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quill-is-brainstorming · 1 year

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Here are some completely random fun facts about Odysseus' family from various myths:

His grandfather, Autolycus (meaning "the wolf itself", pretty badass) , was a shape-shifting trickster, also known as "the king of all thiefs", with the ability to change the shape of random objects he stole and was also the direct son of Hermes (originally he was just some dude Hermes liked, post-Odyssey he was changed to be his son. I'd say both versions are equally accepted though the son thing wasn't there from the beginning).

Autolycus was also the sworn rival of King Sysyphus, who you might know as that one guy who escaped death and whose punishment for it was pushing a rock for eternity, or that very nice guy from Tartarus in Hades. Autolycus used to steal Sysyphus' cattle and when the latter finally managed to find tangible proof of his guilt he did the only sensible thing he could think of.

He fucked his daughter.

As one does.

As I'm saying this I really want you guys to imagine the Sysyphus from Hades doing all this. Because I find it fucking hilarious.

Also btw, said daughter is named Anticleia and in her youth she was apparantly a companion to Artemis. Absolutely pop off queen.

So Yada Yada time skip and Anticleia promptly moves on from Sysyphus to Laertes of Ithaca, they get married and soon after a baby boy is born. And by soon I mean, pretty soon after. Suspiciously soon after...I think you know where I'm going with this.

YEP, there are some myths where instead of being the son of Laertes, Odysseus is the son of Sysyphus, yet the absolute gigachad that is Laertes still raised the baby as his own.

Now, myths are everything but consistent, and much like Autolycus beings Hermes' son, this connection with Sysyphus was likely added post-Odyssey, meaning that even if this variation of the myth exists, Odysseus was still widely seen as Laertes' biological son and it's pretty safe to say that he's exactly that in both the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Why did I tell you all this then?

Because it's fanfiction material and I want people to use it.

Sooooo, the baby is born and it's time to give him a name, and the one to do just that is Autolycus, for whatever reason. I mean from what I've read Anticleia actually insisted he named him, so yeah, not super important but I still felt like it was worth mentioning.

So Autolycus cradles his new infant grandson, he looks him in his small baby eyes and says: "You know, I pissed off a fuck ton of people during my life, like really a lot of peeps, so I think I'm gonna name him Hateful."

You think I'm joking but this is kinda how it actually went.

The name Odysseus actually means "To Hate", and yeah, Autolycus specifically chooses it because he himself pissed off a lot of people.

And yeah, that's pretty much it really.

I mean I guess there's the fact that Odysseus got his famous leg scar while hunting with his grandpa, but that's stuff you can read directly on the Odyssey anyway. I just wanted to shine a light on the sheer badassery of this family.

So yeah.

Oh also there are certain myths that say that Homer was Telemachus' son through Nestor's youngest daughter and I think that's kinda neat honestly.

(The girl in question SHOULD be Polycaste, thought some people said it was a different daughter that was apparantly not among the original roster of Nestor's kids which probably means she was written in many years later. Telemachus' love life is actually a bit of a mess really, even putting whatever the hell the Telegony is aside, he's still got at least 3 other possible wives, them being Polycaste, Nausicaa and even Calypso. There is also this one line from the Odyssey where Polycaste bathes him and some people apparantly interpreted it as them banging and it's said she eventually gave birth to a boy named Perseptolis. But yeah, the boy's a womanizer.)

Aaaaand yeah, that's pretty much it.

So what did we learn today? Well, in Odysseus' family the badassery is hereditary it seems.

#odysseus #the odyssey #the iliad #greek mythology #myths and legends #autolycus #Sysyphus #Anticleia #laertes #telemachus #polycaste #homer #epic the musical #hades #I'm honestly putting Hades here only because of the Sysyphus bit

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dootznbootz · 3 months

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YOOOO I LOVE THE HEADCANONS SO MUCH. Especially the one where the type of the water affectes the appearance, that's so so neat

Also,, what do you think happens to a naiad (or someone of naiad descent) when they stay out of water for too long? Do they get sick? Do they eventually die? Would only water heal them or could something else (eg. eating fish) at least "stabilize" them?

And how would rain affect them? Would they be able to spend more time out of water when it's raining? Or could they maybe even bend the rain to their will? Of course rain comes from the clouds/sky which is not in their domain,, but if the raindrops are low enough, could it work? :0

Sorry if this was too long, i just really liked the headcanons and they made me think hahahaha

sdlkfj Thank you!!! Don't ever be sorry, Niko! I'm happy you like them so much!!! And always feel free to chatter away with me!! :D I think a LOT about the Naiad dynamics as they're really fun!!!! And as someone who grew up with a lot of river stuff, it's really nice and fun!

It's part of the reason why Penelope's smaller and has straight black hair :D As she was born a month early, it caught Periboea by surprise and she just went into the nearest creak :D (probably was mostly alone too)

It was calm at first before suddenly the current got fast and Penelope was swept away. Obviously terrifying. To say the least, some ducks brought her back :P (I really love the duck myth. It's neat and to have Penelope be associated with ducks while Helen is kind of associated with swans itches my brain just right >:D (Swans are bigger than ducks as well. like how I think of Helen and Penelope!) I like the thought of Odysseus "always thanking the ducks" whenever he sees them even while away. He gives them peas to eat and just gets happy when they fly overhead :'D

Penelope is a bit self-conscious about being born from a creek while her mom and most of her other siblings are from the river. (she's also the youngest and smaller.) Penelope was actually really worried about this and even kind of tried to not say that her water broke and was just like "hey, let's go here! No reason! :'D " because she wanted to get to the "better source of water" to give birth to Telemachus.

Odysseus: I can't believe you did that! >:( Penelope: HEy! Me and our son are fine!! The contractions didn't even start yet and we still made it to the river!!! And he'll be so strong, Odysseus! :D

Honestly they'd kind of "dry" out and just... really uncomfortable. I can imagine they kind of shed scales and just feel sick and unwell. Probably if you gave them a glass of water they'd rather dump it over their head :P Would eventually die if they don't get enough :'D If you marry a naiad-born person and don't have what they need, then you're a shit spouse. It is basically common knowledge, even for non-naiad born. Leda, for example, with Tyndarius, makes sure he has his "dips" in the water if she notices it's been a while or that he starts itching his skin. (Odysseus makes damn well sure she has enough water. Not only did he carve her a "nest" as a wedding bed, but he also has a pool with a canal that could go to the caves if she needed that's basically right outside their chamber :D Where she and Telemachus go a lot (especially during the suitors). He thought of EVERYTHING. It's seeing the bed and the pool where she realizes that this man truly loves her and that she loves him as well. She knew before that "she would be happy with him" and did love him but this is where she was hit with "omfg this is like the tales poets sing about. holy shit." )

Oh boy the RAIN >:)

Yes they can do SOOO much with it. It's actually a very joyous and playful time for most naiads and basically, everyone leaves their spots of water to just run around and play and dance. (and Helen and Pollux :P but uh...they do make it "sparky" so they only run around where there's no big body of water.) And it's actually another thing that naiads have over nereids as rain has no salt :P

It also helps with yeah, Helen and Pollux, as when these two get pretty emotional the clouds start to form. Helen likes to mess with people by giving them a "static shock" as it's funny and "minor". And she loves doing it to Penelope as she likes her reactions. When it rains or they're near water, Penelope kind of gets her revenge >:D (They love each other, they're just cousins)

#another thing!!! I forgot it!!! Naiads usually feel pretty cold. like touching their skin is COLD #Someone else mentioned scales (sorry I can look back and see who you were) but yeah. that's really fun and cute. Not like bumpy scales #like the ones on snakes where they're really smooth and they honestly blend into skin very well. (it just looks “shiny” in those spots)#it's not usually “symmetrical” on folks either. >:D More “imperfections”!!!#they start to “peel and bleed” when left without water :'(#Mad rambles #my headcanons #shot by odysseus #nikoisme #and yeah NEVER feel bad for asking so much!!! :D I'm always happy with it!! and any time too! if I'm not feeling well I can come back #later and finish!! :D #ask #Water Wife

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bookandcover · 3 years

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This was an absolutely beautiful novel with a subtle allure that will linger in my mind for a long time. I love Miller’s writing style, which seems to pay homage to the Classics she loves and studies in depth.

It’s rare to meet a main character who is immortal, but here we have Circe, side figure in The Odyssey where she is painted primarily as a villain, born of an ancient god and a river nymph, yet living alone and on the fringes of the social stratification among humans and gods—a situation which, Miller must have intuited, bespeaks a woman who has not conformed to society’s expectations for her, the quintessential “witch.” What could growth of character within the experience of immortality possibly look like? This seems to me to present a real literary challenge, as so many books rely on character development, a change in the protagonist from beginning to end. Why would someone who is immortal grow or change? Why would their life play out with any type of directionality or plot arc?

I realized these problems with an immortal heroine part way through the book and started to ask how the structure of a novel could be forced onto the life of an immortal. How could Miller’s novel end? What makes the conflict and the resolution when the novel started with her birth? If Circe lives on and on, what might tell us that some part of her story has arrived at an ending?

These questions get brilliantly answered as (spoiler!!) Circle chooses mortality. In the process of the protagonist making this choice, the book poignantly reflects on what gives life meaning. Is immortality meaningless, when we have no motivation for growth and no motivation for life itself, as each day, each forever, we could do and try anything, ad infinitum? Is it our mortality, and our awareness of it, that makes any moment meaningful and life-changing? The meaning-making power of mortality is something Circe sees, and longs for herself, in observing the mortal lives around her. But it takes her falling in love with a mortal—Telemachus, strangely the son of her once-lover Odysseus—to make the final change in her, to bring about her own mortality through her magic. Circe’s relationships with both Odysseus and Telemachus capture the strangeness of immortality, as she is able to experience the lives and love of both men in a kind of stasis, while they change and age. Yet, Circe herself is changing internally and she is changed by each of her lovers. She is different when she loves Telemachus, softer and more open, although, in part, this must be Telemachus’s goodness to which she responds.

This book was incredibly satisfying, but also challenging (i.e. I didn’t always agree) in its re-characterization of familiar characters. Odysseus, who I kind of dislike in the original source text (sure, he wants to go home, but he also seems to be really “out there for the adventure”), was characterized according to his most epithet-worthy traits, a man so twisted by his own mind’s machinations that he doesn’t have much space for kindness or for receiving other people as people (this characterization seems pretty accurate to the original text). He’s also strongly associated with his true love for Penelope, a love he speaks about and references, but that seems strangely performative here (particularly as he falls willingly into Circe’s bed). I actually think Odysseus of the original text seems more likable, more loyal when compared to this portrait of him. I think he was characterized as too likable, too charged with uniqueness, in the middle part of this book when he’s first introduced, and while I felt weird about his affair with Circe, his preciousness is later dramatically challenged via the viewpoints of his sons. Telemachus, much gentler than Odysseus, is haunted by the murders he committed, on his father’s orders, of the maids Penelope’s suitors took for lovers during their sojourn in the palace. Circe’s son Telegonus is drawn to Odysseus and longs to go him, leaving Circe in order to go to Ithaca, only to accidentally kill the king with the weapon he’d brought with him (the string ray tail of Trigon given to him by Circe as a form of protection) when the king of Ithaca’s tries to seize it from his son who he will not listen to. We also see the ending of The Odyssey when Odysseus returns home and destroys the suitors through Telemachus’s eyes, the shocking changes in Odysseus, mad with suspicion, who is willing to eliminate all the nobility of his island country who have tried to usurp his place in his long absence.

I really love both Telemachus and Penelope in the original, and Telemachus offers, in so many ways, the counter-point to his father’s harshness and objectivity, both in The Odyssey and in Miller’s novel. Is Telemachus the man who modern readers will feel most drawn to in The Odyssey (I felt this, and would theorize that his virtues are widely appreciated)? Does his popularity—and the, therefore, fitting choice to have him be the real romantic love interest in Miller’s novel—reflect changing standards of masculinity with culture and time (is Telemachus admired in time periods later than that of pillaging Greece?) or a change in The Odyssey’s readership, as Telemachus appeals to female readers who once wouldn’t have consumed any reading, and especially classical reading, at a high volume? Selecting Telemachus, the ideal man, to play the romantic lead seems like a smart update of this text for the 21st Century audience.

This is my son, mine own Telemachus, To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,— Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil This labour, by slow prudence to make mild A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees Subdue them to the useful and the good. Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere Of common duties, decent not to fail In offices of tenderness, and pay Meet adoration to my household gods, When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

~an excerpt from Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Miller’s novel reminded me, though, of how much more I adore The Iliad than The Odyssey, and examining the casting of Telemachus as the ultimate love interest over Odysseus, Hermes, and Daedalus, reminded me of the character that I’ve seen modern audiences most deeply adore: Hector. Several years ago, my new co-worker and I bonded over reading a student’s personal statement for college that was all about his love for Hector from The Iliad. This moment felt like joining a secret club of people who inherently understood each other, who felt some deep recognition of each other, who felt seen, because we loved and treasured Hector. “Hector, am I right?” “YES. Hector.” Hector was something beyond any words we had to explain him. We just GOT IT. I loved seeing a 17-year-old boy from Beijing, China read The Iliad and be like “HECTOR THOUGH” to me and to his other teacher. Hector is the softer counter-point to Achilles in The Iliad, the family-man, the son, the brother, the golden Prince of Troy. He is steadfast beside Paris’s ridiculousness. He’s the son for whom his old father will risk his life to reclaim his body. He’s the nearly unbeatable warrior who also gets the most touching of moments, gently holding his toddler, speaking with his clever wife. This is the man across Homer’s two books who was, for me, the most modern-day ideal. Maybe Hector has to remain, though, for all of us, shared among our common imaginations. Telemachus, it was fine if Circe claimed him.

Circe, at the beginning of the novel, is not a likable heroine. She’s clueless, bumbling, not attentive to way she’s being used by others. She doesn’t seem to have a lot of backbone. Yet, I was astonished at how much she changed and how beautifully wrought the gradual changes in her were. As she grows in independence, she grows immensely in likability. Although she has a happy ending with Telemachus, this love story somehow never felt inevitable. The different men she loves are part of her story. Yes, she is shaped by them, as she is shaped by her friendships, her rivalries, her relationships with her horrifying siblings. But the story is all about her. Circe is the center and her experiences with lovers shape her and her growth; she is not a side character in someone else’s story, bending to support them. She does change her immortality in response to love (in the sense of trying to fit herself to what someone else expects), but she brings about this change through her own power and strength of will. I can’t explain this right, but it’s true: it feels like a revolutionary notion that an independent woman be the main character and the story be just her story: the things she goes through on her own, with others, others passing through her life, her thoughts and feelings, her sequence of growth. It doesn’t sound revolutionary because we see female protagonists maybe 50% of the time these days across many genres (how far we’ve come!) yet how often do we see love interests exist in plots not to further the love itself (not to be arrived at, as a happy end point, a relationship, a marriage), but to further the growth of the female protagonist? Men, somehow, get to be the center of their own stories. Women, do they really get to have this? To be just THEM, and not be playing any role within society or within a family? Circe’s story arc made me SEE her as the main character in a way that somehow far too many female-led narratives utterly miss.

I realized, for the first time (which is frankly alarming), while reading this book that because Ithaca (New York, in my case) is my birthplace, I ought to feel a strange affinity for Odysseus. Ithaca is home. It has a mythic quality. I’ve lived in a lot of places. I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve seen things, people, landscapes, creatures beyond what I could have imagined. My life has been my own odyssey, and I’ve left Ithaca far behind. Unlike Odysseus, I’m not trying to go back. The world out here is full of adventures.

#circe #madeline miller #greek mythology #good reads #classics #modern audience #odysseus #telemachus #penelope #circe herself

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lizziestudieshistory · 5 years

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Books of 2019: Circe by Madeline Miller

I'm getting behind on the books I've read big time, however, I'm going to talk about them out of order because of how good Madeline Miller's Circe was!

This was the third book (second novel) by Miller I've tried and it's the novel I wanted from her! I really enjoyed it!

This novel covers the Greco-Roman myths around the witch/titan/goddess Circe, most prominently known for her role in Homer's Odyssey. However, despite what I expected, this book didn't focus on Circe relationship with Odysseus for the vast majority of it's narrative. Of course, Odysseus was there (and his presence confirmed my dislike of him) but we also had a retelling of Prometheus' punishment, Glaucus and Scylla's transformation, the birth of the Minotaur, and Medea and Jason's escape from Colchis, as well as continuing Circe's story after Odysseus to see her son, Teleganus, grow up and meet Telemachus and Penelope. We saw Circe as a character who lived a life, centuries of it, and explore her role in many myths throughout the Greek mythology, rather than just a part of Odysseus' story.

Miller gave Circe a story and a voice, more than she had in any of the primary sources. Circe wasn't perfect, she made mistakes and paid for them, and she grew and came into her own. Most myths don't see the gods or titans as growing characters, but as 'people' at the end of their development. Instead Miller constructed a narrative from the myths that allowed the reader to discover who Circe was, at the same time as Circe did. This was so refreshing and I LOVED this aspect of it, it's an effective way to retell myths and stories I already know!

For my own reasons, I want to talk about Telemachus. For those of you unfamiliar with Greek mythology, Telemachus is Odysseus' son with Penelope and is a major character Homer's Odyssey. In The Odyssey Telemachus doesn't interact with Circe at all, however, because Miller took Circe's story after Odysseus, Telemachus comes to know Circe through her son Teleganus. This gave her the opportunity to explore who Telemachus in relation to his father but also as his own man. In The Odyssey we see him as a boy becoming a man, but not the aftermath of Odysseus coming home and the impact on Telemachus' life. Miller's choice gave the reader the opportunity to see her imagining of Telemachus and think about who he is as a character, separate to his father (he has been a character I've been intrigued about since I read the Odyssey 6 years ago!)

Exploring characters like Telemachus and Circe, who are always second to a hero, is my favourite part of Miller's work and I've really enjoyed seeing them both get a story worthy of the interest and intrigue built up around them that wasn't satisfied with Homer's version.

#books #books of 2019 #circe #madeline miller #telemachus #odysseus #greek mythology #retelling

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kansascityhappenings · 5 years

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Military veterans, 2 friends, bar workers killed in shooting

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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — One was a veteran police officer who didn’t hesitate to run toward danger. Another had survived the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Others include two friends who loved off-roading, a Marine veteran who dedicated his life to service and a recent college graduate who worked with children with special needs.

They were among a dozen people killed in a shooting at a country music bar in suburban Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Authorities believe the gunman, Ian David Long, ultimately killed himself.

___

RON HELUS: ‘COP’S COP’

Ventura County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus was talking to his wife when calls started coming in about a shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill.

“Hey, I got to go handle a call. I love you. I’ll talk to you later,” he told her, according to Sheriff Geoff Dean.

It was the last time she would talk to her husband.

Helus rushed toward the shooting and immediately exchanged fire with the gunman, Dean said. Helus was hit multiple times.

Sgt. Eric Buschow, who said Helus was a friend, described him as a “cop’s cop.”

“The fact that he was the first in the door doesn’t surprise me at all,” he said. “He’s just one of those guys that wouldn’t hesitate in a situation.”

Helus took up fly fishing a few years ago and loved pursuing the hobby in the Sierra Nevada mountains with his grown son, Buschow said.

“He was just a great guy, a gentle soul,” Buschow said. “Patient. Calm no matter what. When you call 911, he’s one of the guys you want showing up.”

Helus was on the SWAT team for much of his career and worked in narcotics and investigations, he said.

“If you were a victim of a crime, you want him investigating the case,” Buschow said. “He would go to the ends of the Earth to find a suspect.”

Dean choked back tears talking about Helus and called him a hero.

“He went in there to save people and paid the ultimate price,” he said.

___

CODY COFFMAN: ‘THE BIG BROTHER THAT MY KIDS NEED’

Cody Coffman, who had just turned 22, was talking with Army recruiters and preparing to fulfill his dream of serving his country, father Jason Coffman said, weeping.

Cody adored his siblings — three brothers between ages 6 and 9 — and he couldn’t wait for the birth of a sister, due on Nov. 29, his father said.

“Cody was the big brother that my kids need,” he said. “He was so excited to have his first sister and now she’ll never know …”

He trailed off, sobbing, then said, “Oh, Cody, I love you, son.”

Jason Coffman said his son was passionate about baseball, serving as an umpire for a little league, and they fished together.

“That poor boy would come with me whether he liked it or not,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff I am truly going to miss.”

Jason Coffman said he last spoke to his son Wednesday night before Cody headed to the bar.

“The first thing I said was, ‘Please don’t drink and drive,’” he said. “The last thing I said was, ‘Son, I love you.’”

___

JUSTIN MEEK: ‘FULL OF LIGHT AND HAPPINESS’

Newly graduated from California Lutheran University, Justin Meek performed as a singer and worked at the Borderline.

Meek, 23, also worked for Channel Island Social Services as a respite caregiver, supporting families with children with special needs, mostly developmental disabilities, chief executive Sharon Francis said.

“Parents just adored him. He was able to bond with their kids,” she said. “He was just an all-around guy.”

Danielle Gallo, who also works at the family-run organization, said he was dedicated to the kids he worked with.

“You could tell he really had a heart for what he did,” she said, sobbing.

Meek also toured professionally as an a cappella singer, said family friend Patrick Ellis, who called Meek a talented musician, singer and athlete and a “fantastic human being.”

“He was a hero every day of his life,” Ellis said. “It was just always positive energy. … Anything he could do for you, he was just there.”

Meek worked at the bar with his sister and fellow Cal Lutheran student, Victoria Rose Meek, who survived, Ellis said.

Meek played water polo for Cal Lutheran. He also lent his full, velvety voice to the school choir, where “every time he sang, you could just feel it in your soul,” recalled choir member Rachel Counihan, 20.

“He cared so much about his craft and just cared so much about other people,” she said. “He was just full of light and happiness.”

Scott Roberts, 20, a junior at the school and friend of Victoria Rose Meek’s, recalled Meek being “just the nicest dude.”

___

ALAINA HOUSLEY: ‘AN INCREDIBLE YOUNG WOMAN’

Alaina Housley was just 18, a promising student at Pepperdine University with plans to study law, her family said.

Adam Housley, a former Fox News correspondent, and Tamera Mowry-Housley, an actress known for the 1990s TV series “Sister Sister,” said their niece was killed at the bar where she had gone line dancing with friends.

“Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her, and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner,” the couple said in a statement.

Alaina was bright, popular and well-loved, a student who had a 4.5 grade-point average since junior high school and earned college scholarships, said her grandfather, Art Housley.

She played soccer and tennis all through high school, studied piano and violin, and sang, he said.

“She’s a really good kid,” he said, fighting tears. “Everybody loves her.”

___

NOEL SPARKS: ‘ALL-AROUND GOOD GIRL’

Noel Sparks, a 21-year-old college student, loved going to the Borderline Bar and Grill, so friends and family were not surprised when she posted a photo of herself dancing there Wednesday night.

Her aunt Patricia Sparks of Morristown, Tennessee, told The Associated Press that the family was “in shock.”

She described her niece as an “all-around good girl. She was the kind of girl that if you had friends, you’d want them to marry her.”

Sparks, who was majoring in art at nearby Moorpark College, often went to Borderline with friends and her mom, going there for Halloween and her 21st birthday in August.

When friend Jackie Jones heard about the shooting, she jumped into her car and headed to the bar, determined to find Sparks.

“She would do that for me,” Jones said.

The two met through church two years ago and became fast friends. Sparks worked part time at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, helping with children’s programs, the Rev. Shawn Thornton said.

“She loved kids. We had a lot of parents show up today to say, ‘She made my child feel important and that they mattered,” Thornton said.

___

SEAN ADLER: ‘A VERY, VERY BIG PERSONALITY’

Sean Adler, 48, was a security guard at Borderline who would stay late to ensure people could get home safely, said Debbie Allen, a longtime friend.

The married father of two boys died doing what he was passionate about — protecting people, Allen said.

“He was a very, very big personality and had a very, very gorgeous smile,” she said, adding that he had once considered becoming a police officer.

His other passion, she said, was coffee. Adler recently opened his own coffee shop, Rivalry Roasters, in Simi Valley, said Phil Englander, another longtime friend.

“He was just the most passionate person about coffee you would ever want to meet,” Englander said.

Adler joked about being a “coffee dealer” and spoke energetically, using his hands.

“He always had that energetic personality,” he said. “He’s just such a warm and friendly and passionate person about everything in his life.”

Englander said he stopped by the coffee shop Wednesday to visit Adler.

“We talked about family, and we reminisced about an old friend of ours we haven’t seen in years,” he said.

___

TELEMACHUS ORFANOS: VEGAS SURVIVOR KILLED

Telemachus Orfanos, 27, lived through the mass shooting in Las Vegas last year only to die inside Borderline, less than 10 minutes from his home, according to his mother.

“Here are my words: I want gun control,” Susan Schmidt-Orfanos said, her voice shaking with grief and rage. “I don’t want prayers. I don’t want thoughts.”

She said she wants Congress to “pass gun control so no one else has a child that doesn’t come home.”

Orfanos was a U.S. Navy veteran and Eagle Scout with a thick beard, an easy smile and a gladiator helmet tattoo. His friends called him “Tel.”

One of them, Aliza Thomas, said she knew Orfanos since high school and called him one of the nicest men she’s ever known.

“He was the most likely person to throw himself in front of that gun,” Thomas said. “He would have thrown himself on top of someone else, 100 percent.”

She said it’s especially tragic that Orfanos survived Vegas only to die in another mass shooting.

“He survived Vegas, where a lot more people died than this. It’s just unreal,” Thomas said. “It’s not fair.”

___

DANIEL MANRIQUE: ‘A SAINT’

Daniel Manrique, 33, dedicated his life to service — as a hospital volunteer, U.S. Marine and manager of an organization that helps veterans adjust after leaving the military.

He was a radio operator with the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and he deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Orange County Register reported.

After the military, Manrique began volunteering with Team Red White and Blue, an organization that works to help veterans avoid isolation by connecting them to their community. He was named a regional program manager last month.

“The best way I can describe him is as a saint. He truly believed in service,” friend and business partner Tim O’Brien told the newspaper. “Dan was the guy you could rely on if you ran out of gas in the middle of the night. He would help you out if something bad happened. He was there, dedicated, loyal.”

The two high school friends were preparing to open a veteran-oriented brewery called “O’brique” — a combination of their last names.

Manrique also volunteered at a hospital helping the homeless and at a local church.

“Dan’s life was dedicated to serving others, during his military career and beyond,” Team Red White and Blue executive director John Pinter said on the organization’s website. “We offer our deepest condolences to the Manrique family.”

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BLAKE DINGMAN: ‘HIS LAUGHTER AND SMILE WERE SO SPECIAL’

Blake Dingman was passionate about working on cars and motorcycles, challenging himself to make repairs on anything mechanical even if he wasn’t exactly sure how to do it, mother Lorrie Dingman said. The 21-year-old always had a smile on his face and grease under his fingernails, she said.

Blake was working in the electrical field and was excited about getting a new job, his mother said.

His large group of friends went off-roading in the desert and mountains, with Blake and his friend Jake Dunham, who also was killed at the Borderline, “always in the center of the fun.”

“Blake had a zest and joy for living life to the fullest,” Lorrie Dingman said in an email. “No gathering was complete without Blake. His laughter and smile were so special and whenever you talked to him, he was genuinely interested in you.”

She said he was confident, talented, caring and had a huge heart.

On Instagram, brother Aidan Dingman wrote that “my amazing brother was taken down by the shooter” and that his life has been forever changed.

“Words cannot describe the pain I am feeling,” he wrote, adding: “Blake I love you so much and I miss you more than you can imagine.”

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JAKE DUNHAM: GUTSY OFF-ROADER

Jake Dunham, 21, was known for driving his truck hard. He was a regular at rides in the desert and at group bonfires made from igniting vehicles and old dirt bikes, according to a friend.

“He always tried to convince people to (let him) drive their car. Everyone knew it was a bad idea, but sometimes they’d do it,” Michael Moses told the Los Angeles Times, laughing.

Dunham was at the bar with his friend and fellow off-roader, Dingman, who also was killed.

Aliza Thomas told The Associated Press that Dunham and Dingman were her friends and grew up in a tight-knit group of young men with her younger brother Emmet.

“They were the nicest, most respectful, selfless men I’ve ever met,” she said.

Thomas, a single mom, cried as she recalled how Dingham and Dunham would go out of their way to make her son feel like one of the boys, “make him feel special.”

Dunham’s sister, Alexis Dunham, asked on her Facebook page for privacy to let the family grieve, saying “these last days have completely shattered us.”

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KRISTINA MORISETTE: ENERGETIC AND THOUGHTFUL

Kristina Morisette worked at the front desk of Borderline and had just bought her first car — a 2017 Jeep Renegade — with the money she had saved, her father said.

Michael Morisette told the Los Angeles Times that his energetic and talkative 20-year-old daughter had just returned from a trip to Austin, Texas, and he hugged her, relieved she was back home safe in Simi Valley.

Kristina gave her mother a coin purse she bought for her on the trip before heading to work Wednesday.

“We’d rather just curl up in a ball and turn off the lights, but there are other people out there that are hurting, too,” Michael Morisette told the newspaper as he held his wife’s hand. “We could either retreat and draw our curtains, or we could talk about the beauty of the things that were.”

He said Kristina, the youngest of three children, was a thoughtful friend who always helped others. She enjoyed hiking and drawing and was considering applying for an animal training program in Austin.

“We didn’t want her life to end, but we don’t want her memories now to end, either,” mother Martha Morisette told the newspaper. “We’ll probably always have a hard time dealing with it.”

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MARKY MEZA JR.: ‘LOVING AND WONDERFUL YOUNG MAN’

Marky Meza Jr., who was less than two weeks from his 21st birthday, was working as a busboy and food runner at the bar when he was killed.

“Marky was a loving and wonderful young man who was full of life and ambition,” the Meza family said in a statement provided to Santa Barbara TV station KEYT. “His family is devastated by his loss.”

Meza grew up in the Santa Barbara area and had worked in the service industry since he was a teen.

He was one of the few teenagers who got hired at Sandpiper Lodge in Santa Barbara, manager Shawn Boteju said. Meza worked full time at the Sandpiper in housekeeping and would come to work on a hoverboard.

“He was extremely nice,” Boteju told The Associated Press. “He obviously worked well with the rest of the staff.”

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2018/11/10/military-veterans-2-friends-bar-workers-killed-in-shooting/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/11/10/military-veterans-2-friends-bar-workers-killed-in-shooting/

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kansascityhappenings · 5 years

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These are the 12 victims of the Thousand Oaks bar shooting

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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — One was a veteran police officer who didn’t hesitate to run toward danger. Another had survived the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Others were an “extremely nice” busboy, two friends who loved off-roading and a Marine veteran who dedicated his life to service.

They were among a dozen people killed in a shooting at a country music bar in suburban Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Authorities believe the gunman, Ian David Long, ultimately killed himself.

RON HELUS: ‘COP’S COP’

Ventura County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus was talking to his wife when calls started coming in about a shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill.

“Hey, I got to go handle a call. I love you. I’ll talk to you later,” he told her, according to Sheriff Geoff Dean.

Sgt. Ron Helus had been set to retire in the next year from the Ventura County, California Sheriff’s Office when, responding late Wednesday to a call of a shooting, he entered the Borderline Bar & Grill.