#while for all the older households it would constantly be re-generated as I said

[latalpavolante]

Yeah...for some reason the last two updates completely messed up the first poses of the households saved to my library.

What happens is that the thumbnail picture is re-generated every time I put in a new pose pack, which makes it really hard to find a specific sim (I have so many unfinished sims and households saved to my library and sometimes will rather remember the pose I saved them with than the household name) and also takes ages to load. Only my own sims are affected, not the households I downloaded from the gallery, and the second poses remain unchanged as well.

Does or did anybody else have the same issue and knows if there's a way to fix this? It's obviously a minor problem, but it's just very annoying to me and I would be super thankful if someone had an idea on how to stop the thumbnails from constantly re-generating...

[excaliefur]

Cathy’s Relationships with the other Queens

DISCLAIMER:

I have written this around what Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss have created, it is not 100% realistic in what happened in history. It is not written around any of the actors, they are not their characters. 

This can be read with platonic love, familial love or romantic love. Read it however you want. !They are not based on the actors! I cannot emphasize that enough!

Its a character study from my point of view, I may write some other fics about somethings I have mentioned here, I already have a plan for the Elizabeth Incident.

TW: Swear words and like some words that aren’t nice I guess?

Catherine of Aragon:

It’s a mother daughter relationship. They weren’t close in the past life since her father died early on in her life and her mother needed to be able to provide for them. Also because Catherine simply didn’t have time and she had other duties to do. Cathy heard a lot of stories about Aragon from her mother, Maud, Aragon’s lady in waiting. When Maud passed away, it killed her. But now in the reincarnation era, she could hear stories about Maud from Aragon. Besides that, they had helped each other a lot from the beginning.

Aragon helped Cathy when Cathy was facing writers block, nightmares, trauma, survivors guilt and many other things, she was a non judgmental figure who was there for her all the time, out of everyone, Cathy was probably the most open to Aragon. Cathy was a common sense filter for Aragon, when she needed to rant about her problems, when she needed another persons opinion, whenever she just needed a shoulder to cry on, Cathy was there for her. On quiet days, they can often be found together, just reading or softly discussing odd things. Aragon is teaching Cathy Latin, and its going well considering the fact that Cathy already knows Spanish, is learning French and German, and she is obsessed with William Shakespeares works. Cathy is helping Anna and Aragon improve their English. 

Anne Boleyn: 

Anne and Cathy had a lot in common. At the beginning, they barely acknowledged each others presence, they bonded when Kat ran away, and when Jane decided to take part in the annual prank war. Soon they were inseparable, they did everything together, they read together, ate together, analysed works of art and slept together (not that way, get your head out of the gutter) Cathy comforted Anne from nightmares and vice versa. That was before the Elizabeth incident. They don’t talk about it anymore. It took time for them to regain each others trust, but slowly they did. And their relationship regained the same level of closeness, maybe even closer. During prank wars, they are almost never allowed to work together, because of Anne’s intelligence partnered with Cathy’s common sense. They are a force to be reckoned with. Normally, Anne comes up with outlandish plans that go against all of science, and Cathy splits up the parts that wont work and fix them so they will. Anne then takes psychology in to hand and they both manipulate their targets right where they want them. Both of them are master manipulators, although Anne hates using it for evil. 

Cathy’s lies saved her life once and now she only uses it for good and she guides Anne as well. Contrary to popular belief. Anne Boleyn is very intelligent and very well rounded in many aspects. She does crosswords daily and she works with Cathy on puzzles and riddles that are very hard to crack. When they went for a team bonding escape room, Cathy and Anne worked out every puzzle. Anne loves to learn and especially with Cathy since Cathy never judges and already knows Annes capability, they are often found watching how do they do it or how is it made together. Sciences are their favourite subjects to learn together although both of them are highly skilled in the arts. Anne and Cathy have a plan to make a comic book series someday, although both of them are master procrastinators. Anne is teaching Cathy french. 

Jane Seymour:

Jane and Cathy had a lot of history, even without ever having met in their past lives. They both died the same ways and Cathy married Thomas Seymour, Jane’s brother. So they were sister in laws and married to the same guy. A bit awkward to talk about. They didn’t ignore each other but they weren’t fighting to spend time with each other. They got so bad that when they began to work on the musical, Cathy, the resident writer. Sat down with everyone individually to get their stories and they would work together to figure out which parts to keep in the musical and which to cut out, for a variety of reasons. But they avoided the conversation for months until the final deadline was approaching and they had nothing written down for Jane’s part. 

Catherine (Aragon) took things into her own hands and forced both of them to sit together and speak, she was there to make sure they stayed but once both of them broke down, she left them to talk. They both broke and started crying, Cathy and Jane had a talk and settled their differences. Now they have a sibling relationship, Cathy protects Jane and vice versa. Jane is often found dragging Cathy from her laptop and forcing her to sleep and cutting her off from coffee when she was close to a caffeine overdose. Cathy had overdosed several times, and every time, Jane had been by her side when she was given activated charcoal and was puking her guts out. Cathy was by Janes side when Jane regained bad memories and had panic attacks from mild fevers and sickness. Jane was terrible when anyone in the house was sick, so if she got sick. It was an all hands on deck situation to calm her and help her rest.

Anna of Cleves:

Anna and Cathy were surprisingly close, they met several times in their past lives, but it was much more formal then. Now they are frequently called the chill squad, they watch from the back seat as shit goes down. Aragon and Jane are the mum squad, Kat and Anne are the beheaded cousins and Anna and Cathy are the chill squad. Anna made witty comments as they watched Anne do something stupid and Kat laughed, and Cathy responded with comebacks as they watch Jane and Aragon yell at them. Anna and Cathy tend to be the laid back ones, and although they seem calm, if you mess with any of the queens, Anna and Cathy are the ones that respond the hardest. Anna has a short temper and is likely to want to yell until her voice is hoarse, which is horrifying and sure to scar anyone, however, Cathy usually comes up with a clever plan that costs the person more than their mental health. Likely their jobs or their marriage. Nothing too extreme. 

They also had their sensitive times. Anna had crippling self esteem issues. What Henry said and did in the past life, may not have seemed to hurt her, but it did; it hurt her bad and she felt awful. While she hid it. Cathy could see through her facade. And broke her down, just so they could rebuild, stronger than ever before. Cathy also had problems with survivors guilt, and who better to help her than another person in the same situation also with survivors guilt. They spent hours talking about stuff they could have done to help others. They ranted to each other, they yelled at each other, they cried to each other. They fought each other as coping mechanisms. Until Aragon found out. Aragon put a stop at those unhealthy coping mechanisms and one day all three of them made a trip to a gym. Aragon told them that they were going to learn boxing. It confused them but they agreed. They took boxing classes for 1 hour and 30 minutes each week and in a year, they were pretty well skilled. Now Cathy and Anna, when they feel overwhelmed by anything. Instead of taking it out on each other, they box fair and square. Cathy and Anna are best friends and can be seen in the gym practicing hard, or on the roof, stargazing and chilling. Cathy loves to learn new things and she spent hours with Anna just learning about Germany and German culture, it helped Anna relieve burden as well. Anna is teaching Cathy German now and Cathy is helping Anna improve her English. 

Katherine Howard:

Cathy and Kat were probably the closest from when they first met. In their first lives, Cathy met both Katherine Howard and Anna of Cleves when she was in Mary I’s household. Cathy is constantly by Kat’s side whenever she needs it. She is the only one who is allowed to call Kat kid. It used to be term of endearment but when Cathy accidentally called her kid, Kat felt safe. They have a sibling relationship where Cathy is the older over protective sister and Kat is the innocent, naive but scarred younger sister. Cathy is the kindest towards Kat than anyone else. She sort of stands behind Kat as Kat does some silly stuff looking intimidating and scaring anyone who would dare to mess with Kat. Kat is oblivious to all of it. Kat generally goes to Anne or Jane for anything to do with nightmares but Cathy is always ready to help her out. Often, neither of them get sleep so they have a Disney movie marathon until one of them fall asleep. 

Kat persuades Cathy away from work using cuddles and her puppy dog eyes. Often times at night when Kat can’t sleep she just enters Cathy’s room and watches her work. Those times Cathy also goes to sleep. Jane and Aragon’s secret weapon when they can’t get her off of her laptop and Anna can’t force her into her bed, is Kat. Cathy cannot say no to Kat. Anne became overly protective of Kat and refused to let her near Cathy during the Elizabeth incident, but Kat broke out of her grip and everyone made up. To this day, whenever anybody goes at Kat, calling her a sl*t or a wh*re, their life will be ruined by Cathy, as much as Cathy would love to deck them. She knows how to ruin somebody’s life by a single phone call. Although Cathy was extremely short, her glare could paralyse a grown man.

[triscribe]

I’m having a fairytale-inspired MHA writing spree

So here, enjoy some Cinderella-based Ochadeku:

---

Once upon a time, in a big house at the edge of the woods, there lived a lonely widow and her only son. The widow was a kindly soul, who managed her own estate frugally but gave to others generously. She taught her son the best aspects of gentility and compassion, but felt as though he were lacking without a father figure in the household.

So, she found a handsome man with his own boy only a little older than her own, and re-married.

And died, shortly thereafter.

The illness came on suddenly, unexpectedly, and she passed before the doctor’s estimated week was even up. Her son was inconsolable, unwilling to leave the manor grounds for a time. His new stepfather allowed the boy’s self-imposed isolation, encouraging him to take up various chores as a way of working through his grief.

Eventually, though, said encouragements turned into orders.

“Izuku! Remember, the back wall needs to be repaired today! And trim back the over-reaching branches while you’re at it, too!”

“Yes, sir!” Lacing up his scuffed boots, the youth hurried to stuff a dry crust of bread into his mouth - all the breakfast he had time for, sadly. Footwear secured and food swallowed, he hurried out the door, grabbing a bucket full of dinner scraps to toss into the chicken pen on his way to the garden shed.

Unfortunately, just as he rounded the corner of the house, fingers snagged on his patchwork coat. The sudden tug caused Izuku to fall over backwards, his legs flying up into the air and the bucket’s contents spilling all over him.

“Oops,” Tomura, his stepbrother, drawled with a sly grin. “Clumsy Deku, better watch where you’re going.”

“Good morning, Tomura,” the younger boy wheezed. After a moment’s pause to let his head stop spinning, Izuku staggered back upright.

“Hmph. It’ll only be a good morning if you remember to pick up my purchases from town before it rains.”

Clouds were already gathering in the sky above them. Izuku looked at his stepbrother helplessly. “But, your father needs me to-”

“I don’t care, Deku, you ought to be able to get it all done in a timely manner. After all, that’s the right thing to do, yeah? Follow through on your committments?” Sighing, because that was one of his mother’s old lessons, Izuku nodded. “Good. Remember, get all my new things here, dry.”

“Yes, Tomura.” Satisfied at Izuku’s compliance, the lanky young man turned and strode back towards the front door of the manor house - the one Izuku wasn’t allowed to use anymore, as he dressed “too much like a servant” for it to be proper. Honestly, though, wearing the sort of finery he used to, that his stepfather and brother still did, was impractical in the extreme with the physical labor Izuku did.

He tried not to let it bother him.

Allowing himself another sigh, the youth quickly scooped up as many scraps as he could to drop back into the bucket, then hurried onwards. He tossed the food to the chickens, grabbed the tools he’d need for the back wall and tree branches to place in a wheelbarrow, and rolled the whole lot down to the forest’s edge. The old stone barrier was veritably covered in moss, blending with the landscape, but there was no mistaking the spot where several stones had come loose and tumbled to the ground.

Working quickly, Izuku leveraged up as many of the heavy rocks as he could manage, stacking them back onto the wall. Then he set braces in place to keep them there for the time being, before filling the cracks with mud fetched from the stream that ran through their property.

“Not a perfect job, but it’ll have to do,” he muttered. After that, the youth used his long clipping tool to trim the low-hanging tree branches that reached over the wall. He knew his stepfather wanted them gone for looks, but Izuku also figured these would be the most likely culprits for dying, falling, and damaging the wall again. The youth much preferred clearing them away at this point, rather than needing to fix further sections of stone in future.

The day had brightened into mid-morning by the time he finished and put away the tools, forcing Izuku to forget cleaning up before saddling their mare to ride into town. She was an old, plodding thing, and though he kept casting concerned glances at the looming storm clouds, Izuku couldn’t bring himself to force her into a faster pace.

Once at the market square, he tied the mare up at a hitch outside the inn, figuring it would be quicker to run between stores on foot. Six different merchants Izuku visited, gathering up a variety of packages for his stepbrother, promising to come back later in the week to pay off Tomura’s assorted tabs. Arms full, he returned to the mare, barely avoiding colliding with anyone or dropping his load.

It was a trick and a half to arrange everything in the saddlebags he’d brought along, but Izuku managed, and he set off back for home just as the first crack of thunder rumbled over head.

“I know you don’t want to get soaked anymore than I do, girl,” Izuku said to his horse, gently tapping at her sides with his heels. She took the hint, speeding up from a brisk walk into a trot.

They’d nearly gotten back to the manor grounds when a flash of pink in the corner of his eye caught Izuku’s attention. He pulled back on the mare’s reins, peering into the woods. Again, he spotted the flash of bright color, and only a few moments later, a girl his age riding a tall white horse burst out onto the road.

Their sudden appearance caused Izuku’s mare to rear back in surprise, and he, unprepared, toppled off. Colliding rather painfully with the ground knocked the air from his lungs, and it was all the youth could do to just wheeze for a moment. Distantly, he could hear the sound of the mare taking off down the road, her hoofbeats ringing in his ears.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”

Bright brown eyes peered down into his own, derailing what progress Izuku had made in getting his breath back. He wheezed again, but also offered a wobbly grin.

“My sincerest apologies, I was in such a hurry to get back to the road I didn’t even stop to think someone else might be on it - are in any pain? Can I help you sit up?”

Coughing to try and clear his head a little, Izuku nodded. He moved his arms to push himself upright, aided by slim hands supporting his shoulders. The world spun a little, but that cleared after a moment, and he finally looked up to fully take in the girl before him.

And blushed a brighter red than he ever had in his entire life.

Her hair was the same shining brown as her eyes, cut in such a way to frame her face with the strands. Rosy cheeks and a button nose were all scrunched up adorably as she stared at him with blatant concern. “I don’t think you hit your head hard enough to gain a bump,” she said, fingers gently prodding at the back of his skull. “Does this hurt at all?”

“N-no!” Izuku yelped, more from embarrassment than anything else. “I’m fine, r-really!”

“Are you sure? That was a nasty fall...”

“Ah, n-nothing I haven’t felt before,” he said, gingerly climbing to his feet. The girl stood up as well, giving him a better view of the riding clothes she wore, warm grey with pink accents and the livery of the Royal Household. “Are you alright?”

Her eyebrows shot up, practically disappearing behind her bangs. “I’m not the one who just fell off a horse - but yes, I’m perfectly well.”

“Good, that’s g-good.” Biting at his lip to keep from blurting out anything else foolish, Izuku glanced at her horse, also bearing matching gear to her own. “I’m sorry to have taken up your time, you’re probably in a hurry-”

“If I hadn’t been in such a rush, I wouldn’t have caused your fall,” the girl said sheepishly.

“Th-that’s alright! Better me than someone else, anyway. If it had been my stepbrother, he’d be screaming and kicking up all manner of trouble for you.”

“Trouble... for me?”

Taken aback by her puzzled tone, Izuku blinked. “Well, yes. I imagine it wouldn’t look good for word to get around of royal servants startling innocent mares into bucking off their riders - but I won’t say a word, I promise! It was just an accident, after all.” The girl kept staring at him, and Izuku shuffled awkwardly. “Um, I really shouldn’t keep you, what with the rain and all...”

Another burst of thunder added emphasis to his words, snapping the girl out of whatever state she’d been in. “Oh! Right, that’s- at least let me give you a ride home, so you aren’t caught by the storm!”

“I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I need to find my horse, anyway - there’s packages in her saddlebags I’m supposed to bring back, and if I show up without them I’ll really be in trouble.”

“Well, I’ll help you track her down, then, it’s the least I can do!” She wouldn’t take no for an answer, and soon enough Izuku found himself sitting double behind the girl on her own horse, cantering up the road as they searched for his mare. They sat flush together, his arms curled around her midsection and his nose constantly breathing in the sweet scent of her hair, and the combination of all that was turning Izuku’s stomach over in a not unpleasant way.

“What were you doing so far from the castle, anyway?” He asked at one point.

“Oh, just, trying to enjoy a bit of freedom. My responsibilities are going to increase fairly soon, and I wasn’t sure when I’d get another chance.”

Izuku understood that without any trouble at all. “I’m sorry. I hope you’ll still be able to find some time for yourself in future.”

One of her gloved hands released the reins long enough to squeeze his own. “Thank you.”

Warmth seemed to spread from that one bit of contact, but before Izuku could say anything else, they turned a corner in the road and spotted his mare just ahead, grazing on some grass beneath the shelter of the trees.

The girl slowed her own mount to a halt, allowing Izuku to clamber off and jog over to his wayward horse. “You silly thing, did you stop at the first bit of greenery that looked tasty?” She snuffled at his face, causing the youth to laugh as he leaned back. “Oh no, my hair does not count!”

He fussed over her for a few moments more, and checked that all of Tomura’s packages were still safe and secure, before glancing back at his new friend. She still sat upon her own horse, smiling at him with a soft expression.

“Ah, thank you again!” Izuku beamed.

The girl blushed, ducking her head. “It was no trouble, the least I could do, as I said!”

They paused in an awkward silence, before Izuku spoke again. “Will, ah - is there any chance you might be back out this way again, sometime?”

Her face fell. “No, not any time soon, I’m afraid.”

“Oh.”

“But... have you heard about the ball at the castle, in two days time?”

How could he not - the grandest event of the year, to which eligible young men from across the kingdom and beyond had been invited, with the express intent of finding a husband for the princess. Most of what Izuku had picked up in town were Tomura’s fitted garments and styling supplies for the ball.

“Yes, I have. I hadn’t planned on going, though, my stepfamily wouldn’t like it much.”

“Well, if you do attend, I’ll be there.”

“Oh. Oh!” Izuku beamed up at her again. “In that case, I’ll do my best to come!”

She smiled back, before more thunder and a visible bolt of lightning reminded them of more pressing concerns. “I’ll look for you, then! Take care!”

“You too!” Izuku hastily swung himself up into the mare’s saddle, but there he lingered, watching as the girl rode away. Just as she vanished out of sight, he realized they’d never actually introduced themselves to one another. “Oh, shoot!”

And of course, that was when the rain started to come down.

---

Chapter two is in the works, along with a Little Mermaid Tododeku fic, and a Beauty and the Beast Bakudeku story. Everything will eventually be posted to my AO3 account, also under the name Triscribe (I’m very easy to track down).

If I get any interest for this, I might make some watercolor art to go with it, too...

[spurtinspires]

The Continuous Journey of Branding and Re-branding

Being a marketer for a living must be a very daunting and demanding job. I see this constant task of branding and marketing a product a very tedious task but also an arduous one to make sure the product is successfully marketed. Nevertheless, all our surroundings from the packaged cereal we buy to the shoes we wear every day is a product of a well-marketed good, catered towards that particular consumer. More often than usual, I wonder if the meaning of marketing has been lost in the processes of all the business functions or whether marketing overpowers everything else. I ask this because does the average people who go about their daily lives look at the end product of the process that takes place behind the making of the product. I would think that most people, myself included, only really care about the end product and if it serves us well. However, as a business student, I’ve been interested in the behind of the scenes and I believe it has made my understanding of the concept of marketing much more holistic.

Before I tackle the big issue of marketing, I want to dig deeper into branding. Marketing has a whole lot to do with “association”. The human brain associates one thing to another thing or a word to other animate or inanimate things. Our brains are constantly associating to one another and building relationships between those things. Basic brands like McDonald's, Apple, Nike and many others have invested several years and a whole lot of money to get people to subconsciously associate certain products or evoke certain feelings when we are exposed to their brands. That I believe is a great example of successful marketing no matter the behind the scenes of these products and services. But many other brands strive to make people identify their brand on the get-go. So, in marketing the most critical determinant of the success of a product lies in the branding, doesn’t it? This has prompted several other questions to crowd my mind. Here I would like to address a few of those questions. So, why does branding hold so much significance? I would like to provide an example of a brand so close to my heart. Crayola is a brand that managed to become synonymous to child artists, creativity, colourful, a kindergarten classroom and so much more that entails our childhood memories, or at least mine. The concept of branding has the ability to become relatable and desirable to all the consumers so as long they can cultivate the association between the brand and the consumers. The art of branding, as my dad says, is that it has the power to convey a message in the most concise way possible and attract the customers that will enhance the company’s value.

We can dig deeper and understand how branding works as well. Semiotics is an impactful way to get people to associate with a brand. An example could be ‘coffee and Starbucks’, ‘laundry to Downy’, or ‘crayons to Crayola’ and there are several other examples. Continuing with the brand Crayola, whenever I am reminded of crayons I think the smell of the wax, the range of colours, the yellow and green box that took up most of my free time as a kid. Through semiotics and the use of colour or shapes, it resonates with customers. Recently, I was introduced to a brand called ‘Julie’s Biscuits’, apparently a brand that resonates with many southeast Asian households. My initial impression of the brand was, “Oh, wow! Never heard of it, but I feel like I’ve come across this logo somewhere…”. Still do not know where I’ve seen it but I was able to observe that the speaker wanted to make his family brand more personal, modern and relatable. Although I do not understand how he would be able to do that with a white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, I appreciated the intent behind the branding. Perhaps to those who have seen this brand on the shelves for a long time may recognize it as more meaningful but to me, I was kind of left with a confused mind. Why not an Asian girl? Why not black hair and brown eyes? Wouldn’t that create a much more meaningful association with the brand for the consumers? I guess that isn’t the main point though, is it? While these questions still occupy space in my mind, I wanted to research what this brand meant to the people. And like mentioned earlier this brand was part of the family for many households, it occupied the breakfast table or the afternoon snack cart. People felt that this girl was part of their family just as the speaker had talked to us about how this girl ‘Julie’ was a younger sibling to him. I think that is the essence of what I missed. While the logo is important—the message and the emotion behind the logo is much more significant too many. The logo can be scrutinized or appreciated but sometimes the message overpowers that logo. Just like what the brand Crayola was like to me. I believe that is the importance of semiotics is that it is different for each individual, but the intended meaning of that brand for a particular individual who consumes the product is a much more impactful use of semiotics.

Now that I have discussed the importance of branding, the next concept is about re-branding. If a company is investing loads into developing their brand and one-day they decide to re-brand, doesn’t that defeat the entire purpose of the company’s previous efforts to brand and get people to associate their brand to something meaningful? I personally do not think so. I think just like how humans learn, re-learn, learn some more and re-learn some more; a brand goes through the same cycle of branding and re-branding. No matter how settled we feel in life, our environment is constantly changing whether we recognize that fact or not. Companies upon thorough discussions must go through a phase of re-branding to re-establish the company’s values or to overcome controversies or whatever the reason may be for companies to re-brand. Coming with the same example of ‘Julie’s Biscuits’, the speaker mentioned the reasons behind this huge re-branding of the company and why it was so necessary at that moment after 35 years. I thought maybe they were re-designing the logo to resonate more with the Asian households but instead, they stuck with the same girl just a more modernized version of her. The director mentioned that it was to give the company a refreshed, more youthful and a cheerful ambience of the brand. By making the brand look more youthful perhaps they can garner a younger audience but keep the same core values and identity of Julie that speaks to the older generations. A very meaningful re-branding not just to the company but the customer’s as well. All companies re-brand considering their environment or the values and fortunately most re-branding help companies in maintaining a healthier relationship with all stakeholders alike.

This continuous journey of branding and re-branding is all a part of successful marketing and reaching new heights for companies. The importance of it is if they choose to stick to core values or to compromise their values for a better design, to rebrand totally because the company’s beliefs have changed, to overcome the volatile market and many other reasons. I also believe that impactful branding/rebranding lies in the sum of everything that makes up the company in the customers' eyes. As I said, marketing must be an extremely daunting task to take up. Not because it involves the making of the face of a company but also because it means that the brand needs to represent what the company is. A brand signifies the intentions of a company, it speaks of the transactions between customer and company, and it delivers an experience exclusively to a customer. I think this discussion can go on forever. Lastly, I want to say that branding is not exclusive to just companies, it includes all people. Perhaps next I’ll talk about how I would want to brand myself.

[carthanas]

Biography

i.

Aoife Sayre and Max Burbage had not expected the “gift” of their pregnancy with their soon-to-be daughter; Aoife was only seventeen at the time and still a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her parents demanded an immediate marriage between the two pureblood young adults upon Aoife’s graduation and instead she fled to the United States to stay with some of her distant relatives. The day of her graduation came and as the sun began to set upon that chapter of her life, the young, newly pregnant witch packed a few of her things and boarded a boat to the United States. She said goodbye to no one and only wrote a letter to her cousin Sonya as any indication of her plans. Unprepared to give up her freedom for expectation and duty, particularly because her family was not wealthy and a life of childrearing would likely amount to poverty for the sake of reputation, she spent the next year in the U.S. working with her cousins at the Ilvermorny School.

Aoife and Max were not in a committed relationship when she discovered she was pregnant. Max’s family was far more well-off, and though his parents were informed of the development Aoife never wanted to trap him into a marriage. There was never a shortage of cruel and sexist rumors in Hogwarts, whispers of young wixen securing their places in wealthy families with “unplanned” pregnancies, and at first that was exactly what his parents believed to have taken place. Max himself was upset as well, believing his life to be cut short for the sake of duty, but when Aoife fled he finally understood that to be exactly the opposite of what she wanted. After several months of searching, and with the help of her parents, he set out of the U.S. to go after her. When Max arrived he found Aoife stable and happy in a small apartment with a 5-month-old baby. Charity. Named for the gift of rebellion and independence that the new babe was to both of her parents.

ii.

The three stayed in the United States for another year making connections with MACUSA as Max worked his way into their offices. With Max’s encouragement Aoife reconnected with her parents and they likely would’ve stayed put had Aoife’s mother not fallen ill. They returned to the United Kingdom upon her diagnosis so Aoife could help care for her mother and daughter alongside a live-in mediwitch with their family. Max began working for the Ministry of magic, and a few days after Charity’s second birthday the pair celebrated their wedding.

The Burgbages lived in this multigenerational household through the decline and eventual passing of Aoife’s mother. Charity was the sole grandchild of two only-children, and despite the dramatic and somewhat shameful circumstances of her birth she was doted upon by each of her grandparents. For the Burbages, the ends justified the means; the events that led to her birth didn’t matter as much as the fact that two pureblood families had aligned in marriage and procreation. They were strict, strong, and secretive as a family, but under the influence of Charity’s bright and curious eyes they softened into loving grandparents. The Sayres were proud and stoic, but after thinking they had lost their only child due to their haughty expectations they, too, humbled somewhat in their ideas of arrogant supremacy.

iii.

Charity was allowed the run of the house as she was raised. The Burbages moved into a larger estate when she was 5 to accommodate their needs for her ailing grandmother and the frequency of her American cousins’ visits. Aoife began running a daycare from their house and Charity would attend her primary schooling during the mornings and return home to a yard and home filled with wixen children. She met most of her best friends this way, and during the summers her mother would employ two or three  Hogwarts students to help with childcare and preschool. Max and Aoife Burbage were quietly very liberal in their beliefs and instilled in their daughter a sense of justice and duty to protect the weak and promote equality. Her grandparents reminded them that secrecy in these extreme believes was paramount as the political climate fell more and more in their conservative favor. For all intents and purposes, the Burbages re-established themselves as a respectable and well-loved family in the wizarding community despite the occasional whisper that they may not be as conservative as others might believe.

iv.

Charity’s maternal grandmother passed away a few months before she began attending Hogwarts. Her personality became more reserved at the time, and her ambition and leadership tendencies placed her in the Slytherin House after her mother. She was lucky that when she boarded the train at Platform 9 ¾ Charity already knew many students in her own and older years and it seemed she would have the pick of who and what she wanted to be with those connections.

As Charity aged she grew back into her warm personality; she was obsessed with Quidditch and attended every match until she was old and practiced enough to join the team as a Chaser. She wore her house colors with pride and boasted light-heartedly before every match that Slytherin would win, but she worked just as hard on the pitch for practices to back up her claims. No matter their House, Charity was always happy, willing, and able to go to the pitch to practice with any Quidditch player willing enough to face the winds and the weather. Her skin was constantly painted with windburn, strange tan-lines, bruises, and cuts, and she wore them like jewelry; a personal adornment of her dedication. When she wasn’t with her teammates or other Quidditch players she tutored younger students or volunteered to help her professors with classroom maintenance or grading. This was how she grew close to her Muggle Studies and Arithmancy professors; she’d rather spend hours marking third-year’s papers on a weekend than playing the game of popularity that many of her housemates found paramount.

She made many friendships across the spectrum of beliefs during her time. Charity found more value in connections with those of more liberal leanings. By her 7th year, one could not argue that Charity was a Slytherin; her name was announced time and time again at Quidditch matches and she was, in essence, a walking billboard for the House. However, Death Eaters were coming more and more into their power and pureblood supremacy grew its infestation in Hogwarts. Bloodtraitor was whispered after her in the halls, though very few students were willing and bold enough to say it to her face. It was as though she’d been issued a challenge and she took that demeaning label in stride as she eventually discovered that she would live to embody that word. Traitor to supremacy, friend to equality. That was what she wanted to be.

v.

When Charity graduated Hogwarts, her Muggle Studies professor referred her to a friend in the Ministry and she soon had a job in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. She loved her position, but the atmosphere at the Ministry was drastically changing. Her father quietly retired as the new regime took over out of obligation to protect his family as rumors that her mother’s daycare may actually be working to aid fleeing muggleborns or bloodtraitors. With both Max and Aoife home, they were able to keep those rumors minimized to the occasional whisper from a disgruntled conspiracist in the dark corners of wizard taverns. Her paternal grandparents moved to an estate next door and the Burbage Estates became somewhat of a fortress of protection. Old money, new magic, and a quiet existence promoting childcare. Their old estate was left to Charity in their will, though for now it sits mostly vacant, upkept by house elves and the occasional visit from Mrs. Burbage. Unbeknownst the Charity, they were preparing for war. While the elder generation did not agree with Charity’s parents or their politics fully, they were determined to protect their small family whatever the cost. Fear and concern were expressed nightly amongst the grandparents, though those hushed conversations never reached Charity’s ears.

Many of Charity’s friends from Hogwarts had joined the Order of the Phoenix either in secrecy at school or in the basements of political “extremists” harboring only the need to do good.  Charity joined as soon as she was asked, though for the most part she still keeps her head down both at work and in public. She rented a flat in downtown London and generally stayed weekends at her parents’ estate. Through this she learned that her parents were, in fact, offering safety to some who were struggling to leave the ever increasing danger of the U.K., often even using their cousin’s visits to smuggle people out of the country. While her parents refuse to pick a side, Charity certainly has, and is determined with youthful bravery to make a change in the world for the better.

[autodidact-adventures]

Culinary History (Part 40): Fridges, Freezers and Frozen Food

Evaporation has been used to cool things since the time of Ancient Egypt, when porous earthenware jars of liquid were wetted on the outside, and as it evaporated, heat was transferred from the liquid inside to the air.  In India, this technique was used to make ice.  Shallow earthenware pans filled with water were placed into straw-covered trenches.  Under the right conditions (calm, and not too windy), the water lost heat to the air, and froze.

From the 1700's onwards, inventors began to try and find ways to speed up the evaporation process.  In the early 1800's, Richard Trevithick (a Cornish engineer) built the first machine in which expanding pressurized air turned water into ice.  However, air is a poor conductor of heat, so it's not the best choice for a refridgerant.  Engineers started to try other gases.

In 1862, the Harrison-Siebe vapour compression ice-maker was launched.  It used ether as a refridgerant instead of air.  It was huge and powerful, “driven by a steam engine of fifteen horse powers”.  The way it worked was the same way fridges work today.  A gas (ether here) is compressed through metal coils into a liquid.  Then, it is allowed to expand (evaporate) back into a gas, transferring heat into the surrounding air.  The gas is re-liquefied through the metal coils, and the process repeats itself over and over again.

The early Harrison-Siebe machines had explosive tendencies, but once that was fixed, they worked very well. During the 1890's, huge steam-powered ice factories used the compression technique to produce hundreds of tons of ice per day.

French inventors (in particular Ferdinand Carré) thought up a different way to do it – gas absorption.  The refridgerant gas is dissolved in a liquid, instead of being forced through compressor coils – a different way to pressurize the gas into a liquid state.  Carré's version used ammonia for the refridgerant gas, and water for the liquid it was dissolved in.  This was more complicated, as two substances have to be considered instead of just one, but his machine was certainly impressive.  It could run continuously, and in 1867, it was able to produce 200kg of ice per hour.

The southern states of the USA had never had a dependable supply of natural ice, and they embraced Carré's huge absorption machines eagerly.  By 1889, there were 165 ice-making factories in the South.

But these new fridges were used for the commercial ice industry, not in the home, where the ice-box was still the best thing a housewife had.  As late as 1921, a writer for Home Beautiful complained:  “Somebody has had to wipe up the wet spot where the ice man set the cake while he was waiting...Somebody has had to pull out the pan each day from underneath and empty out the water...Somebody has had to keep smelling around the ice-box, day by day, to see when it began to get foul and needed scouring.”

Between the world wars, domestic fridges (electric & gas ones) became available.  The decade after WW1 (and before the Depression) saw perhaps the most dramatic changes in American housework of any decade in history,  In 1917, ¼ of American households were on the electric grid; in 1930, 80% were hooked up.

The electric refridgerator was helped greatly by this increase in household electricity.  A fridge, unlike the oven or lightbulbs, runs constantly even when you're not using it, so electric companies were keen to encourage them.

The first household names were Frigidaire and Kelvinator.  Both firms were founded in 1916.

1927 Frigidaire ad.

There were problems at the beginning, of course.  In the 1910's, if you bought an electric refridgerator, it didn't come in a self-contained unit.  Instead, the fridge company installed the refridgerating mechanism in your wooden ice-box, which couldn't really deal with the strain of the motor, and often warped and gradually fell apart.  And the machinery itself was so huge that it didn't leave much room in the ice-box.  Sometimes, the compressor & motor were installed in the basement, pumping the refridgerant back upstairs into the ice-box – not very efficient.  Compressors often malfunctioned, and motors broke.

But worse was the toxicity of the refridgerant gases (the early ones were methyl chloride and sulphur dioxide).  Fridges were poorly-insulated, and gases could leak out into the house.  In 1925, Einstein read in the newspaper about a whole family who had died from the poisonous gases leaking from the pump in their fridge.  He decided to design a better fridge, and he worked on it with his former student Leó Szilárd.

The Einstein refridgerator was patented in November 1930.  It was based on the principle of absorption like the Carré machines, had no moving parts, and only needed a small heat source to make it work (such as a gas burner).  However, it was never marketed, because the poisonous gas problem was fixed.

In 1930, a new non-toxic refridgerant gas was introduced, called Freon-12, and all new domestic fridges quickly adopted it.  However, about 50yrs later Freon was found to be one of the main CFCs causing damage to the ozone layer, so another gas had to be found.

Also in 1930, fridge sales overtook ice-box sales for the first time in America.  By now, the old leaky ice-box fridges had disappeared, and fridges were self-contained. The early self-contained fridges of the 1920's were usually white, and had four legs like a dresser.  The most famous as the General Electric company's “Monitor-Top” fridge.  It was a white box with legs, with the refridgerating mechanism in a cylinder on top.

Monitor-Top Fridge (1935).

By the 1930's, this dressing-table look changed, with fridges getting bigger and more streamlined, with a more metallic look.

In 1926, Electrolux-Servel designed a continous-absorption gas-powered fridge, and for a while it seemed as if gas fridges might overtake electric ones.  The basic invention of their fridge was done by Carl Munters and Baltzar von Platen (Swedish engineers).  This new gas fridge didn't need a motor (so they were silent) and were cheaper as well.  But Electrolux-Servel never had the same influence as the big electric companies (such as General Electric).  However, the gas-electric rivalry pushed innovation, and was part of the reason for why American fridges became so good, so quickly.

In 1926 in America, 200,000 fridges were bought (costing $400 on average).  In 1935, 1.5 million fridges were bought (costing $170 on average).  Nearly half of American households owned one.  Advertisers encouraged consumers to think of their fridge as a place from which wonderful fresh foods could be eaten – for example, Kelvinator's “Kelvinated foods”:

Taken from the cold frosty air of a Kelvinator-chilled refridgerator, they are irresistable.  Think of sliced oranges, served ice-cold; of canteloupe or grapefruit, chilled through and through; or or home-canned fruits, served cold in their rich juices.  Think of the cream for your cereals cold and refreshing.

The fridge industry was claiming to not only preserve food, but to improve it, unlike older preservation methods, which made the food safe to eat, but not as nice as fresh. However, these claims were not quite true.  In 1966, R.C. Hutchinson (a food storage expert) noted that people believed that refridgerated foods lost a lot of flavour, and tasted differently.

This was another opportunity to sell more things.  Gladwrap/clingfilm was invented in 1953, and called Saran Wrap.  Tupperware was first sold in 1946.  A Tupperware ad in the 1950's said, “Hear that whisper?  That's Tupperware's airtight promise to keep food flavour fresh!”

Another Tupperware ad (probably 1950′s).

Tupperware wasn't just marketed for flavour purposes, but also for frozen food storage, allowing the consumer to cram as much stuff as possible into the small freezer. By the 1950's, the frozen food industry was flourishing, but it had had problems in the beginning.  The 1930's fridges were good for refridgerating food, but not for freezing it.  Frozen food was stored in a tiny space right next to the compressor coils, where it was coldest.  Ice cubes often melted and fused into a single block.

In 1939, the fridge-freezer was introducted – the “two-temperature” refridgerator.  The coils were now hidden inside the fridge walls, solving the defrosting problem.

Frozen orange-juice concentrate was the most successful commercially-frozen product in post-WW2 America.  In 1948-49, 9 million gallons were sold.

Frozen Food

Clarence Birdseye created the modern frozen-food industry in the 1920's.  He said that there was “nothing very remarkable about what I have done...the Eskimos had [frozen foods] for centuries.”  This is true, but Birdseye took it further.

In Russia, freezing was used as a food preservation method, because of the climate and vast distances.  In 1844, Thomas Masters (a British ice expert) wrote about the St. Petersburg ice market, “containing the bodies of many thousands of animals in a state of congelation, and piled in pyramidical heaps: cows, hogs, sheep, fowl, butter, fish – all stiffened into stony rigidity.”  Whatever you chose to buy would be chopped up for you, “like wood”.

Clarence Birdseye was a fur trapper, and had previously worked for the US Department of Agriculture as a biologist.  In 1912-15, he and his wife Eleanor and baby Kellogg were living in Labrador (NE Canada), in a tiny shack far from the nearest town.  They ate fish and game, which was frozen in the Arctic winds. Green vegetables were seldom shipped to Labrador.

Birdseye noted that the food tasted better in winter than spring & autumn – in fact, the winter-frozen meat tasted as good as fresh meat.  He assumed that this was because it had frozen quicker.  He also experimented with freezing green vegetables, and found that he could quickly freeze them by plunging them into barrels of salt water.  He even used Kellogg's baby bath for it.

Traditional freezing methods (such as in Russia) were done by burying the food in ice or snow.  It froze slowly, allowing large ice crystals to form.  The food's cellular structure was damaged, and its quality was poor.  When slow-frozen food was thawed, fluds would leak out, especially from meat.  In 1926, The Times complained about the “copious” quantities of “bleeding or drip” that came from slow-frozen beef.

In 1917, Birdseye returned to America. His initial investment was only $7 for an electric fan, ice cakes, buckets of brine, and some haddock fillets.  He began working in a corner of a New Jersey ice-cream plant, where he tried to “reproduce the Labrador winters in New England.”

By 1925, he had worked out a method for quick-freezing food – he used metal plates, chilled in CaCl2 (calcium chloride) solution to -40°C.  The plates were made into metal belts, and packets of food were pressed between them, freezing almost instantly.

Birdseye began with fish, and in 1925, he established the General Seafood Corporation.  He intended it to be the dominant producer of frozen food.  In 1929, he sold the company & patents to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Company, for $22 million.

At first, frozen peas tasted bad.  This was because they needed to be blanched in hot water before being frozen, to inactivate the enzymes that make them go off, and this wasn't discovered until 1930.

Consumers didn't really trust frozen food, and not just because of its unreliable quality.  Frozen food was believed to be not as good – “salvaged goods”.  But things changed when the Birdseye company began promoting the term “frosted foods” over “frozen food”.  This sounded much better.  By 1955, the American frozen-food market was worth $1.5 billion a year.

Frozen foods also became popular in Britain, even though they didn't have anywhere to store them.  Even in 1970, only 3.5 households had access to any sort of a freezer – frozen food had to be shoved into a tiny space on top of the ice-cube tray.  In 1959, the sale of frozen peas overtook fresh peas for the first time in Britain.

Fridges in Europe

Europe was far slower to embrace the fridge than America, and it wasn't because of money.  The French even had a word for it – frigoriphobie (fear of fridges).  Les Halles was the main Parisian food market, and both buyers and sellers there did not want fridges.

The consumers were afraid that fridges would enable salesmen to pass old food off as fresh, and give them too much power over their customers.  The sellers should have been glad of the fridge, because it would allow them to make more money, but they turned their noses up at it, saying that it was like a “mausoleum” which killed the true nature of a great cheese.  This is true – a Brie cheese stored in a fridge is dull compared to one that's matured in a pantry.

Domestic fridges didn't have many customers, either, because the patterns of food shopping were different.  In the 1890's, American ice-box manufacturers asked the American consuls for information on potential local demand in Europe. Their response was that there wouldn't be much of it.  In the large cities of southern France, meat was butchered twice a day in summer, and once in winter.  Most people went shopping twice a day, and families ate the food as they bought it.  They were perfectly happy with this system.

Nor was the fridge popular in Britain. In 1923, Home and Garden noted that “refridgerators, which are a commonplace in American households, are not sufficiently known or used after here”.  This aversion to fridges continued even after the toxic gas problem was solved, and after the majority of homes were on the electric grid.  Fridges were considered decadent and wasteful – this mindset was a product of traditional British austerity (which predated WW2).  Frigidaire said of the situation, “The hard sell was probably essential in a Britain which regarded ice as only an inconvenience of winter-time and cold drinks as an American mistake.”  In 1948, only 2% of British households had a fridge.

By the 1990's, the average British household owned 1.4 “cold appliances”.  Smeg “Fabs” were popular – pastel-coloured retro fridge-freezers with big clunky handles, like the late-1950's American fridges.

Fridges & Commercialism

The late-1930's fridges had many of the modern trappings that are still a selling point today, such as push-pull latches on the door, hydrating compartments for salads, freezer space for ice-cube trays, egg-trays, and removable split shelving.  This encouraged people to keep more of their food refridgerated – often just for the sake of it, because many foods shouldn't be refridgerated.  Bread goes stale faster, and potatoes deteriorate.

A fridge's egg-tray is not as good as an egg-carton at protecting the eggs from picking up odours around them.  If you live in a cool climate, it's better to store eggs out of the fridge, if you're using them up quickly.  A room-temperature egg yolk is less likely to split when frying it, or make a cake mixture curdle.

However, “room temperature” varies depending on where you live.  A 2007 study found that salmonella-infected eggs had no bacterial growth when stored for 6 weeks at 10°C.  At 20°C, the bacterial growth was barely anything.  But at 25°C and above, the salmonella flourished. So in a place like Alabama in the summer, leaving an egg unrefridgerated is dangerous.  Now that we all have fridges, we tend to be over-cautious, even if we live in a cooler climate.

Many foods that are common today became so because people wanted things to put in their fridges.  One example is yoghurt, a traditional food in India & the Middle East, and a way of preserving dairy.  It was made fresh when needed, and kept in a cool-ish place, where it would ferment & clot over time.

But in pre-refridgerator Britain and America, dairy desserts were usually home-made milk puddings, which were made fresh and served while warm – rice pudding, sago, and tapioca (which British children called “frogspawn” because of its texture).  From the 1950's onwards, milk puddings began to be eaten less, and yoghurt grew into an extremely successful global industry.  Yoghurt-makers took advantage of the new fridges and the desire to refridgerate more things. Yoghurt pottles looked good lined up on the fridge's shelving, even though some were blander and more sugary than the milk puddings they'd replaced.

A fridge's design tends to be based on what the designers think we want, the sort of life they believe we lead, and the kind of people they think we are. In 1940, an America fridge salesman said that “fifty percent of our business is preserving women, not fruit.”  A push-pull door-handle with 3-way action was important because “it makes a lot of difference to the woman whether she can walk with her arms full of something.”  Fridges were often sold in pastel colours to make them more visually appealing, and customers were told that it was their duty to keep their family's food cold and safe.

In the 1990's, British fridge-freezers were often divided up into boxy, geometrical sections inside.  This was because many people ate packaged meals, from rectangular boxes.  This has changed in recent years, because more people are interested in “scratch cooking”.

The Soviet Union

On July 24th, 1959, Krushchev and Nixon had a public meeting in front of TV cameras in Moscow.  It was the most high-profile USA-USSR meeting since the 1955 Geneva Summit, and quite informal.  The two men joked and debated whether communism or capitalism was better.  Their conversation was about domestic issues, and was later named the “Kitchen Debate”.

It was the opening day of the American National Exhibition, held at Sokolniki Park (a municipal park of “leisure and culture”).  It included three fully-equipped model American kitchens – a General Mills labour-saving kitchen, with a frozen-food emphasis; a Whirlpool “futuristic” kitchen, where all you had to do was push a button to set off the various machines; and a General Electric lemon-yellow kitchen, which got the most attention.  Women gave demonstrations of what it could do.

Nixon said that “in America, we like to make life easier for women.”  Krushchev was more sceptical, replying, “your capitalistic attitude to women does not occur under communism” – i.e. that the machines may have been labour-saving, but confirmed the expectation that American women should all be housewives.

Krushchev was disparaging of the gadgets on show.  Of an automatic device that squeezed lemon for a cup of tea, he said, “What a silly thing...Mr. Nixon!...I think it would take a housewife longer to use this gadget than it would for her to...slice a piece of lemon, drop it into a glass of tea, then squeeze a few drops.”

“The American system is designed to take advantage of new inventions,” Nixon disagreed.  But Krushchev wasn't swayed.  “Don't you have a machine that puts food in the mouth and presses it down?  Many things you've shown us are interesting but they are not needed in life.  They have no useful purpose.  They are merely gadgets.”

But at the same time, Krushchev insisted that Soviet kitchens were just as good, “You think the Russian people will be dumbfounded to see these things, but the fact is that newly-built Russian houses have all this equipment right now.”  This was absolute nonsense.

The newest apartments' kitchens were tiny – about 0.4-0.55m square.  The best technology they had was a series of cramped wall-mounted cabinets, and cupboards under the benches.  The cupboards were all 85cm high, based on the average height of a Moscow woman.

And most didn't have a fridge.  At this point in time, 96% of American households owned a fridge (compared to 13% of British households).  Despite Krushchev's claims, America was far ahead of not just the USSR, but the rest of the world, when it came to kitchens.

[scurvgirl]

Late Nights and Sleepy Days

@feynites​ said:  Caracals are mostly nocturnal; tiny Lasvala does want to sleep?

Ah, parenthood - a saga on lost sleep never to be regained.

tagging @lillotte17​ for fluff.

Fatherhood is a mixture of being proud all the time, tired all the time, worried all the time, and dirty all the time. There is no question that Irathar loves his child. Lasvala is a precocious ball of laughter and happiness and he loves them.

But he wishes they’d just sleep.

It’s�� gotten worse as they’ve gotten older, which is not what should be happening. They have no issue with napping during the day, even at seven, but when it comes to sleeping at night, it’s a disaster. It’s not even that they fight sleeping, they’re just not tired.

Irathar is constantly tired, he has no idea where this energy is coming from. Is it the moon? Is his child lunar powered? Mystery assures him that there is no such thing as a lunar powered child but Irathar is certain there is a first for everything. And besides, Lasvala is special. They have already proven themselves to be exceptional at shifting, even at such a young age, they excel with almost all magic for their age, and they were walking and talking earlier than normal. They are exceptional.

And perhaps it is because of the moon. They were born under a full moon after all.

Or maybe Irathar is looking for sense in a senseless situation.

“Sleep is good, baby, you get to be in the Dreaming!” He coos. The rambunctious child pokes their head out from under the couch and shrugs their currently feline shoulders.

“I’m not tired.”

How are they not tired? They were at the pools all day. Wait.

“Did your Nenae let you nap at the pool?”

“Yeah, because I was so tired and the sun was so hot.” They complain then quickly disappear back under the couch. He thought he talked about this with Courage. They need to establish a more normal sleeping pattern, one that is going to allow them all to parent. Mystery is the only one who seems remotely able to able to adapt to Lasvala’s desire to stay up all night, and sleep most of the day.

Irathar likes the day, and he is a firm believer that night time is for sleeping.

Lasvala darts out from under the couch and leaps up onto the console table in the hallway. Right, sleep time.

Courage is sleeping at the barracks tonight, trying to re-bond with their soldiers and showing that they’re still tough even after having a baby, which makes little sense to him. Irathar saw the birth and honestly how anyone can believe that you are softened by that ordeal, he has no idea. He fainted.

More than once. And he wasn’t even the one pushing a baby out!

And Mystery is busy on shoring up a new pathway for the Eluvians, so he’s not home either. It’s just Irathar and Lasvala.

Their child jumps off the table and heads for the office-turned-playroom. Irathar follows them to find them playing with a large ball. They chase after it, laughing and mewling in equal measure.

“Play with me, Babae?”

It’s past midnight. But whenever they ask like that, who is he to refuse? He may be tired, but it’s the name of the game. Irathar takes a deep breath and takes after Lasvala. He tosses small toys to them and runs around, trying to pick them up as they run and exhaust themselves.

Please exhaust before I have to stop, he hopes.

A fruitless hope.

Lasvala has boundless energy, jumping around, chasing things. Even in their shifted form, their energy seems endless. But then a beautiful thing happens.

Irathar collapses on his back on the plush rug, his eyes threating to close against his will. He fears that he will pass out and his child will be left unattended, running wild through the house, somehow discovering any sharp objects that have been hidden away. But then Lasvala crawls over, now once more just an elven child and looks down at him quizzically.

“Hello, baby,” he says on a yawn. They then too yawn and hope returns. Sleep, please sleep. They shift down so they rest their head on his chest, snuggled up to him.

“I’m tired now,” they say and he lets out a long breath.

“Me too, baby, me too.” His eyes flutter closed and his breathing deepens. Yes, sleep here is good. He curls an arm around his child, securing them to him, in one last effort to keep them close before losing the battle to remain conscious.

….

Through the hazy fog of rest, Irathar hears footsteps in the hall. He almost rouses himself when he recognizes Mystery’s cloaked form in the door frame.

‘This is not either of your rooms,’ he signs.

Irathar grunts and shifts on the carpet. It’s still comfortable and he is not going to move, not while there is a successfully sleeping Lasvala on him. But Mystery simply nods and removes his mask, gloves, and outer cloak before crawling down next to Irathar. He drapes his cloak over Lasvala and Irathar before snuggling in himself.

This is…unexpected. But good. Yes, he likes this. Soon Mystery’s breathing evens into soft snores that lull Irathar back into a deep sleep.

….

Irathar cannot feel his arm. That is the first sensation that makes its way to his brain in a proper register. His arm is numb, there are weights on his chest, but other than that, he is warm and comfortable. But he has to pee. Unfortunate.

He carefully stretches his back from his position and slowly cracks his eyes open to take in his surroundings. Light is streaming in from the window, illuminating the two sleeping figures on him. His lover and his child, both curled up against him, using him as a pillow. It is a little ironic considering Mystery is the taller of the men. Lasvala is sound asleep, so asleep in fact that they don’t even stir when Irathar slowly extracts himself from the pile and puts Lasvala on Mystery.

Irathar quickly makes his way to the facilities, relieves himself, throws on a fresh robe and heads to the kitchen to prepare a modest breakfast of eggs and fruit. He also fries up some bacon for Lasvala who seems to insist on eating meat at every meal, just like their Nenae.

In the end, Lasvala is the first to wake and sleepily shuffles into kitchen.

“’M hungry, Babae,” they say, rubbing at their eyes.

“I know, baby, your food’s almost ready.” In a moment, he plates their food and gets them settled at the little breakfast nook. Maybe he should make them some toast, he recently read that children should eat more bread to get big and strong. Lasvala is already ahead of the growth curve though, does that mean they don’t need the bread?

“Would you like some toast?” Irathar offers. Lasvala shakes their head, gnawing instead on the thick cut bacon. They go for the eggs next, then the fruit.

They almost fall asleep halfway through their meal but Irathar is determined to get them on a regular sleeping schedule and he’s starting today. He can’t keep pulling nights like last, and he can’t be the only one to want this either.

But maybe he’s fighting biology. Mystery is a notorious night person, staying up all night only to sleep the day away. Courage is just averse to sleep in general, they seem to get all their energy from food and the people around them. In this household, Irathar’s normality is strange and maladaptive. The rest of the empire operates on regular sleeping schedules, however, so it really is best if Lasvala learns.

“You need to stay awake, baby,” he gently admonishes. They sniffle and lift their head up.

“I’m sleepy, Babae,” they groan. They lift their arms up and make grabby hands at him, like they were still a literal baby.

“Cuddle?” They ask and no. No, no, no, no.

That is unfair. That is…no.

They yawn and little canines stick out from their mouth. It could be possible that they are one of those people who is so comfortable in their animal forms that they toe the line between being an elf and an animal. If they’re that tired, they shouldn’t be able to just shift their teeth…unless it feels more natural to them than not having those teeth.

They really may be more cat-like than he had initially given them credit for. And if that is the case…then this sleeping schedule he is trying to force them into is a bad idea.

He has research to do. But in the meantime, he supposes he can give in for now and cuddle them while they sleep the day away.

He’ll adapt…or he’ll demand Mystery stays home this time. Yes, that sounds good.

It’ll work. They’ll all make it work.

[persuadedproject-blog]

Chapter 14

     When Anne had re-entered the Elliot household, there was one thing that would have made her more relieved than seeing Sam’s renewed interest in her sister: finding her father far away from the charms of Liz’s friend, Penny. After a few hours in the house, she felt uneasy about it. There was nothing specific Anne could put her finger on, just a sampling of looks that lasted a moment too long, and the churning that started in her mind whenever she watched them together. The senator was not the sort of person any more to fall in love, but he was an easy target for infatuation, if his ego could benefit. The morning after Anne arrived, before stepping out into the open for breakfast, she hesitated in the shelter of her small hallway.

 She thought she had caught her name in Penny’s voice. Something about her being concerned about staying in a big bedroom while Anne was in the small room downstairs only meant for weekend guests, and how she did not want to overstay her welcome.  Liz said in a stage whisper,

    “There is no reason for you to go. I promise I don’t think there’s any  reason at all. You should never feel uncomfortable, just because Anne’s here now. She’s nothing to me, compared with you.”

    “You can’t go yet, Penny!” the senator added. “You haven’t really seen the area, or met anyone who’s anyone yet.” At this point Anne stepped into the open, met vaguely by a short nod from the speaker. “You’ve only been here to work, and you’ve gotten almost no leisure time. You can’t just run away from us now. We’re just discovering the beauties of this place, even though it isn’t exactly in the center of things. And I know you, with your mind, appreciate the aesthetically pleasing things.” His spoke with such unusual earnestness that Anne was not surprised Penny stole quick, almost watchful glances at Liz and herself. Liz saw nothing out of the ordinary, and Anne tried to keep her thoughts away from her face. The senator’s arguments were too strong for Penny to resist, so it was settled that she would stay through the summer.

      That same morning, while Anne settled at the granite island for work, the senator floated through, looking for caffeine of some sort. He stood still, then almost toppled Anne off her barstool by complimenting her.

    “You’ve been looking really nice since you came back from Uppercross, Anne. Less pale, a clearer complexion...just -” he flapped his hands at her general person, “Better. Did you switch moisturizers or something?”

    “No, I just use a makeup remover sometimes,” Anne said slowly.

    “Not Gowland’s coconut oil? Liz gave her sample to Penny, and it’s completely helped with all those dry spots and freckles. It’s made her even better-looking.”

    ‘Back to normal.’ Anne thought. She felt that when it came to Penny, she had to let things run their course; her father was still his own person, and Penny was an adult. She knew her father would not be the first politician to marry for the sake of acquiring a trophy, and Penny would not be the last smart girl to marry an older man for status and security. Even though Penny was aware of their financial situation, a potentially bankrupt politician is still more stable than a freshly graduated girl with a heavy load of student debt. Anne’s chief worry (and there was a whole tribe of them) was that Penny’s lifestyle would spark a chain reaction that would cause her father to backslide with his problems. If the overt flirtation did lead anywhere serious, Anne and Liz would have to move out, leaving him to fend for himself and be accountable to her.

    Mrs. Russell’s composed mind and almost unnerving politeness was put to the test on this point, whenever she visited the cottage on Camden Hill. Seeing Penny in such a favored place and Anne in an overlooked corner irritated her constantly while she was there, and bothered her while she was away - as much as a person who lives on the Cape, walks every day, boats many afternoons, and has a large circle of friends has time to be bothered. As she got to know Sam Beckett better, her thoughts on the others softened, or at least became more indifferent. His mannerisms and easy smiles were an immediate recommendation, and talking to him made her think the solid supported the superficial. Talking to Anne after their first encounter at the clam dig, Mrs. Russell said,

    “I almost couldn’t believe he was the same person! He was so surly when he was around the first time, so I just thought he was Liz’s bad boy phase. Now he’s this clean-cut lawyer! I heard he’s aiming to be the state’s attorney general in the next ten years.” Mrs. Russell could not picture a more admirable male specimen. All the things that are good and right were somehow a part of him: a decent mind, correct opinions (or at least the same opinions that she held), a broad knowledge of the world, and a warm heart. As Virginians are wont to have, he had a strong sense of his family dynasty but without too much pride, or dependence on that history to make him somebody. He lived with the liberality of someone who is well-off, but without being too showy. He thought for himself without defying public opinion on anything of great importance. Even his shirt was never wrinkled, and his nose was never sunburnt. He was steady, observant, mild, and candid. Feelings of any sort never seemed to run away with him. He also seemed to value the contentedness a home can have, which shady characters with too much unfocused, spastic energy cannot have. Mrs. Russell was convinced he had not been happy in his first marriage, despite all his wife’s frozen waffle dollars. However, this unhappiness did not sour him on marriage in general. She could tell from watching him, and Steven Wallis had told her so. To Mrs. Russell, the satisfaction in Sam outweighed all the plague of Penny.

     It had been years since Anne had first discovered she and her mentor could think differently, so it was not surprising to her that Mrs. Russell did not find any unsettling inconsistencies, or require any further explanations about his sudden reconciliation. Mrs. Russell thought there was no further ulterior motive than him maturing through his silly phase, and wisely trying to get back to a good thing. Her thought was that years of struggling on your own can make you want all the connections and goodwill you can get.

    “That pressed suit, and you think he’s struggling?” Anne smiled. “I doubt he has ever eaten Ramen noodles. But I think he’s been hovering around for Liz.”

    “Liz?” Now Mrs. Russell was a little surprised. Then she said cautiously, “Well, time will tell.” It was a reference to a possible future that Anne did not feel she could sway, not yet. In the Elliott household, Liz always came first, in beauty and preference and consideration. The idea that someone could know them both and give Anne the preeminence seemed impossible. It also had to be noted that Sam’s wife had died only a year before - a little delay on his part would be more than excusable. Anne could not see the black band he still wore on his suit-coat sleeve without thinking that maybe she was the inexcusable one for imagining some interest on his side. Even if his marriage hadn’t been totally happy, there had been enough to keep him there for many years - Anne could not wrap her brain around the idea of someone recovering from their spouse’s death so quickly.

     However that situation would end, Sam was hands down their best acquaintance in New England; Anne could not find his equal there. They talked about their meeting on the coast, maybe to revisit their initial reaction when they saw each other for the first time. He made sure to tell her how she had caught his eye, even in the early morning light, and she believed it. She remembered the look in his eye, and also the expression on another person’s face. Sam and Anne did not always agree, as she found out over the days of talking and socializing. He placed a higher value on rank, connections, and authority without supporting merits than she did. For instance, he joined Liz and the senator in being excited about a subject Anne would have thought was beneath him. On the fateful morning after Anne arrived, their phones informed them that the Dalrymple entourage had taken up residency in a sumptuous estate on the edge of the golf course (in the heart of Martha’s Vineyard, of course). The inhabitants on Camden Hill - including Mrs. Russell and Sam, who were there for brunch - were thrown into a tizzy trying to figure out the best way to get into their circle of society. The Dalrymples were (unfortunately, in Anne’s opinion) distant friends from Washington. Mrs. Dalrymple had hired them to position their son’s quitting school in a positive way, and occasionally had them for Christmas parties. Years ago, her husband had leveraged a career in television to be elected to one term in the Senate, on name recognition rather than talent or merit. As Hollywood royalty, he barrelled through logic with more zeal than understanding, and yet he somehow managed to gather influence and power. His party decided that a seat in the House was a little too much real-world power, and so when the presidential cycle came around they put him in the Vice President’s seat. It kept him rather busy, but with minimal impact. Still, there was ‘president’ in the title, and movie and TV credits to his name, so he somehow commanded importance. The Christmas and New Year’s Eve cocktail invitations had dried up within the last year, and so the question was how to find out which fence had been broken, and more importantly how to mend it. Mrs. Russell and Sam had a more rational, pragmatic view of the situation:

    “Connections with old friends - and clients - are always worth preserving,” Mrs Russell noted, spreading strawberry jam on her toast. Sam nodded in agreement.  “And they will make for good company. I’ve heard they rented that house through September, and will be living in style. Even when the VP has to be in Washington, he’ll commute for the weekends, and Lady  will be here all the time. I’ve heard she’s a lovely woman herself.” Mrs. Dalrymple nicknamed herself Lady in an attempt to sound more regal than she actually was, and to harken back to Lady Bird Johnson. Depending on the company, the name could be used with an aggressive genuineness, or sarchasm. “If you can patch things up without looking desperate, I think you should,” Mrs. Russell concluded.

    “We’re just lucky they decided to vacation here, not on Long Island, like last year,” the Senator remarked. He typed up an email then and there at the breakfast table, apologizing for any misunderstanding, and welcoming Lady to the neighborhood. Although Mrs. Russell and Sam could not give it their full endorsement, the email did the trick: that very afternoon they all were having bloody marys mixed by Lady herself. The tough labors were over, and now the sweet rewards had begun. New profile photos were had (selfies, with the Dalrymple’s glittering white smiles in the middle), and whenever they got the chance, they talked about their ‘dear friends, the Dalrymples’. Anne was embarrassed by the whole situation. Even if the Vice President and his family were actually pleasant, intelligent people, she still would have been ashamed of her family flaunting their high-up connections. Mrs. Dalrymple had gotten her reputation as a lovely person by always wearing a vacant smile, and having empty but polite (ish) things to say to everyone. And their daughter? When talking about her passions (mainly swimming, a little golf) she could barely be bothered to string two sentences together. Everything else brought on monotone, one-word answers. If she hadn’t been a Dalrymple, her presence would never have been tolerated, much less sought-after. Mrs. Russell admitted that she had been expecting more, but maintained that it was a connection worth keeping up.

   That evening, Anne floated her opinion of the illustrious Dalrymple clan past Sam. Everyone else was still outside finishing desert in the large adirondack chairs, and she was washing the dishes while Sam dried.

    “I mean, I agree that they’re nothing great in and of themselves,” he said, turning around to see her better and leaning against the counter. “But as old friends, and good company, and as people who will collect other people worth knowing around them, I think they have some value.” Anne smiled, but her eyebrows drew together.

    “My definition of good company is different from yours,” she said, handing him a pair of tongs. “I think good people to be around are smart, well-informed individuals who can participate in an intelligent conversation. Not that it requires a degree - just people who are always learning, and want to exchange ideas.”

    “You’re all mixed up,” he said quietly. “That’s not good company - it is the best. Good company only requires knowing the right people, having money, and some education. Money and connections are the real essentials; a little quality learning can be dangerous in these parts. If you know too much, you might be tempted to think for yourself, or even express your opinions. Seriously, though, I wouldn’t expose the fact your lofty education gave you big ideas. Oh, and now the serious Anne shakes her head. She is not satisfied. She is fastidious.” She was wondering when he would stop referring to her in the third person. While she was handing him a platter for drying, he placed his hand over hers, just for a few seconds. “Anne,” he appealed, “You have more reason than anyone I know to be fastidious. But is it worth it? Will it make you happy in the long run? Why not just grin and bear the patio parties, and then enjoy the advantages as much as you can? You can depend on them having influencers all around them this summer, and as position is position, being known as their friends will have benefits we could all hope for.” Anne drained the suds from the sink and turned around, leaning against the cabinet.

    “We will certainly be seen as their friends. I don’t think we can avoid it, really. All of the East Coast will probably know by the end of the night,” she said, nodding to the three faces outside, illuminated by the blue light of small, slender screens. “I just think we’ve all been tripping over ourselves too much to renew this relationship. I guess,” with a wry smile, “I have a little more pride than any of you. I’ll admit it bothers me, chasing so hard after having a relationship acknowledged that is apparently so important for us, and they have no need for.”

    “I think you underestimate your family’s place here. In New York or L.A. you might need the relationship, but as long as you are in and around the Vineyard, I think the Elliots will always be sought after.” He had somehow gotten closer without her noticing; her cardiganed shoulder brushed his, and she stepped out to put melting ice cream in the freezer.

    “Well,” she said, “I certainly have too much pride to be able to enjoy a welcome that depends so much on place and position. I think maybe some people call it self-respect.”

    “Look who’s getting fiery!” Sam smiled, seeming to enjoy the pushback. “I love your indignation. And, with all of the lectures we’ve received about American can-doerism, building yourself with nothing but your bare hands and God-given gifts, it is completely natural. But you have actually believed the lectures, when I don’t think the business moguls or politicians who delivered them really did. And you talk about being proud - I know that people around here would call me the same thing, and I don’t have a problem with that. So even if the way it expresses itself is different, I think we share the same general spirit.” After checking over his shoulder to make sure the kitchen was still empty, “And I’m sure we think similarly on at least one point: at least all of these higher-ups will distract the senator from those...less worthy of his attention.” He looked pointedly outside, where Penny was sitting draped over the back of the senator’s chair. Although Anne could not agree that they shared the same kind of pride, she was pleased with him for seeing through Penny’s plot, and not applying his opportunism to her situation. The family came trooping in at this point, to recap the afternoon and plan a small dinner party to which they could invite the Dalrymples.

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction, is it not? Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans. 

[imagitory]

D-Views: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Good day, my followers, and welcome to another installment of D-Views, my written review series that focuses primarily around Disney-owned and/or produced films! Feel free to comb through my “Disney Reviews” tags for reviews on films like The Great Mouse Detective and The Muppets (2011) and even occasionally “Disney-look-alike” films like Dreamworks’ The Prince of Egypt! And of course, you can always submit suggestions for future subjects – here is my current list of upcoming reviews.

On December 27, 2016, the world mourned the loss of a blazing star in human form. Her name was Carrie Fisher, and today I’ll pay some tribute to her by reviewing the film that made her a household name – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope!

The Star Wars franchise was the baby of film director George Lucas. In the 1970’s, George Lucas was a young, bright-eyed director who dreamed of making his own films outside the studio system. The idea of Star Wars started as early as 1971, at which time all Lucas knew was that he wanted to tell a “Space Western,” in the tradition of the old Flash Gordon serials he’d loved as a kid. In fact, in the very beginning, he thought to make a Flash Gordon movie, but he couldn’t get the rights. Lucas proposed two films to different studios with the hopes of getting them made – The Star Wars and American Graffiti – and although all the studios passed on Lucas’s “Space Western,” Universal picked up American Graffiti. When that film did well, it gave Lucas enough leverage to try to produce Star Wars at 20th Century Fox. In 1973 the screenwriting for Star Wars began. Many aspects of the story were retooled and edited over the next few years – for example, the very first draft of the film originally centered on an old general named “Annikin Starkiller” and featured Han Solo as a large, gilled, green-skinned alien. The single biggest influence on Lucas’s finished product, however, is unquestionably the work of Joseph Campbell, a mythologist who researched and wrote books about the different tropes commonly found in folklore around the world, most notably the Hero’s Journey. Over time, Lucas edited his story to follow these tropes more closely – changing his old hero into a young man, introducing the difficult relationship between father and son, and rewriting the tale to be about temptation and redemption. As Lucas refined the story, he soon realized that his tale could not be told in one film…and so the idea of splitting the script into three “acts” was born. The script for the first film, which at that time was just called Star Wars rather than Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, was not completed until 1976.

The production of Star Wars is an adventure unto itself. Not only were the effects needed for this kind of a film completely uncharted territory for the time; not only were the desert locations very difficult to work in; not only was the production constantly straining the small budget they had; not only was the production constantly behind schedule due to glitches in machinery and bad weather; not only was Lucas not very good at directing his actors (which apparently he has never really improved in); not only was 20th Century Fox’s board of directors looking down their noses at the project and constantly one foot away from pulling the plug on it; not only was the first cut of the film so bad that Lucas had to re-shoot a lot of footage after the fact and Lucas’s wife ended up re-editing it; but also nobody – and I mean nobody – believed that this film would do well. George Lucas was so convinced that this film would fail that at the very beginning, he’d put it in his contract with Fox that he had to be allowed to produce all three Star Wars films, even if they did badly at the box office.

In short, the production of Star Wars Episode IV was a true underdog story…and boy oh boy, was the finished result the perfect ending for such a story. We all know how big Star Wars became. Episode IV earned over a million dollars in its opening weekend alone – globally it earned $530 million and is, when box office profits are adjusted for inflation, the third highest-grossing film of all time. It also won six Academy Awards, won a Golden Globe for Best Score, was nominated for six British Academy Film Awards, received twelve nominations at the Saturn Awards, and won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Both critics and audiences adored this film; at Rotten Tomatoes it has a comfortable 93% Fresh Rating. Episode IV also paved the way for its sequels, Episode V and Episode VI, as well as two spin-off TV series, a whole bunch of comics and books, a terrible holiday special, a popular ride at the Disney theme parks, a prequel trilogy that likewise inspired its own spin-off TV series, and lots and LOTS of toys. Today the franchise, now owned by Disney, is still making movies (the most recent of which is a direct prequel to Episode IV), and there are even plans to build a full “Star Wars Land” in Disneyland Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Star Wars became a phenomenon, and even with its ups and downs through the years, it still is one. Disregarding all the hype, however…let us now venture into this movie and review it properly.

…GAH, I CAN’T – THAT OPENING THEME MUSIC JUST MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME NOT TO BE COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY EXCITED – CURSE YOU, JOHN WILLIAMS, YOU’VE ALREADY REDUCED ME TO SQUEEING LIKE AN IDIOT –

Okay, okay, gather your composure, Tory. Remember, that music has preceded some stupid stuff. Get it together. (takes a breath) All right…let’s continue.

GODDAMN IT, THAT OPENING SHOT – THAT TOO-PERFECT, AMAZING OPENING SHOT THAT WITHOUT ANY DIALOGUE COMPLETELY SUMS UP BOTH THE MIGHT OF THE EMPIRE AND THE HOPELESSNESS OF THE REBELLION’S CAUSE AND GETS US COMPLETELY SUCKED INTO THE DRAMA AND –

OKAY, ENOUGH. Use your big, intelligent words, Tory – for goodness’ sake. I know it’s cool. It’s very cool. It’s cool from a filmmaking perspective and it’s cool from a dramatic perspective. It’s so cool that The Force Awakens knew that it had to evoke that kind of scale when portraying the First Order.

Anyway, the soldiers on Leia’s ship try hopelessly to fend off the Stormtroopers; laser blasts are everywhere, and smoke obscures the halls. Admittedly I’ve always found it weird and kind of hilarious that both the Rebels and the Stormtroopers’ aim is so awful that R2D2 and C3PO can just walk right through the battle and not suffer any damage. But I am fortunately distracted from that by the door to the hallway opening behind the Stormtroopers, announcing the arrival of…

VADER!!! THE SITH LORD OF MY HEART! THE CHOSEN ONE – AS IN THE ONE I HAVE CHOSEN TO LOVE WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING – !

Yeah, I think those of you who’ve followed me for a while expected this. Darth Vader is my favorite character in the Star Wars films, no contest. The reason behind this I sadly will have to go more into when I talk about Return of the Jedi, but fortunately I’ve already talked about Revenge of the Sith, so perhaps in that review, you can get a hint of my thoughts regarding my bae. What I’ll say for now, however, is that the film introduces its primary antagonist perfectly. You don’t even need that much screen time with this character to know you don’t want to mess with him. The foreboding chord of music announcing his entrance; the way he silently looms over the dead Rebel soldiers; the mechanical breathing; the fact that you can’t see his face and therefore can’t know what he’s thinking or feeling at any particular time; and then finally his low, dark voice when he speaks – Good GOD, James Earl Jones. It’s funny when you remember that David Prowse, the man who actually acted in the Darth Vader suit, had no idea that his voice was going to be dubbed over, but thank whatever God there is that he was. The people who worked on all the folly, sound effects, and other post-production audio of Star Wars I think were some of the most unsung heroes of the film – without their contribution, this film would’ve fallen flat on its face, and Darth Vader wouldn’t be half as memorable and menacing as he is.

It is after the entrance of Darth Vader that we finally see our princess, Car – I mean, Leia Organa. God, she looks so young…it’s kind of surreal, really, looking back at Carrie in this film after only just starting to get used to a much older Carrie portraying Leia in The Force Awakens. It had been surreal first seeing her play that older Leia, too. You forget sometimes how very mortal these people are, when you associate them with a certain character for so long, particularly when the character is in a live-action film as opposed to an animated one.

Back to the plot, though. Leia passes the plans to the Death Star off to R2, and R2 and 3PO sneak into an escape pod that drops them off on the desert planet Tatooine, while Leia and the other Rebels are captured. The Stormtroopers pursue the droids (without Vader in tow, because of course not – HE HATES SAND!), and R2 and 3PO end up in the hands of Owen Lars and his nephew, Luke Skywalker.

LUUUUUUKE, WOOK AT THE WITTLE LUUUUUKE, I JUST WANNA PINCH HIS CHEEKS.

Yeah, sorry, I can’t get over how young these guys look. I have since fallen in love with Mark Hamil for his career in voice acting and his overall awesomeness, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t also adore him as Luke. Even though Mark, like the rest of the cast, did not think this film would succeed, and I would argue Hamil’s performance in this film isn’t half as good as in Empire and Jedi, he still just conveys such likeability. And before any of you try to say that this kid is whiny just because he wanted to go get some power converters rather than do his chores…dude. It’s called an arc. A character has to start off with some flaws if he is to grow over the course of the story. There are plenty of “Hero” characters that have had whiny or angsty moments toward the beginning of their arc too – Sailor Moon and Bilbo Baggins, for example. And that supposedly whiny aspect of Luke is only really expressed in one scene – Anakin was a hell of a lot worse in Attack of the Clones, and considering that Luke is his son, I think Luke’s more than entitled to a little bit of drama. It’s practically in his blood – his mother Padme ended up being melodramatic a few times in Clones and Sith, Leia gets plenty of opportunities to be totally bossy and obnoxious…and I’m not even touching Kylo. (In short? Skywalker family = drama queens all.)

Luke stumbles upon the transmission of Leia and is intrigued by this strange, beautiful girl asking for help. R2, however, goes about his mission of locating Obi-Wan Kenobi by leaving the Lars home that morning, and Luke and 3PO are forced to give chase to find him before Owen discovers that R2 has gone missing. The three get attacked by Sand People (goddamn it, Anakin, your bad karma is going to get your son killed! Honestly!), and Obi-Wan comes to their rescue.

I have to admit...as soon as Alec Guiness takes off his hood, I can’t stop myself from grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Obi-Wan as a character I have such a complicated relationship with (hewasyourbrotherObihowDAREyouevenTHINKofleavinghimbehindtoburntodeathyoulovedhimandyou’rebetterthanthatandwaaaaaaaah), but I still love him so. Alec brings so much likeability to this character that we will see more and more flaws from as the series goes on. Apparently on set, all the younger actors greatly respected Alec’s professionalism – even despite the ridiculousness of the script, he took his performance so seriously that he ended up rubbing off on some of the fresher faces on set. Honestly, I’m not surprised. Even when he’s talking to a little blue and white robot, Alec acts alongside it like he would any other actor. Speaking of R2, though, it’s very strange to think of R2’s role in the prequel trilogy and the Clone Wars TV show when Obi-Wan says things like, “I don’t recall ever owning a droid.” I know that R2 was originally Padme’s and ended up belonging more to Anakin than Obi-Wan, but Anakin and Obi-Wan worked together a lot, and R2 accompanied them on missions. R2 didn’t have his memory wiped like 3PO did, and even if he had, Obi-Wan should definitely still remember him. Moments like this show that R2 and Obi-Wan were not originally meant to have any history – otherwise Obi-Wan would’ve been like, “This little droid and I are old friends…aren’t we?” and R2 would’ve been like, “Beep-beep boooop~!”

Obi-Wan and Luke go back to Obi-Wan’s place with 3PO and R2 in tow, and Obi-Wan tells Luke about his father. There are a couple of other lines in this exchange that don’t ring true, when one looks at the prequel trilogy. This one sticks out the most to me –

“[Your uncle] didn’t hold with your father’s ideals, thought he should’ve stayed here and not gotten involved.”

Owen and Anakin have no relationship in the prequels at all. Anakin only meets Owen – the son of the man who bought and later married his mother Shmi while he was off training with Obi-Wan – when he and Padme go back to Tatooine in Attack of the Clones. In that time, they spend almost no time together – Owen barely gets any screen time that isn’t devoted to exposition or Shmi’s funeral. There’s no time for Anakin and Owen to learn anything about one another in Clones, and I don’t think that dynamic is changed at all in the Clone Wars TV series, since Anakin has no desire to return to Tatooine after what happened to his mother. Even if Owen cared for Shmi as a mother and therefore felt sour that his stepmother’s first son sort of just left her behind on Tatooine (which I think is totally legit) and later left a son behind too, I have trouble seeing that as evidence of Owen “not holding with Anakin’s ideals.” If anything, I think it’d be more likely Owen would just think of Anakin as a deadbeat son and father (again, pretty justifiably, given his limited knowledge base). This particular relationship is one that I wish had been delved into more in the prequels, but I suppose I should hold off on talking about this fully until any future review I do of Attack of the Clones.

Then of course in this scene you also have Obi-Wan giving Luke Anakin’s lightsaber, which apparently Anakin would’ve wanted Luke to have, when he was old enough. …Right. I’m sure he would have, Obi-Wan – was that edited out of his wrathful, screaming speech at the end of Revenge of the Sith? “I HATE YOU! Also, please give Luke my lightsaber when he’s old enough. ARGGGGGHHHH!” But regardless, I’d like to think that Obi-Wan is saying this because he thinks Anakin would’ve wanted Luke to become a Jedi like him, if everything hadn’t gone so bad in Sith. I’d like to think that – even if he’s lying through his teeth. After all, who’s to say that Anakin wouldn’t have expected Luke to build his own lightsaber, like all the other wittle Jedi did? I would rant more on this, but…my fangirling over the coolness of the lightsaber sound effects is kind of making it hard for me to be cohesive again.

Obi-Wan tells Luke about his father, pointedly leaving certain things out and manipulating his words in a way that is so totally not lying (o hai sarcasm), and then comes across Leia’s full transmission. Obi-Wan tries to enlist Luke to train with him in the Force and accompany him to Alderaan, but Luke, in classic Hero’s Journey fashion, “rejects the call.” He’s too focused on his life on Tatooine and his responsibilities to his aunt and uncle to immediately jump ship and go off on an adventure. This all changes, however, when Luke discovers that the Stormtroopers traced the droids to the Lars moisture farm and slaughtered his aunt and uncle. It is only then, when Luke has nothing left, that he accepts Obi-Wan’s request and starts his journey.

Meanwhile, on the Death Star, we return our focus to the Sith Lord of My Heart, talking over the threat of the Rebellion with Moff Tarkin and the other Imperial officers. Something really fun to do while watching this scene is to try to imagine Anakin’s facial expressions under Vader’s mask – when that one Imperial officer insults Anakin’s “devotion” to his “ancient religion,” I can’t help but picture Anakin’s eyes glinting a very cold yellow and, as he Force-chokes the officer, Anakin looking down his nose at him like he’s some lowly insect. I also just love Peter Cushing as Tarkin – his screen presence is so strong that he really only needs a few short scenes to assert himself as a villain on the same level as Vader, even though he doesn’t have the power to crush someone’s throat with a thought.

Luke, Obi-Wan, 3PO, and R2 go to Mos Eisley to find themselves a ship to Alderaan, where we first meet Chewbacca and our handsome rogue Han Solo. Now, of course, since I’m watching the special edition DVD of this film, I sadly have to watch Greedo shoot first as well as that thoroughly unnecessary scene with the horrifically rendered CGI Jabba the Hutt, but this doesn’t change the fact that Han is a total bad ass. His snarkiness and streetwise air are just so inherently charming. It also creates a great contrast between him and naive, idealistic Luke, which makes for some very amusing banter between them. And if that wasn’t enough, Han has the coolest spaceship ever – even if it looks like a giant pizza pie.

On the Death Star, Leia is brought before Tarkin by Vader and, in true Skywalker fashion, sasses Tarkin’s face off. (Oh Leia, how I love you.) Unfortunately Tarkin is in no mood to be merciful, and he demonstrates the Empire’s new might by using the Death Star’s lasers to blow up Leia’s home planet, Alderaan. One of the major criticisms I have for the Star Wars films in general is how much this scene could’ve been devastating, either by having the prequels or just A New Hope show more of the planet and its people (therefore making us see how much we were losing) or by actually showing Leia mourn the loss of her people. A New Hope, however, completely sidesteps this. I didn’t need to see Leia break down in front of Tarkin and Vader, but I still think it would’ve been nice to have a scene afterwards of Leia breaking down in her cell or referencing the loss of her family and people in a later scene. I also think that it would’ve been interesting to show more scenes with Vader and Leia that could’ve hinted more to their true relationship – like maybe Vader greatly detests Leia because she reminds him of his dead wife visually and, on an even deeper level, she subconsciously reminds him of the man he used to be. I almost could read this meaning into when Vader coolly tells Tarkin that he knew Leia would never betray the Rebellion – Leia, like Anakin, would’ve seen betraying his friends as the ultimate dishonor. But again, this is a head-canon, more than a theory based on any actual canon. And before any of you try to correct me, yes, I know that Lucas was still rewriting stuff in the second two volumes of the trilogy while and after working on A New Hope, and that Leia, Luke, and Vader all being related may or may not have been fully planned by Lucas from the beginning. I’m just pointing out how this film doesn’t set up for the major plot developments that happen later, since most people know all about these twists, many before even seeing the films, and so will notice where plot elements don’t match up.

While en route to the now-destroyed Alderaan, the Millennium Falcon gets stuck in a tractor beam from the Death Star, pulling Luke and the others into the Empire’s grasp. Luke, Obi-Wan, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids sneak off the ship, trying to find a way to escape, and in the process find out that Leia is on board. When investigating the Falcon, Vader senses something that he hasn’t sensed in a long time – and as I know other people have pointed out, it may not have been Obi-Wan, as we are led to believe, but his son, Luke, who had just started learning the ways of the Force a few scenes prior. Couldn’t the Force, so like his own and his wife’s, have called out to Vader? But admittedly, he never sensed any bond to Leia and Vader speaks of sensing Obi-Wan to Tarkin, so it’s nothing more than a fan theory. Han, Chewbacca, and Luke go to save Leia, while Obi-Wan goes to turn off the tractor beam and the droids try to stay hidden in the control room. And in traditional Hero’s Journey fashion, as soon as our three major characters come together, sparks fly and fun ensues. Just like other Heart-Body-Brain trios like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, Luke, Han, and Leia’s personalities bounce off each other perfectly and balance out each other’s flaws. Something else I also love about this rescue scene is Leia completely dismantling the idea that she is the damsel in distress by snatching Luke’s blaster away and shooting the Stormtroopers up herself. (Hellz yeah! Hail to the princess, baby!) Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca jump into the garbage chute to escape the Stormtroopers, right before having to escape a monster living in the slowly closing garbage chute, and then run back toward the Falcon. Even as they’re doing that, though, Leia can’t help but sass it up some more. 

(grins like an idiot)

Obi-Wan and Vader confront one another, and I must admit, after watching Revenge of the Sith pretty recently, I find this duel a million times more engaging than that one. I think part of it, admittedly, is that the Sith duel was so long and this one is not as drawn-out, but I also think a lot of it comes from the fact that there is actual suspense. In Sith, Anakin and Obi-Wan’s duel is highly choreographed and challenging, but it’s also done mostly in CG environments and with a lot of cuts. We don’t really see them getting tired or struggling that much, and it’s so intricate and well-timed that it looks more like a dance than a fight. But in this duel, we see that both of these characters are not invulnerable…and really, considering that we’ve seen Vader Force-choke a dude a few scenes prior, I think that Vader choosing not to do that and instead to simply lightsaber-duel with Obi-Wan says something. It’s like he’s trying to evoke their last battle – the one where he lost his limbs and his ability to breathe on his own. Vader has enough honor left in him that he will kill Obi-Wan in a duel, not with Sith tricks. Admittedly the lightsaber battles get much better in future films from a choreography standpoint, but from an emotional standpoint, I still think this one holds up pretty well.

The most powerful point, of course, is at the end when Obi-Wan, catching sight of Luke, knows he has won…and so stops fighting, raises his lightsaber to his face, and accepts his death. In a demented way, Obi-Wan knows that Luke watching him die at Vader’s hands will give him the motivation needed to kill Vader and “bring balance to the Force” – because of course, being Vader’s son, Luke would be the only one powerful enough to defeat Vader. Obi-Wan may be a manipulative little so-and-so…but one cannot deny that he went out with style. And now that he’s one with the Force, he can be with Luke wherever he goes.

Han and Chewbacca fly Leia, Luke, and the droids to the Rebel base, but unfortunately the Empire cleverly put a tracking device on the Falcon, which allows the Imperial forces aboard the Death Star to find them. The Death Star gets into position to destroy the base, and the Rebels try to use the plans inside R2 to counterattack. Han bails, fully intending to go back to smuggling, and Luke bitterly scolds him for his selfishness. Even so, they wish each other the best before they part. (And honestly, the entire audience knows that Han is going to come back later -- that kind of plot thread was hackneyed even back in the 70′s.) Luke, meanwhile, joins the Rebel fighter pilots, and while there meets up with an old friend from Tatooine, Biggs Darklighter. Biggs’ and Luke’s friendship is not really explored that much in the movies, and I frankly would’ve liked to see more of it, since he ends up dying not long after we meet him and so it’s sort of hard to care that much.

The Battle of Yavin begins, with the Rebel Squadrons trying to take down the Death Star. At first they’re able to avoid the Death Star’s blasts, but as soon as Darth Vader takes his own Imperial Squadron into the fight, the Rebel ships are shot down en masse. True to Obi-Wan’s words, Vader in this battle proves that he was “the best star pilot in the galaxy” by shooting the Rebel pilots down with precision. Luke is almost taken out as well, but in the nick of time, Han (of course) comes back in the Millennium Falcon and shoots down Vader’s ship, making it spin off into distant space. Luke finally has the chance to fire at the Death Star’s weak point and decides, upon hearing Obi-Wan’s advice in his head, to turn off his navicomputer. He will not trust the machinery – instead he’ll trust his instincts, and it’s his instincts that help him take down the Death Star and save the Rebel Alliance. And so our film ends triumphantly, with our heroes reunited and looking to the future with optimism.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, despite its shortcomings (bad CG updates, dialogue that doesn’t make sense with the films that came later, the lack of development for certain characters), perfectly encapsulates its title. By the end of the film, my heart is completely full of hope. Even though I know everything to come – even if I know that Star Wars as a franchise created a lot of bad along with the good – it’s close to impossible for me to look at this first installment with anything other than fondness. It reminds me of how much this film, and the original trilogy in general, was lightning in a bottle, unable to be replicated again. There will never be another performance like Mark Hamil’s of Luke Skywalker. There will never be another performance like Peter Cushing’s of Moff Tarkin.There will never be another performance like Alec Guiness’s of Obi-Wan Kenobi.  There will never be another performance like James Earl Jones’s of Darth Vader. There will never be another performance like Harrison Ford’s of Han Solo. Most relevantly, there will never be another performance like Carrie Fisher’s of Leia Organa. We can try to pick apart Star Wars as a franchise, but I truly think that this first chapter was the best one it could’ve possibly started with. A New Hope is not a perfect film by any means. The effects, both in the original and updated versions, do not always hold up; the loss of Alderaan and of Luke’s friend Biggs don’t leave much of an impression; sometimes the acting can be stilted; and the strict adherence that this film and its sequels give to the Hero’s Journey formula makes their stories almost comically predictable. But I almost think the little foibles and flaws make the film that much more human and authentic, as well as interesting to examine from a filmmaking perspective. After all, when this movie came out, nobody really cared about the flaws we can pick apart today – audiences just got so invested in the story, the characters, the effects, and the drama. And that says something about film in general – even the most standard story in a flawed, imperfect film can touch people so much that it becomes an icon, if it mixes the old with the new.

[skerbango-blog]

Making My Playlist: Don’t Touch That Dial

By Scripty.

The stalwart was the size of a kid’s shoebox.  Roughly seven inches high, four inches deep and eight inches across. The left half of it comprised the speaker, while the right side housed the on/off switch, volume & tone dials, a tuning dial and station maps.  The radio sat on the right of two twin shelves off the cabinetry above our kitchen sink.  The left shelf had a Mother Mary statue and whatever small plant my mother was over-watering at the time.  There may have been an ashtray or small Tupperware cup holding loose coins holding court with the doomed plant.

The radio was in our kitchen from at least the time I was born.  Recently, my dad claims he bought it at a Radio Shack in 1972.  For all my sisters and I know, it came from ether and just emerged on that shelf when the house was built by my grandfather and great-uncle.  I don’t even remember where it was plugged in.  When my folks moved in 1994, I presume the warhorse was left behind, becoming ubiquitous to the house like the coved ceilings or shaded porch.  The radio never teetered on that small shelf, or gave any sense of imbalance.  It was safe, reliable and absolutely unremarkable.   

Looking back, it was in fact an amazingly boring radio.  Boxy and uncool as a household electronic could be, its origin was probably like most of my parent’s belongings.  This normally meant it was either a garage sale find, or something given quite un-imaginatively but lovingly as a gift.

My best guess is this was a 1969 Realistic MTA-Model 11 AM/FM Radio.  I would not be surprised if somewhere, this very radio still worked, regardless of usage levels.  This device existed to do two things well.  The first was to work, day after day, year after year, decade after decade.  

The second was to work best in my mother’s ideal kitchen environment.  The radio was to play at a modest level.  Not too loud - heavens no.  In fact it was never to play loud.  But yet not too soft, as there were three children wearing out the yellow-orange tile linoleum kitchen pathway through the kitchen, between our backdoor and living room.  Not medium either – it was to be played a smidge below medium.   That was the volume and the volume was that.  My mother didn’t ask for much, but us not touching that radio was one of those items.

 This acute volume was necessary to my mother’s routine.  Daily she would be the first one to wake, then she’d get a teakettle of hot water boiling.  Two slices of toast would be topped, usually with butter but occasionally with some Smuckers jelly.  Coffee meant Maxwell House instant grounds, a modest teaspoon of sugar and enough milk to bring the drink a half-centimeter below the rim of her coffee cup.  

My father was a fireman, so his mornings were either spent rushing to the firestation, preparing to leave the firestation waiting for his replacement, or sleeping in from his constant workload.  So my mother and her routine set forth our mornings.  

Every morning she would read the vast sum of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, poring over the front section, the metro section – especially the obituaries, the sports and comics.  The order she read them varied, usually whatever looked bleakest captured her attention.  That might be a murder, the recent Cleveland sports atrocity or bad news for Judge Parker. Then she was off to make some lunches, race through getting herself ready and us kids prepped for school.  Sometimes there was a third slice of toast, or perhaps letting our dog out the backdoor.  

This routine took time.  Normally, she started around 5:45am - but often earlier.  Given these early hours and the house being a classic postwar bungalow – her discretion led to the radio’s volume being this modest level. She’d hear the top news and light rock, finding zen her before the day took shape.

My two older sisters shared the upstairs, while I was assigned the cozy bedroom between the main floor’s kitchen and bathroom.  Not only did this room sit as a breezeless hotbox in the warm months, it bracketed the two noisiest rooms of the house.  The smacking of the screen door (as my mom let our mutt Daisy out) was yet another noise that I remember serving as an unofficial alarm clock. What I mean is that there were many, many mornings that my mom and I shared a very early breakfast: her and I, two meager breakfasts, the morning paper and that radio.  Sometimes I’d share in the white toast but normally it was cereal and 2% for me.

That radio station would change every so often, if by often - we meant every other Olympics.  These channels would be of the Casey Kasem Top 40 variety, some soft light rock with some pop sensibility.  I was too young to know the world of more definitive rock was out there, but I wasn’t being denied content either.  As I knew it, the radio existed to play the likes of Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Elton John, America, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, along with the Bee Gees or even some Jim Croce or Dan Fogleberg.    

I was born right at our nation’s bicentennial, so these morning encounters became frequent in the early 1980s and continued for the next decade.  Some mornings few words would be exchanged, but it was not due to lack of love or warmth.  I respected her routine, and I was more than happy to scour the daily box scores of the sports page (Indians CF Brett Butler is among the AL’s top five in triples, and Harold Baines leads the majors in GWRBI!) or attempt to discern the JUMBLE answers before everyone else.  The sports page could disappear when my father’s Metamucil-fueled decampment necessitated, although he did settle for the crossword on many occasions. As I said, I was the youngest so it was best for me to embrace that morning détente before my junior rank was called front and center.

There were other radios and sound systems in the house.  The living room had a console stereo system.  This stereo cabinet had a turntable that would pick up an album and turn it over.  Then the turntable would move the LP and play an LP below it.  But I recall it working less and less over the years, its top soon shuttered and then it served as a catch-all for our family’s clutter. Sometime after I started elementary school it disappeared.  

Via my sisters, I inherited a smaller phonograph.  The photograph was in something akin to a typewriter case, a orange-red box about 16 inches square.  This had one speaker and played an assortment of 45’s my sisters gave me. St. Elmo’s Fire, Tainted Love, Hey Mickey, and such were part of a 20-30 disc collection they gave me.  But the youngster in me had no idea the record needles were that fragile and after breaking a number of them, my mother had enough and away that went.

Our basement had a rec room, with slate tiles and a very cold and sometimes wet floor.  If we didn’t empty the dehumidifier bucket, the basement and furniture down there developed a peculiar funk but my mother trained us well to empty that with regularity. We sometimes had some soccer or battleball-type games down there, along with a Big Top Pinball machine that my Dad got in 1980.  At some point a modest 8-track player was down there but I only recall there being a few tapes for it that we ever played.  I know there were some with movie music, as some Star Wars shootout music and another with the Rocky theme, along with your Captain & Tennille yacht-rockish fare.  

The garage had a General Electric transistor, that was perched on a thin shelf in a odd manner designed to bring in the right AM stations so my dad could hear the Indians or whatever he wanted.  Although he was constantly working on our fleet of jalopies, he rarely used the radio while working on them.  The radio came on mainly at the end of a work session, where we might be fixing a new outlet on an extension cord, or stripping the copper or brass of something before we sent it to the garbage.  Cleaning up the garage floor was a constant affair, as sawdust was sprinkled on the oil drippings to keep us from stepping in the slicks.

But the kitchen radio was the main cog of our AM/FM needs.  It was also played after family dinners, when my siblings and I were on kitchen detail.  We had no dishwasher appliance, so it was standard operating procedure for my sisters and I to do the dishes and clean the table afterwards.  

Deana, my oldest sister, would start with a few pots and pans while my other sister Marcy and I cleaned off the table and managed the leftovers. Then a formula of the oldest washing, the middle child rinsing and yours truly drying.  All dishes were to be dried and returned to the cabinets.  Once all the dishes were washed and rinsed, the drying and putting away became communal.  I was the youngest and worst at the dishes, so I was assigned the plates, salad bowls and drinking glasses.  These I could do without leaving some water on them.  

My parents would disappear after dinner, re-runs of M*A*S*H or The Rockford Files awaited them.  But we were permitted to turn the radio on for the dishes. Eventually we tired of the soft rock mainstays, as child cannot live on Bread and Herb Alpert alone.  We weren’t supposed to touch the dial or volume, as the decades of use had tempered the dials to love their home settings. Other stations and volumes could work, but not necessarily with ease. But my sisters were daring and would change the dial, usually to the nearest alternative.  These were fun nights but sooner or later they’d forget to change the dial back and mother would set things straight when her morning routine was greeted with an unfamiliar disk jockey.

And so that radio stayed, and played, for years and years.  My father told me bought that from a Radio Shack in 1972. Mom said they sold it at a garage sale when they left the house in 1994.  

There are many more formative music experiences for me, but I think it started with that radio.  Unobtrusive playlists and mild volume made it the background music for my first years. My parents moved to their current residence in the fall of 1994, and the new house had a radio set in the kitchen wall. My mom has it set to her station, and she still reads the paper every morning.  She’s retired so the routine starts later in the morning, but those songs remain the same.

[yourfirsthealthfitness-blog]

Information On Healthy Eating

New Post has been published on http://www.firsthealthfitness.com/healthy-food/how-one-can-help-your-diet-and-quicken-excess-fat-decline-effects.html

Information On Healthy Eating

INFORMATION ON HEALTHY EATING

What i normally confront whenever i speak with other gals about losing weight is the say stress with where they may be weighed against wherever these people were when they were younger. It seems everybody has those memories of inside us our far more toned days to weeks printed on the brain and we are not able to seem to shed individuals extra in physical form flattering illustrations or photos individuals in people pretty creator skinny jeans and variety-fitting tiny dresses. Of course, we all have these needs and plans to lose that weight which includes mercilessly crept. . . no. . . leaped amazingly up on us and damage to eclipse us when we don’t deal with the problem. A lot of women do contain the drive to do something to reduce those unwanted fat, but merely are unable to manage to placed points in concert to view results they really want. . . at the least not for very long and without major fight.

Quite often you can find reliable campaigns to burn fat, but there seems to be some poor nutritionary practices which may have crept in and sabotaged their weight reduction initiatives. Our talk tends to return to a single middle matter. . . their snack food habits. I’d personally request a query about like ingredients they eat and the sorts of replies I obtain reveal that they have been a bit mischievous on the subject of involving their accountable wonders. I am going to then talk with them more details on what they have to can do to increase their nourishment along with their likelihood of successful weight loss. The main one big issue that does getaway them up, and that we will heart all this informative article all over is the reason they can have difficulty creating healthy possibilities in terms of making the great idea every single day. Why is it that they generally tend to continuously getaway on the unhealthy foods bin when going after their weight loss ambitions? Do you find it because they don’t have do-it-yourself-manage? Will they be vulnerable-minded, or without stength?

How Come It’s So Hard For People in america To Consider Wholesome Consuming Practices?

There are lots of motives will be able to visualize, one that comes to mind is that our fast paced routines keep us centered on the rest besides balanced healthy eating plan. It just looks like we have generally became some thing taking in our existence. In the event you little ones in your house like I truly do, then it results in being much more hard to eat correctly. With more folks performing longer hours at your workplace or doing the job some job opportunities, the ability of scores of People in the usa to acquire good quality eating plan will likely be a little more forward compromised in the years into the future. Regrettably, this will likely create a massive problem for many people all.

Another reason why why it’s very challenging for us to adopt healthy eating tactics is usually that throughout the years individuals lives, we’ve put into practice and still have perfected some very poor dietary habits. A lot of us spent my childhood years in households where high fat, large sea salt, and fiber-bad dishes ended up the standard, rather than the exception to this rule. Some households got ways of life that provided substantial relatives gatherings with tons of meal every week. Look at poor choices. For a lot of Us residents, the routines which have been produced and InchencapsulatedIn . in this minds from all of many years of inadequate nutritional choices can appear just about impossible to kick.

In addition, I believe that many people today, when requested will show you which they would die to feed on superior to they now do. For a lot of them, having said that, the major dilemma is assistance and reputation. I know of more and more people, personally involved, would you begin a new eating plan then after a few 2 or 3 weeks, would end up backside at square one questioning what went down to all of the exhilaration and hope. What’s important to grasp whenever a new eating plan commences is the fact there must be an appropriate assistance technique constantly in place, and there needs to be other people readily available for responsibility since we are prone to traveling across the improper way, specifically when we’ve got developed so comfortable to precise style of ingesting that provided acid reflux disorder that we are now wanting to nufactured-highlight in the every day eating plans.

How Could Bad Dietary Practices Destroy Your Overall Health

Using the enormous health and fitness-care conditions that we have now face, current many Americans entering into the older numerous years of their lifestyles, there is a great necessity for us to re also-evaluate our ways of eating and take action how to switch them. We all believe regarding the impression of weak nourishment on our health and wellness, many us often believe we have been for some reason immune to it. How interesting that significantly otherwise I perspective lifestyle now than I did so when I is at my kids. In those days, I experienced I really could take every little thing my small cardiovascular desired because I was little and I didnt really care about balanced feeding on or about my determine. Fast forward to nowadays. . . now, I’m able to notice the effects of poor taking in on my own physique quickly. As I find myself personally going out to restaurants more than ever before because of a chaotic 1 week, my figure now InchspeaksInch with me in ways that told me that my meals are not what it needs to be. I’m pleased for people information because it then gives me to be able to get my taking in back to normal.

What I’ve found while i have endorsed other gals is their lives are often perpetually busy, and in addition they won’t be able to seem to definitely devote by themselves to healthy consuming during this year in their existence. I totally understand them, having said that, I am unable to find a way to protein shake the concept that currently could possibly be all of that we have and we aren’t offers next week. I am aware of so many people how old ive become that are by now dealing with tough medical conditions and disorders because of terrible ways of eating. As a result, we actually must pay back it to yourself to start out embracing wholesome feeding on strategies right now. When we grab the state of mind that we will do it the next day, organic beef wind up operating not enough far too late. This specific not easy to invest in balanced feeding on, I do believe it’s important into a extended and balanced existence to take a few little still progressive steps to raise your healthy eating plan. Lifestyle an enormous amount difference, so when you need to do, you’ll see that it’s not as complicated as you believed it could be, and you will ponder why you did not start off faster. So, what else could you do in order to feel free?

How One Can Help Your Diet and Quicken Excess Fat Decline Effects!

First off, I recommend actually talking to your partner andAndor perhaps a reliable pal about your intend to make some modifications to your nutritional routines. It is really essential that you not excess them with each of your good reputation for frustration with the recent consuming failures, but I do declare that you know them how you’re emotion these days about how precisely you have been feeding on, and give them about your need to take on the project as part of your way of living to assist you come up with a stage towards better well being. Offer them dui attorney las vegas perception a must make these alterations, and say to them the help and support are going to be crucial in your eventual accomplishment. Another primary recommendation here is to ensure that you usually do not thrown pin the consequence on or discuss them by any means. You should very own your very own struggles and be responsible for all your measures. I also imagine it is important that they’re betting that while this will have an impact on them, you wish for taking slower and intensifying direction to their goals, not rapid In .all-or-nothing” method that you have used with almost no success before. This method will convey for them that you’ll require them, and will inspire these to do anything they can do to work with you for your trip. To know, they may furthermore prompted and motivated to do something about it together with you (a pleasant benefit).

So far as attempting to increase your eating routine, the initial place to begin with is to take a look for your latest eating routine. Are you currently feeding on the correct ingredients? What can you nibble on? Does one skip meals? When does one consume any occasion? Other concerns contain whether you are consuming too much meal when you have a seat for food, and no matter whether you’re having plenty of drinking water? Something that assists me would have been to get started an educational process to ensure that I produced me personally knowledgeable about what good nutrition actually. Many Us citizens concept of about good eating plan making all of their efforts to enjoy well and shed weight a no-earn proposition. Do not allow this happen to you. If you are likely to shed the fight, do not let it is because you didn’t be aware of the rules of involvement.

Here are a few recommendations that I think can get valuable when wanting to enhance your eating routine. Primary, make certain that you determine to commence your daily diet make-over, try to combine just one new healthy food choices product into your food consumption at once! Discover that I mentioned Ina singleIn new foods without numerous new food products. Keep in mind, the battle is provided to he who endures to your finish, so you shouldn’t be including the hare. . . moving out to the massive guide and then be bypassed because of the turtle. Because you integrate one new item, then check out your overall diet and pay attention to what you could take from your everyday plan also. So, fundamentally, that you are introducing some thing healthful, and simultaneously, using something not-so-healthy away. Accomplish this for your whole week so that you can let all by yourself to adjust to the modern sensible food merchandise, andOror perhaps the omission with the bad foods. When you experience achievement with all your 1st 7 days, then look to do precisely the same with a further food option that must be altered.

There’s just one qualifier that I want to speak about the following. I don’t think that we have to reduce meals directly from our diets, for those times you make an alternate, ensure that you be aware that it is just for helping you to achieve emphasizing ingredients you’ll want to feed on even more of, and environnant les-centering on those meals that you should eat less of. As you get accomplished at creating these alterations in your weekly diet program, you may get started preparation once a week selections that incorporate all those food items you want, in just a food list of foods that you need permanently well being. Now, you may be more comfortable having those people foodstuff you love to eat in far more reasonable and possible approaches. If you will always have a problem with home-regulate, then you may need to take a far more extreme phase and get rid of those meals or make it possible for it however with additional exacting guidelines (internet explorer, your spouse is alone that can give that foods to you personally, possibly at only particularly specified occasions). It will not be understood as significantly, but by looking into making some small adjustments like this can mean an important reducing of calories inside a couple weeks, which gradually turns into considerable weight reduction for anyone who also challenges to achieve andPeror keep health pounds. Many people also document experience highly extra energetic when bad eating habits modify for any greater. . . which in turn triggers higher work productivity at the office and in your home.

We’re believing that long lasting switch for people, no matter where we’re also, gets underway with one particular tiny and profitable weight loss transform. After that, heaven would be the restriction to how long we will go. All it requires a little effort and much of determination. Try to remember, the competition is offered to the one that continues towards the conclude. I believe which can be you. . . but will you?

By employing what you’ve got read through, I really believe that you’ll set out to see why right now must be the day to start out giving your body what it requires to thrive. . . not only make it through! Hopefully you will have some classy and sensible ways of eliminate inadequate eating inside your life and start suffering from better health and vitality. Finally, you are going to truly know how improved upon nutrition will accelerate weight decline success, boost your energy level, and likely improve your lifestyle.