersama-sama.

Perceraian Termasuk Bagian dari Pernikahan Juga

Hubungan yang telah retak itu bermuara di perpisahan. Tapi perceraian bukanlah perpisahan biasa, bukan sekadar kepergian yang mengakhiri sebuah hubungan pada suatu titik. Perceraian punya keistimewaan tersendiri karena itu merupakan bagian dari pernikahan juga yang berarti bahwa perpisahan yang terjadi tetap memiliki ikatan hubungan tersendiri. Tanggung jawab Charlie dan Nicole sebagai suami dan istri memang sudah lepas atas diri masing-masing, dan itu kemudian diganti dengan tanggung jawab lain melalui harta gono-gini, hak asuh anak, pembagian nafkah yang tetap mengikat keduanya dalam sebuah hubungan. Setidaknya melalui Henry, yang harus berbagi jatah waktu menginap, keduanya masih terus bisa dipertemukan.

Satu fase yang dilalui Charlie dan Nicole dalam proses perceraian mereka mengharuskan keduanya mengingat banyak hal ke belakang, terutama berkenaan dengan nostalgia rasa cinta mereka di awal hubungan. Saat Nicole berkonsultasi dengan Nora tentang kasusnya, mau tak mau ia mengingat dan menceritakan lagi bagaimana hatinya terpincut kepada karisma Charlie (“It was better than the sex, the talking. Although the sex was also like the talking”). Keterpesonaan yang ia kisahkan itu tak bisa dimanipulasi begitu saja, perasaannya secara langsung melibatkan diri dengan turun mengunjungi ruang dan waktu di masa lalu, memeluk energi yang tersimpan di sana walaupun hanya sesaat.

Pada tahap yang lebih awal lagi, Charlie dan Nicole bahkan menyepakati untuk mengingat hal-hal baik yang dimiliki pasangan masing-masing sebagai individu. Sebelum mereka melibatkan pengacara, dalam satu sesi mediasi bersama konsultan pernikahan di New York mereka berdua saling menuliskan di atas kertas sifat-sifat apa saja yang disukai dari satu sama lain. Apa yang mereka tuliskan bukan kalimat-kalimat singkat; ada daftar panjang yang begitu intim, personal, dan yang tak bisa ditampik lagi, romantis. Keduanya menyelami jantung perasaan masing-masing sedalam yang mereka sanggup, untuk sejenak mengorbankan kekesalan dan kebencian yang sedang mekar, lalu mengalah kepada cinta yang telah menyatukan mereka di sebagian besar durasi pernikahan.    

Charlie: “What I love about Nicole. She makes people feel comfortable about even embarrassing things. She really listens when someone is talking … She always knows the right thing to do when it comes to difficult family shit. I get stuck in my ways and she knows when to push me and when to leave me alone … Nicole grew up in LA around actors, and directors, and movies, and TV, and is very close to her mother, Sandra, and Cassie, her sister … She is a mother who plays, really plays. She never steps off playing or say it’s too much. And it must be too much some of the time … After that movie, ‘All Over the Girl’, she could have stayed in LA and been a movie star, but she gave that up to do theatre with me in New York. She’s brave. She’s a great dancer. Infectious. She makes me wish I could dance …  My crazy ideas are her favourite things to figure out how to execute. She’s my favourite actress.”

Nicole: “What I love about Charlie. Charlie is undaunted. He never lets other people’s opinions or any setbacks keep him from what he wants to do … He’s incredibly neat, and I rely on him to keep things in order… He’s very self-sufficient. He can darn a sock and cook himself dinner and iron a shirt. He rarely gets defeated, which I feel like I always do. Charlie takes all of my moods steadily. He doesn’t give in to them or make me feel bad about them … He loves being a dad. He loves all the things you’re supposed to hate, like the tantrums, the waking up at night … His parents, I only met them once, but he told me there was a lot of alcohol and some violence in his childhood. He moved to New York from Indiana with no safety net. And now he’s more New Yorker than any New Yorker. He’s brilliant at creating family out of whoever is around. With the theatre company, he cast a spell that made everyone feel included. No one, not even an intern, was unimportant … He’s very clear about what he wants, unlike me, who can’t always tell.”

Perasaan-perasaan yang terungkap kembali itu mengindikasikan bahwa mereka tak pernah benar-benar padam di hati masing-masing. Semua itu tersimpan rapi, dan pada satu titik bahkan bisa terus menghantui mereka ke mana pun; tanpa sadar terbentuk sebagai standar penilaian mereka terhadap pasangan hidup yang barangkali muncul di kemudian hari. Dengan perasaan-perasaan tersebut alasan-alasan perceraian mereka jadi nampak tak masuk akal, tak memiliki fondasi yang cukup kuat untuk membuktikan justifikasinya. Perceraian tersebut lebih mirip seperti lubang yang memerangkap keduanya pada rentetan birokrasi hukum yang suka tidak suka harus dijalani dari awal sampai beres.

Nicole menuliskan dalam surat pengakuannya, “I’ll never stop loving him, even though it doesn’t make sense anymore.” Bila cinta didasari oleh sesuatu yang irasional, tak dapat digenggam, abstrak, sebagai pembentuk kehidupannya, maka perceraian adalah sebaliknya: dibentuk oleh rasionalisasi, bukti-bukti konkret, rekam jejak. Perceraian membutuhkan alasan-alasan sedangkan cinta tidak selalu demikian. Maka ironis jadinya ketika manusia yang disebut sebagai mahluk rasional itu menggunakan kerasionalan mereka dalam menilai hubungan romansa, hasilnya justru adalah penguatan logis untuk berpisah. Ia jadi terjebak dalam ego moralitas yang menilai perilaku dalam kategori baik dan buruk, sehingga “mudah” untuk menentukan kecacatan masing-masing pasangan lalu memanfaatkannya sebagai alat pembenaran.  

Charlie dan Nicole mungkin termasuk pasangan yang beruntung karena perceraian mereka bisa dikatakan berlangsung secara baik-baik. Tak ada sejarah kekerasan fisik yang terjadi dalam rumah tangga mereka ataupun kasus perudungan psikis yang berat. Keduanya masih menjalin pernikahan dalam bentuk yang berbeda; kebersamaan yang tak mengharuskan keduanya tinggal seatap, sekota, sekamar, tapi tetap terhubung oleh darah daging yang mengikat mereka. Memang tak ada yang namanya pernikahan yang sempurna begitu pula tak ada yang namanya cinta yang sempurna. Tak ada alasan yang harus dijelaskan kenapa setelah resmi bercerai Nicole masih menyempatkan diri berlutut untuk mengikatkan tali sepatu Charlie. Tak ada alasan yang harus dijelaskan kenapa Charlie bergetar bibirnya saat membaca surat pengakuan Nicole tentang dirinya setelah sekian lama. Selama hal-hal yang tak terjelaskan itu masih bisa menguasai perasaan masing-masing, maka perceraian itu pun juga tak pernah sempurna.  

oleh: Ikra Amesta

[taylorwrites]

COMING SOON: THIS IS SANITY

THIS IS SANITY

PREVIEW

May 2016

The Observer: Observer Magazine

Ella Fanshawe: The Luckiest Girl in the World.

Earlier this month, I was given the opportunity to sit down with brand new singing sensation Ella Fanshawe over coffee. Her brand new single “Fake” has skyrocketed to the top and has been at number one for three weeks now and it continues to thrive. Naturally I arrived there before her, and claimed a booth for us before I heard the bell of the door and turned to watch her walk in. She was, surprisingly, on her own considering the level of success she has achieved in so little time. She introduced herself, shaking my hand, before asking how I was. I was surprised to find that she is quite shy, although she has proven brilliance in picking her words.

I began by telling her that I thought we should start from the beginning and she began to tell me about her discovery.

“I was always gigging in pubs with friends or sometimes on my own. It was never really a major plan for me to do this, just something that I enjoyed doing every now and again. Someone, who is actually now my manager, gave me their card and asked if I’d thought about a career in music. I left it for a while and my friends were all ‘you should just call him, it's worth a try’, so I did, and here we are ten months later. I guess I just got really lucky.” She's very nonchalant about it and puts everything down to luck, a quality I admire about her.

“So this isn't always what you wanted to do, then? Music was never really the plan?”

“I actually went to university for psychology and I was convinced I was going to go into forensic psychology! Obviously I’ve watched too much Criminal Minds. This was just a hobby type thing that I did with some of my friends every now and again,it was never a full on, hard core I want to do this. But maybe subconsciously this was something I wanted to do but never really pursued it because of the competition there is to get in, I don't know. I actually just graduated and so I was working nonstop on my dissertation and the song and so now that that's done and dusted, I’m finally able to focus on one thing in it's entirety. I'm not the best multitasker so this proved to be a massive feat for me!”

“Did you and your manager find it easy to find someone who wanted to work with you? Was it more difficult as you are so new?”

“Definitely there was some degree of difficulty trying to get someone who would want to work with me. It was much more difficult for us than it was for my manager to find a label who was willing to go out on a limb and sign me, actually. But I really enjoyed working with who we did, and I really want to work with them again. They’re these two brothers from Newcastle and they were so great to work with. Taking all the suggestions and suggesting things themselves. It was a really great partnership between us! It was really cool actually. It was all done in a shed in their garden which has been all kitted out with sound protection and every single instrument you could ever dream of! We spent a while up there working on a few different things before we decided that this was the one we were going to go for. They were really really helpful in helping with techniques and stuff, and I learnt a lot about the mixing and recording the traks, which is actually a lot more simple than I thought it would be. All the buttons mean the same thing which was news to me.” She laughs at herself before reigning herself back in and apologising for ‘going off on a tangent’, before I told her that this is what I was here for; to listen to her talk.

We then began to talk about her life before London, something that has never been brought up in the few interviews she's done.

“I grew up in Oxfordshire, but I went to an all girl school in Kent. That's really all there is to tell. l worked hard at school, and did relatively well in my exams. I really enjoyed it, and do miss it actually. I'm one of those people who need some sort of structure in their lives like I had a school, and I did struggle without it at university. This has given me plenty of structure but with variation. Growing up, though, it was all very normal. Although I haven't been exposed to other ways so this is what I know. I have two older brothers, they're super protective of me and since this has all happened they've upped their game even more.” She makes a point of not playing up her upper middle class upbringing, something she doesn't talk about and so keen researchers like myself might be surprised to discover this. A public schoolgirl and overnight sensation is not the most popular combination. It seems as though she is abnormally normal.

I ask her what it was like to be away from home at such a young age.

“Actually, it wasn't weird at all for me. I first started boarding when I was only eight and a lot of my friends also were doing it too. My brothers did it, and my parents did it too when they were at school. It was normal for me, I suppose. Then I went even further away from home I was thirteen and it didn’t bother me in the slightest. There's always something to do, so I would keep myself busy. There wasn't any time to be homesick! I don't enjoy sitting around waiting to do something, which I suppose is why this job is doing well for me at the moment; I'm constantly on the go. This is busy, which I like, because I really struggle doing nothing.”

I often wonder about why many are against people who have already come from relatively wealthy families who can build their own career without the help of their parents or their friends of parents. There are obviously people around who have been given and so taken opportunities handed to them on a silver platter. This young lady has not. I like that she is very much her own person, and it is apparent she had been brought up well.

It is at that point I bring up why I am here talking to her. The single. She almost suddenly turns quite timid, and nervous but there was a definitely grin hiding behind her mug as she took a sip.

“Um, well it's called ‘Fake’, and when I heard the demo I was literally like we have to do this! I’d heard a few others which were great and we actually recorded a few demos for them, but this one just kind of stood out a bit more. This one, I think, is the most me.”

“It's blown up so fast, were you expecting this?”

“No this is, this is completely mental to me. I wasn't expecting to have a UK number 1 at all, this is, beyond crazy! Obviously I was wanting people to like it but I was never expecting it to go like this!” Ella appears to talk a lot with her hands, throwing them around as she becomes more enthusiastic about topics we talk about.

“You've had a few already established people in this industry comment on the single, how does that make you feel?”

“Oh god, I sound like a broken record but it's so mental! I got tweeted by Niall Horan and he went on about how he really really liked it and that he was looking forward to hearing more from me and I honestly think i've never read a tweet so much! I thought I was hallucinating! I've been told that Ed Sheeran also really likes it but I can't be sure. I'm waiting for his tweet.” She chuckles to herself, twirling a gold ring on her left little finger.

“It’s also getting big in America too, do you have plans to go over there and work on promotion?”

“Yeah actually, we're heading over there in a couple weeks, and we've got Fallon and Corden lined up I believe, I'm super excited for that! It's insane, like those are big  talk shows, and I’m going to be on them!” She sits back in the booth in disbelief. “It's just so insane.”

“And is there an album in the works?”

“Uh, yes. I'm not sure how much I’m allowed to talk about it but there is an album in the works. We've got a few things recorded and I've even had a bit of an input on some of the writing which has been such a good experience. I really really enjoyed that! I think it'll be a while though before any of that comes out into the world!”

“So if we're not getting an album anytime soon, do we get another single in the near future?”

“It's only been 6 weeks since the first one came out! It's flown by and everything's been a bit nonstop, but it's not been long at all and you're already wanting more! This is brilliant! Um, a second single? Right now I'm not entirely sure, I’ve been told that I get to decide if and when one will come out, and I want to ride out the success of this one because it's been great, I don't want to leave it too long that people get bored. I have a few people to advise me and so I'll have to have a chat with them to see what they say about that”

“Are you going to stick with pop music or do you want to move about a bit?”

“Oh, I 100% want to move around within multiple genres of music. I think that if I stick with one I won't appeal to as many people than I would if I was to mix and match, I don't want to play it too safe. It makes more sense to me to do that. I love so many different types of music and so the aim is just to create music that I would like to listen to. I think it would be silly just to stick with one, and not to make an attempt to appeal to more people!”

“Now, canwe get to the juicy detail talk about your personal life?” at this point she just laughs, and take a sip of her americano.

“There really isn't anything to tell, I’m as single as can be, if that’s what you’re asking, but I'm not really looking for anything right now! I’m so focused on this right now there really isn't much time for anything like that”

“So nothing going on with anyone? No dates? Nothing?”

“I mean, there have been dates, but nothing that's gone further than that. It's not that I don't want to, it's more that it's become seemingly difficult post single release.”

“What was your favourite one you've been on?” She hesitates for a moment.

“Oh, one person managed to get tickets to ‘The Secret Cinema’ to see Moulin Rouge, and it was one of the best things I’ve seen! That was actually a great evening!” Ella has continually become more confident as our conversation has gone on, treating it more like a conversation, rather than an interview. “I do want to make a conscious effort though, if this continues to grow as fast a pace that it does, to keep certain parts of my life private, y’know? I get that with the job I signed up for that's not always possible, but I’m definitely going to try.”

“Ella, you honestly seem like the most likable person, do you have any flaws?” She laughs at my question but gives a large nod.

“Oh, god, yes! Definitely! Obviously I try to downplay them a lot but since you asked; I stress too much about everything. I remember everything, which is a gift and a curse, because there are things I would definitely like to erase from my memory! I cannot, for the life of me, hold a grudge. It's awful! My father tells me it's the best trait in the world to have but he's wrong. It's the worst. He has it too, actually. We’re very similar. I am the worst cook! It's awful! I can't even cook soup right! You ask my friend and she'll tell you about that time I left soup on the stove for too long and it boiled over and I made the biggest mess! I'm so easily distracted, like so easily! It's so annoying and I can't help it! I used to have to have those things to keep your hands occupied while you’re working because I had to be doing something! Multitasking? Not my thing. I can't text and walk, I can just about walk and talk, I can't- Oh I really struggle with watching movies. Like I love them, but unless it's one of my favourite films, I can't watch the whole thing. I've started so many movies but I have no idea on how any of them ended!”

It is then when I am reminded that, unfortunately, my time with Ella must come to an end. She is polite, as ever. Telling me to get home safe, and that she is looking forward to reading the finished write up of our conversation. I have thoroughly enjoyed talking and meeting with Ella Fanshawe, as she is the epitome of niceness. She is very lucky indeed.

[viewittoronto]

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[rosenwrites]

Child Custody

Character(s): Linh, Nhan, Jaime

Suggested Music: Courtroom Lobby

               “Court is now in session, the honourable Alden Delton residing.” The bailiff announced to the courtroom. A bearded man in a black robe marched to the front of the courtroom.

               “Thank you, bailiff.” Judge Delton made his way to his seat, ready for today’s hearing.

               “People of the courtroom, please be seated.” The sparse gallery all took their seats.

               “Linh Tran and Nhan Nguyen, step forward.” Judge Delton instructed. The two stood up from their seats, verbally confirming that they were present in the courtroom, and made their way to their respective seats at the center. Jaime sat at the back of the gallery. Phuong was still at the police station and Trieu was still comatose at the hospital. “Linh Tran, your opening statement, please.”

               Linh stood up from her seat and cleared her throat. “Your Honour, My name is Linh Tran. Five days ago, Nhan Nguyen, my former brother-in-law, attacked his daughter Phuong in a fit of drunken rage. His son Trieu intervened, and is now comatose because of it, suffering severe damage to his right eye. It’s clear as day that he can’t be trusted with his own children, and with their mother’s recent passing, I volunteer as their next of kin to take full custody and responsibility of Phuong and Trieu Nguyen, both born on March 14th, 1988. I also wish to file a restraining order against Nhan Nguyen.”

               “Thank you, Miss Tran. You may take your seat. Nhan Nguyen, your opening statement, please.”

               Nhan stood up to make his opening statement. “Your Honour, my name is Nhan Nguyen. Five days ago, Linh Tran, my former sister-in-law barged into my apartment home and assaulted me. My intention is to retain full custody of my children Phuong and Trieu Tran, both born on March 14th, 1988. I also wish to file a restraining order against Linh Tran.”

               “Thank you, Mr. Nguyen. You may take your seat. Since Miss Tran filed the documents, she’ll be the first to call witnesses and present evidence.” Judge Delton explained.

               “Your Honour, I’d like to call my first witness: myself.” Linh marched up to the witness stand, where the bailiff stood in front of holding a book. He motioned her to place her hand on it and she complied.

               “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” The bailiff asked.

               “I do.” Linh answered as she took her seat at the witness.

               “Witness, please state your name and occupation for the record.” Judge Delton said.

               “I’m Linh Tran, recent Fanshawe College graduate; currently have a job lined up with TD bank.” Linh stated.

               “What is your relationship to Phuong and Trieu Nguyen?”

               “I’m their mother’s sister, so that makes me their aunt.”

               “And how often do you interact with them?”

               “At least every weekend. Usually it was just spending time with them. Other times it was because one of the parents had weekend work to deal with. I was sixteen when they were born so back then I had a lot more free time to spend time with them.”

               “So you have experience in taking care of them. Is there anything else you know concerning the children?”

               “They just finished junior kindergarten and are out of school for the summer. They’re enrolled in Tae Kwon Do classes for extracurricular activities. Other than the current hospitalization of Trieu, there are no medical conditions. I can negotiate my work schedule to give me due time to take care of the kids. Is there anything else you need to hear from me?”

               “Now Miss Tran, this is an unusual custody case. Although you are a relative of these children, you are not the parent. Can you tell the court why is it that Mr. Nguyen is not fit to retain custody?”

               “With the recent passing of the children’s mother, normally sole custody would fall to Mr. Nguyen. Due to events that transpired five days ago, I cannot allow that to pass. Mr. Nguyen assaulted Trieu with a broken beer bottle that resulted in a near-fatal amount of blood loss and Trieu falling comatose. I have several documents to present to Your Honour.”

               “Present them now, one at a time, identifying the document and who produced it.”

               “The first document is a report filed by the police detailing the assault case, including the time, location, the assault weapon, and who made the call to the police.” Linh handed the report to Judge Delton for him to read over. “Next is a report from child protection services. They have cooperated with the police and have raised concerns about the well-being of the children. Lastly I have a doctor’s report from the hospital that’s currently taking care of Trieu.” When Linh finished, she passed on the remainder of the documents to Judge Delton.

               “Since you were the primary babysitter for these children, explain the home situation.”

               “The home situation has nothing outstanding to point out, Your Honour. The apartment was clean, with only the occasional mess you’d expect kids to make. They always had food in the fridge and clothes to wear. It must sound weird from me since I motioned to gain custody, but there’s nothing wrong with the home.”

               “Describe the parenting of the children.”

               “The parents’ jobs often leave them tired and stressed out. This has resulted in Mr. Nguyen often yelling at the children for minor infractions like misbehaving and being too loud. This in turn led to arguments between the parents on how to raise the children.”

               “Are there other witnesses you wish to call to elaborate on the parenting situation?”

               “Yes, I would like to call Mrs. Lisa Worwick, the neighbour of the family, to the stand.” Linh stepped down from the witness stand and made her way back to her table. As she did so, an elderly woman with greying hair stood up from her seat and shuffled to the witness stand. Her husband waved to her as she made her way up. The bailiff stood at the stand waiting for Lisa and presented a book to her. She placed on hand on the book and raised the other.

               “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” The bailiff asked.

               “I do.” Lisa answered before taking her seat.

               “Mrs. Worwick, please tell the court your name, occupation, and your experiences with the family.” Linh instructed.

               “My name is Lisa Worwick. I’m a retired nurse. I see them a lot since we live right across from each other. Sometimes the mother would even come and visit and we’d swap recipes. Sometimes she’d ask me for advice on nursing, since I used to be a nurse myself. I see the mother much more than the father and she was always a gentle mother with the happiness and well-being of her kids her top priority. Whenever I see the father with the kids, they always seemed more anxious and tense, like they were walking on eggshells whenever they were around him. Even the smallest bit of misbehaviour resulted in the father yelling at them and berating them. The punishment never fit the crime.”

               “How would you describe my relationship with the children?”

               “I saw you most often during the weekends. Has it really been five years? My, you’ve grown a bit since that spunky high school girl. You’ve always gotten along well with the kids and I’ve always felt you did a good job of looking after them. I have no doubts that you’ll continue to do so if you gain custody.”

               “No more questions, Your Honour.” Linh sat down.

               “Mr. Nguyen, you may begin your cross-examination.” Judge Delton said. Nhan stood up to speak.

               “Mrs. Worwick, you mentioned earlier that my children always seemed nervous around me. You’ve misinterpreted that. They were on their best behaviour, as they should be when they’re out in public.”

               “Mr. Nguyen, a little bit of fear in one’s parents is not a bad thing, but it shouldn’t be to the point where the children are too scared to do anything in fear of making you angry.” Lisa answered. “Children are supposed to make messes and be loud and break things. That’s what being a child is.”

               “I refuse to let my children to be a nuisance to society and I won’t let them grow up to continue burdening it! They need to learn early how to conduct themselves in public and to respect their elders!”

               “From what I’ve seen, they don’t have a problem doing that. The problem is that you’re being so overbearing that they’re too afraid to make mistakes and grow.”

               “They shouldn’t be making mistakes in the first place. My children are held to a higher standard.”

               Judge Delton banged his gavel. “I’ve heard enough. This cross-examination is over. Mrs. Worwick, you may step down from the witness stand.”

               Lisa stood up from her seat and shuffled back to the gallery. Linh glared at Nhan in disgust, horrified by the words that came out of his mouth.

               “Miss Tran, please call up your next witness.” Judge Delton ordered.

               “I would like to call Rebecca Stewart to the stand.” A woman with brown hair tied in a single braid draped over her shoulder stood up and walked up to the witness stand. The bailiff took her oath and she sat down.

               “Miss Stewart, your name and occupation, please.” Linh requested.

               “I’m Rebecca Stewart, and I’m a paramedic.” Rebecca responded.

               “Please recount what happened five days ago.”

               “We got a call last night from Miss Tran. It was a domestic violence call that had took a turn for the worse, involving a child who had been seriously injured and lost a dangerous amount of blood. We got the address from her and rushed to the scene. Three police cruisers arrived ahead of us and were parked outside the apartment. We rushed in to the apartment number given to us. The police had Mr. Nguyen pinned to the floor and pointed us to the apartment. We knocked on the door, identifying ourselves, and Miss Tran opened the door and let us in. We found the boy, Trieu Tran, unconscious and bleeding. Thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Lisa Worwick, the bleeding had slowed down, which gave us more time to save the boy’s life. We treated him on the way to the hospital, and his condition stabilized. However, he’s still comatose.”

               “What caused so much bleeding that his life was in danger?”

               “According to the call made, a broken beer bottle struck the boy’s face. The sharp broken glass cut up his face and especially his right eye. The hospital is looking into it, but I wouldn’t hold out for a full recovery. The police found the bottle in question at the scene, covered in blood. This matches up with what the phone call said. It’s also important to point out the angle of the cuts. They start high and to the right if you’re facing the boy before going down and to the left. From that, even an amateur could deduce that the person who attacked him was much taller than him.”

               “No further questions, Your Honour.” Linh took her seat.

               “Mr. Nguyen, you may begin your cross-examination.” Judge Delton instructed.

               Nhan stood up and faced Rebecca. “You said that whoever attacked my son with a broken beer bottle had to be taller than him. Why are you so certain that it was me?”

               “Are you suggesting it was someone else?”

               “Well according to testimonies given today, I wasn’t the only adult in the apartment that day. Even if it was for a brief time, there was another person that fits the criteria. Linh, you were the one who struck Trieu down.”

               Nhan barely uttered those words before Linh slammed her clenched fists onto the table she sat and startled many in the gallery. She rose from her seat and turned her head to Nhan, a deathly glare in her eyes.

               “There it is. You just couldn’t resist, could you? You always shift the blame to someone else and you never—”

               Judge Delton banged his gavel. “Order in the court! Miss Tran, sit yourself down and refrain from any more outbursts or you’ll be held in contempt of court.”

               Linh turned to Judge Delton, fists still clenched. A moment of silence passed. She took a deep breath and unclenched her fists before sinking back down into her seat.

               “Mr. Nguyen has put forth an alternate scenario that has led to Trieu’s unfortunate injuries. Miss Tran, I’ll give you another chance: How do you respond to this accusation made against you?”

               “Your Honour, not I only do I deny being the one who almost killed Trieu, but my next witness will prove who did, beyond a shadow of a doubt!” Linh declared.

               “Then we shall continue. Miss Stewart, you may return to your seat. Miss Tran, please call your next witness.”

               “Your Honour, I call Jaime Mendez to the stand.”

               Rebecca stepped down from the witness stand and strolled back to her seat. Jaime stood up from the back of the gallery and marched up to the witness, but almost collided into Rebecca while doing so. Linh sighed as Jaime fumbled the rest of the way to the stand and stuttered when giving his oath.

               “Mr. Mendez, name and occupation for the court, please.” Linh asked Jaime, resisting the urge to slap him upside the head.

               “Hmm? Oh, right! My name is Jaime Mendez and I’m an officer with the London police department.”

               “Mr. Mendez, what is your involvement with this incident?”

               “I’m part of the team investigating this incident. We’ve combed over the scene of the crime, interviewed all persons of interest, and collected evidence to determine what happened. The lead officer recently came down with a cold and couldn’t make it to court today, so I’m here in his place.”

               “So of course that means you found the assault weapon, correct?”

               “Weapons? We didn’t find any weapons on the premises.” Linh’s heart skipped a beat and the air was sucked out of her lungs when Jaime said that. “Oh, but we did find a broken beer bottle that was near a pool of blood. I guess that could be considered a weapon in this case.”

Linh had to fight every urge to vault over the table and strangle Jaime where he stood for the bait and switch he pulled. “And what did you find on the broken bottle? Fingerprints? Blood?”

“Yup! We found blood on the sharp jagged parts of the bottle. We had it checked and it matches with the boy’s. We also found prints on the bottle, around the neck of the bottle. We took Mr. Nguyen’s prints when we brought him in and we compared to the ones on the bottle. Sure enough, they matched.”

Nhan bolted up from his seat. “Objection! Of course my fingerprints would be on the bottle! I’m the only one there who’s even legally allowed to drink!”

Linh stood up and glared at Nhan. “Oh? Just a few minutes ago, you were accusing me of attacking Trieu, but this is only making things worse for you!”

“It still doesn’t prove anything! It’s only natural for my prints to be around the bottle’s neck. That’s how I usually hold my beer.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have an issue with that, either. That is, you know, if it weren’t for the fact that the fingerprints are upside-down.” Everyone in the courtroom stared at Jaime in shock when he said that. “You know, someone would normally hold a bottle like this.” He held out his right hand, thumb pointing to the ceiling, and curled his fingers in to show how his hands would fit around a beer bottle. “But the way the prints were suggested that he held the bottle like this.” Jaime turned his hand upside-down, with his thumb now pointing to the floor. “And the broken jagged parts? They were around here.” Jaime took his left hand and waved it in a circular motion underneath his right.

“So with this knowledge, Mr. Nguyen would be holding the broken bottle by the neck and with the jagged parts pointing outward, like this.” Jaime flipped his right hand back to its normal orientation. “And a right-handed person would swing the bottle as a weapon like this.” Jaime raised his right hand up beside his head before swinging it down, crossing over to his left side. “And wouldn’t you know it; this aligns perfectly with the scars on Trieu’s face.”

“Objection!” Nhan yelled. “Your theory only works if I’m right-handed. But I’m left-handed!”

Linh almost lost it. “Then prove it! Someone get him a pen and paper right now and he’ll show the entire courtroom just how good his left-handed penmanship is!”

Judge Delton banged his gavel. “Bailiff! Retrieve a pen and paper for both Mr. Nguyen and Miss Tran!” The bailiff exited the courtroom to carry out the judge’s orders. “I trust that you have no objections to being subjected to your own test, Miss Tran.”

Linh nodded. “I do not, Your Honour. I actually am left-handed, after all.”

The bailiff returned within the minute with pens and paper. He placed them on Nhan and Linh’s tables. “Mr. Nguyen, Miss Tran, please write our national anthem on your assigned paper with your left hand.” Judge Delton handed down his directions to the two. Linh’s pen moved like a blur across the paper, while Nhan’s hand shook the entire time. Linh finished and set her pen down and sat in silence while waiting for Nhan to finish. It took him several more minutes to complete his task. The bailiff took both papers and presented them to Judge Delton. He took one look at both papers and shook his head before motioning the bailiff to return to his post.

“I’ve seen enough. It’s clear now that Mr. Nguyen is unfit to take care of his children. I hereby revoke all custody rights of Phuong and Trieu Nguyen from Mr. Nguyen. The extent of the custody rights granted to Miss Tran will be determined at a later date within the week. And seeing how Mr. Nguyen committed attempted murder, this will escalated to criminal court. Court is now adjourned.”

Judge Delton banged his gavel, dismissing the courtroom. Nhan looked like he was about to blow a fuse but restrained himself. The bailiff escorted him out, refusing to even look at Linh. Linh sighed and sank down into her chair, relieved that Phuong and Trieu were now at last safe from Nhan’s clutches. She then shot a death glare at Jaime for the stunt he pulled earlier. Jaime grinned like an idiot as he shrugged his shoulders and stepped down from the witness stand.

“Miss Tran, please step forward.” Judge Delton instructed.

“Yes, Your Honour?” Linh did as she was told.

“CPS will be in contact with you soon, perhaps even tomorrow. From what you’ve demonstrated to the court today, I have no doubt they’ll give the okay for you to have full custody of the children. My only concern is that you’re not their mother, but their aunt. Are you prepared to take on all the challenges of parenthood by becoming their legal guardian?”

Linh nodded her head. “When I woke up from my coma, I didn’t just find out that I lost my sister. I found out those two lost their mother, too. They need someone who understands what they’re going through to look after them. I’m prepared to make whatever sacrifice I need to bring their smiles back. Because that’s what family does.”

Judge Delton nodded in agreement. “You may leave now, Miss Tran. You’ll need your rest for the days ahead.”

Linh gave one last nod before leaving the courtroom. Jaime waited for her outside, but she marched right past him. The last of her energy left her when she exited the courtroom and she did not have it in her to give him another scolding. As Judge Delton said, she needed her rest to face the chaos ahead.

[latanyalaplante-blog]

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[mado-science]

Inaccurate illustrations After reading glowing reviews on Amazon, we chose this book over Zimmerman's  Go to Amazon

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[picaresquequotes]

The Forum, 1908

Page 113: The novel in its modern form is a conception of more unity of form and purpose than anything that the classic world conceived. Yet realism, in its fidelity to evil and good alike, to the little significant trifles as well as the momentous crises, was not an invention of Zola. It was already understood and applied with forceful irony in the ‘Satiroe’ of Petronius. The Beast Story, from its early literary development in the ‘Hitopadeça,’ down through ‘Aesop’ and La Fontaine to Kipling, is in the ‘Jungle Books’ different only in degree, but still essentially te same in kind. Indeed, the whole cycle of Mowgli stories are nearer in spirit to their Sanskrit prototypes than to the work of the great French fabulist. But whatever the type of fiction, whether realistic novel or picaresque romance or simple beast fable, the same general tendency is observable—a natural and logical tendency to keep pace with civilization, to become more careful of the truth, in proportion as the rating public becomes more sophisticated. And this increased respect for the truth on the part of the novelist is not a matter of ethics, but of self-preservation. Page 120: The structure of the story is of the simplest; ;but the style is ever possessed of a certain quaint charm, all the more grateful in these days of strenuous haste, because it is throughout so leisurely. The author seems never so pressed for time that he cannot digress in picaresque fashion, to weave in some extraneous tale, or stand and watch a well-contested fight, a hard-earned race. Indeed, the story is throughout subordinated to the panorama of life all the time unfolding in the background. Fanshawe himself is a not unworthy hero; but what interests you chiefly is the sense you get of having for the time being looked back upon the changing stream of human activity, as it swept along the highways and byways of rural England a century ago. But to be enjoyed, it is a book that must be read at leisure, and when you are in a congenial mood. Page 534: But, writing on the plan, Professor Chandler has turned out a very complete and admirable piece of synthetic work. His research has been so exhaustive that one is a little aghast at realizing the degree in which rascality in one form or another has been the theme of literary production. It is undoubtedly true that general histories of literature are deficient in their consideration of the picaresque output—especially the criminal biographies, the jest and beggar books, the conny-catching pamphlets, the prison tracts and repentances, and even the tramp and burglar literature of the present day. About all of these the author gives an amount of information that would be very difficult to gather elsewhere. ……. The real literature of roguery arose in Spain in the middle of the 16th century with the ‘Life of Lazarillo de Tormes.’ This celebrated character was introduced to the world in 1554, when the ear of Spanish decadence had already begun, and the ideals of chivalry were rapidly being given up. “The disdain for patient labor made room for easy cheating, and the lack of bread more and more enforced it.” The authorship of the epoch-making book is assigned on doubtful grounds to the poet-statesman, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. Lazarillo is the prototype of the true picaro. He is “an anti-hero who makes his way in the world through the service of masters, satirizing their personal faults, as well as their trades and professions.” The picaresque narrative possesses “two poles of interest—one, the rogue and his tricks, the other the manner he pillories.” In its development the literature of roguery lost much of its original character. We soon find the rogue ascending the social scale; he becomes a person of family and a gallant adventurer—a master with a scheming valet of his own to continue the old tradition. For over a century the picaresque narrative had tremendous vogue in Spain. But the vein was finally worked out. Meanwhile the tradition had passed into France and by 1630 had been firmly implanted. Page 535: Le Sage’s masterpiece [Gil Blas, 1715] was the great distributer of picaresque influence and England felt its full effect. We go far back for picaresque origins in England—there is plenty of such material in the early Chronicles, plenty of roguery in Chaucer. Its literature was a powerful factor in forming the primitive drama, for which such legendary rascals as Robin Hood, Robin Goodfellow and Friar Rush were copious sources of supply. But in the creation of the 18th century novel foreign picaresque sources were plentifully drawn upon. The development of the novel, however, was so rapid and expansive that French and Spanish influences quickly disappeared. Daniel Defoe was the first to reject the chief characteristic of the true picaresque type—“the story for the story’s sake—independent of the conditions of actual life.” “The contrast between ‘The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders’ and early picaresque fiction,” says the author, “is remarkable. … Defoe at a blow changed a comic and satirical fiction to one, in a sense, of character. He showed the decline of a soul from innocence to knowledge, temptation and sin, and then its rise by virtue of repentance from distress through honesty to prosperity and calm. … He surpasses Le Sage in adhering to unity of character. … In ‘Moll Flanders,’ and to a less extent in ‘Colonel Jacque,’ Defoe has struck the keynote of the modern novel. He has partially subordinated incident to character.” From now on the picaresque element gradually waned. It had been useful, but fiction as a finer art had now no need for it as such. The libertinism of Richardson’s heroes bears no resemblance to the love affairs of the Spanish rogues. Fielding’s characters are never truly picaresque. Tom Jones is a “compromise between the picaro and the hero, intended by his creator to set forth humanity in the average.” Smollett did indeed take the traditional rogue as a model, but he rarely used him with success. Page 536: Sterne never drew a rogue. A new use of picaresque material was disclosed by William Godwin in ‘Things as They are, or the Adventures of Caleb Williams.’ This, as Professor Chandler explains it, is not a novel of intrigue, adventure or manners. “The attack upon social conditions and the study of character are its aims.” The influence of this book extended well into a later age, and served as a model for the reformative novels of Bulwer-Lytton. The picaresque factor in the creation of the modern novel is unquestionably important, for it is one of the main sources of the element of pure entertainment and therefore deserves the consideration here given. But it would seem as if the author has injured the just proportions of his work and risked the weariness of his reader by his academic description of the many rascally characters that stalk through the pages of the great 19th century novelists. The rogue has now quite lost the true picaresque character and his place is of minor account. Scott and his imitators made of him a truly romantic creature, as did George Borrow, that strange mixture of deep religious feeling and sentimental sympathy for rascality. Bulwer-Lytton used him to preach the inconsistencies in our social system. Dickens, “inserting the tradition of Smollett and Egan and profiting by the reformative purpose of Godwin and Bulwer, first combined the two tendencies, studying rogues as individuals and also as social phenomena.” Thackeray burlesqued roguery at first, but later turned to ironical treatment—and even to direct abuse. Page 537: In 1548 William Copland’s translation of ’Til Eulenspiegel’ was published, and this properly started the fashion for jest-books. They were numerous and popular until well into the 17th century, when, owing to their character coming purely impersonal, they ceased to be regarded as fiction. The same period witnessed the appearance of the first attempts to chronicle picaresque manners and speech, a form of literary effort that has developed into the great work of Farmer and Henley, ‘Slang and its Analogies Past and Present’ (1890-96), which “professes to give an historical and comparative account ‘of the heterodox speech of all classes of society for more than three hundred years, with synonyms in English, French, German and Italian.’” ……. A large class of picaresque literature was the result of the social misrule under which England suffered in the early part of the 18th century. The criminal biographies, short and long, and the Newgate and other chronicles of crime, were typical products of the times. The careers of such rascals as Jonathan Wild, Captain Avery, Cartouche, the famous French picaro, and Jack Sheppard, inspired Defoe and others to write of them in a manner that throws a truly romantic glamour upon the sordid details of their lives. Until about 1730 these criminal biographies appeared in pamphlet form, but their popularity waned and they were soon expanded into lengthy biographies, the first of which dealt with the exploits of the famous Bampfylde-Moore Carew. These works have a special interest for the student of literature, for Daniel Defoe applied his great philosophic knowledge of human nature to their low-life realism and so produced the first crude specimens of the English novel.

[dougjpitassi]

Jason Vander Griendt – Founder of Render 3D Quickly

A engineer & entrepreneur expert based out of Toronto, Ontario, Jason Vander Griendt brings a rare combination of experience and expertise to his work with Render 3D Quickly. The longtime mechanical design engineer offers such a wide range of service offerings through Render 3D Quickly that the company’s client base is made up of real estate companies, homeowners, developers, designers, contractors, builders, and architects. In addition to meeting the diverse needs associated with such a broad client base, Render 3D Quickly has consistently proved it is capable of operating on a global scale while working with clients based in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and China.

As the skilled mechanical design engineer behind Render 3D Quickly’s business prowess, Vander Griendt has garnered a reputation as a detail-oriented professional capable of quickly delivering work that is consistently of the highest quality. Specializing in three-dimensional architectural renderings and animations, Vander Griendt has long understood the importance of delivering highly accurate 3D renderings, animations and virtual reality tours for clients of his company. As a result, Vander Griendt works diligently to ensure the final product is always closely aligned with the precise needs of each individual client.

Although Vander Griendt is deeply passionate about 3D renderings and animation, the longtime resident of Toronto, Ontario, also continues to apply his impressive and diverse professional skillset in endeavors beyond Render 3D Quickly. Vander Griendt has devoted over a decade to his role as the owner of J – CAD Inc. providing 3D CAD design services and prototyping/3D printing to clients globally. In deftly managing the responsibilities required of these diverse professional endeavors, the Fanshawe College graduate has relied on the strength of his work ethic along with his unique leadership capabilities — not to mention his recognition of the importance of always surrounding himself with a team of similarly talented, innovative, and hard-working professionals.

What was your best/favorite subject in school?

I liked 3D design a lot. At the time it was the new thing and the industry was switching over from AutoCAD 2D to 3D CAD design. I seemed to grasp it a lot faster than most of the other students and it’s interesting that now I own 2 businesses that specialize in 3D design.

What was your first job?

My first job was working at a convenience store stocking shelves 7 days a week. My job was to make sure all of the shelves looked perfect lining up all of the items and dusting them off. Everyday I’d show up for an hour or 2 and do this. My boss understood that if his store had nice and shiny products on the shelves looking aesthetically pleasing, the surrounding neighborhood would choose his store over the others in the area with dusty jars and disorganized products on the shelves. This idea worked and he did well and paid me well to do it. Interestingly this mentality applies to what I do now. If the renderings we produce look incredible our clients will choose us over the competition and that’s exactly what we aim to do!

Where and how did you first get into the industry you currently work in?

I went to school for engineering design. I had some 9-5 jobs with the largest engineering firms in the world (Siemens etc.) and started J – CAD Inc on the side. J – CAD Inc. was getting some inquires for 3D renderings as we design products and people needed product renderings for their websites and crowdfunding pages etc. J – CAD Inc. had 3D renderings as a keyword on the site and architectural clients were finding us. I realized that there was a large opportunity to branch this off and make it a separate company and Render3DQuickly Inc. was born.

How have those jobs prepared you for what you do now?

Working for the large firms showed me how the industry works and what is expected. This prepared me to work with clients I would get and know what they expect from me.

Describe the best day of work you’ve ever had.

Today! Lately I’ve been travelling a lot, visiting 22 countries in the last month Currently I’m typing in a villa I rented for a few weeks at the top of a mountain in Lake Como, Italy. I can see the Swiss Alps on the horizon and the Italian country side in front of me from this terrace. I really like online business for this reason. I can work anywhere!

How do you keep yourself motivated?

It’s easy to be motivated when you love your life! “If you’re not tap dancing to work then you need to find another job” – Warren Buffet. I love what I do because I can do it anywhere! My motivation is to keep the life I have!

What kind of business ideas excite you most?

Virtual Reality is in the very early stages as an industry and I don’t think people realize the full potential of it yet. I describe it to clients this way: in the past, before computers people bought property with black and white plans. Then people wanted 3D renderings to go along with those plans as computers and graphics because mainstream. Next people will want to walk through their property before it is built. This will be the norm. Think of how huge of an industry that will become? Right now it’s not even 1% of it’s potential. In the next few years this trend will take affect and the transition will happen. I feel that Render3DQuickly Inc. is very well positioned to capitalize on that movement. I have been working hard to build a large team that can satisfy this rapid growth in the industry. I’d argue that we have the largest VR team in the world!

Have you ever tried any unorthodox techniques to attract attention to your business?

Yes here and there. We’ve used sex to a degree getting a pretty girl to do something rather than a man or less pretty woman. For example, we have a trade show coming up and I have 3 very pretty young female friends that want to be in our booth. I printed business cards with their names on it and I told them to give the cards out to every single guy that comes into the booth. The email address and phone number on the cards forward to me. I’ll get 1000’s of leads for $50 (the cost of the business cards).

What personal achievement are you most proud of?

Meeting all of my employees all over the world. I took a trip for a few months to visit their city and country and spend some time together. Hearing their stories about how life was before we met online to what it is now was incredible! Some went from poverty to mortgage free in just a couple years of working for me. Some bought property they are renting out for extra income. Some were able to move to other safer countries because of the income I provided. So many countries in the world don’t have it like we do in USA & Canada and we don’t realize how good we have it. So much corruption happens that we don’t hear about and so many people suffer. It was really nice to see that because of my hard work I was really helping people in the world have a better life. It makes me want to work even harder and hire more people.

What wisdom you would have liked to share with yourself when you first started out?

Read books a lot sooner. I try to read 2-3 per week but if I started reading 10 years earlier or even 1 year earlier I would have more knowledge today. Something I realized a few years ago is that successful people are successful because they have more knowledge than the average person. That’s all it is. Whether they are more successful in business, have happier relationships, more money etc. it’s because they have more knowledge in those areas and can make better decisions when decisive moments arise. One good decision based on vast knowledge compounded over months and years of good decisions equals success. It’s inevitable. So learn as much as you can.

[topmediumreaderspro]

Psychic Medium in Fanshawe OK 74935

The following article goes into detail about psychic medium in Fanshawe Oklahoma 74935 A medium can either be natural born or develop later in life, though they will already possess medium skills which they just haven't recognised yet. It is the view of many life long spiritualists that the days of old were more productive in terms of the natural abilities and volumes of those having these abilities. The Victorian era saw mediumship as being highly fashionable with seances and parlour tricks providing entertainment for the curious, whilst being underpinned by the realisation of the power and greatness of mediumship itself when pure evidential readings left the sitter in no doubts as to its validity. Materialisations, levitation and apports were regular events and the great late Daniel Douglas Home was one Scottish medium who did these things. An astonished and varied gathering of well to do towns folk and journalists witnessed him float up into the air and they also saw a human arm materialise in front of them which was firm to the touch and seemingly unattached to anything. Daniel was quoted as being the most gifted medium, and sought to avoid contact with other spiritualists stating they could teach him nothing. He remains an enigma for many who merely thought mediumship was an illusion or trick. During the scandal, Home was apparently at his best when it came to producing incredible phenomena. In December 1868, his most famous feat took place at the home of Lord Adare. During the evening, Home reportedly went into a trance and floated out the window of the third floor, then floated back in another window - all before the eyes of a number of stunned witnesses. The event occurred in front of three irreproachable members of London's high society, Lord Adare, his cousin Captain Charles Wynne and the Master of Lindsay. There is no doubt the world lost an astonishing man when Daniel passed to the higher life.

In the early 1900s many natural born mediums were encouraged to develop and many young child mediums took to the stage to demonstrate their skills. These skills were developed by what is know as sitting in circle. Circle development covers a group of people sitting to develop their clairvoyant or psychic abilities. The aim is to help everyone learn to connect to spirit in their own way and usually in a variety of different ways. Workshops in general can cover traditional clairvoyance, psychic art, clairvoyance with music, ribbon and colour clairvoyance, psychic drawing, sand reading, flower reading, tarot reading and much more, all under the gentle guidance of a variety of well qualified mediums and psychics. Mediumship development needs 2 very important ingredients, one is a person with a good heart, compassion for fellow man and all things living and the aptitude to develop either potential or those already gifted & active, and the other are good spiritual medium teachers, it is a discipline that required intense study for the best possible results. Whatever phrases we use to describe clairvoyant and psychic abilities, first and foremost it is the spiritualist way of life and all that it encompasses that should always be at the fore. Some may feel that spiritualism is a religion, i feel it is more a way of life.

Sarah Saxon works in the psychic and metaphysical industry and offers services Worldwide to advance spiritualism & world awareness, articles are unbiased and fact based.

Post Source Here: Psychic Medium in Fanshawe OK 74935

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

ANNOUNCING OUR WINNERS: The 2011 DiabetesMineâ„¢ Design Challenge

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/announcing-our-winners-the-2011-diabetesminea%c2%a2-design-challenge/

ANNOUNCING OUR WINNERS: The 2011 DiabetesMineâ„¢ Design Challenge

A huge thank you and congratulations to all who participated in our 2011 open innovation contest! Yet again we feel this effort is an example of "crowdsourcing" at its best — culling the brightest concepts from across the community to help improve life with diabetes.

Jeffrey Brewer, President and CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), recently stated:

"This contest has created a great deal of buzz within the diabetes industry, really helping to push the evolution of medical devices."

We're very proud and excited about that.

This year we received nearly 100 submissions — dozens of those from university students, studying Medicine, Entomology, Nutrition, Industrial Design, Interaction Design, Product Design, Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Interactive Media, Architecture, and more. We had many more international entries this year than ever before! We also saw lots of participation from medical professionals and entrepreneurs at startup companies around the U.S. And there were many researchers, patients and parents involved, too. Kudos to all!

Participating educational institutions included (in alphabetical order):

Academy of Art University

AUT University, New Zealand

Brooklyn College

Carnegie Melon University

Fanshawe College

Georgia Institute of Technology

IED (Instituto Europeo di Design)

Johns Hopkins University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Northwestern University

Oslo School of Architecture and Design

Pune University, India

University of Brasilia

University of Cincinnati

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

University of Limerick

University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest

University of Pennsylvania / School of Medicine

VSMU (Vitebsk State Medical University) in Europe

Once again, quite the nice lineup!

The challenge for our Judging Team each year is to balance the sometimes competing concepts of "great design" versus "innovation." How do we rate aesthetics over functional feasibility of an idea, and its real potential to come to market soon? And what about breadth of impact: Do we honor a great solution for a small niche, or look only for things that broadly impact as many people's lives as possible? Our solution in the last years has been to split the Grand Prize awards into three rough categories that span the gamut of these concerns.

We had so many stand-out entries this year that we're adding two honorable mentions as well. Be sure to read all the way to the end of this post.

Without further ado, I am pleased to announce this year's winners:

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS (3)

Prize package: $7,000 in cash, plus complementary consulting with IDEO Design Health & Wellness experts, and one free access ticket to the September 2011 Health 2.0 Conference

Pancreum is a futuristic modular three-part "wearable artificial pancreas" that takes the combination of tubeless insulin pumping and continuous glucose monitoring to the next level. Its creators have also added a third component that delivers glucagon as an antidote to low blood sugar. The "brains" of the system reside in the Bluetooth-enabled CoreMD, designed to "create a flexible, open platform, and common architecture design that would allow for medical devices to be more affordable than what is available in the market today."

The judges agreed that Pancreum is an awesome futuristic concept. One noted: "It deals with major design flaws in all of the current pumps and is the first design I have seen that brings together a dual delivery system along with CGM in an integrated and turnkey fashion."

We're looking forward to learning more about how the delivery of insulin and glucagon subcutaneously is achieved. The good news is that Pancreum appears to be already in development, and certainly has the potential to have real impact on people's lives with diabetes.

Congratulations to electronic and software engineer Gil de Paula and his team at Pancreum, LLC, for their winning design!

BLOB is a small, portable insulin-delivery device unlike anything we've seen before. It can be carried in a pocket or worn on a neck-chain, and even incorporates a coolant for those who live in warmer climates.

The judges felt that this was a simple, elegant solution to a real-world diabetes problem: schlepping your insulin around and injecting it discretely.

In particular, it would be useful for type 2 diabetics who take set amounts of insulin — even as a possible alternative to the simple patch pumps being developed for that market. Why wear something adhered to your body all time if you could serve the same purpose with these little, pocket-sized "blobs"?

Congratulations to designer and type 1 diabetic (from Uruguay) Lucianna Urruty for her innovative thinking!

diaPETic impressed the judges by bringing the engaging elements of gaming into a young person's diabetes world. It is an iPhone/iPod touch application that helps a glucose meter to "acknowledge the user as a human being." It's currently designed specifically for teenage girls, but other characters could easily be created for boys and younger children, etc.

The application works a bit like the popular WebKinz and Club Penguin sites for kids, but combined directly with diabetes management: the user creates a pet avatar that interacts with them to encourage glucose testing and suggest strategies for control. Users gather points that can be redeemed for "accessories" for their avatar. The fun is in "unlocking" new items, and your avatar can morph into a new animal over time.

The judges felt that this app embodied an impactful idea to motivate behavior change using the latest interactive technologies. It is spot-on with key health trends: the importance of acknowledging patients' psychological needs, creating truly engaging consumer-oriented tools, and honing in on behavior change — which so many companies are struggling to address now!

Congratulations to designer Emily Allen on this winning concept!

Now, on to our category winners:

Most Creative Idea

Prize = $2,500 cash

Your votes selected Colored Tubing, an idea that's drawn from colored drinking straws! What if pump tubing also changed color when insulin passed through it, so that PWDs could easily detect clogs or air bubbles?

A few years ago, we had two entries suggesting colored insulin for similar purposes, but the idea of tubing that changes color is actually more practical. Plus, "We need more color in the solutions for this disease," according to patient-judge Bernard Farrell.

Congratulations to D-Mom Molly Johnson of Somewheretheresacure.org for this original idea!

(btw, our CDE judge Gary Scheiner has some in's in the industry and would like to push Molly's concept further "up the food chain," as it were; cross your fingers.)

Kids Category Winner

prize = $1,500 cash, entrants ages 17 and under

Our kids' winner this year is Rapid-Absorbing Glucose Patch, a transdermal glucose patch that makes it easy to swim or do sports without worrying about carrying emergency sugar in case of hypoglycemia. Its creator Stefan P. apparently likes to swim at the beach, as do we!

Stefan lives in Washington state and just turned 14. He was diagnosed a few years ago at age 11. He plays on a year-round soccer team, and and usually uses PowerAid to avoid and treat lows during sports. "But I had the idea it would be nice to have (the glucose) right there in a patch, like a nicotine patch, especially when you're swimming because you can't carry anything with you then," he explained over the phone this weekend. "My dad helped me research it over the internet, and we found out they're working on these fast-acting skin patches for medicine."

On his idea specifically, Stefan explains: "You could activate it by pulling out a plastic pull tab, like on initial use of a phone battery pack. This could avoid painful shots of glucagon, and if swimming, it could potentially save someone's life. And that's what I think would help make diabetes easier to live with."

Congrats to you, Stefan! And best of luck in the 9th grade 😉

Community Honorable Mention

The community also gave a nice nod to Hanky Pancreas, a series of fashion accessories for women who wear insulin pumps or CGMs. These definitely address the psychological side of living with diabetes, especially the issues of self-consciousness, self-esteem and social acceptance. They can make diabetes technology more fun to live with — right now! We understand that a men's collection is in the works as well.

Congratulations to designer Jessica Floeh!

Judges' Honorable Mention

Our group of 10 judges would also like to recognize Sanguine Diabetes Manager as a "best-of" submission in the diabetes data management arena. This clever program represents data in a much more user-friendly way than we've seen before, and stresses interoperability of data as a key tenet. We'd love to see these concepts integrated into existing logging programs if possible. Maybe Sanguine's creator could join forces with SweetSpot.com or something similar?

Congratulations to Interactive Media major Damon Muma!

Again, CONGRATULATIONS to all! Your creativity is our lifeline.

Many thanks to the California HealthCare Foundation for making this competition possible.

Winners will hear from us shortly.

Please tune in here in the next weeks for more in-depth information on the winning designs and the people behind them, along with a look at some of our favorite "runner-up" entries.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Diet Diabetes Destroyer Reviews Original Article