#six make normal costume decisions challenge

[thequeendomeffect-noah]

A pink super swing was not on my 2025 bingo card but ykw? I kinda dig it. (And again, the WIGS.)

[adiwriting]

(gif by the lovely @darlingnotso)

PSA: As I’ve stated before, I will be putting money towards the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund every time that I post Malex fic. 

********Please don’t reblog*********** 

This is going to be the last Sunday Morning fic for awhile. Leaving it untagged with the hopes that it remains just for my followers and doesn’t attract more harassment. If you want to comment, reply or DM me please instead of reblogging.

Week 16

When the puppies start barking at their usual 6:30am time, Alex instantly regrets all of his life choices. His head is pounding, his leg aches, and his stomach is a mess. It doesn’t help in the slightest that Michael is plastered to his side, hot as hell, and making Alex sweat. 

“Why did we get a dog?” Michael grumbles, nuzzling his nose into Alex’s neck and making him feel even worse. 

“Why did you let us get four?” he asks, pushing at Michael’s body. “And why the hell are you so hot?” 

“‘s cold,” Michael says, throwing his arm over Alex’s stomach. 

Alex pushes him away. “You’re a thousand degrees and I already want to die. Roll over or something.” 

Michael groans and Alex swears he hears him curse under his breath, but he thankfully rolls over and Alex feels like he can breathe a bit as cool air hits his overly heated skin. The relief he feels is only temporary though as his mind then zeroes in on how much his stomach is swirling and twisting. 

The puppies continue to bark. It’s too loud and the sun streaming in through the window is too bright. Everything is just too much right now and Alex needs it to stop. The mattress shifts as Bell jumps up onto the bed, making the world spin and Alex’s stomach does a dangerous tilt. He’s not even sure if he could make it to the bathroom fast enough to throw up if he had to, and so he prays he doesn’t need to. 

Michael loves him, but he doubts Michael would love it if Alex threw up in their bed. 

Bell pushes her head against his shoulder, demanding cuddles. Any other day, Alex would be more than willing to give into her demands. He loves cuddling with Bell in the mornings. But right now, he can’t focus on anything aside from not vomiting. She gives up and moves to do the same to Michael, who lifts his arm up and allows her to crawl on top of him and lay down. 

“Please tell me you’re as hungover as I am,” he complains, closing his eyes against the sun and willing the world to stop. He regrets not springing for blackout curtains when Michael was redoing their bedroom.  

Michael chuckles and it makes the bed shake, causing Alex to groan. “No, but I had about five beers and six shots less than you did,” he says. 

Alex cracks his eyes open just enough to give him a doubtful look. 

“Hey, I’m not the town drunk everyone thinks I am,” Michael protests. “And somebody had to make sure that everyone got home okay. Liz and Max were a mess. Only one of you guys who held their liquor with any dignity was Maria.” 

That’s probably fair. Alex doesn’t remember a lot of last night after the first two hours. Isobel had challenged him to a drinking game that he outright refused to lose on principle. But even the first two hours, he could tell that it was going to be one of those nights. He can’t blame his friends. It’s been a long few weeks of one alien drama after another but yesterday had been a surprisingly drama free Halloween night for them and they’d all just let loose. What he can remember of Michael though, is that he’d taken things slow most of the night, taking on the role of caretaker for everyone. 

“You had fun though, right?” he asks, worried that Michael had perhaps seen it as his duty to take care of everyone else instead of partaking in the fun himself. Part of the argument for having the party at their place was so that they could both enjoy the party rather than having to worry about getting home or taking care of the dogs. 

“Yeah, it was nice,” Michael says with a smile, running his hands over Bell, who looks perfectly content. Alex is jealous. He knows that there are few places more comfortable than Michael’s chest, but right now the thought of being anywhere near the furnace that is Michael sounds awful. 

“Don’t tell Isobel I said that,” Michael adds. “I already told her we are not having Thanksgiving here under any circumstance… Which probably means I should start working on making that table I’ve been wanting to build for out back, because I’m pretty sure my protest means that we’re having Thanksgiving here.”

Alex laughs before it causes his head to pound even more and whines. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.” 

“I bet,” he says. “I’m not sure why you thought you could out drink my sister. On her lightest days she polishes off two bottles of wine a night.” 

“Because she gets annoying and smug when she wins and I refuse to put up with it,” Alex says and Michael just laughs. “Is Bell still wearing her wings?” 

Michael runs his hands over the fairy wings that Bell had worn yesterday as part of her Tinkerbell costume. They’d dressed all the dogs up in Peter Pan costumes to match their namesakes. It had been adorable, if Alex does say so himself.

“She didn’t want to take them off,” Michael says with a shrug. 

“Oh yeah? She tell you that herself?” he teases. 

“As a matter of fact, I tried to take them off last night and she whined and moved away, so yes she did,” Michael says. “And the puppies were asleep when I came back inside so I left their costumes on as well.” 

Alex reaches over tentatively, careful not to move too much of his body so that he doesn’t reignite the nausea, and pets Bell. “She does make a really cute fairy.” 

“Of course she does. She’s the most beautiful fairy in the world,” he agrees, lifting his head to kiss Bell’s nose. She licks his face in return. Michael turns to look at him, “Look at what Rosa taught her yesterday when they were both hiding out in here.” Michael looks back at Bell and says, “I do believe in fairies.” 

Bell howls twice as if to say, ‘I do, I do.’ 

Alex smiles, holding back his laugh for fear of making his stomach twist even more. Bell’s howl causes the puppies to go crazy from their spot in the kitchen though and suddenly everything is far less cute. Alex’s head pounds and he’s back to hating the world and wanting to curl up and die. 

“I guess I should go walk them since you’re clearly useless today,” Michael says. 

Alex throws his arm over his eyes and doesn’t bother arguing. 

He hears Bell protest before the bed shifts again, making Alex suck in a breath as he fights against his body’s urge to hurl. “Why don’t you try and shower? I’ll bring you breakfast in bed when I get back from walking them.” 

“Can we spend the entire day in bed?” Alex asks, hopefully. 

“I’ll even let you pick the movies we watch today,” he promises, placing a kiss to Alex’s forehead. 

“You smell like a distillery,” Michael says. 

Alex has a flash of Isobel breaking out a bottle of whiskey as they played Two Truths and a Lie with Maria. He’s sure that he’s got liquor coming out of his pores at this point. He doesn’t even remember the last time he drank this much. Perhaps the one time he’d gotten plastered before shipping off to Iraq the last time? The time they’d gotten into that nasty fight over Alex’s decision not to tell Michael he was being deployed again. Michael had had to hear it from Maria and had been none too pleased. 

Michael flips on the light and Alex whines. “I regret all of my life choices.” 

“Surely not all of them,” he teases. 

“Why didn’t you stop me last night?” Alex asks. 

Michael snorts. “Oh, I tried. Several times. You told me that you were a grown ass man who didn’t need a babysitter.” 

Alex grimaces, he doesn’t remember saying that, but he’s sure he probably did. “Sorry.” 

“You’re fine,” he says. “Max was way worse and far less cute while telling me to back off. You’re good.”

“It doesn’t sound like you had a good night,” Alex says, pushing Michael despite his earlier words, wanting to make sure that he truly did enjoy himself and wasn’t miserable.

“I promise, I enjoyed myself,” he says. “Rosa and I had a nice long talk. She’s gonna start working at the junkyard for me. I wouldn’t mind having somebody help run the office side of things. She loves her dad but needs some independence.” 

“That’s understandable,” Alex says. 

“Yeah, then Liz and I nerded out over science before Max stole her away. Kyle, Maria, and I played poker and I won $150. And I ended up watching Hocus Pocus for the first time and making cookies with Rosa once everyone got too shitfaced to form coherent sentences.” 

“You’ve never seen Hocus Pocus?” Alex asks, shocked. 

“Okay, first of all, why does everyone react like that when I say that? I watched it last night with Rosa and it was cute but it does not deserve that reaction out of people,” he says, grumpily. “And second of all, you know that I didn’t have any of that shit growing up.” 

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Alex says, kicking himself for always doing that. Always reacting to experiences Michael says he didn’t have growing up with shock. Alex knows better. He himself grew up in a home void of normal childhood experiences. But he had the Ortechos and the DeLucas to help give him happy holiday memories. He always assumes that Michael had that in the Evans family, but he’s regularly proven wrong. 

“Hey, listen, go walk the dogs,” Alex says. “I’ll hop in the shower. After breakfast we can watch all the holiday movies you never got to see growing up.” 

“Can we start with Home Alone?” he asks, that light, happy tone back in his voice. 

“Of course, followed up by A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” Alex promises. 

Forty-Five minutes later, the entire family is piled in their bed, warm and comfortable. Alex is slowly eating the pancakes that Michael prepared him, keeping his plate away from Peter’s thieving paws as best he can. His stomach is starting to settle and his headache is muted thanks to the ibuprofen that Michael left for him before he took the dogs on their walk. Home Alone is playing on the TV screen and Michael is curled up with a sleeping Bell and John, smiling soft and content. 

And right here, in this exact moment? Life feels utterly perfect.

[kittinoir]

Echoes of You Ch. 9

Read on Ao3

“I’m going to design something based on Ladybug’s new suit.”

Marinette grinned, glancing over at Alya as they swayed with the metro as it took a graceful turn beneath the banks of the Seine. They were headed for Trocadero Gardens to work on Mme. Bustier’s latest fashion assignment: formal wear inspired by the heroes of Paris. Alya had suggested the Gardens, and though it was Marinette’s secret place for inspiration, she found she wanted to share the space. She’d missed her best friend. 

“Long black gloves?” Marinette suggested with a knowing look. “Ombre skirt?”

Alya shook her head but stifled a giggle. “It’s like you read my mind, girl. Kinda obvious I guess, but…”

“I think it’s sweet!” Marinette said. “You’ve been a staunch supporter of Ladybug since the first day. You’ve been running the Ladyblog for a year and a half. A Ladybug gown only makes sense.”

“What about you?” Alya asked, tugging on her bag strap. “A stunning gown inspired by Rena Rouge? Or maybe Ryoku? You always love a challenge.”

Marinette shrugged. “I was actually thinking something inspired by Chat Noir.”

“Seriously?” Alya said, eyes wide behind her glasses. “You think he’s the lamest thing since, like, creation.”

“I do not!” Marinette said. “I think he’s…well, I think he’s really cool. And funny. And sweet. And the way he fights is just…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Alya held up her hand in front of Marinette’s face. “Since when do you have a crush on Chat Noir? What happened to Adrien?”

“A crush?” Marinette repeated. “I do not have a crush on Chat Noir!” But she felt a familiar blush creeping across her cheeks as her heart kicked into double-time. 

“Uh-huh.” Alya raised a single brow, eyeing the red stain. “I can see that.”

“Seriously!” Marinette said, but Alya just winked and went back to scrolling through her blog for inspiration.

She did not have a crush on that…that tom cat. There was no way. Her heart was dedicated to Adrien, one hundred thousand per cent. He was the first thing she thought of when she woke up and the last thing she thought of before going to sleep. She still swooned every time he smiled.

So what was up with her heart doing the tippy-tappy thing over Chat Noir!? She could tell Alya whatever she wanted to; Marinette knew what it meant. She didn’t not have a crush on Chat Noir.

Marinette stifled a sigh as they arrived at Trocadero and she followed Alya off the train. Maybe designing a gown inspired by Chat Noir would be a mistake. Maybe she should focus on one of the other heroes intstead. Rena Rouge did have a beautiful colour palette.

“Let me know if you have any, uhm, questions,” Alya said as they walked to the gardens. “About…well, you know.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “The Miraculous.”

A crease appeared between Marinette’s brows. “…Questions?”

“Yeah,” Alya said with a nod. “I know you had that whole…thing a few weeks ago.”

“Thing?” Now she was really confused. “What thing?”

It was Alya’s turn to frown. “The thing. The thing where you forgot all about the super heroes? Hawkmoth? The Miraculous? You called me totally freaking out.”

Marinette tried to comb through the last few weeks in her memory, but nothing jumped out at her as out of the ordinary or suspicious. She’d missed one or two akuma attacks, but she’d seen them later on the news or on Alya’s blog. She used to get a thousand notifications on her phone whenever one happened, but she’d disabled them; they were way more annoying than they were helpful. She didn’t even remember downloading half the apps.

Finally Marinette shrugged. “Must have just been stress,” she said as the picked a spot to start working. “You know how I get sometimes.”

“Not really,” Alya said slowly. “Not like this.”

“Oh.” Marinette bit her lip, but she was still coming up empty. “I’m sorry if I worried you.”

“Worried me?” Alya squinted at her friend as they sank onto a bench near some rose bushes. “How many heroes are there?”

Marinette frowned. “Trick question, Alya. Obviously Ladybug and Chat Noir are the main duo, but there a team of six other heroes that help them out from time to time.”

“Trick question you answered wrong,” Alya said triumphantly. “There are seven others.”

Marinette made a face. “I wasn’t really counting Chloe, but sure, I guess, technically seven.”

Alya seemed surprised but let it go. “Ok, who are they fighting?”

“Hawkmoth,” Marinette answered immediately, “But he sometimes has help from Mayura. Ooh, she has a great costume. Do you think Mme. Bustier would let me do a design based on her instead of one of the heroes?”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Never mind,” she said, flipping open her notebook. “It was clearly fever-induced hysteria.”

“Sorry,” Marinette said. She nudged her friend with her shoulder. “Seriously though, I’m fine. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

Alya gave Marinette a half-hearted smile. “You just scared me, girl. I’m glad you’re…well, feeling better, I guess.”

“Right as rain,” Marinette promised. Alya just shook her head, either in fake exasperation or real exasperation, Marinette wasn’t totally sure which, then dove into her sketch. 

Marinette opened her own sketch book, flipping past old designs of derby hats and reception dresses until she came to a blank page. She pulled a pencil out, but she hesitated before putting lead to paper. She had to decide before she started. She only hesitated for a moment more before committing to the design that had been flickering around her mind since the homework had been assigned. Besides, if she didn’t like it, she could always change it later.

She began with the bodice, sketching out the silhouette of a cheongsam. Marinette had discovered some time ago that she enjoyed infusing her designs with aspects of her culture from her mothers’ side.

She followed the simple and elegant lines down to the floor in a fit and flare skirt, forsaking the yards of fabric and billowing skirts she normally favoured. While his suit had more embellishments than Ladybug’s, they were few, far between, and utilitarian. Well, she thought, smiling to herself as she added a bell to the collar, almost. 

Marinette scrawled notes in to the side of the design indicating colour and texture, then tilted her head as she considered what she had. She liked the silhouette, but many cheongsams had some floral design embroidered across the fabric. There was also the matter of the belt. She added a modest slit to the skirt on the left that came up to the knees while she thought on it.

Before she reached a decision, alarmed shouts erupted around them. Marinette twisted, her sketchbook falling to the paving stones, as she searched for the source. Sure enough, Alya’s phone erupted with at least six notifications, alerting them to an akuma attack in the area.

“Score!” Alya cheered, shoving her book back in her bag. “Talk about inspiration!”

“I don’t think it’s normal to be that happy about someone else’s misfortune,” Marinette chided, but Alya had already set her phone to record.

“Are you coming with me this time, girl?” Alya asked, but as she spoke the paving stones beneath them began to rumble.

“I don’t think I’ll have to,” Marinette said, her voice vibrating with the impact. “I think whatever it is is coming to us!”

Sure enough, something exploded from the ground mere feet away from them, showering stone and dirt in a 5 metre radius, a black rose clutched in its hand. Marinette and Alya ducked, wincing as small pebbles pelted them. Alya shrieked as a larger stone ricocheted off her phone with a loud crack and the screen went black.

“My phone!” Alya smacked the side of the device, trying to get it to light up again while Marinette watched in horror as the monster turned towards the noise. “My phone!”

“Alya!” Marinette leapt at her friend, tackling her out of the way as the monster crashed towards them. It missed them by a wide margin, and a second later, Marinette could see why: its eyes were clouded over. Either this thing was blind, or could see very little.

“Time to go,” Marinette said. She grabbed Alya by the wrist and tugged her after her as she sprinted back towards the train station.

“But Marinette, my blog - ”

“These things are dangerous, Alya!” Marinette snapped as her friend tugged her to a stop. “Why don’t you get that!”

“Dangerous?!” Alya sniped back. “Ladybug’s miracle cure always fixes everything !”

Marinette wanted to rip her hair out. “But what if it doesn’t? What if she loses? She’s just a girl, Alya, and Hawkmoth is getting closer and closer to cornering her! Do you even realize how much pressure you put on her by putting yourself in danger like this?”

For once Alya seemed to be at a loss for words. “I.. I just…”

Marinette knew. She wanted to be a reporter. She admired Ladybug so much. She loved superheroes. She wanted to be a part of the team. She wanted to help do what was right.

“Come on,” Marinette said, “Let’s head for the roof of the Musée de la Marine. It’ll be safer and you can probably still see what’s going on.”

Alya said nothing, but let Marinette pull her along again. They hadn’t gotten very far, however, when the monster exploded from the ground again, closer this time.

“I WANT THE MIRACULOUS,” it shrieked. It writhed , and before they could react, it pounced on Alya, burrowing back into the ground with her trapped between its hideous arms.

“Alya!” Marinette clawed at the ground where they’d disappeared, but the dirt sifted through her fingers, empty. She whipped around as the monster burst from the ground again, thirty metres away. Alya was no where in sight.

“Give her back,” Marinette shrieked. She seized a large rock by her foot and flung it with all her strength. A small part of her was surprised when the rock actually nailed the thing in the forehead, but it was swept away in the flood of her rage. She grabbed another rock, and another, pelting the monster’s wide body as it searched wildly for her. It dove suddenly, and Marinette flung herself to the side, scraping her arms and cheeks on the rough stones as the akuma resurfaced where she’d been crouched.

“Lucky Charm!”

Marinette threw her arms over her head protectively as the battle cry rang throughout the gardens. She could see the shadow of the monster arcing towards her, and then she was flying, the Trocadero Gardens far below.

“Nice aim,” a voice said in her ear. “I think the akuma’s still shaking.”

Marinette looked up into the face of Chat Noir, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck as she put the pieces together.

“It took Alya,” she blurted, and she was embarrassed to discover she was tearing up. “It took her, please, you have to - ”

“We’ll get her back, Marinette,” Chat Noir promised as they landed somewhere new in the gardens. He gave her a crooked smile. “I swear on one of my nine lives.”

“It’s holding a rose,” Marinette rambled as he set her legs back under her. “I think that’s where the akuma’s hiding. It’s in its right fist.”

Chat Noir’s grin actually faltered. “What - How do you know that?”

“The rose was black.” Marinette turned back towards the monster, as though she could see it from where she was. She couldn’t, but faint dirt clouds marked where it was hiding. “There aren’t any black roses grown here. I wouldn’t be surprised if the monster  is actually a gardener here.”

Chat Noir nodded, squeezing her shoulder. “Thank you, Marinette. We’ll get your friend back.”

He extended his baton and used it to vault back towards the action. Marinette crouched by a near by bush, making sure to note whether or not the ground was shaking, but it seemed Ladybug and Chat Noir were keeping the villain well occupied. Minutes later a red cloud burst from where the fight had taken place. She could hear the cheers of people nearby. 

Marinette began to straighten but froze as a small cloud of ladybugs sought her out and swirled around her face and arms. It was only then she truly noticed the scrapes, but as she watched, they faded. Seconds later they disappeared altogether. Still, the ladybugs danced over her skin, tickling, caressing, comforting, almost as though greeting an old friend, but slowly their light began to fade. They only lasted moments more, and then they, too, vanished with a small, red sparkle.

[rantshemlock]

you heard it right folks, for the second year in a row i watched 

Every Halloween Film

it took around 18 hours. there are eleven movies now after all. next year there will be twelve, and next year i will throw myself into the river thames if i make myself watch Rob Zombie’s Halloween II again. 

this time i wrote it out as a journal. it is a mess. i will not edit it. if you read the entire thing you dont get a prize. im very, very tired. i watched eleven movies today. i like five of them. 

9:27- I boot up Halloween (1978). I don’t know if this is the movie I’ve seen the most in my life, but I’ve certainly seen it dozens of times, and it never loses its impact. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m reading into micro-expressions on actors’ faces and I don’t know how much any of this was ever intended, but it certainly enhances my own reading of the film. I catch the expression of slight annoyance on Judith’s face when Michael walks into her room; it’s clear she had just no idea this was coming.

9:37- The staging of the opening of Halloween is so like a nightmare, a comparison I keep using this year for the movies I watch, but there’s a sense of being placed in the immediacy of what’s happening with no context and a burden of responsibility that only exists in dreams in the first few opening scenes. You don’t know where you are or what you’re supposed to be doing, but something huge and terrible is happening and the thick, dark shadows combined with the pale white-blue light the film uses makes everything emerge out of the black but never truly divorce itself from the darkness.

The way Loomis talks about Michael like some kind of animal is such a point of fixation for me. He calls Michael ‘it’ and wants ‘it’ to be locked up for life. Maybe it’s just being of a crazy persuasion myself but being the responsibility of a doctor who despises you and refers to you as an untreatable evil doesn’t feel like it would be much help to me. I just don’t think Loomis is a great doctor, is my point.

Laurie’s introduction is such a surge of light in a film that has up until now been shot almost exclusively in darkness. We are shown someone good, normal, happy, but the long, distant shots mean we are not accompanying her on this journey from her perspective; we are following her. Halloween legend suggests Michael doesn’t start stalking Laurie until she approaches the Myers’ house, but it feels like his eyes are lingering on her long before she does that. He casts a long shadow over her life before she even knows he exists.

9:42- The fact the film approaches the idea that it doesn’t make sense Michael would know how to drive a car but doesn’t explain it at all is weirdly funny. Just fuck it man, he can drive.

9:45: I really love the focus on Michael as a physical being. The fact we see him touch someone with his hands, open a car, steer while driving, run his hand over a fence… All of this adds a sense of Michael being tangible that I think is so vital. Michael Myers is a human being, not a demon, and that’s precisely why he is scary. Halloween as always meant to be a movie about the person next door; the fear comes from the fact that something inside your apparently nice, normal neighbourhood is rotten to the core. Laurie herself is incredibly on edge almost from the start; she knows something is wrong. She just hasn’t figured out what yet.

9:57- The gravekeeper’s insistence that something like this happens in every town is probably right on the money. It’s definitely what the film wants you to understand. The apparent nicety of your hometown doesn’t mean it’s free of violence, only that you’re trained not to notice it.

10:01- at exactly 0:33:16 Michael drives by in the background right behind Loomis without Loomis noticing, which is hysterically funny to me. I imagine Michael finds this incredibly funny too.

10:02- Laurie saying she’d “rather go to the dance with Ben Traimor” smacks of being a teenager and gay and saying the name of the first kid you know who’s nice to you because you guess that’s what having a crush is?

10:05- Loomis’ insistence at 0:37:12 that Michael killed and ate a dog raw is incredible to me. Also, I can’t say “Michael raw dog” to my friends without them screaming hysterically at me. They’re fuckers, and I hate them

10:07- From Loomis’ description, he met Michael when Michael was six, already condemned by the doctors as an incurable patient, and stopped treating Michael and turned to insisting he be locked up by the time Michael was fourteen. I think about this a lot.

10:13- “I’m not about to let anything happen to you.” I’m always very touched by Laurie’s immediate assertion of her position as a protector of children.

10:19- Lindsay caring literally only about watching horror movies is incredibly relatable. Truly a hero I can finally understand.

10:28- The house across the street, Lindsay’s house, is almost as haunting as the Myers house itself. It’s certainly a beautiful spectacle, the huge white building with its pillars and vast, blank windows, looming out of the darkness like a moon-lit tombstone. Laurie always seems so lonely when she watches it from the outside.

10:33- The head tilt after Michael pins Bob to the wall is so fucking iconic. It’s the first time it was done, I believe, and while it’s a cliché now it’s still chilling. The way Michael just studies Bob’s corpse, thoughts completely unable to be interpreted. The fact he turfs up in a ghost costume wearing Bob’s glasses moments later is so strange; there’s really no reason he would do that at all, other than the idea he finds it funny. There’s more showmanship to what Michael does than people recognise a lot of the time, I think. It’s like he really wants his work to be seen.

10:43- The shot of Annie on the bed under Judith’s tombstone has to be one of the most beautiful shots in the franchise. The perfect arrangement made just for Laurie to walk in on and experience in one precise way is so meticulous. Michael’s obsessiveness nature manifest in so many ways. The final showdown between Michael and Laurie is only around ten minutes long but it’s an incredible endurance test of a scene; the way Michael grows out of the shadows like he’s being formed within them is still beautiful and terrifying.

I think a really underrated part of this sequence that makes it so frightening is how Laurie is pointedly not alone; the neighbourhood she’s in is populated, and there are people around her. But when she runs to the neighbours for help, screaming and banging on the doors, they choose to ignore her. Seeing something they don’t like in their neighbourhood, they shut it out.

10:50- the closet scene is an incredible piece of filmmaking. There’s really never been anything before or since. I love art with a lot of lines and shadows and seeing the shadow of Michael moments before he breaks through the door is so haunting.

10:52- Laurie desperate and holding the knife in her hands is stunning. I love her.

10:54- I love the brief glimpse of seeing Michael’s face and how it stops him dead in his tracks. The fact he looks so painfully normal is so important too.

10:55- There’s a lot to be said about Loomis confirming Michael is ‘the Boogeyman’. I think Michael’s definite physical humanity in this movie is so important because it contrasts so strongly against the dehumanisation of him by the characters around him. We can only accept there’s a nightmare inside our neighbourhoods if we choose to believe it isn’t natural to it; that someone like that could not form there, but must have been artificially summoned, like a demon. Later movies and the remakes run with this idea; that Michael is somehow an outsider, but I think that defeats the entire point. Michael is part of this world just as much as Laurie is, whether we want to believe it or not.

10:57- I should be starting Halloween II but unfortunately, I have to go to the pharmacy. It might be Halloween, but prescription medications wait for no slasher villain.

11:13- I start watching Halloween II (1981). I like that this movie starts off with Mr Sandman. Horror movies having nursery rhymes in them now is another cliché, but this is such an interesting pick for Michael. I suppose it fits with him being the Boogeyman; he’s a creature of nightmares that slinks into our homes only through dreams. Allegedly.

I like the decision to pick this movie up right after the last one stopped, something that it looks like 2020’s Halloween Kills will be duplicating. It just makes a straightforward kind of sense.

11:21- The hysteria of Loomis screaming “I shot him six times!” over and over is sort of funny and sort of sick. There’s a slight traumatised, obsessive lunacy in Loomis the same as there is in Michael. I like the parallels between them. Loomis raised Michael more than Michael’s own parents did; it makes sense he’d have a lingering affect.

11:23- The shots from Michael’s perspective both in the first movie and this one are great. I love that we’re challenged to be inside his mind. We follow Michael a lot in this early opening. There’s an obvious strategy to his actions in this film, but the randomness of his kills are new. In the first movie, all the kills either get him something or revolve around Laurie. In this one, he kind of just does whatever, a theme that carries on for the rest of the movie.

11:24- A difference I don’t like so much in this movie is that the neighbours are so much more keyed into each other; they pay attention to the screaming and the strange noises, watch out for things that look out of place. I feel like it clashes with the first movie’s themes of isolation simply through your neighbours not caring what happens to you.

11:32- Ben Traimor getting hit by a cop car which crashes into a van and then explodes is one of the funniest fucking things that’s ever happened in this franchise. It is so completely fucking inexplicable and suddenly violent and pointless that it becomes hysterical, which is unfortunate given it’s meant to be a serious scene.

The breakdown scene that follows, where the Sheriff Brackett finds his daughter Annie is dead however is excellent. Charles Cyphers manages to carry the weight of the tragedy pretty effectively for a film that can veer into the goofy too easily, and Dr Loomis’ more measured delivery on his beliefs about Myers is Donald Pleasance at his best.

Halloween II isn’t any longer than Halloween, but the pacing is worse. It lets go of the original’s constant, haunting tension and delivers a sloppier movie as a result, too padded with side characters and people passing through the world with no consequence. The character of Brett is probably one of the most obnoxious characters in the franchise, which is saying a lot.

11:46- Laurie literally not knowing it was Michael Myers who was after her until she’s told is weirdly sad. Like of course she didn’t know, but it’s still sad. She feels very small and vulnerable in this movie, very lost in the big, empty hospital. The fact her parents are inexplicably missing and never shows up makes me crazy. I always wonder if there was a dropped plot thread where Michael was meant to have killed them, or something, because there’s really no explanation.

11:53- The musical stings in this movie are so odd. They’re too bleepy. Don’t know what the hell happened.

11:55- I take the laptop into the kitchen to make a sandwich while I watch the movie. It’s early for lunch but I don’t eat breakfast and I can actively feel my braincells hurting me.

12:01- I’m fascinated by the shots in this of the faint dream Laurie has of seeing a boy in the hospital when she was a child. I can never decide if these are real or not; if she’s unlocking some strange, contextless memory from childhood or just imagining it, instinctively feeling the connection between her and Michael without knowing the truth.

12:04- Bud’s off-screen death is so unsatisfying. Also, so continues the trend of Michael being mistaken for people’s boyfriends. Guess he’s just boyfriend material. Seems unbelievable to me she wouldn’t notice how dirty his hands are, though. And Jesus, the boiling her to death kill is really pretty brutal and graphic, after kills in the first few movies are so relatively restrained.

12:07- Michael writing SAMHAIN on the wall is so over the top. Yeah, I can believe he’s fucking 21 years old. Michael is a performance art student.

12:09- Laurie having Michael’s ability to go deadly still and silent is neat. I like them having links. They’re siblings after all. Runs in Myers family.

12:11- The needle into the side of the head kill is bizarre. Also, the head-tilt here feels cheap. I have already started stealing candy from the bowl intended for trick-or-treaters. In my defence, I could, and I wanted it.

12:20- I like that Laurie has an instinct to run, hide and defend herself. I don’t know if it’s the trauma of surviving or a prenatural sense that Michael is coming for her, but I like it. I don’t like that this entire movie is like twenty minutes longer than it needs to be, or how little Laurie is actually in it.

12:28- The reveal that Laurie is Michael’s sister is so great. It fits so well. I say bullshit to anyone who doesn’t like it. The repetition and obsessiveness of Michael’s behaviour, the strange links and parallels between Laurie and Michael. The fact that the two of them are just as much parts of Haddonfield as each other. It just feels right for them to be related. They are related.

12:31- Laurie crawling on the street begging for help as Loomis ignores her again – this man is truly useless.

12:33- Michael walking directly through a glass door is hysterical.

12:38- Laurie calling Michael’s name, stopping him for a second, blinding him with a shot… This last sequence is fantastic. There’s an enormous amount of pity in seeing Michael blindly stumbling around, swinging his knife, unable to see but still so desperate to kill. The fact she stops him by calling his name is great. The way it almost, for a second, perks some recognition inside him. I think a lot about Michael’s sense of identity. Who does he think he is? I guess we’re never going to find out.

12:43- Halloween III: Season of the Witch time. There’s a trend now of saying this is really the best Halloween movie. I can’t really argue with people’s personal takes, but there’s always a sense to that to me of denying the classic to favour the underdog. People love an underdog. But Halloween III definitely does kind of rule. As much conspiracy thriller as it is horror movie, Halloween III is deeply weird and creative, but packed with great performances and truly memorable special effects, with a killer soundtrack to boot.

1:11- Halloween III is so distinct feeling; it almost feels like a John Carpenter movie, but more like The Thing than Halloween. The film is less aesthetically distinct than Halloween; it takes place over days, in many locations, following the characters as they dig into the conspiracy behind the menacing Silver Shamrock company. It’s well-written and often pretty witty and builds an incredible sense of menace and strangeness. The little company town surrounding the Silver Shamrock factory is bizarre and frightening and although the film can be a little heavy-handed in its depiction of a surveillance state, it certainly builds up atmosphere.

1:20- The scene of the old drunk being taken out by the corporate men in black rules in how suddenly violent and horrible it is. We love a horror movie.

1:26- Some of the digital effects leave a little to be desired but god the practical effects are fucking incredible, and so goddamn memorable and horrible.

1:33- The over-the-top niceness of the Silver Shamrock owner is so pitch-perfect. He’s so nice that it’s obviously, blatantly menacing. What owner of a big corporation like this just gives shit away for free? I mean, come on. I really love the apparent legends that surround him, though, the reputation of being a genius and a great man.

1:48- The complete calmness with which the whole plan gets revealed is so good because you really sense how fucking little threat our heroes pose; no one here thinks they have a chance in hell of stopping Silver Shamrock. The plan in itself is absurd, but like, who cares. It’s fun. The fact Cochran is like, delighted to show off his big ideas because he’s so confident nothing will stop them. And in a way he’s right; at least partially, the heroes do ultimately fail.

2:00- the speech Cochran delivers about the power of Samhain rules. It’s so intense and menacing. Fucking great performance here.

2:07- As much as I like the ending, I think how much it drags on kind of kills some of the tension. Feels like it could have been cut back. The imagery at the very end is fantastic though; it’s so weird. The way this movie embraces strangeness is great; I’ll always take a film that tries to be something different and weird over anything that plays it safe.

2:20- Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Jesus we’re starting down a dark path now. Halloween 4 is pretty thoroughly ‘ok’ and even has a couple of good moments but God. The decision to return to just being about Michael Myers after risking and flopping with an anthology movie is fine by me, but Halloween 4 plays it as safe as possible and lacks any of the flair or charm of the original. It just doesn’t have any style, and the forced drama falls short. Jamie Lee Curtis’ absence also feels like a sucking void in the film; it’s too painfully obvious that she was meant to be in this movie, and the fact she isn’t, the fact she died off-screen in some completely nondescript way is so depressing. The filmmakers assumed no one watching gave a shit about Laurie, and that’s so wrong and so disheartening.

2:25- the other doctors hating Loomis really adds to my reading of him as a man on the brink. He must be insufferable to know.

2:30- It really feels so painfully fucking unfair that Laurie would go through so much to just die in a random car accident. Or maybe there’s a kind of poetry in her dying without Michael’s involvement; just part of her own life.

2:36- Donald Pleasance is such a mensch. As stupid as these movies get, he never stopped bringing his fucking A-game and giving them as much respect and gravitas as he could. What a fucking legend.

2:41- Loomis seeing Michael in the diner is so fucking good. Loomis’ quiet pleading, asking Michael not to go back to Haddonfield but just take him instead, the quiet God damn you. Such a great moment. Would be better if Michael didn’t just suddenly teleport out of the room with no explanation, but you can’t have it all.

2:42- Why are later Halloween movies so fond of explosions.

2:43- The kids literally chanting ‘Jamie’s an orphan’ at her is incredible. Not in a good way.

2:50- I fetch the kitten to keep him on my lap because my house is colder than Michael Myers’ black heart.

2:55- Michael looking at Laurie’s photos… Ugh.

2:56- Why do people not just believe Loomis when he says Michael is back. We have this thread every week, comrade.

3:06- Michael just kinda standing around in the background doesn’t really do much in terms of fear. It’s just silly. And his mask looks ridiculous.

3:12- This film is a masterclass in failing to raise tension.

3:23- There’s an attempt to manufacture conflict by having the police clash with a group baying for mob justice, but it all feels completely inert. Nothing in the film carries any weight or drama, and the tension is all derived from using familiar music stings to try and kick your brain into recognising it’s an appropriate place to feel something.

3:25- The kitten bites me, drinks my water, and goes to sit in a box instead. I hate him. The kill where Michael stabs someone through the gut with a shotgun and pins them to the wall is the most flagrantly absurd thing I’ve ever seen. The fact she’s immediately found also really kills the tension. Also why is Michael so fucking strong. He’s so strong.

3:31- I can see the intention with the roof scene, but there’s too much unintentional comedy and Michael is so unthreatening that it doesn’t hold together at all. I especially hate how Michael will just suddenly appear out of nowhere; the first movie utilises his forming out of the shadows so well, but it doesn’t fucking work the same if he’s just there, in a formerly empty and well-lit corridor. He’s not being beamed in by a spaceship.

3:39- God this film is slow. Michael’s hands look absolutely terrifically fucked up. I wish Laurie was here.

3:41- It is insufferable how this film has like ten climaxes. Jamie running to inspect Michael really just doesn’t make any sense. I understand why the filmmakers did it, but it doesn’t make sense. They allude to some connection between the two, but it’s really underplayed and doesn’t pay out well when so much of the movie is her being flatly scared of him. They could have – and should have – acted more on the idea of her finding some sort of familiar connection between them. Famously, the movie ends with the idea Jamie might have somehow inherited Michael’s drive to murder, but the plot thread disappointingly gets dropped after this movie.

3:47- It’s time for Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. God, this movie is such a non-entity in the franchise. It doesn’t have 6’s turbulent history or 4’s dramatic ending. It just like, occurs. It occupies space and time. It tries to further the connection between Jamie and Michael, turning it into something psychic and supernatural, and begins to introduce elements of the Cult of Thorne before that takes over as the plot of 6, but none of it is interesting and I also hate the attempt to make Halloween a supernatural franchise.

4:04- The totally legal for sure stream I’m using starts fucking up so everything takes a break while I find somewhere else to watch it.

4:05- Contemplate if life is worth it.

4:06- Film returns. It’s not worth it.

4:27- If screaming at kids was always Dr Loomis’ brand of psychiatry no wonder he couldn’t help Michael.

4:30- You really need to put in more effort than this if you want to make someone being murdered in broad daylight scary. If you’re not putting in the kind of effort Midsommar does to sell the death, you aren’t gonna get there. Halloween as a franchise seems obnoxiously dedicated to doing shit in the middle of the fucking day, for something who built the power of the original scares so much off of the quiet and darkness of the shadows.

4:39- Imagine leaving a traumatised child alone because you want to get laid. Tina’s character is fucking absurd. There are far too much entirely interchangeable faces in this movie screaming incoherently.

4:57- The scene of Michael desperately trying to run Jamie over with a car while the camera swings around hysterically and then the car inexplicably exploding is like peak mid-sequel Halloween. It really exemplifies how much the franchise started relying on noise and flash instead of like, being scary.

5:02- Loomis begging Michael to ‘fight the rage that drives you’ and saying that killing will never drive the anger out is too little too late, ain’t it. I like the idea of an appeal to his emotions but there’s so little emotional weight to the rest of the movie that it fails to maintain a meaningful tone. All the moments where Jamie is communing with Michael are supposed to drive tension I guess, but it mostly is just very silly.

5:09- Every set in this movie look so much like a set. Considering the first movie was just shot in a house I don’t understand why they didn’t do the same. I like the prospect of Loomis trying to talk to Michael, to get through to him emotionally, but seeing Michael just standing there in the really goofy fucking mask they gave him this film is just ridiculous. Donald Pleasance can only do so much.

5:19- Again we return to the idea of getting through to Michael emotionally. Jamie calls him uncle and asks for him to take his mask off. He does, even. But there doesn’t feel like there’s any understanding of who Michael is; there’s no consistent psychology or examination, only the gut feeling that family has to be important. But we know how Michael feels about family, and it’s not tender. He speaks his own language.

5:21- Where the fuck did Loomis even get a giant chain net and tranquiliser drafts.

5:25- Sure why wouldn’t a guy with a machine gun show up and just start slaughtering everyone like who the fuck cares.

5:28- I take a break to gather my thoughts and feelings emotionally so I can handle watching Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers.

5:32- I change the cat litter to avoid watching Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers.

5:40- I start Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers.

5:50- The woman calls into radio station and says she’s in love with Michael Myers is the only person in this film I respect.

5:51- The decision to bring back Tommy Doyle as a conspiracy theorist who’s obsessed with Michael is a great concept, which is why I’m glad Tommy Doyle is in Halloween Kills so I never have to say Halloween 6 makes a point again. Paul Rudd (yes, that Paul Rudd) is shockingly terrible in this movie, and also, I don’t like him as an actor, so nothing about this performance endears him to me. I have no fucking idea what they directed him to do. It is miserable.

6:01- I am straight up not having a good time bro.

6:03- This is the only Halloween movie in a long time to actually try and show off its location; Halloween 5 could be set literally anywhere and is unfollowable, but Halloween 6 at least attempts to ground the movie in Haddonfield and show that this is a normal neighbourhood. Unfortunately, this movie takes place in nonsense magic doo-doo land so any attempt to ground us in anything is a waste of fucking time.

6:13- There’s a lot of reasons I don’t like this movie; I think the additions of mythology are absurd and go against the themes of the original, the conclusion is dumb as hell, the story is boring. It isn’t scary and it isn’t well-shot or well-written. But on a more abstract level, I hate its schlock, cheap understanding of what obsession and trauma does to someone. I fucking loathe that it uses rape as a shock tactic and how much abuse it puts its female characters through for no catharsis.

6:50- This curry I’m eating sucks ass. I want that on the record.

7:22- Jesus fucking Christ it’s finally time for Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. I love this movie. I love it for the ambition it had. It might not be a as fully realised examination of trauma after time as Halloween (2018) is, but I admire it for its vision. It doesn’t try to mimic the style of the first film, and I guess there’s a certain loss in aesthetic as it’s more akin to Scream or other fairly uniform 90s slasher movies in appearance, but it’s a far more confident movie than the other middling Halloween sequels. It has a clear understanding of what it wants the movie to be and is genuinely tense and thrilling because of that, as well as more readily grounded in reality. It has a genuine respect for the original that others fail to and tries to build an original film that follows it in a meaningful sense.  

7:56- Laurie is really condemned to be around people who don’t listen to her but as much of a horrible little punk shit her son is, narratives about inherited or family trauma make me go insane, so this all affects me still.

8:01- I like the discussion of fate in Frankenstein as parallel to the discussion of fate in the first movie. It’s silly, but I like it, and that’s on me.

8:07- One of the smartest moves this film makes is using its own score. A lot of the middling sequels just lift from the original without any care, but H20 puts in some effort into building up some actual atmosphere.

8:13- I like that Laurie is a mess but still holding it together. She’s jumpy and always watching, with a bottle of alcohol a little too close beside her. It’s not exactly the most monumental depiction of lifelong trauma, but the film makes an effort. I love its effort. I love Jamie Lee Curtis as well.

8:26- This film brings back a theatricality to the presentations of Michael’s victims that I feel the movies sorely lack. If it doesn’t look like an art project why bother? I was going to say I wish there was more development of the relationship with Michael and his nephew, but I don’t. I want more Laurie. Love Laurie.

8:28- Michael’s not good with keys. I love the fact that his hands and eyes are so clear, though. It brings back that kind of essential physicality he had in the original. Him making contact with Laurie, the shot of the two of them through the glass looking at each other is so fucking good.

8:34- Laurie standing in the drive with a fucking axe screaming Michael’s name as the Halloween them kicks in fucking rules so goddamn hard. The final fight scene between these two is an all-time great.

8:39- Laurie pulling a gun on a cop so she can kidnap the coroner’s van so she can make sure Michael is actually dead is fucking incredible. She’s the best person who’s ever been written. The final conclusion of the film, with Michael reaching out to her when he’s pinned down, and it’s unclear if he’s asking for help or trying to reach out to hurt her one last time but his eyes are filled with desperation is one of the best moments in any of the films, and the power of Laurie just delivering the killing blow makes it even better. The fact they both get to be so vulnerable and so human and have a moment, just a moment, where their hands touch for any reason other than violence is so fucking strong. I love this fucking movie.

8:45- Halloween: Resurrection. Because after just seeing Laurie fight for her life and get out alive, triumphing over Michael once and for all, obviously what we want is to have the whole thing turn out to be bullshit and a fake out and for Laurie to die in the first five minutes of this film? Fuck this movie man. Like fuck this movie.

8:59- as bad and stupid and shallow as this movie is, the slight manipulation Michael performs is pretty great, and Laurie’s line “Are you afraid of me?” is an all-time great. This film doesn’t earn Laurie’s death, though, and it doesn’t deserve Jamie Lee Curtis. I’m not even totally against the idea of finding out what Michael would do if all his family was dead, but this movie’s option of ‘be in a reality show being filmed in his house’ is probably the answer I never, ever, ever wanted.

9:03- I have given up.

9:25- People make a big deal out of the ending scene where Busta Rhymes electrocutes Michael Myers in the nuts but it is really the only moment of levity in what is otherwise the most boring experience anyone can have.

10:00- I am eating leftover candy and contemplating my life.

10:17- I boot up Halloween (2007). I have accepted death.

10:19- Yeah, what Halloween was really lacking was a guy yelling “I should crawl over there and skullfuck the shit outta you!” before hitting on his teenage stepdaughter. The level of overt grossness and extremity that Robert Zombert brings to this franchise is so fucking putrid and unnecessary. All he brings to this franchise is insane amounts of unbridled misogyny and pop psychology. I said the same thing last year and I’ll happily say it again; this movie’s idea of what makes a serial killer is like something from a daytime TV movie. I’m sure it was intended to be edgy, but the demonization of the working class and sex workers and the position of Michael as the lower-class outsider to the nice suburbs is the most conformist class politics in existence. Halloween (1978)’s depiction of a serial killer who was a part of and came from inside the nice, safe, upper middle-class suburb will always be a far, far more revolutionary statement than this.

10:44- I don’t believe this really gives Michael ‘more backstory’ since it basically just re-treads what the first movie did, but it sure does it worse. The film just takes an incredible amount of time to say ultimately nothing at all. What really gets me is that this does really destroy the Michael is the big bad boogeyman myth simply because the childhood it gives Michael doesn’t fit with who he is. The change just feels forced. The suddenness of his violence feels forced. There doesn’t seem to be any observation here other than it would be scary if a nice kid was actually murderer.

10:56- Why does Michael’s mother own a huge projector. The melodrama of her killing herself is so absurd.

11:03- Michael Myers gets called the F-slur so many times in this movie that I’m officially adopting him as part of the LGBT community.

11:12- people criticise the original for not having the most natural of dialogue for its teenage girl characters, but the teenagers in this film are so incredibly obnoxious that it’s borderline unbearable to watch. Their dialogue is unnatural too, because it’s the kind of shit a weird old man really, desperately wants teenage girls to say.

11:23- There isn’t a scene in this that doesn’t drag on for too long in a completely unfunny, charmless way. It’s also insanely aggravating how Zombie is incapable of holding the camera still for longer than a couple of seconds at a time, and why everyone in the movie always has to be twenty feet away at all times.

11:25- This movie is just the first movie but longer with people screaming fuck constantly and added rape scenes. It is so insanely fucking worthless it really defies description.

11:28- I could be hanging out with my friends but I’m watching a bad movie. Contemplating life again.

11:45- I wish Robert Zombert wasn’t so horny.

11:51- I like truly never want to hear screaming again. There’s so much noise in this movie all the time. There isn’t a fucking second of silence in this film that couldn’t be filled with someone screaming hysterically or shit breaking. There isn’t a moment where the camera holds still and lets us take in the information in the frame without wobbling deliriously or swinging around like it’s on a fucking office chair.

12:10- I wonder if I can go see Doctor Sleep tomorrow. It’s technically not Halloween anymore, but if I manage to watch all these films within twenty-four hours I think it still counts.

12:13- We’re on Halloween II (2009). I like that this movie opens up with an explanation of what the symbolism of the white horse represents, in case you’re too stupid to figure it out for yourself. I like that the flashback is also completely drained of colour, in case you’re too stupid to figure out that it’s a flashback, even after it had a title card explaining it was. Just in case you thought Michael turned into a kid again, or something.

12:17- Glad we’re back to the constant screaming and camera swirling, just in case you thought for a brief second you’d have a moment of fucking peace.

12:21- I joked about the absurdity of Ben Traimor in Halloween II (1982) getting hit by a van and then exploding but it really doesn’t match up to the pointless fucking spectacle of violence that occurs roughly every ten seconds in Halloween II (2009). There’s no reason whatsoever to have the coroner’s van full of rapists crash into a cow and have the most incredibly bloody crash scene ever while one of them screams fuck over and over, but it happens. It isn’t scary, funny, or interesting, but it sure happens. That just about sums up this movie. Loud, bloody, and gratuitous, but not, y’know, interesting.

12:39- What an exploitative ‘I think crazy chicks are hot’ vision of trauma this is.

12:48- The idea of Loomis cashing in on his fame and becoming a celebrity psychologist is a good idea, but in classic Rob Zombie way, it’s done in the least interesting way possible.

1:04- What the fuck is happening.

1:13- it is like fucking incredible how boring this movie is. None of these scenes have any purpose. It’s just stuff, it’s stuff to put on film, with no larger thesis or point. I don’t fully understand why anyone bothered making this movie.

1:29- Great, a party sequence. That’s what this film really needed. More pointless noise and scenes that go nowhere. It was way too quiet and plot-heavy until now.

1:31- Does Mr Zombie know he can just make music videos. Like wouldn’t it be easier.

1:55- The ending scene in this movie is so incredibly incoherent and unwatchable. The bringing of the strange psychic ghosts that haunt Michael and Laurie and making them real, physical presences only makes the film more incoherent. It’s all jerky, wild camera movements, strobe lighting and screaming from here on out. Michael is such a non-entity in this film. He’s in at least half the movie, but he’s not himself. He’s just like a big guy with a beard and one line.

1:59- The slo-mo is so unnecessary. Like you fucking had to make this movie even longer? For who? For what?

2:00- I wish we were all dead.

2:01- I think I’ve seen Blade Runner 2049, a movie I deeply love and cherish, less times than I’ve seen Rob Zombie’s Halloween II.

2:02- Feel depressed about this.

2:03- If I ever hear Love Hurts again, I’ll kill myself.

2:04- Spent two minutes in silent contemplation.

2:06- It’s finally time for Halloween (2018). It’s hard to understate how much respect I have for this movie. Like I said earlier, I admire H20 a lot for its attempt to be a reaction to Laurie’s trauma and grief, but it does not manage to pull this off with anywhere near as much grace and effectiveness as Halloween (2018). And on top of that, the film is stunningly shot, the only film on par with the original in terms of how beautiful and memorable the cinematography is.

2:10- The distance from which we see Michael initially is so great; there’s so much restraint. He’s unmasked for a good portion of the early movie, but the film holds back in a way that makes his face completely unreadable and instead focuses on people’s reactions to and fear of him. It gives a sense that he’s almost too frightening to be fully captured on film. We can never really understand the legend of Michael, the same way people who don’t see him ‘in the wild’ can’t; we can only see him through legends.

2:14- The soundtrack in this movie is a fucking incredible beast. John Carpenter is God, frankly.

2:17- I adore Laurie’s portrayal in this movie. She’s so cold and defensive towards people who don’t believe or respect her, but there’s a painful, raw vulnerability to her as well. She’s traumatised person who has run the gamut of people refusing to understand or respect her trauma or the worldview she’s developed. There’s such a profound mixture of power and pain, a sense of immense dignity to her. She’s sick to death of the lack of respect and cruelty she’s faced. I just love how much emotion was put into her performance, how much the filmmakers really cared about making her a fully realised expression of trauma and the way people react.

2:24- Dave blowing up a pumpkin with a firecracker is the most accurately teenage thing that’s ever happened in these movies.

2:25- Laurie standing on the sidewalk outside the school in a mirror of how Michael did rules. The callbacks in this movie are always so underplayed that they feel like they take actual meaning, rather than just being a case of demanding fans look at something cool they recognise.

2:31- I am deliriously sleepy. Laurie’s breakdown at family dinner is so painful. She carries so much grief; she is, in her eyes, the only one who does and who may ever know the truth, surrounded by people who can’t understand her because trying to put themselves in her world hurts them too much. I think Laurie’s daughter’s description of what it was like growing up in a survivalist environment filled with anxiety and paranoia is so key; it was traumatising for her to grow up in a trauma-based environment. I hope she gets more time in the next movie.

2:43- This is the third movie in the franchise where Michael kills people in a public toilet, but definitely the best time it’s been done. Michael throwing teeth at the journalist writing about him is something that is so insane that it’s now burned itself directly into my brain and I am incapable of not tweeting ‘i wish michael myers would throw teeth on me’ at least once every three weeks.

2:46- The gravity that’s given to Michael putting the mask on is mesmerising. Again, I love the physicality of his hands and motions; this movie doesn’t forget he’s a real, physical person.

2:52- I’m obsessed with Michael’s decision not to kill the baby. He’s on a random murder spree, killing anyone who he sees without any particular cause, but he passes right by the baby. Looks at it, and then chooses not to. He made an actual choice not to. I always wonder what was going through his mind at the time.

2:59- Alyson’s costume was a really great way to have her end up with the same silhouette as Laurie in the first movie without having her just straight up dress like her grandma. Nice touches.

3:01- “You are so getting dry-fucked tonight” is probably one of the most wretched lines of dialogue in this franchise.

3:09- Laurie hunting for Michael is so good. She’s so fucking ruthless in this movie; she’s afraid but she’s fucking tuned in completely to her revenge hunger.

3:13- Sartain is a character I really love. The set-up is obviously that he’s Loomis 2, Laurie even refers to him as “the new Loomis”, and he reflects and subverts this in interesting ways. I like that he calls Michael “property of the state”; it’s his own way of dehumanising Michael. To him, Michael is an asset, something to be poked and prodded and studied. But of course, unlike Loomis, his obsessive interest in Michael is far more appreciative.

3:16- This film’s ability to just use silence is so good.

3:17- The first time Alyson sees Michael is incredible. The musical sting. Fuck me. God, I love this movie. And God I love this fucking soundtrack.

3:22- The twist of Sartain turning and killing the cop, protecting Michael and trying to seek out what it feels like to kill is great. Also, the way he stroked Michael’s face? I hate to break it to you, but if you don’t think they were fucking? Grow up.

3:30- I love the drama of Michael’s corpse arrangements. Back to the good old art student days, I see. He’s having a midlife crisis. Every time Laurie and Michael see each other is so fucking powerful. The connection between the two of them is so vibrant. And her shooting half his hand off? Iconic. Really excited to see how the makeup department carries that on next film.

3:39- The final showdown sequence is incredible. Laurie and Michael nearly being on equal terms sounds like it should make it boring, if she can match him hit for hit, but the film never drops a level in tension. It manages to be surprising not just for us but also for Michael, who obviously wasn’t expecting to be on the back foot with Laurie, which only makes the scene more intense.

3:42- WHY IS HE SO STRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3:43- The performance of Karen screaming she needs help and she can’t do it only to shoot Michael point blank and then have Laurie emerge out of the shadows the way she does is one of the best fucking moments in cinema. The three women working together to defeat Michael and kill him where he stands, absolutely kicking the shit out of him and then setting him alight is fucking incredible. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a triumphant fucking ending in anything. The Strode women’s win feels like such an incredible fucking win. I have no fucking idea how Halloween Kills is going to follow this up.

3:46- I love this movie. The house burning down with Michael inside it is so striking. The way fire is shot is so powerful, and the ending shot of the Strodes? With Alyson holding the knife? A perfect movie.

3:47- I have died.

[clonedspider]

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO THIS?

TO BREATHE AND EAT AND DRINK OF THE EARTH LIKE A REAL BOY?

☾ — KAINE PARKER/SCARLET SPIDER is here! HE has found themselves wandering about new gotham attempting to find their place in this challenging world. they were once a ANTI-HERO who used to be associated with NEW WARRIORS/SPIDERFAM/SOLO.

hope they make it in this world.

the basics —

NAME: kaine parker

ALIASES: scarlet spider, houston’s spider-man, araña escarlata, 

AGE: 19

BIRTHDAY & ZODIAC: doesn’t have one & gemini

MBTI: entj

PREFERRED PRONOUNS: he & him

FACECLAIM: noah centineo

a deeper look —

FAMILY: miles warren (creator/father), peter parker (genetic template/brother), ben reilly (fellow clone/brother), may parker (aunt), spidercide (fellow clone, deceased), guardian (fellow clone, deceased), jack (fellow clone, deceased), spider-skeleton (fellow clone, deceased)

AFFILIATION: new warriors, spiderfam, solo

THREE FAVORITE THINGS: drinking cheap beer, swinging through the busy streets for several hours, sleeping in past noon

THREE HATED THINGS: his “father”, computers, being called a hero

EDUCATION: possesses memories of peter’s education

SKILLS: HAND-TO HAND COMBAT: uses an unusual type of free-style technique similar to that of spider-man, but has no qualms against fighting in a more brutal style MULTILINGUAL: can speak english, spanish, and japanese   KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMISTRY.

WEAPONS: a blade that extends out of each wrist of his suit

ABILITIES: MARK OF KAINE: has a deformity in his hands. he can leave a severe burn mark on a person by making skin-to-skin contact with them. he typically leaves this mark across a person's face, though it is presumed he can do the same to other parts of the body. non-offensive usage of this power allows Kaine to easily burn his long hair (along with his beard) to a shorter length without burning himself in the process. ORGANIC WEBBING GENERATION: the ability to produce his own silk webbing from glands within his forearms. PSYCHIC ALIGNMENT WITH SPIDERS: a method of creating a psychic alignment to become empathetic and develop a relationship with spiders and insects. essentially talking to them. IMMUNE TO SPIDER-MAN’S SPIDER-SENSE: due to their sharing the same dna, spider-man's spider-sense recognizes kaine as "self.” SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH: able to lift up to 60 tons. his strength extends into his powerful leg muscles, allowing him to leap heights and distances in excess of human capability. kaine generally has no restraints on using his super-strength against enemies with typical human durability, and as such, is capable of severely injuring enemies with normal attacks. SUPERHUMAN SPEED: capable of running and moving at speeds that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. SUPERHUMAN STAMINA: kaine's augmented musculature is much more efficient than that of a normal human being. as a result, his muscles produce lesser amounts of fatigue toxins during physical activity than do those of ordinary humans. he can exert himself physically at peak capacity for at least several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him. SUPERHUMAN DURABILITY: his bodily tissues are resistant to powerful impact or blunt force trauma. he can withstand impacts, such as falling from several stories, being repeatedly struck with superhuman force or by several powerful energy blasts, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no injury himself. REGENERATIVE HEALING FACTOR: his physiology was augmented with a limited healing factor. SUPERHUMAN AGILITY: kaine's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. in spite of his increased size and mass, kaine is still just as agile as spider-man. SUPERHUMAN REFLEXES: reflexes are similarly enhanced and are more efficient than those of an ordinary human by a factor of fifteen. WALL-CRAWLING: able to stick to virtually any surface and crawl across it. his mental control over this ability has been increased to such a degree, he can rip a wall down just by tugging at it hard enough with his palms.

the questionnaire —

WHAT IS SOMETHING YOUR CHARACTER LIKES ABOUT NEW GOTHAM? SOMETHING THEY DISLIKE? DO THEY MISS THE WAY THINGS WERE - OR DO THE LIKE HOW THE WORLD IS NOW? IS IT WEIRD TO THEM TO SEE MULTIPLE TYPES OF PEOPLE AND CREATURES AROUND? OR ARE THEY USED TO IT? WERE THEY ORIGINALLY FROM ONE OF THE TWO MAIN CITIES - OR SOMEWHERE ELSE?

kaine doesn’t care about seeing otht creatures around, not feeling like he has the right to make such judgments. he likes that being in new gotham is another chance to live an actual life. he had been through a lot of traumatic events, and never actually got the chance to enjoy the life he has been given. nobody expects anything from him here in this city which is perfect to blend in. he doesn’t think his life will ever be normal, always convincing himself to help out someone in need. he can just be kaine here if he wanted to. which is all the boy needs. kaine was created in a test tube somewhere in new york, but after making his escape from his creator after being rejected — the clone settled in houston, texas. he didn’t plan on staying there, but they had been so excited about having their own hero that eventually kaine stayed until the change happened. so yes, he does have a southern accent.

WHERE WAS YOUR CHARACTER WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED? ARE THEY SUSPICIOUS OF EVERYONE OR ARE THEY TRYING TO REMAIN UNDER THE RADAR? HAVE THEY REUNITED WITH THEIR FRIENDS OR ARE THEY LOST? WERE THEY AT HOME IN BED? OUT PATROLLING THE STREETS? IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR? WHAT’S HAPPENED TO THEM NOW?

kaine doesn’t trust anyone except a select few. it’s just part of his thing. his list of people he lowers his guard around is small — ben and peter being at the top of the list and any other members of the spiderfam that his brothers seem to trust. he has been rejected, and ridiculed for being made so he doesn’t know how to figure out who‘s actually being genuine with their kindness. he’ll get there, just be patient with him. kaine may be suspicious of strangers and their intentions, but he’s a good friend.

he was in bed when everything happened, passed out in his scarlet spider suit after helping out the local police on a case. he’s just kind of following around ben wherever he goes for now far as living arrangements go. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION —

ANYTHING YOU WANT US TO KNOW? ANY HEADCANONS?

origin —

kaine is a clone of peter parker.

he was miles warren’s first attempt at cloning peter. the jackal initially thought it was a success, but kaine would become deformed due to a flaw in the cloning process. the boy would continue to degenerate — he was left deformed and mentally unstable.

the jackal allows the clone to live as a test subject. he wanted to see how long kaine would survive, and to his surprise ends up exceeding his expectations.

kaine grows to experience a strong feeling of rejection similar to one that would arise between a father and son. miles warren tries to dispose of the clone by throwing him into the trash heap of his other failed experiments. kaine ends up escaping of course, which made all the other clones in the facility happy to see. the spider developed some of peter’s abilities, but also some of his own.

for a long time kaine believes that he didn’t deserve to have a life for himself. he didn’t know how to have one. he felt broken, angry, and like a monster.

kaine made a decision to settle down in mexico, but ended up living in houston, texas instead. every time he tried to leave something pulled him into staying. the civilians are who started calling him the SCARLET SPIDER. he was their first hero — much to the clone’s hatred of that word. he tries to live up to what peter has done, but it’s a work in progress.

eventually kaine came across a cure that stabilized his dna. he was no longer deformed, and looks like the perfect clone of peter. miles warren continues to see kaine as a disappointment after this, still thinking that the clone deserves to stay in the trash heap.

he has a tattoo that wraps around his entire left bicep, and he stands tall at six foot four.

equipment —

kaine’s scarlet spider costume is known as a stealth suit. it allows him to become completely invisible and capable of sound cancelling abilities. the suit is also fireproof, and can heal itself when torn. there’s also a blade that can come out of the wrists of the suit which come in handy in hand-to-hand combat. he brought his suit with him since he was wearing it at the time when brought over.

[witchyystudies-blog]

Dwelling And dealing From the United Arab Emirates

Receiving toward the end of my vocation, I might been waiting for some pleasure in my daily life For a long time. My job Along with the Australian Authorities experienced improved following successive restructures to a occupation wherein I was not intrigued, not educated, educated or experienced. Confident, I coped with the operate, but I felt like a fish out of water. I desperately necessary a completely new way as I sat looking forward to a promised redundancy package deal.

When my spouse returned from a vacation to the Middle East and recommended I submit an application for a occupation from the UAE, I thought she was joking. She wasn't. In days I used to be hunting the web for career vacancies and found there have been hundreds. In just a thirty day period or two I had a work supply to work to be a Instructor in the School of Company at Al Ain Women's Higher education, certainly one of 13 Bigger Colleges of Technological know-how.

Obtaining by no means lived abroad right before, it was a huge final decision to go somewhere which has a vastly distinctive lifestyle, far from our youngsters and grandson. We determined that we might take the challenge and when it didn't workout, we could normally appear house.

Our Arrival

We arrived at Dubai Intercontinental Airport at some ungodly hour after a 14 hour excursion from Melbourne, Australia. We had been instructed that we necessary to pick up our Short term Visas from an immigration desk, but when we observed the desk, the personnel was elusive, our first clue that almost everything will not run too in the UAE because it does in Australia. Inside an hour or so, we had passed through Customs, gathered our baggage and visas and left the airport with an exceedingly likeable, very well-dressed and perfectly-spoken Indian gentleman named Vijay. Vijay was a driver utilized with the Al Ain Colleges and we found out before long that he was the person who made issues take place For brand new staff... Mr Deal with It.

Immediately after signing my contract, I used to be handed two envelopes. 1 contained a sum of money to deal with our remain in a hotel for six days, one other experienced a cheque for 30,000 Dirhams for setup expenditures. We had no idea what a Dirham was actually well worth, nonetheless it appeared like a lot of money... and I hadn't accomplished every day's operate nonetheless.

Settling-In

We discovered Al Ain a pleasant oasis with two-lane carriageways divided by iron fences and date palm trees. It had been shockingly eco-friendly for a spot in the course of the desert, but all over the place we went, we noticed the municipality had taken excellent pride in supplying an attractive city with an outstanding method of roadways and infrastructure. It was Significantly nicer than our city in Australia and h2o was obviously plentiful.

Very apparent to us was the difference in gown Among the many populous who had been largely Indian, Pakistani, Afghani, Asians, and Arabs. Caucasians like us had been fairly scarce (about 3,000 amongst four hundred,000 population). We could inform wherever individuals have been from by their costume, if not their look. Even the Arabs have distinctive gown; readers from close by Oman have headdress that distinguishes them from the community Emiratis, but each use identical kandora (a lengthy white, dress-like robe).

Everybody we fulfilled was helpful, In spite of Recurrent language boundaries. There was no graffiti and litter was scarce. Properties ranged from ostentatious to crumbling brick box abodes for very low paid labour. Our accommodation in a huge housing complex was palatial by Australian benchmarks; 4 bedrooms and also a maid's room, 5 toilets, superior ceilings, along with a two car or truck garage. We couldn't feel that two persons were being to become accommodated in these kinds of massive accommodation.

The HCT's orientation for our 14 new workers was prolonged and in depth, the top orientation system I had ever skilled. In September I began educating with lessons in human means subjects for closing yr learners and computing and common small business for very first calendar year students.

The Worries of Teaching

For the very first handful of months I wondered irrespective of whether I had created the appropriate determination. I'd 140 learners in class teams of 20 aged amongst 19 and twenty five. Their English ranged from Practically incapable to satisfactory and many could not build a simple sentence. They had been apparently unaccustomed to study rather than pretty determined to understand. Lifestyle at higher education was an escape from their households.

My girls wore regular garb... black abeyas from neck to foot and black headdress. Many had only their eyes visible. Their names have been not just prolonged, but primarily new to me. I'd fantastic issues pronouncing some names and remembering who was who whenever they all seemed related; brown eyes, brown pores and skin and black garments. After I settled in, I started to understand that they have been a very immature ton in contrast with Australian teenagers. Lots of experienced never ever been into a shop; most had never ever spoken to males exterior their people; their familiarity with the whole world was quite slim fitting tightly in the strict bounds of their Islamic faith, culture and area in everyday life. That they had generally enjoyable, humorous dispositions, which was a lifesaver as I quickly developed an outstanding rapport with Many of them who in some methods jogged my memory of my own daughter now so far away.

This Odd fellow from Australia which has a funny accent who spoke speedy and infrequently utilized Australianisms quickly equipped in to his new surrounds and manufactured mates Along with the locals.

When operate was a considerable challenge wanting to inspire them, produce education and learning inside of a meaningful and comprehensible way, it had been also satisfying to are aware that sooner or later, what I had assisted them study, could be of worth to them and would, Maybe, assist the United Arab Emirates.

Earning Friends

The trends best part of The entire adventure was The brand new close friends we designed with expats from Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, the US, Jordan, Egypt, France, Turkey as well as Australia. With the expense of living so inexpensive, we dined out regularly and celebrated every birthday, nationwide working day, and sometimes dined out simply to share a food, a glass of wine and many superior company.

For the duration of our summer holidays we managed to travel around Europe, to Canada, Hong Kong and several other Center Japanese nations outdoors the UAE. We put in each week at Cyprus. Amongst our explanations for going to your UAE was to travel. We certainly did that and it was much cheaper than doing it from Down Underneath.

Making Income

While my salary was about the same as I gained in Australia, there is not any income tax. In reality There exists rarely any tax at all, Whilst should you dine in a resort now, you fork out ten% services demand and 6% tourism tax. You will discover expenses for motorcar registration, driver's licences etc, but all have been much, less expensive than I might have compensated in Australia. Petrol was Filth affordable as was food stuff and Pretty much everything else, so we lived like kings and deprived ourselves of practically nothing, knowing this desire would inevitably stop.

Though we hadn't long gone to your UAE to earn cash, my spouse failed to operate and we did our perfect to invest it on journey, a brand new motor vehicle and living comfortably, we left with a great deal of funds, some new furnishings and tailor-created garments and so on. We did quite very well out of the UAE.

Conclusion

When you live in an isolated spot like Australia, it is straightforward to become Australia-centric and maybe a tiny bit arrogant. Going to other areas broadens your outlook and is particularly the working experience of the life span that every Australian really should just take. It's got a humbling outcome whenever you see nations that do not have drunks stumbling in regards to the streets, no graffiti, no petty theft, no Road brawls, and cleanse, very well-dressed individuals with satisfaction, not like A lot of Australia. Conversely, a couple of nations we visited reminded us how incredibly Blessed we've been to have the ability to get on a jet and return to Australia.

Copyright 2008 Robin Henry

Robin Henry is surely an educator, human resources specialist and World wide web marketer who writes content about a variety of subjects. He originates from Alice Springs in Central Australia where by he operates an Internet promoting and consulting company.

[sushisama]

Katchan is a Dumb, Oblivious Werewolf

I wrote a sequel to that silly Halloween fic I wrote last year.  This one takes place in their third year of UA.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Izuku was already regretting his decision to follow his classmates.  A group of them had bailed on school, opting to try out a haunt that Kirishima had brought up.  They were all in their costumes, a silly decision made weeks ago to enjoy the holiday.  They stood out, he was sure, the lot of them walking the streets in their outfits.

They stood out like sore thumbs.  It would be easy for any adult to call them out for their truancy.  Even if most of them were technically adults themselves, they should still be in school.  Izuku should be in school.  How did he get talked into this?

And then Katsuki was looking back at him, grinning, reminding him of his taunting before. He had been challenged by him, not directly so much as him just saying he wouldn't be up to going.

Scared, Deku?  Just like when we were kids?

That was why he had come.  They had become friends again after a long road since first year, but there was still that bit of rivalry driving them on.

The small group of six was led by Kirishima.  He had heard of the haunt from someone in class 1-B (he assumed Tetsutetsu), and convinced them just before getting into the schoolyard.  He had been talking to Kaminari and Katsuki about it, convincing them to go off with him.  Izuku had just been walking up, and he only heard the tail end of it before he was called over and invited.

Despite the half-hearted argument Katsuki put up.

Izuku had declined at first.  Katsuki did a one-eighty, commenting that he was scared.  He had been confused, but he still rose to the bait, and agreed to go. Katsuki almost seemed pleased by that answer, though he quickly hid it away again, acting as if it was an inconvenience to them.

Kirishima nudged him, giving him a knowing look.  Kaminari just laughed.

What was going on with them?

They picked up Ashido and Uraraka on the way out.  They would have gotten more, as Kaminari said, but they didn't want to risk going on school grounds and getting caught.  So they left, Izuku in the back of the group with Uraraka, who seemed rather enthusiastic about the trip.

The thirty minute trek (which included a bus ride, how far out were they going?) brought them away from busy streets to secluded school building.  Izuku was put off at first, not sure what had led them this way.  But as they got closer, he noticed the state the building was in: it was falling apart, the disuse evident by more than the 'No Trespassing' sign on the gate.  The windows were broken out, the paint was peeling, and the grass had grown wild.

Was this where the haunt was?  Izuku couldn't hold the shudder that went through him.  How creepy...

He looked over at the others.  Katsuki's gaze was intent on the building, a slight smirk on his lips.  He seemed eager about all of this.

"So we just... go in?" Kaminari asked.

"Only if you aren't too chicken shit to."  Katsuki was already jumping over the gate.  Kirishima grinned and followed him without question.

Within a few moments, they were at the entrance to the school.  Were he feeling more brave, he would think about exploring the grounds.  Anything to keep away from the darkened doorways leading inside.  But when he looked around, he found various debris of desks and chairs and overgrown plant life everywhere.  There was nowhere else to go.

Nowhere else but inside.

"Nervous, Deku?"

Izuku rolled his eyes.  "I'm a hero, no silly haunted houses are going to get to me."

Katsuki only smirked.  Why was he so focused on him today?

"C'mon, Deku," Uraraka chirped.  She looped her arm with his, Ashido on her other arm.  They formed a line behind the other three and followed them in.

Somehow the locker area was almost pitch black.  The windows were covered in boards and paint.  There was a divider just beyond the foyer step.  There seemed to be a slit in the middle, probably were they would be going through.  And in front of it was an offering box, like at a Shinto shrine.

Something about it seemed oddly familiar.

"Do we just go or we wait?" Ashido asked Kirishima.

He shrugged in response.  "I was just told where it was, nothing more."

"Maybe this is the wrong?" Uraraka suggested.

Katsuki was looking over the box.  Izuku came to his side, a small smile on hi slips.  A wave of nostalgia had flooded over him.  He was thinking of when they were younger, when they spent so much time together, even during their ambiguous bully/friend stages of elementary school.  He thought of all the Halloweens they spent together, even if sometimes it was forced on them by their parents.

"Hey, Katchan," he said.  "Remember all those haunted houses you used to drag me to?  When we were kids?"

Katsuki scoffed.  "You mean the ones you followed me to?"  He was smirking, his teasing clearly good natured.

Izuku rolled his eyes, but still smiled.  "Oh, please, you never wanted to go alone to any of those."

"If that's the way you need to remember it, Deku."

Izuku laughed.  Even Katsuki had to chuckle.  It was nice to finally be at a point where they could talk so casually.  He felt at ease around Katsuki, and he thought it was the same for him.

Behind them, the others were discussing whether to go forward or turn back.  It seemed half on the side of staying and just exploring the building.  Kaminari and Ashido, though, were okay with just leaving and hanging out at a local mall. There was a consensus not to go back to school, but that was about all they agreed on.

Izuku looked at them over his shoulder, just listening to their conversation. Katsuki glanced back, but he didn't make any comment.  He fiddled with the nails on his wolf costume, almost like a nervous tick.

Katsuki had worn the outfit for Halloween off and on for years.  Izuku assumed it was for a similar reason he was wearing his ghost costume for the third year in a row: it was just easier to wear the same thing.  Why bother with a new costumer?  They were too busy training, anyway.

Well, that was his excuse, anyway.  Almost everyone else in the class had different outfits each year.  The only other one he knew not to be bothered with it was Todoroki, but he normally didn't even wear one.  It was the girls in the class that pulled him to the side and put makeup on him, but it worked for him better that way, it seemed.

They were quiet, both of them just standing over the box.  The others didn't bother them as they continued their discussion. For a moment, it felt like they were the only two there.

"...hey, Deku."

Izuku glanced over to him.  His brow was furrowed, and he was still staring at the box.  Something serious was on his mind, he could tell.

"Yeah, Katchan?"

"Do you... have you ever...?"

"Welcome, boys and girls!"

The whole group yelped and jumped back at the sudden appearance of a tall and thin man just behind the offering box.  He was dressed in a tattered suit that looked stained with age.  He seemed to be a teacher, or at least that's the way the outfit came off.  It was a little off-putting with his pale makeup with bright cheeks and a wide grin.

Izuku thought he looked familiar, he just couldn't place it...

"Were you there the entire time?" Uraraka asked incredulously.

The man ignored her question.  "Shouldn't you all be in school?"

"And miss this?" The excitement was clear in Kirishima's voice.

The man's grin grew.  "Well, how can I say 'no' then."  He gestured to the box, and said, "You can go in after you leave an offering to the spirits here."

It was clear that was just a set-up.  No one called it on him, though.

He held up two fingers.  "But you can only go in, two at a time."

There was a couple of groans among the teens.  Izuku looked over his shoulder at Uraraka, opening his mouth to ask for her companionship, when he felt a shove from his side.  He glanced over to find Kaminari nudging him closer to the offering box.

"Midoriya, you go with Bakugou," he insisted.

Izuku held an expression of confusion.  "What? Why?"

Katsuki looked over at Kaminari, his brow furrowed.  Both Kaminari and Kirishima were nudging them on with wide grins. Izuku looked back at Uraraka and Ashido, but they both shrugged it off.  His friend only mouthed it's fine to him.

"Let's just get through this," Katsuki growled.  He pulled out a yen piece and tossed it into the box.

Izuku sighed and followed suit.  The man watched as the coins fell into the box and settled at the bottom.  He looked at the two youths, the corners of his mouth upturned to his ears.  He stepped to the side, revealing the slit in the divider.

"Right this way, boys," he called.

Izuku stepped forward first, expecting Katsuki to be right behind.  He hadn't, though, hanging back to whisper harshly to his friends.  He only barely caught the exchange.

"...thinking," Katsuki all but snarled.

"Don't complain," Kirishima insisted.  "This is exactly what you were talking about."

"The hell it is."

"Just go," Kaminari ushered.  "Give it a shot."

Katsuki let out a huff through his nose.  For a moment, he reminded Izuku more of a bull than a wolf.

"Katchan?"

Katsuki turned and came to his side.  "Let's go, nerd."

"Katchan, what are you--?"

"Leave it, Deku."  He was pushing past him and into the other side of the divider.  Izuku frowned but followed close behind.

The curator watched them as they went, his odd smile still in place.  He moved to cover the hole as they passed into the other part of the foyer.  It was even darker on this side.  The only light was a path on the ground made by cheap flameless green tea lights.  It led on down the hallway and just beyond their sight.

"Follow the lights," they were told.  "Be mindful of your steps.  How long it takes is up to you.  You'll be going through the whole school."

Izuku nodded his understanding.  Beside him, Katsuki fidgeted.

"Have fun, boys," he said.  "And this time should be much more... interesting."

Izuku blinked.  What did he mean by that?

He gave a start when his wrist was grabbed and pull on.  Katsuki's grip was tight as he dragged him down the corridor along the green lit path.  He objected to the treatment, but he didn't pull away and instead let himself be led.

Katsuki's hand was warm, he thought.  And not too unpleasant.  Not that he would mention that out loud.

Izuku glanced over his shoulder, and as they went further down the hallway, he noticed the beginning part of the path changed from the sickly green colour to a dim glow of orange that led in a different way.  He guessed it was the path the new two would go down, so there wouldn't be much of a wait.

Katsuki's step was purposeful as he led them.  He didn't let go of Izuku, but he wasn't really pulling either.  Izuku was able to keep up with his only somewhat rushed step.  He couldn't see him too well in the lighting, but he could still see the way his jaw was tight.

"What is it?"

"This place is going to be lame," he answered.  "Probably full of paper bats and shit."

"What makes you say that?  The set-up is actually pretty—"

Izuku was interrupted as Katsuki suddenly went still.  He ran into him, their bodies bumping.  Izuku stumbled back, thrown off by the hard boy.  Katsuki hadn't let go, instead pulling him back so he didn't fall.

"You didn't recognise him, did you?"  The lights came from underneath, leaving an odd glove over the fur glued to his jawline.

He would be cute with a beard, came the thought.  Izuku shook his head, both as an answer, and also to get the image out of his head.

"Should I?" Izuku asked.  "It's not some villain, is it?"

He furrowed his brow.  He didn't remember hearing anyone that fit his description over any police reports, but he had been focused on Shizuoka more lately.  But he should still be able to recognise a bad guy, right?  Should they go back?  It shouldn't be hard to subdue him.  Even if the others were too far away, he had Katsuki.  The two of them were unstoppable, they'd shown that many times before.  They could easily—

"Deku."

Izuku looked up as Katsuki was pulling his hand away from his mouth.  He'd been muttering, he could tell by Katsuki's expression and the lingering feeling of teeth on his thumb.

"We've been to one of this guy's haunts before."

Izuku gave him a slightly confused look.  "We have?"

Katsuki frowned.  Even in the lowlight, Izuku could tell he was disappointed.

"Let's just get through this."

Izuku felt a coldness as Katsuki fully let go of him and started to walk down the path. He watched him go, the tail of his costume almost showing the slight dejection he had seen on his face with the lifeless sway.

What was going on with him?  It hadn't been the first time he thought about it that day, and he didn't think it would be the last.

The two fell into a tense silence as they continued between the green lights. Izuku's eyes never left his back, using him as a guide more than the path.  He almost wanted to reach out, to get led by his warm hand once more, but Katsuki seemed too distant to reclaim the past moment.

The lights led them to a courtyard outside.  Izuku had expected some of the sunlight from the day outside, but the courtyard had been boxed in up top.  There were several sheets of cloth stretched out from the highest floor windows, thick and plentiful enough to block out the sun.  There were little lights in the trees, not really a lot, but enough to see all the windows in the upper halls and classrooms had been painted black.

It was more atmospheric than anything else.  The subtle lights were more of an eerie beauty than anything scary.  Izuku found himself in the middle of the courtyard, admiring the foliage.  Next to him was a fountain, running slowly.  There were more dim lights in the bottom, making a beautiful cascade.

Katsuki didn't rush him.  He didn't even say anything as he waited for him, sitting on the edge of the fountain. When Izuku was done looking, he turned to announce he was ready to move on, only to find eyes looking back at him. He started at Katsuki's intense look, and he averted his gaze, a blush creeping up.

How long had he been staring at him?  What with that look?

"Let's move on..."

Katsuki stood and moved down the lit path to the double doors across the way they had come.  Izuku fell in step, close to him.  He eyed his hand and the fake nails pressed onto it.  He thought of how even when he grabbed his wrist earlier, he hadn't felt them. Katsuki been mindful enough not to hurt him even when it was clear he was frustrated.

He remembered how he was the same way when they were kids.  Even when he was dragging him around, yelling at him for some perceived inconvenience, his hold was thoughtful and never hurt.  They used to hold hands so much...

Would it be weird to hold hands now?

"Did you need a moment?"

Izuku blinked.  He looked up to find Katsuki too close, his eyes intent on him.  He hadn't realised their proximity, so lost in thought and memory. But now his warmth was everywhere around him.  Katsuki was always so warm, his skin always radiating heat.  He had known it since they were little, but it meant something different as they had gotten older.

Everything was different now they were older.  Everything looked the same but meant something else.

It would mean something else if they held hands now than when they were little.

Izuku shook his head.  "No, we can go on."

Katsuki shrugged.  He came back to the door and reached out for it.  As his hand connected with the handle, the whole courtyard plunged into complete darkness.  Katsuki cursed and Izuku made a startled noise.

He pulled his hand back, unnoticed by Katsuki before he could reach his.

Izuku looked back over the courtyard, though he couldn't see anything.  It was a little spooky, he thought, but nothing really worth fretting over.  He turned to Katsuki, waiting for him to open the door and go to the next room.  All he heard was the door rattle.

"Katchan?"

"The door's locked."

"What?"

The door rattled again.  Silence. Izuku gave a start when he felt warmth on his arm.  Katsuki's grip was light on his forearm but was still leading.  He pulled him away from the door and back into the courtyard.

"Some gimmick."

Izuku would agree if something about the dark made him apprehensive.  There was no reason to be so nervous, though: it was just a haunt, there was nothing to worry about.  But the air still had him on edge, and he was silently grateful that Katsuki was holding onto him.  It was silly, but that was the point of haunts, right?  Being scared was part of the whole experience.

He remembered the ones he went to when they were kids.  He remembered being so scared sometimes that he almost couldn't be removed from Katsuki.  He was terrified in the moment, but when they were done, he felt excitement.  He enjoyed it, if only after the fact, and he knew part of it was because he had his 'hero' with him to protect him.

Now that hero was with him again, but he was a hero, too.  That meant he wasn't allowed to cling to him anymore, doesn't it? Something about that was disappointing. He felt that took out some of the fun of the whole thing.

"Katchan."  He moved closer to him, navigated by his body heat.  He wasn't pushed away: if anything, Katsuki seemed to move into him. He let go of his arm and bumped shoulders with him.

"Hold on."

Izuku nodded.  He twitched, feeling something on his hand.  He scratched at the tiny sensations, and he could have sworn he felt something under his fingers.

A large flash filled the courtyard in front of them, coming from Katsuki's outstretched hand (the one not so close to Izuku he had subconsciously grabbed onto).  The area lit up and showed the fountain, though something was off about it.  There were also little flecks in the air, something Izuku couldn't place.

Katsuki pulled him forward, guiding him toward the middle of the courtyard.  By now, Izuku's hands were holding onto his bicep, using it as a lead as he moved them.  Katsuki was always better at seeing in the dark than he was.  He didn't pull away, keeping him close as the sound of the fountain got closer.

Izuku scratched at his neck.  Then his arm. Then his face.  It felt like something was crawling on every part of exposed skin.

"Do you feel that?"

He could hear Katsuki scratch at himself.  "Don't worry about it."

Izuku frowned.  What was the point of all this?  Was it to scare them?  What were the other rooms going to be like?

There was a loud click that drew his attention back to the fountain.  There was a pause and then the light came back, but this time the lights were red.  The water seemed thicker, flowing just a bit slower, and it looked more opaque than before. There were large flecks of something in the water, but he couldn't make it out what it was.

Another itch on his arm.  Another scratch.

The lights in the courtyard slowly started to return, illuminating the boxed in area with more light than before.  He found the flecks everywhere, on the trees, the fountain, the ground, the air. He squinted, trying to see what they were.  As the light came up more, he could see something protruding from each. Legs?  Yes, those were legs...

"I think these are—"

"Yeah, but are they real?"  Katsuki scratched him again.

Izuku flinched at another tickle on his neck.  He swatted at it, but he didn't want to know what caused the sensation. His eyes fell to Katsuki, but he was looking into the fountain, his brow furrowed.  Izuku followed his gaze.  In this light, the fountain almost looked like it was over-pouring with blood.

He almost opened his mouth to ask, when he caught the movement.  Something just beneath the waters.  Ripple after ripple...  And coming close to the edge.  The water divided, and a scaled hand came from underneath the surface. The hand turned into an arm, then a shoulder.  More and more of the body was coming up.

It was almost a distraction from the continued itch of the bugs in the air.

Katsuki grit his teeth and readied his hand.  As a spark started, the lights went out again.  The body had only started to emerge when it was hidden in darkness again.  Katsuki cursed and a small flash came his still outstretched palm.

Izuku looked around, trying to see more, though he couldn't in the darkness.  Nut until the path of green lit up once more, this time leading down another path.  The itching let up as the lights came on.

A misdirect.  Of course.

There was another spark from Katsuki's hand.  Izuku rolled his eyes and grabbed at his wrist.  He let out a confused growl and started to question what was happening.  Izuku led him on, dragging him down the new path.

"What—"

"This way," Izuku said as they came to another door.  He pushed on it, and it easily gave way.  There was a loud wail from the direction of the fountain as the door was opened.  Izuku dragged them both over the threshold, silencing the cry as the door closed behind them.

The corridor they came into was a little better lit with the green light.  Izuku was able to see Katsuki a lot better than before.  He was glaring, his jaw locked tight.

"What the hell do you think—?"

"It's supposed to be scary, right?" Izuku interrupted. "Supposed to have you on edge, all of that?"

It was a moment more before it seemed to register what he was being told.  His brow was still furrowed, but his expression came more mortified.  He said nothing, only scoffed.

Izuku chuckled.  "You were ready to attack, weren't you?"

"Listen—"

"Were you trying to defend me?"

Katsuki was taken aback by the question.  Even in the green light, he could tell Katsuki was blushing.

Izuku smiled.  "You used to do that when we were little."

Katsuki was quiet for a long moment.  He seemed to be thinking hard on something.  "...do you remember the hero's reward?"

It was Izuku's turn to blush.  He did remember what he used to call the 'hero's reward.'  Though he only did it a few times for the few times Katsuki let down his arrogant façade to be his hero again, he could recall how important it was to him.  He also remembered Katsuki waiting for it, even if he verbally said his disdain for the action.

Izuku nodded, his expression soft.  "I remember."

There was a pause where neither said anything and only barely looking at each other. Katsuki was the first to move, muttering something under his breath.  He went to move around him, and get back onto the path of green lights.

He stopped when Izuku reached out for him, pulling on his sleeve.  Katsuki looked back at him, brow raised.  Izuku was quiet as he moved in to kiss his cheek.

Katsuki closed his eyes and sighed, a light smile on his lips.

Izuku didn't move at first, staying close.  Before he could, Katsuki had put his hand on his cheek.  He leaned in, and he watched as Katsuki came closer.  He closed his eyes just as dried lips touched his. He held in his breath for all of a moment, and then Katsuki was pulling away.

"Katchan...?"

"For stopping me," Katsuki said, "before I blew some dumb show worker."

Izuku grinned and nodded.  "Of course."

He looked over his shoulder, down the hall, then back to Izuku.  "Ready?"

Izuku glanced down the row of green lights.  "Only way out is through, right?"

"Unless you want to see who was taking a swim."

Izuku snorted.  "Not really."

"The let's get going," Katsuki said, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning.

Katsuki had started down the hallway, but stopped when Izuku called his name.  He looked back at him, brow raised.

"...can I hold your hand?"

Katsuki huffed.  "Stupid nerd," he said.  "Shouldn't come if you get so scared."

He still removed a hand from his pocket, one that Izuku took with a laugh and a smile.

[damian-lil-babybat]

Damian: Batman and Son (Re-imagined)

Summary:

'Father,' the tip of Damian's sword ran slowly across the caped man's neck, the pressure has all the intent to kill and yet was never enough to break the skin, 'I imagined you taller.'

AN: Highly based on the first appearance of Damian Wayne in the issue of 'Batman and Son.'

Inconspicuously, his head tilted towards the driver's seat. Damian's eyes shifted under the blindfold securely placed on his eyes. Ballistic nylon, double stitched with 90% rayon and 10% silver, anti-EM/RF radiation cloth. Impressive, to say the least. Even if he could easily take it off, he let the constraints stay to appease the man whom his mother claimed to be his father.

The title came too easily, so natural that it felt—right, in its own way.

His mother, after all, had briefed him extensively and exhaustively about his biological father, both as Batman, and Bruce Wayne. No, not Bruce Wayne. Mother was not much interested in the man behind vigilante crusader. But only a few minutes of searching on the League's connections was all Damian needed to know everything about the billionaire philanthropist playboy of Gotham City. And, of course, the Batman.  

He scoffed as he remembered the menacing cowl, entirely theatric, the cape, again overly dramatic, and the symbol of a silhouette of a bat on his chest, in case an idiot would not get the reference, perhaps?

Being under his mother's tutelage and Al Ghul's brand of education, Damian had seen his fair share of worse and crazy. A full-grown man with no augmentation or mutation, wearing a costume every night would be on the lowest end of the spectrum, in his book. And after all, he had never expected his biological father to be normal to begin with. Any man who gets the attention of Talia Al Ghul should be nothing if not—exceptional.

It is interesting, he thought as he continued silently sitting in the passenger's seat of the Batmobile.

Typical of mother, to leave him on irritatingly amusing situations with nothing but clothe on his back and his sword. She gave him one statement and one statement alone before ushering him to follow his father. He clicked his tongue. He had stopped questioning every and all of his mother's actions at age four, he'd rather not start now. But this time, he could sense something momentous.

To study and learn from his father, the boy can't help the smirk that works on his lips.

Damian had proven himself worthy of the heir of grandfather and had received his mother's approval. Should it not only be natural to have father's too?

 'You can open your eyes,' Damian felt the tension on his blindfold loosen and finally saw the scene before him, 'We're here. This is my cave,' father continued and the older man made a poor show not to mix the pride in his voice.

Granted, Damian would have quipped a comment or two about the lack of utility of space, but the boy held back, still trying to capture the overall inexistent layout of the place. A looming dinosaur on one end, a joker card hanging from the ceiling, and the 'toys' for lack of better term to use on his father's gadgets. Months of studying the Bat meant he has garnered data and information that needed only a few seconds of cross-referencing.

By the time the boy had already devised five escape routes, ten to infiltrate and another six methods to disable their alarms and servers (the ones visible were boringly modeled around Wayne Tech), the man in the cowl had already finished his topic about 'his new home.'

Damian was too preoccupied that before the boy could act, his father was already kneeling in front of him with two firm hands placed on his small shoulders. The gap on their size had never been more evident at that moment. The gauntlets precariously resting on Damian had even covered up to his collarbone.

One simple maneuver and it was enough to break bones.

The image put alarm bells on the young assassin's head but he stifled the urge to retreat. Doing so would mean he saw Batman as a threat, and that would defeat the purpose of why he was here.

Then in one breath, his father offhandedly gave him a role to play with, and orders to obey.

'If you intend to stay with me, we'll put that training to good use in the fight against crime,' he heard him announced loud and clear and Damian did not appreciate it.

But when he looked up, in a split second, Damian finally felt that he was face to face with the man, Bruce Wayne, and not the vigilante superhero. The few features that can be gleaned from his mask shows clearly a pair of eyes that mirror his own with the only difference in color. Damian had his mother's eyes, he could see that now, however, the ones directed at him looked...disappointed, and full of pity.

What is that? Why is that?

Damian snapped, flinging away from the unnatural intimate gesture and those sad looks. 'Fight crime? Hah!' don't make me laugh. What exactly is so great about fighting crime? He wanted to retort but clamped his mouth shut as he felt his temper rising again.

There's this growing impulse to drag this person on the ground and wiped that look on his face.

How dare him mock me. Pity? What part of me should be pitied?

Damian tried to change the subject to mundane stuff, things he had no time to think about as he tried to reign in his unjustified indignation. It's been years since he received such condescending stares, and the last time it happened, that very same person had begged with his own eyes as tributes.

'Damian, your mother said she sent you here to learn,' Bruce continued without masking the irritation in his voice, emphasizing the word 'learn' as if Damian himself was lacking. Two hours flight, thirty-three minutes in Batmobile, and this was the first time Damian heard him said his name. And it felt nothing, it meant nothing.

'My mother was never there for me...' Damian said in an even voice as he tried to remember his mission. He turned his back on his father and continued mouthing off a useless justification for his mother's decisions. Decisions, he once tried to understand. But what is the use?

Before long, he was already having his way at the Batcave. Half of what the boy was saying was lost as to what he was actually thinking. 'Is this your new Batmobile?' he callously remarked as he flung the blanket away from what he supposed to be one of his father's pet project.

'It is not finished yet,' the boy felt Bruce loom behind him disapprovingly. There was an undeniable finality on those words that simply irritated Damian. It's been such a long time since he heard that tone from anyone, it filled him with such a jarring nostalgia that he was gritting his teeth. 'We need to talk,' the man added, a clear dismissal of his behavior as childish. Him? Damian Al Ghul Wayne, the rightful heir to League of Assassins, the same ruthless blood of Al Ghul was coursing through his veins...childish?

They might be of blood, but they have not met more than a day ago, and the man has the gall to use a high handed tone as if he knew him. But when Damian saw that unwavering stare of his father, he had enough.

And with this range, it was more than enough.

'Fight me!' Damian almost growled and leaped at the man, grabbing the chance to lash out. He hated how it sounded shrill on his ten-year-old voice when the challenge was an honest duel with his life on the line.

'Don't be ridiculous,' a simple backstep was all it took to counter his kick. He had good reflexes, Damian thought. And when Damian's jab connected, he knew the older man had enough brawn to overpower him, and yet his father pulled back and had even stubbornly refused to draw weapon.

Why?

'Show me respect and fight!' he shouted, going low and landed a solid one on Bruce's stomach.

'You're good...but,' was that a compliment, funny how it sounded sarcastic. Damian was too busy figuring out how to take Batman down that the next statement was drowned in his anger. And just as Damian was trying to calm himself, it was followed by words he had heard all his life, 'you're not good enough.'

You're not good enough. Ra's Al Ghul used to say that. And he had made sure all his life that he would be immune to such remarks, and yet...damn it.

Damian continued his assault.

  'My weekend in the mountains was pretty uneventful,' all of a sudden, a stranger's voice cut through their duel. Cheerful, nonchalant words without a hint of hostility, echoed throughout the cave. And there standing a few boulders away from them was an equally ridiculously, albeit less monochrome, dressed masked teen, 'What did I miss?'

'It gets worse,' Damian muttered under his breathe, as he spied the young man behind his father.

'Robin. I'd like you to meet Damian,' the relief of his father was too obvious, it was stuck ringing in his ears. 'He'll be staying for awhile.'

So this is the third Robin. Timothy Jackson Drake. Instantly, a list of background checks clicked on his mind as he retrieved his brass knuckles back under his glove.

Drake walked closer, all smiles and friendliness. From where he stood, Damian already found the intruder insufferable. 'Hey, how are you?' Robin asked while giving a knowing look at his father as if saying, 'again? You've brought another lost boy, somewhere?'

Damian could almost hear Bruce sigh as an answer.

This is wrong. What is wrong with this man? Why is he not protecting father? Aren't I obviously trying to kill Batman, so then why is he simply standing there on a sideline?

Damian's gaze moved up and down on the newcomer. The will to fight left his small body in tension. The exchange of blows now seemed to have been discounted as nothing more than a 'ridiculous' with no one taking his challenge seriously.

On instincts, he studied Robin meticulously and ended up staring at Tim's outstretched hand in deep thought. The fourteen-year-old had his shoulders slouched, stance relaxed, feet unbalanced...too many openings, too many weaknesses to exploit, and not enough vigilance. A liability. And this adopted prepubescent runt is supposed to be the partner to father? This 'thing' was what father deemed to be 'good enough' to stand at his side? Preposterous.

'Umm,' the teen added, his extended hand awkwardly kept hanging in midair, 'here in my world, we call this gesture a handshake...'

'Don't patronize me or I'll break your face,' it was not a warning, it's a statement. A threat this Robin should take heed if he had a functioning brain.

'Enough! Alfred will help you unpack,' that tone again. What is with these people? 'It's been a long and difficult journey. You should get some rest.'

'Don't tell me what I should do!' Damian declared with as much authority as he was breed to have since he had learned his destiny. And yet, why is no one listening to him? He had been used to people hanging over to his every word, his every utterance the same weight as mother, and just as revered as grandfather, and yet these people can't seem to take anything he says seriously. It was exasperating! 'Mother let me do what I want!' he added sharply before he could stop himself, and Damian knew all too well how petty and petulant it sounded that he cursed inwardly.

'Things are different here,' his father made his ultimatum, and for all its worth, he has to agree. Things are very different. Nothing seems to work on common sense.

Bruce repeated his command. Before he could say anything more, Damian walked out bitterly. And with the old butler following behind his heels, muttering some servile perfunctory sentiments, Damian finally left off the curse that was stuck in his throat.

 This is aggravating. What did I do wrong?

Damian looked at his surrounding, the soft four-posted bed, the nightstand with its lamps and vases that would not be out of place on any museum or art gallery, and an entertainment set immaturely designed for underdeveloped youth. He was standing at a table, stubbornly refusing to take a seat with a plate of roasted pheasant, grilled potatoes, and rigatello cheese placed in front of him, and a promise for more from a butler, named 'Alfred' who was content to stand guard behind Damian.

With the way the butler was looking down on him, Damian won't be surprised if the man was contemplating whether he had seen enough of civilization to know how to use a fork and a spoon.

He had dined with princes, and broke bread with sultans and oil magnates alike. This home-cooked fine dining was a joke in comparison. Add the room's obvious modern youthful exterior made him heavily feel like they were gravely treating him as a kid.

Pathetic. The boy returned the servant's scrutinizing stare, equally, and frowned at everything the butler and this room represented.

Comfort. Silence. Safety. With no one attempting at his life for half the night.

How is this supposed to educate me?

Comfort breeds complacency. Silence is suspicious. Safety is an illusion. Unless it was taken by your very own hands, one should question all. And not once did Damian had felt this emptiness to his surroundings that it creeps to his skin. Instead of helping him rest, it simply made his guard on so high alert that it was putting him on edge.

'Pennyworth, isn't it?' Damian said. Loathingly, even at his full height, he could only reach up to the servant's pristine white waistcoat.

'How may I serve you?' Alfred Pennyworth, butler to Bruce Wayne and his appointed babysitter, said courteously. Too courteously, it was almost an insult.

'I want my sword,' Damian said, dragging the words as he picked up the butter knife and twirled it expertly between his fingers. If their form of torture was to bore him to death, then they are gaining grounds.

'It is in my opinion that children should stay away from sharp objects,' Damian raised an eyebrow, he would have added how contradictory that was when his father had a literal line of boys armed, but the butler was quick to add, 'Awfully true to those reared to maim and kill, young sir.'

The boy scoffed, 'An unsolicited opinion from a servant. Father's management of his properties must be crippling to hire one of you.'

'I was not hired by Master Bruce.'

'You must have come with the inheritance then. Tell me, butler, exactly how am I expected to train without a weapon?' Damian clicked his tongue, 'Unless father wants me to be creative, that is.' The boy threw the knife across the room and struck, base deep, at a bust of a historical figurehead he would not waste time to learn. The rebuke was plastered all over the old man's expression.

'Yes, the arts of silver cutlery, impressive, if not extravagant," he shook his head and added monotonously, 'If I may, Master Damian, if you wish to train, a gym had been installed within this room,' and the butler gestured towards a punching bag hanging beside the window.

Damian frowned, 'you meant these decorations?' he strode towards the punching bag and started testing the boxing equipment—with test, he meant beating the bag with all the temper of a grade schooler. The restraints rattled like trinket.

'I prefer the cave—somewhere I could break things,' he exclaimed.

'A flair you seem to share with Master Timothy, no doubt.'

'To compare me to a future road-kill, you must have a death wish, Pennyworth,' Damian made a series of high kicks and jabs at the thing as an example. Despite his efforts to be menacing, the bag proved to be well-made and sturdy, and the only reaction he got was the old man's mouth twitching.

Still, the butler must have sensed that his concentration was elsewhere and mechanically offered the boy a towel. The motion seemed to have been practiced so many times that Damian could see the moment it dawned on the old man what he just did. That was, until his usual cold professionalism sets in once more.

Damian shrugged it off but did not refuse the towel.

'I also require a laptop, and a working net access, get to it, or do you need to demonstrate to me again how useless you are?' Damian demanded, taking care to make his voice as sullen and testy as he could.

The old man's calm facade seemed to crack.

To his defense, Damian was patient enough to let the old man pester him with more than the adequate amount of lectures which included a full explanation (with footnotes) about the stately Wayne Manor's rules on how not to raise a budding tyrant.

Satisfied he had the butler distracted, Damian scrutinized the plan again on his head while trying to work out his evening session without damaging any more properties.

It was careless of his father and that sorry excuse of a Robin to discuss a case within his earshot. They might not know that he could hear exceptionally well, but that was still unacceptable if they would prioritize security. Though standing for a lapse of time at the door long after the butler had closed and entered the passkey might have been unsafe, still, he had deemed it as a necessary risk.

And Damian found his eavesdropping to be fruitful.

He doesn't care if they talk behind his back. Though he can't help but frown at his father's supposedly obligatory 'love and respect' due to their filial relations. How archaic. The lip service on his behalf, that, he could also disregard.

If he needed to prove his worth, then there was only one way to prove it. How was it again? Vigilante work, is it not? Being a hero? Would that be too hard? The city is small, and there seems to be no end to criminals. Maybe a few initiative on my part wouldn't be too bad.

And he had to thank Drake for giving him that initiative. 'Spook'. 'Blackgate Prison'.

Now if only he could get a hold of more information and his sword.

Just to make sure, Damian continued to torment the servant and made an extra effort to his role as the demon spawn they all seem to equate him with.

'Why can't I get a laptop!?' Damian yelled once more, with his fist leaving a deep impression on the bag.

Just as he expected, Bruce came barging to the room.

At the sight of his father, Damian can't help but recall those shadowed eyes that seem to bear down on him. This time—it was filled with regret.

'He's all yours, sir,' Pennyworth dragged his exhausted body towards the door, 'My tolerance for colorful insults is wearing a little thin, I'm afraid.'

Perfect, he thought derisively, 'What have you done to my sword? Where are we?' the boy asked, straining his ears at the sounds of Pennyworth typing the key pass, while strategically spying at his peripherals as the butler made his way out of their father-and-son talk.

And while we're at it, why not torment father, too?

'This is part of my home, where I grew up. And you'll get a computer and the sword when I decide it's safe,' Bruce, still in his Batman suit, declared, 'I still don't know much about you, Damian.'

Then let me rectify that, for one thing, 'I hate it here!' Damian complained, not dropping the act.

'Too bad. You'll still be staying until we figure out what you mother's up to,' Damian opened his mouth to say something, but his father unceremoniously advised, 'you should eat.'

His mood dropped, which seemed to be the norm whenever he attempted to talk to his father, 'Eat? You call this food?!' Damian flung the plate and the sound of breaking porcelain was grating.

'It's actually pretty good...when you don't mix it with the wallpaper,' just hearing his father talk made Damian lose his calm. Somehow, the act became reality with every punctuation from his father pushing his displeasure.

Complaisant, disdainful...what exactly does...

'I suggest you rest.'

'Rest'. This was the second time he had ordered Damian to rest. As if his father was shooing a cat, or any domestic animal, out of his way. A burden he wanted to be tucked away to bed and out of sight.

Something gave way inside Damian. The fury came like hot metal searing him into a numbness that he simply blurted out his anger unthinkingly.

'I've been sent here against my will!'

Damian didn't choose to be here. But he is. Now. Here. And the first thing his father wanted was to play 'house' and leave him with a bumbling servant who has no sense to heed orders, and consequently preserve his own life!

'You can't make me do anything I don't want to do!'

His father won't even test him. Won't even give him merit. Or a trial to show what he was capable of! And he wanted Damian to call it a night?

He's still not finished with his outburst, when his father bellowed, 'Enough!'

The fires fueling his emotions ebbed just as instantly when he saw his father's unreadable expression.

Batman had mastered intimidation to perfection and he seemed to have no qualms to unleash all of it to his son, 'You dishonor your sensei with this loss of composure! Your rage is born of fear and is unbefitting in a student of martial arts!'

The older man stepped closer, the dark cape cast a shadow as dark as the deepest of abyss, and the boy didn't realize that his body has reeled back until he felt the corner of the table pressing from behind. The threat from those eyes was real that Damian could feel the sweat forming in the palm of his hand.

'You'll be given opportunities to prove yourself to me. Until then, Boy...Patience is a virtue!'

Damian gulped. He could feel goosebumps from his spine.

'Yes, yes father' he repeated his answer automatically, a natural response only his mother could pull out of him.

When he raised his eyes once more, his father was already gone. And he heard the unmistakeable locking mechanism of the door, shutting him in, indefinitely.

 He paced the room. The butter knife he had retrieved a while ago was now tight in his grip.

Nothing changed, the boy thought while replaying the scenes with his father. If he had to take his father's words into consideration then that meant he was on the right track.

And Damian, of course, had drawn only one conclusion, it was a challenge.

He must proceed with the plan.

With that in mind, Damian took a deep breath and shifted on his seat in front of the television. A number of the latest playing consoles were sprawled on his feet and an audio system at one end. He took on the remote control and started clicking away, like a person going over his groceries.

He waited and skipped a few news channel.

Gotham's cable reception apparently was filled by hourly crime reports of the mean and the gritty and accentuated with base gossips and distasteful luxury.

But even so, Damian would find himself pausing a few seconds more whenever a channel would feature Batman. He had to admit, seeing things on a screen was different from seeing it in person.

He had watched and rewatched his father on footages going on nights on end, with his vigilante works, and it does not take half a brain to know that Batman was out there doing just that.

Despite their bouts, Damian was—is 'excited' the correct word for it?

In fact, the first time he saw his father's nightly escapades, under the supervision of his mother of course, he initially found it...cool. A man dressed as a bat, stalking the shadows for justice, ah yes, he would be taken to his grave before he would confess such thoughts.

He glanced at the mess of his dinner still left untouched and sneered.

Another chess piece.

It would take a miracle for that old man NOT to came checking up on him. The butler might not act like a servant, but Damian can recognize the pride in which Pennyworth carries himself as a caretaker of the Wayne family.

He was surprised at the confidence he had at the butler, but he was sure Pennyworth would definitely clean up after him and for that, he had Damian's regards if nothing else.

After a while, the boy found himself lost in his own thoughts. The changing visage of the monitor toss dancing lights on his face. The frown was gone and despite the intense look on his hazel eyes, Damian had looked exactly like any harmless innocent child lounging lazily in front of a screen.

But all of it changed when he saw his target. The assassin's mind instantly took over as his whole body became taut with precise sharpness drilled to him from countless training.

Spook.

It took considerable restraint on Damian's part not to roll his eyes. Questionable aesthetic both on the criminal name and on his wardrobe. Such a small fry was not even a blip on his radar when his data consisted of international threats and contingencies. He sighed when the news anchor zoomed in to show the hostage-taking. Granted even the minions had it bad. Blanket with cut holes for eyes? What a cheap preference only fitting for children stories.

Oh, how he would just fit right in.

With the name and face of his mission acquired, and the butler's timely, unmistakable, British drawl announcing his own intrusion, Damian took off the towel from his shoulders and silently slipped behind the door.

'Now, let's hunt,' he whispered to himself.

[ninjagoat]

Supergirl 3x14 Speculation Post

As some of you may have heard, episode 14 of this current season of Supergirl will feature Academy Award Nominee Laurie Metcalf as Winn's mother, Mary, who abandoned him as a child after his father committed mass murder.

We know that she's been out on location with Ms. Benoist, possibly with Mr. Brooks and Mr. Wood. So far, it doesn't seem much like the kind of reunion we've seen in 3x03 with Maggie and her dad, or the "I'm dying and I want to make amends" type a la Iris and her mother we've seen on The Flash. The episode title, 'Schott The The Heart' is a play on the Bon Jovi classic 'You Give Love A Bad Name', and that would suggest heavy Mon-El or, indeed, Imra involvement.

Ms. Metcalf is great. She's been great for DECADES. And, as the ever-so-slightly angry people at the Winn end of the fandom will attest, Mr. Jordan brings it pretty much every single week (which is why he gets the Jeremy Jordan Award For Doing So Much With So Little time and time again). Their scenes together will be great.

This post is not about their scenes.

This post is about the *other* big scene: who does Winn confide in? Who does he tell his sob story to?

Because that's the actual story. 'Childish Things' is not the story of the Winslows Schott, but the story of Winn and Kara. Whoever gets told that backstory is the focal point of Winn's arc for the episode and - let's not kid ourselves here, because he's not likely to get another one - the season.

So let's look at the options.

Kara

Kara seems like an obvious choice. Not only does it rhyme with 'Childish Things', but Kara's been... distant from him recently, from him more than others. She's said some questionable things about their friendship. This would be a chance for her to reconnect with him, and by extension, with Kara Danvers.

Kara will absolutely tell him he needs to give Mary a chance. When she says compassion for all, she means it. But Winn might not go for it. After all, why should it be his job to forgive the woman who convinced him, intentionally or not, that he would only ever be his father's son?

Lena

It's not going to be Lena. But I really want it to be.

It would be my absolute dream for this show if Winn showed up at CatCo after the initial encounter with Mary, looking to talk to Kara or James, he can only find Lena; and, in one of her moments where she believes she's good with people (she is, but it's an individual, case-by-case basis thing), she takes him into James office, expecting much ado about nothing.

And Winn dumps *everything* on her. His mother, his father, his time in foster care, everything. And she realises she's totally out of her depth.

Yes, Winn and Lena have paralleling backstories. But Lena's experience happened largely in isolation, both from other people and from the consequences of her family's actions: Winn's dad kills six people, he lost everything; Lena's brother tries to nuke California, and her immense wealth and privilege carries on as normal.

Winn, on the other hand, went into foster care. He'll have met ten, maybe twenty other kids while he was there. He'll have heard their stories, or at least parts of them. He probably doesn't even consider his story to be *that bad*, compared to others.

This would cause Lena to rethink her own history, and her attitude toward it. It would also put an end to the endless "Am I Evil?" stories, because if Winn can make it... she's got no excuse.

She should probably tell Winn that he should stand his ground against whatever Mary wants; but, more likely, will tell him he really needs the advice of someone else, because she is nowhere near qualified to handle this.

J'onn

Most of Winn's scenes this season have involved J'onn. Winn is also has a significant functioning relationship with J'onn's father, M'yrnn (or Mr J). J'onn's story this year is basically built around 'fathers and sons'.

You can see where I'm going with this.

J'onn being a father to Winn in this scene would be the final link between everyone being Winn's friends and people he works for to actually being his family. Plus, J'onn having lost his own mother, and known the joy of being reunited with his father, he is in a unique position to offer advice.

Mon-El

Mon-El has been, hard as it will be for some to believe, Winn's most consistent friend. He has always respected Winn: promises to let Winn make his superhero suit (even though he had no intention of being a hero when he did - I'll get to that later); congratulates Winn when he learns about Lyra, and asks Winn for relationship advice when he needs it; supports Winn when Lyra gets kidnapped; and, my personal favorite, his aphorism "Hope for the best, have Winn Schott plan for the worst".

He *also* knows which of Winn's buttons to press to get him to do things he doesn't want to do, or rather, says he doesn't want to do. This is a quality you want in a good wingman.

And, of course there's his *own* issues with his parents, which gives he and Winn a shared perspective. The most likely advice he would give about Mary would be that which mirrored Winn's previous advice to him; i.e, listen to her, but tempered with his new found leadership skills, he could emphasise that Winn doesn't have to give her what she wants, and he should stand up for himself.

ALEX

Dipping into speculation on the Winn/Mary side of the episode for the moment:

- Winn's supposed to be moving into some sort of leadership role this season (this may have just been the cross-over, or that might be foreshadowing for this arc)

- Mr. Brooks's IG pic shows him, Ms. Benoist and Mr. Wood in kind of a golf-cart, in the middle of nowhere. This feels a lot like a corporate 'team-building' exercise.

- The pic of Ms. Metcalf with Ms. Benoist appears to be at the same location, and her hair/costume choices seem... very Alex.

So, a theory. A decision is made: in order to beat Reign, Supergirl and Guardian and Mon-El will have to work as a team - kind of like National City's very own Trinity - with Winn as... not Overwatch, exactly, but in a similar leadership role as Iris currently has on The Flash; and so, in order to get them all working together, J'onn sends them all off with Alex to DEO boot-camp, where they'll get training from a legendary instructor.

Everyone's excited, but Winn's nervous too. He's never done anything like this, and he's got a huge responsibility here.

And it only gets worse when he finds out the instructor is Mary.

Now, to me, this would be very cool - which is why it's pretty much guaranteed not to be what happens - but the thing about it is that this moves the focus away from 'will he forgive her?' to 'will he win her approval?', while still being part of the main story arc.

So how does Alex fit into this?

Mary is Alex's possible future; a future where she can't balance her current life as a DEO agent with that of her desired life as a mother. Alex is going to see a woman who abandoned her child at a time when he needed her most - the kind of mother she has no interest in being - and she's going to hate her breathing guts.

And then she's going to tell Winn to kick Mary's ass at whatever challenge she's thrown at him, because that woman can go to hell. He doesn't need her approval. He can do this *his* way.

Those are the most likely candidates (and Lena). Here's my thoughts on the others:

JAMES

Please no. I can't sit through James giving his patented generic-but-somehow-uniquely-unhelpful advice on a subject he can't possibly understand (given that he never seems to go home to see his own mother at all). This is a bad idea.

(It's going to happen, isn't it?)

IMRA

An interesting idea, given that Imra's supposed to be a telepath, and particularly given the vague motions toward SaturnNerd in 3x07 and 3x09. She could put his muddled thoughts into order for him, help reconcile what he's saying with what he's thinking. But she'd need to develop a personality very quickly for that to work, because she sure doesn't have one now.

BRAINIAC 5

It'd be hilarious, but no.

CAT GRANT

There's no way. There is absolutely no way that this is happening.

BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE? :-D

So, there's my thoughts. Feel free to kick my ass/leave thoughtful comments.

[tkmedia]

Back from the Brink: Chris Byrd’s Fight for Life

Back from the Brink: Chris Byrd’s Fight for Life

ATLANTIC CITY, UNITED STATES: Chris Byrd (R) celebrates his IBF Heavyweight Championship win over Evander Holyfield with boxing promoter Don King (L) 14 December, 2002 in Atlantic City, NJ. Byrd won the 12-round bout by unanimous decision. AFP PHOTO/HENNY RAY ABRAMS (Photo credit should read HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP via Getty Images) 21 Jul by Joseph Santoliquito This story appeared in the August 2021 issue of The Ring. WHETHER CHRIS BYRD’S RETURN TO BOXING HAPPENS OR NOT, THE FACT THAT IT’S EVEN POSSIBLE IS PROOF THAT HE ALREADY WON THE FIGHT OF HIS LIFE The park hummed only with the doleful cry of a desperate man swaying gently on a swing. That’s where Laurie Byrd found her baby brother, Chris, the two-time heavyweight titlist, a few blocks from his house one April night in 2017. Chris’ face was a ghoulish mask, his bloodshot eyes bigger than coffee saucers in the twilight. Laurie stood at the park’s edge for a moment wondering what monster had possessed her brother, once a lovable, hyper kid with a beaming smile who would follow her to basketball practice. Chris was wondering, too. His mind was twisted and he didn’t know what to do next. Drown himself in the Pacific Ocean? Hang himself from a balcony for the neighborhood to see? Stuff his mouth with pills and never wake up? “The pain started and that changed everything.” – Tracy Byrd During a 16-year, 47-fight pro career, the undersized Chris Byrd faced some of the most formidable heavyweights of his era, including David Tua, Evander Holyfield, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko and Ike Ibeabuchi, gorging himself and trashing his body to barely get over 210 pounds. But for close to a decade after his final fight, Byrd was faced with a battle more daunting than any presented by those big punchers. His clash came against the horrors of anxiety, depression and despair – constant agony that shoved him to the brink of suicide. If not for Laurie interceding that spring night in 2017 and a handful of others who came to Byrd’s rescue, this would be a far more somber story. Byrd, a middleweight silver medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, defied logic as a heavyweight in the pro ranks, where he would routinely battle opponents who were larger than he was – often by a wide margin. Now Byrd, who will turn 51 on August 15, is thinking about returning to the ring for the first time in 12 years. He says it’s to make up for what he missed during his prime, a real chance to show what he can do at his more natural weight of 160. He says he’s a changed man from the walking Halloween costume he wore for many years, enduring the relentless throbbing in his feet, back, hips, shoulders and knees. He almost lost his family over it. He almost lost who he is. He almost lost his life. To outsiders, Chris and his wife, Tracy, lived an idyllic life. They were the perfect boxing couple, as close to a modern version of the Beaver Cleaver TV family as there can be in boxing. Their three children – Jordan, Justin and Sydney – quite literally grew up before the boxing community’s eyes. They seemed well-adjusted; they were a joy to be around. Hardly anyone uttered a sordid word or had a negative attitude when it came to Chris Byrd. It’s why Byrd’s post-boxing career, at least the first incarnation of it, seems so difficult to fathom. “Everybody in boxing loved Chris Byrd. And you would meet Chris and Tracy, and who could not love them?” said Steve Cunningham, the two-time IBF cruiserweight titlist. “They named our daughter, Kennedy. We’re that close to the Byrds. Chris is the easiest guy to get along with, a nonhostile guy, except when you’re in the ring with him. “Chris always had it together. My wife and I always looked at Chris and Tracy as our big brother and sister. I love Chris Byrd. When people ask me who my favorite all-time boxer is, I don’t say Muhammad Ali; I don’t say Sugar Ray Leonard. I say Chris Byrd, because I was in four or five training camps with him. I knew the odds were against him on the business side and the size side. I understand what he was up against – and he still went on to become a two-time heavyweight champion.”

Byrd gave away almost 30 pounds in his TKO loss to Wladimir Klitschko in April 2006. (Photo by Torsten Silz//DDP/AFP via Getty Images) Chris Byrd’s pain first started in 2009 in his left pinky toe. It was just a light tingling sensation. At first, Byrd (41-5-1, 22 knockouts) ignored it, but as it continued to worsen and started to spread, his personable disposition grew dark. Byrd’s last fight was a victory, a four-round knockout over the terribly overmatched Matthias Sandow in Germany on March 21, 2009. After that, the gifted southpaw became a trainer, following the same path as his parents, Joe and Rose Byrd, who trained their eight children in their fabled “dungeon” in the basement of the Byrd home in Flint, Michigan, the incubator of Chris’ awkward, slick style. By 2010, the pain had spread. Chris couldn’t sleep for more than two or three hours at a time. Doctors tried to find answers. Chris was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, a sometimes excruciating condition caused by nerve damage. Chris was prescribed numerous anti-inflammatory medications. But the pills had awful side effects, which came to a head in June 2010 when Chris went to see a basketball game in which his sister Laurie was coaching in Los Angeles. Chris went to the game with Tracy, his son Justin and his nephew. After the game, as the family was walking to their car in the parking lot, Tracy mentioned Justin had said something disrespectful to her. The boys were teenagers at the time. “When we got in the car, I lost it on my son and nephew,” Chris recalled. “I remember screaming at them and wanting to fight them. I was going crazy. I went into a rage. I got out of the car and challenged my son and my nephew to fight. Someone saw this and called the cops. Tracy was trying to tell me to stop. My son and nephew wouldn’t get out of the car, they were so scared. I was circling the car yelling and going crazy. “I was able to calm myself down when I realized I was acting nuts. I got back in the car. Everything calmed down, but everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. We started driving out of the parking lot and immediately cop cars were driving towards me and behind me, blocking me in.” There were six police cruisers. Chris stopped the car. The police jumped out, guns drawn, and told the family to get out of the car and hit the ground. Chris and his family complied. After being handcuffed and interrogated, the police allowed Chris’ family to go without any charges. This, however, convinced Tracy that something was wrong with Chris. His doctor immediately took him off the medication. “I used to sit in my garage all day and not talk to anyone. I remember telling Tracy that I wanted to end it all. For me, life was over.” – Chris Byrd “I started having issues in my hips and both shoulders, and the neuropathy spread all the way up my leg,” Chris recalled. “I could not take the pain any longer. I was no longer sleeping at night. I was starting to feel a little better with the drugs, but then I started to have outbursts. I would lose my temper. “I finally told Tracy about all of the thoughts I was having. I would have dreams of killing myself, Tracy, my entire family in their sleep. One night, I had a dream of hanging myself from my balcony, naked, so the whole neighborhood could see me. I was so aware these thoughts were not normal. I was so scared of these thoughts. They were so real and so vivid, but I was too scared to tell anyone, because I thought everyone would think I was crazy.” By August 2010, his family did. “Chris became someone different, someone I didn’t know,” recalled Tracy, crying. “I still love him. That will never change. He’s always going to be the love of my life. His pain started small and gradually got worse, and worse, and worse. I spent years taking Chris to doctors, begging anyone for help. It reached a point where it became too much for him. It was hell. Chris sucked it up. We were still a family. We did things together. Everyone knew Chris was in pain, and during that time it pained me seeing Chris that way. We had a great marriage that everyone saw. My kids had the best dad, and I had the best husband. “The pain started and that changed everything.” Chris spent the summer of 2010 in his bedroom. He was severely depressed and did not see the point of living anymore. Justin was so worried about him that he spent the summer with his father, watching TV. The only time Justin left his side was when Tracy came to bed, or to get his father food.

As a result of his ordeal, Byrd (with wife Tracy and son Justin) would see family bonds stretched to the breaking point. (Photo by Jens-Ulrich Koch/DDP/AFP via Getty Images) The rage and thoughts of suicide subsided for a time, though the pain continued to worsen. It reached another crescendo in 2017. Tracy hid anything that Chris could grab to possibly harm himself, like knives and medication. One weekday morning in April 2017, Chris got up from another bad night. “That morning I woke up from the pain and I couldn’t take it anymore; all I wanted to do was take some pills and go to sleep for good,” he remembered. “I used to sit in my garage all day and not talk to anyone. I remember telling Tracy that I wanted to end it all. For me, life was over. No one was able to help me. I couldn’t take medication because of my mental state. This was the eighth or ninth time I went through this. My family was used to it. “But this outburst was worse than the others. I was in pain everywhere. When you’re in real pain, you don’t think right. It’s when it got super serious. I would say that it was the closest I ever came to doing something. I wanted to walk into the ocean, and when I thought I would float back to the shore, I didn’t want my family to see me that way. I remember sitting on the ledge in my backyard, and I wanted to leave the house.

He may have been small, but Byrd could always hang with the heavyweights. (Photo by Johnny Louis/FilmMagic) “My family tried to grab me and I threw them off me. I would go crazy. It would be like blacking out. I had been going to doctors every day, and I had enough. When I finally broke, I broke. It led to that.” Chris walked through the front gate with tears streaming down his face. Drunk on emotion, his ungainly stroll led him to a local park a few blocks away. Laurie followed from a distance. When Chris sat on the swing, Laurie approached him to see if he was OK. Chris sneered at her, warning her away. Chris kept repeating, “I want to kill myself; I want to cut off my foot; I don’t want to live anymore.” “The pain was so unbearable, and I kept telling him that I couldn’t understand what he was going through; it was like Chris was possessed,” recalled Laurie. “I looked at Chris and it was like I didn’t know this person. “I was scared of him because I didn’t know what he was going to do, but I was there to protect him, too. To see him go through that broke my heart. I talked to him and I told him, ‘Momma wouldn’t want to see you like this.’ That calmed him down. (Rose passed away in June 2015.) “It was like an angel came down and landed on his shoulder. He calmed down. He said, ‘You’re right. She wouldn’t.’” The pair started laughing and everything went silent. They eased back up, brother and sister, and walked to the house. It seemed like a lifetime to get there, with Chris repeatedly saying, “I’m good, I’m good.” “That’s the closest I came to actually doing something extreme. Then a million thoughts go through your head that you can’t do it,” Chris said. “It hit me that those committed to suicide are committed to doing it. I thought about how many people I would hurt. I was never committed to doing it. I didn’t want to cause my family any pain. That’s what saved me. I second-guessed myself the whole time.” Four months later, a chance meeting changed everything. *** What Chris Byrd experienced is very much like what many retired NFL veterans go through, living with omnipresent pain. He was dealing with 11 years of no sleep while in constant agony. He was growing psychotic. Today, Byrd says he is in a good, lucid state of mind. That journey to recovery began in August 2017 while among a group of people discussing the medicinal benefits of cannabidiol (CBD), one of the many chemical compounds found in marijuana. But unlike THC, marijuana’s main psychoactive component, CBD has no intoxicating effect. This is where Chris met Tammie Thomas, a cannabis consultant. She didn’t know anything about Byrd but felt instant compassion when Chris shuffled up as the last speaker of the meeting. His feet didn’t spread more than 12 inches apart as he walked to the front of the group. Within seconds, Chris was sobbing. “I couldn’t believe that they had Chris speaking,” Thomas remembered. “He was announced as a former two-time heavyweight champion. This guy? A former two-time heavyweight champion? My heart hurt for him.

“Afterward, I knew Chris was going to be bombarded with people, so I passed along my number to him. Chris told me he suffered from neuropathy, which destroys your nerves. It’s very hard to combat and hard to treat. I told Chris I knew I could help him, and Chris was shocked, because for 11 years he had gone to every doctor he could to deal with the pain.” Byrd waited a week to call Thomas and asked her for a home consultation. His entire family, who had grown frustrated with Chris’ behavior, would be on hand to listen to Thomas talk about the therapeutic benefits of cannabis. Thomas noticed something about the Byrd family as she spoke to them. In her opinion, they were done with him. “Chris couldn’t finish a sentence without his family answering for him,” she said. “I asked Chris what he was going through, and his family just cut him off. They treated him like a washed-up fighter that they put in the corner. I remember being with Chris alone in his kitchen as he was making his smoothie, and he looked at me and said he wanted to start boxing again. “He had this look that no matter what anyone thought, he was going to fight. I remember leaving the house that day thinking he had no support and no one believed in him. I thought about it again that night and if he had one person to believe in him, he was going to be able to do it. Chris was ready to check out. Chris did put his family through some hell, too, but there were people who did give up on Chris.” From Tracy’s perspective, she was protecting Chris from himself. “I didn’t and don’t want to see Chris fight again, and I would do anything to this day to protect him,” Tracy said. “I still care about Chris. I would consider myself blessed to love again the way I loved Chris. No one ever checked out on Chris. It was torture for me and torture for the kids. I finished Chris’ sentences – but I did that the whole time Chris and I were together. I fought for him for 12 years, and I checked out when he started getting involved with these new people in his life and Chris wanted to fight again. “Fighters go through life thinking it’s only us who go through pain. It can create mental illness.” – Lamon Brewster “Chris’ family still supports and loves him. No one wants to see Chris get hurt. I stayed, and I stayed, and I stayed. This wasn’t Chris Byrd, the underdog guy boxing loved. I checked out when it reached a point of no return. He was set in his mind that he was going to fight again. He’s completely different. But it will kill me to ever see Chris get hurt. I would die for him.” Thomas told the Byrds that if you took the whole cannabis plant from the ground and used it raw, it’s proven to have strong medicinal purposes – though only in high doses. “If people think they can smoke a joint and it’s going to cure all of their ailments, it’s the farthest thing from the truth. It’s a pain pill; it’s temporary; it’s a band-aid,” Thomas said. “When the high wears off, you’re back in pain again. The first two, three months with Chris, he was on 1,500 to 3,000 milligrams a day, drinking it and doing suppositories. “Those were our two primary methods of delivery. When you do it through the rectum, you don’t get high, because it bypasses the liver. When you inhale, ingest or smoke cannabis with THC, it processes through the liver, which converts it into a psychoactive compound. By doing suppositories, that’s avoided.” Three years after they met, Byrd has been relatively pain-free.

If not for the smile, many boxing fans probably wouldn’t recognize the slimmed-down Byrd of today. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images) “Once Chris’ body was healed, he is probably doing about 100 milligrams a day as maintenance to control inflammation, not because he needs anything healed,” Thomas said. Another cathartic moment occurred in 2018, while on a speaking engagement in Yuma, Arizona, with Chris’ cousin, former WBO heavyweight titlist Lamon Brewster. Now 47 and mentoring at-risk children in Indianapolis, Indiana, Brewster was with Byrd during a massage therapy session. The masseuse struck a nerve in Byrd’s left ankle and he exploded in agony. Brewster could feel the emotion from across the room. “And it was good, because we’re fighters and we make a living hiding our pain,” Brewster said. “We’re programmed to do that. Fighters go through life thinking it’s only us who go through pain. It can create mental illness. Chris sat up and slammed his first down on the mat. He said, ‘I can’t do it. I can’t deal with this for the rest of my life.’ “The one thing about being a champion is we’re normally by ourselves a lot. When you’re alone like that and you’re in pain, there is no one you can express that to and explain what you’re feeling. I never saw Chris like that before. It caught me totally off guard; I didn’t try to calm him down. What he was going through I would put no one on earth through. “I kept encouraging him to talk more. I wanted him to get it all out. If the river is overflowing, you don’t try to stop it. I kept telling him, ‘Let it out! Let it out, cousin!’ Read the full article

[liliannorman]

Here’s how COVID-19 is changing classes this year

With summer vacation over, classes are resuming. But the 2020 school year will be different. With the COVID-19 pandemic still spreading, many people wonder whether it is safe for students and teachers to return to school.

Closing schools entirely isn’t a good idea. Without them, of course, students can miss out on learning math, science, language arts and more. But some also may miss out on breakfast and lunch. Some kids only get to see a doctor or nurse if they’re at school. Schools also teach valuable life skills, such as how to act around others. Kids and teens benefit from the friends they meet up with at school.

Because of that, many groups say it’s important now that students — especially kindergarteners to fifth-graders — return to school in person. Those groups include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

From buses to low-cost internet: Creative paths to online access

But the decision to open a school to in-person learning isn’t a simple one. School systems around the United States are trying to figure out what is best for kids and their teachers. Some schools are continuing the virtual learning they launched last spring. Others are starting with virtual learning and hope to have kids walking the halls by late fall. Still other schools are letting students in, and parents can choose whether to send their kids and teens.

In every case, school will be different this year. Crowded hallways and cafeterias are things of the past. “I don’t think it would be safe, honestly,” says Beatrice Barilla, 13. Beatrice is starting eighth grade in the Montessori Middle School at W. G. Sanders Middle School in Columbia, S.C. “We can’t go in [the way we] would be normally. That would be a disaster.”

Staying home

In some U.S. communities, many people are infected with the new coronavirus. If some of them go to school and get close to others, the disease could spread. Keeping kids at home is a good way to slow the spread of COVID-19. So many schools will look different because they’ll be empty. Or they’ll be a lot less full because parents have chosen online learning for their children this fall.

Explainer: What is a coronavirus?

Spencer Blosfield, 12, enjoyed virtual learning when COVID-19 hit. “I love to learn in the comfort of my own home, and I don’t want to leave,” he says. He loves computer science and finds it easy to code from home. Spencer will be starting seventh grade in a new school, Davidsen Middle School in Tampa, Fla. Florida is a state with a lot of coronavirus cases. Spencer’s not okay with going to school in person. “The pandemic is getting worse and then they’re sending people in person to school,” he says. “It’s killing a lot of people. It’s scary.” And so his parents have decided Spencer will continue virtual learning this fall.

Spencer Blosfield, 12, doesn’t mind virtual learning. He’s spending a lot of time learning to code inside an educational version of the game Minecraft and is excited about learning algebra. April Blosfield

But not everyone prefers virtual learning. Like many kids, Liza Granade, 13, switched to online school in March. They (Liza uses they/them pronouns) didn’t miss carrying all their books around Monrovia Middle School in Huntsville, Ala. But they also felt like they didn’t learn much. “It was really easy work,” Liza says. “Like, 30 minutes to an hour [per day].” There were no tests. And Liza is not sure they learned all they were supposed to. This fall, Liza will be starting eighth grade remotely again. “It’s not really going to change,” they say. “It’s going to be school, but I won’t get to see my friends.”

Keeping kids and teens home may be the safest option in a pandemic. But for some students — such as young children and those with special needs — virtual learning may not work at all.

Amanda Hecht is a special-education teacher in Massachusetts. Her kindergarten through fifth grade students are part of the Springfield public school system. Even one-on-one teaching over Zoom wasn’t great, she found. “I have no tools … like a counter or dice or fraction bars,” she says. “The social interaction is just not there,” she adds. “It’s not the same connection” and the students just “don’t have the same focus.”

Liza Granade, 13, misses their friends and says talking online isn’t the same. But they spent a lot of the spring and summer crafting, sewing and learning how to make strawberry jam. Stephen Granade

In places where there isn’t a lot of coronavirus spread, it’s possible to do in-person classes safely, says Rainu Kaushal. She works at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. There, she studies how to make sure people get the healthcare they need in the best way. She recently investigated how other countries have managed in-person schooling during COVID-19. “Something like 20 countries have successfully reopened,” she says. “I think it can be done.” Kaushal published her analysis June 30 on a site called JAMA Health Forum.

The share of a community infected with COVID-19 should be what matters when sending kids to school, she says. “You don’t try to reopen in the middle of the epidemic.” So if your rates are going up, says Kaushal, “that’s not necessarily the time to reopen.” When COVID-19 cases pop up in a school, she says, it might just be time to shut down again.

Successful re-opening, therefore, will require that schools be flexible and make some changes.

Go with the (air)flow

Infected people can spread the coronavirus whenever words and air (and spit) leave their mouths. If healthy people nearby breathe in enough of those viruses in the air, they could get sick, too. Studies in labs have shown the virus can linger in the air for at least three hours.

There are ways to lower the risk, though. So it’s important to mix the air in the classroom with fresh air from outdoors, explains L. James Lo. His research at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Penn., focuses on how air flows through buildings. Mixing dilutes the indoor air, spreading out any virus it may hold. That, in turn, cuts the risk someone will encounter enough virus to make them sick.

Many heating and cooling systems in schools pull in air from outside and mix it with air already in the building. That’s usually good. It takes less energy to heat or cool some new air instead of all the air. Unfortunately, Lo says, in many schools, these systems don’t mix the air well enough to dilute any virus. That would take bringing in a lot more air, and pumping more of it per hour around the building. In most schools, Lo explains, that won’t be easy or affordable.

See all our coverage of the new coronovirus outbreak

A small classroom might be able to install a small, portable air-cleaning unit. For a very large room, he adds, it’s probably is not doable.

Another option is to move classes outside. “Outdoor classes would be ideal. There’s precious little evidence of transmission outside,” says Ed Nardell. He’s a pulmonologist (Pull-mun-OL-uh-gist) — someone who studies the lungs and lung disease — at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.

So this fall, classrooms might get new air filters that weren’t there before. Teachers might open windows and doors to help air move. And classes might be heading outside — as long as the weather is nice. 

That’s what the Academy of the Holy Names in Tampa, Fla., has done. Carson Dobrin teaches high school chemistry there. Her school is offering both in-person and online classes. “We have top-of-the-line air filters,” she notes. There are also outdoor classrooms. “We’re going to try to do all eating outside unless it’s pouring,” she says. When kids do need to go indoors, she adds, the school has converted one big room into a giant lunchroom where everyone can eat six feet apart.

To help students socially distance in class, teachers may measure how far apart to place desks. izusek/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Keep your distance

Six feet is a good rule of thumb for reducing the risk of getting infected, and there are ways to make sure people stay that far apart. It’s hard to remember exactly how far six feet is, however. So where kids line up, schools may now put dots on the floor to mark off the distance. Desks also may be placed farther apart than before.

Another way to keep people apart is to put fewer kids in each classroom. “It allows you to do the appropriate social-distancing,” Kaushal explains. If one kid gets infected, only that small class may need to quarantine (stay home to stop COVID-19 from spreading). Other groups of students could still attend the school.

But shrinking class size is going to be extra hard, Dobrin points out. Splitting up classes requires more teachers. Adding to the challenge, many teachers are retiring or leaving because their families have had to move. “We’ve never lost this many people,” she says. With fewer teachers, “class sizes are bigger than we would like.”

Other teachers just don’t feel safe going back to class. Hecht, the special-education teacher, is worried about a COVID-19 outbreak once schools start. “My partner has cystic fibrosis,” she says. “So I’m worried about bringing [COVID-19] home and having him die.” Cystic fibrosis is a disease that causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs. COVID-19 is particularly deadly for people with this disease.

For now, Hecht can teach from home. She is trying to make sure she won’t have to teach in person until there’s a vaccine to keep everyone safe.

Other simple behaviors could help everyone feel safer in classrooms, Liza says. These could include checking everyone’s temperature when arriving for the day. Schools also could require people to wash their hands and wear masks.

Beatrice Barilla, 13, poses in her costume for a play at the Columbia Children’s Theater in Columbia, S.C. All rehearsals for the play were online, and the actors stayed six feet apart on stage. The play was filmed — no audience required. Rylin Hubbard

Masks can help lessen the spread of the coronavirus. “I feel like if everybody is wearing masks and in small groups and for less time and staying away from each other, that would be safe,” Beatrice says.

Masks are uncomfortable, though. They also can be hard for younger kids to wear. Teachers might need to give kids spaces to take off their masks for a while, Kaushal observes. Shorter school days might be needed, too, so kids can go home and take off their masks.

Many classrooms may have tall pieces of clear plastic between desks and in front of the teacher. Called sneeze guards or partitions, such barriers help limit someone’s exhaled virus from spreading to another. Even small droplets, Lo says, will stick to the barrier’s surface, preventing them from getting inhaled by others.

Some hallways might even become one-direction. That could make it confusing to get to class. But “the idea here is people are next to each other, not facing each other,” Lo explains. The less that people can breathe into each other’s faces, the better.

Among the hardest times to stay apart will be when kids ride a school bus. “Obviously, the safest form of transport would be if the child’s parents could bring them to the school,” notes Tina Tan. She’s a doctor for pediatric infectious diseases — ones that infect kids — at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill. But many kids can’t get to school unless they ride a bus. Those kids will have to wear masks and won’t be able to sit together.

Squeaky clean

Scientists don’t think most COVID-19 infections come from virus left on things that people touch. The disease more likely spreads through shared air. But the coronavirus can stick to surfaces. So can other germs that make people sick.

People want to do everything they can to keep students and teachers safe. Schools already get cleaned a lot to make sure people don’t spread illness. Now, even more cleaning will necessary. Those partitions? They’re going to need to be kept clean. So will desks, hallways, books and any toys.

The entire classroom should be cleaned daily — desks, chairs, everything, says Kaushal. “I would err on the side of multiple cleanings a day.”

Schools need to keep things as clean as possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Rainu Kaushal says it’s best to clean door handles every time they’re used. izusek/iStock/Getty Images Plus

All this will require extra cleaning supplies. And these may cost more now, when cleaning supplies can be hard to find. Not all school districts may have the funds to supply classrooms with what they need. They may turn even more than usual to parents and teachers.

“My district usually does a very good job with cleaning supplies,” says Hecht. But she still sees teachers every year bringing in wipes, tissues and hand sanitizer. There’s never enough.

Another option is to cut off access to things that may be hard to clean. “A lot of schools are closing drinking fountains,” says Kaushal. “That’s a smart choice.”

Kids may need to bring in bottled water. They also will want to bring other supplies. To make sure that their germs stay with them, students shouldn’t share art supplies, pencils or paper, Kaushal says. Sharing is not always a good thing in the time of COVID-19.

Every effort schools take will help. Families can help too. In particular, Tan says, kids should get all their vaccines. There aren’t any yet for COVID-19. But there are for other diseases that can prevent school outbreaks — such as flu, chicken pox and measles. “If schools are seriously considering opening in person, they really need to ensure that their student population is up to date on their immunizations,” Tan says. “You don’t want to have an influenza outbreak on top of a COVID outbreak.”

Virtual learning, distancing, masks, cleaning — schools can’t rely on just one. Each tactic provides one more layer in our defense against COVID-19, Kaushal says. But even with all these measures at schools, kids still leave at the end of the day. If they become exposed outside of school, they could bring COVID-19 back to their teachers or classmates. So it’s extra important for kids and teens to stay home if they don’t feel well. No one wants to be responsible for spreading a disease to their teacher or friends.

Here’s how COVID-19 is changing classes this year published first on https://triviaqaweb.tumblr.com/

[emfedorchuk3p18]

Media Fandom and Audience Subcultures (Week 9)

Fans seem to have gotten a bad reputation in the past. From being cast as obsessed and crazed, as we can see in the episode entitled “Chris Cross” in Family Guy, where Stewie and Brian become so obsessed with Canadian songwriter Anne Murray that they almost kill her, to stereotypes of the “sweet but socially awkward fan” (Sullivan 192) that we see from Steve Carell’s Star Wars obsessed performance in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Fans have always been cast in an interesting, yet negative and judgemental, light. But as scholars looked deeper into the inner-workings of these fan cultures, they found that fans were far from the awkward, crazy, and delusional audiences that we had once pegged them to be. “Fandom was more than simple enthusiasm for a TV program or film: it was a form of collective interpretation of popular culture that created a powerful sense of group cohesion” (Sullivan, 194). 

With the emergence of Web 2.0, the opportunities for fan groups exploded. Getting in contact with likeminded people who enjoyed the same TV shows or movies as you, is now as simple as typing into a search bar. Online fan-fiction sites, discussion boards, and fan conventions are all more easily accessible than they were in the past, and becoming a part of a community of people who are just as passionate as you is actually a doable task. Because of this newfound sense of community, fans are now able to “offer direct challenges to existing authority” (Sullivan, 196) whenever they see fit, and this means that fan groups might actually have a standing chance when they’re up against media companies and producers. 

An example of this can be seen in the whirlwind of displeasure that came after the ending of Game of Thrones, a massive HBO fantasy series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, based off of the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. The entirety of season eight was met with extremely harsh backlash from fans, with many people taking to Twitter to express their disappointment. One individual mourned the sudden character change in their beloved Daenerys Targaryen, with a Tweet stating “The one I saw tonight was not my Dany. That was not the character I fell in love with that had a beautiful development through the first six seasons. Dumb & Dumber you killed my favorite character without even killing her physically, hope ur happy now” (@lattainpolvere) to others being more to the point and stating, “That was not it.” (@youngsinick) Because of this immense backlash, a fan petition was circulating, pleading for the showrunners to reshoot the final season (Gardner, 2019). The change.org page dedicated to this re-do said that they wanted to “remake the Game of Thrones season 8 with competent writers”. Adding, harshly, that “David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source of material (i.e. the books) to fall back on” (Dylan, D. 2019). If that’s not passion than I’m not sure what is. 1 789 678 people (and counting) have signed the petition so far, but so far no action has been taken, although the backlash did prompt Beinoff and Weiss to announce that they will no longer be making a Star Wars movie trilogy, most likely due in part to fans no longer trusting the duo with another massive franchise (Harrison, 2019). These fans felt “so connected to the narrative that they develop a sense of ownership over the text” (Sullivan, 198) which sparks emotional responses in fans who think that they, and the characters of the show, deserve better. Some fans even believe that they could write a better ending to the show, one that ties up loose ends but also doesn’t lose the essence of the characters in the process. This “places these audience members on a head-on collision course with the producers and copyright holders” (Sullivan, 198) who own the show in a literal sense. So what is a fan to do? Some take to various platforms to share their ideas, such as Reddit. A user by the name of u/alvarosas32 posted their ideas in a post titled, “5 Possible Different Endings for Game of Thrones”, where comments discussing the ideas followed. Other ideas occurred in more traditional sites, such as on fanfiction.net. 

Another example in which these Game of Thrones fans work to express themselves is through conventions where fans can gather, dress up, and meet other fans and creators. The latest convention is entitled, “Con of Thrones” and is advertised as a three-day celebration in Orlando that is “the largest-ever Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire convention” (https://www.facebook.com/ConOfThrones/). These types of events are becoming commonplace within our society, where events such as Comic Con, Vidcon, DragCon and more are all popular and sought after events. Although it may be argued that these events still have a certain element of judgment surrounding them, we have come a long way from the harmful characteristics that many used to associate with fan culture. But with these events comes inevitable issues of the “darker side of fan identity and group cohesion” (Sullivan, 209). Groups tend to “create exclusivity and difference in order to enhance its self-definition and to give it purpose and coherence. In this respect, fan cultures are no different from the mainstream in the sense that fan groups will often create clear boundaries between casual fans or enthusiast and ‘real’ fans” (Sullivan, 209). This causes certain fans to feel socially discriminated against if they are of a different class or social background. When we get into events such as conventions, big money normally has to be spent. When you think about the travel that it takes to get there, the money spent on costumes, the money spent on food…it tends to add up. But only the “true” fans and said to attend these events. This makes the concept of “escaping into the world of popular media” at odds with “escaping the systems of discrimination and power that define the society at large.” (Sullivan, 209). 

Fan culture is truly a fascinating concept in our new era, with audience members blurring the line between solely viewer and producer. Audience members are not afraid to express their displeasure with certain choices of media companies, and now have the tools to express themselves in a manner that is heard in meaningful ways. It will be interesting to see how audiences progress even further down the road, and the influence that they will have over decision making in the entertainment industry.

“Chris Cross.” Family Guy. Fox, 2013. Television.  

D, Dylan. “Sign the Petition”. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.change.org/p/hbo-remake-game-of-thrones-season-8-with-competent-writers.

Gardner, A. (2019, July 22). “The 'Game of Thrones' Cast Got Super Candid About the Final Season's Backlash”. Retrieved from https://www.glamour.com/story/game-of-thrones-cast-backlash.

Harrison, Mark. “Game of Thrones, Star Wars and the Showrunner Backlash”. (2019, November 1). Retrieved from https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/284182/game-of-thrones-star-wars-and-the-showrunner-backlash.

@latteinpolvere. May 12, 2019, 8:05pm. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/latteinpoIvere/status/1127771792368635906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1127771792368635906&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.harpersbazaar.com%2Fcelebrity%2Flatest%2Fa27447877%2Fgame-of-thrones-season-8-episode-5-reactions%2F

“Orlando Con of Thrones Facebook page”. Accessed Tues. Nov. 19, 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/events/orange-county-convention-center/con-of-thrones-2020/517897152358343/

Sullivan, J. L. (2019). Media audiences: effects, users, institutions, and power. Los Angeles: SAGE.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Apatow, Judd. Universal Pictures, 2005. Film

u/alvarosas32. “5 Possible Different Endings for Game of Thrones.” Posted 6 months ago. Retrieved from: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/bh6zlk/5_possible_different_endings_for_game_of_thrones/

@youngsinick. May 12, 2019, 7:22pm. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/youngsinick/status/1127761029415559168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1127761029415559168&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.harpersbazaar.com%2Fcelebrity%2Flatest%2Fa27447877%2Fgame-of-thrones-season-8-episode-5-reactions%2F

[batterymonster2021]

The Real Saul Goodman from 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul'?

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/the-real-saul-goodman-from-breaking-bad-and-better-call-saul-2/

The Real Saul Goodman from 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul'?

Whats up Dan this is for excuse for security legal professional Alan Greenberg how’re you advocacy is one of these neat dense topic I mean I suppose it’s witchcraft it is deep it is it is alchemy there are not any ethical victories of this industry if you do not win it can be a catastrophe for the character good you have to win them see if he’s coming by means of on some thing or did he come by means of on a warrant final night in the phrases of Jesse Pinkman you do not want a crook legal professional you need a crook lawyer and so we get Saul Goodman Breaking bad’s rapid-speaking lovely scumbag of an lawyer final season on the actual warmness find a actual-existence Walter White so this year we questioned if there were any real-world counterparts to his attorney to when we asked around the the big apple authorized world about who was once the most outrageous most boundary-pushing a most mighty criminal safety lawyer in the market everybody informed us one factor better call howard greenberg nobody is rather as outlandish as how it’s you just about wager but what what what you see popping out of his mouth I had a nephew that obtained in trouble with the police and the way it was once the primary legal professional I concept of if I ever acquired into problem how it is the one that i am calling call Reed how are you hello how are you to fulfill you yeah this is what Professor van Helsing looks like it you already know a van Helsing I do I do the Vampire Slayer okay so that is your crash pad my crash pad i am sorry to assert does no longer reside in a nail salon behind nail salon – oh correct Saul’s place of business yeah well that is my dwelling away from home 4 days every week many best victories had been crafted edited and tweaked on this area proper at the back of you is the subsequent one it’s a high-profile intercourse trafficking case and you realize i am working it up here so you may have by no means been put ready the place you need to shield an individual who’s certainly guilty it is it’s beside the point to me I choose they tell me however i don’t care i’m more petrified of the federal government than i’m of some individuals come again who I signify inform me about your daily so you get up at what time I stand up 5 six the very first thing I do is figure out I do not know if I look it but beneath this is a finely tuned computer then i have coffee then shower after which I get going if i’m in court or or get to work if i am now not in courtroom so let’s talk about what you are gonna wear today i don’t suppose i will wait i don’t think i’m gonna wear this shirt however several suits putting check this up I mean which you could earn the proper to wear whatever that would in any other case appear foolish you you saved anyone can however but i’ve if i’m part to a jury the affect that if their ass was once in a sling they’d want me sitting subsequent to them i will do something the i need k ok yarn it hard work on this industry makes up for lots of sins excellent let’s go get them let’s go get him i’m no longer gonna let the government crucify my guys energy Greenberg’s record of court victories is rivaled best by means of the rap sheets of his consumers in his 25 years of observe Howard has been a relentless and unapologetic advocate for people accused of everything from murder to medicinal drugs to weapons to sex trafficking defending the likes of the so referred to as Lolita lawyer who confessed to paying a girl to have sex along with her teenage daughters and rapper Bobby shmurda an alleged chief of the violent gs-9 gang however much more than his shoppers its his ruthless and outrageous courtroom methods that have made him a darling of the nearby press nobody i know how to rely Dench money for more heritage on Howard’s higher-than-life reputation we reached out to a couple of his former opponents and longtime allies to get a first-hand account of what it can be like to watch him work are you able to tell me about a few of your first encounters with Howard um I keep in mind him when I first got here to the workplace I think the article I recall most about him is you never knew what was going to come out of his mouth and repeatedly it was once very individual to you like should you tried to argue a few case in entrance of a choose he would probably attack you Howard did it to all people there may be just about an endearing quality now when you seem again at it considering the fact that the he noticed was once hysterical when I began at legal support I started as a public defender and i simply do not forget coming to understand him from seeing him inside and outside of courtrooms you understand it’s a crazy man with the jet-black hair plugs welcome to the court you already know he is uh he is now not effortless to mess he doesn’t look like a usual legal professional you know simply between just like the hair and the best way he moves and the best way he speaks he rather is aware of tips on how to push the envelope with quite a few a variety of folks however no longer force the road the place he would become getting himself into challenge there was a prostitution case of Howard’s that obtained plenty of insurance policy can you tell me somewhat bit about that it was once a case where two guys they were accused of jogging a prostitution ring and he was once giving summations and in it he was once pronouncing matters to the result that he would love to be like a ho working for them that if he made as a lot cash as them he would be doing it too that is kind of manner he rolls i’m telling you he does things that that lots of the relaxation of us would under no circumstances do like you’re go-inspecting a victim and in our robbery right and you’ll be able to say good it was once nighttime correct sure it was once dark in any respect right proper there were no streetlights have been there no the common method me feel it don’t ask a different query and then you simply sum up and say there isn’t no way that witness might have noticeable who robbed her on the grounds that it was once darkish out there were no streetlights you heard it from her possess mouth however what you do not ask the witnesses so that you couldn’t see the person who robbed you would you on the grounds that in case you ask that ultimate question it could actually simplest go wrong however Howard will ask the ideal question after which ask it 5 more approaches and 5 more times and make them cry Howard the Vampire Slayer the lawyer we’ve got an appointment what are you in one more lawyer’s place of work ok something cost he costs you i’m going to beat it k and by the way you should you must look at my record before you rent someone and if his record is healthier than mine while you compare the two you must rent him that’s not possible I realize it’s unattainable however when are you gonna be here in 15 minutes okay good boy and i do know you wouldn’t stand me up ok over the direction of the years I’ve realized to improve an extraordinarily thick dermis with him he’s very blunt and direct and that’s what I think quite a few folks quite like about him is the truth that you recognize with him you’re now not gonna get the frills and the costume-up and the lollipops and the candy canes you are going to get the very easy facts and he particularly really fights for the usual excellent which is what I really supply to him he puts his coronary heart and soul into what he does in view that he is aware what it’s like if you have the backing of the state of latest York or the backing of the federal government against you and your this one individual seeking to battle in your lifestyles so inform me what you are working on working for this vast intercourse trafficking case in ny County how long do you see this trial going on for perhaps three weeks 4 weeks you know normal we’re looking to turn selling prostitution into sex trafficking well the change between intercourse trafficking and prostitution i’m going to give you one instance you tell me ok sexual slavery intercourse trafficking now you give me one she’s a prostitute out of her own free will that is no longer intercourse trafficking nonetheless they invariably tried in some bro to opine that there’s no such thing as free will and no lady can come to be a hoe considering she wants to and if she’s making ten or twenty thousand per week that is intent any individual made her do it and were you aware that most times with John’s they simulate the act that is how stupid John’s are oh yeah obviously of course everybody is aware of they have got to be faking it no so i am speaking about faking having intercourse Wow they confirmed us how they do it well explain it you need to be for your stomach you need to get your hand like in between your legs even as you’re on your stomach uh-huh and also you have got to get the schmeckel on your hand and just stroke that factor you’re smack oh wow i am not hurting that John snake they are getting some thing some thing when they may be now not even getting any so i’m going to do with you the real ultimate argument that was in the world referred to as jury selection that I intend to do if that’s the case okay I seem out at this room full of men and women and that i say to myself they are right here to be brainwashed by means of me repeat after me do okay you men and women are going to decide you persons are gonna come to a decision whether the defendant whether the defendant is a sex trafficker is a sex trafficker or whether or not he is an innocent character being falsely accused which is what I intend to prove or whether or not he’s an harmless individual being falsely accused which is what I intend to show now let’s proceed do any of you good persons see pink while you hear the phrases sex trafficker any stealth jurors yeah any with a hidden agenda what about memberships you ever heard of a bunch referred to as reasonable women any one here read Nicholas Kristof’s school he has an obsession with intercourse and the subject of sexual slavery and and persons being compelled to do matters against their will neither of which I must let you know applies on this case my door did I inform you the women if they are cold they are gonna be witnesses you get the inspiration and that is how it is going to go hi hi Kim i am Marie Greenberg tell your lovely to meet with me this is our dining room we now have many events right here how did you guys meet we met in court docket I used to be a court reporter k and Howard was once an legal professional who labored for authorized help and we simply variety of like take to each other and it’s been that’s been some proper and the way long in the past is that that used to be 24 years ago Wow we’re married 14 so Howard says that you just helped type him oh come on is that what he mentioned yeah not ever lets me kind him I desire everyday lets me sort him he has a first-class eye but now not for himself so you absolutely met Howard in his situation of work yeah what do you think about his profession he does his job very well and he he is not prejudiced at all he just feels that every body should have a shot at being defended the correct manner does that bother you though if like somebody particularly is guilty and he is one of these talented lawyer that he will get them off after which they stroll free does it trouble me probably maybe 2 or 3 times it has however the opposite occasions no I’ve labored with so many attorneys in my existence none of them I liked him he grew up very otherwise he’s now not indignant about that he’s grateful about that and i do not suppose many men and women can say that inform me a little bit bit about your upbringing you erased on the diminish East side it’s real we lived in a slum it was three of us my father used to be mentally unwell my grandmother who raised me as a mothers and fathers and me my father was once very violent it was a every day incidence and to behave out and beat up my spindly historic grandmother one time he snapped her forearm correct in front of my face but I was a child what might I you recognize what would I do to quite preserve him I imply look what would I do about I mean our youngsters do not even understand this after I left I acquired a full scholarship to Cornell university which I briskly threw away then I floundered for decades I met a gal and realized alongside the way that her father was once a Mafia don k and mr.Giuliani’s place of business exceeded up an indictment within the case that was once captioned the U.S. Of the usa versus Badalamenti a defendant in that case was my spouse’s my then wife’s father the day prior to this’s arrests and fees disclose one other heroin operation run by means of Sicilian immigrants using pizza parlors as a entrance for trafficking in enormous quantities of medications that case devolved within the public mind into some thing that was referred to as the Pizza connection case it became the longest federal trial up to that factor in the history of the USA of the united states but it surely was on that day with the dealers and the drug sniffing puppies crawling in all places me and the persons I cared about that I’ve to grow to be a criminal security lawyer I was enrolled in Fordham regulation college three months after graduating i am a employees legal professional on the legal help Society you know it’s tough for me to be politically right however at the legal help Society they emasculate lawyers why did they do this considering they are so involved about maintaining the file attempting the case for the appeal but lawyers who are attempting the case for the enchantment are gonna lose how do you are trying the case I are trying the case to win I left the legal aid website I did fulfill my commitment I went into private follow whereupon Herbert stern taught me how you can turn out to be a pleasant trial legal professional he wrote a sequence of books entitled attempting circumstances to win and i grew to be him does it offend you when people suggest that you’re like Saul due to the fact that he is a bit of of a sketchy persona in some ways as well as being quirky no by no means i don’t have to cheat to win ok I’ve received a method that seems to work and i can train any lawyer if the battle of the government to a standstill win a pair of doses we reached out to a few of Howard’s former clients about their experiences with him and one jumps Felix agreed to go on digicam Jem’s was once charged with criminal possession of a weapon a charge carrying as much as 15 years in prison Howard took the case to trial and came away with a full acquittal youngsters that the cop stated shemp’s had confessed to the crime so I was facing seven seven to fifteen years Wow essentially saved my lifestyles he proved he proved my innocence after I was a teenager I was convicted of possession of a weapon i am achieved with that a part of my life besides like that what i’m seeking to do is just discover a job you know have some kids you already know just a little ordinary existence I imply however seeing that of my previous historical past they they are attempting to border have you ever had any dealings with any legal professionals earlier towered is here first variety of your first guy he is hostile to Lloyd had cash to pay for my earlier legal professionals in any other case employed I had like a legal support and of path legal age they work with the method they get paid via you copping up I imply I was once lucky adequate to to be in a position to pay Howard Greenberg to prove my innocence after I used to be at trial he fought with the spirit of a warrior however he fought like I was like I was his son hiya good that is why I possess golf all how did you meet Felix originally how did he find you his squeeze gave me a name and informed me you desire a attorney whilst you first met him and what had been your first impressions of him did you feel this can be a good kid topic what I concept it was once surely prick I failed to like him haha okay k but I however I grew to like him ok k if he concept he was a surly prick than wise you would not want to represent him seeing that I if I take your cash you get all of me that is why and i want to win okay you’ve got iced coffee i don’t make it from dishwater does that occur rather a lot that you just increase a style of close personal relationship along with your consumers I simply Shutt subsequent yeah no it is now not that okay it’s now not a bit of private nevertheless it’s a love and affection for anybody whose life you saved so you have got mentioned that if any individual will pay you they have your loyalty i wonder I ran the provider for money that you would be able to threaten to kill me and my loved ones and i render service for cash that a guy threatened to kill me and that i received him acquitted and that’s just the way it is why hello how would you reconcile that to our fears you’re gonna take you fear them you for the larger better system the mayor and i can not blame a guy who’s rotting in penitentiary for pronouncing some thing and the easiest goal is the lawyer ok come on after spending more time with Howard I developed a better figuring out of his belief that everybody deserved a zealous protection but a lot of his instances still quite bothered me and none more so than his defensive levee Aaron again in 2011 Howard joined the safety workforce for some of the stunning murder circumstances in up to date new york historical past where the defendant levy Aaron confessed to kidnapping killing and dismembering an eight year historic boy attorney Howard Greenberg is able to be hated for his client even as looking to look after confessed baby killer levy Aaron to realise the morality of defending any individual who had confessed to horrible crimes I reached out to big apple ethics legal professional Nicole Hyland I suppose it can be main for men and women attorneys and to recognize that real-world ethics is just not the identical as authorized ethics there may be some overlap but there are numerous matters that legal professionals are obligated to do and anticipate it to try this rather don’t ought to do with morality a criminal lawyer goes to still look after a purchaser even if they comprehend the client is guilty and so i can think that in particular circumstances the place you have got a defendant who’s accused of particularly horrific crime the public could think there may be something immoral about that about staying silent whilst you understand your customer is guilty you realize men and women continuously say oh how can how will you guard those those responsible individuals and i have customers accused of horrible terrible disgusting horrible matters and that’s my job to guard anyone’s got to in the back of them you already know an oncologist job is to beat the melanoma and a crook security attorneys job is to to be the prosecutor a client is entitled to zealous advocacy there probably whatever that mentioned or achieved that the external world could take offense to but that is a safeguard legal professional rightfully combating for his or her patron when Howard first received on the levy Aaron case one in every of his defenses he made up our minds was going to be that levy Aaron who used to be in a quite ultra-orthodox Hasidic neighborhood that his protection was going to be that possibly he used to be inbred and as a result that prompted him to have some type of madness that brought on him to commit this horrible crime and so on the time dov hikind who was once a big part of the Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn was quite up in fingers to close to blame the Jewish neighborhood for moves of this one man or woman he needs to shield LaVey Aaron he has each correct to do this but to attack insult degrade an whole group my group any individual’s community that’s now not what this case is all about so I talked to Julie Rendell in she was a hard son of a bitch of the move I might tell you that particularly and we had some knockdown and drag our baddest what tell me about that well my merrily with the butcher of Bensonhurst believe I heard any individual who I suppose like conceptually I failed due to the fact he took a plea and i am used to profitable circumstances but the legislation says the defendant makes that decision now not the legal professional I consider that had we tried that case he would had been found not responsible by rationale of madness on account that if he wasn’t loopy no person’s crazy you surely believe he used to be insane do not you chopped a little bit child into portions and put half of of it in the freezer and the other 1/2 in the rubbish you tell me oh thanks so much to a rock what do you feel would had been the nice end result he went to trial after which he and then what there used to be no just right end result he would have wound up within the loony bin for the leisure of his lifestyles correct had he long gone to trial would had been in from would have been terrific for me since the story would had been within the papers every day for three months every time in fine first-rate business for you exceptional publicity it’s anything like the levee or in case of large the cash got here three or is it with that extra like a profile factor I did that case totally free quite and the intent I did it without spending a dime used to be considering the fact that I had learn in the paper that the choose was given the protection attorneys a tough time has there ever been a factor where you’re up in courtroom where you think like probably you’re virtually crossing the road I simply keep on with the advocacy you already know so probably in case you say the complaining witness is a lying sack of that frightens men and women when you say the complaining witness got what he deserved that frightens folks do you think like to be a just right crook safeguard lawyer you have got to push boundaries as much as the road at the very at the naked minimum up to the lines in many instances over the road depending on the case and depending on the purpose are you ready your sight i’m loaded for undergo i’m in a position the rationale for my appearance here today as i am slated to begin a high profile sex trafficking trial a trial that I frankly assume to win via the first three paragraphs of words that I utter to the jury it is beautiful reproduction it is a method that appears to work do you are gonna supply me a little bit of a taster of your opening argument yeah i’ll give you the whole thing yeah i am excited to listen to it i’m going to be standing at a lectern how about this Norman to get at the back of a rock handled as a lectern yeah look there we go so i will begin with the with the steeple gesture of my arms after which and the following time i change a movement i’m going to shift the arms away from the body after which after I particularly get going i will you are stipulating like Donald Trump incidentally earlier than I get to whatever to do with the hand gestures when the choose it invitations me to get up and do that the first thing I do is freeze in my chair and and i could freeze for up to 30 seconds and the reason for that is there is no extra concentration-getting factor you are able to do in a court docket then sit down definitely nonetheless that’s to assert freeze to the factor where i need men and women to be uncomfortable wondering what’s he waiting for then I upward push slowly and then I transfer briskly to the lectern simply think me relocating briskly to the lectern then I relish the second with this gesture i’m relishing the second and then I get out the sledgehammer and start to wield it so i will say as follows anything else was once this fax pattern it was once no longer intercourse trafficking and i’ll prove that this fax sample used to be made of hookers rendering sexual favors if that for US forex to John’s and that’s historic John’s incidentally are among the dumbest folks going for walks the face of the earth the young ladies i’ll prove work this hos which is what they name themselves on account that they wanted to and if that appellation is just right adequate for them it can be just right adequate for you and it can be just right adequate of me and i will show that they came and went as they please i will prove that the words just for illustration i’ll kill you or their equivalents are protected free speech no matter how tough or soft the half-baked prosecution expert witness tries to ram an uninformed opinion down any individual’s throat it is going to now not change the fact that with the aid of their own lights the women should not quote victims unquote you may also well as the case unfolds witness the spectacle of the supposed victims seated within the audience backing us up and cheering us on it is now not your job to render a verdict that tells them methods to are living their lives if they want to promote their our bodies to the tune of ten to twenty thousand a week then so be it finally that’s a quite simple case selling prostitution and that’s all does no longer equal sex trafficking and any person with a half of a brain is aware of it i’m going to ask you to come back a verdict of not responsible on each and every rely of intercourse trafficking it is the one fair suitable justified verdict the proof in the case will aid and pause i’m gonna appear at each and every any such men and women and then i’m gonna say and i consider we appreciate every different and that’s how it’s completed there’s no such thing as a useless case good day Felix smile you’re on candid digital camera all proper child you know i love you who’s your daddy put mayonnaise on each food I can not eat this i’ll wrap it up and go to my wife get us in there what variety of digital camera is this right how about a little flash

[gwynnew]

'Star Wars' Turns 40: Dirty Secrets From Trash Compactor Scene

Han Solo and Luke Skywalker just before they land in the trash bin (Photo: Lucasfilm)

Do you sense a disturbance in the Force? Maybe that’s because May 25 is the 40th anniversary of the original release of Star Wars in theaters. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, we’ve been posting Star Wars stories all month, including choice vintage interviews, original videos, and some of our favorite pieces from years past, like this one from 2015. Go here to check out what’s been happening in our galaxy this month. 

Set decorator Roger Christian is the man behind such iconic Star Wars designs as the lightsaber, the Millennium Falcon interior, and the R2-D2 prototype. But the Oscar winner says that his toughest job was the trash-compactor scene. One of the oddest, best-loved, and most-nitpicked scenes from the original 1977 Star Wars, the six-minute sequence aboard the first Death Star finds Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) trapped inside a deadly garbage chamber filled with space sewage, and inhabited by a mysterious tentacled monster called the Dianoga. Based on a 2015 interview with Christian — and drawing from various remembrances of cast and crew members throughout the years — Yahoo Movies took a deep dive into the smelliest scene in the Star Wars galaxy.

Watch the scene:

  “Into the garbage chute, flyboy!” One of the very first people hired by director George Lucas to work on Star Wars, Roger Christian was responsible (along with production designer John Barry) for creating a detailed futuristic world on a minimal budget.  “His mantra was always, ‘Everything had to work and look like it worked. Nothing should look designed, nothing should stand out,’” Christian says of the visionary director. And that philosophy extended even to Darth Vader’s garbage.

It was Christian’s job to fill the trash compactor with junk. But he quickly realized that his usual building materials — i.e. the airplane scrap metal he used for the spaceships, or the camera parts he co-opted for lightsabers and binoculars — wouldn’t work.

“I couldn’t use my normal airplane junk, because it would have hurt them, you know?” Christian told Yahoo Movies. “I couldn’t put in anything toxic either, because these are human beings — they’re actors! So I was experimenting with anything. I had to put a huge amount of junk in there, and I was finding rubber bits and different things. [I needed] anything I could see that I knew wouldn’t hurt them, but would look right — rubber hosing, everything.”

“I used a lot of polystyrene. But if it breaks, it’s white inside,” he continued. “So I had the paint shop manage to inject paint into it somehow, so if a piece broke off, it wouldn’t show.”

“What an incredible smell you’ve discovered!” Christian did his best to make sure that the actors were safe, but shooting the compactor scene was still an ordeal. For one thing, the actors were partially submerged in shallow water for the entirety of the two-day shoot at London’s Pinewood Studios. They wore wet suits under their clothes, which no one seems to remember fondly. “Every time I got wet or, more specifically, too wet, I’d have to get out of this wet rubber outfit to get blown dry,” Hamill said in a 1997 interview. “It was uncomfortable. You’d get rashes in places you never thought possible.” Fisher concurred, telling The Making of Star Wars author J.W. Rinzler, “I liked jumping through the garbage chute, but I didn’t like wearing the wet suit.”

Not only was the cast uncomfortable, but they became increasingly smelly as the shoot went on. In Christian’s words: “Water stinks after a while.” According to Dale Pollack’s Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, Mayhew was reluctant to enter the water in his furry Chewbacca costume, which unfortunately retained its trash-compactor odor.

Leia, Han, and Luke trying to brace the walls (Photo: Lucasfilm)

“Don’t just stand there — try and brace it with something!” And then there were the technical challenges. In the scene, the Rebels have escaped from the Stormtroopers, only to discover that the walls of their refuse refuge are literally closing in on them. Christian recalls those walls being pushed in manually by grips because “there were no mechanics in those days to do it, for the money.” Rinzler gives a conflicting account in his book, saying that the walls were rigged. (Either way, the crushing walls were later augmented with mechanical noises, including the sound of a pile driver, by sound designer Ben Burtt, according to his DVD commentary.) Han Solo and Princess Leia try to stop those walls from contracting by bracing them with a long metal pole. Or at least, it looked like a metal pole.

“Harrison had to grab a piece of metal tubing and try to hold the two walls apart. Well, that distance is huge, and I couldn’t get anything light enough,” Christian explains. “So I got drain pipe, which was PVC, and somehow using the joints they had, I managed to get it to a length. But it kept falling apart. So bless Harrison, being such a great human being and such a good actor. I went to him and I said, ‘Harrison, listen — this is all I can do! I’ve been through everything else, and it bends and it wobbles.’ And he made it work — he made it look great. If I’d have had a difficult actor, I would have had a bit of trouble on that.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Ford’s professionalism is all the more admirable considering that his last day of filming was just two days away. The actors and director George Lucas were growing weary after three months of shooting, and they got through the arduous trash-compactor scene by facing it with a sense of humor. Author John Baxter writes in George Lucas: A Biography that in between takes, Ford pretended to chew on the bits of (thankfully non-toxic) rubbish floating around. Hamill made up a song for Lucas about the monster, to the tune of “Chattanooga Choo Choo”: He’d pick up a piece of trash and say, “Pardon me George, could this be Dianoga poo-poo?” (He and Fisher have both repeated this anecdote many times. Lucas, reportedly, was not amused.)

At times, the smell and fatigue did get the best of the actors. Hamill recalls fighting with Ford over the hatch number that Han Solo reads to C-3PO at the end of the scene. (”326-3827!”) Originally, Luke was supposed to say the line, so Hamill had intended to substitute his own phone number and immortalize it on film. However, when the scene was blocked, Ford was closer to the door, so the line was transferred to Han. “Harrison got to say the line, and he started doing his number and that really burned me up,” Hamill told Rinzler. “I said to him, ‘Come on, say mine, I thought of it!’ But he kept doing his own, and I got madder. Finally, Harrison read my number and said, ‘Happy now, you big baby?’ And I laughed, because I felt busted.” (In the finished film, the line is heard over the comlink, so it’s hard to tell who’s saying it — but it sounds like it reverted back to Hamill.)

Luke wrestling with a tentacle (Photo: Lucasfilm)

Hamill had the unique distinction of being the one cast member who was injured in the garbage masher. The minor accident occurred when the Dianoga tentacle appeared to strangle Luke Skywalker, pulling him briefly underwater. Fisher writes in her memoir Wishful Drinking that “during one of the takes, Mark was so intent on making his strangulation look realistic that he ended up bursting a blood vessel in his eye, which in turn left this bright red dot.” Filming on Hamill’s X-wing cockpit scenes had to be delayed as a result, though fans have spotted the burst blood vessel in a few frames of the final version.

“There’s something alive in here.” As much trouble as the Dianoga gave Hamill, it arguably gave George Lucas even more. The director had big plans for the Death Star’s aquatic menace: It was intended to be “a cross between a jellyfish and an octopus, a transparent muck-monster which can take any shape,” Lucas told Rinzler. Special effects supervisor John Stears created an ambitious design for an inflatable creature powered by air jets. But when they started building, Lucas was dissatisfied. “I kept rejecting things to the point where all we had left was a tentacle,” he admitted. Skywalking notes that Lucas compared that tentacle to “a big, wide, brown turd.”

The Dianoga eyeball (Photo: Lucasfilm)

Perhaps that’s why he made the last-minute decision to add, in post-production, a tentacled eyeball popping out of the water. Visual effects artists Phil Tippet and Jon Berg sculpted the puppet, complete with blinking eye, and filmed it in a miniature replica of the trash compactor (actually, a pool filed with floating debris). “They cut a circle in the floor of the pond, which was up on sawhorses,” Berg told Rinzler. “So I had to sit under there with the stuff leaking all over me, and just jam the puppet up through this thing, turn it around, and put it back down.”

The compromises that George Lucas made with the Dianoga “irritate him to this day,” writes Pollack. But that hasn’t diminished fans’ love for the big-eyed creature, who has been re-constructed by hobbyists (instructions here!); sculpted into teacups and fountains; and drawn into all kinds of fan art.  The trash compactor scene as a whole has been dramatized with dogs and Legos, and immortalized as a set of $200 bookends. Fans (including Jon Stewart and a McSweeney’s writer) have endlessly hypothesized over the construction of the Death Star’s garbage mashers, and the mystery of where the monster goes when the walls close in.

The crucial comlink (Photo: Lucasfilm)

“Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!” There’s another, less well-known mystery to the trash compactor scene: What became of the comlink that C-3PO uses to communicate with Luke Skywalker, thus saving our heroes from the crush of the compactor? Christian described that prop to Yahoo Movies as part of “the missing treasure trove of Star Wars,” because neither Lucasfilm archivists nor diligent fans have located it.

“There was only ever one made, and that’s because George decided while he was shooting to put one into a scene and it wasn’t on the schedule,” Christian said. “I was in John Barry’s office talking with him, and I was showing him some piping from under the sink to go into a set he was trying to design. And the phone rang, and they said, ‘Is Roger there? George needs a comlink now on the set.’ And as he said it, I undid this piece of pipe in a U-bend, and out fell this filter. It dropped in my hand and I went ‘Whoa, look, that’s it! It’s really beautiful!’ And I ran from my office, stuck a ring around it, and ran down to the floor. And that was it. We had one. And that’s talked about still: Where is it?”

Watch Christian talk about designing the first lightsaber:

  Read more from Yahoo Movies:

The ‘Star Wars’ Cantina Scene: The Out-of-This-World Story Behind the Galaxy’s Favorite Dive Bar

The 5 Worst Changes Made to ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’

‘Star Wars’: Our Gruesome Countdown of Every Lost Limb in the Galaxy

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[airoasis]

The Real Saul Goodman from 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul'?

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/the-real-saul-goodman-from-breaking-bad-and-better-call-saul-2/

The Real Saul Goodman from 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul'?

Whats up Dan this is for excuse for security legal professional Alan Greenberg how’re you advocacy is one of these neat dense topic I mean I suppose it’s witchcraft it is deep it is it is alchemy there are not any ethical victories of this industry if you do not win it can be a catastrophe for the character good you have to win them see if he’s coming by means of on some thing or did he come by means of on a warrant final night in the phrases of Jesse Pinkman you do not want a crook legal professional you need a crook lawyer and so we get Saul Goodman Breaking bad’s rapid-speaking lovely scumbag of an lawyer final season on the actual warmness find a actual-existence Walter White so this year we questioned if there were any real-world counterparts to his attorney to when we asked around the the big apple authorized world about who was once the most outrageous most boundary-pushing a most mighty criminal safety lawyer in the market everybody informed us one factor better call howard greenberg nobody is rather as outlandish as how it’s you just about wager but what what what you see popping out of his mouth I had a nephew that obtained in trouble with the police and the way it was once the primary legal professional I concept of if I ever acquired into problem how it is the one that i am calling call Reed how are you hello how are you to fulfill you yeah this is what Professor van Helsing looks like it you already know a van Helsing I do I do the Vampire Slayer okay so that is your crash pad my crash pad i am sorry to assert does no longer reside in a nail salon behind nail salon – oh correct Saul’s place of business yeah well that is my dwelling away from home 4 days every week many best victories had been crafted edited and tweaked on this area proper at the back of you is the subsequent one it’s a high-profile intercourse trafficking case and you realize i am working it up here so you may have by no means been put ready the place you need to shield an individual who’s certainly guilty it is it’s beside the point to me I choose they tell me however i don’t care i’m more petrified of the federal government than i’m of some individuals come again who I signify inform me about your daily so you get up at what time I stand up 5 six the very first thing I do is figure out I do not know if I look it but beneath this is a finely tuned computer then i have coffee then shower after which I get going if i’m in court or or get to work if i am now not in courtroom so let’s talk about what you are gonna wear today i don’t suppose i will wait i don’t think i’m gonna wear this shirt however several suits putting check this up I mean which you could earn the proper to wear whatever that would in any other case appear foolish you you saved anyone can however but i’ve if i’m part to a jury the affect that if their ass was once in a sling they’d want me sitting subsequent to them i will do something the i need k ok yarn it hard work on this industry makes up for lots of sins excellent let’s go get them let’s go get him i’m no longer gonna let the government crucify my guys energy Greenberg’s record of court victories is rivaled best by means of the rap sheets of his consumers in his 25 years of observe Howard has been a relentless and unapologetic advocate for people accused of everything from murder to medicinal drugs to weapons to sex trafficking defending the likes of the so referred to as Lolita lawyer who confessed to paying a girl to have sex along with her teenage daughters and rapper Bobby shmurda an alleged chief of the violent gs-9 gang however much more than his shoppers its his ruthless and outrageous courtroom methods that have made him a darling of the nearby press nobody i know how to rely Dench money for more heritage on Howard’s higher-than-life reputation we reached out to a couple of his former opponents and longtime allies to get a first-hand account of what it can be like to watch him work are you able to tell me about a few of your first encounters with Howard um I keep in mind him when I first got here to the workplace I think the article I recall most about him is you never knew what was going to come out of his mouth and repeatedly it was once very individual to you like should you tried to argue a few case in entrance of a choose he would probably attack you Howard did it to all people there may be just about an endearing quality now when you seem again at it considering the fact that the he noticed was once hysterical when I began at legal support I started as a public defender and i simply do not forget coming to understand him from seeing him inside and outside of courtrooms you understand it’s a crazy man with the jet-black hair plugs welcome to the court you already know he is uh he is now not effortless to mess he doesn’t look like a usual legal professional you know simply between just like the hair and the best way he moves and the best way he speaks he rather is aware of tips on how to push the envelope with quite a few a variety of folks however no longer force the road the place he would become getting himself into challenge there was a prostitution case of Howard’s that obtained plenty of insurance policy can you tell me somewhat bit about that it was once a case where two guys they were accused of jogging a prostitution ring and he was once giving summations and in it he was once pronouncing matters to the result that he would love to be like a ho working for them that if he made as a lot cash as them he would be doing it too that is kind of manner he rolls i’m telling you he does things that that lots of the relaxation of us would under no circumstances do like you’re go-inspecting a victim and in our robbery right and you’ll be able to say good it was once nighttime correct sure it was once dark in any respect right proper there were no streetlights have been there no the common method me feel it don’t ask a different query and then you simply sum up and say there isn’t no way that witness might have noticeable who robbed her on the grounds that it was once darkish out there were no streetlights you heard it from her possess mouth however what you do not ask the witnesses so that you couldn’t see the person who robbed you would you on the grounds that in case you ask that ultimate question it could actually simplest go wrong however Howard will ask the ideal question after which ask it 5 more approaches and 5 more times and make them cry Howard the Vampire Slayer the lawyer we’ve got an appointment what are you in one more lawyer’s place of work ok something cost he costs you i’m going to beat it k and by the way you should you must look at my record before you rent someone and if his record is healthier than mine while you compare the two you must rent him that’s not possible I realize it’s unattainable however when are you gonna be here in 15 minutes okay good boy and i do know you wouldn’t stand me up ok over the direction of the years I’ve realized to improve an extraordinarily thick dermis with him he’s very blunt and direct and that’s what I think quite a few folks quite like about him is the truth that you recognize with him you’re now not gonna get the frills and the costume-up and the lollipops and the candy canes you are going to get the very easy facts and he particularly really fights for the usual excellent which is what I really supply to him he puts his coronary heart and soul into what he does in view that he is aware what it’s like if you have the backing of the state of latest York or the backing of the federal government against you and your this one individual seeking to battle in your lifestyles so inform me what you are working on working for this vast intercourse trafficking case in ny County how long do you see this trial going on for perhaps three weeks 4 weeks you know normal we’re looking to turn selling prostitution into sex trafficking well the change between intercourse trafficking and prostitution i’m going to give you one instance you tell me ok sexual slavery intercourse trafficking now you give me one she’s a prostitute out of her own free will that is no longer intercourse trafficking nonetheless they invariably tried in some bro to opine that there’s no such thing as free will and no lady can come to be a hoe considering she wants to and if she’s making ten or twenty thousand per week that is intent any individual made her do it and were you aware that most times with John’s they simulate the act that is how stupid John’s are oh yeah obviously of course everybody is aware of they have got to be faking it no so i am speaking about faking having intercourse Wow they confirmed us how they do it well explain it you need to be for your stomach you need to get your hand like in between your legs even as you’re on your stomach uh-huh and also you have got to get the schmeckel on your hand and just stroke that factor you’re smack oh wow i am not hurting that John snake they are getting some thing some thing when they may be now not even getting any so i’m going to do with you the real ultimate argument that was in the world referred to as jury selection that I intend to do if that’s the case okay I seem out at this room full of men and women and that i say to myself they are right here to be brainwashed by means of me repeat after me do okay you men and women are going to decide you persons are gonna come to a decision whether the defendant whether the defendant is a sex trafficker is a sex trafficker or whether or not he is an innocent character being falsely accused which is what I intend to prove or whether or not he’s an harmless individual being falsely accused which is what I intend to show now let’s proceed do any of you good persons see pink while you hear the phrases sex trafficker any stealth jurors yeah any with a hidden agenda what about memberships you ever heard of a bunch referred to as reasonable women any one here read Nicholas Kristof’s school he has an obsession with intercourse and the subject of sexual slavery and and persons being compelled to do matters against their will neither of which I must let you know applies on this case my door did I inform you the women if they are cold they are gonna be witnesses you get the inspiration and that is how it is going to go hi hi Kim i am Marie Greenberg tell your lovely to meet with me this is our dining room we now have many events right here how did you guys meet we met in court docket I used to be a court reporter k and Howard was once an legal professional who labored for authorized help and we simply variety of like take to each other and it’s been that’s been some proper and the way long in the past is that that used to be 24 years ago Wow we’re married 14 so Howard says that you just helped type him oh come on is that what he mentioned yeah not ever lets me kind him I desire everyday lets me sort him he has a first-class eye but now not for himself so you absolutely met Howard in his situation of work yeah what do you think about his profession he does his job very well and he he is not prejudiced at all he just feels that every body should have a shot at being defended the correct manner does that bother you though if like somebody particularly is guilty and he is one of these talented lawyer that he will get them off after which they stroll free does it trouble me probably maybe 2 or 3 times it has however the opposite occasions no I’ve labored with so many attorneys in my existence none of them I liked him he grew up very otherwise he’s now not indignant about that he’s grateful about that and i do not suppose many men and women can say that inform me a little bit bit about your upbringing you erased on the diminish East side it’s real we lived in a slum it was three of us my father used to be mentally unwell my grandmother who raised me as a mothers and fathers and me my father was once very violent it was a every day incidence and to behave out and beat up my spindly historic grandmother one time he snapped her forearm correct in front of my face but I was a child what might I you recognize what would I do to quite preserve him I imply look what would I do about I mean our youngsters do not even understand this after I left I acquired a full scholarship to Cornell university which I briskly threw away then I floundered for decades I met a gal and realized alongside the way that her father was once a Mafia don k and mr.Giuliani’s place of business exceeded up an indictment within the case that was once captioned the U.S. Of the usa versus Badalamenti a defendant in that case was my spouse’s my then wife’s father the day prior to this’s arrests and fees disclose one other heroin operation run by means of Sicilian immigrants using pizza parlors as a entrance for trafficking in enormous quantities of medications that case devolved within the public mind into some thing that was referred to as the Pizza connection case it became the longest federal trial up to that factor in the history of the USA of the united states but it surely was on that day with the dealers and the drug sniffing puppies crawling in all places me and the persons I cared about that I’ve to grow to be a criminal security lawyer I was enrolled in Fordham regulation college three months after graduating i am a employees legal professional on the legal help Society you know it’s tough for me to be politically right however at the legal help Society they emasculate lawyers why did they do this considering they are so involved about maintaining the file attempting the case for the appeal but lawyers who are attempting the case for the enchantment are gonna lose how do you are trying the case I are trying the case to win I left the legal aid website I did fulfill my commitment I went into private follow whereupon Herbert stern taught me how you can turn out to be a pleasant trial legal professional he wrote a sequence of books entitled attempting circumstances to win and i grew to be him does it offend you when people suggest that you’re like Saul due to the fact that he is a bit of of a sketchy persona in some ways as well as being quirky no by no means i don’t have to cheat to win ok I’ve received a method that seems to work and i can train any lawyer if the battle of the government to a standstill win a pair of doses we reached out to a few of Howard’s former clients about their experiences with him and one jumps Felix agreed to go on digicam Jem’s was once charged with criminal possession of a weapon a charge carrying as much as 15 years in prison Howard took the case to trial and came away with a full acquittal youngsters that the cop stated shemp’s had confessed to the crime so I was facing seven seven to fifteen years Wow essentially saved my lifestyles he proved he proved my innocence after I was a teenager I was convicted of possession of a weapon i am achieved with that a part of my life besides like that what i’m seeking to do is just discover a job you know have some kids you already know just a little ordinary existence I imply however seeing that of my previous historical past they they are attempting to border have you ever had any dealings with any legal professionals earlier towered is here first variety of your first guy he is hostile to Lloyd had cash to pay for my earlier legal professionals in any other case employed I had like a legal support and of path legal age they work with the method they get paid via you copping up I imply I was once lucky adequate to to be in a position to pay Howard Greenberg to prove my innocence after I used to be at trial he fought with the spirit of a warrior however he fought like I was like I was his son hiya good that is why I possess golf all how did you meet Felix originally how did he find you his squeeze gave me a name and informed me you desire a attorney whilst you first met him and what had been your first impressions of him did you feel this can be a good kid topic what I concept it was once surely prick I failed to like him haha okay k but I however I grew to like him ok k if he concept he was a surly prick than wise you would not want to represent him seeing that I if I take your cash you get all of me that is why and i want to win okay you’ve got iced coffee i don’t make it from dishwater does that occur rather a lot that you just increase a style of close personal relationship along with your consumers I simply Shutt subsequent yeah no it is now not that okay it’s now not a bit of private nevertheless it’s a love and affection for anybody whose life you saved so you have got mentioned that if any individual will pay you they have your loyalty i wonder I ran the provider for money that you would be able to threaten to kill me and my loved ones and i render service for cash that a guy threatened to kill me and that i received him acquitted and that’s just the way it is why hello how would you reconcile that to our fears you’re gonna take you fear them you for the larger better system the mayor and i can not blame a guy who’s rotting in penitentiary for pronouncing some thing and the easiest goal is the lawyer ok come on after spending more time with Howard I developed a better figuring out of his belief that everybody deserved a zealous protection but a lot of his instances still quite bothered me and none more so than his defensive levee Aaron again in 2011 Howard joined the safety workforce for some of the stunning murder circumstances in up to date new york historical past where the defendant levy Aaron confessed to kidnapping killing and dismembering an eight year historic boy attorney Howard Greenberg is able to be hated for his client even as looking to look after confessed baby killer levy Aaron to realise the morality of defending any individual who had confessed to horrible crimes I reached out to big apple ethics legal professional Nicole Hyland I suppose it can be main for men and women attorneys and to recognize that real-world ethics is just not the identical as authorized ethics there may be some overlap but there are numerous matters that legal professionals are obligated to do and anticipate it to try this rather don’t ought to do with morality a criminal lawyer goes to still look after a purchaser even if they comprehend the client is guilty and so i can think that in particular circumstances the place you have got a defendant who’s accused of particularly horrific crime the public could think there may be something immoral about that about staying silent whilst you understand your customer is guilty you realize men and women continuously say oh how can how will you guard those those responsible individuals and i have customers accused of horrible terrible disgusting horrible matters and that’s my job to guard anyone’s got to in the back of them you already know an oncologist job is to beat the melanoma and a crook security attorneys job is to to be the prosecutor a client is entitled to zealous advocacy there probably whatever that mentioned or achieved that the external world could take offense to but that is a safeguard legal professional rightfully combating for his or her patron when Howard first received on the levy Aaron case one in every of his defenses he made up our minds was going to be that levy Aaron who used to be in a quite ultra-orthodox Hasidic neighborhood that his protection was going to be that possibly he used to be inbred and as a result that prompted him to have some type of madness that brought on him to commit this horrible crime and so on the time dov hikind who was once a big part of the Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn was quite up in fingers to close to blame the Jewish neighborhood for moves of this one man or woman he needs to shield LaVey Aaron he has each correct to do this but to attack insult degrade an whole group my group any individual’s community that’s now not what this case is all about so I talked to Julie Rendell in she was a hard son of a bitch of the move I might tell you that particularly and we had some knockdown and drag our baddest what tell me about that well my merrily with the butcher of Bensonhurst believe I heard any individual who I suppose like conceptually I failed due to the fact he took a plea and i am used to profitable circumstances but the legislation says the defendant makes that decision now not the legal professional I consider that had we tried that case he would had been found not responsible by rationale of madness on account that if he wasn’t loopy no person’s crazy you surely believe he used to be insane do not you chopped a little bit child into portions and put half of of it in the freezer and the other 1/2 in the rubbish you tell me oh thanks so much to a rock what do you feel would had been the nice end result he went to trial after which he and then what there used to be no just right end result he would have wound up within the loony bin for the leisure of his lifestyles correct had he long gone to trial would had been in from would have been terrific for me since the story would had been within the papers every day for three months every time in fine first-rate business for you exceptional publicity it’s anything like the levee or in case of large the cash got here three or is it with that extra like a profile factor I did that case totally free quite and the intent I did it without spending a dime used to be considering the fact that I had learn in the paper that the choose was given the protection attorneys a tough time has there ever been a factor where you’re up in courtroom where you think like probably you’re virtually crossing the road I simply keep on with the advocacy you already know so probably in case you say the complaining witness is a lying sack of that frightens men and women when you say the complaining witness got what he deserved that frightens folks do you think like to be a just right crook safeguard lawyer you have got to push boundaries as much as the road at the very at the naked minimum up to the lines in many instances over the road depending on the case and depending on the purpose are you ready your sight i’m loaded for undergo i’m in a position the rationale for my appearance here today as i am slated to begin a high profile sex trafficking trial a trial that I frankly assume to win via the first three paragraphs of words that I utter to the jury it is beautiful reproduction it is a method that appears to work do you are gonna supply me a little bit of a taster of your opening argument yeah i’ll give you the whole thing yeah i am excited to listen to it i’m going to be standing at a lectern how about this Norman to get at the back of a rock handled as a lectern yeah look there we go so i will begin with the with the steeple gesture of my arms after which and the following time i change a movement i’m going to shift the arms away from the body after which after I particularly get going i will you are stipulating like Donald Trump incidentally earlier than I get to whatever to do with the hand gestures when the choose it invitations me to get up and do that the first thing I do is freeze in my chair and and i could freeze for up to 30 seconds and the reason for that is there is no extra concentration-getting factor you are able to do in a court docket then sit down definitely nonetheless that’s to assert freeze to the factor where i need men and women to be uncomfortable wondering what’s he waiting for then I upward push slowly and then I transfer briskly to the lectern simply think me relocating briskly to the lectern then I relish the second with this gesture i’m relishing the second and then I get out the sledgehammer and start to wield it so i will say as follows anything else was once this fax pattern it was once no longer intercourse trafficking and i’ll prove that this fax sample used to be made of hookers rendering sexual favors if that for US forex to John’s and that’s historic John’s incidentally are among the dumbest folks going for walks the face of the earth the young ladies i’ll prove work this hos which is what they name themselves on account that they wanted to and if that appellation is just right adequate for them it can be just right adequate for you and it can be just right adequate of me and i will show that they came and went as they please i will prove that the words just for illustration i’ll kill you or their equivalents are protected free speech no matter how tough or soft the half-baked prosecution expert witness tries to ram an uninformed opinion down any individual’s throat it is going to now not change the fact that with the aid of their own lights the women should not quote victims unquote you may also well as the case unfolds witness the spectacle of the supposed victims seated within the audience backing us up and cheering us on it is now not your job to render a verdict that tells them methods to are living their lives if they want to promote their our bodies to the tune of ten to twenty thousand a week then so be it finally that’s a quite simple case selling prostitution and that’s all does no longer equal sex trafficking and any person with a half of a brain is aware of it i’m going to ask you to come back a verdict of not responsible on each and every rely of intercourse trafficking it is the one fair suitable justified verdict the proof in the case will aid and pause i’m gonna appear at each and every any such men and women and then i’m gonna say and i consider we appreciate every different and that’s how it’s completed there’s no such thing as a useless case good day Felix smile you’re on candid digital camera all proper child you know i love you who’s your daddy put mayonnaise on each food I can not eat this i’ll wrap it up and go to my wife get us in there what variety of digital camera is this right how about a little flash

[rinasitorus]

An Interview with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

“Life is not a straight line.” primephonic’s Rina Sitorus speaks to the gregarious French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet about his not-your-everyday musical journey in a very engaging and horizon-expanding conversation.  

How did your journey start? You chose piano when you already had your diploma from the Paris Conservatoire. Were you not ‘too late’ to make the decision after studying oboe, percussion even some electronic music?

I was a student of Pierre Sancan at the Paris Conservatoire. Not only did he give me precious information about the approach of the works of Ravel, Haydn, Beethoven, etc, he also taught me how to practice and to enjoy practising. He had a very rational approach of piano playing. He was also very open minded, for example regarding jazz and improvisation. Back in the 80s you could not play two chords of jazz, but Sancan was different...

I remember when we were alone in the class, he was even improvising himself. At times we even had two-piano improvisations. Not always, but sometimes. That was really a turning point for me. And 15 years later, I met this wonderful late (Hungarian) pianist Zoltán Kocsis. Having to play a thousand of concerts with him has also shaped my piano playing.

Although… I didn’t have the feeling that I had to make choices. I was definitely not thinking in terms of career. For example, I learned to play Prokofiev No. 5 because I adore it. When my colleagues were learning Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky or Prokofiev No. 3, not only because those are great works, but also because audience like to have them performed, I was learning the pieces I adored. If i had a chance to play them, fine, if I didn’t, fine (chuckles). Just as I dared to play Stockhausen’s Klavierstück for my debut in New York and Paris back in 1987, when even for that time Stockhausen was considered as very avant-garde.

Such a nonchalant  approach, do you think it will still work in today’s classical music scene?

It is true that the situation has changed now for young musicians, it gets tougher and tougher every time. The environment is very competitive these days. Yet, sometimes I think young pianists are almost too focused on career or thinking in commercial terms.

Now that I’m busy with concerts and recordings, I still think to myself every morning how lucky I am. I have never planned my career too meticulously. Not at all, not at all.

You were Sir Georg Solti’s (Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director 1969- 1991)  ‘latest discovery’.  Could you share with us how it happened?

Again, it is interesting because we can speak a bit about the luck factor in life. I think everybody who is really successful in any field, has to do with pure luck. But, in order to get the pure luck, you need to work very hard and you definitely have to have the right kind of mind.

When I met Sir Georg Solti by pure luck in a shop in Switzerland and when he was coming to Paris a couple of months later and asked me to play for him, I jumped on it, I made sure I was mentally ready for it. What I mean by that, is that the luck factor has a lot to do with speaking to other people as well. If you were for example an introverted type of person, your chances of having such luck in your life are reduced.

Back to Solti, it was incredible. Five years before (in 1992), I was at the Esther Honens Competition in Calgary, which I won. The director of the competition was Andrew Webber. Andrew asked me, where do you see your career in five years from now, and I was absolutely speechless, I had absolutely no plan and no clue. Who would’ve guessed that I’d be playing for Sir George Solti five years on from that time? (chuckles).

I played for Solti several times in Paris and at his home in London. Each time it felt like a master class, an incredible exchange. Then in June 1997, Solti agreed to add me as his soloist for concerts in January 1998 that include Bartok’s Piano Concerto No.3. It was so sad that the maestro died in September. I never got to be on stage with him, but I had the great fortune of spending many musical afternoons with him. It was enriching: personally, musically and also for my career. You know, I’m very proud, his widow gave me one of his two tailcoats. I’m not wearing it so much anymore, because Emanuel Ungaro designed a wonderful costume for me, but I still cherish it with all my heart.

No meticulous planning, meeting the maestro by pure luck, has it always been so carefree for you the whole time?  

Here is the funny thing, please always remember that life is not a straight line. I was struggling with functional dystonia for three years when my right hand was afflicted. If you are, for example an athlete, you have an army of physiotherapists looking after you every day, but for us musicians it is different. At least for me at that time it was. I was incredibly fortunate to meet a person who could cure me, Philippe Chamagne. It was difficult to face, also mentally. I just started my career, I just started to join competitions, then I realized I couldn't play two octaves in a row, haha what do you do?

So as Solti always told me, nothing will happen when you give up, it is the only thing which is absolutely sure. And there’s always room at the top, there’s always room for excellence. So I chose not to give up.

What motivated you at that time?

Seriously, I was ready to give up entirely. What's the point? In this case, you have to search deep inside yourself, to see what motivates you. What I was sure about, if I ever overcome this challenge, was that I would become a better pianist. So I worked very very hard to get better.

After that, I could play 4 or 5 Prokofiev concertos in two nights in 2000! I was not even tired. I would be now, of course…(chuckles).

Have you become more critical towards yourself after all these years?

Worse! In one sense it’s a good sign, but in another sense it leads to a lot of frustration. Music is an endless search. It can always be more beautiful, there’s no limit. The proof is, if a composer so satisfied with his work, he’ll stop composing. On another level, it’s the same with us musicians, we want to be closer to the intention and to reveal to the audience all this beauty that we can see, which the public not yet can see, so we have to transmit them.

Do you prefer live performance or recording?

Pierre Boulez told me that every concert is a mini miracle. Because literally anything can happen. I wouldn’t call it a communion because it makes it sounds so religious, but when so many people are intrigued, moved, or challenged by this particular organisation of sound in time, which is what music is, the power is very strong.

On the other hand, I also like very much the perfection you have in the recording environment. I love recording process, I really follow it from A to Z. I listen to all takes whenever time allows. I also like the intimacy of a recording studio. The intimacy you have with the music, with the composer. Of course there’s no contact with people, but also in a way, you play for nobody but you play for everybody. Because even more today than in any other time, most people listen to music alone with their wonderful headphones.

For example, the music of Debussy fits very well in recording scene, because Debussy himself said that his music should be shared between four eyes only. It can easily be lost or destroyed in a big concert hall, because it is as if somebody was whispering to you, you need to hear all the details.

Do you still feel the difference in the audience in different places?

A great concert is never without a great audience, and they all express themselves differently. In the Netherlands, everybody stands up. In Japan, everybody is incredibly quiet, they clap like crazy at the end. In the US, if they like something, they shout bravo and make a standing ovation. In Brazil, when they are happy, they shout your name!

Could you tell us your most memorable audience reaction on your show?

I remember one time when I was playing in the US, the 12th Debussy Etude. I was explaining a bit to the audience about the work. One of the etudes is based on tonalities coming from different distances. It is a very quiet piece, very slow, nothing virtuoso. I remember, when I played, people were clapping. It was the first and only time that people clapped before the piece was finished. Then I realized, people clapped because they finally could make the connection with my explanation.

Another memorable thing, when I was in Seattle, I was playing Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 4, it’s not a very successful piece for the audience, as most people are just lost after it's finished. But I really like it very much. It was after their football team had won the Superbowl. The orchestra kindly gave me a jersey signed by all members of the orchestra. So I played the concerto, I bowed and I came back on stage wearing the jersey, and everybody went wild. I said to myself, savour this moment, because never again you’ll have such a warm applause for your Prokofiev No. 4 Concerto (laughs).

You can’t be separated from your spectacular recordings of Debussy. Why the complete piano works of Debussy?

It is also something interesting, because it seems very normal for everybody to assume that because I’m French, I have affinity with French music. This is completely wrong. When I was learning with Cansan, I was close to Ravel, not to Debussy. I had the feeling that I missed something. The greatness of Debussy was hidden for so long from me. Only much later in life I finally got the lightning effect. And from that moment on I worked a lot on Debussy. I got emotional and I felt like I had so much to catch up on.

You are recording exclusively for Chandos. What’s coming up next in the series?

I’m in the middle of the complete Haydn sonatas, I have another six albums to record. I just finished the Beethoven sonatas. We’ll be starting a new Mozart series with Manchester Camerata. Actually I just received the second album today.

And how was it?

Hahaha, can’t you tell I am in a very good mood? It’s really very nice.

What can we expect from the Mozart and Haydn albums?

This Haydn volume 6 is special. I stopped between volume 5 and 6 for a long time because I wanted to concentrate on finishing the Beethoven sonatas. Altogether, the late Beethoven sonatas are in a completely different language than the Haydn sonatas. So when I came back to work on it, I came with a new enthusiasm. I hope you can hear the enthusiasm and the freshness.

With Mozart, what we are trying to do with the conductor Gàbor Takàcs-Nagy is to bring as much operatic character as possible. As if there is some mini operatic drama in the music. We played with a reduced orchestra. The Manchester Camerata was playing like little devils. They had to match the power of a full orchestra. They played with such intensity and I was happy to hear the result this morning.

….And in spring there’ll be the Greek concerto, with the wonderful English conductor Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. And there might be some other solo albums. I’ll also record Beethoven concertos with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra where I will play and conduct the orchestra.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet in conversation with Primephonic's Rina Sitorus.