#frank's america trip 2021

[soccerdailyuk]

Reece James sends eight-word Chelsea message as injury worry emerges for Mauricio Pochettino

Reece James sends eight-word Chelsea message as injury worry emerges for Mauricio Pochettino Reece James has communicated with supporters prior to the pre-season period, as the Chelsea player has undergone scans on his knee as a precautionary measure following an initial concern about an injury. According to football.london, the 23-year-old experienced discomfort in his knee during the initial week of training at Cobham, prompting the need for tests. James was among the first batch of players to return to the training center in Surrey, as preparations commence for Mauricio Pochettino's debut season as manager and the upcoming tour of America. It is anticipated that he will also join the group of players traveling to the United States next week. The scans conducted on Reece James' knee are primarily a precautionary measure due to his recent history of injuries. Last season, James missed a significant portion of matches, including the final seven under Frank Lampard. He was unable to participate in games after the Champions League quarter-final loss to Real Madrid, as he was operating at a diminished capacity in the second leg. Over the past two years, James has experienced extended absences, including periods from October to the World Cup, which led to his withdrawal from the tournament. He also had a spell out of action post-January. These incidents highlight an ongoing concern regarding James' fitness, as he was sidelined for substantial periods of the 2021/22 season due to knee and hamstring problems. As Reece James embarks on the 2023/24 season, where he holds significant importance for Chelsea and is a potential candidate for the club's captaincy, the team is exercising extreme caution in gradually increasing his workload. They are prioritizing his well-being and are hesitant to take any risks that could lead to unfavorable outcomes. With a long trip to America approaching, the club's approach is centered around prioritizing safety first and ensuring James remains in optimal condition. Whilst James readies himself for a big campaign to come, he has taken to Instagram to write to fans. "The best of me is yet to come," he said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Reece James (@reecejames) In response, Chelsea teammate Andrey Santos wrote: "Yeahh broo ." His sister, and Chelsea women's star Lauren, said simply: "Loading." Chelsea is undoubtedly hopeful that the test results will deliver positive news before the start of pre-season. Their expectation is that Reece James will receive a clean bill of health, allowing him to play a crucial role in the club's aspirations for the new project under manager Mauricio Pochettino. Having James fully fit and available would be instrumental in Chelsea's pursuit of their goals for the upcoming season. Reece James sends eight-word Chelsea message as injury worry emerges for Mauricio Pochettino Read the full article

[anitosoul]

tripreport.008: Pinecore

What’s that coming from the woods? 🪓

Key Pinecore Inspirations:

Frank Ocean – Endless (Visual Album)

David Lynch – Twin Peaks (TV Show) / Fire Walk With Me (Film)

Wim Wenders – Paris, Texas (Film)

Blues, folk, country, classic rock (Music Genre)

Cowpunk (Music Genre)

Nirvana – MTV Unplugged (Album)

Specifically, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” (Song)

The Last of Us Pt II (Video Game)

Meat Puppets (Music Artist)

Time Crisis (Internet Radio Show)

Kurt Cobain (Music Artist)

Daniel Quinn – Ishmael (Book)

Blackbird Spyplane (Newsletter)

Peter Wohlleben – The Hidden Life of Trees (Book)

DIY Construction (Activity)

Antlers, Oklahoma (Town)

@organiclab.zip (Instagram Account)

Evergreen and brown (Colors)

Pinecore Tracklist A-Side: Fog

Angelo Badalamenti – Twin Peaks Main Theme (1990)

Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine (1971)

Joanne Shaw Taylor – Summertime (2016)

B.B. King – Chains and Things (1970)

Chris Stapleton – Whiskey Sunrise (2020)

Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger – Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) (1973)

Khruangbin – Father Bird, Mother Bird (2020)

Glen Campbell – Wichita Lineman (1968)

The Cactus Blossoms – Powder Blue (2016)

Fleetwood Mac – Gold Dust Woman (1977)

The Mamas & The Papas – California Dreamin’ (1966)

Grateful Dead – Me & My Uncle (Live at Fillmore East, New York 1971)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mary Jane’s Last Dance (1993)

The Quakes – Paint It Black (1990)

Pinecore Tracklist B-Side: Dusk

Buck Owens – I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail (1964)

The Reverend Horton Heat – Marijuana (1990)

Led Zeppelin – Dazed and Confused (1969)

Meat Puppets – Lake of Fire (1984)

The Meteors – Into the Darkness (1981)

The Gun Club – A Devil in the Woods (1982)

The Cramps – I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1980)

Kurt Cobain – Burn the Rain (some time in the 1990s)

Woody Guthrie – Buffalo Skinners (1945)

Blood on the Saddle – Endless Highway (1987)

Ry Cooder – Paris, Texas (1984)

Nirvana – Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (1994)

Frank Ocean – Higgs (2016)

Gustavo Santaolalla – Longing (from “The Last of Us Pt II”) (2020)

My lifestyle at the beginning of the year was entirely opposite of my lifestyle at the end of year: I ended 2021 living in downtown Manhattan, a city of 8.4 million people, but I began 2021 living at home in Tulsa with my dad, spending every weekend working on an A-frame cabin in Moyers, Oklahoma, an unincorporated community with a population of 451 (453 when my dad and I were there, I guess).

My entire life centered around construction, being in the woods, driving my dad’s truck, listening to guitar music, and solitude. In my downtime I watched the entirety of Twin Peaks, which was a major inspiration for the vibe of Pinecore. My life kind of felt like a combination of Twin Peaks and King of the Hill: the closest real town to the cabin was Antlers, Oklahoma, the “deer capital of the world.” The town coffee shop was called Tipp’s Sacred Grounds, and the rotating cast of visitors (local older Oklahoman couples, jaded teenage employees, the suspiciously overly-friendly owner, random European tourists who decided lockdown was the best time to do a road trip through middle America, etc.) were reminiscent of the bizarre characters and relationships in both of those shows.

Pinecore was inspired by the eerie discomfort I would feel sleeping in the woods at night, the silence highlighting every noise in a mile radius. It wasn’t scary per se, but felt more like a primal fear. It’s a mirror version of the bright, saccharine sounds of indie folk; basically, it’s evil Fleet Foxes. The sound of Pinecore is an amalgamation of country, blues, classic rock, and “cowpunk” (or country punk), which was one of my favorite music genre discoveries of this year. I would listen to these genres all day as I hammered and drilled and lifted and sawed planks of wood. My dad and I had been working for about a month and finally put up the A-frames, sealing the achievement of erecting the structure of the cabin.

The song that best encapsulates the feelings of Pinecore is Nirvana’s cover of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” from their MTV Unplugged session. Throughout January I was surrounded by tall pine trees in the dead of winter, away from civilization. Given the world events like pandemic and like the storming of the U.S. Capitol, life felt pretty apocalyptic. Spending time in the woods building a home with my dad gave my life a tangible purpose despite its simplicity; it was a reprieve from the chaos of the world. The ominous, deep-seated fear of the woods was more natural and preferable to the disorienting dread of what was happening everywhere else.

[xprojectrpg]

This Day in X-Project - February 8

Everett Thomas's birthday

PHASE 2

2015: Wade asks Kevin for a loan of his hat. Lorna texts Wanda, asking about what she plans to do for her and Pietro’s birthday and if she’s heard anything about the Brotherhood. Wade comes across Roxy having powers issues and lends a hand. Other new arrival Tabitha makes her first journal post. Warren lets Jean know that he’s ready to meet with her people. Bobbi posts about the Grammys making her feel old. Rogue shows off her new manicure. Laurie hangs this sign to the door of her lab. Doug emails Laurie to let her know why he’s being so sarcastic to Tabitha.

2016: Felicia emails X-Force about a mandatory ski trip. Natasha texts Clint about the lame Superbowl commercials. Reed and Hank meet in the lab and find they have much in common. Clint asks Molly to go to his office at SWORD and pick up some items he’d left behind. Everett comes back to the mansion, and has a frank discussion with Scott. Nica emails Hank, asking him if he can help her with her powers.

2017: Topaz posts about a magically alive catnip mouse being lost. Sharon F.emails Scott and Garrison about the first aid exam simulation being what she is looking for.

2018: Sharon F.gets an update on a family situation. She then lets Scott and Garrison know she's heading home, tells the medlab she's got a situation and asks Clarice for a lift. Matt announces a law enforcement seminar. Bobbi invites X-Factor to a birthday party for Warren.

2019:

2020: Tandy posts about her new haircut.

2021:

2022: Kyle, Arthur, America, and Gabriel meet at fight club, where they run into the boss's daughter - Sarah Rushman. Kevin posts about Sarah and her possible uses to X-Force.

2023:

[frankenbolt]

So now I’m finally back in the UK, and because I’m waiting for the all clear PCR test results, I’m playing Fallout New Vegas again.

...Because I ended up in Las Vegas through no fault of my own whilst I was in America, and I’m obnoxiously just pointing and saying, “HAHA I’ve been there! Wild.”

[theresabookforthat]

Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Young Readers

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and this week—May 3 to May 9 —is also Children’s Book Week with the motto “Every Child a Reader.” Therefore, we are celebrating the following glorious stories, for children and adults to share, that honor the rich cultural history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: 

 THE MAGIC FISH by Trung Le Nguyen

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by the New York Public Library • Kirkus Reviews • Booklist • Publishers Weekly

This beautifully illustrated YA graphic novel follows a young boy as he tries to navigate life through fairytales. Tiến still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It’s hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tiến, he doesn’t even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he’s going through? Is there a way to tell them he’s gay?

ANY DAY WITH YOU by Mae Respicio

Kaia and her family live near the beach in California, where the fun of moviemaking is all around them. This summer, Kaia and her friends are part of a creative arts camp, where they’re working on a short movie to enter in a contest. The movie is inspired by the Filipino folktales that her beloved Tatang, her great-grandfather, tells. Kaia hopes that by winning a filmmaking contest, she’ll convince her great-grandfather not to move back home to the Philippines.

PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING by Randy Ribay

A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin’s murder.

THEY CALLED US ENEMY by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, Harmony Becker

A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei’s childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon—and America itself—in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. Available in a Spanish edition here.

 THE UGLY VEGETABLES written and illustrated by Grace Lin

In this charming story about celebrating differences a Chinese-American girl wishes for a garden of bright flowers instead of one full of bumpy, ugly, vegetables. The neighbors’ gardens look so much prettier and so much more inviting to the young gardener than the garden of “black-purple-green vines, fuzzy wrinkled leaves, prickly stems, and a few little yellow flowers” that she and her mother grow. Nevertheless, mother assures her that “these are better than flowers.” Come harvest time, everyone agrees as those ugly Chinese vegetables become the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known. As the neighborhood comes together to share flowers and ugly vegetable soup, the young gardener learns that regardless of appearances, everything has its own beauty and purpose. THE UGLY VEGETABLES springs forth with the bright and cheerful colors of blooming flowers and lumpy vegetables. Grace Lin’s playful illustrations pour forth with abundant treasures. Complete with a guide to the Chinese pronunciation of the vegetables and the recipe for ugly vegetable soup! Try it…you’ll love it, too!

 WATERCRESS by Andrea Wang; Illustrated by Jason Chin

Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl’s parents stop suddenly when they spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. Grabbing an old paper bag and some rusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail covered watercress as they can. At first, she’s embarrassed. Why can’t her family get food from the grocery store? But when her mother shares a story of her family’s time in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress.

The book is illustrated by award winning author and artist Jason Chin, in an entirely new style, inspired by Chinese painting techniques. An author’s note in the back shares Andrea’s childhood experience with her parents.

LAXMI’S MOOCH by Shelly Anand, Illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

A joyful, body-positive picture book about a young Indian American girl’s journey to accept her body hair and celebrate her heritage after being teased about her mustache.

WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER by Tae Keller

WINNER OF THE 2021 NEWBERY MEDAL

WINNER OF THE ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni’s Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal—return what her grandmother stole in exchange for Halmoni’s health—Lily is tempted to agree. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice…and the courage to face a tiger.

DANBI LEADS THE SCHOOL PARADE by Anna Kim

An Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor Book

Danbi is thrilled to start her new school in America. But a bit nervous too, for when she walks into the classroom, everything goes quiet. Everyone stares. Danbi wants to join in the dances and the games, but she doesn’t know the rules and just can’t get anything right. Luckily, she isn’t one to give up. With a spark of imagination, she makes up a new game and leads her classmates on a parade to remember! Danbi Leads the School Parade introduces readers to an irresistible new character. In this first story, she learns to navigate her two cultures and realizes that when you open your world to others, their world opens up to you.

FATIMA’S GREAT OUTDOORS by Ambreen Tariq; Illustrated by Stevie Lewis

An immigrant family embarks on their first camping trip in the Midwest in this lively picture book by Ambreen Tariq, outdoors activist and founder of @BrownPeopleCamping. This picture book debut, with cheerful illustrations by Stevie Lewis, is a rollicking family adventure, a love letter to the outdoors, and a reminder that public land belongs to all of us.

THE DOWNSTAIRS GIRL by Stacey Lee

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.” When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.

FRANKLY IN LOVE by David Yoon

An Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Honor Book

Frank Li has two names. There’s Frank Li, his American name. Then there’s Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California. Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl—which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes him laugh like no one else. Brit…who is white. Desperate to be with Brit without his parents finding out, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Frank thinks he’s found the solution to all his problems, but when life throws him a curveball, he’s left wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love—or himself—at all.

 For more on these and related titles (for kids and adults) visit the collection Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

[books-in-media]

Masterlist of books mentioned & read by Nikki Reed

—All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Katharine K. Wilkinson (2020) (X)

—Arizona Traveler's Handbook, Bill Weir, Robert Blake (1987)

—Axel Vervoordt: Wabi Inspirations, Axel Vervoordt, Tatsuro Miki, Michael   Paul (2011)

—Ayurvedic Healing: A Comprehensive Guide, David Frawley (1990)

—Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer (2013)

—Crystal Healing for Women: A Modern Guide to the Power of Crystals for Renewed Energy, Strength, and Wellness, Mariah K. Lyons (2020)

—Death Valley Scotty by Mabel, Bessie Johnson, (1987)

—Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, Celeste Headlee (2020)

—Erosion: Essays of Undoing, Terry Tempest Williams (2019)

—Essays In Love, Alain de Botton (1993) (also published as The Lover), X

—Fossils, Frank H.T. Rhodes, Paul R. Shaffer, Herbert S. Zim (1962)

—Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger (1955)

—I Should Have Honor: A Memoir of Hope and Pride in Pakistan, Khalida Brohi (2018)

—I'm Fine...and Other Lies, Whitney Cummings (2017)

—Just Kids, Patti Smith (2010)

—Make A Living Living, Nina Karnikowski (2020) (X)

—Milk And Honey, Rupi Kaur (2014)

—On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong (2019) 

—Plants for the People: A Modern Guide to Plant Medicine, Erin Lovell Verinder (2020)

—Southwest Adventures: The Driver's Guide, Fraser Bridges (1993)

—Splat the Cat, Rob Scotton (2008)

—The Activated Grain Method: Easy, Nutritious and Delicious Gluten Free Recipes using The Activated Grain Method, Todd Stream Cameron (2017)

—The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein (2017)

—The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother, Heng Ou, Amely Greeven, Marisa Belger (2016)

—The Habit Trip: A Fill-in-the-Blank Journey to a Life on Purpose, Sarah Hays Coomer (2020)

—The Plant Clinic, Erin Lovell Verinder (2021)

—The Pocket Encyclopedia of Cacti and Succulents in Color, Edgar Lamb, Brian Lamb (1976)

—The Sonoran Desert: A Literary Field Guide, Eric Magrane, Christopher Cokinos (2016)

—The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (1984)

—The Women's Heritage Sourcebook: Bringing Homesteading to Everyday Life, Emma Rollin Moore, Lauren Malloy, Ashley Moore, Audria Culaciati (2020)

—The Zen Mama Guide to Finding Your Rhythm in Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond, Teresa Palmer, Sarah Wright Olsen (2021)

—There I Am: The Journey from Hopelessness to Healing—A Memoir, Ruthie Lindsey (2020)

—Untamed, Glennon Doyle (2020)

—Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, Clarissa Pinkola Estés (1992)

—Zen Mamas, Teresa Palmer, Sarah Wright Olsen (2020)

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

THE MAGIC IS BACK ON SUNDAYS

THE MERRIWICK COUSINS TAKE A ROAD TRIP IN SEARCH OF JOY’S PAST IN ‘GOOD WITCH’ 

PREMIERING JUNE 13, ON HALLMARK CHANNEL

STUDIO CITY, CA – June 7, 2021 – The Merriwick cousins go on a road trip in “Good Witch” as they search for a missing part of Joy's past that could also offer a clue to what’s in their futures in “The Kite,” premiering Sunday, June 13 (9 p.m. ET/PT), on Hallmark Channel. Catherine Bell (“Army Wives,” “JAG”), James Denton (“Desperate Housewives,” “Devious Maids”), Sarah Power (“Killjoys”), Catherine Disher (“Abby Hatcher”), Kylee Evans (“The Strain”), Katherine Barrell (“Wynonna Earp”), Marc Bendavid (“Murdoch Mysteries”) and Scott Cavalheiro (“Carter”) star.

When Joy’s (Barrell) recurring dream progresses, Cassie (Bell) and Abigail (Power) wonder if there’s a connection to the Merriwick trio and what they need protection from, so the cousins take a trip in search of a missing piece of Joy’s past. When Sam (Denton), Donovan (Bendavid) and Adam (Cavalheiro) pay a visit to the Leopard Lodge at George’s (Peter MacNeill, “The Beautiful Bride”) invitation, they’re in for a surprise. Stephanie (Evans) agrees to a “casual” date with Sean (Liam Bilyk, “Meet Me at Christmas”), her French teacher, and soon discovers the two have different ideas of what that means. Meanwhile, Martha (Disher) finds herself in the center of her own mystery when a series of unusual events has the Mayor of Middleton losing sleep until she discovers the astonishing truth about who is behind them.

“Good Witch,” is a Whizbang Films Production in association with ITV Studios America. Darin Goldberg, Orly Adelson, Jonathan Eskenas, Craig Pryce and Frank Siracusa executive producers. Catherine Bell is co-executive producer. Janina Barrett serves as supervising producer. Colin Brunton is producer. Julie Lawrence and Angie Cassiram are associate producers. Alison Reid directed from a script by Darin Goldberg. “Good Witch” is distributed internationally by ITV Studios. 

LINK

[crowdvscritic]

round up // AUGUST 21

Happy 2nd birthday to these Round Ups! For two years I’ve been making monthly pop culture picks, and they’ve included:

More than 200 movies

32 TV shows and specials, plus 8 different Saturday Night Live Round Ups

27 albums, singles, playlists, and more music picks

13 podcasts

12 books

2 concerts

There have also been articles, events, museums, social media bits, trailers, and a service that helps you find movies across streaming platforms. (Find all of them here.) This month I’m adding a few more, like: 

2 podcasts

2 albums

5 vampire movies

A conversation between two GOATs

A very funny dead guy

A terrifying Robert Mitchum performance

Another Dumb Rom-Com I Nevertheless Enjoyed

Here’s to another year!

August Crowd-Pleasers

1. Jungle Cruise (2021)

Indiana Jones meets Pirates of the Caribbean with a dash of The African Queen. I like all those movies, so sue me, I had a nice time! Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

2. Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Genetically-enhanced sharks try to break free of their cages in an ocean research facility, chaos ensues for the characters, and it’s a delight for us. For no intelligent reason, I love movies that make me guess who’s going to get killed off next, so a big dumb shark movie starring L.L. Cool J and Samuel L. Jackson? It’s a particular brand of joy. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5.5/10

3. Double Feature — Adam Sandler Comedies: 50 First Dates (2004) + Murder Mystery (2019)

Adam Sandler movies are little like IcyHot for the brain—that is, they’re the relaxing kind of mind-numbing. Thanks to a stressful month at work, I watched six Sandler flicks in August—which I don’t necessarily recommend but also don’t regret—and the Netflix original Murder Mystery (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10) was one of the the best of the bunch. It’s a silly spoof of Agatha Christie’s work, and it’s a scenic two-hour European vacay. I also gave 50 First Dates (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10) another try and was pleasantly surprised. Once you get past some of the gross-out humor at the beginning, you’ll find a sweet story all about how we need to keep showing up for the people we love.

4. Double Feature — SNL Comedies: Wayne’s World (1992) + Hot Rod (2007)

My love for Saturday Night Live is more than well-documented, so exactly zero mes were surprised that I loved these flicks from its alums. Wayne’s World (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10) follows up with Wayne and Garth in the basement we first saw on late night. Now they have the opportunity to make it big on TV thanks to a sleazy exec (Rob Lowe). Brian Doyle-Murray and Chris Farley show up, and so do Laverne and Shirley? Hot Rod (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10) follows Rod (Andy Samberg) as he tries to make it big as a stuntman and impress his stepdad (Ian McShane). Will Arnett, Bill Hader, and Chris Parnell show up, and now I can mostly forgive all those boys in high school who quoted this movie non-stop.

5. Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)

If those SNL comedies weren’t enough silliness for you, how about you add some Bernie to your lineup? Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman are wannabe-yuppies who think they’ve got their  career breaks when an exec named Bernie invites them to his vacation home for the weekend. What they don’t know is that Bernie (Terry Kiser) has been laundering money, is connected to the mob, and, is now, um, dead. The right thing would be to call the police, but then we wouldn’t have a 97-minute high-concept comedy, now would we? Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10

6. Twilight series (2008-12)

I mostly skipped the Twilight phenomenon at its peak, but I’m so glad I hopped on the train years later—this series of vampire vs. werewolf showdowns are ridiculous.  But major kudos to the filmmakers who somehow turned a dump truck of nonsensical gobbledygook and unhealthy teenage relationships into something insanely watchable. Also, major kudos to Billy Burke and his understated, curmudgeonly, sarcastic performance. Bella’s dad is the MVP with the only appropriate responses to all of the nonsense he's forced to participate in and the only tether this franchise has to reality. Be sure to watch with a friend so you have someone else to process this weirdness with. Series Crowd: 8/10 // Series Critic: 5/10

7. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at The Muny

You know what’s great? Live theater! This month I made my first trip back to the stage at America’s oldest and largest outdoor amphitheater, the Muny in St. Louis. Their productions never disappoint, and these performers reminded me of Howard Keel, Jane Powell, and Russ Tamblyn in the best ways. 

8. Wimbledon (2004)

Paul Bettany and Kirsten fall in love at Wimbledon! Frankly, that premise alone should be enough to sell you on this very winning rom-com. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

9. Career Opportunities (1991)

This month’s Dumb Rom-Com I Nevertheless Enjoyed! Frank Whaley and Jennifer Connelly fall in love while stuck overnight at a Target—which honestly sounds like a dream scenario—and since it’s a John Hughes script, it’s got some heart beneath its thin premise. John Hughes directing would’ve made it better, but there’s enough Hughes in there to catch my heart. Crowd: 7/10 // Critic: 4.5/10

10. First Blood (1982)

Aka Rambo: Part I. Sylvester Stallone is a tough-as-nails Vietnam vet, and Brian Dennehy is the self-righteous sheriff who ticks him off. It digs a bit into PTSD and how we don’t take care of our veterans, but mostly, it’s just Stallone going ape with a knife and explosives. Oddly, also from the same director as Weekend at Bernie’s! Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

August Critic Picks

1. TCM’s The Plot Thickens Season 2 (2021)

You know those movies that make you ask, “How on Earth did this get made?” This season of The Plot Thickens, subtitled The Devil’s Candy, is an attempt to answer that question. Pretty much no one thinks 1990’s The Bonfire of the Vanities works as a film—including yours truly—and reporter Julie Salomon documented many of its production troubles leading to the final product. A must-listen for anyone who loves hearing behind-the-scenes stories or just gets a kick out of schadenfreude. 

2. Gene and Roger (2021)

Gene and Roger, the summer series on The Big Picture podcast, is an overview and reflection on the work of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, starting with the launch of their individual careers in the ‘60s through their partnership that lasted into the ‘90s. Another must-listen for movie lovers, especially those who love digging into the history and criticism.

3. Gold-Diggers Sound by Leon Bridges (2021)

Chill vibes and cool groves to transition you from Summer to Autumn.

4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Come for the Clint Eastwood, stay for the Ennio Morricone. Actually you can stay for Eastwood, too, because his humor is at his driest, and for Eli Wallach, whose Tuco is an insanely charming cockroach. It’s almost three hours, but this treasure hunt breezes by like a tumbleweed in the wind. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

5. AFI’s Master Class - The Art of Collaboration: Steven Spielberg and John Williams (2011)

Two GOATS talking about making some of the GOATs. They share clips and explain their collaborative process (including on projects like Jaws and Schindler’s List), and they take questions from film students at AFI. I’m only wishing it were 10 hours instead of 1!

6. The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Robert Mitchum’s terrifying preacher elevates this classic into more than just a standard crime thriller. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

7. Respect (2021)

While a few scenes indulge in melodrama, Jennifer Hudson’s killer performance—both in vocals and character work—more than makes up for it. This Aretha Franklin biopic hits the familiar beats, but it makes you feel like you’re in the room listening to Franklin sing , which is really all you want from a movie like this. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8/10

8. Solar Power by Lorde (2021)

At first listen, this minimalist pop record sounds worlds away from the angst of Pure Heroine and the melodrama of Melodrama. At second listen, you realize it’s the Lorde you know and love, just with a Laurel Canyon influence. Carole King even gets a shout!

Also in August…

This month Kyla and I checked out Loveline, a call-in radio show popular during the run of Gilmore Girls.  Should our favorite Yale students give up dating OR call into the syndicated radio show Loveline? Should Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Carolla give strangers advice OR make fun of them? Oh, and Germany OR Florida? Listen to ep. 107 of SO IT’S A SHOW?

The '40s are coming! Reviews of 1940s Best Picture winners are on their way, and I kicked it off with an overview of the Academy that decade focusing on how they responded to World War II and their new prestigious reputation.

Photo credits: The Muny, The Plot Thickens, Gene and Roger, Leon Bridges, AFI, Lorde. All others IMDb.com.

[theurbansquared]

Guide To Avoiding A Loser Brokerage

by James Hill | theurbansquared

Brokers can be bastards and some even get better at it while other brokers are legitimate life-changing business Sherpas

A broker is supposed to guide you through a career in real estate much like a coach or pimp - offering protection and how to understand a complicated system better and direct it to revenue  without getting your neck broke while playing the game. I created and ran the most well-reviewed, largest full-service brokerage in the fastest-growing city in America.  This gave me access to nearly ever broker and their broker's pay structure and innovations. I also got the agent's version of my same broker buddies brokerages when they eventually joined my brokerage; hovering anywhere from 20–60 agents. Trending insider chatter has blame going to real estate brokers of decades past (and current) and how they’ve managed their agents - - letting unsupervised  agents with no experience run wild on the streets practicing on the public wearing out Realtor love and making a need for all the Mountain Dew-made Zillow-y options that currently exist.

Brokers are out of touch more than ever with today’s current media load, having to understand and use social media platforms for their advertising (since the private Town & Country affair that real estate once was is forever over and the landscape is a bit more like a half Juggalo, half programmer flea market).

Let’s dive into some situations and tenets that most agents don’t consider when choosing a brokerage.

Sales Volume

This is a bit of negotiating psychology and due diligence. Simply ask how much sales they (the brokerage) did last year and how much they’re currently at. If they don’t know these numbers they’re goons. If they don’t give it, you guessed it - they’re hiding something; their lack of revenue. I’ve hired and fired hundreds of agents and in interviews so few ask this question but it’s one of the most important questions you can ask as an agent and you need the information. An agent that doesn’t ask this has already given a tell that they’re not a top producer since they’re not interested in the production capacity of the team they may join. No bueno. Creep the brokerage as well obvi -- reviews, FB & IG engagement and current running ads, and make sure the company Christmas Party isn’t catered by Chic-fil-a at a Burnet Road dive bar.

Office

40% of your learning and 350% of your work will be done at the office. Those numbers will make sense 90% of the time after a few years in real estate. The rest should be on the streets - your car, properties, driving 75 mph talking and sending out docs, gorging on breath mints. Office, home, tiny homes, motorhomes have all blended into one larger conversation where work/live ethos are all in re-definition.

But, when you do need a more savvy moment in any market when people talk about borrowing or selling something that’s over $100K they don’t want to hear some bullshit too loud pedantic conversation seated right next to them at Starbucks or the local kooky coffee shop. In real estate Murphy’s Law is always in effect. The super important listing sign off that has to go well and they want to hear you pitch again before deciding? There will be someone (at this super ‘caj’ coffee house meeting) there projectile vomiting, or throwing cats, or something else tiresome or bad that takes more calls.

Speech and body language are massive parts of sales so when the entire set is thrown because a barista is running through a whole Sublime album. You want the most inviting cool office you can ever pull off at any given moment in real estate . Was that ever a question? There's a balance  -- you can't afford that year one or three, but it’s called real estate for a reason. Sexy, exciting buildings is what the brochure said when I joined. Also, it’s about style not size.

If you haven’t lost business to coffee house back pressure you really haven’t failed at agency properly.

Social IQ

Social reach is the only conversation now. Many brokerages won’t make it as the lead generating aspects of the industry aren't powered by a private MLS anyone and the publicly-hated ‘Realtor’ designation have both brokers and agents guessing about tomorrow. Calendars, best practices and free shitty tips & templates are the du jour of the day for anyone trying to get an agent's eyes. You can Google and get all the ‘basic’ social media dance steps, but with everyone at the same happy hunting spot, you’re being covered up, which leaves all your new artistic efforts fruitless and also squandering winning time.

Traffic, leads and engagement are all separate areas that have to be fulfilled properly and even this is in flux with historic corporations and current start ups all on the same advertising playing field. Social reach and engagement is about going to the consumer direct and becoming their friend with soft bribes -- free food, gifts, prizes (trips, events tickets) or industry work tools. The great news is, real estate has always been mostly consumer direct - start up a convoy at the grocery store (bar, church, meetup) and you’re in the car that weekend looking for houses with a new client. While you, your brokerage and the world are figuring out their exact social media mix, you need to make sure a brokerage isn’t lost on social media since many won’t be able to stay in business in the next few short years. Your brokerage needs to have a plan and and at best some presence on social media. Plus, they should be running low-cost performative marketing ad campaigns to get a feel for what and if set user groups are responding to ads. Anyone can post on IG but people engage on IG when they become inspired. A brokerage should have some sort of inspiration and relationship tied in with the local allure of their city --  or heading that direction.

Mentoring

Much like a neurotic buyer chasing an interest rate for their home mortgage (and then never buying a house) agents too focused on commission may miss the essential career need for mentoring -- for their clients and career. I had a 5 deal minimum for my new agents before they were ever unsupervised and received more commission. I've had new agents with celeb clients in hand and celeb agents with no clients in hand. No one wants to do business with someone with absolutely has no, experience but they do it because they like you as a friend or fam. Your mentor is the person riding shotgun with you at the beginning of your career. On many levels you want to be this person since they embody the position and role. You're literally and figuratively are borrowing experience from them and they deserve to be paid for it. You always have to strengthen your brand outside of your brokerage but if you don’t have any experience your brand doesn’t have ‘strength’ you simply have a logo and a drag & drop website where you're possibly talking about yourself and love of unicorns or football shit but the big boat deals you dream about in bed aren’t gotten this way. Remember, no unicorn could ever throw a football good without a lot of practice and a good mentor.

Support

Support in a brokerage is really communication and solutions for small problems, and systems for managing bigger ones with people. Most of the annoying things in real estate happen outside of the deal - contracts, calls, emails, docs, signatures, more docs. You typically want a super admin, broker, or agent manager that you can call and they pick up the phone. It’s pretty simple. With a mentor, admin, or broker you’re going to have a n 8:30 PM question or deal that’s going down. You’ll need printer help. Real estate always happens now (this was one of the main mantras in my office). Printing, prequal, weekend support and constant post dinner shenanigans.

Training

Meet Frank Miller, David Mamet, the Sex Pistols, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Hendrix, Tom Hopkins, The World’s Greatest Detective and Conan The Barbarian. We had a lot of different inspirations for the style and ethos of our urban brokerage. The World’s Greatest Detective is Batman. It was a moniker that became popular in the seventies. We used this example about how important due diligence and proper Fact Finding techniques are for serving and closing deals for clients. (It’s almost essential to be inquisitive in real estate esp about property/development to have success). Training is largely your sales meeting(s). Although I don’t come from a car background I’ve mentored many car guys transferring to real estate (they typically are out of the industry within 2 years and are there only for boom markets). Car guys have meetings every morning 6 days a week and they’re not at 9 or 10 am. They’re already working.

free module: The Burger King Phenomena: Why Agents Do Less Working For Themselves Than If They Were Working At Burger King

Many brokerages have no training/meeting schedule (monthly doesn’t count -- that’s a meet and greet company pump and catch up meeting). If a brokerage doesn’t have training on a schedule then there is no training. You’ll possibly be thrown a 3-ring binder, or given some PDF’s, or links to old bizarre training videos or a soup sandwich of all three and sometimes even a bill for the training. An agent’s training/meetings and their attendance to them are the difference between an agent making it or not when you’re 24 months or less in the role as an agent especially in the fast turbulent waters of the current 2021 market where brokerage and agent purpose and pay are under attack. From my experience, new agents that hide die.

Media

Having a background as a creative director I’m aware with great detail of agency and brokerage media needs, the cost and time they extract, and the corresponding revenue they’re projected to bring back. Brokerages are looking for their purpose now as simply having a brokerage doesn’t bring in leads like it used to. This is fitting, since the digital dumbass brokers that that didn’t understand the importance of ‘the web’ rickshawed our MLS data and sold the agent/broker centric real estate system for their benefit while current agents are left with an empty greasy enough to-go box to curl up with. Brokerages were never media houses or ad agencies but now that consumer level graphic programs and website builders are ubiquitous and any agent after being licensed for 10 days can drag & drop a website up in 4 hours and make it look like a brokerage that’s been around for years. I know I’m going wide on the subject here but stay with me because this is the crux of where the industry and consumer are renegotiating roles.

A brokerage’s value proposition has changed drastically with the telecommute revolution that was only sped and strengthened by Covid. Also, generational knowledge base gaps in technology are more apparent than ever with technology as younger agents can often be more media savvy than their broker. The market is flooded with self appointed companies or gurus that are taking on the role of the classic ad agency (Mad Men) or media production house. Also beware of real estate coaches with little or no real estate experience offering to guide you in social media. Okay media can’t be used in apex situations (such as the luxury listings you’re after) and doesn’t draw apex listings. Beware of tapioca room temperature tips and general lists from companies that can appear informative but are really boilerplate low grade data to get your attention to ultimately upsell you on a paid service.

As an agent or a brokerage, consumer level graphic and website building programs can be a death ticket to your business as your competitors have the same tools and are cranking out the same type of style of messaging you are now. Now agents, principals, admins and in art class creating flyers. This has been done since the nineties as the valleys of dead agent careers is full of 2-day Microsoft Word (or any of their shitty office offerings) seshes to produce nasty flyers and presentations. These programs are fun and making bad flyers absolutely work related - the kind of work you don’t want’ related to your business because it’s adult crayon coloring. Activity does not equal production. Staying busy doing the wrong things doesn’t make money in real estate. Rather than spending agent winning time staying in the wrong lanes for way too long, get with a team or brokerage that are providing the most exceptional visual media you can find in your market. It used to be cool 2 years ago, now it’s the only thing that matters. Visual content.

free module: Better Agent Media, Less Agent Money (media tips and hacks).

Access

This is access to your broker. Brokers with families are typically less available. Your best bet as an agent is looking for a grinder broker who sleeps on the couch at their office. This person doesn’t have kids to build into so they’ll build into your career and you’ll get the most out of these brokers. Beware of cheesedick, apathetic, rich boy, bored brokers not around and more concerned with projects like a shitty vanity wine brand that their wife’s forced them to launch since she’s not living her best life anymore as an agent.

Style

What kind of style is your brokerage? Is there an opportunity to bring more style sophistication to the market -- standout in a smaller market? Or, are you in an ultra stylish market currently and butt hurt because you already have a little story about how you’re going to keep it real and be a Dockers wearing slob for eternity? The thing about style in agency is you always need to look like you can list a million dollar house. Oh, is it really that simple? Yes it is. You complicated it. Clients always care about their housing a little bit more than they care about your real estate career. They don’t have time to figure out why you’re wearing shoe styles from 7 years ago. Don’t make it hard for people to do business with you. If you’re ugly, even better. It can be a massive advantage. Everyone on the planet loves when someone who doesn’t fall into our general current ‘attractive’ spectrum doesn’t give af, looks great and puts themselves together in a stylish way that the viewer can understand (can I get away with Teen Wolf?). A great side benefit from this step in the right direction is it’s a great way to make someone who is conventionally attractive insecure.

You want to be in the same style as the people in your area but the secret is you need to lead that style pack if you can -- you always lead and dress apex. Years ago this was anecdotal but after over 100K hours in real estate a good suite (tailored) saved my ass and literally got me business. I listed the largest house in east Austin because of a suit (and got a front page story on the newspaper real estate section for free because the owner saw me walking into the next door neighbor’s house).

Offices, dress, logo, email signature are all elements of you and your brokerage’s style. Style in and of itself isn’t enough to be a top producer in real estate. I’ve had stylish and even celebrity agents that didn't do zilch, but style often is a fingerprint to something more.

Picking the right elements for your agent style is an art because you have to offer something from yourself that’s unique enough as well as something familiar (a bridge to your uniqueness). I have a background as a musician and also as a merchant sailor. Fortunately those are easy convo starters. You could be a philatelist and have some challenges, but regardless it absolutely will take a year or three to develop your own angle and style towards the market as you learn it and the agent role more.

Things that look attractive and familiar puts client’s psychologies at ease. So, if skinny jeans are in you better get in them (that’s like five years old now). You’re on stage. You don’t wear what the worker people behind the camera wear. If you want to wear boring shit get on the other side of the camera. If you want less leads saddle up to a forgettable brokerage. People have hard days. They want you to put an effort into your real estate agency role. Currently it’s a fried role so you’re dealing with that too. People love to be smiled at and sold and especially from someone who smells good. It doesn't ever get old. Don’t make them beg for your charm. Be a nice charming person with a shirt that fits good, it’s a powerful combo.

Get My Damn Paper

If you’ve never seen a werewolf in daylight mess with an agent’s commission after the deal’s done and funded. Admin? Who is the damn person who does the admin? (accounts payable is the icey pro word if you like). That person that you contact to get your commission check cut? If that person is a weirdo, or there’s an unfriendly or sketchy quality to the office or admin staff, do not go forward (don’t confuse this with new people or industry jitters). Grab some free coffee, leave the smarm and jet to the next brokerage blind date.

Software

CRM is an annoying conversation. Here’s the things with CRM’s - for all the work CRMs curtail, because of their complexity and existence and the work(time) they take to interact with you need to consider how much work you’re putting into operating the CRM software verses how much time it’s saving. Many times brokerages have expensive yearly subscriptions with per agent fees for their CRM which can make the brokerage have a zealot meth thing for the ‘team’ software and promise you can’t have a career without taking a bump too. To understand CRM better before it was a name, Client Relationship Management is what analog Proximity became. Let me explain -  being close to people in Church, bar, school, same building -- all give proximity. This becomes familiarity, then ease, then trust. People do business with people they trust & like. Once people disconnected physically and started using other means more contact attempts have to be made to work for or ‘prove’ worth.

Follow Up is a large component of most CRM’s and there are gobs of money for agents who follow up meticulously. Simply ask the broker what CRM they use and research it. Something to remember - unless you’re extremely busy with your career you don’t need a CRM. You can manage & database your clients & leads ‘by hand’ and strap it to the cloud with G-Suite/Google Sheets.

Brokerage Name

A small but important aside, if a brokerage have named themselves after a precious metal or a gem, or if it says elite in the name then it’s not elite. If it has the words prestige or worldwide or international it may not be any of those either. I know a handful of exceptions to this rule but this is a great dirty primer to use when choosing a brokerage that’s going to propel your career and have shrimp options at the Christmas Party.

[xtruss]

The Forgotten Tale of the Confederate Spies Who Invaded Vermont

In 1864, Southern soldiers plotted to take tiny St. Albans, rob its banks, and change the course of the Civil War.

— By Michael Tougias | July 16, 2021 | Boston Globe Magazine

Captives, including students from St. Albans Academy, under guard by Confederate raiders. FROM THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

ON OCTOBER 10, 1864, Bennett Young stepped off the train from Canada, and into the train depot at St. Albans, Vermont, 15 miles south of the border. Young, a handsome, clean-shaven 21-year-old divinity student, took a room at the Tremont House on Main Street and spent the next few days familiarizing himself with the town. But Young was not what he seemed. He was a native of Kentucky, not Canada, and a Confederate officer recently escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp. He was here in this bustling railroad center of about 4,000 residents to change the course of the war.

It had been fewer than five days since Young received a message from C.C. Clay Jr., a former US senator from Alabama. Clay, sent to Canada in 1864 by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to build a network of secret agents, had written: “Your suggestion for a raid upon the most accessible towns in Vermont, commencing with St. Albans, is approved, and you are authorized and required to act in conformity with that suggestion.”

Davis himself had approved the bold series of raids. The South was clearly losing the Civil War. Atlanta had fallen to General William T. Sherman a month earlier. General Ulysses S. Grant’s forces were hounding Robert E. Lee’s Army of Virginia. The port of Mobile, Alabama, had been blockaded by Rear Admiral David Farragut. The hope was that several dramatic raids from Canada into the North would at the least force Union troops north to defend the border, easing pressure on Lee. If Union troops chased the raiders into Canada, it might help draw neutral Canada and Great Britain into the war on the side of the Confederates. And if things went really well, it might demoralize Northern voters so much that they would elect a Democrat as president instead of the Republican incumbent, Abraham Lincoln. Plus, the Confederacy needed cash.

Over the next nine days, some 20 more men from Canada arrived in groups of twos and threes. Like Young, they were also Confederate soldiers posing as Canadian civilians in St. Albans for business or relaxation. These men, only two of whom were older than 30, made polite inquiries about horses they could rent and guns they could borrow for a bit of hunting. Some took day trips to nearby towns, to play out the ruse and scout other targets to raid. Others wandered into the town’s banks, striking up conversations with the locals or inquiring about the price of gold. Their real interest was determining how many employees each bank had. Some occasionally met with Young clandestinely at his hotel, to share information and discuss the outlines of their mission.

Young, meanwhile, played his part with flair. He courted a woman staying at his hotel, impressed the villagers with his conspicuous Bible reading, and visited the home of the governor of Vermont, railroad magnate J. Gregory Smith. Smith was in Montpelier at the time, so his wife, Ann Eliza Smith, showed Young around the grounds. She thought Young “a nice mannered man,” not realizing he intended to burn the mansion down as retribution for the burning of Southern governors’ mansions.

Young had determined two potential escape routes for the bold plan, which would turn out to be the northernmost action of the Civil War. But he also saw a threat: Just a couple of blocks west of Main Street was a busy railway station and foundry, employing dozens of men who might leap into action. Still, he was confident — the raiders were going to need 30 minutes, at most, to rob several banks, torch the town with bottles of an incendiary liquid called Greek fire, and run. In the commotion, Young hoped to also set fire to the governor’s mansion, then raid Swanton, another town, on the way back to Canada.

He fixed Wednesday, October 19, as the day of the attack.

A Confederate raider shoots at E.J. Morrison outside Miss Beattie’s Millinery on Main Street in St. Albans.FROM THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

AT 3 P.M. ON THE 19th, St. Albans’ church bells rang to mark the hour. Under leaden skies that threatened rain, Young strolled down Main Street, then climbed a couple of steps onto a hotel porch. Reaching inside his coat, he pulled out his Navy Colt revolver and raised it over his head. “I’m an officer of the Confederate Service,” he shouted. “I am going to take this town and shoot the first person that resists!”

At first, St. Albans residents within earshot thought Young was joking. They stared at him until he pointed his gun at them and other raiders herded them onto the village green. Other Confederates went to get horses, and three groups of them headed to the town’s banks: Franklin County Bank on Main Street, St. Albans Bank at the corner of Main and Kingman, and the First National Bank on Fairfield. They were barely more than a block apart, all near the town common.

Young climbed on a horse and trotted up and down Main Street, overseeing the roundup of prisoners and monitoring his men’s assault on the banks. He knew his two revolvers had only six shots each, and would be difficult to reload while on horseback. So whenever he saw someone emerge from a building, he’d point his gun at them and tell them to get back inside, intimidating them before they made trouble.

Collins Huntington, though, on his way to pick up his children from school, ignored Young’s threats, thinking he was drunk. Young leveled his revolver and shot at him, inflicting a glancing wound along Huntington’s rib cage.

Inside the Franklin County Bank, a cashier saw a neatly dressed man named William Hutchinson approach the counter. Assuming Hutchinson was a customer, the cashier, Marcus Beardsley, asked how he could help. Hutchinson pulled a revolver from his coat. “We are Confederate soldiers,” he said. “We have come to rob your banks and burn your town. There are a hundred of us here. You must keep quiet and hand over all your money.”

A customer nearby made a run for the door but stopped when the raiders threatened to shoot. Two raiders pushed him into the vault, then began filling their haversacks with bills. Hutchinson, meanwhile, told Beardsley to give him the money from the counter, then locked Beardsley in the vault, too. The four raiders left the bank with approximately $70,000, the equivalent of about $1.2 million today.

Down the street in the St. Albans Bank, Cyrus Bishop stood, terrified, as raiders on either side of him pointed revolvers at his head. “If you make any resistance or give any further alarm, we’ll blow your brains out,” one told him. One of the raiders pointed his pistol at an assistant cashier and told him, “Not a word out of you. We are Confederate soldiers, we have come to take your town, we shall have your money.”

Then the raiders took the time to do something unexpected: They made Bishop and the assistant cashier swear allegiance to the Confederate States of America. While three more raiders entered the bank and stuffed as much money as they could fit in their pockets and satchels, one of the Confederates guarding the two bank employees lectured them on the destruction of the South by Generals Sheridan and Sherman.

The cashier was having none of it. He said if the robbery was an act of war, he should be allowed to take an inventory so that the bank could be reimbursed by the federal government. “Damn your government, hold up your hands,” hissed the raider.

At that point, someone knocked on the bank’s front door, which the rebels had locked behind them. One of the raiders opened it. In walked Samuel Breck, a merchant looking to make a deposit. A rebel grabbed him by the collar with one hand, pressed a revolver to his head with the other, and said, “I take deposits.” He took $393 from Breck and shoved him in the room with the two bank employees.

Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire erupted outside the bank, and three of the raiders ran out. The last two raiders left the bank more slowly, walking backward with their guns raised. They had been in St. Albans Bank for 12 minutes.

Inside the St. Albans Bank, a clerk is threatened at gunpoint by a group of Confederate raiders. FROM THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

YOUNG DIDN’T KNOW where the shots were coming from. There was at least one St. Albans local, possibly more, firing at his raiders from buildings on Main Street. No one had been hit, but Young hadn’t planned for armed resistance.

He had already fired his revolvers three times — at Collins Huntington; at stable owner Sylvester Field, who’d objected to the theft of his horses (the ball passed through Field’s hat); and at Leonard Bingham, a local who had tried to charge him when Young was climbing onto a horse. Young had hit Bingham, but the ball had been stopped by Bingham’s heavy silver watch, and Bingham had escaped. Young had only nine bullets left, but he was going to have to do something to regain control of a situation that was spiraling out of control.

Leonard Cross heard the commotion and stepped out of his photography studio. “What are you trying to celebrate here?” he asked Young.

“I’ll let you know,” Young said, and shot at Cross, barely missing his head. Eight bullets left.

It was time, he thought, to start setting the town on fire. His raiders began throwing their bottles of Greek fire at buildings.

An old editorial illustration depicts William H. Blaisdell of St. Albans accost a raider outside of the First National Bank as another Confederate raced toward them. Blaisdell, like others that day, was taken at gunpoint into what today is Taylor Park. The First National sat at the southeast corner of Main and Fairfield streets, across the street from what is now Taylor Park. CREDIT: VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY (these images originally appeared in Frank Leslie's magazine)

Over at the First National Bank, the third group of robbers had gathered $58,000 (nearly $1 million in current dollars). The four of them left the bank, escorting an employee toward the common, where they were going to put him with the other captives. As they were leaving, they saw a local business owner, William Blaisdell, approaching the bank. Blaisdell quickly realized what was happening and grabbed a raider, throwing him down onto the boardwalk. But other raiders pointed their pistols at Blaisdell’s head, forcing him to surrender.

Buildings should have been burning by now, Young must have realized. But they weren’t — the bottles of Greek fire had hit their targets, but they merely smoldered. Nothing was burning.

More townspeople had realized St. Albans was under attack. Nearby, at the governor’s residence, a neighbor’s servant girl rushed in to tell Vermont’s first lady, Ann Smith: “The rebels are in town, robbing the banks, burning the houses and killing the people,” the girl exclaimed. “They are on their way up the hill, intending to burn your house.”

Smith and a Scottish servant girl sprung into action, calmly closing the blinds and shades of the house and bolting the doors. Then, Smith found one of her husband’s pistols. It wasn’t loaded, but she hoped the raiders wouldn’t realize that. She carried the gun to the front steps, to stand and wait. She wished she had raised an American flag, so if they went down it would be with colors flying.

The Confederate raiders set fire to the bridge over Sheldon Creek, but it did not fully burn. FROM THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BACK IN THE CENTER of town, Erasmus Fuller, a livery owner, grabbed an old six-shooter, pointed it at one of the raiders, and pulled the trigger. Click. Young burst out laughing. “Fetch me some spurs!” he yelled.

Fuller had other ideas. He ducked into Bedard’s Harness Shop and ran to the back door. He started shouting that the town was being attacked, hoping the men who were building a large hotel nearby would come and help him. E.J. Morrison, a Manchester, New Hampshire, man overseeing the hotel’s construction, heard Fuller’s shouts and ran to the stable owner.

Fuller, with Morrison now trailing behind, returned to Main Street. He saw Young, lifted his pistol again, and took aim.

“Look out Cap’n!” shouted one of the raiders. Then he and Young both fired at Fuller. Fuller ducked behind an elm tree, evading their shots.

Not so Morrison, who dropped to the ground, mortally wounded. He would be the raid’s sole fatality, leaving behind a widow and five children. (What the raiders didn’t know is that he was also likely the only man in town sympathetic to the Confederate cause.)

George Conger had heard the gunshots and come running. Young saw him, and asked, “Are you a soldier?”

“I am,” Conger replied. He had been a captain in the Union Army and had been wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

“Then you are my prisoner,” Young said. But Conger dashed into the American House hotel, next to the Franklin County Bank, ran through the back and then down Lake Street toward the foundry, yelling, “There is a regular raid on St. Albans. Bring out your guns and fight!” Workers at the foundry and at the railroad grabbed weapons and followed Conger back to the center of town.

Young realized his plot was quickly unraveling. He began to move his men north, shouting, “Keep cool boys, keep cool!”

An old editorial illustration depicts cashier Marcas W. Beardsley and Jackson Clark, a woodsawyer who happened to be in the Franklin County Bank, being freed from the vault where they had been imprisoned, even though Beardsley had pleaded with the robbers explaining it was airtight. The men, who understood the Confederates planned to burn the town, feared for their lives either by suffocation or fire. J. Russell Armington and Dana R. Bailey heard their shouts and came to their rescue, however. CREDIT: VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY (these images originally appeared in Frank Leslie's magazine)

Conger, gun in hand, tried to shoot at the raiders, but his gun would not fire. The Confederates started firing on him and yelling the rebel yell, but this riled up their horses, which were not used to battle. Over the din, Young was hollering, “There is too great a crowd gathering round here!” He knew they had to get out of town, and quickly.

Spurring his horse around those of his men, he told them to throw their remaining bottles of Greek fire at the closest buildings. Again, they failed to ignite. It was time to go. Once Young was sure his men were all accounted for, they were off at a gallop, occasionally turning to fire pistols behind them.

Conger shouted to all those nearby, “Bring on your horses, men, and arms and we will follow them. If you can’t get arms there is no use, they are going to fight hard!”

On the steps of the governor’s residence, Ann Smith saw a man galloping to her. The hour has come, she thought, the invaders have arrived. But the man on horseback turned out to be her brother-in-law, Stewart Stranahan, who was home on sick leave from the Army of the Potomac. Stranahan told her the raiders had robbed the banks and killed a man, but failed to set St. Albans ablaze. He had come for any weapons he could scrounge.

“Here, take this pistol, it is all I have yet found,” Smith said, feeling rage build inside her. “And, Stewart,” she added, “if you come up with them, kill them! Kill them!”

Soon, Conger and a posse of some 50 men were in pursuit of the raiders, followed quickly by 40 more men led by Stranahan. The Confederate party split up before it reached Canada, to increase the odds of escape. Conger’s militia reached the border and kept going, joining with some Canadian constables. They were able to capture about 13 raiders, including Young, and some of the $208,000 ($3.5 million in today’s money) that was later determined missing.

THE PLAN OF THE St. Albans group was to bring their prisoners back to town to face charges of murder. But as they neared the border, more Canadian authorities arrived at the scene and demanded charge of the rebels. Conger reluctantly agreed. The prisoners were first brought to St. Johns and then transferred to Montreal on October 27. The raiders were well received by a contingent of Canadian Confederate sympathizers, cheered as they were brought to jail.

They gave Young and his men food, clothing, and even liquor. Some of Montreal’s finer restaurants sent over meals and scores of citizens visited them at the jail, where they had been given a large room rather than cells. A relaxed Young wrote to the St. Albans Messenger requesting two copies of the paper be delivered each day. “Your editorials are quite interesting and will furnish considerable amusement to myself and comrades,” he wrote.

Young’s taunting infuriated many Vermonters, and for a short period of time it appeared that the Confederates might succeed in dragging Canada into the war against the Union. The St. Albans Messenger editorial page stated that if the prisoners were not handed over, “The sooner we declare war on our neighbors to the north, the better.” Lincoln’s secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, later called the St. Albans Raid “one of the most important events of the war,” with the potential to draw both Canada and Britain into hostilities.

But over the next few months, a series of contentious court proceedings went against extradition, as Canadian judges ruled that the raid was an act of war, not murder and robbery. All the raiders were eventually freed.

Some of the Confederates in jail in Montreal. Bennett Young is seated at right, William Hutchinson is at left. FROM THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

But Bennett Young’s gambit had failed. Perhaps if the Greek fire had worked and more damage had been done, it would have enraged Vermonters more. Or if there had been follow-up raids on Swanton or other towns. But the St. Albans citizens had forced them to abandon those plans. No Union troops were diverted to the border, Canada and Great Britain did not enter the war, Lincoln was reelected, Sherman reached the sea in late December 1864, and on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House. The Canadian government even reimbursed the Vermont banks for the amount of money it found on the raiders, approximately $88,000. The other $120,000 was not accounted for.

After the war, Young was specifically excluded from an amnesty for Confederates. He fled to the United Kingdom, where he studied law. He returned to the United States after a full amnesty was granted in1868, becoming a successful lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky, and was regularly applauded at Confederate reunions and parades.

In 1911, when he was 68, Young took his wife on vacation to Montreal. He contacted the people of St. Albans, saying he would like to meet with them. The town sent a four-man delegation to the Ritz-Carlton, where he was staying. Young put on a Confederate uniform for the session, and told his visitors that “the raid was only the reckless escapade of a flaming youth of 21 years, steeped in patriotism for the South.” Perhaps it was something like an apology. The get-together was friendly and lasted well into the night.

— Michael Tougias is the author of more than 30 books for adults, most recently “The Waters Between Us,” and five for middle readers. He is currently working on a book about the St. Albans Raid. Send comments to magazine@globe.com. In addition to reporting and eyewitness accounts from the St. Albans Messenger and other periodicals, significant sources for this story include materials from the St. Albans Historical Society and The St. Albans Raid, Complete and Authentic Report by L.N. Benjamin.

[soccerdailyuk]

Reece James sends eight-word Chelsea message as injury worry emerges for Mauricio Pochettino

Reece James sends eight-word Chelsea message as injury worry emerges for Mauricio Pochettino Reece James has communicated with supporters prior to the pre-season period, as the Chelsea player has undergone scans on his knee as a precautionary measure following an initial concern about an injury. According to football.london, the 23-year-old experienced discomfort in his knee during the initial week of training at Cobham, prompting the need for tests. James was among the first batch of players to return to the training center in Surrey, as preparations commence for Mauricio Pochettino's debut season as manager and the upcoming tour of America. It is anticipated that he will also join the group of players traveling to the United States next week. The scans conducted on Reece James' knee are primarily a precautionary measure due to his recent history of injuries. Last season, James missed a significant portion of matches, including the final seven under Frank Lampard. He was unable to participate in games after the Champions League quarter-final loss to Real Madrid, as he was operating at a diminished capacity in the second leg. Over the past two years, James has experienced extended absences, including periods from October to the World Cup, which led to his withdrawal from the tournament. He also had a spell out of action post-January. These incidents highlight an ongoing concern regarding James' fitness, as he was sidelined for substantial periods of the 2021/22 season due to knee and hamstring problems. As Reece James embarks on the 2023/24 season, where he holds significant importance for Chelsea and is a potential candidate for the club's captaincy, the team is exercising extreme caution in gradually increasing his workload. They are prioritizing his well-being and are hesitant to take any risks that could lead to unfavorable outcomes. With a long trip to America approaching, the club's approach is centered around prioritizing safety first and ensuring James remains in optimal condition. Whilst James readies himself for a big campaign to come, he has taken to Instagram to write to fans. "The best of me is yet to come," he said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Reece James (@reecejames) In response, Chelsea teammate Andrey Santos wrote: "Yeahh broo ." His sister, and Chelsea women's star Lauren, said simply: "Loading." Chelsea is undoubtedly hopeful that the test results will deliver positive news before the start of pre-season. Their expectation is that Reece James will receive a clean bill of health, allowing him to play a crucial role in the club's aspirations for the new project under manager Mauricio Pochettino. Having James fully fit and available would be instrumental in Chelsea's pursuit of their goals for the upcoming season. Reece James sends eight-word Chelsea message as injury worry emerges for Mauricio Pochettino Read the full article

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 1, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

In honor of this year's Kentucky Derby (won today by Medina Spirit), I'm posting a piece my friend Michael S. Green and I wrote together a number of years ago on Ten Famous American Horses. It has no deep meaning... it's just fun. It remains one of my favorite things I had a hand in writing, and I'm pleased to have an excuse to share it.

I'll be back on the usual beat tomorrow.

1) Traveller

General Robert E. Lee rode Traveller (spelled with two Ls, in the British style) from February 1862 until the general’s death in 1870. Traveller was a grey American Saddlebred of 16 hands. He had great endurance for long marches, and was generally unflappable in battle, although he once broke both of General Lee’s hands when he shied at enemy movements. Lee brought Traveller with him when he assumed the presidency of Washington and Lee University. Traveller died of tetanus in 1871. He is buried on campus, where the safe ride program still uses his name.

2) Comanche

Comanche was attached to General Custer’s detachment of the 7th Cavalry when it engaged the Lakota in 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The troops in the detachment were all killed in the engagement, but soldiers found Comanche, badly wounded, two days later. They nursed him back to health, and he became the 7th Cavalry’s mascot. The commanding officer decreed that the horse would never again be ridden, and that he would always be paraded, draped in black, in all military ceremonies involving the 7th Cavalry. When Comanche died of colic in 1891, he was given a full military funeral (the only other horse so honored was Black Jack, who served in more than a thousand military funerals in the 1950s and 1960s). Comanche’s taxidermied body is preserved in the Natural History Museum at the University Of Kansas.

3) Beautiful Jim Key

Beautiful Jim Key was a performing horse trained by formerly enslaved veterinarian Dr. William Key. Key demonstrated how Beautiful Jim could read, write, do math, tell time, spell, sort mail, and recite the Bible. Beautiful Jim performed from 1897 to 1906 and became a legend. An estimated ten million Americans saw him perform, and others collected his memorabilia – buttons, photos, and postcards – or danced the Beautiful Jim Key two-step. Dr. Key insisted that he had taught Beautiful Jim using only kindness, and Beautiful Jim Key’s popularity was important in preventing cruelty to animals in America, with more than 2 million children signing the Jim Key Band of Mercy, in which they pledged: “I promise always to be kind to animals.”

4) Man o’ War

Named for his owner, August Belmont, Jr., who was overseas in WWI, Man o’ War is widely regarded as the top Thoroughbred racehorse of all time. He won 20 of his 21 races and almost a quarter of a million dollars in the early twentieth century. His one loss – to “Upset” – came after a bad start. Man o’ War sired many of America’s famous racehorses, including Hard Tack, which in turn sired Seabiscuit, the small horse that came to symbolize hope during the Great Depression.

5) Trigger

Entertainer Roy Rogers chose the palomino Trigger from five rented horses to be his mount in a Western film in the 1930s, changing his name from Golden Cloud to Trigger because of his quick mind and feet. Rogers rode Trigger in his 1950s television series, making the horse a household name. When Trigger died, Rogers had his skin draped over a Styrofoam mold and displayed it in the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in California. He also had a 24-foot statue of Trigger made from steel and fiberglass. One other copy of that mold was also made: it is “Bucky the Bronco,” which rears above the Denver Broncos stadium south scoreboard.

6) Sergeant Reckless

American Marines in Korea bought a mare in October 1952 from a Korean stable boy who needed the money to buy an artificial leg for his sister, who had stepped on a land mine. The marines named her Reckless after their unit’s nickname, the Reckless Rifles. They made a pet of her, and trained her to carry supplies and to evacuate wounded. She learned to travel supply routes without a guide: on one notable day she made 51 solo trips. Wounded twice, she was given a battlefield rank of corporal in 1953 and promoted to sergeant after the war, when she was also awarded two Purple Hearts and a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.

7) Mr. Ed

Mr. Ed was a talking palomino in a 1960s television show by the same name. At a time when Westerns dominated American television, Mr. Ed was the anti-Western, with the main human character a klutzy architect and the hero a horse that was fond of his meals and his comfortable life, and spoke with the voice of Allan “Rocky” Lane, who made dozens of “B” westerns. But the show was a five-year hit as it married the past to the future. Mr. Ed offered a gentle homely wisdom that enabled him to straighten out the troubles of the humans around him. The startling special effects that made it appear that the horse was talking melded modern technology with the comforting traditional community depicted in the show.

8) Black Jack

Black Jack, named for John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, was the riderless black horse in the funerals of John F. Kennedy, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon Johnson, and Douglas MacArthur, as well as more than a thousand other funerals with full military honors. A riderless horse, with boots reversed in the stirrups, symbolized a fallen leader, while Black Jack’s brands – a US brand and an army serial number – recalled the army’s history. Black Jack himself was buried with full military honors; the only other horse honored with a military funeral was Comanche.

9) Khartoum

Khartoum was the prize stud horse of Jack Woltz, the fictional Hollywood mogul in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. In one of the film version’s most famous scenes, after Woltz refuses requests from Don Vito Corleone to cast singer Johnny Fontane in a movie, Woltz wakes up to find Khartoum’s head in bed with him… and agrees to use Fontane in the film. In the novel, Fontane wins the Academy Award for his performance. According to old Hollywood rumor, the story referred to real events. The rumor was that mobsters persuaded Columbia Pictures executive Harry Cohn to cast Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity. As Maggio, Sinatra revived his sagging film career and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

10) Secretariat

Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in 25 years. His records in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes still stand. After Secretariat was stricken with a painful infection and euthanized in 1989, an autopsy revealed that he had an unusually big heart. Sportswriter Red Smith once asked his trainer how Secretariat had run one morning; Charlie Hatton replied, “The trees swayed.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[frankenbolt]

Alright, tomorrow begins “Franks’ largely inconvenient, fraught with family issues, 2021 America Trip” or “Frank’s America Tour 2021″

I don’t want to be travelling, I’m going to be stressed out for the majority of it, and the only highlights will be that I will be seeing family members who I don’t hate (it’s a long story), and friends along the way (the biggest bright spot on the horizon and the only thing keeping me going).

I’d much rather be staying home but it’s largely something I just need to get done.

Buh Bye UK. See you on New Years.

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

THE MAGIC IS BACK ON SUNDAYS

BABY SHOWER PLANS FOR MARTHA’S DAUGHTER-IN-LAW SPARKS MEMORIES OF CASSIE’S YEARS AGO IN ‘GOOD WITCH’ 

PREMIERING MAY 30, ON HALLMARK CHANNEL

STUDIO CITY, CA – May 21, 2021 – Cassie (Catherine Bell, “Army Wives,” “JAG”) takes a trip down memory lane in “Good Witch” when she and her friends reminisce about her baby shower in “The Delivery,” premiering Sunday, May 30 (9 p.m. ET/PT), on Hallmark Channel. Bell, James Denton (“Desperate Housewives,” “Devious Maids”), Sarah Power (“Killjoys”), Catherine Disher (“Abby Hatcher”), Kylee Evans (“The Strain”), Katherine Barrell (“Wynonna Earp”), Marc Bendavid (“Murdoch Mysteries”) and Scott Cavalheiro (“Carter”) star.

Cassie, Stephanie (Evans) and Abigail (Power) help Martha (Disher) plan the perfect way to shower her pregnant daughter-in-law Claire (Nicole Wilson, Robbing Blind), prompting the ladies to reminisce about Cassie’s celebration. Donovan’s brother Daniel (Charlie Gallant, “The Strain”) stirs things up when he decides to stay in Middleton to be Donovan’s (Bendavid) campaign manager. Abigail (Power) gets a surprise offer from a chain to purchase her flower shop, leaving her with a big decision to make. Adam (Cavalheiro) and George (Peter MacNeill, “Titans”) spearhead an effort to save a historic church from demolition. Stephanie is excited to start French lessons but her first class isn’t exactly magnifique when she and her charming, younger instructor don’t see eye-to-eye.

“Good Witch,” is a Whizbang Films Production in association with ITV Studios America. Darin Goldberg, Orly Adelson, Jonathan Eskenas, Craig Pryce and Frank Siracusa executive producers. Catherine Bell is co-executive producer. Janina Barrett serves as supervising producer. Colin Brunton is producer. Julie Lawrence and Angie Cassiram are associate producers. Stefan Scaini directed from a script by Darin Goldberg. “Good Witch” is distributed internationally by ITV Studios. 

LINK

[ao3feed-lokiangst]

Blacklisted.

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/fja8bgL

by 3DBABE1999

..

..

I'm sure people'll notice the Luke Cage/Peter Parker tag and think that it's wrong.. but the Luke Cage in the tag is not Luke Cage in the show but his teenage son Luke Cage Junior that just so happens to be the Power-Man Luke Cage that is Comic Book Canon same age as Peter Parker and in school with him. Luke Cage Junior knows who his dad is but his dad does not know about him.

Other relationship stuff.. there is a happy Poly going on between Shuri/Peter/Harley/Michelle/Luke Cage(Jr.) and they all love each other.

The Underage, Rape/Non-Con Tags are because of Skip Wescott's presence in Peter's childhood.

Anyway Flash bullies Peter at school no one believes about his internship except Ned and MJ .. MJ tells Peter's other Paramores about the bullying from Flash so Luke, Harley and Shuri enroll themselves into Peter's school.

Also Field Trip to Stark Industries..where Avengers and Defenders go nuclear of Flash and disbelieving teachers

Or how Peter's little family of just two grows to be Hella big and he winds up with so many parental figures and pseudo aunts and uncles and "older siblings" that Flash and disbelieving teachers don't stand a chance.

Words: 480, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017), Thor (Movies), Loki (TV 2021), Black Widow (Movie 2021), Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV), Hawkeye (Comics), The Defenders (Marvel TV), Luke Cage (TV), Doctor Strange (2016), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage

Characters: Peter Parker, Harley Keener, Shuri (Marvel), Michelle Jones, Luke Cage, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Frank Castle, Matt Murdock, Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Clint Barton, Kate Bishop, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Yelena Belova, Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff, Vision (Marvel), Bruce Banner

Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker/Shuri, Michelle Jones/Shuri, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker/Shuri, Luke Cage/Peter Parker

Additional Tags: Past Rape/Non-con, Bully Flash Thompson, Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Mute Peter Parker, Disabled Character of Color, Canon Disabled Character, Service Dogs, Peter Parker has PTSD, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Steve Rogers Has PTSD, Peter Parker Whump, Deaf Clint Barton

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/fja8bgL