#Terra Robertson

[averycanadianfilm]

Linda Solomon 7 Dec 2007 TheTyee.ca

This is a very heartwarming story!

I'm not involved in politics and I don't remember the exact date of my first visit to Cortes Island. I visited Cortes because someone on another BC island suggested it would be a better film location. - Hubert Hugh Burke

[feuillant]

‼️🚨‼️‼️🚨‼️‼️

[birdiebowers]

BIRDIE & "THE BRUTES" — about Bowers arachnophobia

I desperately need to share it with all of you so... Enjoy Bowers-scared-of-spiders content from his George Seaver's biography, because there is no way you didn't read it!

TW: This may contain some sensitive descriptions of spiders and may cause discomfort to people struggling with arachnophobia BUT it doesn't contain any graphical content.

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1. Birdie's arachnophobia:

"But there was one creature which he could not endure to see, still less to touch; an object which filled him not merely with aversion but with physical loathing, shrinking and horror: this was a spider. His sisters remember how in infancy he would scream, and how even in his young manhood he would stiffen and turn pale, at the sight of one. It was in their opinion the one and only thing in heaven or earth that he feared."

(p. 9)

If it weren't for my arachnophobia, I would find it amusing that of ALL the things he could be afraid of, it was spiders. Not the pain, not the claustrophobia, not the blood, but those little creatures he was supposed to find useful in a hot climate like this Indian one.

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2. His usual habits in spider-investigatuons:

"On joining a new ship he would carefully inspect his cabin for the least vestige of a cobweb, and if any revealed itself would make his servant scour the cabin and turn over the bedclothes in his bunk before he occupied it: when at home he would request the maid to thrust her brush into the corner of every room in the same way — and would personally superintend these operations. In his own words in letter home after one such encounter — 'It might seem to anyone a little thing to make a fuss about, but it means a good deal to me.'"

Birdie, I totally understand you, I still scream every time I see a spider. I'm in a slightly better position because (although I find them frightening) I limit myself to chasing them away from where I am (crime of being small 🎀). Not by myself, of course, but by someone else. No way I will touch it, ew.

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3. Mentioned reason of this phobia:

"Seeking for an explanation of this peculiar dread his mother found it when she recalled an incident before returning from India. She was giving him his bath, when a tarantula appeared creeping up the wall. She called to the coolie to come in and kill it. The coolie did so with his slipper, the unpleasant result of which indelibly imprinted itself on her baby's memory."

If I were Bowers, I would simply die. I went to a spider exhibition once (one too many), and the only thing that stopped me having a panic attack was knowing how tight the terrariums' glasses were. Tarantulas are the ones I remember the worst. Also, I would have left this world if it had been one of those spiders that carried its young, so they run away in each direction if you smash them. Thank God Birdie probably didn't know of their existence.

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4. Here's a part of his diary written in Bombay, 3rd November, 1905:

"I have been allotted a cabin which has never yet been occupied. The ship was new in February. Of course it is fitted up well — with electriclight fans and every convenience, but to my horror I observed cobwebs, and directed my boy to down all curtains and remove everything. When this was done, I pushed up the iron bunk, and then there was what seemed to be an audible scuttle, and out rushed a mouse — as I thought — but along the wall. You may guess what it was. If it had been a Cobra I should have been cool, but a Spider ! ! ! Well ! I retired as gracefully as I dared in my boy’s presence, and told him to kill it. He missed it and out it came right up to me — then there was a mess on the deck, I did it as quickly as I could. Oh ! it makes me shudder to think of it ! I would face anything in heaven or earth rather than a Spider like that ! You can imagine my feelings though. I have had the room washed and scoured in every corner, watched it done — and yet I shall always dread sleeping there. I shall most certainly sleep on deck as long as I can."

(p. 53)

SERIOUSLY, i CAN'T IMAGINE THIS ONE. Spider?? Running towards me?? Nah cuz hell i'm out of this shit. Royal Indian Marine must accept my resignation.

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5. Another one, from 11th May 1907:

"From now till the beginning of the rains it is very warm and just after them, too. It is excellent for Spiders as regards development. Two brutes emerged from the Captain’s room the other day. I sent a Petty officer to chase one and he caught it in his hand, its great hairy legs were so long that they all protruded between his fingers. I saw it safely into the water too."

(p. 66)

This is so hilarious, I must find my petty officer to chase the spiders for me... but Birdie's spiders--- hairy ones, eurgh?? I feel relief when I am reading the process of kindly removing them like this. Eww.

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6. This one describes an incident from one of Birdie's many expeditions in search of butterflies:

"I saw an immense spider. He had spun a web of at least 12 sq. ft. right across a glade. I had to break it down to get past, though it gave me the spasms to go near it. The web was more like elastic than anything and strong enough to hold a pigeon I should think. I had to throw 3 heavy boughs at it before it was demolished and I did not kill the centrepiece."

(p. 122)

The fact he was so afraid of spiders that he was seriously scared even of killing it! Also, the worst thing is to walk right into it. When I was a kid I had a nightmare where I was running through the woods and I fell face first into a web and a spider ate my only eye. Throwing stones seems to be the safest option when I have no other choice.

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7. This piece was written in 1909 when Bowers was serving on the collier 'Waronga':

"It is long since I have been so dirty. The work was done expeditiously though, and any idea of there being kid-glove officers on the Fox was soon dispelled. That collier had some of the healthiest-looking spiders I have ever seen aboard. I was always glancing up in a furtive manner for fear of being dropped on by a hairy monster —ugh ! they give me spasms as badly as ever."

(p. 105)

FALLING SPIDERS??

b y e .

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8. Again, 1909, but at Colombo:

"I have brought my Wordsworth up here and read it a bit in my room at night, keeping one eye aloft for spiders, one of which fell on me the other night. - The brutes try to spin round the lamp ; fortunately we are well supplied with lizards. . . ."

(p. 119)

9. Extract from his notes made on 31st July, 1910:

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"Talking about spiders — I have to collect them as well as insects. Needless to say I caught them with a butterfly net, and never touched one. Only five species were known before, and I found fifteen or more — at any rate I have fifteen for certain. Others helped me to catch them, of course."

(p. 155)

I just LOVE his narrative style - everything he includes, the obvious, the jokes, the euphemisms, the exaggerations and the epithets. He would be a great storyteller. He writes about something terrible for him, but at the same time it's so positive, so perfectly reflective of his character! This joy pours out of his diaries and letters and I can't stop smiling while reading it. 🥹

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10. This one is from Scott's diary!

"Bowers caused much amusement by demanding to know 'If the pycnogs (pycnogonids) were more nearly related to the arachnids (spiders) or crustaceans.' As a matter of fact a very sensible question, but it caused amusement because of its sudden display of long names.’”

(p. 197)

Very important question!! Should he be afraid of them because they are spiders, or not because they are crustaceans? Well, I hope Nelson has answered that question for him.

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11. And finally, the Birdie comments on an article in defence of spiders that he read in a newspaper. Personally, my fav one:

The author eulogizes the scrawly horror and introduces a strange theory (his subject was the common house spider). He said that they were probably unable to see more than an inch or so and were guided to victims entirely by web vibrations-away from the web, they will not touch an insect-even one-sixteenth of an inch away, provided the insect remains motionless. He also says a lot more in favour of these brutes. The eyesight test, however, fails with outdoor spiders. Here one saw me 2 yards away yesterday and I tested the sight of others — at a safe distance."

(p. 126-127)

This bit is hilarious: he watches the spiders from a few yards away for fear of being hurt. After all, what do they have so many pairs of eyes for? What if they're watching him by each one? It's better not to risk, isn't it?

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you don't even know how I love this little red-headed guy with smile and fear of spiders. he's so special for me!!

All extracts are from George Seaver's "'Birdie' Bowers of the Antarctic" (1938) which you can read for free here!

Birdie's caricature was originally published in "South Polar Times".

[scotianostra]

March 29th 1912 saw the estimated death of Explorer Henry ‘Birdie’ Robertson Bowers.

Henry was born in Greenock,, he moved to England with his mother and sisters after his father died in 1887. His mother returned to Rothesay when he was in his early twenties., Birdie would swim from Ardbeg Point to Craigmore Pier and back in the dark of a winter’s morning.

He travelled to Antarctica with Scott on the Terra Nova. He was stranded with horses on ice floes. Read Cherry- Garrard’s Winter Journey. Read how they lose their tent and feel the tears in your eyes when they somehow manage to find it. He became the ‘fifth man’ in the race to the Pole. He died with Scott,Wilson and the others and lies with them in the ice.

[tbthqs]

Por volta as 20 horas, você percebe uma movimentação no palco. A banda começa diminuir o som, que desaparece por completo e uma voz anuncia: "E agora, no palco, para fazer o discurso da reunião de 10 anos da turma de 2014, o Reitor e decano da UCLA, Dean Robertson-Smith. Com a palavra, o nosso querido reitor." A voz mal termina de falar e você vê o homem alto e esguio caminhando até o microfone no centro, com a sua frieza habitual. Você se lembra sobre todas as histórias sobre ele, em sua maioria falavam sobre como o reitor não era um homem com o qual você queira fazer piadinhas ou jogar conversa fora. Alguns até diziam que ele tinha olhos por todos os lugares, mas sabe como é, não se pode confiar muito nesses rumores, principalmente quando vem da Rádio Corredor. Ele se aproxima do microfone e começa a ler algumas palavras:

"Boa Noite turma de 2014!

É um privilégio poder recebê-los novamente nesse mesmo centro de convenções no qual vocês estiveram no seu primeiro dia de aula. Geralmente quem faz esse tipo de discurso é a nossa querida Coordenadora-Geral dos cursos de humanidades, a Professora Wilhemina Brandon, mas quando me fizeram o convite me pedindo para fazer esse discurso, meus primeiros pensamentos foram em recusar.

Mas então percebi que esta é uma grande oportunidade para falar sobre tempo e a importância da maturidade.Não há lugar na Terra onde eu preferiria estar hoje do que com vocês. Vocês estão todos aqui porque são gratos pelo papel que a UCLA desempenhou em suas vidas. Com certeza vocês passaram muito tempo sonhando acordado, relembrando os bons e velhos tempos que viveram nesses corredores.

Desde 2014, todos nós seguimos caminhos separados e vivemos vidas muito diferentes. De acordo com seus objetivos e interesses distintos, vocês escolheram uma variedade de profissões e ao longo destes anos, tiveram sucesso em muitas coisas e talvez falharam em outras. Mas a única coisa que todos tem em comum é que receberam a fundação do mesmo lugar.

Vocês são únicos. Nenhum outro grupo de pessoas na face da terra tem a experiência que partilharam há 10 anos. Vocês são uma classe única hoje, amanhã e sempre.

Gostaria de terminar esta conversa com algo inspirador. Um ditado antigo dizia "Não paramos de brincar porque estamos velhos; Nós nos tornamos velhos porque paramos de brincar". Há uma enorme diferença entre envelhecer e crescer. Qualquer um pode envelhecer. Isso não requer nenhum talento ou habilidade. A ideia é crescer encontrando sempre a oportunidade na mudança. Não tenha arrependimentos. Os idosos geralmente não se arrependem do que fizeram, mas sim das coisas que não fizeram.

Desejo sinceramente que vocês possam permanecer jovens para sempre. Que tenhamos em mente que ainda há quilômetros e quilômetros que podemos percorrer antes de dormir. É hora de celebrar tudo o que ainda nos resta fazer e de nos comprometermos a fazer mudanças positivas, pequenas e grandes, dentro de nós mesmos, na nossa família, na nossa sociedade e, portanto, no mundo em que vivemos."

Você sente uma leve estranheza com aquele discurso. Um clima gélido, anormal para aquela época do ano na Califórnia pareceu se instaurar durante o discurso do reitor, você podia jurar que viu outras pessoas reclamando de frio, mas que desapareceu quando a banda começa a tocar Uptown Funk. Você decide ignorar a sensação, afinal, em apenas algumas horas aquela festa irá terminar e você poderá voltar a sua vida normal com seus afazeres habituais...

Informações OOC

O discurso causou um leve desconforto nos personagens dos skeletons. Nada muito estranho ou fora do normal, é como se fosse aquela sensação que a gente tem de que está perdido ou que esqueceu alguma coisa, mas não sabe direito o que foi.

Após o discurso, os personagens Arabella Dankworth (@helterskxlter), Olivia Priestly ( @wxllflowers ) e Jawie Peralta ( @jawieonprobation) encontram objetos no meio de seus pertences. Arabella encontrou um relógio e Olivia achou um ipod de 2014 dentro de suas bolsas, enquanto Jawie sentiu um pequeno diário em branco no bolso de seu terno. Os três estavam acompanhados de um bilhete que dizia "Faça bom uso, mas tome cuidado para não perder." Os objetos são presentes por terem realizado a primeira task.

Os personagens que realizarem a task também receberão itens.

[reinato]

Devocional da Mulher VOCÊ É PRECIOSA

Entrega atrasada

Antes mesmo que clamem, Eu responderei; estando eles ainda falando, Eu os ouvirei. Isaías 65:24

Fiquei olhando para a tela do computador sem acreditar no que via. Eu vinha acompanhado a entrega de uma encomenda. Para piorar, a página da internet dizia que o pacote tinha sido entregue em minha casa. Podia até ter sido entregue, mas não para mim. O pacote continha equipamentos importantes. Eu precisava resolver a situação imediatamente. Assim, localizei o contato da empresa de transporte e telefonei para perguntar sobre a situação. O sistema automático me informou que o tempo de espera para conversar com um agente seria de 45 minutos. Eu não tinha todo esse tempo livre e por isso desliguei a chamada.

No dia seguinte, tentei telefonar novamente, mas me deram uma longa lista de comandos que não tinha a opção que eu precisava. Além disso, fiquei sabendo que eu precisaria esperar no mínimo sete dias antes de reportar o pacote como perdido. Aquele era o segundo dia de atraso, por isso, desliguei novamente e fiz o que deveria ter feito desde o início. Orei. Quantas vezes caímos na armadilha de tentar resolver um problema sem buscarmos primeiro a ajuda de Deus? Como já tinha acontecido, eu tentei resolver a situação antes de orar – uma lição que eu achava que já havia aprendido.

Menos de uma hora depois de eu ter orado, a campainha tocou na entrada do prédio. Eu estava esperando por um outro pacote, então abri precipitadamente a porta sem verificar quem era. Depois, a campainha tocou de novo. Era uma vizinha informando que havia recebido um pacote que era para mim e que eu podia ir à casa dela buscar a encomenda. Uma vez mais, Deus havia atendido à minha oração em uma questão de minutos. Fiquei muito agradecida!

Tem alguma coisa que você esteja esperando que seja entregue por Deus para você? Continue orando e buscando a sabedoria de Deus sobre o assunto. Ele responderá enquanto você ainda estiver falando.

Toda aquela situação me lembrou de que há milhares de anos, Jesus deixou a Terra e prometeu que voltaria um dia para nos levar para o Céu. Ele não Se esqueceu da Sua promessa, por isso, podemos ter a certeza de que Ele vai cumpri-la.

Comprometa-se em estar pronta para encontrá-Lo!

Taniesha Robertson-Brown

[breakthcnight]

BREAKTHCNIGHT. lyrics from f&tm's howl.

penned by kelly. 40+. she/her. eastern timezone.

PREVIOUSLY stcllata. venusiiian, oxtaiiiled, tawruhs.

****

RULES. honestly, don't be a dick. common etiquette. anons are off. chemistry is key.

WORK SCHEDULE. sundays [ 2:00 pm through 7:00 pm ], mondays and tuesdays [ 8:30 am through 3:30 pm ] wednesdays and thursdays [ 8:30 am through 3:00 pm ].*

*AS OF 08/21/24 THROUGH 12/12/24. DROPPING TO LOW ACTIVITY DUE TO WORK. december date is approximate.

PROMPTS.

****

muse list is under the read more.

IMPORTANT CONNOTATION. there are characters here that are either smuse list is under the read more.ired by a canon, or are the offspring of canons, if you happen to play one (or both), i will not now, nor will i ever assume you'll accept them.

UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED. PLEASE ASSUME SOME LEVEL OF CANON DIVERGENCE.

----CANONS.

9-1-1 + 9-1-1: LONE STAR.

CARLOS REYES.

EVAN BUCKLEY.

ARKHAM GAMES.

TALIA AL GHUL.

ARROWVERSE.

RAYMOND PALMER. the atom.

DESCENDANTS.

GILBERT LEGUME. son of gaston.

RED. daughter of the queen of hearts.

UMA. daughter of calypso.

CASSANDRA SANDSMARK. wonder girl ii. sydney sweeney.

DETECTIVE COMICS.

KON-EL. conner kent. superboy. joshua orpin.

KORIAND'R. kory anders. starfire.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

TARA MARKOV. terra.

ARES. god of war and courage. arjun gupta.

PASIPHAË. queen of crete; mother of the minotaur.

PERSEPHONE. queen of the underworld; accompanied by cerberus. sophie turner.

MARVEL COMICS.

CLINT BARTON. hawkeye. stephen amell.

STEVEN ROGERS. captain america. william levy.

POWERPUFF GIRLS.

BUBBLES UTONIUM. kiernan shipka.

BUTCH. froy gutierrez.

ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

VENUS. goddess of love, beauty, fertility, victory, and desire.

SMALLVILLE.

CLARK KENT. superman.

LOIS LANE. bryce dallas howard.

OLIVER QUEEN. green arrow. derek theler.

SUPERNATURAL.

SAMANTHA 'SAMMI' WINCHESTER. rule!63 sam winchester. phoebe tonkin. no demon blood. still has telekinesis and visions.

TEEN WOLF.

CLAUDIA STILINSKI. holly marie combs.

HEATHER. britt robertson.

SCOTT MCCALL. bitten by derek; not peter.

THE ORIGINALS.

DAVINA CLAIRE.

GIA.

HENRIK MIKAELSON. nicholas galitzine.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES.

BONNIE BENNETT.

STEFAN SALVATORE. sam heughan.

TATIA PETROVA. poppy drayton.

----ORIGINALS.

ALAYNA ROSTAGNO. lindsey morgan.

summary: human. hunter. mid 30s. she's quite combative, prefers using her hands though she's got quite the arsenal tucked away. fiery, assertive, passionate. you don't want to get on her bad side. pansexual.

BAZYLI 'BAZ' JACENTY STILINSKI. dylan o'brien ( as dave hodgman ).

summary: human. blind stilinski twin. younger by 10 minutes. quiet, sometimes withdrawn. likes to be as independent as possible. consistently believes he's the burden because of his blindness. turning him will not relieve this. pansexual.

BENTE LANGENBERG. luca hollestelle.

summary: witch. has power over fire, darkness, and night; practices dark magic. late 20s. apothecary. her powers are inherent of her lineage, which can be traced back to the 1600s. determined and hardworking, she embraces her powers and her bloodline, regardless of how others might perceive her. pansexual.

FINN WHELAN. myles clohessy.

summary: human. firefighter. early 30s. originally from new york ( same former station as tk and owen ). caring, resilient and a little too much putting others before himself. just got out of an eight year partnership, still rather broken from it. has a chocolate lab he rescued, named hazelnut. homosexual.

GABRIEL KINGSTON. regé-jean page.

summary: warlock. born in the 1840s, looks to be in his mid 30s. fluent in both french and italian. very much the lover more than the fighter type. a gentleman through and through. he is a lover of arts, particularly paintings and sculpture. bisexual.

GIOVANNA CRESCENTI. emilia clarke.

summary: human. heiress. daughter of the head of the crescenti crime family. late 30s. stands to inherit billions when her father passes. lives her life independently of her father, logical and unafraid, smooth and sensual. she will make you regret disrespecting her. homosexual.

JEBEDIAH CAMPBELL. henry cavill.

summary: born in 1948. mary winchester's older brother ( six years older ). uncle to dean and sam. demon hunter. nomad, almost reclusive. lives in the cheyenne mountains. definitely a gruff type, shoot first and ask questions later. heterosexual.

JINAN. zeeko zaki.

summary: dragon. immortal. 1200+. looks to be in his mid 30s. he has lived as a dragon for 1000 years, preferring to be in his human form. he has a pair of large unmistakable horns in his humanoid form, along with pointed elf-like ears. they'll be cloaked if he senses panic. arrogant, though not quite cocky. he's very much actions speak louder than words type. bisexual.

KELLY SAVARESE. floriana lima.

summary: alpha werewolf. hunter. big sister. packless. early 40s, but can be traced back farther ( some records indicate to the 1900s ). prefers not to instigate, would rather be civil. however, she will fight as a last resort. protective and nurturing. pansexual.

MARIUS KAHR. nikolaj coster-waldau.

summary: alpha werewolf. looks to be in his late 50s, is actually much older than that. has been wandering around the world for centuries and he's just tired of most of life. has a lot of thick layers to penetrate. bitter. and a biter.

MILES KYUNG. felix yongbok lee.

summary: human. chauffeur. getaway driver. mid 20s. a very quiet and polite young man, who focuses on the task at hand rather than the dangers. he will do mostly anything without question, unflinchingly loyal. though that could prove detrimental in the end. pansexual.

MINA LEE. chloe bennet.

summary: human. slayer. early 30s. she's been active for about ten years, having died twice already. she's sassy and isn't afraid of anything. she's got a bit of a soft spot for vampires, but crossing her isn't wise. she'll easily wipe the floor with you. bisexual.

ROSELINE VILLENEUVE. emeraude toubia.

summary: human. early 30s. queen of pomt-aven. has been ruling for 15 years. logical and sensible, she makes for a fair queen, keeping her subjects at the forefront. though gives little time to her own wants and needs. even when it comes to someone ruling beside her. pansexual. can be regency or modern.

SAJA CHON. ko woo-rim.

summary: vampire. 380. turned in 1644, looks late 20s. sired yuri lim. quiet and polite, he prefers to feed monthly rather than daily. he will break necks and defend his fledgling if necessary. his temperament is quick if you disrespect her. pansexual.

SILAS WILD. bill kaulitz.

summary: immortal. 230+. looks mid 30s. illustrator and classical painter. he's learned to accept being alone most of his lives. a calm and talented artist, he enjoys each day at a time. he doesn't like to be rushed. he is very open minded and understanding. homosexual.

WILLA HARVELLE. dominique provost-chalkley.

summary: daughter of jo harvelle and dean winchester. demon hunter. named for her maternal grandfather. on the road, out there to have fun. one day at a time. very much the love them and leave them type. rebellious to the core. mid 20s. homosexual.

YURI LIM. roseanne park.

summary: vampire. 351. turned in 1673, looks late 20s. sired by saja chon. very much reckless, prefers to chase danger wherever it can be found. respects her sire to a point, but doesn't always play by the rules. she's not afraid to show her claws or fangs. pansexual.

ZOYA BACHVAROVA. nina dobrev ( as katherine pierce ).

summary: human. russian intelligence officer; based off of red sparrow. mid 30s. daughter of a bratva boss, former spy. charming and cunning, she doesn't trust easily. she prefers to work alone, as she's lost two previous partners. she will execute her revenge flawlessly. pansexual.

[bungitonthen]

3/12/24

né più di un albero non meno di una stella ...nei suoni e nei silenzi ... di terra - banco (...di terra)

definitive gaze ... my tulpa ... shot by both sides ... recoil ... burst - magazine (real life)

change is now ... old john robertson ... tribal gathering ... dolphin's smile ... space odyssey - the byrds (the notorious byrd brothers)

songs from the wood ... jack-in-the-green ... the whistler ... pibroch (cap in hand) ... fire at midnight - jethro tull (songs from the wood)

[caiminstitutehq]

FACECLAIM: (Chloe Rose Robertson, atriz, americana, 22 anos).

PLOTS ESPONTÂNEOS: GERAL, ROMANCE/ENDGAME, DRAMA, SMUT, AMIZADE, ROMANCE/CASUAL. PLOTS COMBINADOS: GERAL, DRAMA, ROMANCE/ENDGAME, DRAMA, SMUT, AMIZADE, ROMANCE/CASUAL.

IDENTIFICAÇÃO:

NOME COMPLETO: Staria Rain Atwater (Azara Truelove-Lightwood). DATA DE NASCIMENTO: 10 de outubro de 1998, 25 anos de idade. LOCAL DE NASCIMENTO: Kismet. NOME DE USUÁRIO: @cmi_staria.

ORDEM E LINHAGEM: Homines, linhagem da face.

CARGO: Aluno. FUNÇÃO: Centro de saúde.

PERSONALIDADE: 

Determinação: Staria sempre soube o que quer e quando quer, não medindo esforços para conseguir o que almeja. 

Organização: É muito organizada e metódica, gosta de ter respostas para tudo, além de ser muito estudiosa no Instituto. 

Independência: Pensa por si e age por si de maneira extremamente responsável, além de ser muito discreta com tudo isso.

Rispidez: Apesar de ser raro, quando as coisas saem fora de seu controle, Staria é um pouco ríspida e agressiva. 

Apatia: Muitas vezes, Staria torna-se apática com as coisas que faz e as pessoas que convive. Aprender a defender-se e não ser cordial sempre leva muito tempo para ela.

Inflexibilidade: Não sabe lidar quando as coisas não saem do jeito que ela esperava, fazendo com que, raramente, perca a cabeça. 

BIOGRAFIA OU HEADCANON:

Filha de Andrômeda Truelove e Morvan Lightwood,  um casal de atores conhecido por toda Hiraeth, Azara nasceu em berço de ouro. Tão berço de ouro que seu parto foi gravado para todo mundo assistir, já que o mundo inteiro era obcecado por Andrômeda e Morvan, querendo saber tudo que acontecia dentro da casa Truelove-Lightwood.

Durante a infância, Azara trabalhou como atriz em alguns comerciais e, posteriormente, em séries e filmes. Apesar de ter amor incondicional dentro de casa, os pais tiravam o máximo de proveito do trabalho da filha. Usavam seu rosto para o que conseguiam, e assim se mantinham no auge da fama. 

Quando tinha três anos, Azara começou a manifestar seus poderes. Quando se machucava, os ferimentos duravam segundos. Os pais, que eram Descrentes aos Ascendidos, se horrorizaram com aquilo. Eles tinham todo um plano de vida traçado para Azara tornar-se uma grande atriz e ganhar prêmios, e nada disso poderia se realizar se ela fosse uma Ascendida. 

Começaram a reservar a vida da menina um pouco mais, para que ninguém descobrisse o segredo que carregavam. Contudo, quando ela tinha dez anos, passou pela testagem. Obviamente, Azara manifestou poderes, mas os pais pagaram para que dissessem que não, ela não era uma deles, uma Ascendida. 

Conseguiram guardar o segredo por, mais ou menos, um ano. Mas, durante uma entrevista ao vivo, Azara machucou-se, curando imediatamente o hematoma, o que espalhou um burburinho por toda Hiraeth. Os pais da menina tentaram a todo custo contornar a situação, mas diversos Descrentes destilavam ódio contra ela, acampavam em frente a casa Truelove-Lightwood e a ameaçavam de morte.

Quando os pais foram descobertos e presos por terem modificado o resultado da testagem, Azara foi mandada para o Instituto Caim, onde começou uma nova etapa. Sentia-se muito culpada pela situação de Andrômeda e Morvan, que, depois que pagaram uma fiança absurda, saíram da prisão. 

A carreira dos Truelove-Lightwood começou a cair por terra por terem uma filha Ascendida, e para recuperá-la, forjaram a morte da menina, que precisou esconder-se no Instituto com outro nome. Além de quererem recuperar a carreira, também queriam que ela ficasse em segurança, e se ela continuasse sendo Azara, todos poderiam encontrá-la. Agora, Azara era Staria Rain Atwater, nome dado pela própria diretora do Instituto. 

Não foi difícil para a menina adaptar-se, já que os Telekis experientes apagaram as memórias de que, um dia, ela foi Azara. Ela não sabe quem são seus pais, sabe apenas uma história inventada pela direção de que foi deixada em um orfanato porque seus pais faleceram em um acidente automobilístico. 

Apesar de sentir-se feliz no Instituto e ter encontrado uma nova família no local, ela sente que falta algo nela e na sua história, e Staria não está disposta a desistir de encontrar todas as respostas.

[chez-mimich]

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Temo che l’americano medio, se non fosse un’astrazione, potrebbe assomigliare a Ernest Burkhart, almeno quanto l’italiano medio potrebbe assomigliare al ragionier Fantozzi (ma anche a Don Vito Corleone). Ernest Burkhart è un innamorato del denaro, come molti azzeccati stereotipi americani e, per rincorrerlo senza eccessivi scrupoli, di ritorno in Oklahoma dalla Grande Guerra, si mette al servizio dello zio William Hale, facente parte del potentato della Contea di Osage, territorio indiano adagiato su grandi giacimenti petroliferi che, naturalmente, fanno gola ai non nativi. Solo che questa volta le parti sono invertite, poiché sono gli indiani a fare profitti col petrolio e ai “visi pallidi” tocca solo stare alla finestra. Ma, naturalmente, le cose non sono così semplici poiché William Hale (un magnifico Robert De Niro), architetta un diabolico meccanismo per far morire più indiani possibile, cercando, attraverso apparentamenti forzati, di diventare il destinatario ultimo dei diritti sulle estrazioni petrolifere. Cosa c’è di più semplice, quindi, che far sposare il nipote Ernest Burkhart con la malaticcia Molly, giovane donna Osage per poi contribuire attivamente alla sua morte? La storia affonda le radici in quella storia d’America che mette spesso i brividi e che allinea gli Stati Uniti d’America alla storia di tutte le nazioni del pianeta, in fatto di sopraffazione delle minoranze, sovranismi e imperialismi, tutti assimilati con pochissime distinzioni. Martin Scorsese (questa volta regista e co-autore della sceneggiatura con Erik Roth) ha costruito la sua intera carriera di regista, ponendo lo sguardo su un’America cinica e spietata, al cui anelito per la libertà (e il liberismo) ha unito spesso e volentieri un rapace desiderio di possesso che, se non ne ha certo fatto l’impero del male, non ne ha fatto nemmeno il paradiso in terra (soprattutto per i non -americani). “Killers of the Flower Moon” sembra essere un “colossal intimistico” che illumina un momento ed un luogo circoscritto e poco noto della storia americana. Si tratta di un film dall’andamento lento, caratterizzato da una narrazione filmica che scava nelle profondità di questa fosca vicenda e lo fa con una capacità anche documentaria di grande efficacia. Va ricordato, proprio in omaggio a questo aspetto storico-documentario presente nel film, che è attorno a questi episodi di morti più che sospette che nasce, proprio per la denuncia che rappresentanti della Nazione Osage fecero a Washington, il primo nucleo di quella che poi diventò la potentissima (e discussa) FBI. Se un attempato e ancor più affascinante Robert De Niro dà vita ad un William Hale credibile e diabolico con moderazione, un imbolsito Leonardo Di Caprio, interpreta Ernest Burkhart strizzando sempre l’occhio al ghigno “padrinesco” di Marlon Brando, tanto da far pensare ad una citazione voluta e ricercata dallo stesso Scorsese (che non è certo un campione in quanto a libertà concessa agli attori). A completare questo magnifico mélange di qualità, mettiamoci pure tranquillamente la raffinatissima colonna sonora di Robbie Robertson. Chi meglio di lui, figlio di un padre esponente della Nazione Mohawk, poteva commentare sequenze così poeticamente e potentemente drammatiche? Vale solo la pena ricordare che uno dei capolavori del compositore e chitarrista è proprio quel “Music for Native Americans” che mai si finirebbe di ascoltare. Film da vedere il prima possibile e magari rivedere. Tenete un posto sullo scaffale dei capolavori…

[caipira53]

Ideias dos fundadores das igrejas que hoje querem impedir que os gays e lesbianas tenham seus direitos humanos garantidos. Dá pra ver de onde vem esse espírito!

 “A respeito do povo comum … deve-se ser duro com ele, e fazer que realize o seu trabalho e que sob a ameaça da espada e da lei ele cumpra as observâncias religiosas; age com ele como se estivesse acorrentando bestas selvagens.”

Lutero

  “Se a mulher se cansar ou mesmo morrer, não faz mal. Que elas morram no parto – é para isto que elas existem”

Lutero

  “Esposa. Esteja contente em ser insignificante. O que perderia Deus ou o homem se você nunca tivesse nascido?”

João Wesley

  “Eles (os camponeses revoltosos) devem serem massacrados, estrangulados e neles se deve cuspir, sempre que possível, porque um cachorro louco deve ser morto.”

Escreveu Lutero aos nobres da Saxônia em julho de 1624.

  “Aqueles que afirmam que ‘a terra se move e gira’ ... são motivados pelo espírito de amargura, contradição e crítica; possuídos pelo diabo. Eles têm como objetivo perverter a ordem da natureza”

João Calvino, Sermão número 8, 677

 “ Os idiotas, os mancos. os cegos, os mudos, são homens em quem os demônios se estabeleceram: e todos os médicos que curam essas enfermidades, como se tivessem causa natural, são uns ignorantes retardados... “

Lutero

  “A respeito do povo comum … deve-se ser duro com ele, e fazer que realize o seu trabalho e que sob a ameaça da espada e da lei eles cumpra as observâncias religiosas; age com ele como se estivesse acorrentando bestas selvagens.”

Lutero

  “A palavra e as obras de Deus são bem claras, que as mulheres foram feitas ou para serem esposas ou prostitutas.”

Lutero, Obras, 12, 94

  “Sempre devemos estar dispostos a crer que o que parece ser branco é na realidade preto, se a hierarquia da igreja assim o decidir:

Santo Inácio de Loiola, Exercitia Spiritualia

  “A agenda feminista não é direito iguais para as mulheres. É o avanço de um movimento socialista, antifamília que encoraja as mulheres a deixarem seus maridos, a matar seu filhos, a praticar a bruxaria, a destruir o capitalismo e a se tornarem lésbicas”

 Pat Robertson, líder evangélico americano atual.

  “Eu penso que a democracia irrestrita de  ‘um homem um voto’, não é boa. Tem que haver algum tipo de proteção para a minoria que o povo branco representa agora, e ele precisa e tem o direito de exigir uma proteção de seus direitos.”

Pat Robertson, líder evangélico, no seu programa de TV: "The 700 Club"

[worstjourney]

Putting the FUN in Funchal!

Have a nice little holiday in Edwardian Madeira in my graphic adaptation of The Worst Journey in the World, out 24 November in the UK.

[tealin]

Lt. Henry Robertson Bowers

He's come down to us as "Birdie Bowers" but he was christened Henry in Greenock, Scotland, in 1883, son of a merchant marine captain and a respectable Christian missionary from Cheltenham.  When he was very young, his father died, and despite his mother's reluctance to let her son follow her husband to sea, when Henry was of age he was enrolled on the naval training ship HMS Worcester in pursuit of a career to support his beloved mother and two sisters.  He was always very conscious of this responsibility, and though his naval tutors were impressed with him, when he graduated he opted for the better pay (if lower prestige) of the Royal Indian Marines.

Wherever Bowers went, he earned a reputation for level-headed competency and efficiency – his first command was an unwieldy riverboat on the hazardous Irrawaddy, which he mastered before anyone told him how hard it was supposed to be.  Later he was stationed in the Persian Gulf and tasked with running down arms smugglers: on one memorable occasion his party took a dhow full of rifles, armed with only his service revolver and its holster (carried by someone else, to look like a gun in the dark).  Through it all he was regularly passing exams in Hindi and Farsi, surveying  the terrain, and in his own time collecting butterflies and bicycling up mountains, and grappling with the conflict between his religious convictions and his professional ambition.

We know all this because Bowers wrote compendious weekly letters home.  He spend most of his adult life a very long way from his family, but remained very close with them and shared everything.  Whenever he was given leave he rejoiced at being back with them in cold and rainy Scotland, and in 1908 spent eight glorious months hiking all over the Isle of Bute and swimming across Rothesay Bay every morning.

Caerlaverock [his family's house in Ardbeg] was always full of laughter when he was in it.  His gaiety was infectious and its effect was tonic.  Entertainments, parties, picnics – he was the life and soul of these, but to see Bowers at his best one had to be free of the hospitality of his home.  His merriment was not of the riotous or boisterous kind, but the natural exuberance of a soul in love with life.  His high spirits were irrepressible, and he had a rare gift for seeing the comic side of situations.  No one ever saw him depressed; his incurable optimism was the expression of an inner joy. (Seaver, "Birdie" Bowers of the Antarctic, p.91) 

Bowers had had an interest in polar regions since childhood, and wrote to his family of his regret at not being on Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition or free to pester Scott about getting onto the Terra Nova.  But while he was getting burnt brick-red in the hottest part of the world, machinations were underway to take him to the coldest: his reputation had filtered through his commanding officers to Sir Clements Markham, who recommended him to Scott, and he was offered a position without an interview or even an application.

It was a risk to appoint someone on recommendation alone, but it paid off enormously: originally assigned to the ship's party, Bowers' "orderly mind" and perfect memory made him so invaluable a quartermaster that Scott gave him that role at Cape Evans.  During the Depot Journey and its hazardous return, he proved his physical strength and hardihood, and his mental capacity in a crisis.  During the first winter he became closely involved with Scott in figuring out the plans for the Polar Journey.  Not only did this involve mountains of interrelated sums (weights, rate of travel vs food consumption, layers of contingency plans, etc.) but thorough research of the existing literature on polar travel, and understanding of its application.  And in the middle of this, Bowers set off with Wilson and Cherry on the Winter Journey, a gruelling five-week trek in the middle of the Antarctic winter to fetch some eggs from the Emperor penguin colony at the other end of Ross Island.  He came through the ordeal so much better than his companions that just over a month later he was off again to the Western Mountains.  Scott had earlier called Bowers a "treasure"; after the Winter Journey he wrote:

I believe he is the hardest traveller that ever undertook a Polar journey, as well as one of the most undaunted; more by hint than direct statement I gather his value to the party, his untiring energy and the astonishing physique which enables him to continue to work under conditions which are absolutely paralysing to others. Never was such a sturdy, active, undefeatable little man.   (R.F. Scott, journal for 2 August 1911)

On the Polar Journey he was given charge of the pony Victor ("I'll soon get used to him, to say nothing of his getting used to me," Cherry records him saying) and was incensed when Scott ordered Victor's slaughter for the dogs to eat, well before the end of his usefulness –it must have especially rankled that this was in part down to Meares being injudicious with the dog food, upsetting the careful calculations.

 When the southern party switched to man-hauling, he worked largely in the team led by Teddy Evans, but when it came time for Scott's party to head to the pole and Evans' party to head home, Bowers was taken on with Scott.  Much has been written on this choice, which I won't go into here, but for all the drawbacks there was a clear benefit in having a hardy traveller, expert navigator, and catalogue of depots all bound up in the person of Bowers, not to mention the psychological influence of his sunny disposition.

When things turned bad for the Polar Party, Bowers was predictably resilient.  He was in best condition when they made their last camp, and was ready to make a 22-mile march with Wilson, to One Ton Depot and back, for the food and fuel they needed to survive, though in his letter home regarding this, he implies it's something of a suicide mission.

They never got there.  The following November, when the search party found their tent, Bowers was peacefully tucked up in his bag, having apparently simply gone to sleep ... 

My Dear Mrs Bowers, I am afraid this will reach you after one of the heaviest blows of your life. I write when we are very near the end of our journey, and I am finishing it in company with two gallant, noble gentlemen.  One of these is your son.  He had come to be one of my closest and soundest friends, and I appreciate his wonderful upright nature, his ability and energy.  As the troubles have thickened his dauntless spirit ever shone brighter and he has remained cheerful, hopeful, and indomitable to the end. The ways of providence are inscrutable, but there must be some reason why such a young, vigorous and promising life is taken. My whole heart goes out in pity for you. Yours,        R. Scott.

Some notes on the drawings

When I moved to the UK in 2014 I had some fairly debilitating tendinitis in my right arm, which would go away only to flare up on the next job.  I tried to rest my hand as much as I could, which was frustrating, especially when I was feeling pressed to get down to the business of drawing the polar guys.  For whatever reason, Bowers was the most insistent of them; I said, ‘If you want to get drawn, it’s going to have to be with my left hand,’ to which he replied ‘Is that a problem?’  My sketchbooks from the time are peppered with left-handed Birdie doodles, but my favourite is probably this one:

 The orange shapes were painted with my right hand and the lines drawn overtop with my left ... that lower right image is probably my favourite drawing I've done of him.  When I first got into this research, before I started keeping mental track of these things, I found a quote that I have not yet rediscovered – it went along the lines of, "if you ordered Birdie to march through a wall, he would just march right through that wall." I feel like he marched through the page of that sketchbook, and the tendinitis and left-handedness were nothing to him.

“... he may have seemed to some people a bit pushing or even bumptious on first acquaintance.  That was because he went so precipitately at whatever came along ..."  (Cherry-Garrard, foreword to the Seaver, xiv-xv) 

It was funny to revisit all these drawings for the purposes of this post; Birdie's design got ironed out a lot in the course of drawing the Sea Ice Incident so most of these look wrong, now.  I fully expect the same will happen to my other character designs once I've started drawing these guys into pages!  But one has to start the ball rolling somewhere ... 

[birdiebowers]

would you still love me if i wasn't a short redheaded polar explorer with a big crooked nose from the royal ndian marine who has endless amounts of happiness

[scotianostra]

March 29th 1912 is the estimated death of Explorer Henry ‘Birdie’ Robertson Bowers.

Bowers was born on 29th July 1883 in Greenock.

After his father, a naval captain, died in Rangoon, his mother raised him from the age of three with his two older sisters. The family moved to Streatham, London when Henry was around 13, he joined the merchant navy on leaving school and by the time he was 21 had sailed around the world four times on a cargo ship, The  Loch Torridon which became famous as one of the  most perfect four-masted barques ever built.

“Birdie” went on to join the Royal Indian Marine Service in 1905 and as sub lieutenant saw service in Ceylon and Burma then   commanded a river gunboat on the Irrawaddy. He later served on HMS Fox, preventing gun-running in the Persian Gulf.

In 1908 Bowers joined Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition after reading about Scott’s earlier expeditions including his journey on The Discovery.  Although he was only meant to be a member of the ship’s crew Scott was so impressed with Bowers he made him a member of the shore team.

When the party made it to the South Pole it was Bowers who found the flag  Amundsen had planted and the tent the Norwegian explorer had used as camp when they beat the British team there 35 days previously, Bowers was the navigator in the team and is said to have taken most of the photos and it was he who fixed the exact location of the geographic South Pole for the Polar party. On there way back from the Pole probably one of the most famous events in exploration occurred when Captain Lawrence Oates, who had been slowing the party down after  his foot became frostbitten and gangrenous, spoke the words “I am just going outside, I may be some time”. It was a courageous decision by Oates to let the team go on without him and stand a better chance of getting back safely.

By now they had already lost one crew member after a fall in mid February, Captain Scott, Bowers and Dr. Edward “Bill” Wilson ploughed on for three more days covering 20 miles, a blizzard halted them on March 20th, forcing them to stop, the snow storm lasted for days longer than expected and the trio, exhausted, cold and hungry, some 11 miles short of their next food depot could not continue. Scott’s last diary entry read….

“March 29th, 1912

Since the 21st we have had a continuous gale from W.S.W. and S.W. We had fuel to make two cups of tea apiece and bare food for two days on the 20th. Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away, but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. I do not think we can hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far.

It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.

R. SCOTT.

For God’s sake look after our people.”

On or after this the three men perished, they were found by a search party the following spring on 12 November 1912. The search party collapsed the tent over them, thus burying them where they lay under a snow cairn topped by a cross made from a pair of skis. Among the items they found and took back with them were the Kodak film rolls with the photographs at the South Pole and geological specimens which later proved the Gondwana theory.

[generaleferri]

I just had this mental image of the Terra Nova crew as Star Trek characters and I don't really know what to do with it apart from screaming into the void.

Please just give me the guys in the Starfleet uniforms.