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dearingbooks · 4 years ago

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The Difference one Woman can make.

Late Friday night in June, we had stopped for a burger on the way to the cinema, we used to do family movie nights at the cinema when a new film came out that the majority of us wanted to watch, this time I was the one who was reluctant to go, sadly we do this significantly less now. So, stubborn 2015 me, rolling her eyes and dragging her feet up the cinema steps to find our seats to watch the new Jurassic World movie. Pathetic! I thought, why pay money to watch a movie about a dinosaur theme park! My parents had completely lost it! Huffing and puffing I took my seat on the aisle and sipped my blue raspberry slushie and looked up at the big screen. Ugh! I wanted it to be over, quickly. I sat down and shut my mouth, despite not wanting to watch it, I wasn’t going to spoil it for the others; but I didn’t get why they would want to watch it, I watched the trailer before going, was not impressed, it looked dumb!

However, as much as my pre-Jurassic self would not like, I found who I was during that movie, I discovered a whole new admiration for actors and movies. I found that I related to the main female protagonist, Claire Dearing. She did not need a man, or children, she was so focused on her career and let no one boss her around. She was top dog, and I completely fell for this fictional character. I evolved through that movie with her character, I felt content with being a strong female who put career over family. I wanted to embody this fictional woman; I wanted to be her.

On the journey home I typed ‘Claire Dearing actress’ into google and saw this stunning redhead- Bryce Dallas Howard. I immediately recognised her from movies I had watched prior, and I was completely astounded at her range of characters she can portray and portray them well. After scrolling through her Wiki page and reading news articles about her, I learned that she is the daughter of Ron Howard, one of my parents’ favourite people in film.

“Dad, that woman in the movie is Ron Howard's daughter”, I needed to inform my family that my now favourite woman in film is the daughter of my parents’ favourite people in film. My parents were shocked that I enjoyed the movie despite my loud vocalisation of not wanting to watch it.

Googling ‘Bryce Dallas Howard’ became my new after school routine, learning that she applied to acting school as Bryce Dallas to avoid people knowing she is the daughter of an already famous actor and director, and she had met her true love at nineteen and is still happily married to him. Yet what most stuck out to the self-conscious, body hating 2015 me, was that Bryce wasn’t a skinny twig of a woman that you see in most movies, she had classy curves and promoted body positivity despite some backlash the media gave her. I made a connection with this woman I had never met because I too received negative comments about my figure, yet Bryce took that on the shoulder and learned to love herself. I wanted to feel that self-love about myself that she acquired.

After watching Jurassic World, I explored many more fandoms, and from there I became obsessed with movie franchises and TV shows, actors and directors. I could not give you a full list of all of the fandoms I am in, there are too many to count, and they have all played a role in helping me evolve to who I am today. All because I latched onto one character from one movie I did not even want to watch, one film got me hooked on this life: it’s like a drug. I cannot stop. I also went back and forth with my hairstyle due to this woman; in the movie Bryce has a stunning ginger graduated bob with a fringe, however I never had the guts to go ginger until now; shame the hairdressers are all shut.

Now, almost six years later Bryce Dallas Howard has had great success in directing two episodes of The Mandalorian. Over the Christmas break I watched the show with my dad, sat on the sofa, fire lit, the chocolate Labrador curled up between us, peach vodka and diet lemonade in my hand, hot cup of tea in my dad’s. We binge watched both seasons in a week (it’s amazing) and he was shocked to see ‘Directed by Bryce Dallas Howard’ at the end of one, let alone two episodes. “Shit, she’s come far in the past few years” he said putting another episode on.

Bryce allowed me to find my best friend, Iz, through Instagram; Bryce has brought so many people together it is so surreal. And when I found out that Iz was going to Southampton University in 2019, a 20-minute drive from my house, I was finally able to meet her, because of one woman we both adore. I was friends with Iz for three years before I was able to meet her, I asked my school friend to come along with me so she could film the moment Iz, and I met! We got pancakes and watched the second Maleficent movie at the cinema, it was one of the best days of my life. I was so thankful that I met a truly hilarious and loving girl through this one actress! Because of Bryce Dallas Howard, I have made so many other friends from all over the globe as they too idolise Bryce and together we have created the ‘BDH online family’. A small group of us do regular zoom calls to catch up and chat about the recent photos and updates that Bryce has posted on Instagram, talk about Covid-19 and the types of restrictions and lockdown rules each of our countries has. During one of our calls, we had the craziest idea- Invite Bryce to one of our zoom calls. Bryce said yes! And after a few months of organisation, we had the date. The date was-

My.

Birthday.

The day came around and I was so nervous, it was 11pm exactly. The Wi-Fi had cut out fifteen minutes before the call. I was in tears. Mascara down my face, puffy eyes, I joined the call with a few minutes to spare before Bryce joined it. My mum hung around off camera for the first 5 minutes to double check the Wi-Fi was stable, luckily it stabilised. The other girls had never been so glad to see me, everyone was panicked for me; I could not miss it for the world (despite telling my parents, in floods of tears, that I cannot join and that it’s the end of that).

“Kat! You’re here!” “Happy birthday!” “Are you okay? The Wi-Fi sorted?”

They all chimed, happy to see my little face in the bottom right corner of their computer screens. Luckily Iz was there, otherwise it would have been extremely awkward with only one of us since we are known as a duo in the online family, we have to do everything together, we come in a pair and there can’t just be one of us.

“Shit girls, that was stressful”

I hadn’t realised I was holding my breath until I exhaled the large breath when my Wi-Fi settled, and I was on the call, I fixed my makeup and was ready to meet Bryce.

The few minutes we had before Bryce joined were intense, two of the girls left to get a drink and we weren’t sure if they would be back in time, luckily they did return.

“No way!” One of them, Anna who was hosting the call, gasped “Bryce is in the waiting room!”

We all freak for no more than 10 seconds, we compose ourselves then our faces are reshuffled, and we see this stunning glowing face that we all admire smiling at us. Omg, it's her.

“Hi girls!”

I have never smiled for so long in my entire life, my cheeks hurt afterwards. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining at all, it just hurt as I thought I would only be smiling for half an hour, since that is how long we were told Bryce had. However, we were speaking to Bryce for nearly an hour and a half, she just kept talking and asked us questions! She was so lovely to talk to, so relaxed; it was if I was talking to a friend that I had known for years!

“Before we go I want to all sing Kat a happy birthday!”

My idol wanted to sing me a happy birthday! The other girls were really ecstatic for me, I still can’t believe to this day that The Bryce Dallas Howard wanted to sing to me!

It was both the best and the worst happy birthday song that has be sung to me. It was the best because, well my idol was singing to me! And proposed the singing! It was the worst in terms of the actual song as they were all out of sync and lagging, it was bloody hilarious!

At 10:27pm the next evening, watching a rerun of Game of Thrones on Sky, I got a notification ‘Brycedhoward just posted’, I clicked the notification then see our smiling faces on her page, she posted a screenshot of our call on her social media! The call was supposed to be a secret so other fans weren’t upset. There’s a few snotty comments on the post, but they’re just jealous and to be frank, I don’t care! My smiley face is on her page forever! All ten of us have printed the screenshot of Bryce’s post off and put it in a frame, one day all ten of us hope to congregate somewhere, most likely in America, and sign the backs of all of our photos. I’m still in utter awe and shock- How many celebrities have you seen that would do a free zoom call with some fans? Not a lot, and that amount is even slimmer when they talk for an extra hour than scheduled. Bryce truly is one of a kind and the best idol anyone could ever hope to have.

Compared to a zoom call with Bryce herself, the few times she has liked my comments on her posts feel like nothing in comparison! I remember being so excited, running downstairs to my parents.

“Mum! Dad! Bryce liked my comment! She knows I exist!”

“Was it actually her? Remember when you got a Facebook request from Robert Downey Jr and it turned out it was a fake account?”

I rolled my eyes at her, it was Bryce, it was her verified account. The comment was a book recommendation I had for her, she posted on her hashtag BDHbookshelf and I thought I’d take a chance and comment a book recommendation I had for her, and the chance paid off.

I cannot wait to see what the future holds with Bryce, she has been such an inspiration to me for the past few years, and she promotes such wonderful causes and body positivity! I hope to one day meet her and thank her in person for changing my life for the better, and I think I’ve come up with the perfect opportunity to meet her- Iz and I have decided to travel up to London for the Jurassic World Dominion premiere in 2022 (if Covid lets us!), we’d get a hotel and actually meet Bryce in person, as well as meeting other members of the online family!

Words cannot fully contain the admiration that I possess for Bryce, her soul is utterly and truly exquisite, she has been such a visionary while I’ve been transitioning from a girl who had no idea who she was with no dreams or aspirations, to a woman who has now found so many new friends and now knows who she wants to be.

#bryce dallas howard #claire dearing #jurassic park #jurassic world #jurassic #blog #owen grady #chris pratt #marvel #Claire Dearing fanfic #bdh #bdh online family #writing #celeb #Jurassic fanfic #june 2015 #film review #favourite films

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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Riding On

Ch 16- A Whole Fucking Hand Of Aces Part 2

Summary Recap: Mary is reeling over the news about her biological father and when he requests a visit, she’s not for playing ball. However, eventually curiosity gets the better of her and she tells Frank she wants to see him. Fliss and Bill attend as supervision as Frank can’t bring himself to go, and Fliss plays her ace card. But does it have the required outcome?

Warnings Recap: Bad Language words.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding On Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 16 Part 1

Staring at the mirror was now one of Alex’s favourite activities, and Frank had to chuckle as the baby was led on his stomach on the floor of their bedroom, his head raised as he glanced at his reflection on the mirrored wardrobe door. He moved his arm a little and became excited when the baby glancing back at him did the same.

“If only you were gonna stay so easy to entertain.” Frank muttered, scooping him up in his arms. Alex let out a loud shriek, one that he seemed to be emitting a lot after having suddenly found his voice at now sixteen weeks old. Frank stood in front of the mirror, holding him with one strong forearm over his chest so the baby could continue to see himself in the mirror. “Hey look buddy…shall we wave?” Frank grabbed one of Alex’s arms with his spare hand and waved it slightly, Alex letting out another loud shriek, his little noises getting more and more excited. Frank laughed and pressed a kiss to his head, looking up as Fliss walked into the room. Alex’s eyes immediately flickered to his momma and he gave another huge grin.

Fliss beamed and cross the room towards them, giving Alex’s cheek a soft peck before she leaned up to press her lips to Frank’s.

“Mary’s ready.” She said and Frank took a deep breath.

“She ok?”

“Yeah” Fliss nodded.

“I know I really should be the one doing this.” Frank sighed “But I just can’t sit round a table with him Liss, I’ll end up punching him in his fucking nose and…” “Hey, we’re a team remember?” Fliss looked at him “I get it Frank, you don’t need to explain.”

Frank nodded and took another deep breath “I’m gonna take Alex for a walk on the harbour and then we’ll be at Greg’s when you’re done.”

“Sure, we’ll come straight over.” Fliss nodded

“And you’ll call if there’s any trouble?”

“There won’t be. It’s gonna be fine. We got Steve with us so…”

“I know but…” “You still worry, yeah I get it.” Fliss smiled.

At that point they heard the door open and Steve’s voice shouted down the hall, announcing his arrival. The three of them made their way downstairs and Steve grinned, making grabby hands at Alex. Frank passed him over and Steve took his nephew, immediately starting to talk to him in an over exaggerated baby voice.

“Nice to see you too.” Fliss teasingly snarked and Steve stuck his tongue out at her, before he shrugged.

“I aint seen him in two weeks” he responded, unapologetically as Alex made a grab for his beard.

“You aint seen me either.” “Whatever, I grew up seeing you every day for like 20 years …”

Fliss rolled her eyes as she walked into the family room. Mary was sat on the sofa a book in her lap but she wasn’t reading, she was staring at a spot on the floor.

“Stack, you ok?” Frank asked and she looked up at him and smiled.

“Yeah. I’m good.” “You know, you don’t have to go if you don’t want.” Frank crouched down in front of her. “This isn’t court ordered…” “No, I want to.” Mary nodded “I want to ask him questions to his face, I told you.” “Ok.” Frank nodded, brushing her hair of her face “But you promise me, if at any time you start getting upset, the moment you feel uncomfortable you tell Fliss and Steve and they’ll get you out of there.”

Mary nodded “I promise.”

Frank opened his arms and she melted into them, hugging him tight, pressing her face into his neck. This was killing him. She’d been so brave about the whole thing at first. They’d put off telling her as long as they could, but after voicing their suspicions to Greg who said it was certainly an angle he could raise and use to throw doubts on Polland’s motives, they couldn’t actually do anything at that point in time. So they’d decided to wait, as long as they could, but then, the order from the Child Welfare Department had come through, keen to do the interview before Christmas and they’d had to tell her.

They’d explained, promised her that nothing was going to change with her living arrangements, and she’d took everything in calmly and then shrugged and said that she would simply refuse to see him, end of discussion then hopped down from the sofa to go and see Monty. Frank had been about to explain that it might not be that simple but Fliss had stopped him with a look.

Then, in advance of the CWD interview, Greg had a call from Polland’s attorney who had requested a visit with Mary as a ‘goodwill gesture’ from Frank and Fliss without getting the authorities involved. And much to Frank’s disgust, Greg was recommending that they allow it with the caveat that it was supervised. “It will put you in an even more favourable position, Frank. Play the long game…” At those words Frank had hurled his phone across the lounge causing it to fly straight into the wall in a fit of rage and temper Fliss had never seen from him before. At the noise Alex had immediately started to cry and Frank had felt like shit. He looked round with teary eyes to see Fliss gently rocking their son, not a shred of anger or upset on her face as she walked towards him, Alex balanced in one arm as he cried into her shoulder, the other arm gently rubbing up Frank’s as he apologised over and over again.

Mary had reacted as angrily as Frank. Screaming, shouting, barricading herself in her bedroom by dragging her desk in front of the door. Fliss had sat outside her bedroom door calmly talking to her, before she’d called for reinforcements just has Frank had done a few years ago and Steve had arrived. When she had emerged the three adults had assured her that no one was going to make her do anything she didn’t want, but this time they did explain that it might be a court order at some point in the future. They didn’t get back to Greg straight away, which proved to be a smart move as a day or so later Mary announced over dinner that she would see him, as she had some questions and she wanted to ask him face to face. So, given that Frank openly admitted he wasn’t sure he could be in the same room as Polland without breaking his face, Greg had offered to supervise in their place until Fliss had shaken her head and told them that would put Mary on edge. In the end it was agreed she would do it, but at Frank’s request given the suspected link to John’s family, Steve was going to accompany her. So here they were, a week to go until Christmas, with the impending Welfare Department Interviews set for the following Monday. And Frank was trying not to lose himself again.

“Jesus Pal…” Steve mumbled causing Frank to turn to him as Alex had his little fist wrapped in the hairs of his beard “He’s got some grip on him…” Steve looked at Fliss then Frank.

Mary laughed “He likes to pull my hair…and Fred’s tail, only Fred runs away now.” “Thor doesn’t, dumb mutt…” Frank rolled his eyes, as Fliss gently distracted Alex’s hands by offering him her finger.

“That’s why Frank’s trimmed his beard” Fliss smiled

“It was that or wait till be pulled it clean off my face.” Frank shrugged, rubbing his hand over the shorts stubble as he stood up, Mary doing the same.

“Ok, we ready?” Fliss looked at Mary who nodded. She turned to Steve “You ok to drop us at Greg’s after or do you want me to drive?”

“I can drop you.” Steve nodded and he moved to hand Alex over to Frank when Mary, who had just walked past them to the door, turned and ran back to Frank, throwing her arms round him.

“I love you Frank.” She said softly and Frank felt his chest tighten. He bent down to pick her up and hugged her tight, squeezing his eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling.

“Love you too Stack.” He said softly, kissing the side of her head. Gently he set her down, his large hand cupping her cheek before she headed to the door.

“She’ll be ok Frank.” Steve looked at him as he passed Alex over. Frank gave him a nod, not trusting his voice and Steve clapped a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at Fliss who jerked her head to the door and taking the hint he yelled after Mary to wait up and wandered after her. Without a word she closed the distance between her and Frank, standing on her toes to give Frank a soft kiss. He pressed his head to hers, Alex safely held against his shoulder and gave her a smile. “It’s gonna be fine.” She whispered.

“Yeah. I’ll see you in coupla hours.” He nodded, kissing her again before she left.

**** The journey to the burger bar passed fairly quickly, Steve and Fliss carrying the conversation mostly as Mary was silent, looking out of the window. When they arrived, Steve hopped out of the Audi and opened the back door for Mary.

“Ma’am” he bowed slightly to her and she looked at him.

“Poppa Bill’s right. You’re a divvy.” She said

Fliss burst out laughing as Mary walked a little ahead “Hearing that word in an American accent is almost as good as when Frank says wanker“

Steve sniggered as they caught up to Mary at the main door. Mary paused and looked inside through the glass, and then she glanced at Fliss.

“How will I even know who he is?” It was a simple question, but one that made Fliss instantly realise just how shit this situation was for Mary. Her own biological father, she was about to meet him for the first time and she had no idea what he even looked like. Mind you, Fliss had no idea what hers looked like either. She’d never asked and her mum had never offered the information up. Not that she cared in the slightest.

“Frank told me what he looked like.” Fliss assured Mary, her hand falling to the back of the girl’s head. “It’s ok.” “Stack, you don’t have to do this.” Steve looked down at her. “We can turn round and go straight home. This is your choice ok?” “No, I want to.” She insisted. Steve nodded, pulled the door open and they stepped inside. Fliss scanned around the room and then spotted a man matching the description Frank had given her, sat at a table by one of the large windows. His eyes looked around the room and he minute he spotted them he stood up.

“That him?” Steve asked. Fliss nodded

“I think so”

“Well, he looks like an ass hole so...”

“Steve…” Fliss said, “Don’t.”

“Ok, ok…” her brother nodded. “I’m gonna grab some grub and I’ll be at the table behind if you need me, ok?”

Fliss nodded and her hand gently dropped to Mary’s shoulder and Mary looked up at her. “I think that’s him.” Fliss said, inclining her head in Polland’s direction. Mary looked at him, staying stock still for a moment before she took a little step forward, Fliss following right behind her.

“Bradley Polland?” Fliss asked and he nodded, running a hand through his gelled, light ginger hair. “I’m Felicity.”

“HI.” He nodded, offering her his hand which Fliss shook curtly before she gently lay her hand on Mary’s head as Polland looked down at her smiling. “Hi Mary. It’s nice to meet you.” It’s nice to meet you… the words sounded utterly ridiculous to Fliss, coming from a father to his daughter, but then again, what else had she expected seeing as he’d never been in the same room as her before.

Mary blinked at him, but didn’t say anything. Instead she turned to Fliss “Lissy, can we get something to eat?”

“Sure baby.” Fliss nodded, and then she looked at Polland and gave him a stiff smile “We’ll grab something and then be right over ok?”

“Sure.” He swallowed “I’ll just…” he gestured back at the table before he walked away.

“He doesn’t look like I imagined.” Mary said as they headed to the counter.

“No?” Fliss asked.

“You sure he’s my dad?”

“DNA says so.”

“Huh.” Mary replied “I thought he would have been more handsome, or at least not look like he got dressed in the dark.”

Fliss let out a bark of a laugh as she glanced back at Polland, taking in his grey jeans and hideous bright, striped polo shirt. His blondey-red hair was messed up and his stubble was also ungroomed. “Well, he does look a little dishevelled so to speak. Good job you got the Adler genes kiddo.”

“And he’s ginger.”

“Oi!” Fliss nudged her “Nothing wrong with us red-heads. Ask Fred!”

“Yeah but you’re pretty…and Fred’s cute.” Mary reasoned, and Fliss chuckled, ruffling her hair.

They ordered their food, and Fliss carried the tray back to the table, Mary hopping up onto the seat opposite Polland as Fliss passed her the burger and fries she’d asked for, along with the soda. Fliss carefully made a deal of adding sugar to her coffee whilst Polland asked Mary a few little questions making small talk- how are you, tell me about yourself, that type of thing, until it grew a little stilted, so Fliss took it on herself to attempt to facilitate a little.

“Mary why don’t you tell Bradley about Monty?” she asked.

“Who’s Monty, your cousin?” Polland seized the opportunity and Mary looked at him as if he was a dumbass.

“No, my cousins are called Charlie and Joel. They’re Uncle Steeby’s twins. He’s Fliss’ brother. Frank and Fliss’ baby, he’s my brother. His name is Alex.” She stated “Monty is my pony.”

Polland blinked at her forthright answer before he nodded “A pony? So you ride?”

She nodded “I show jump. I’ve done a few competitions now.” “Did you win any?”

“Not yet.” Mary said “But I’ve had a few rosettes and stuff. Frank and Liss always tell me that it doesn’t matter if I win or not, I should just enjoy it.” “Good advice.” He nodded “So do you have any other pets?” “We have a dog, Thor. He’s big and he bites people if he gets mad” Mary said, and Fliss looked away, trying not to laugh at the utter nonsense about the dog that had never bitten anyone in his life, “And I have Fred. He’s ginger like you, but it looks good on him. And he only has one eye.”

Ok so now Fliss really was laughing silently, and she looked up and saw that from the table behind theirs, Steve’s shoulders were shaking as he hid his face behind the paper he was pretending to read.

“You have a one eyed cat?” Polland raised his eyebrows. “Sounds cool”

“He is.” Mary nodded “But he’s dead smart. Smarter than most people. Including you.”

“Mary…” Fliss looked at her “Don’t be nasty.”

“I’m not. I’m just saying.” She shrugged “Frank says Fred is smarter than anyone. Except when he lies on the stairs.”

Fliss smiled and looked at Polland who glanced at her. Fliss nodded towards Mary, instructing him to keep the conversation going, and when he spoke again he said something which was in fairness pretty innocuous, and was probably meant as a compliment but it didn’t quite work out that way.

“You look like your mom.” He smiled and Fliss took a deep breath as Mary stiffened and she knew instantly that he’d lit the fuse wire.

“Yeah, I know. Frank told me.” Mary pushed the fry she was holding around in the ketchup dip before she gave a sigh and tossed it down onto the burger wrapper and looked at him. “Why did you never want to see me before today?”

“It’s complicated Mary.” Polland said, almost patronisingly and Fliss winced a little. Mary hated being patronised. “But I’m here now.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Mary looked at him. “Frank always answers me when I ask him things because he knows I’m not stupid. Why didn’t you want to see me before?” she repeated her previous question, folding her arms.

“Mary, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but I didn’t know where you were.” Polland reasoned and Fliss rolled her eyes, looking away. “Frank took you when you were-“ “The court case.” Mary cut him off “When you all tried to take me away from Frank last time, why didn’t you come and see me then?”

Fliss took a sip of her coffee, her eyes still on Mary. “You could have followed Frank home.” Mary continued, her breathing becoming deep and Fliss knew they were in for an explosion. But she didn’t try and stop it. This was Mary’s moment. For over 9 years she’d had no contact with this man, the only father she had known was Frank, and she had every reason to be angry, and every right to express that anger.

“You’re right, I could have.” He nodded, “But the case was going on and-“ “That didn’t stop Evelyn.” Mary looked at him. “She saw me during the case. I went to stay with her. Frank told me the court said I had to because she asked. Why didn’t you ask?”

Polland sighed, dropping his gaze to the table. “I guess…well, I was a little nervous, you know. I’d never seen you before, I…” He was floundering for excuses, excuses and reasons that weren’t coming to him because he simply didn’t have them and Fliss remained silent as he looked at her, almost pleading for help. She arched an eyebrow and looked away. She wasn’t giving him anything, not now.

“You didn’t want to, did you?” Mary shook her head, her voice cracking slightly and Fliss turned to her, watching her carefully. She didn’t want her to be upset, but she also didn’t want to remove her from the situation before she’d said her piece. She glanced up at Steve who was now watching them, all pretence of reading the paper gone. He shot her a look to check they were ok and she nodded to Mary as the little girl continued. “You didn’t want me when I was a baby and you didn’t want me 2 years ago so why now?”

Steve looked back at Fliss, shaking his head, telling her to let it continue so she did.

Polland let out a soft sigh and he shook his head “I was wrong, I know that but…Mary, I’m your dad.” He shrugged “And I’m sorry. I really am, and, well, I wanted to see you now, is that so bad?”

“You’re not my dad.” Mary shot back, wiping at her eyes “Frank is my dad. And you’re trying to stop him and Lissy from adopting me.” “Mary, I…”

“If you cared about me at all you’d leave me alone and never contact me again.” Mary looked at him. “Because of you and Evelyn, I spent a week away from Frank and I hated it. But I forgave Evelyn because she realised she was wrong. And she told me that and she said she was sorry, but you…you just want to do that to me again?”

“No, Mary, that’s not what I want at all.” Polland shook his head “I don’t want to take you away, I just want to see you and-“

“Well I don’t want to see you.” Mary glared at him. “Not now. Not ever. And I’ll tell that lady from the Child services that when she asks. And because Frank tells me to be honest I’ll tell her that I hate you. Because I do!” her voice rose to a yell as she stood up suddenly, sending her chair crashing to the ground. Fliss reached up and gently laying a hand on her back.

“Mary…” she soothed, but Mary shrugged her off, her eyes blazing, her face was red and the tears were trickling down her face. Fliss glanced at Steve who was already out of his chair and striding over to them, before she looked back at Polland who was looking a little abashed, as he swallowed nervously, scratching at his neck.

“Come on Stack.” Steve spoke calmly as she turned to him, burying her face into his shirt, just above his hip and he picked her up gently. He shot Polland a filthy look and the man visibly recoiled, and Fliss had to bite back the smirk on her face. Steve was positively petrifying when he looked like that. She stood up and turned towards where Mary was sobbing gently into the crook of his neck.

“You ok?” She asked gently, rubbing at Mary’s back and she sniffed, looking at Fliss

“I wanna go home.” “Ok.” Fliss nodded and she turned to Steve “Can you take her to the car, I need a word with…” she jerked her head at Polland and Steve looked back at him, shooting him another vile glare before he looked back at Fliss.

“Sure, meet you out there.”

She nodded “I won’t be long.”

As Steve walked away, Mary on his hip Fliss sat back on her chair, before she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She glanced down, swiped at the button on the front before she placed the phone down on the table and glanced at Polland.

“That went well.” She deadpanned.

“What do you want me to say?”

“There’s nothing you can say, not now. The damage is done.” Fliss looked at him “You have no idea how upset she was when we broke the news to her that you were contesting our application. It’s all she’s wanted for months since we made the decision, for us to be her official parents and you’re now taking all that away from her.”

“She’s my daughter…” “She’s been your daughter for 9 years, and you’ve been nowhere to be seen. Well, until the court case that is. And then after that you crawled right back underneath whatever rock you emerged from, not that we’re complaining.” Fliss shrugged. “In fact, we wish you’d stayed there.”

“When those papers came through…” Polland cleared his throat, “It just felt so final, like, if I let her go, I’d never see her again, and it just made me feel…” “It sparked some deep, hidden paternal instinct.” Fliss said, sarcastically as she remembered the words Gregg had spoken a few weeks earlier. She took a deep breath, before she bit her lip and decided to go straight in for the kill. “Well, I really hope whatever the Stazikers are paying you is worth the hell you’re putting her through.”

Polland’s face slipped “Who?”

“Cut the shit Polland.” Fliss sighed, “I know what you're up to just how much are they paying you?”

“I really have no idea who-“

All it took was Fliss’ best stern look and he caved, sighed heavily.

“Fine, let’s just say if you could find me 15 grand, then it would better their offer.” “I beg your pardon?” Fliss whispered, not quite sure she’d heard him right.”

“15 grand and I’ll be out of your hair. I’ll drop my objections, sign over all my rights, and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“You sick son-of-a…” Fliss practically snarled at him, the blood pounding in her ears from her anger. “You’re toying with a child’s feelings and life over 15 fucking grand?”

“I need the cash. I’m in debt.” Polland sighed, shrugging.

Fliss let out a sarcastic laugh “Jesus Christ…” she shook her head. “So, let me ask you this…they fund your court case, block the adoption and turn our lives upside down, leave Mary heartbroken again, they pay you your money and then what?

“I won’t get custody, I know that. I don’t want it…”

“No but you will likely get visitations. Are you then going to step up and abide by whatever ruling or access you get?”

“I don’t know, I hadn’t thought that far.”

“You haven’t thought at all…” Fliss shook her head “For the record, I think you have to be one of, if not, the most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to meet, and that’s no easy title to earn, believe me. I can tell you this right now, you’re getting fuck all out of us. So you tell that shit head family from me, that they want a fight, they can have one.”

“Fine, guess I’ll see you in court.”

“I guess you will.” Fliss stood up, before she leaned forward, her palms flat on the table “And I hope you’re not expecting a clean fight either.” “What?” Polland blinked. “What do you mean, a clean fight?”

“We know all about Evelyn, how your little arrangement went down last time. How she had a word in a few peoples ears about getting your company the deal for the University accounts in exchanged for you nominating her as Mary’s guardian in court…”

Polland swallowed “That…that was…look, it was a thank you, not a bribe.” “Evelyn told me everything.” She said “She told me what the deal was. That you did your part, you said what she coached you to say, and she would convince her buddy’s in the University Procurement department to take your company’s bid by offering them a little payment each.”

“That, no…that deal my company did came after court…”

“I’m sure it did, I mean Evelyn wanted to make sure you fulfilled your side of the bargain before she parted with her cash.”

“You can’t prove it.”

“No?” Fliss raised an eyebrow “Thing is, Evelyn and Frank are on good terms now. And she’s behind him here 100% and she already said she’d do whatever it takes to help us push this adoption through. Including coming clean.” She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms “You know, I’m not so sure that the Education Authorities would look favourably on it, or your company for that matter. Not after they were already done for Corruption and Bribery back in 2005 on another deal. What was it the report said?” she fake pondered for a moment “Oh, yes. Back handers to the down selection committee and evading the nature of true competition. The CEO lost his job, did he not?”

Polland looked at her, and his eyes narrowed “So what are you saying here? That I back off or you’ll start making noises?”

Fliss shrugged.

Polland looked at her for a moment, shaking his head “That’s blackmail”

“And you telling me that 15k will beat whatever dirty offer you’ve already isn’t?”

Polland swallowed and looked down at the table, and in that moment Fliss knew she’d made her point. But just to drive it home even more, she issued him one last veiled threat that she hoped would do the trick.

“You think on what I’ve said. And I hope you come to the right decision, if not, then like you say, we’ll see you in court and find out what the authorities think about it all.”

And with that she shrugged on her jacket, grabbed her phone, stuffed it into her purse and left.

Once outside she walked straight past the Audi, where Steve and Mary were talking and climbed into the black range rover parked behind.

“You get it?” she turned to her dad and he raised an eyebrow, before he tapped a button on his phone.

“Fine, let’s just say if you could find me 15 grand, then it would better their offer.” “I beg your pardon?”

“15 grand and I’ll be out of your hair. I’ll drop my objections, sign over all my rights, and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“You sick son-of-a…you’re toying with a child’s feelings and life over 15 fucking grand?”

“I need the cash. I’m in debt.”

Fliss smirked a little at the fact the plan had worked. It had been a simple one. She was always going to hang back to speak to him in private, Steve leaving with Mary being the signal for her Dad to call, at which point she’d answer, leave the phone on the table, and the App which Steve had found would record the whole damned thing.

“Got it all.” Bill said, looking at her “Jesus Titch, I wanted to come right over there and knock his teeth out.”

Fliss ran her hands over her face. “I tell you what though, I didn’t think he’d be as easy to crack as he was…and as for then trying to bribe us too…what a dumbass!”

Bill snorted “You do know this might not be admissible in court, right?”

“I don’t think it’s gonna come to that.” Fliss looked out of the windscreen of the car before she turned back to her father “His face when I told him about Evelyn, he shit himself dad. As soon as Greg files this recording for admission, his attorney will get a copy so he’ll know we have proof of what he’s done. He’ll back down, he won’t want to lose his job or get exposed for being nothing but a fucking con-artist.”

Bill smirked “You know, when you suggested this to me the other day I didn’t think it was gonna work but…seems like you got him by the balls Titch!”

“What was it you always told me about fighting fire with fire?” She grinned and Bill snorted. “That adding more fire makes the situation hotter and sometimes what you need is...”

“A cool bucket of water.” Bill finished for her as Fliss chuckled.

“Yup, and like Frank said when we came up with the idea.” she glanced out of the window at Steve’s car which was now pulling out of the parking space, Mary chatting to him from the passenger seat. “Sometimes beating someone at their own game is much more satisfying than simply punching them in the face.”

***** Chapter 17

#riding on #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted #gifted fan fic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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zafeiria-an · 4 years ago

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HTGAWM: Hogwarts Houses

ANNALISE KEATING

Annalise, portreyed by the one and only Viola Davis, has been holding the whole show in her fingers as if its a puppet. The character of Annalise is so courageous and inspiring everytime she stood up at the court to defend anyone and herself too as she emits tones of emotion to the viewer of the show. (Especially the last episode court that she started talking about her self)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYEAHjNId5Y&ab_channel=ABC

However lets not forget the fact that she managed to cover up and get away with murders galore and save her students and family as well. The whole show is based on covering those murders so i believe that Annalise would be sorted in Ravenclaw since she is truly inteligent to actually get away with murder and teache her stedents to do so as well.

MICHAELA PRATT

Such power, been through hell and back since she was tiny and yet she managed to become what she became completely on her own as she had absoloutely nobody to support her. Michaella almost sacrificed her so wanted future carreer at Caplan and Gold to avenge the death of Wes just so Laurel and baby Chris could live in peace. Therefore, in the end she turned on everyone picking her own self betraying her so called friends.

To sum up i believe she belongs to Slytherin because she has always been ambitious, a perfectionist and determined to her goal which a. was not to get in jail and b. to succeed. As she is ready to fullfill them at all costs.

CONNOR WALSH

Connor has been a weird character from the very begining with tones of ups and downs but in the end he did what he did only for Oliver's well being and protection. He was more than simply guilty when Wes died and tried everything in order to gain Laurel's forgiveness. Mr. Walsh never stopped trying to protect himself the same way he made efforts to protect himself. For example he had been trying to close a better deal for both himself and Michaela untill the very end and he told Ollie that he doesnt love him so as he would move on and forget him.

To be frank (you got the pun there ehhh), i am still not sure where he actually belongs. He is for sure daring, brave and confident but his actions also reveal extreme loyalty to his friends, hard work and dedication. Yet again he was willing to play his head to help his friends bury a body, reveal a massive sabotage and also protect them. Connor deserves Gryffindor!!!

LAUREL CASTILLO

As far as i am concerned Laurel had the biggest glow up in the show. Starting off as a sweet and silent girl and ending up as a responsible woman with priorities she got the screen time she deserved after season 2. Pregnancy and Wes' end changed her character critcally as she abruptly grew into avenging setting in trouble not only herself but her friends as well just so she gives justice to her love's soul. Laurel had the best timing ever as when needed she snatched her child and left without setting anyone in danger this time.

All in all, Laurel would be sorted in Gryffindor since she is brave enough to leave so she protects her child, chivalous since she had the guts to go against her father to avenge Wes (dont say she put her friends into it. Michaela could say no). Confident to work while pregnant as Bonnies internship.

ASHER MILLSTONE

Asher Millstone looked like a really annoying character during the first seasons but he turned out to be the sweetest of them all. He was so caring, sweet and friendly towards his friends and girlfriend. Asher betrayed his family for his friends when he thought it was right and did the opossite as well always to protect the ones that were loyal to him just like he was. He was dedicated in whatever he did and never mistreated anyone who didnt deserve. He has been so dedicated to their little crew.

In conclusion, Asher is a straight away Hufflepuff. He was loyal to Michaela even though she was pushing him away and was seeing Gabriel. He was trying to help them even when he was considered a traitor.

FRANK DELFINO

Frank has been one weird and cyclothimic character. He looks so vicious after season one when we know about what he did. At first i didnt like the way he was interacting with everyone but after season 4 he proved me wrong as he tried to take responsibility of Christopher and be his father and when he saw Laurel was too stuck on the past and didnt want him, he went to Bonnie whom he didnt let down.

Frank has been maybe the most loyal and dedicated person inside their little gang. He wasnt afraid to get his hands in blood if it meant rescueing his family which shows really hard work, the hardest anyone did. So i guess Huffleuff it is.

BONNIE WINTERBOTTOM

Dearest Bon Bon, sure i did not like her at first but she turned out to be a really awesome character. Been through hell and in the end she didnt betray her friends (*coughs* Michaela). She never hesitated to do what's right or what needed to save her family. Bonnie always had the guts to fix things and take innitiatives and risks that could help. She is not scared of responsibility.

Bonnie is brave to take advantage of her thesis benefits, she seizes oportunitys and has really strong morals even though she tends to get a bit off... well she human isnt she. To sum up she is a straight Gryffindor girl!!

OLIVER HAMPTON

Ollie is one of my favourite characters ever. He is so loyal and dedicated that he actually comitted felonies for the love of his life. He never cared if it was morally good or bad if it was to protect Connor or his friends. He adapted so quickly into the way things were and faced everything like he was from the very beginning with them. He never hesitated a moment as he actually risked as well his Caplan and Gold by stealing the Castillos.

I believe he is a straight Hufflepuff with a lot of Ravenclaw hints. He is hardworking into helping everyone at the Keating business. He has been so faithful since ever he realised he was part of the team. I just wuv him!! <3

WES GIBBINS

Wes... he is truly focused on his goal which has been a different thing throughout his protagonistic screen time. He didn't care how he just wanted to learn what was up about his mother, about Rebbeca. He sacrificed he doesn't hesitate to show his dislikeness towards Annalise who supported him since episode one. And basically thats what gave him the end he got.

Ambitious, focused on his goals and only his goals, valiant when needed. Ruthless towards the ones who deserved it and he also knows how to use his inteligence as a weapon towards others so he is obviously a Slytherin.

#htgawm #laurel castillo #karla souza #connor walsh #conrad ricamora #viola davis #annalise keating #oliver hampton #michaela pratt #frank delfino #bonnie winterbottom #olivia pope #wes gibbins #aja naomi king #jack falahee #charlie weber #matt mcgorry #liza weil #alfred enoch

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scratchybeardsweetmouth · 4 years ago

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Iain Glen: From Game of Thrones to cycling's dark side when Le Tour came to Ireland

November 4, 2020 | By Esther McCarthy (x) Irish Examiner We last saw him as Daenerys' trusty sidekick, but in The Racer - opening movie at Cork Film Festival - Iain Glen plays a shady character involved in the Tour de France in 1998 Excerpts:

[...] Now a new movie recounts that 1998 tour through the eyes of a cyclist. Though fictional, The Racer shows the dangerous lengths teams will go to for a competitive edge. Shot in Ireland and Belgium, the opening film for the Cork International Film Festival centres on a domestique (support rider) regarded as one of the best in the business. Iain Glen plays the team’s Mr Fixit, the man with the syringes and vials. “I studied documentaries and a couple of films just to get to know the world it occupied,” he says. “What drew me to the script was it didn't hold back its punches, I thought it was a very frank and honest, quite a wry, insightful look at a particularly bad period for drug abuse within the sport.” “That tour became known as the Tour de Drugs because of the amount of drugs that were going down at the time. The people within the team and my character, certainly within the context of the film, didn't have any great qualms about it - everyone was doing it and we were doing it as well. That was the norm. It's ironic to think that (Lance) Armstrong was about to enjoy his great stretch as being the world-leading cyclist and he won so many tours in a row and this was prior to that. During Armstrong’s time everyone thought the sport had got its act together a bit more.” Directed by Kieron J Walsh, the movie shows the extraordinary dangers the cyclists face as a result of blood doping... [...] “People weren't wrestling with their consciences as they decided how they could compete at the highest level, they were just doing what everyone did. And I thought that was accurate and telling,” says Glen. “You would have to have a gallows humour.” “The conceit of zoning in on this domestique, someone who had sacrificed his entire life for cycling with the intent of never, ever winning himself, who would put his whole life on hold, and then physically put his own body through the abuse that he did to try and compete, I thought was a very powerful conceit for the film.” Glen is one of Scotland’s best-known actors, mixing it up between roles in theatre and the big and small screen. But he didn’t initially consider an acting career, stumbling into drama while studying at Aberdeen University. “It was there that friends of mine got involved and I was slightly dragged against my will into it. I had no idea what actors were and that you could earn a living for what they did.” That changed when he performed a small part in The Crucible. “I felt that I could occupy that space in my imagination where I believe the world in which I was standing in and seemed to be able to project that in a small way. I just got really addicted very quickly for that feeling. I bumped into it very accidentally, I had no great desire, I didn't even know what it was until I was 18, really.” Many of those projects have brought him to Ireland - including playing Jorah Marmont in Game of Thrones. A movie shot in Ballyvourney, Co Cork, is one he has happy memories of despite its dark subject matter. “I do have very strong memories of Song For a Raggy Boy and it’s among my favourites,” he says. “It put me together with Aisling Walsh again, who was a great friend and still is. It's an awful part of history. And I thought that the film portrayed it very powerfully and very accurately.” “I played a very disturbed man and all the kids were slightly scared of me, because they were at an age where they didn't see a division between actors and and the roles that they're playing. I remember the last weekend just before we wrapped, I took them all out. We went and hung out and saw a film together and did different things.” “It's amazing how much in denial the higher echelons of the church were and politics and society too. You need to keep banging on the door for it to be really broken down and owned up to comprehensively and fully and certainly the film was one of the early knocks in the door, I think.” LOCKDOWN CULTURE Parenting a young family during initial Covid restrictions made for a busy household, but when Glen turned to culture he found comfort in reading and his guitar. “It's been a tricky time for everyone. I'd love to say that massive new things opened up but to be honest, it's really very pragmatic: how do you cope with young children when they're in the same house all day?” “I've got young kids as well as older ones. The home education was a challenge that was very preoccupying. I play the guitar and that's always a means of getting away from it all a little bit. William Boyd was a writer who opened up to me. I'd worked with William on a film that he adapted the screenplay for. And then I did a play of his called Longing.” “He was very present in the rehearsal for that and he’s a lovely man, but I'd never read any of his writing. I just started to read a William Boyd book and I just couldn't stop reading. So during lockdown, I read about nine William Boyd books, starting with Any Human Heart.”

#iain glen interview #interview #iain glen #i like this little interview #william boyd #aisling walsh

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p-and-p-admin · 4 years ago

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Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group. (sharing here Admin approved)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello Ciule and welcome to Behind the Quill, thank-you for sitting down with us for a chat.

SS/HG readers might be familiar with your stories “Awkward” and “Headmaster’s Wife”.

Okay, let’s jump right in. What's the story behind your pen name? Well, I sort of took one of my real names, swirled the letters around in the air with my imaginary wand, and I ended up with this. Can’t begin to imagine where I got the idea from... ;-) Later on, I realized that Ciule is actually a name in Romania. I had no idea, but there are people out there carrying this name for real. I guess I’m #sorrynotsorry? Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most? To be quite frank: No one, really. This is more about the characters I like, than truly identifying with them. I can relate to parts of some of them, but not the whole package. Primarily, I write about Hermione, Voldemort and Severus, and the one common thread between those three is the search for knowledge. That’s a trait I can identify with, but I’m neither an evil bastard, a grumpy protector nor a fretting, intelligent activist. I am, however, a swot. If you had asked who I’d want to be, the answer is clear. I want to be Albus Dumbledore. Though I can’t agree with the things he did, I feel absolutely certain that he’s the one who has the most fun during the books. I want to have that twinkling fun in face of absolute chaos. Do you have a favourite genre to read (not in fic, just in general)? Fantasy! Definitely fantasy. While growing up, I read ‘everything’ in every genre, and in my twenties, I decided I’d spend my time reading what I loved the most. So, fantasy it is. Do you have a favourite "classic" novel? You landed me in an existential crisis right there. I mean, there’s so many to choose from! ‘Wuthering Heights’, I think. It hurts so good. Or maybe ‘Rebecca’, at least, I loved that when I was younger. Or the fairly obscure ‘Lorna Doone.’ When I was a kid, I wanted to be a film director, shooting Lorna Doone into an epic film. Oh well, there might be a theme in this selection of books which reflects in my writing… At what age did you start writing? The creative process has gone on since forever. I’ve told myself thousands of stories in my head, but rarely written anything down. At the age of ten, I had a co-writing project with one of my friends. We created this secret room in her basement, and painstakingly wrote a ‘novel’. It was fun, though the writing ended as it became too cold down in the basement during winter. How did you get into writing fanfiction? In 2009, I became completely obsessed with a TV-show in the last episode. I was watching the entire series, casually enjoying the murder mystery, and in the last episode, the villain said: “I can do the math,” and I was literally gone. That obsession sparked writing my first fanfic stories. Those stories are still on FFnet, but they aren’t any good. *shrugs* What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works? Compromise. The world isn’t a perfect place, and will never be. You can, however, make it more to your liking. It may not be perfect, but if you play the cards you are dealt, you might improve something. In Robert Jordan’s “the Wheel of Time”-series, one of the characters goes through a test in a parallel universe of sorts, and she thinks: “The world was not what she wanted, not anywhere near it.” I loved that: trying your best to make things as you want them to be in the face of dangers and difficulties. And then there’s time travel! I love messing with time, and there are so many great Time-travelling fics. Plus, I have to say I have a certain love for the villains... What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter? Currently, I’m not writing for any other fandoms. I read Star Wars, GoT, POTO and LOTR, and in the past I read Smallville. Though it’s more of a type of ship for me, because I only read Reylo, SanSan, Erik/ Christine, Lex/Lana and ….drum roll… the extremely small and quite oddball ship of Eowyn/ Grìma Wormtongue. If you’ve never tried the last one, go search for the fantastic stories by auri_mynonys. If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? Do you have a favourite piece of fanon? One change: duh, that’s easy, isn’t it? Severus lives. Or, maybe Dumbledore acting more rational, not keeping so many secrets. Maybe telling McGonagall that Severus is on the Order’s side… (Interviewer is laughing - ”NOT so easy”) I do write Voldemort wins AUs, but I wouldn’t want canon Voldemort to win. I prefer him to be more sane than in canon. My absolute favourite piece of fanon has to be the Black library. I thought it was canon, but it’s not. This is a thing that really, really should exist in canon! Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet? I’m very much inspired by music, and sometimes I listen as I write, but not always. Some fics are heavily inspired by music, such as ‘Absence’ and the last epilogue to ‘The Manipulation of Time and Matter’. What are your favourite fanfictions of all time? Definitely ‘Two Steps from Hell,’ by the amazing Ssserpensssotia, but that’s a Volmione. This was such a wild ride, I felt like I was on the edge of my seat, holding my breath the entire time. Those twists and turns were so unpredictable and … Well, I’m in awe. The SS/HG fandom is so massive, there’s a plethora of great stories out there. The unfinished ‘Self-Slain Gods on Strange Altars’ is a wonderful story by scumblackentropy, and I love Slytherpoufs stories, especially the wip ‘Ghosts’, but also ‘Angels to Fly’. And then there’s the one that got away - it means, I can’t find it. In this story, Severus watches the thestrals, befriending one of them, I think, but they’re unpredictable and maybe even dangerous. He’s heartbroken, and knows how it all will go down, having bitterly accepted his role. It made me cry. And then there’s the works by Aurette, and lena1987, Subversa, Kittenshift… Are you a plotter or a pantser? How does that affect your writing process? I need (strike that: want) to draft the entire story before I post, to have some idea on how it goes. That makes it easier to write, but if it’s a long story, I’m happy as long as I know the general direction. This year, I finished a story that was on an unintended hiatus for two years, and I think part of my problem on getting back into writing it up was a too vague idea for the ending. What is your writing genre of choice? Uh. I don’t know? Basically, you could argue that I’m a porn writer, or at least it’s fuelled by sexual tension and angst. So, romance or drama, bordering on erotica might be correct. To be frank, I haven’t really thought about categories after I started posting on AO3. Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why? Hard to say. I might go with “the Manipulation of Time and Matter,” because I think it’s the best plot I’ve created. Besides, I managed to write Hermione having a relationship with both Severus and Voldemort in the same fic. My favourite “clean” SSHG would be the short story ‘Grimmauld’. Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote? What did you learn from writing it? In Grimmauld, the house became a character. That was unexpected, and not something I had planned from the beginning. So the lesson would be “don’t start posting until you know what’s going to happen.” Or else, this story might have turned out very much different. I had to throw in a little made-up lore on how you set blood wards on a house too to make it sentient. That proved to be a quite chilling piece of magic. How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write? I love old houses. Exploring abandoned houses, going inside to see what remains of furniture, tapestries and everything is so exciting. (It can also be dangerous, but that’s another matter). Such houses makes me feel .. nostalgic, plus I get those nice little shivers down your spine that is a little like a horror story. So, I wanted to use Grimmauld as a setting to explore that in a fic, to really dig into the aching loneliness of a lost house. The story came very quickly to me, so I guess that helped me. What books or authors have influenced you? How do you think that shows in your writing? Big question there. Hmm, I think … it’s hard to say. I’m a reader, really, and I couldn’t easily pick apart any influences. Though I have to say that one of the things I enjoyed when reading ‘Two Steps From Hell’ was the attention to magic. I think it’s important to include spells, rituals and the use of magic in my fics, because that’s what sets it apart from a Muggle AU, for example. That’s an important part of the world-building. Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction? My significant other knows. I didn’t tell him, but he found out for himself, probably by spying on me. When he told me, I almost couldn’t stop laughing, because he… erm, he said he had thought about reenacting a scene in my PWP ‘Twenty Points to Gryffindor’, where Severus shouts the title as he… well… you get the gist. If he had done that, I’d have had a heart attack. I would literally be dead. Instead, I laughed non stop for an hour. How true for you is the notion of "writing for yourself"? Haha, so true. You spend all those hours in front of your laptop - and if I wasn't motivated by doing it for myself, I can’t even see how I’d force myself through all those hours. It’s fun, though. I do this because I love it. How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media? Very important. I'm on the publishing sites (visible interaction is why I prefer AO3 instead of FFnet) and on Facebook, mainly. I love feedback (as all authors do), and when people form theories or make comments, I get an insight into my own writing. I know how it’s going to pan out, but the audience doesn’t, and how they perceive things might be different from how I think it is. At times, it influences how I go forward, mostly because I need to add things, to explain what’s going on. What is the best advice you've received about writing? Don’t post until you know the ending, and remember: the devil on your left shoulder will be at war with the angel on the right side. Listen to the angel telling you to wait a little longer, and not to the devil chanting: ‘Post, post, post!’ In the end, of course, you’ll give in to the devil, regretting it until you’re done. What do you do when you hit writer's block? Read. Read a lot. And read some more. Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing? Certainly. I’m a foodie. For example, everything that Voldemort eats is stuff I love. His food habits are primarily mine, and I love cooking. Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser? It’s a short piece, maybe three or four chapters, with the title ‘Transference’. The point of departure from canon is during their time in the tent at DH. Hermione wakes up in a bed, in a room she doesn’t recognize, having no idea where she is, but she spots a large, moving picture on the drawer: Feeling panic rising, she stared hard at the moving and smiling pictures, and her heart leapt into her throat, pulse hammering as she recognized herself in the largest picture. A slightly older Hermione, in a white wedding dress, kissing and laughing at someone who simply had to be a much younger Severus Snape. It had to be him: Long black hair, hooked nose, sallow skin - but then he looked so young, carefree and happy - expressions she had never seen on her dour Professor's face. Beside the picture, there were numerous cards, greetings and well-wishings for their wedding - the date an impossible 21 August 1982, and amongst the cards, the largest one stood out, the black ink showing an elegant handwriting: “Dear Hermione and Severus! Best wishes for your wedding, Lord Voldemort.” Any words of encouragement to other writers? Read and write, in that order. Don’t worry about trolls, because when you contribute something that you created, it makes you so much more than people spending their time just raining on anyone’s parade. You brought something new to the world, they’re just reacting to things. If someone accuses you of a self-insert, go ahead and lecture them on the intentional fallacy. I promise, you won’t regret looking it up. ;-) And please, mind the normal physical limits when you’re writing smut. Unless you give the male a stamina potion or put him under the Imperius, it’s unlikely that his refractory period allows him to come five times in one hour. Realistic smut is so much more sexy, lol. Thanks again for speaking with us Ciule.

#fanfic #fanfiction #snamione #writing

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joemuggs · 6 years ago

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PERCEPTION OF DOORS

Was reminded by a conversation yesterday about the art of the club door person, and dug this out, which I wrote for the Amsterdam Dance Event annual back in 2014.

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If you want a clear view of how clubland operates, why not ask its guardians? The men and women who stand at the doors – whether to take money, pick and choose who gets in, or act as enforcers of rules – are the first and last people clubbers will see in their night out, and are uniquely placed to assess what makes the clubbers themselves tick. They are the interface between club, clubber and promoter, and able to provide a (more-or-less) sober overview of what goes on. But frequently, too, they are the filter: they are the one person more than anyone whom by their choices, defines the nature of the crowd on a given night. As such, they are not just list-tickers, cash-till operators or hired muscle, but are a vital cog in the club's cultural machine, a part of the club's personality. And plenty of them are as big a music lovers as the promoters or DJs too. So from London to New York, Glasgow to Pretoria to L.A., we present the past, present and future of these essential sentinels and unsung heroes of the night.

BIG FRANK

Big Frank, aka Faafaga Samuelu, is a true Los Angeles legend. The imposing Samoan-American was a school friend of underground hip hop DJ/producer Kevin “Daddy Kev” Moo, and they threw parties together from Junior High onwards (“I was the muscle, he was the brain,” laughs Frank; “a perfect combination”). But Frank was also a hardcore gangbanger in his late 1980s / early 90s adolescence: “I remember him showing me a sawed-off shotgun in 8th grade while we were riding the bus to school,” says Kev, nonchalantly. Frank served serious jail time in the late 90s, but when he came out, Kev was there, happy to team up again.

Kev founded the legendary Low End Theory – hub of the psychedelic, electronic “L.A. beat scene” that spawned artists like Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer and co – in 2006, but by 2011 it had become so popular, hosting the likes of Thom York and Erykah Badu, that their host venue's bouncers were shaking down clubbers for bribes to get in. This was the moment when Frank's demeanour, reputation and willingness to turn up with an AR-15 assault rifle came into their own, and perhaps unsurprisingly the previous security stepped aside without any trouble to make way for him to take over on LET's Wednesday nights.

Since then, LET's reputation as a friendly spot has only grown. “Being the familiar face of the club,” says Frank, “is great fun and oftentimes just lots of funny. And if you're coming to us, you'll be more comfortable if you feel like you know the guy at the door – and a cool farewell at the end of the night helps as well!” Now in his 40s, he is happy to be a cool head, mainly in the background: “I have different reasons for being in the scene still,” he says; “What's still there is the love for music, but now my desire to be in the crowd is gone. The times of getting fucked up and bumping rap at a back yard party is long gone. What makes me happy, though, is the presence of the forty-somethings and even older folks that attend our club. It helps me feel like our push to progress the music is appreciated. As if all this time in the scene produced something that my generation can be proud of – not just slangin' and gang bangin'.”

In South Africa, house music means more to people than almost anywhere else on earth. And Tebogo “JR” Modiba knows this more than most – his laid-back House 22 parties in Pretoria are an oasis of sophistication and unity in a society still riven with violence and harsh divisions. He ended up working the door there by default: “House 22 started an purely by-invite-only underground deep house joint,” he explains; “so as the founder, I had to work the door in order to overlook the invitations myself. Over time, we have opened up to the general public, but we still keep a close eye on disruptive elements who might not understand and appreciate the underground deep house culture.”

Like all the best doormen, though, he's not just there to filter people out. “The door is the most important part of the business,” he insists. “That's where punters, especially first timers, should start experiencing what the atmosphere of the club is like. All of that depends on how the doorman welcomes them and treat them.” In fact, his biggest problems are cops (“those fellas have serious anger issues, especially when they see people having fun while they are working – and they're the biggest tax collectors too, [taking money] to allow you to operate without interrupting your business with constant inspections, or to protect your patrons from being harassed”) and the weather. One time the mainly-outdoor House 22 venue was hit by tennis ball-sized hailstones, causing a near stampede for cover, which JR was able to only just keep from becoming mass panic.

All his efforts lead to a club where passion for music rules – and so it should, when JR's own love for house still drives everything. At the drop of a hat, he will reel off favourite DJs' names– Vinny Da Vinci, Christos, Glen Lewis, Jimpster, Atjazz, Ralf Gum, Andre Lodemann, Andy Compton & The Rurals, Lars Behrenroth, and Louie Vega – and those of beloved festivals that inspire him like Sónar, ADE and Southport Weekender. And you just know there's no bullshit when he says: “I don't think I am ready to live without my house music, the club life and the people I have met and we became one house music family. Not any time soon.”

JAY CLOTH

London gay scene institution Duckie is more than just a club – as “Purveyors of Progressive Working Class Entertainment”, its team have created a multi-headed beast with art events, talks and exhibitions worldwide. But Duckie's soul resides in its bacchanals every Saturday night at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, still presided over by the same team that founded it 19 years ago: producer Simon Casson, radically eclectic DJ duo The London Readers Wifes, compere Amy Lamé and “box office artistes” Father Cloth and Jay Cloth. Jay is extraordinarily proud to be on the door - “Duckie is unlike any other London Club and IS gay culture to me,” he says, though cites inspiration from a motley lineage of misfit clubs past like The Bell, Marvellous, Daisy Chain, Lippy and anything involving cabaret monster David Hoyle (née The Divine David).

“I am very proud that Duckie is a very friendly club,” says Jay, “and the team of 'Cloths' that work the door set the tone by being as welcoming as possible to all.” As anyone who's been to the club knows, though, they may be welcoming, but you have to step up to the mark and contribute to the wild energy. Jay will turn away “stag and hen parties, anyone too obviously drunk, too obviously high, anyone rude, anyone wearing fur” and only welcome celebrity guests “as long as they are willing to pay the same as everyone else – we are very egalitarian.” “What makes me really happy,” he says, “is when the mix of people is so extreme I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on earth.” His only fear is that “around 1am some nights when the Wifes announce they are about to play their favourite record of all time, I worry the floor might give in!”

ANGELO FABARA

Anyone who thinks that garish clubwear and superstar DJ culture started with EDM should look back to early 90s New York – which truly was the best of times, and the worst of times. Clubbing was a performance then, with the self-proclaimed Club Kids creating atmospheres so decadent and sights so eye-popping that it could feel like the last days of Rome. The Limelight was the heart of all of this, and bringing some kind of order to the chaos was Angelo Fabara. Angelo was an out-of-towner, drawn as a teenager to NYC's clubs like moth to flame by the “idea of community foremost, but then the escapism it offers to young people to safely experiment with.”

He was soon part of that community. In high school he went to the Limelight every weekend, but after getting into NYU, this quickly switched to going nightly. As a face on the scene, he says, “eventually was asked to promote some nights which led to my being hired as a junior door / guestlist person under the guidance of the more veteran door people at the Limelight. I worked there for about a year and a half after which I worked at Twilo for another year at the height of rave / club music coming to NYC.” New York can be a scary city, and Angelo had to learn fast how to turn away the crazies who might later follow or lay in wait for someone who had offended them: “I worked out I needed to give them a bigger reason they couldn't come in,” he says, “like 'the venue's at capacity', rather than quipping slights at their character which I may have done when I first started.”

As a doorman, though, he didn't just have to keep the badasses out: he had to help create atmosphere. “I let in anyone I knew was a great dancer,” he says, “or had a great look: people who made the dancefloor flourish or were nice eye candy. You also had to educate people who came to the clubs to make an effort because everyone else was taking the time to look impeccably chic or coming up with a look that just added to the design and visual language of the scene at that time. If you were a suit, I wouldn't let you in, if you came as a group of guys I wouldn't let you in, if you didn't look the part you would have a harder time at the door. Much later in life, I compare it to Walt Disney who always started his stories off by making his characters literally step through a door into a fantasy world, transported to another place. I wanted to be that person that showed you through that door.”

The scene famously turned bad. “A lot of people died from drugs,” recalls Angelo sadly. “Heroin became big in the 90s, and Michael Alig murdered his club kid friend Angel, which ended the reign of Peter Gatien's clubs like USA, Palladium, Limelight, Tunnel which were the best clubs in NYC history, places with a creativity you just don't see nowadays.” Angelo stepped away from the scene, moving into culture reporting with Microsoft's 'Sidewalk' site – but he never lost his love for what had first inspired him as a kid. “I still think about how easily I made friends on the dancefloor and how so many of us are still friends today 22 years later.”

BOB WONG

Glasgow is one of the most beloved, yet notorious, clubbing centres of the world, known for the utter lunacy, in both the good and bad senses, of its crowds. So it's nice to know that its scene has a calm centre in the affable and unflappable Bob Wong, the head of security (“I prefer 'doorman' or 'steward' but that confuses people, so I usually end up saying 'bouncer',” he laughs) at the Glasgow School Of Art – a venue that has hosted everything from the most manaical techno to the heaviest dub to avant garde noise events.

Bob is a true lover of and participant in Glasgow's underground scene – indeed, in researching this article, his was the first name mentioned by every Glaswegian we spoke to. “Scots know how to party!” he says simply as explanation of why he loves the scene. “You can't beat seeing likeminded people – people of all ages, race, colour, sexuality, social background etc etc etc – switch off from their daily grind of the working week and completely lose themselves, intoxicated with their poison of choice, in the music they love and really go for it on the dancefloor.”

This no-nonsense attitude and affection for the crowds runs through everything he does. “I, and the rest of my team are there to ensure the punters have a great night, and more importantly a safe one: safe from themselves and each other when they inevitably get carried away.” And to do this he insists on a friendly culture: “I hated working with macho 'bouncers',” he continues, “who could only brag about how many fights they'd won or how many girls they've slept with – so when I finally became head steward, I made a point of having only people with a similar mindset to mine on the team, and it makes a difference to everyone.”

Has he ever been scared, surrounded by punters when they “inevitably get carried away”? “You're probably expecting a mad story here,” he smiles, “about some kinda riot or a scenario where I've been stabbed or shot at – but no... if I ever get into a situation where I'm in a fight where my life is being seriously threatened then I can honestly say I'll have failed at my job. My scariest moments have to be the occasions where drunken punters have thought it was a great idea to slide down the banister of the stairs from the cloakroom on the top floor of the Artschool – a 4 level building – and have fallen over the edge and down between the flights of stairs... Thankfully no-one ever fell past the next floor but, all the same, hearing the thud and seeing them hit the floor you automatically assume the worst when they go limp and unresponsive! Thankfully and surprisingly there have never been any fatalities in my time (don't jinx it Bob haha!), just a few fractured vertebrae...”

#clubs #doorpersons #los angeles #new york #club kids #glasgow #ravers #low end theory #gay clubs #hip hop #johannesburg #house music

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bishreview · 6 years ago

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Lots of Quickies

Hi, I’ve been real busy lately and have started a heap of reviews that I’ve been unable to finish because of time restraints and stress. University can get on my back quickly but I’m finished now so I’m going to finish the ones I started before getting into a top 10 for films, albums and singles for the mid year (probably released before the end of June).

Avengers: Infinity War

The biggest crossover movie event ever pitted together the 20+ heroes against the big bad villain of the Marvel universe, Thanos. With a giant cast full of big names, a range of genres and a massive story to deal with, there were a lot of risks that the Russo brothers faced to make this movie. Despite it feeling supersaturated with characters and having some pacing issues, they were successful in creating a massive, climatic film, and Infinity War is close to the MCU’s best.

Avengers: Infinity War gets an A-

Breath

Simon Baker’s adaptation of the highly acclaimed Tim Winton novel of the same name had a surprising amount of hype for an Australian film. Although there is some gorgeous cinematography, especially with some of the surfing shots, the movie is bogged down by stale acting, shocking character development, inconsistent pacing, and a directionless plot. With the movie just coming under the 2hr mark, it feels overly long and bland, lacking originality in both the surfing genre and the coming-of-age genre.

Breath gets a D

Deadpool 2

Deadpool was an unbelievable success in 2016, shattering records and expectations as it became one of the most successful R-rated films ever. With the sequel they have expanded the universe, introducing ‘the X Force’ for the future of the franchise. This introduces many new strong characters, including Domino (Zazie Beetz) who steals every scene she’s in, and Firefist/Rusty Collins (Julian Dennison) who is works well with the titular character (Ryan Reynolds). Thankfully they haven’t sacrificed the quality of the film in order to universe build, with the sequel being almost as hilarious as the first, whilst digging into deeper themes of mortality and family.

Deadpool 2 gets an A

Hereditary

I generally split horror films into three categories; the aim to scare, the aim to gross out, and the aim to unsettle. Hereditary falls into the last category. It’s been a long time since a film has me shook by the end of it. This isn’t an enjoyable film at all, instead being a tiresome experience of slowly increasing tension and uncomfortableness. This makes it one of the best horror films I’ve ever seen. Toni Collette and Alex Wolff are both incredible and the cinematography and score are perfect, complimenting the story and giving the tension exactly what it needs to flourish. The use of shadows and wide shots create an atmosphere which is unlike any horror movie I’ve ever seen, giving you enough to be scared but not enough to know why. Hereditary isn’t for anyone, it is slow and there are no payoffs for the tension (like jumpscares), but its a testament to how one can build tension on film and up there with the greats of the genre.

Hereditary gets an A+

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Solo isn’t a complex movie. It doesn’t try to be a massive connection story like Rogue One, nor an epic adventure like The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi. Instead it plays to its strength, a low stakes origin story which gives a few characters some extra screen time. And it works to that extent, Han, Lando and Chewie being introduced well and having a fun adventure. It does have issues with pacing and the overcooked “shock betrayals” towards the climax starts getting cringy more than surprising but the journey is enjoyable fun, becoming a simple popcorn flick with a lot of replay value.

Solo: A Star Wars Story gets a B-

13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why has quickly become on the most decisive and controversial TV shows in recent memory. Season One had its issues but still held itself up due to its characters and story development. To put it simple, Season Two didn’t need to be made and it’s very clear that it was forced out. Only three of the characters remain interesting with their story arcs, the script is derivative and banal, and events happen only for the purpose of the plot. This all leads up to terribly cringey moments and a predictable ending (which follows one of the most disturbing and unneeded scenes in TV). I will give the show props though for attempting a realistic court hearing and a beautiful moment in which the main cast come together in memory of their deceased friend, a moment which really should’ve ended the series.

13 Reasons Why gets a D-

Atlanta: Robbin’ Season

Donald Glover’s Atlanta is something else. The debut season explored the African American life, relationships, the Hip Hop scene, poverty and young parenthood in such a unique and fresh way. With Robbin’ Season Glover gets deeper into his characters, exploring their flaws with a realistic lens. It works as well, with each episode making a range of statements, varying from depression and grief, to dating and ‘investments’. By the end of the season the main ensemble has changed so much that season three is a complete unknown. What the show doesn’t pretend to do though is become cliched, with success still an unobtainable goal and their desire to reach it getting more desperate. To summarise, this is honestly one of the best seasons of television ever produced. Also, bonus points for Teddy Perkins being the scariest character ever conceived in a hip hop story.

Atlanta: Robbin’ Season gets an A+

Arctic Monkeys - Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino

With album number six, Arctic Monkeys attempted to completely re-image themselves. Diverting from their previous, guitar driven, indie rock, TBH&C delves into a smoother, 70s psychedelic inspired direction, with most songs utilising a keyboard to accompany Alex Turner’s almost mindless ramblings (at times successful, other times forced)). Although the band have changed the direction, it seems they’ve changed it to a familiar territory, with a lot of the songs sounds like Alex Turner’s recent The Last Shadow Puppets materiel (and some seeming like the B-sides of them). Although there are stronger moments, there’s a lot of filler and some of the weakest material of the band’s quite consistent career.

Favourite song: ‘The Ultracheese’

Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino gets a C

A$AP Rocky - Testing

The A$AP mob’s most successful mainstream member, Rocky, has been moving at a rapid rate. His popularity and critical acclaim has been moving up with every release. Testing is both a step in the right direction and the wrong direction. Although it’s is most ambitious record to date, influenced by psychedelic, electronica and ambient music, it’s quite messy and inconsistent. Songs start well to just fall away in their second half and there’s simply too many tracks to keep interest high. A$AP Rocky is doing very different things in hip hop and Testing will hopefully continue to lead him on his path, it’s just disappointing the album couldn’t be stronger.

Favourite track: ‘Purity (feat. Frank Ocean)’

Testing gets a C+

Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel

I’m one of those people that didn’t rate Courtney Barnett’s breakout debut. I found it redundant and pretentious. With her sophomore though she takes a lot of what was strong from her debut and worked with it. Although there’s a clunky and repetitive middle section, the first third of the album is very good music. Barnett has a wonderful way with melodies when she tries to write melodic music and her voice, although not the strongest, can be really emotive. There’s still some rambling tracks but her development is quite noticeable and from someone who couldn’t get through multiple listens of her debut, this was an enjoyable album.

Favourite track: ‘Hopefulessness’

Tell Me How You Really Feel gets a C+

DMAs - For Now

DMAs’ debut was something special in 2016. A 90s Brit-Pop revival album which was better than most 90s Brit-Pop. For Now continues their journey through British music, sharing similarities with bands like The Cure, The Smiths, Boomtown Rats and The Stone Roses. It’s very successful, with a wide range of influences and styles being incorporated in their sound. The album is much more consistent their debut, with each track being different yet based around the general ‘feel’ of the album. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have that big moment that their debut had, with no tracks really standing out as something incredible. That doesn’t weaken the album too much though, being one of the strongest releases of the year.

Favourite track: ‘Tape Deck Sick’

For Now gets an A-

Kanye West - Ye

I love this album cover. It’s very simple but very effective, representing both the minimalist, emotional, and cold album that is to come. Ye isn’t the first Kanye album to be lowkey, or sad, or left of field. It isn’t something special in his career though, an album where it really seems he condenses his talent into a short time (it is only seven songs) and really lets the production of the tracks take over, with some of the best moments being when he’s not on the mic (’Ghost Town’ has an outro which is just brilliant thanks to 070 Shake). That’s not to say Kanye’s voice doesn’t shine, ‘Wouldn’t Leave’ is a testament to his lyrical and rapping strengths, but his production is his best in nearly a decade. Although there are some weaker tracks and some cheesy lyrical moments, Ye reminds us why we continue to love Kanye, because he continues to release some of the best hip hop available.

Favourite track: ‘Ghost Town’

Ye gets a B+

Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts

If someone gave me a list of all the albums released this year before the year started, a collaboration between Kanye and Kid Cudi would definitely be my most anticipated. An album combining two of the most important voices in hip hop during the late 00s, both of them being instrumental in bringing topics of mental illness into mainstream hip hop. Where I expected Kids See Ghosts to be a darker album though, the album is almost a celebration of overcoming their demons. There are still some darker tracks, like the album closer ‘Cudi Montage’, there’s a lot of fiery tracks (like the conveniently titled ‘Fire’) and uplifting tracks (the album standout ‘Reborn’). There are some brilliant moments on this album, whether it comes from the strangely funny yet creepy sample of Louis Prima’s ‘What Will Santa Claus Say’ in ‘4th Dimension’, the ballsy attempt at scat rap in ‘Feel the Love’, or the gorgeous chorus in ‘Cudi Montage’ which features the beloved noise of Cudi humming (God bless Cudi and his biblical humming). Although the track listing works in its disadvantage some tracks do have some strange choices in direction (the end of ‘Fire’ sounds great but doesn’t fit with the song, nor the album), Kids See Ghosts is a contender for album of the year.

Favourite track: ‘Reborn’

Kids See Ghosts gets an A

Lily Allen - No Shame

Lily Allen will always be one of the most lovable cynics in music. Her career has been largely satirical takes of political and societal issues through upbeat, pop songs. With No Shame she seems to direct her satire on to herself, literally roasting herself, focusing on her recent divorce, motherhood, drug addiction, and balancing her fame and career with family life. This makes for a very deep, and at times dark, listen. Somehow though, through all this, Lily Allen has made her best album, and maybe the best album this year. Lead single ‘Trigger Bang’ is a brilliant pop song, reminding us of her humble beginnings whilst delving into criticisms of the industry and her place in it. Tracks like ‘Lost My Mind’ and ‘Everything to Feel Something’ are some of her saddest, roughly criticising her lifestyle with some beautiful production and instrumentation. And the gorgeous piano-ballad, ‘Three’, is as beautiful as it is rough, the lyrics being from her daughter’s perspective of Allen not being around for her kids. The album does allow a lighter ending, the final few tracks feeling upbeat and optimistic, something rare from albums which explore such dark themes. Although there are a couple of tracks where the dancehall vibe feels slightly too strong considering the lyrical content, No Shame is something special, and a sign of unbelievable growth for an artist over a decade old.

Favourite track: ‘Everything to Feel Something’

No Shame gets an A

Middle Kids - Lost Friends

Middle Kids are slowly becoming the most underappreciated act in Australia. Their critical acclaim and industry cred are both high but their commercial success hasn’t blossomed in Australia. Their debut album looks to be their big push (it reached #10 on the ARIA album charts), and for good reason. It’s a really consistent album, with each song being a good alternative rock song. There are some lyrical moments which are average and some songs go for a little too long but each track fits well on the album and are enjoyable. For a debut, it’s a good one and really builds up anticipation to hear more from the band and see where they go.

Favourite track: ‘Edge of Town’

Lost Friends get a B

Nas - Nasir

Nasir is another good release from the recent G.O.O.D Music output with Kanye West, although it’s probably the weakest so far. The production on it is really good, with the beats driving most of the songs, but Nas seems misguided and confused on a lot of the tracks. He has good messages behind the songs, referencing themes from police brutality to finances, but he doesn’t seem to really push his ideas, mostly feeling like there is a lack of passion or interest. It’s still an enjoyable album but the feeling of going through the motions is littered throughout and thus is quite disappointing.

Favourite track: ‘Everything’

Nasir gets a C+

Parkway Drive - Reverence

Australia’s premier Metalcore band, Parkway Drive, have has a mixed career for me. Their previous album, Ire, was one of their best, with the songs being meatier and relentless, not holding back at all whilst bringing new influences in. With album number six I’m not sure whether they’ve gone backwards or forwards. It’s different from their previous releases, leaning on cleaner singing much more often, and the influences are clearly from the heavy metal genre of the late 70′s to the early 90′s, but it doesn’t have a strong identity. At times it seems like a tribute album and really doesn’t standout or have its own image and sound. There are still some strong songs but a lot of the album feels like filler and for a band which has been leading the way in the genre in Australia for so long, it seems like they are now falling behind.

Favourite track: ‘The Void’

Reverence gets a C-

Post Malone - Beerbongs and Bentley’s

Every now and then Post Malone nails it and he’s definitely ridden off the success of these moments (think the songs ‘Congratulations’ and ‘I Fall Apart’). There is a hidden talent there which is covered up by the cheesy songwriting and cliched style that he presents. On Beerbongs and Bentley’s he hides this talent better than ever. This is a very mediocre album, which is made even worse since it has 18 songs and drags for over an hour. He seems to run out of things to say very quickly and there’s few moments that really standout as interesting or fresh. It’s definitely a step backwards after the far more interesting Stoney.

Favourite track: ‘Stay’

Beerbongs and Bentley’s gets a D-

The Presets - Hi Viz

One of my first introductions to music was Apocalypso, The Presets breakout sophomore album which blew away the Australian dance scene. It’s been about 10 years since that release and other than the left-of-field Pacifica, The Presets have been relatively quiet besides festival appearances. Hi Viz is the album they needed though. There are so many certified bangers on this album, from the lead single ‘Do What You Want’ to the giant album closer ‘Until the Dark’. They also bring in some really strong features, with both Alison Wonderland and DMAs shining on both their feature tracks. Although there are some filler in the album, and it does get repetitive towards the middle, it’s an excellent return to form from the band and establish them back at the top of the Australian dance scene.

Favourite track: ‘Feel Alone’

Hi Viz gets a B+

Pusha T - Daytona

Daytona was the first album from the G.O.O.D Music trail of releases of the past month and it really kicked off the project well. The production is really strong, the instrumentals on each track are solid, Pusha T’s lyrics are great (like usual) and the features fit nicely. I think the major weakness is that at times Pusha T’s voice doesn’t fit nicely with the music, especially with the mixing of his vocals at times. It seems to sit too high in the mix and seems out of place. Other than that though it’s a really solid album and an enjoyable listen.

Favourite track: ‘If You Know You Know

Daytona gets a B

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thistleandthorn-rpg · 4 years ago

Photo

OC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias: Lo Preferred pronoun: She/Hers Age: 26 Timezone/Country: GMT RP Experience: Lots :) Activity Level: 6/10 Have You Been in this RP Before: I am currently part of this RP. This is a revamped, reset application for Eric Anderson.

IC INFORMATION:

Name: James Oakley Anderson Designation: Dominant Age: Twenty-Two Faceclaim: Darren Criss Birthday: July 7th Orientation: Bi-Sexual Kinks: Impact Play, Pain Play, Humiliation, Electro-Play, open to discuss writing other kinds not listed. Anti-Kinks: Infantalism, Mutilation, Scat, Vore, Gore.

BIO:

Unbeknownst to Pam and Charles Anderson, Cooper, their oldest son, convinced them to name the first of his newborn brothers James after the incompetent and foolish villain on his favourite television show. Cooper Anderson wasn’t quite ready to have his parents’ attention divided and so before he met his unborn siblings, he saw them as the enemy. Cooper’s stance changed very quickly when he met his new brothers; tiny, red-faced and snoozing, the oldest Anderson had quickly fallen in love. However, it was too late to change their names.

It became a running joke growing up that James was cast in the villain role in his older brother’s life. As it turned out, the two of them had a great deal in common – they both commanded attention and had an early affinity for being on the stage. Acting only. James wasn’t, and would never be a musical performer. Although jealous at first, this shared love proved to bond the two oldest Anderson boys together and they often could be found running lines together, advising the other and in James’ case, writing scripts that involved all the brothers getting involved. There was rarely a Friday night to be had in the Anderson home that didn’t involve some kind of entertainment,

Throughout his teenage years, James actively sought auditions. He decided early on that he wanted to be an actor, and Cooper’s difficulty in launching his career did nothing to deter him. He won bit parts here and there; local commercials and radio jingles to start. He voiced a character in a new cartoon when he was fifteen but the series wasn’t picked up for a second season so his excitement didn’t list. His big break came when he was sixteen. He convinced his parents to let him audition for a new show, expected to begin filming in the Summer. Pam and Charles were nothing if not supportive of their childrens’ wild pursuits and James had more than proven he was dedicated to this passion. It was agreed that James would fly out to Los Angeles and stay with Cooper for a week, allowing him to audition and attend a callback if he were so lucky. He was that lucky. The role was a small one but it was a featured role nonetheless.

As luck would have it, the show would be filming that Summer in Atlanta; a ninety minute flight from Cincinnati which would allow him to travel home easily enough on his days off. Pam flew down with him; it was Summer vacation and she refused to let her now seventeen year old son live alone. It was everything James could have imagined and more. Shoots were long, press was brutal but it was enriching, and exciting and he knew with complete confidence, he was exactly where he was supposed to be. His character, Flynn Hawthorne, became a fan favourite and thus he was promoted to a series regular. It took a lot of frank discussion between James and his parents for them to sign off on this; it was made clear that his education came first and the moment his grades started to slip, there would be consequences. But that never happened. James perfected the balancing act and the show went on to run for four successful seasons. It provided him with incredible insight into the business, it made him a household name in any house that contained teenagers and it set him on the path he hoped to follow for the rest of his life.

The show finished filming it’s final season at the beginning of October and after taking a few weeks off, James decided it was time to put his career on hold. Temporarily. Blaine and Elliott had both been enrolled in an institute for over a year – Blaine already had a claim, for goodness sake. He needed to manage his private life before he could commit to another show and Lima Heights was the only place he considered doing it.

BIO QUESTIONS:

What are your feelings about the mark you have received?

I’ll be honest I’ve had a lot of time to wrap my head around it. Because I took my time getting here, both my siblings have received their marks so this wasn’t a surprise for me. I feel good about it though. The responsibility was a little daunting at first but I’ve always anticipated this mark. It is the one that evidently fits me best.

How do your feelings on the system compare to your parents’ feelings on it?

We have a very similar view. My parents enjoy the system, and have always encouraged us to abide by the laws. There are a great deal of aspects about the system that I enjoy, that I believe work and are beneficial. However, there are aspects that I think could be improved on – the laws around slavery ought to be refined in my opinion and I think there should be changes made when a claim is lost due to death, particularly when there are children involved.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In ten years, I fully expect to have at least one Oscar under my belt. I know, big dreams for the teen TV show kid but I’m determined to prove I’m not a one trick pony. I know I have the hard work aspect there and so far, when I’ve needed a little luck, it’s come my way. In my personal life? I don’t know. I don’t want to manifest that too much because I think what will happen, will happen. I expect I’ll have a claim but I don’t know what they’ll be like. I don’t think anyone really knows what their perfect match will look like until they meet them.

Describe what terrifies you the most.

That’s a bit of a heavy question, isn’t it? Is this information to be used against me somehow in the future? It’s not slavery. I’m fairly confident that’s not on the cards for me and so it’s not a future I fear. Loneliness, I suppose. It’s not as bad as it was growing up – fear of being alone caused me to end up in more than one bad relationship – but I think it’s a always lingering type of fear.

#accepted

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wreckthelist · 7 years ago

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at first sight: meeting Rach @ Harold Pinter stage-door

Ask me if I believe in fate, for all I’ve railed against its faults and failings, and I’ll still say yes.

I was browsing tumblr (I’ve been on here far too long, but it’s an asymmetrical symbiotic relationship, if you’ll pardon the expression.)—and came across a post on the ongoing run of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Harold Pinter. It’s here, I thought. Just right here. And Luke Treadaway too at that. For how long I’ve loved his twin, Harry, I’ve been meaning to watch him live in action. Not to mention Edward Albee and I go way, way back. Oh sir, way back.

This is only one of the three sources I used comprehensively (or, more accurately, obsessively) for my IB English Higher Level Paper 1. The running themes of fiction vs. reality, illusions vs. real life, which unite Albee’s celebrated work, Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman—those I can (sprinkling present tense for extra emphasis and dramatic effect, no less) never get enough of and those which has stayed with me through these formative years, seeping themselves into my thoughts, my fiction framing, and the way I approach stories and character-writing. They’re my forefathers, those that came before, those that have stayed, and those that would always be with me.

Open up Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and you’ll hear me go on long monologues back to those days when I drudged through daily timed (Ready. Get set. Go! And you thought English’s a breeze. It isn’t.) open-ended essay questions in class, scouring my brain for text extracts, juicy quotes, and relevant themes—all the more better if present in the three texts. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf was, and still is, my cup of tea. The dysfunctional relationships—the Dean’s daughter and the wimpy History university professor; the pretend gentleman of a Math (sorry, Nick—Biology!) university professor and his blond mousy wife—juxtaposed against each other, the young and the old, made fascinating, animated, and alive, when seen actually acted out in engrossing and hypnotic fashion by Imelda, Conleth, Luke, and Imogen. It’s alcohol numbing senses and humans playing psychological mind games and stimulating the worst in each other. It’s wordplay and emotional manipulation of the cruelest kinds and secrets spilled without second thoughts for consequences. It’s blood and gore and scars without physical, bodily harms and long, twisted monologues on the eternal battle between the young and the old, and history and science. It’s debates and confessions and lies on love and what it means to be by each other’s side as husband and wife in a relationship. It’s self-aware illusions masqueraded as truths, story-telling to its most sordid effects, reality warped as fantasies and words told and retold so often they became real. It’s manifestations of two joined minds of history that never did exist and a person, a glue to the relationship, that they wished (fervently) would exist.

“Martha: Truth or illusion, George; you don't know the difference.

George: No, but we must carry on as though we did.”

Martha: ’tis the refuge we take when the unreality of the world weighs too heavy on our tiny heads.

God, I loved it. I still do. I swallowed all that up. Mix it in with a hint of time in Willy’s fantasy escapades and we’ve got my favourite (and signature) approach to writing—in episodes and through a nonlinear timeline.

What’s true. What’s not. Why must we continually fool ourselves, despite knowing so, to go on living? What’s escapism and believing, investing so heavily in a fantasy?

Then there’s the talk of academics. University professors. Drinking. Oh, god. I know. I know. It’s all in there. It’s all in there.

I’d never been to (or in) Harold Pinter before that Monday, when I got that fateful email about [REDACTED] which, looking back, would be one of the great regrets of my life—but how could I? When you had to choose between flying home and [REDACTED]—out of my homesick heart, what would you have done????

To this day, I still feel like I turned down [REDACTED].

But whatever. This is not about [REDACTED] [REDACTED].

This is about the play, about the actors, about that fateful stagedoor, about the conversations that ensued afterwards, and about one particular UCL girl.

The production design was impressive—that compressed, tight-knit set (which Rach’s already described as inducing that very innate claustrophobic sense the play was supposed to instill in its audience. Oh yea, you’re not there for comfort. No. These aren’t your friendly neighborhood parlor games.) of George and Martha’s house. From the door (I still remember the details. That, or because I snuck in a last-minute photo before I left, out of sheer awe that I finally got a chance to watch that play that became my life—overstatement? Hyperbole? I think not.—live and brilliantly acted.) to the books adorning the walls-as-shelves on the left and right of the stage, the couch in the middle of the way between the door and the rug , the art pieces, the rug (later Nick’s and Martha’s sensual dancefloor, to George’s numbed dismay and Honey’s dizzy drunk mind). There’s even a fireplace, stage left. And a workdesk, stage right.

Lamps worked, as actors turned them on and off throughout. Music flew in and scenes happened before you, with no escapes of the yard outside or the bar as offered by the film (We did watch the film in English class. Bless. I do realise I have to thank Mrs. McCarthy for changing my life.)

After the play, came the stagedoor. My first ever (imagine that. In March. How far I’ve come.) I wasn’t sure. But it was Luke Treadaway, and I had to.

There’s a few (too few) of us crowded around that stagedoor, shivering in the cold. Rachel was the one Asian, another familiar face I saw. Luke came out, beanie and checkerboard/lumberjack jacket, passable as an ordinary Brit wandering the streets. No one would’ve spotted him. He said ‘yes,’ to requests, and tried signing again when my pen didn’t work the first time (I didn’t even bring my Sharpie—what an amateur. And I had them—him and the others—sign the programme. I should’ve asked for the ticket, keeping in mind how much I travel. Then again, amateur hour. A mistake not to be made twice.) I asked for a selfie, and the picture turned out damn adorable (because he was pointing at me and smiling, and I treasure it to this day). Rach asked for a selfie. Afterwards he lingered around and asked, “Anybody else?” We all said, “No,” and “Thank you,” and he left, another figure rounding the street corner.

It’s those little things an actor does that stays with you. Luke is incredibly sweet for having done that, just as Jack O’Connell was for turning my ticket the right side up before signing (ugh. You have to love him.) and taking the time to ask me, “You mind if I use your pen for a bit?” and returning me the pen.

Later Imelda came out, signing everything with a flourish and voicing (loudly) her refusal to understand social media hype.

“Why’d you do this play?” some girl asked her, and, one’d have to give her credit for that frankness (we’re not going for interview quality answers here), because she answered simply, “Someone asked me to,” before disappearing into her car and into the night.

Conlenth came and signed and went. There was nothing much there, except us telling him how great he was.

Imogen was one of the major reasons I came, aside from the play itself. My alternate tag for her is ‘sunshine,’ because her smile to me is exactly that, so you could imagine my disappointed surprise when she did not show.

Rach and I gushed about Luke, about his sweetness. We talked and talked. I’ve no idea—it has indeed been awhile—how I got the conversation started. But I did remember talking first. Maybe it was about asking her if she’d read the play before. If you’d read her side of this story, I too am not one to start conversations, but that moment just felt right.

(Like when I caught eyes with the Korean girl at the Sons gig.)

It’s hard to explain. It’s serendipity. It’s fate. It’s just something that happens. Something that just is. Something that you just know.

And with her, my hunch turned out to be for good.

We exchanged Facebook, I think—or was it Instagram too, on our walk back to the horses at the Haymarket streetlights (oh, how I’ll miss it. Good ol’ Londontown. I’m further away from you every second now.) And somehow I found her on Instagram.

And we hit it off, we did.

We made plans. Got to her place and binged on Sainsbury’s discounted Ben & Jerry’s (was it Phish Food?) and chocolate lava cake (good times.) and watched Branaugh (that 1993 version) and a bit of the Joss Whedon one (me having too many pieces of Rach’s delicious fudge in the process—mhm.)

Chatted about my romantic misfortunes (I give up. It wasn’t even romance.), obsessions, and life. She’s the most receptive, reassuring listener and I turned into my extroverted, fast-talking self so quickly around her. It’s like we’ve known each other longer than we did.

Now we’re in touch via Facebook, and Tumblr. And I can say, with guarantee, that while long-distance relationships may not work, long-distance friendships can last. I’ve carried on the same lines with my other Malaysian friend for 4 years (and met up with her twice in the UK), and this one with Rach, I truly believe and hope it could and would last.

Because we get each other. Because she understands. She’s there for me, and I promise with all my heart I would always be there for her.

And if it’s any proof of fate, I’ve been writing and am publishing this a day after Luke Treadaway’s birthday.

#theatre outing #personal #who's afraid of virginia woolf?#Luke Treadaway #imelda staunton

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benjaminsblog · 6 years ago

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13-15 May 2019

I was back in Scotland doing the exact same gig as a few days prior; I Trio’d and logged St Mirren v Hamilton, which was 10th v 11th - in a 12-team league - with relegation survival on the table. It was a feisty affair, and Hamilton found themselves down to ten men after only half an hour; they simply needed to avoid defeat to confirm their top-flight status, and as soon as they lost their man, what had been an open game became very one-sided. St Mirren had all the ball but barely did anything with it, but eventually broke resistance around 75 mins, adding a second in injury time to take the relegation fight to the final day of the season.

With a very recent game fresh in the memory, I had no problems using the software (and it was a much quieter game in terms of things to animate), and felt emboldened after my week’s work in Scotland. James was once again resigned to seldom-used lifeguard, but I did make a point of thanking him for his time and help. Next morning I flew back solo, and rewarded myself with a mammoth nap upon my return. I did naff-all the rest of the day.

Wednesday, I went to see four flats with varying degrees of success; I tried a couple more house shares, but was quickly reminded why I’d decided to ignore those; the first one had a handwritten note on the kitchen worktop that read “CAN EVERYBODY PLEASE PUT THEIR RUBBISH IN THE FUCKING BIN”, and that was enough of a red light to scare me off. The two solo flats I saw had promise, though I think I am also reluctant to get a studio flat, i.e. one where the bed is in the living space. I don’t want to have to keep dealing with that every time someone comes over, and plus that setup feels a bit slovenly to me. Give me a bedroom and a living room, please.

Oh, and I went to see Avengers: Endgame whilst in town. If you haven’t seen it then you’re even more behind the times with pop-culture than I am (take a moment to consider that), but I am not going to give it its own entry, so stop reading if you haven’t seen the film:

It was always gonna be hard to top/follow Infinity War, which seemed to please the vast majority of people (myself included). I think I remember saying about IW that there were too many characters for them all to have sufficient screen time - well, Endgame upped the ante on this one. Granted, it was the big finale, so everyone was there, but they have quite literally a small army of heroes to cram into the thing. I successfully avoided spoilers despite waiting so long to see it, but it was a pretty ‘meh’ film, dare I even say ‘not-very-good’. They had 3+ hours to play with (that’s LOTR territory, yo), yet I felt they wasted so much time at the start showing how sad everyone is and who they’re all missing. I highly doubt there are many people walking into Endgame completely ignorant of what has gone before, and if there are, then those people deserve to be confused. It took a long time to get going, and I’m not typically a just-give-me-the-explosions viewer, but it got to the stage where I was hoping Michael Bay would turn up.

A lot of the main characters seemed a bit jaded (possibly the actors too), and I wonder how much of that played a part in their own endgames. I was aghast at what had happened to Thor, and he didn’t really have a proper redemptive moment either, so he went from being my favourite in the last flick to bottom of the pile in this one. There weren’t any standout performers, which is apt for a film I considered so vanilla - Captain Marvel was probably the best example of this as she alternated between just being there and, well, not being there. I think if I hadn’t seen her standalone film I would have found her very annoying, swanning in and out as she pleased.

Even the mahoosive fight scenes at the end failed to do much for me - it’s nigh-on impossible to bring such an epic series to a satisfying conclusion, but I don’t think another giant cut-and-paste CGI battle was the way to go. And I was not a fan of how they executed the whole time travel thing from the off; maybe I just wasn’t donating enough of my own brain power to properly listen to all the exposition, but if felt half-hearted and sloppy. To be frank, as soon as they dissed Back to the Future, that was it.

Oh, and I was convinced that Captain America was Loki at one point, given what had gone before. Can anyone explain to me/give me their best guess as to what he’s been up to??

#plot twist: I wrote the note #no studios #except Marvel studios #Ant-Man said BTTF was shit #worst avenger ever #no I didn't forget Hawkeye #cheap shot #Black Widow should've let him jump #Avengers Endgame

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uomo-accattivante · 8 years ago

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Much is made in Hollywood of chameleons – actors who have the ability to “disappear” into a role, appearing “unrecognisable” – while less is said about versatility. At rest, the faces of the best movie actors contain multitudes. Robert Mitchum had the broken-nosed face of a brute but the sleepy, languid eyes of an angel – “Bing Crosby on barbiturates”, in film critic James Agee’s phrase. Bette Davis could switch from glam to dowdy with the angle of her head and a couple of fill lights. And Robert De Niro’s ability to frown and smile simultaneously is legendary. Oscar Isaac has that kind of face. His low-lidded eyes can smoulder, but there is also a quickness behind them, and a touch of disappointed calculation. It made him perfect for the hapless, couch-surfing folk musician soaking up disappointments like a wet sock in the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, the 2013 film that put him on the map at the age of 35. He has been working since, playing the hotshot pilot Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the slinky, tactile, tech-era Mephistopheles in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. He is at his best playing ambitious, slightly myopic men whose own movement quickens their fall: a Queens oil importer struggling to stay the right side of the law in JC Chandor’s excellent A Most Violent Year, a doomed politician brutally felled by civic machination in HBO’s Show Me a Hero. He has made a career playing men for whom careerism doesn’t work. “You know what it makes me think about,” asks Isaac when I put this to him. “I just read in the New York Times about how to throw a ball. There was a thing in it from JD Salinger’s Seymour: An Introduction, about aiming. They’re playing marbles, and one of them goes: ‘Don’t aim.’ Isn’t that the point, that you want to aim? He’s like: ‘No, because if you hit him when you aim, it’ll just be luck.’ ‘How can it be luck if I aim?’ ‘If you’re glad when you hit somebody’s marble, then you secretly didn’t expect to hit it.’ You just do the thing, and so that when you get accolades and all this stuff, it feels good but it doesn’t make you glad because you’re like: ‘This just as easily could have not been.’ It’s that kind of thing.” Isaac still lives in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, in the same one-bedroom apartment he had before he caught the Coen brothers’ attention – but meets me in a suite at the Crosby Street hotel in Manhattan to talk about his new movie The Promise, a first world war period drama in which he plays an apothecary swept up in the Armenian genocide. It is the first time in the modern period that Hollywood has approached the genocide on screen, and director Terry George, whose taste for geopolitical injustice was honed on In the Name of the Father and Hotel Rwanda, invokes it through our memory of other onscreen cataclysms. There is a love triangle with the beautiful Ana (Charlotte Le Bon) and an American journalist (Christian Bale) that recalls Doctor Zhivago, the three of them struggling to make their hearts heard against a backdrop of trains and dead bodies straight out of Schindler’s List. The film is, to be frank, something of a clunker, but the role is a slam dunk for Isaac, who broods like Omar Sharif and vents impassioned, politically on-point heartbreak about the fate of refugees. They are his favourite type of role: the ones where you get to see “a lot more of the beauty and cruelty of life … The emotional hook of it was reading the scene when he finds his family killed. This wasn’t just war as usual, this was a systematic execution of people of Armenian descent. It’s very clear – you go back, and it’s like the Turkish government was saying: ‘No, now it’s going to be Turkey for the Turks. Turkey first.’ Unfortunately, you hear a lot of the same kind of rhetoric again and again and again – about refugees, about immigrants, about silencing the press. None of it’s new.” Isaac himself is chipper, energetic, charming – about as undoomed a man as you could imagine. He has the crisp lines of someone who knows himself well. He plays well with others. A recent clip reel at Vanity Fair invited readers to “Watch Oscar Isaac charm the pants off every single Star Wars: The Force Awakens cast member.” He completed shooting on the new Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi, last year, and can offer only the usual heavily redacted clues. “The characters that you know already: their specific character flaws or their weaknesses get tested. And out of that, I think, you get to see a bit more of who they are. The best way to learn about somebody is to see them in a crisis.” One of the more interesting features of Isaac’s career is that, thus far, he has avoided the typecasting that can befall actors of Latino heritage. His Wikipedia page lists the nationalities he has played: European, Egyptian, Polish, English, French, Mexican, East Timorese, Welsh, Indonesian, Greek, Cuban, Israeli, and Armenian. X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer has called him a “global human” He is actually Guatemalan, born to a Guatemalan mother and Cuban father, who brought Isaac to the US when he was five months old. His full name is Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada but he changed his name to Isaac in his teens as his acting career took shape – “for any number of reasons but also because the marquee, you know, it’s a little easier,” he says, simplifying what must have been a complicated renegotiation of his identity. I ask if he has ever felt under any pressure to “represent” either his Guatemalan or Cuban background. “No, I don’t want to represent,” he says. “I don’t represent anybody except this organism that I happen to be. I have a love for Guatemala, a love for my family there, a love for a place that I was born, a place where my mother was born. For Cuba, as well. But, yeah, I’m always wary of people that say they speak for a large group of people because I’m always like: ‘Really? How do you know?’ To speak for a group of people is not something I’ve ever felt comfortable doing.” His upbringing was so peripatetic that it practically screams “actor”. As his father completed his medical training, the family moved from Baltimore to New Orleans, where in kindergarten in Louisiana, he got it into his head that his family had come from the Soviet Union. “I don’t know why. This was in the 1980s. I remember going to the playground and being like: ‘Hey, guys, I’m Russian! Let’s play, you guys are the Americans and I’ll be the Russian.’ I remember I went home and I was like, ‘So Dad, we’re Russian, right?’ and he was like: ‘What?’ ‘We’re Russian.’ ‘We’re rushin’ in the morning.’ Such a dad joke. ‘But that’s about it.’ And I was: ‘Aww!’ It was a weird kind of Dylan-esque thing that I just kept changing the story of where I was from or what we were. It was a form of storytelling, or a form of excitement, or a form of fun, mixed with this sense of something missing, which is a sense of place. We were never in one place for more than, I would say, three to four years.” After their house in New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew – “I remember having dreams about that house,” he says – they resettled again in Miami, where Isaac funnelled his Dylan-esque longings into music, joined a Florida ska-punk band, and acted. “It just hit in a very specific way that when I found play-acting – mimesis, imitation – suddenly, that felt like a way of understanding the world. Even now, the play’s the thing, always. As soon as things get really confusing emotionally, or personally, when I look at a play, it suddenly makes sense. I don’t know if it’s right, I don’t know if it’s healthy, but I know myself enough to know it’s definitely a necessity. That’s what I do. I go to that stuff to help me understand. Or for solace. And maybe it is a form of hiding. Music can have that a little bit, but lately it hasn’t as much.” Last October, his mother became ill, and he took time off work to be with her for what turned out to be the final six months of her life. “I was really fortunate to be able to just be with her the entire time and not be off on some set somewhere. At first, we didn’t know how ill she was, and she didn’t either, but as things progressed, it was much easier to say no to things. At a certain point, it was like, clearly: ‘I’m not going to be doing anything.’” She died in February, although not before he had taken her to the Golden Globes as his date, flying her to Madrid to see The Promise being shot and showing her a cut of the movie. “It’s like a great movie for moms. I have to say when I first watched it, I said: ‘I think moms are really going to like the movie. I showed it to her, and sure enough, she’s like: ‘I love it, Oscar. I love it.’” He has since returned to work, appearing in Dan Fogelman’s Life Itself, a multigenerational love story, spanning decades and continents, in which Isaac’s character deals with the loss of his wife. “It was just a two-and-a-half-week shoot,” he says. “It was my first thing back, and we shot here in New York. I was very nervous about it because I was like: ‘I don’t know if I can get it up for anybody.’ You know? Or if I want to, and it ended up being so necessary in much the way that I said to you – the mirroring my own life. It’s very dark and yet I found joy in it.” Which of his roles does he feel closest to? “They’re all pretty close to me,” he says. What would his friends say? “Maybe Nathan in Ex Machina,” he says, but quickly retracts it. “I think they would say none of these were actually like me. Maybe this last one.” He pauses. “Possibly.” • The Promise is released in the UK on 28 April. ### This is a really great interview with Oscar. He opens up about his mother in this one.

#oscar isaac #interview #the promise #life itself #the guardian #article

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toldnews-blog · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/robert-mueller-americas-most-mysterious-public-figure/

Robert Mueller: America's most mysterious public figure

Image copyright Getty Images

He seldom gives interviews and is rarely seen in public. Yet Robert Mueller, the man leading the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election, is one of the most talked about people in America.

His critics accuse him of spearheading a plot to bring down the president. His supporters say he is a tireless public servant fighting to uncover the truth. But through all the noise he has continued to shun the spotlight.

So who is the man behind the headlines?

FBI Agent Lauren C Anderson was investigating a murder in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, when she received an urgent phone call.

The voice on the other end told her that Robert Mueller, who had been appointed FBI director two years earlier in 2001, was trying to get hold of her.

“It surprised the heck out of me,” she tells the BBC. “I’m thinking, what could possibly be going on here that he needs to know about?”

A few weeks earlier, she had been on a bus in Paris when a man suffered a heart attack. He later died, but she jumped over several rows of seats to give him CPR and, when the medics arrived, consoled his wife on a nearby street corner.

In Gabon, she put the phone to her ear, apprehensively, and heard Mr Mueller’s voice.

“I heard that you worked to save somebody’s life,” he said. “Thank you.”

It’s a memory that Ms Anderson says reveals something significant about his character.

“He took the time out of his day, at a time when there was utter chaos happening in the world, to talk to me and to make that phone call.

“He takes seriously when people do the right thing. That’s what matters to him.”

Born into a wealthy family in Manhattan in 1944, Robert Swan Mueller III was raised in Princeton, New Jersey. He was sent to the exclusive St Paul’s boarding school in New Hampshire, where his strong moral values, as recalled by Ms Anderson, were quickly noticed by his peers.

“He was an exceptionally serious young man,” recalls Maxwell King, who was a classmate of his for five years at St Paul’s. “He was straight down the line – very purposeful and very dedicated.”

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption A 1962 image of Mueller’s school hockey team in which he wears number 12 and John Kerry, former Secretary of State, wears number 18

He remembers one incident, outside a snack shop in the school, where Mr Mueller showed an early indication of his developing principles.

“Boarding school kids can be very sarcastic,” Mr King explains. “We were making fun of somebody and I remember Bob [Mueller] just getting up and leaving, and making clear that he didn’t like it.

“He sort of shook his head and left.”

This contempt for injustice, and deep-rooted sense of right and wrong, is something that a number of people who know Mr Mueller are keen to point out. Phrases like “law and order man” and “straight-arrow” routinely crop up as descriptions of him.

But Mr King says that Mr Mueller’s unwillingness to join in with the teasing did little to dent his popularity, which was in large part a result of his sporting prowess.

“He was an exceptional soccer, hockey, and lacrosse player,” he says. “I think he was the captain of each one of those three teams.

“He was very much a team player and I think everyone really respected the fact that there was no showboating. It’s very similar to his character today – he was just a very straightforward kind of person.”

What does the special counsel do?

Mr King also stresses the importance the school placed on pursuing public service.

“A lot of us responded to that and wanted to lead lives of service. In Bob’s case… we saw that he was dedicated to the school and to athletics, and a lot of us expected that he would do something in public service when he grew up.”

Their expectations were met when, after studying politics at Princeton University, Mr Mueller enlisted in the Marines and was sent to Vietnam in 1968.

“It was a time when few people that came from the privileged backgrounds that we came from volunteered to go,” Mr King says. “It’s an indication of Bob’s dedication.”

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Robert Mueller served as a Lieutenant in the Marines during the Vietnam War

In a rare interview in 2002, Mr Mueller explained his decision.

“One of the reasons I went into the Marine Corps was because we lost a very good friend, a Marine in Vietnam, who was a year ahead of me at Princeton,” he said.

“There were a number of us who felt we should follow his example.”

As a lieutenant, Mr Mueller led a platoon of troops, was wounded twice in battle, and was awarded numerous commendations including the Bronze Star for bravery.

“Second Lieutenant Mueller fearlessly moved from one position to another with complete disregard for his own safety,” his citation for the award reads.

A one-man rescue mission in Vietnam

The Vietnam battle that destroyed a city

After returning from the war he went to the University of Virginia, where he studied law and graduated in 1973.

A series of legal jobs followed, first in San Francisco and then in Boston, where he worked as a prosecutor and investigated major crimes such as terrorism and international money laundering. In 1990, he joined the Department of Justice before making what some say was a surprising career move.

“He could have gone from [the justice department] to spend the rest of his life making money at a law firm,” says Tim Weiner, author of Enemies: A History of the FBI.

“But instead he became a prosecutor in the Washington DC criminal justice system, which is really kind of an entry level position.

“He felt a moral obligation to fight crime in Washington, which was in the midst of a murder epidemic driven in part by drug wars.”

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Robert Mueller was unanimously confirmed as FBI director in 2001

In August 2001, Mr Mueller, who most pundits viewed as the clear favourite for the position, was unanimously confirmed as FBI director by the Senate. He was sworn in on 4 September, and arrived at the FBI’s headquarters in Washington, DC with a solid reputation that was forged during his time working as a prosecutor in the city.

But exactly one week after he stepped through the door, the 9/11 terror attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people died, transformed his role entirely.

“You can imagine what his second week of work was like,” Mr Weiner says. “The FBI that he took over was a deeply troubled institution… it was 95% white men and it did not serve well in its primary function, which is intelligence.

“What Robert Mueller did during his 12 years as director was to make the FBI a 21st century service and to make it an intelligence service under law.”

Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent who worked with Mr Mueller on counterterrorism after 9/11, agrees.

“He was able to effectively reorganise the FBI from its historical law enforcement focus to an intelligence-driven organisation,” he says.

But his drive to modernise the bureau – which had technology so outdated that its agents could not even email files to one another – ruffled feathers.

“He was compelled because of 9/11 to bring about dramatic change in the FBI, and I can tell you that trying to bring about that change was very tough,” says Lauren Anderson.

“His decisions garnered him a large percentage of agents who thought he was damaging the FBI.”

Ms Anderson adds that the director also frustrated some staff with his unrelenting demand for detail.

“It used to drive people crazy sometimes,” she says. “It was not uncommon for him to request very specific details in a briefing – details that some managers considered minutiae. Then they would feel embarrassed and annoyed if they didn’t have them.”

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Image caption The 9/11 terror attacks happened just one week into Robert Mueller’s tenure as FBI director

Mr Mueller was also criticised for loosening surveillance methods in the wake of 9/11, says Douglas Charles, a professor of US history at Penn State University who specialises in the FBI.

But he also points out that in 2004, when President George W Bush ordered the National Security Agency [NSA] to spy on American citizens as a counterterrorism measure, Mr Mueller threatened to resign – which led the president to eventually back down.

“He was extremely vigilant about the danger that the US could lose its civil liberties in fighting the war on terror,” says Tim Weiner, who spent some time with Mr Mueller in Mexico City shortly before the 2016 election.

So what kind of man did he meet?

“I saw a man who is outwardly very formal, he always wears a button-down shirt, he always wears a dark suit, he dresses as if it were 1956 and Frank Sinatra is on the radio and Eisenhower is in the White House,” he says.

“But beneath that formal exterior is a highly intelligent, highly personable, and intensely focused mind.”

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Media captionWhat does it take to impeach a president?

Much has been made of Mr Mueller’s quiet, low-key, approach to leading the Russia investigation since he was appointed special counsel in May 2017. Very little information has leaked from the inquiry, and he has seldom spoken publicly about it.

“The fact that we’ve heard absolutely nothing from him except court filings is completely consistent with the leader and the man that I knew and worked for,” says Ms Anderson.

“He’s very reluctant when it comes to media because he doesn’t view [the job] as being about him.

“He is speaking through what comes out in the way of indictments, and arrest warrants.”

“There is a kind of virtue to being quiet,” says Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Mr Mueller’s alma mater, Princeton.

“Everyone is loud in this day and age, including the president, everyone is always saying something. By being quiet it just adds to the mystique.

“A lot of people, if they were bashed this badly, would feel the need to correct the record. He has the self-confidence to focus on the job.”

And Mr Mueller has certainly been bashed. President Trump has described him, among other things, as “highly conflicted” and “disgraced”.

But Ms Anderson – who worked under Mr Mueller for his entire tenure as FBI director – doesn’t expect his discreet approach to the investigation to change anytime soon, regardless of how strident the attacks on him become.

“I’d bet a lot on the fact that we’ll never hear from him unless he’s compelled to speak before Congress,” she says.

“He’s going to allow the work to speak for itself.”

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