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onetrainscifi · 3 years

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The Original, Original Snowpiercer Pilot

SO. Let’s talk about the flaming shitshow the original pilot was.

We’ll start with our cast:

Melanie Cavill: Jennifer Connelly wearing a blonde wig

Layton Well: Daveed Diggs

Lilah Anderson: Alison Wright

Bess Till: Mickey Sumner

LJ Anderson: Annalise Basso

Miss Audrey: unknown actress

John Osweiller: Sam Otto

Sayori: Lena Hall

Cleo: Sheila Vand

Avi: Roberto Urbina

Jack Anderson: unknown

Josie McConnell: Katie McGuinness

Ian McConnell: unknown

Pixi Ariak: Sasha Frolova

Jinju Seong: Susan Park

Fergus McConnell: Benjamin Haigh

Magistrate Maki: unknown actor

Sam Roche: Mike O'Malley

Cult Members: Unknown actors

As you can tell…lots of unknowns and also tons of fucking WEIRD casting decisions. But next…our characters.

Melanie Cavill: Ran a cult, was presumed to be a drug addict, stole a ring from a dead guy to give to his wife, also was in love with his wife (Lilah), had a dead husband. And an abusive father.

Layton Well: Drug addict, was still very similar to his original design besides that. Detective, had a brother and an ex wife-Cleo-, same grilled cheese and soup love.

Lilah Anderson: Nail technician. Specifically Melanie’s nail technician. Was a 4th class passenger that later got moved to the Tail after the cows died.

Bess Till: Also remarkably the same! Not from Detroit though. Still friends with Osweiller and dating Jinju. Was a cop before the Freeze.

LJ Anderson: 4th class passenger, daughter of Lilah and Jack. Worked in the garden car, was from the Midwest. Total sweetheart.

Miss Audrey: Described as “ageless, but probably 60” if that gives you and ideas. Ran the Nightcar but the Nightcar is a theater now.

John Osweiller: Remarkably the same! Younger Brakeman, but was also a lot nicer. Gave his leg up to try and save one of the cow farmers.

Sayori: Zealot. Total Wilford zealot. Read stories to the kids in the Tail about Wilford. Also KNEW about the cult.

Cleo: In a polyamorous relationship with Avi and four others. Layton’s ex-wife. Her partner being murdered really set off this whole show.

Avi: In a polyamorous relationship with Cleo and four others. Was a breachworker. Possibly knew Melanie’s secret? Unsure.

Jack Anderson: Lilah’s husband, LJ’s dad. Was one of the people that worked with the cows. Also died in the pilot.

Josie McConnell: Fergus’s mom, Ian’s wife. Was maybe having an affair with Layton?? Unclear. One of the Tail leaders.

Ian McConnell: Kinda like Big John? But also not? Drug addict, husband to Josie, dad to Fergus. Not much known.

Pixi Ariak: Think Nikki Genét but if she lived. Was accused of murder 3 years ago, sentenced to the drawers, came out of the drawers.

Jinju Seong: Hardly changed at all! Friends with Melanie, dating Till, ran the aquarium. Knows a lot about fish.

Fergus McConnell: Miles, basically, but if he was white and older. Got selected to take the engineering test in the pilot.

Magistrate Maki: I…I don’t know. Worked with the prison stuff?? And was kinda a legal person I guess.

Sam Roche: Basically unchanged. Not much else to say.

Cult Members: It’s in the title. Part of Melanie’s cult. Men and women, all genders. Wore cult robes too.

SO WHO DIRECTED THIS SHITSHOW, you ask.

Josh Friedman and Scott Derrickson were the original creative team.

AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM, you ask.

This is when shit gets fucking weird.

So. Josh Friedman and Scott Derrickson filmed and wrote the pilot. TNT watched the pilot, and decided they wanted to make some changes and…fired Josh Friedman. Which led to them bringing in Graeme Manson. Scott Derrickson then walked off the show, which led to James Hawes being brought in. Josh Friedman notoriously insulted and cussed out Graeme Manson over social media. Scott Derrickson called the pilot “the best thing he’s ever written”

If you want to read the pilot or see the pictures, please DM me or send an ask, I can't put links in posts.

In conclusion: This pilot is a hellscape and we must watch it immediately, however it has never been released.

#snowpiercer #snowpiercer tnt #melanie cavill #andre layton #wilford snowpiercer #ruth wardell #incorrect snowpiercer #bennett knox #javier de la torre #bess till #sam roche #john osweiller

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snowdice · 4 years

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Goblin Brain Study Session Fic 1 [Day 56]

Because I don’t want to just have walls of text for my Goblin Brain Study Session posts, I’m separating them by days. If you want to read the previous chapters, click the links below. Chapter 22 and what’s done of chapter 23 is under the cut.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 My Master Post

See this post for more details and feel free to send me asks to keep me going! It’s been a lot of fun so far! I will reblog this post with the story as I write them today. Also, if you’re interesting, don’t forget that I am constantly updating the timeline as I write. :)

We will be hopefully finishing Logan’s chapter today. I... actually am kinda struggling with wrapping this up. I have zero direction for Logan’s chapter and might edit it a bit harder than usual later.

Chapter 22

Janus did not respond to Roman’s quip about the car. Instead, he shoved past Roman the second he heard the boy’s voice. Roman recognized the kid immediately from the pictures he’d been sent along with his mission directives.

“Virgil,” Janus said, crossing the room to get to his little brother without regard to anything else. “Thank god. Are you alright?” He grabbed his face and titled it as though to look for injuries. Nothing about what Roman had learned about Janus in the past few hours would have prepared him for the way he descended directly into mother-hen mode, cupping the boy’s face with delicate fingers.

He was even less prepared for when Virgil shoved his hands away with an eye roll and a “I’m fine, Janus,” and Janus immediately started to cry.

Janus pulled Virgil into a hug, and Roman winced in sympathy for Janus’s injured ribs when the kid hugged him back tightly. They should really get that checked out as soon as the two of them had their moment. “I’ve been worried sick about you,” he said, voice all types of wrecked. The past few hours of worry that Janus had kept careful hold of lashed out suddenly, and it was even more than Roman had anticipated. “I showed up to the house, and you were gone, and the window was broken.” Virgil was getting a bit wobbly lipped himself, and Roman couldn’t exactly blame him with how gutted Janus sounded. “Where did you go? How did you get here? How did you know to come here? Did Logan send someone else after you?”

“Dad let the name slip,” Virgil explained, “and Mom sent someone to pick me up, but I’d already accidently heard that she’d killed him with the radio Dad keeps in his room. So, I really didn’t want to go with the man, and he was mean especially when I said no.” His voice cracked a bit as he spoke and he too started crying. “I didn’t know where to go or what to do. At first, I just wanted to get out of the city so Mom couldn’t find me. Once I was out, I decided to try to get here because dad said he worked with the owner, and no one was answering their phones.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Janus said. “That was my fault. I broke my phone. I should have thought about you wanting to call me.” He pulled back to kiss Virgil ever so gently on the forehead.

“Hey, what gives,” another man said, and Roman blinked because that was Remy Gates and Remy was definitely supposed to be dead. “I was dead, and I didn’t even get that much of a heartfelt reunion.” Janus seemed to freeze for a moment and then turned to him.

There was a long almost painful moment of silence where Janus just stared blankly at Remy. Roman recalled the short conversation that Remus and Janus had in the car about Remy and how Janus was probably more upset about the man’s death than he was allowing himself to express. Remus clearly had known what he was talking about, because there was a stunned, surprisingly vulnerable look on Janus’s face as he looked at his brother’s father.

Remy casually put his hands in his pockets. “Sup, kid.”

Roman had never seen someone’s face change so dramatically so quickly. His face twisted up into a scowl and his eyes lit up with fury. He looked like he was about to finish the job for his mother.

“You bastard,” Janus spat. “You bastard, you aren’t even dead?”

Remy seemed unconcerned with the fact that the man was basically foaming at the mouth. “You sound disappointed.”

“Do you know how much stress and hurt you caused… Virgil?!”

“Virgil, huh?” Remy asked, and goodness the man must have a death wish. “Don’t worry, Virgil and I already worked that out. I’m going to teach him how to shoot as an apology.”

“No! You aren’t!” the man next to Remy that Roman didn’t recognize said.

“Like that is a sufficient apology for all that duress! How could you?!

“It wasn’t exactly my plan, Jan,” Remy drawled.

“Remy please,” the man next to Remy said.

“Oh, well, pray tell, what the hell was your plan you absolute ignorant, wretched excuse for a human being?” Janus asked.

“Janus please,” the man said.

“Just let them do it, Uncle Emile,” Virgil said with a sigh.

Remy scoffed. “Oh, please,” he said. “There was no plan, obviously. Do you know me at all?”

Janus full on exploded in rage at that. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Where do you get off on being such an idiot all of the time? You have a 15-year-old child and you just waltz into danger like it’s nothing and almost die! I thought you were dead!”

And like, seriously, Remy really must be comfortable with the concept of his own demise after whatever had happened to him earlier, because all he said was, “What, would you have missed me?”

“No,” Janus said, far too intense for that to be the truth. In fact, tears started to prickle at the corner of his eyes.

“Aw,” Remy cooed, still mocking, but perhaps just a bit gentler now. He walked the couple of steps to Janus and threw an arm around his shoulder. “Don’t cry, kid. I’m okay. I promise.”

“I’m not crying,” Janus insisted even though his voice cracked a bit and the tears were starting to escape out of the corners of his eyes. He attempted to push Remy away, but his efforts were weak and easily resisted. He gave up a moment later. “You’re crying!”

“I’m really not,” Remy said with a chuckle.

“You will be if you don’t shut up and let go of me,” Janus insisted even though when Remy tugged him closer into a proper hug, he folded himself into the embrace like a small child and proceeded to cry into the man’s shoulder.

34116

Well that was… an event. Roman didn’t know what to think about Janus at this point. He’d been cold, calculating, and scary at the beginning of their adventure, and now he was sobbing into a man’s arms.

“Aw, there it is,” said Remus cheerfully.

Janus didn’t look at him, but just pulled one of his arms out of the embrace to flip him off.

“As touching as this is,” Dad interjected. “Now that everyone is here and aware that no one is dead.” He looked specifically in Remus and Roman’s direction. The expression on his face was one Roman was very familiar with from his childhood. Roman grimaced even before Dad continued with, “Would anyone care to explain themselves?” in a dark tone.

Uh oh.

Chapter 23

“Would anyone care to explain themselves?” Logan asked the room filled with the most frustrating human being he’d ever met. He must have infused his voice with the desired amount of ire, because everyone in the room seemed to wince simultaneously except…

“No thanks!” Remus chirped. Logan shot him a tired look and stepped forward. “Wait! Dad! No!” Logan swiftly put him in a headlock.

“We’re going downstairs,” he told the others. His son was a bit wiggly when Logan started to pull him towards the elevator in the other room, but he didn’t actually put up much of a fight.

He let Remus go when they got to the elevator. The elevator was small enough that they ended up taking it in two groups. Logan ended up in an elevator with Lena, his sons, and his brother.

There were a couple of moments of awkward elevator music. “I am very displeased with everyone in this elevator.”

No one responded but Patton who patted him on the shoulder. Logan turned on him. “You are at the pinnacle of my ire.”

There was a few seconds of drawn out silence, and then Patton removed his hand. “Wow,” he said after a moment. “You could hear a pen-acle drop.”

“Kids, you no longer have an uncle,” Logan said coolly.

“That’s right,” Patton said with a smile despite the glare Logan was sending him. “You only have a puncle now.”

Roman snorted out a laugh but looked quickly away when Logan glared at him.

The elevator came to a stop and they climbed out of it. “You all go to the conference room while I wait for the rest. Except you,” he pointed at Lean. “Fred can debrief me. You go get that checked out.” She shot him a thumbs up (because apparently the lack of disrespect for his authority had rubbed off on her) and wandered off towards medical.

“Um,” Roman said tentatively.

“Yes?” Logan asked, already even more tired.

“Also, Janus may or may not have a broken rib. At least he said he might have.”

“Why on Earth is he walking around, then?” Roman just shrugged in response to Logan’s question.

“And send someone down to look at his Janus,” he called after Lena right before she turned the corner. “Anything else pressing?” he asked the three still with him. “No? Then I’ll see you all in the conference room in a few minutes.”

“Conference room 16 or 17?” Remus asked.

“Remus, everyone here is aware that room 17 is a broom closet,” Logan said.

Remus sent him finger guns. “Conference room 17 it is,” he said turning to strut off down the hall. Roman shot Logan an awkward half smile before following after his brother, and Logan’s own brother jerked forward to smack his lips against Logan’s forehead before waltzing off after them.

Why was his family like this?

He turned to wait for the elevator to go back up to the factory and down again. He crossed his arms as it arrived. “You’re injured?” Logan asked as the doors opened.

Most of the occupants looked confused, but Janus looked slightly annoyed. “Remus,” he muttered.

“Roman actually,” Logan corrected. “I’m having someone sent down to look at you.”

“I’m f-”

“Don’t even try to argue right now; your second on my list today.”

“Remus is first?” Janus asked.

“Of course, Remus is first.”

“Where am I on the shit list?” Remy asked with interest.

“Somehow, only 5th.”

“Score!”

“But you’re inexorably moving up.”

“But I’m not in the top three.”

“No, my children and brother fill up the spots above you.”

“You said I was second,” Janus said with a frown.

“Yes,” Logan said. “Also, you’re grounded.” Then, he turned to walk towards the conference room.

“Wait, Logan, what does that mean?!” Janus asked his back.

“It means, Logan owes me a buttload of child support,” said Remy.

“I am not your kid. You are not my dad.”

“Sure, son.”

When Logan made it to the correct room, his family was already hard at work making his life a series of aggravations. Before even stepping into the room, he turned to the opposite side of the hallway and opened the door to the supply closet.

“Get in the correct room before I make you get into the correct room,” Logan said.

“Come on dad, you know it’s not nice to force someone out of the closet.” On most days, Logan would not have found that at all funny, but today for some reason, it elicited a snort of surprised laughter. Remus smiled up at him from his seat on the floor like he always did when he’d done (or thought he’d done) something clever.

“Don’t,” Logan warned, wagging a finger at him. “Don’t. That doesn’t mean your forgiven. I am very, very unhappy with you.”

Remus just kept grinning.

“I’m relieved that you are safe and happy to have you back with me,” Logan said, “but I am also very angry.”

“Eh, that’s fair.”

“Now get out of the closet.”

Remus found it fit to obey him for the moment, and stood, following him to the conference room where the others had gathered. Patton had somehow found a stack of name tags and a box of markers somewhere and had managed to convince Roman to help him draw little pictures on them along with the names. Patton stuck one with a broom drawn on it onto Remus when he came in.

#study break stories #not writing

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joecial-distancing · 4 years

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2019 in review in review:

A few years ago I started tracking yearly goals, books read, movies watched etc in a year, along with overview blurbs, in private posts. End of 2019/beginning of 2020 I was really frazzled/burned out about a lot of stuff and just never finished up making the thing. 8 months later, got the urge to read back what I’d got done, then figured I’d maybe go ahead and see about finishing.

Media tracking below the break. thoughts/blurbs written in 2020 italicized, 2019 not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_____________________________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Didn’t do so hot on explicit personal goals, but had a lot of stuff go ok around them this year.

School’s been fine/better than fine.

Job’s probably the biggest failing. Still with same job, haven’t made the firm moves to jump off, dragging my feet too much on exploring stuff w/ Columbia/NASA GISS.

Did not get better with covid, lol

Dating life still non-existent, but I’ve registered on apps, gotten more comfortable with selfies, improved general social life dramatically, been flirted with, updated my wardrobe, and generally started to get comfortable accepting that I’m a hot person.

Somehow got extremely better during covid.

Books

Grant (finished)

We stan a taurus legend

Guy was good at exactly one job, and was fortunate enough to have been in the right place/right time to get to do it.

Mort (discworld)

Definitely best discworld I’ve gotten to so far.

Don Quixote p. II

Really entertaining in a way that part 1 wasn’t; I was shocked how much the meta element landed for me.

Consider the Lobster (DFW collection)

had zero context on who DFW is/was when I read, and still don’t exactly tbh. Wanted to wait for a pause in The Discourse before diving into more of him, but dunno if I’m ever going to get that.

Crime and Punishment (revisited)

Weirdly didn’t get much more out of this than I did the first time I’d read it

Better Than Sex (HST Gonzo papers)

Xerox/widespread fax accessibility opening citizen access to mass media in a manner really reminiscent of what social media would go on to do at a much larger scale. Has a much more deliberate narrative arc than the other gonzo papers collections, also has that excellent HST richard nixon eulogy

The Brothers Karamazov

SPQR

Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Didion collection)

Pet Sematary

Not my favorite King, but not bad

Sourcery (discworld)

still funny/charming, but Mort really made clear/reminded me how much the hapless sadsack Rincewind mold of protagonist wears on me after a while.

The Devil's Teeth

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Liked it a lot more once I realized it was doing a Fear and Loathing thing.

Homage to Catalonia

This should be the Orwell that gets taught in schools. Make it a followup to All Quiet on the Western Front or something, jeez.

Lyndon Johnson I

Having now finished all of them, this one’s probably the least-interesting but sets up a bunch of important context that the others still then feel the need to retread.

The Razor's Edge

Recommended to me as a “white guy discovers eastern mysticism” book, but also is more interesting in its treatment of that than I’d expected (helps it was written in the 40s).

Cat's Cradle

There’s a part in this where Vonnegut’s making fun of people who try to bond with strangers over being Hoosiers, and my dumbass immediate thought was “ooh, Vonnegut’s a hoosier? Me too!”

Lyndon Johnson II

Robert Caro felt compelled to apologize for spending so much words lionizing Coke Stevens, segregationist opponent to Johnson’s senate run. His goal was pretty clearly to show lbj’s lack of campaign charisma by contrast, definitely definitely overcommitted in his own narrativising.

Libra

I want to go back to this after reading some more De Lillo.

Gravity's Rainbow

This book absolutely kicked my ass

Overstuffed and referential in a specific way that really keeps me hooked in instead of put off. When I learn about some piece of cultural context that I retroactively recognize as being referenced in this, I want to go back and reread the entire thing.

From Caligari to Hitler

Kind of fails both as film criticism and cultural analysis, but absolutely made me want to run for the hills when considering current relationship between mainstream movies and demands of pop culture.

I took a class on Weimar cinema in undergrad that I now realize was probably biting pretty heavily from this and never once referenced it.

Movies

Venom

Movie itself is not as fun as the Tom Hardy hype coverage. PG13 was the absolute worst space to aim for, PG- or R- versions of this could have been a blast.

Harryhauser Argonauts

Was tripping when I put this on, and it was all kinds of fun.

2001: a Space Oddyssey

First time seeing this, all-time classic for a reason!

A Good American (the NSA doc)

Dr. Strangelove

Mel Brooks History of the World p. I

Not my favorite Brooks, best joke was at the beginning.

In Bruges

Had been a while since I saw a proper dark comedy.

Spiderverse

Fukkin awesome!

Visually great, and extremely better than usual superhero stuff for being aimed at PG instead of PG-13.

You Only Live Twice

Highlander (Revisited)

I watched The Old Guard on netflix recently and it mostly just made me wish I was watching Highlander instead, because at least Highlander knows exactly how goofy it is

Moonraker

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Much like The Shining, I though this would have been 100% spoiled for me by cultural osmosis, but turns out it wasn’t, and even the scenes I had seen *totally landed* in-context still.

Kung Fu Hustle

Ichi the Killer

Really gross, really fun

Matrix Reloaded (watched thru highway scene) (Revisited)

The highway scene was not nearly as cool as I remembered it being.

John Wick 3*

Probably dumbest plot of all of them, best choreography. I like how every single fight had its own distinct flavor. “Knife museum fight” “horse fight” “halle berry dogs fight”

Akira

A classic

Pet Sematary * (ugh, bad)

Why can’t john lithgow be in good movies anymore

The Revenant

MCU Spiderman

Fuck this was awful.

MCU Spiderman 2*

Really weird, complete Rorschach Test of a movie: it’d be totally valid to read into this that global warming is Fake News, for instance.

Lmao this was completely awful

Rites

Dredd (non-stallone)

oh hey Lena Headey’s in this

For All Mankind!

Watched in honor of moon landing anniversary

Lion King *

Watched it way too stoned, was like dark side of the moon + wizard of oz except instead it’s a lion king script reading + nature footage edited for lip syncing.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *

Many scenes of very long setups for really stupid shaggy dog jokes, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. I do kinda want to rewatch now knowing more about manson, which I knew pretty much nothing about beforehand

Blowout

A good john lithgow movie

also I think I like travolta in things.

Lord of War

A Good cage movie

I like when Eamon Walker shows up in stuff.

Taxi Driver

A classic

Snowpiercer

Watched in a bar with only one speaker working, which is the correct way to watch. Weirder and funnier than I thought it was going to be, which still doesn’t make it good, but,

dbz big green dub

Exorcist III

Brad Dourif just tearing it apart

Deep Red (argento)

Suspiria (1977)

Watched the remake in 2020, which was ok, but nothing tops the Goblin score.

Elf Bowling

Thanks, Gnome

Parasite *

Interesting to me that this one seems poised to hang around people’s good esteem for a while

FMA: B

Rick & Morty

Saw some episodes, generally pretty funny, some misanthropy that’s probably appealing to a certain type of teen al a something like House, but ultimately I don’t totally Get the intensity of discourse about it.

Leterkenny

Mob Psycho 100

One Punch Man

Deadwood

Watchmen

Only watched like half of it. Was playing around with a lot of hefty imagery/thematics, but didn’t really seem ready to rise above playing (tho also I feel like it’s weird on some level to *expect* them to rise above that in the first place)

Music

New Avantasia

HEALTH/ show

lol remember concerts

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard/ show

Just learned about King Gizz in 2019 and got completely obsessed with them. I don’t tend to expand my music selection very readily, and a lot of what I currently *do* know is old/inactive stuff, so it was/is incredibly exciting to have an active group with good momentum just immediately win me over like that.

Mistimed the edibles and ended up with a really good finale and a really long subway ride home.

New Yeasayer

Sad they split up

Steve Wilson Tull remixes

Aqualung’s a good album and the sound mixing’s kinda bad, so I liked this project.

Stonefield

Opened for Gizzard. Really good as studying music

Video Games

Civ VI: Gathering Storm

Hades

Turns out Supergiant’s design proclivities all work *extremely well* on a roguelike

Baba is You

Untitled Goose Game

Cute, if maybe a bit overhyped

finally fucking finished Pillars of Eternity

Had fun with it, but too long, and really dour for how long it is.

Pillars II

Kinda drifted off it eventually, but I do genuinely like that the flavor of the fantasy is colonial era rather than medieval.

There’s a Balancing Bastard Factions element where it’s like the writers are just being smartasses after a while. Having to go extremely out of their way to make siding with colonizers seem like a competitive option.

Pokemon shield

Cuphead

pisses me off, which was a nice outlet when I was stranded by flight cancellations during thanksgiving

Celeste

Also very difficult, but really easy to stay patient with, which is nice.

Disco Elysium

None of the discourse made me want to play this, but people talking about the mechanical stuff it did got me extremely interested. Mostly Delivered IMO.

Breath of the Wild

You can approach the nodes of the main quest in the order you choose, and the second one I chose made ninjas start fucking spawning everywhere when I’m just trying to explore, and there’s no way to make it stop. May go back to it one day.

Podcasts

Relentless Picnic Patreon feed

The treats really helped me start distinguishing individual personalities, compared to the regular eps.

Picnic Discord!

FatT Counterweight

Fun, but also I think Mechs are not my shit.

FatT Spring in Hieron/ end of that particular world

8 months since I’ve last tuned into FatT. ah well.

Law School

He’s in everythiiiing!

You Must Remember This: Manson family

*There’s* the context

Misc.

Kindle train guy

Times Square sleeping guy + kids taking selfies w/ him

toddler singing along after Psycho killer (a, ya, ya ya, ya)

drunk and dragged to a drag show

Central park football family

Soft Steel Drum Subway Busker

Weird old lady going to grand central for oysters

2018 in review (cards):

MySelf (CC)

Self: Tower

Blocked: 10 Cups

Ethereal/subconscious: 8 Swords

Material: 3 Swords

Past: Justice

Future: Page Wands

Attitude: Sun

External: King Swords

Hopes/Fears: 5 Coins

Trajectory: High Priestess

Also Self:

Hierophant

7 Cups

7 Coins

Blind Spot:

(self & others): 5 cups || (others not self): High Priestess

(self not others): Moon || (nobody): 3 Cups

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notthefilmreview · 4 years

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So...I’m obsessed with NEVER HAVE I EVER now and I’m not mad

Hey it’s Dana and I’m procrastinating my school work (because even the lockdown can’t stop my teachers from giving me work - how great!) so I’ve decided to watch a bit of the new Netlfix series NEVER HAVE I EVER which (after a google search) I found out is created by Mindy Kaling!

(However, by the time this post goes up I’ll probably still be procrastinating but for a whole different set of school work! Yay for me, I guess!)

I actually really have no idea what it’s about except for the fact that the title is a game I used to play with my friends to find out some gossip about their love life and vice versa which was often uninteresting because we never really had much to say. In conclusion, American High School romances have lied to me all my life about games like Truth or Dare and Never Have I Ever (it’s either that or me and the people around me have just lived fairly uninteresting lives...sounds plausible).

Anyway, read on to read about me reacting to NEVER HAVE I EVER the series for the first time!

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate how pretty Devi is; her hair is goals; orange is her colour; she has such a cute smile; she is thriving!

Also, I do love the religious diversity and the Indian representation.

Hahaha! Okay this first scene is quite funny and the arm hair thing is so relatable if you have dark hair; I envy people with lighter hair!

But, what is it with people and always wanting to be invited to parties??? They’re seriously not that fun and I often leave with a headache and an empty stomach. At first, they are quite entertaining but after a while (when you’ve told every single story about what you did in your summer holiday and stuff about your dog) you’ve run out of things to say and just awkwardly stand there until someone - and there is always someone - finally mentions school and now you’re that group of people talking about school because there’s nothing better to talk about. Or maybe that’s just my experiences with parties - I don’t know (I haven’t been to many lol).

Hey, that’s Mona from DC’s Legends of Tommorrow!!!! Omg! is this why she left the show???

Ahhh and Devi is not only a Hindu and an Indian-American but she is also a wheelchair user - Mindy is out there just trying to give everyone all the representation we need!

Oh - so she managed to walk again after trying to see a hot boy’s chiseled jawline behind a car? Hmmmm...seems plausible.

I’m also getting a really 80s vibe that seem quite common in Netflix movies and tv shows (like Sierra Burgess Is A Loser) but I know it’s meant to be in the 21st century.

Lol I’ve never heard that before but it made me choke on my food. Imagine people bullying you and calling you the UN - the political slander, the international slander. Omg I love this show so much.

I don’t really thinkl Devi should care if Ben thinks she’s unbangable because she is only 15 so she doesn’t exactly need to have banging as her number one priority.

Yassssssss strut queen!

The heels things is extremely relatable; I’m already a clutz while walking in flats but when I put on heels I’m falling all over everywhere (you should’ve seen me dance at my Year 11 Prom lol). Devi is wearing really high heels - I seriously could never so good for her!

So Paxton just says yes to having sex with her? What? Is this how it works? Is it that easy?

I’m so confused.

So I’m thinking that maybe there’s something more to Paxton than meets the eye. Maybe he’s a shamed virgin (which isn’t really as much of a problem as Hollywood tries to convince us) or maybe he might do a 360 and publicly shame Devi.

What I know, is that Paxton might end up having feelings for Devi after this (because this is how romance works, guys). Also, Devi might back out of having sex with Paxton.

So we’re onto episode 2 which is titled “...had sex with Paxton Hall-Yoshida”, making the title make more sense to me now.

Devi is casually just reading After which coincidently is also on Netflix (marketing strategies?).

*Love is in the air* (I was waiting for LGBTQ+ representations and I know this may cause some conflict with Devi’s plan for them all to get boyfriends butttttt in the long run, once Fab comes out to the gals they’re all going to accept her - at least I hope).

That blonde girl is too cute with her pixie hair cut omg I already love her so much and I haven’t even heard her talk.

This is the only love at first sight that I accept (this and The Half Of It, of course).

(Also the blonde’s eyebrows are beautiful; I want them so much).

This is the guy from Supergirl who played Lena’s old scientist boyfriend (and ruined all our lesbian Lena backstory but I did like him as a guy).

I like how Devi’s PTSD over her dad’s death is really being explored slowly.

Also, I knew that Devi would back out of having sex with Paxton and why does she always get cuts on her on her legs? is this symbolism? to do with her leg? and her mental state? am I reading too far into this?

Let Kamala be the beautiful biologists she deserves to be without an arranged marriage with a man whose family just wants her to be a wife.

We also shouldn’t forget how Devi’s mother’s feeling after her husband’s death. She may seem so strong on the outside but we all know she’s breaking on the inside and I hope that her and Devi can have a heart-to-heart about that.

Personally I think the blue ones...

Awww I think Paxton’s sister (Rebecca) and Devi are going to become good friends and I’m excited to watch it happen ahhhhh!

I’m thinking that Ben and Devi are going to become friends which would be quite sweet considering their rivalry.

Ohhhhhh Kamala has an asian boyfriend??? I’m officially attached; we need to end this arrnaged marriage; she needs to be with her boyfriend.

Awwwwww this is beautiful. I love Devi’s mum so much, she deserves love and attention.

Okay so we’ve now met a more human side to Paxton with him explaining that he’s been quite protective of his sister ever since she was adopted. And they’re not going to have sex (even though Devi told her friends that they did have sex) which is really going to cause major conflict.

Anyway, I should probably actually do some work now so bye!

MAJOR EDIT: So it turns out that I did work for about half an hour then decided to watch the rest of the season without reviewing as I go (because I was even lazy to do that lol). I did not think that I would actually finish the whole season in one go; I thought that I would just watch the first couple of episodes until it felt too awkward to watch the rest. Nevertheless, I watched the rest of the the season and I already want a new season to come out so badly!

Firstly, let’s deal with Paxton.

So I thought that Paxton would make a massive U-turn and start being less of a douche (as his sister Rebecca - who is just so deadpan with him that I just love her more and more - puts it) and more of a sweetheart who has some type of depth to him. Yes, he does seem to have depth in the way that he’s not just some hot guy on the swim team who’s always mean to everyone because he is usually nice and doesn’t forwardly go out of his way to bully anyone (and I also give points for the fact that he is half asian and not a nerd because we need our dumb asians to replace London Tipton in our hearts).

The problem is that I’m just confused about him. Why does he always come to Devi’s aid whenever she’s in trouble? What is his purpose? Why does he turn up at her doorstep when she doesn’t answer his text messages?

I’m particularly confused (and also extremely worried) about that last question because it’s just weird and uneccessary to turn up to someone’s house when they don’t answer your messages. Maybe I would have let him off if he did it once but this guy does it soooooo many times that it’s started to become a bit creepy. Like chill. Seriously. Not everyone is constantly on their phone to text you back instantly and sometimes I’ve even not answered for a couple of days but you don’t exactly see anyone knocking at my door like “hey, Dana, answer my texts - I wanted to know what fucking ice cream you like”.

Basically, it’s just creepy and I feel as though they’re trying to use that to use that as him essentially developing feelings for her but now he needs to lay off because Devi’s got her eyes on Ben now.

Okay so Ben is what I’m excited for now. The next season will most likely focus on their love triangle and maybe devlop Paxton more to possibly make us really confused on who Devi should choose. Personally, I think she should choose Ben at the end of the day.

Ben started off as Devi’s nemesis and I never really paaid much attention to him at the start because I thought he would just be there for a bit of comedy and to push Devi out of her comfort zone. It turns out that he has pushed Devi out of her comfort zone, in a different way of course (but when they kissed and the camera started panning down I thought they they were actually going to start having sex and I was like omg, whoa, I shouldn’t be watching this but also it would kinda be fulfilling to see Devi choose to have sex with this guy who actually wants her and actually likes her in that moment, fully forgetting about Paxton - it was actually just panning down to another call from Paxton).

I did see a glimmer of something between them but I thought it was just going to be a friendship to add to her group but I’m not mad at how it actually ended.

I feel as though we as the audience will route for Ben more because of that episode that completely centered him, which showed us just exactly how hard Ben’s life is. It was this episode and the Model UN episode that made me think that they might make this a thing (and there was also the fact that he tried to kiss her twice at his house).

It’s also an added bonus that Devi’s mum thinks so highly of Ben because it means she probably won’t have to hide him from her. While, yes, dating a guy who your mother doesn’t like (such as Paxton) is a symbol of rebellion and thriving outside of your family’s hold sometimes it’s not the right option if they turn you into someone completely different. Ben and Devi have this relationship in which she can be her complete self around him and not have to hold anything back or do anything in order to please him. They challenge each other, trust each other (especially with Ben driving her all the way to Malibu and STAYING), and understand each other to a level that Paxton just can’t seem to relate to.

Kamala’s breakup with Steve seemed really out of the blue with her really trying to stay away from an arranged marriage, to plain falling for the guy on the other end of the arranged marriage. Although she did say that she doesn’t want to marry yet I’m still really confused on why she dumped Steve but told Prashant that she likes him. I feel as though it would’ve made a bigger impact if she told both guys she didn’t want them and wants to focus on her aspiring career as a biologist.

I say that but I do see the sparks between Prashant and Kamala with them having a lot of things in common.

I want to end this fairly long review of the entire season 1 of NEVER HAVE I EVER talking about this girl right here, an absolute legend, a queen, the girl who wear a white suit to a sleazy high school party: Fabiola.

This girl is such an icon and her gay panic after summoning (yes, summoning) her whole family to tell them she’s gay (only to end up telling them she switched from AP French to AP Latin) made me both laugh so hard and feel so much pain for her.

When she finally told her mum that she was gay, I panicked. I had to mentally prepare myself to watch this woman shout, cry, question - even disapprove - of her daughter. Instead, what we got was a mother who accepted her daughter and told her that she’s only ever wanted to make her happy. It just made me realise that all that time her mother spent trying to get into her daughter’s love life (after thinking she had a boyfriend) was her version of trying to bond with her daughter and understand her and basically just be a mother.

Well, you know what, she is doing a great job as a mother and I’m so happy for Fab because I know when her mother finds out about Eve (if she hasn’t already) she is going to try and get all the gossip from her daughter and try so hard to take her shopping for clothes that’ll make her look good for dates with Eve (and I am thriving for this).

Her mother’s approach almost reminds me of the mother from Ackley Bridge (if anyone knows that show) who tried to get to know what being a lesbian really is like for a girl by going to one of the most gay areas in the UK. That was just an iconic moment and if you haven’t seen Ackley Bridge go watch that because it’s really good (at first though, after a while it gets a bit trash and you’ll understand).

I hope that season 2 comes quick (but it may not be for a while) and fingers crossed Ben and Devi are endgame, Kamala sorts out what she wants in life, Eleanor finally has a stern talk with her mum, and Fab and Eve finally become official (unless they are already) and we see a story more focused on them.

#never have i ever #netflix #movie commentary #series commentary

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missluthorwillseeyounow · 5 years

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Trust (SuperCorp Criminal Minds AU)

I have 2 SuperCorp versions of this. This is currently my favorite one. Born mostly because Katie in Kevlar is HOT.

DISCLAIMER: I know nothing about the FBI, law enforcement or intelligence agencies, sorry. Also, for the FBI agent watching me, THIS is what all those searches were for, and nothing else:

⦁ The BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) team in this AU is led by J'onn, and consists of Alex, Maggie, James, and Winn. Brainy is their technical analyst. Sometimes I add Sam in as the PR liaison in the team, and Nia as an FBI trainee.

⦁ Lena is in the team, too. She's a transfer from Interpol, and she's had years of experience in profiling, suspect and victim identification, as well as infiltration, under her belt (I also hc that she worked with the CIA and the MI6, mostly in intel, profiling and undercover work). In this version, I kinda put her in Prentiss's role, but y'know, more Lena Luthor-esque.

⦁ Lena is still a Luthor in this one. Lex is a serial killer, and this is part of the reason why Lena took an interest in criminal profiling, and joined the BAU in the first place. She feels responsible for not stopping Lex before he could kill at least 47 people (that they know of).

⦁ Lex started killing when Lena was ten. She'd been shipped off to boarding school, and she didn't know about it. During the holidays when she returned to Luthor Manor, she didn't see it at first, because Lex was very clever at hiding it, but soon, she begins to see signs of his psychopathy.

⦁ In one version of this story, Clark is a reporter who, like Lena, made the connection between Lex and the murders. One night after dinner with the Luthors, Clark sneaks into Lex's study to find evidence he can use for his story.

He’s rummaging in a desk when he hears a voice from the doorway.

"You won't find anything there." Clark whips around to find Lena standing there, silhouetted against the light coming from the hall. He tenses, thinking she's about to tell her brother what Clark was doing.

"If Lex really is behind these murders, and I know you think he is, you won't find anything there. He's not foolish enough to hide evidence here."

Clark doesn't say anything, he just stares at her. Lena pauses, looking away. "I... I didn't want to believe it. Not Lex... He wouldn't..." Steel injects itself into her green gaze. "But the more time I spend with him, the more clearly I see the truth. You see it too, don't you?"

Clark straightens up and nods gravely. “Yes.”

⦁ I haven't thought it through quite yet, but they get the FBI involved, including one agent on the fast track to unit chief, J'onn Jonzz. He meets Lena only briefly, and he's struck by the young girl's keen intelligence and remarkable calm. He's the one who suggests that she consider a career in profiling and criminal psychology.

⦁ Fast forward 12 or so years later, Lena is on the BAU with the others. For the sake of her anonymity (and also because it was necessary for her undercover work), she's erased all connections to Lex and the Luthors (including old photographs and newspaper articles until the name Lena Luthor is but a footnote in the Luthor history with nothing to tie her to who she is now). She's also changed her last name to her birth mother's (and just because I'm also an Adlocker, I hc that her last name now is Wolfe but whatever).

⦁ She's very professional, is revered by the younger agents in the Bureau, well-respected by her colleagues and highly praised by her superiors (they all secretly call her "The Ice Queen"). But she's very guarded and keeps everyone at arm's length, doesn't go out for after-work drinks with the others, practically sleeps with one eye open -- years of working undercover and living with a serial killer will do that to you.

⦁ Until a certain promising young recruit comes along. Special Agent Kara Danvers is new in town -- adopted sister of Agent Alex Danvers, the cousin of one of J'onn's old friends (I don't think teaming family members up is actually allowed in the FBI, so some suspension of disbelief is required here). Since he doesn't want to be accused of nepotism in his own team, he asks Lena to oversee her training and transition into the team herself.

⦁ Kara's sunny demeanor couldn't clash more with Lena's icy, professional front. Lena approaches the task with thinly-veiled impatience and something remarkably close to disdain.

However, Kara quickly proves to be more than a perky attitude and a pretty smile. She squirms at blood, which Lena is initially quick to exploit (What FBI profiler can't stand the sight of a bludgeoned corpse? "We profile serial killers here, not celebrities in high-waisted jeans.") -- but Kara displays true empathy to the victims and their families, she's sensitive to other people's emotions and knows just what to say to get a reluctant victim or witness talking. She's extremely dedicated to catching the unsubs, and relentless in her investigation, and she's extremely handy to have around in a crisis.

⦁ Lena finds this last part out when they're on a case, trying to find a missing girl. The team is headed to the unsub's apartment, but on a hunch, Lena heads to an abandoned warehouse near the apartment, with only Kara as backup. They enter the warehouse, and just as they're clearing the rooms and checking for the missing girl, the unsub attacks Lena and manages to pin her to the ground, choking her. Kara gets there just in time to shoot the unsub in the leg, saving Lena's life.

⦁ Later that evening, Kara and the rest of the team go to the bar to celebrate. Lena is absent, as usual.

Just as Kara is getting another round of drinks at the bar, a low, smoky voice interrupts her. "Didn't profile you as a drinker, Danvers. I wonder what other surprises you're hiding behind those glasses and cardigans."

Kara squeaks and turns to see Lena behind her. "Agent Wolfe! I didn’t expect to see you here-- No, these aren't all for me, I--"

Lena's face softens at Kara's babbling, and she takes a few of the shot glasses from Kara's hands. "You know, I have a rule... Anyone who saves my life gets to call me Lena."

Kara blushes profusely at the other woman’s arched eyebrow. "Well then, if I'm calling you Lena--"

Lena smirks. "Kara it is, then."

For the first time -- much to the gaping surprise of the rest of the team she's worked with for years -- Lena joins them for a post-case drink.

⦁ To everyone's -- and no one's -- surprise, the pair quickly become the best of friends. 2 days into their friendship, Lena starts jokingly calling her Supergirl. 3 weeks later, they start grabbing lunch together.

3 months in, Kara sends Lena a video of herself petting a St. Bernard on the street only to be bowled over in a mass of furry paws and puppy licks -- and the cadets Lena is training are even more bowled over to hear the "Ice Queen" laugh (of course, they're later treated with a scorching glare and a sharp reprimand, but it's a revelation just to discover that she's actually physically capable of laughing).

By 6 months, the whole department is in a secret "will they or won't they" betting pool. A year in, and every other department has stakes in the pool (Alex publicly condemns the pool, but secretly has Maggie bet a hundred bucks for her that "they will" by winter next year).

⦁ But despite their growing closeness, Lena has yet to tell Kara about Lex, or about her life working undercover for Interpol (which includes a decidedly less-good Kate Kane). She decides to bury it in the past, (wishful) thinking that it belongs there. Lena is no longer the same teenager betrayed by her brother when he killed forty people. Nor is she "Lauren Reynolds", the undercover "arms dealer", who had betrayed Valhalla, the woman who commanded a terrorist cell by day and worshiped Lena’s body by night (yes, I put Kate in the role of Ian Doyle).

So she keeps silent. About Lex. About Kate Kane and Valhalla. About the beautiful little boy with wide, trusting eyes, who was not her son, but whom Lena had loved and protected all these years as if he were.

⦁ There are too many secrets, Lena decides, as she shoves them all one by one into their little boxes, clamping the lid securely shut. Kara is too good to be tainted by any of them. Kara, who gets squeamish at the sight of blood, but resolutely hunts each killer like an avenging angel. Kara, who somehow, still believes in the good in people, and when she realizes that there is very little of that to be found in Lena Wolfe or Lena Luthor, Kara will hate her as much as Lena hates herself.

But then the day comes when Lena receives a package in the mail. She reaches in and pulls out two things: a four-leaf clover, and a surveillance photo of Kara and Lena having lunch together. On the back of the photograph are three cryptic little words that fill her with dread: “See you soon.”

[yeah, so I’m binge-watching Criminal Minds with these AU-goggles firmly in place now] Should I continue this????

#supercorp #katie mcgrath #melissa benoist #lena luthor #supergirl #kara danvers #alex danvers #j'onn j'onzz #clark kent #lex luthor #criminal minds #fanfic #supercorp au #i just had to get this out of my head

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queerchoicesblog · 5 years

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The Princess Of Gaul - Pt. 1 (ACOR, Lena x MC)

Hello lovelies! Since I kinda miss ACOR in the drought we’re currently facing, here’s the first part of The Princess of Gaul, a rewriting of the first encounter of Lena and Lucilla (MC). I incorporated excerpts of the original book dialogue and expanded the whole scene, adding context, pre and post scenes, further dialogue and so on. The retelling will alternate Lena and Lucilla POV, as anticipated!

Also, I tagged it as “Lena x MC” even though again, it’s not explicitly romantic and here’s the reason why: as far as we know, 8 years passed since the conquest of Gaul in the original book so I feel MC arrived in Rome quite young. I headcanon her being 16 or so at the time, in any case underage and I don’t feel comfortable writing a romance between an adult and a minor. Moreover, I see the Lena x MC as a slow burn relationship: they fell for each other through the years not “at first sight”. That being said, I threw hints foreshadowing a (potential, if you wish) romantic evolution of their story. Feel free to see it in a friendly way, I just stated that their encounter was written in the stars.

DISCLAIMER: this short series contains excerpts of the original dialogue in ACOR chapter 1. I do NOT own the characters of this story nor the original lines: credits go to PB writers.

Word Count: 1264

Perma Tag: @brightpinkpeppercorn @psychopathdreamer21 @bbaba-yagaa @abunchofbadchoices @silverhawkenzie @bhavf @begging-for-kamilah @melodyofgraves @kennaxval @strangerofbraidwood @crazypeanat

Lena Stans Tag: @korrasamixlover @3pawandme @jellymonster @gayestchoices (+ @ifyouseekheart if I remember well! Feel free to ignore it if you’re not interested!)

_______________________

Lena POV

Lena was uneasy. That night a scarab appeared in her dreams. Her mother once told her that when you see a dung beetle, even if with the eyes of the mind, “the Gods have something in store for you, my dear girl: a change of fortune, a departure, an unexpected encounter…good or bad, who can tell? Oh, only the Gods know! Let’s just say they’re sending you a warning”. She dreamed a scarab the night before the Roman fleet docked on the shores of Numidia and raided her village. She never saw her mother, her dad, and her siblings again. From that day, Lena feared those dreams. So far nothing had happened, it was just an ordinary day. More or less: Caesar’s legions were expected to arrive in Rome any minute and the city was bursting. But Lena didn’t take part to the celebrations: in her scholae it was just an ordinary day.

All of a sudden, someone knocked at her door. It was Syphax: he was panting as if he ran a long mile to get there.

“Domina, Legate Aquila is approaching with his guards”

Lena rolled her eyes, clearly showing how much that visit displeased her.

“Legate Aquila…he probably wants to scold us for not attending the pompous pathetic show of his Triumph!”

Syphax shook his head: he was clueless about the intentions of the general, he hurried to inform Lena as soon as he spotted him walking towards the scholae.

“I don’t know domina, but it seems that they have a prisoner with them”

“A prisoner?”

“Yes, I’m not sure but it should be a girl”

Oh everything was clear now. He wanted to brag about his brave conquest of the Gaul (if killing off tons of innocent people could be considered an admirable act, Lena thought) and to sell one of the survivors to her so that that poor girl would be the new exotic toy of embarrassingly rich and bored Roman patricians.

“I see…they want to sell her. Fine, let’s go meet our guests, are they here?”

“They should be here any minute, domina”

At that very moment, the sound of clattering armors and celebratory chants came from the main hall. Lena sighed and exchange a look with her friend.

“Let’s go, Syphax: may no one say that Lena doesn’t know how to welcome a winning general”

Minutes later the domina was walking into the main hall of her scholae, Syphax in tow. Legate Aquila was sitting there on a triclinium with his lieutenant. They were laughing and bantering with each other. Lena put on her best practiced smile and greeted him.

“The Gods are smiling upon you, general Aquila”

The Legate immediately stood and performed an excessive bow. He was clearly drunk.

“Fair, fairest Lena!” he exclaimed walking towards her.

When he finally approached her, he dramatically kneeled in front of her and took her hands into his to place a kiss on her golden rings.

“Oh general! Please stand: you don’t have to kneel in front of me, especially not after your victory in Gaul”

“Yeah, you’re right” he chuckled standing. “I was just showing my loyalty and reverence to the Empress of Rome: we soldiers are simple men, we slay barbarians but you, domina, you slay our hearts with your grace and girls”

Lena flashed him her best smile, courtly bowing her head to conceal the disgust she felt for that man.

“So, what brings you here in my humble scholae in such a prosperous day?” she enquired.

“Straight to the point, huh? Just how I like my ladies” he commented, winking to his lieutenant.

“Well domina, today I feel so blessed by the Gods that I want to be generous. So I walked all the way here with…an offer”

“What kind of offer?”

“I have a deal for you, domina” he announced triumphantly. “I must be out of my mind but no, that’s how it should be: it’s my way to give back to the Gods”

“Yes but you will take her money” the lieutenant interrupted him, giggling.

“That’s true, Aulus, but I am Rome, right?” Aquila noted turning to him.

“What would you like to trade with my money, general?” Lena enquiried.

“A prisoner. The finest prisoner we caught in Gaul”

“I’m not looking for new girls at the moment, Legate. I’m afraid-”

“Huh huh huh” Aquila hushed her and put his hand on her arm. “That’s what you say now but let me show you what we got here. I’m sure you will change your mind”

That said, he led her to the room that one of Lena’s servant pointed to his men.

There stood a bunch of Aquila’s guards surrounding a girl in chains. She was wearing Gallic clothes, a leather bodice and a leather hat embellished with rabbit fur. Lena couldn’t see her well, her eyesight was clouded by the soldiers restraining her. And she was doing her best to keep up with the Legate’s incessant talking.

He was going through the details of the gruesome siege of the Catauni territories with evident pleasure when Lena got sick and tired of his bragging. She was a prisoner once and stories of raids and conquests through blood and fire always made her stomach turn. Summoning every ounce of strength to maintain her decorum, she interrupted him mid-sentence:

“And why should I be interested in bringing this girl into my scholae?”

Legate Aquila turned to her with a smirk.

“She is a princess of Gaul, daughter of a defeated chieftain” he explained before leaning closer to Lena as if to whisper into her ear.

“Do you know how many men would pay good coin for her?”

“I am not yours to sell, monster!”

The angry shout startled both the general and the domina. It came from the girl who took a step forward and was flashing daggers to the Roman Legate. One of the soldiers immediately pushed her back.

Legate Aquila shrugged and was about to proceed with the deal but Lena wasn’t listening anymore. She moved closer to the girl, taking in her figure. The girl was young, most likely not even eighteen. Her skin was as pale as the moon, the contrast with the finely treated leather of her bodice and black ink of the tattoo on her collarbone just tantalizing. A brown curl was dancing on her cheek decorated with blue painting, probably a tradition of her people. Lena finally leveled her gaze with hers: the princess’s eyes were beautifully majestic. Two emeralds gleaming in the light of the day. The domina was particularly intrigued by what she saw in their depths: fire. A wild fire she knew once too but that somehow got tamed. She saw it burning inside the girl in front of her.

No longer paying attention to the Roman general, she spoke directly to the new girl:

“Whose are you then, little princess?”

There was no mockery in her voice as she called her “little princess”, just curiosity and reverence.

The girl was too furious and scared to notice. She tried to move closer as if to physically intimidate the elegant woman standing in front of her and spitted between her teeth:

“You may pay him coin for me and shackle me like a beast, but I will never belong to you!”

Her jaw tensed as she never broke eye contact with the lady looking down at her.

Lena considered her words for a moment then a smile formed on her lips. She gave a decisive nod and turned slightly towards the Legate.

“I’ll take her”

#a courtesan of rome #acor #acor lena #lena x mc #playchoices #choices fanfic #acor lena x mc series

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habibialkaysani · 5 years

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flarrowverse characters in marvel netflixverse

(wow um I found this in my drafts and I don’t know how long it’s been here for but I figured it would be worth posting given I want insp for my lauryssa fic. not to mention I am possibly making a series of gifsets with these characters just fyi)

so I have had this idea in my head for ages, and I have actually started a multichapter fic (called the devil in star city) starring laurel as matt and nyssa as elektra. but I kinda wanted to flesh it out a bit and see about the other characters in both universes. this is mostly because I am suffering from writer’s block but also because it would be cool to think of netflix marvel characters and their flarrowverse counterparts.

so ofc laurel lance is matt murdock, bc that au is practically begging to be written anyway. the obvious comparison is the fact that they’re both vigilante lawyers but I think it goes deeper than that. they both question morality a lot and are sensitive people. they also both felt like they were abandoned by their mothers to some extent (dinah lance and maggie murdock) and relied more on their fathers (quentin lance and jack murdock). a lot of the time they found they had to pick up the pieces of their fathers, in different ways.

they both have best friends that are also their professional partners (and this is where I headcanon joanna de la vega as foggy nelson - I think because both matt and foggy and laurel and jo have really great banter, which is welcome among the whole legal back and forth, and because they make formidable teams legally speaking). and both laurel and matt are (in my head anyway) head over heels in love with born assassins, which is why nyssa al ghul is my elektra natchios. and I think with both mattelektra and lauryssa there is some bad history between them, but in the end, laurel and matt never stop standing by nyssa and elektra and they never give up on them. I also have talia al ghul as stick, because I think talia and nyssa would have had a similar dynamic to them if they found each other as adults and talia decided to train nyssa.

I think for me, tommy merlyn is karen page - because I am currently writing the third chapter of aforementioned fic, which is set in an aa meeting. I don’t know karen from the comics that well, but I know that in the show she does deal with addiction, so I kept that theme and am looking forward to exploring it further. plus I just love the idea that tommy is the damsel in distress who is saved by laurel lance and joanna de la vega, attorneys at law :) that and I think there was good chemistry with tommy, laurel and jo in season 1 of arrow and that was something I wish we could have seen more of, scenes with the three of them.

outside of daredevil, I kinda love the idea of oliver queen being danny rand, and shado being colleen wing, mostly because she has a dragon tattoo on her shoulder and colleen is known as daughter of the dragon :D not to mention I think it would be gr9 for ollie to be taken down a peg or two and reminded of his privilege the way luke did with him in defenders.

I lowkey want sara lance to be jessica jones and have thea queen be trish walker. mostly I can literally picture sara looking at laurel (not knowing that’s her sister) with a scarf around her eyes saying “you look like an asshole” and laurel replying “it’s your scarf”.

I realllllly love the idea of cisco ramon as claire temple. like can you imagine him finding laurel in the dumpster and laurel waking up and being like “who the hell are you?” and cisco just sighing exasperatedly saying “I’m the lucky guy who pulled you out of the garbage”. cisco works at starling general hospital in the emergency room and like claire he’s an er nurse and the unsung hero of starling and central city.

john diggle is definitely a contender for luke cage, but my misty knight is still unclear. maybe dinah drake? like that would be a lot of fun lbr. and she’s already a pretty badass cop so it would be cool. or maybe it’s just because I still love spartancanary and want them to hook up at least once ;)

mckenna hall is most definitely the brett mahoney of this universe - the one just being tired of all the goddamn superheroes in starling city but who also is reluctantly thankful for them at times. :)

lena luthor would be an excellent jeri hogarth imo - mostly because she gives off sapphic vibes, lol, and has the capacity to be morally grey in an interesting way.

#me.txt #arrow #daredevil #laurel lance #matt murdock #and a lot of other characters i cba to tag #mine #for the characters i haven't mentioned #esp the villains #I would love to have some input #so if anyone has ideas pls let me know

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patricksilverrose · 5 years

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Current Music Obsessions: June 2019

So I have decided to move back to this blog for my "me" stuff. I got bored having the second blog, so we're back to this one. BUT that other blog will stay up so you can continue viewing all the posts on there, and so that I can look back at previous CMO posts. Speaking of which, let's get into the month of June starting with the honorable mentions!

Eternus - Guilt Against Myself - Over the Clouds Visionatica - The Pharaoh Lena Katina - Стартрек Veridia - I Won't Stay Down Timo Tolkki's Avalon - Promises feat. Todd Michael Hall Marina - Emotional Machine Moran Magal - Black Swan Tokio Hotel - Love Who Loves You Back Lost in Grey - The Wasteland

Alexandra Martin - Fire and Light Ember & Dust - Not Insane Hollow Haze - Oblivion Moonlight Haze - The Butterfly Effect Maruv & Boosin - Drunk Groove Seven - Vision/Down Midnight Nightmare - Erotic Violence Port Noir - Flawless

Now for the real obsessions.

Stitched Up Heart - Lost feat. Sully Erna (Godsmack)

These guys have evolved and matured so much over the years. This compared to "Is This the Way You Get to Hell?" is significantly better. Production, writing, hell even Mixi's voice has improved so much. Also it's been forever since I last listened to Sully's voice (haven't listened to Godsmack in maybe 10 years). ANYWAYS, I really dig this track and just how powerful the riffs and Mixi's voice are.

Cellar Darling - Freeze

This sounds like something straight out of Mandylion-era The Gathering and I live for it. The atmosphere and the power remind me so much of that album. And the fact that Anna kinda sings like Anneke fuels that vibe even more. I really want to listen to their new album since it seems very atmospheric so far.

Caelestia - Angel on Fire

This is their newest single and it's a powerful one. It's both very aggressive and very beautiful. These guys really know how to change tone in their songs without it seeming out of place, which just shows you how talented they are at writing. And Dimitra's voice sounds so much stronger here than it was on Thanatopsis. Can't wait to hear what else they have cooking up.

SKYND - Jim Jones

Randomly came across this song one day and added it to my watch later, but thanks to work I never had a good time to listen to it. Then one day a friend of mine shared a snippet of it on his IG story and I found it super interesting and had to listen to it. Holy fucking shit is this song amazing. It's so cool and interesting, yet unnerving. I love it. I'm definitely gonna listen to more from them. And all their songs are based off of true crime/serial killers, which is super fun.

And that's it for June. Hope you guys don't mind me bringing these posts back to this blog, because I'm bringing them back whether you like them or not. Anyways, hope you guys get a chance to check out these cool tunes.

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promisedangel · 6 years

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BronyCon 2018 Highlights

Wednesday

-Pretty rocky day of travel. Ended up getting to Baltimare (yes, I’m going to pun it this whole post) around eleven pm. Mostly because of stops and a storm on the way in. By then, I was pretty cranky. -The Hilton staff didn’t help this. I won’t do into much detail, but let’s just say there were problems with our room situation and the person seemed either untrained or unprepared for this. It ended up taking an hour to get into our rooms because of it >.> I unpacked only a few things before I went straight to bed, still surly.

Thursday

-Day zero. We used this day to go to the aquarium! We got there pretty early so we could enjoy it slowly. The most surprising exhibit was the Golden Tameren Lion Monkey up top in the Amazon Exhibit. He was a lazy little darling. -We got to see the dolphins do a couple of tricks during the nurturing show, where they showed us the dolphins’ curriculum and how they stay in shape. -There was a giant sea turtle! She was so cute! She was in this huge tank with other fish and we finally got a good shot of her sleeping in some coral! -Got to pet a ray in the touch tank and pet some jellyfish! I knew they’re soft, but they live up to the name in spades! -The cafe the aquarium has was REALLY good. Cheap and they give you a lot of food that doesn’t taste cheap. -So, they take a picture on the way in. We decided to get a few copies of the picture. One of our friends wore a green shirt that blended in the green screen. The lovely ladies at the photo desk not only showed us this but also uploaded the picture onto our digital copies for free!! -Swung by the convention center to pick up our badges. Little more crowded than last year but was still an easy pickup. -Most of us swam in the hotel pool. we had a lovely time horsing around. :P -Had some pizza and relaxed the rest of the night. A friend introduced us to the Fallout board game, but we only played for about an hour before most of us were too tired to continue (mostly because of swimmer’s eye for me, I think).

Friday

-Day one. Went to opening ceremonies, but I ducked out early in order to go back to the room and change into my Pinkie Pie cosplay and bring The Cake of Friendship down to the con! -I went straight to autographs and got M.A Larson, the first of many guests we got this time around! His handler REALLY liked the cake. -Met back up with my friends and went with Green Ranger Dashie. A few of us, including him, organized to give Dwillstinator a gift. We showed it to him, the hat, and he flipped out. IT FIT PERFECTLY! -to the cosplay photoshoot. We had some fun talking with Blue Star (I think that was his pony name?) and some Flim Flam Brothers cosplayers had some fun before they were ‘chased’ out of Harmony Plaza by my friends and a few others. -The “Quillin’ It with the MLP Writers” panel was amazing. Nick Confalone was hilarious, Amy Keaton Rogers was a little nervous, but M.A Larson had some awesome deleted scenes from Slice of Life! It was a great panel. -Went to Them’s Writing Words, but I didn’t really absorb much since I was standing, holding the cake, and standing near the back. It was alright. -Went to the community guest panel to FINALLY get Nowacking’s signature. Missed him last year and I’m SO glad I was able to get him this year. -Went down to the vendor hall. Bought a couple of things and took pictures so a co-worker could choose a gift. -Got some food, briefly went back to the vendor hall, and changed out of my Pinkie Pie cosplay. -I placed fourth in the Prance tournament!!! Also, another person from our local meetup group placed first! Way to represent northeastern Ohio! -Briefly went to Bronypalooza. Then I went to relax at karaoke until I finally was able to sing. I was the last one to get a number and I sang “This Day Aria”. -A dance group went after me. They were pretty good. -I was too tired to continue on at this point. I went back to the room and passed out.

Saturday

-Day two. -We decided to try the buffet breakfast at the Hilton. Pretty good! -Jackbox games with the MLP crew was kinda funny and relaxing. -went to “Singing Studio Vs. Broadway”. Lot of interesting information. Not gonna lie; I got a little salty that they cut the question line right before I would ask my question. I was only going to ask Gabe and Michelle what their expeirences in recording western animation vs. anime. I’ve heard form a lot of anime voice actors that there are some differences and I wanted a take from someone who’s more versed in western animation. -A couple friends and I tried to get Tabitha’s autograph, but they capped the line way before we got there. I ended up changing out of my pinkie cosplay early. Came back to get Lena Hall’s signature!! Though we had to miss Tabitha’s panel and Pinkie Tales to get it D: But we got all the singatures we wanted except Tabitha during all that time! :D -Went back to the vendor hall to get a quick present! -caught the end of The Princess Paradox, which gave a new perspective on Twilight’s character development. -Got some dinner then got to the Screaming into the Mic panel. Very informative and fun! -Went back to the room to drop off my purchases and the cake. Then went back down and decided to go to Peter New’s 21+ panel. Lots of laughs and signing strange body parts. I was going to see Gabe and Michelle’s set in Bronypalooza, but this was fun. -Went to the 2D vs. 3D panel. I noticed there was a certain 3D animator there we wanted on the cake. I rushed back up to the room to get the cake and got armademon to sign the cake! -The Advanced writer’s panel was interesting! The five questions deep point was so funny! -Got tired, so I went back to the room and passed out. I somehow didn’t wake when ppl came back at about 2:30 AM.

Sunday

-Final day. -Went to autographs early to get Tabitha St. Germain as soon as we could! I was pretty chill about it, but the two boys accompanying me freaked out either during or after. We had a lot of in line talking with people. -We decided to go down to the vendor hall quickly; I had to show someone in our group where I bought my T-shirts! Decided to explore down there for a while. -At 2, we did an Escape Room based on Edgar Allen Poe. I wasn’t too good with it, but I did help with a couple puzzles and had fun! We succeeded with 9 minutes and twenty seconds to spare! -Ran back down to the vendor hall cuz I forgot to buy a keychain! Got there in time. -We went back to the room because the damn keys no longer worked, even though they said we didn’t have to come back Sunday to re-instate the keys (LIARS!). Ran back down to closing ceremonies just in time to hear the news that BronyCon will be 4 days next year, but will be the end!!! I took it kinda hard at first, mostly cuz of the running around and the ceremony starting with ppl still in line. One of our group took it REALLY hard. -Helped two of our group pack up and leave. They had business monday and didn’t want to be late. -Ended up getting food, but that whole situation wasn’t fun. Not going into details. I’m still surly about it. -I was left to relax alone until bed since I was one of the drivers. Gave me time to catch up on my Tumblr feed the past few days.

Monday

-Time to go home. We checked out before 11 AM. We ended up getting a bellhop to our room. He helped with the remainder of our stuff. Tipped him for his trouble. -One of us ended up getting a hug from Dwillstinator. Now he knows for sure they’re friends. -we said our goodbyes once again to Baltimare. We know that at least a few of us are coming next year. I’m already planning to save up for a big Cadance cosplay, I just need to find a good dressmaker.

#bronycon 2018 #bronycon #promised reacts #long post #I'll post pictures of my swag later

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wardencommanderrodimiss · 7 years

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@scribeprotra replied to your post “There’s some comics I want to draw with this premise but don’t know if…”

I wanna know all your idea you mentioned in your tags so much okay

They meet in a bar. They keep meeting in bars. The first two times Mccree meets Sombra could be coincidence. The third time he should have been suspicious but it was Christmas and he was too smashed to see straight. The fourth time he asks her if she’s stalking him and she tells him that if she were stalking anyone, she would pick a more interesting member of Overwatch to stalk.

He never told her he was part of Overwatch.

But he’d never admit it but he’s lonely, and it’s Sombra’s night to pay for their drinks, so he takes his hand off his revolver and he doesn’t just walk away.

There’s no consistent intervals to their meetings. She scams a few of the criminal bands who put bounties on his head and splits it with him the fifth time they meet. He is watching news about the New Overwatch, whatever anyone calls it, a supposed bunch of lawless vigilantes dishing out their own terms of justice and using that “Overwatch” banner to try and legitimize themselves.

Really it’s a bit like Blackwatch except maybe without quite that much murder.

He snorts when Sombra asks him if he’s going back. It’s probably all idealist kids, the next generation that grew up idolizing Overwatch and won’t give up on that dream even though the real thing came crashing down.

Like Lena.

Like Fareeha.

But Mccree isn’t bitter enough not to be intrigued.

So he goes, and it is the two of them, and more.

He still runs into Sombra, whenever he takes a break, wanders off when he’s finished with whatever mission wherever it takes him. It’s rarer, of course. She’s busy too, but he has new drinking buddies. He’s not quite so lonely anymore.

Of course, she knows he has new drinking buddies, and she looks into them, as she does, and then when she next runs into Mccree she just kinda stares at him and goes, “So, that cute girl you were with the other day…”

“Which one?” Mccree asked, because there’s Lena and Emily and Hana and Fareeha and Mei.

“The one with the eye tattoo,” Sombra says.

“No,” Mccree says, because he loves Fareeha like a little sister and the idea of Sombra hitting on her is too much and also he’s fond of Sombra and he knows that Fareeha would probably shoot her on the spot.

(He is correct, of course, in that one day their paths cross on the battlefield, Overwatch fighting Talon, and Sombra using the cover of Talon’s unsubtle operations to get in and out with the information she needs. She hacks Fareeha down from the sky and cheerfully grins at her, playfully waves, and Fareeha stares at her and hesitates for what would be a moment too long if Sombra were someone who meant to be a threat to her, and then she aims her gun at Sombra’s face and fires.)

(Mccree should tell them, Overwatch, that he thinks Sombra is a member of Talon. Not aiming for their same goals, but using them for her own ends. Tolerating them. He finally does. Then he should leverage their bizarre acquaintanceship to learn more about her. He doesn’t. He should do something to take out Talon’s rogue operative. He doesn’t.)

Genji and Zenyatta show up without warning and Genji has an elaborate plan to break in if need be, if everyone is gone on a mission elsewhere, if no one notices their arrival to let them, contingency plans, and then it doesn’t matter because Athena recognizes him and opens the doors.

A word about Zenyatta, here. He tried the secluded, monastic life, and decided it wasn’t really for him, decided that he would rather walk the world and meet people directly and help them directly. He’s returned to Nepal several times. Genji has come to Nepal, too. Neither of them love that kind of isolation, or, ultimately, the pacifism. Zenyatta is a man - an omnic, a man, tomato tomato - of peace, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a time to fight. That doesn’t mean he isn’t angry in the way that is born of love. Anger at injustice because of love of people.

And so they leave to do good in wherever they go in the world. To fight if they must. Zenyatta has orbs of discord too. He knows how to harness that power too.

So they just wander in and they’ve taken about three steps down the hallway when Lena sprints in and basically pounces on Genji like “You’re back?? You’re back!” because she felt the same kind of listlessness and loneliness that Winson did before the recall. She wants the gang back together again. Genji introduces her to Zenyatta and they talk about Mondatta a little. “I’m sorry,” Lena says, and Zenyatta can pick up on just the depths of not grief but guilt and he cannot grasp a reason why. She doesn’t tell him, today. Later, she does. Later, they talk about her fight with the Widow. Later.

Then Fareeha and Mccree arrive and they kind of tackle him and everyone’s trying to talk at the same time until Genji says, “We could go all the way inside and not be standing around in this hall,” and then everyone just goes dead quiet. Neither Fareeha nor Lena has a poker face. What’s strange is that Mccree has the same look on his face of something between awkwardness and alarm. He’s a better liar than that, though maybe it’s nice for Genji to know that his old friend isn’t really trying to hide anything from him. “What’s wrong?”

Mccree is the first one to speak and he shrugs and says “Sure” and then quickly, with long steps, starts down the hall, hollering, “Ey, Han, your brother’s here!”

Of all the ways to break it.

“My brother is here?” Genji repeats. Fareeha and Lena start talking at once. When they get into the main room, Winston is staring at them, and Hana, Lucio, and Mei are all looking out one of the other doors.

“I have never seen a man move that fast,” Lucio says.

“Is he… running away from me?” Genji asks.

“I mean, he knows you’re alive,” Lena says. “We talked about you in front of him once and -”

“He knows I’m alive,” Genji says, “because I went and told him once.” Pause. “He didn’t handle it well.” Another pause. “He tried to kill me again.”

Mccree makes a noise that’s between a stifled laugh and choking. Fareeha marches off in the direction that Hanzo went. “I’ll go get him,” she says. She asks Athena for help and Athena directs her to Hanzo’s room where the door is still ajar. “Hanzo?” she asks. No response. She steps inside. The window is open. She looks out and down. Hanzo is already halfway down the steep, entirely flat side of the building. They’re four stories up. “Uh. Hanzo? You know,” she says, “when family members come back from the dead, it’s supposed to be a moment that’s happy.”

“He was thought dead because I killed him.”

“I know. We all know. You could try to talk to him at least.”

Hanzo hesitates and then he slowly starts to climb back up and in through the window. “How do you do that?” Fareeha asks. “Genji did it too. We’d find him in weird places. Just… scaled straight up a wall.”

Hanzo’s looking for redemption. He’s said as much. And he’s tried to apologize to Genji’s memory - breaking back into the castle year after year, to the shrine, and this past year was when everything changed, and Hanzo tried to kill his brother again even after he revealed himself as his brother. Hanzo honored the dead, did his best to apologize to the dead. He doesn’t know the words, or the actions, to properly apologize to the living.

But he goes with Fareeha back down where they find Lena earnestly babbling about how Genji has seniority as part of Overwatch but Hanzo joined New Overwatch first so if it came to having to kick one of them out because they couldn’t work together she doesn’t know what she’d do.

Everything is awkward but no one gets thrown out and no one dies or tries to kill someone and that’s progress.

Genji and Zenyatta start training with the others, learning their fighting styles, how to work together. They get added to the chore roster. Genji and Hana are summarily banned from ever being assigned to go grocery shopping together ever again.

#scribeprotra #overwatch #ahahaha oh man i've spent all day writing this #if i end up with any more posts in this universe i've set up i'm gonna need to come up with a tag for it lmao #ah wait i forgot to add the funny bit with genji and mccree that i was thinking but i don't think it fits right here #i guess i might be writing mroe about this and i didn't do anythign with reaper at all yet #anyway the only ships i have intended in this is lowkey mchanzo and sombra/pharah because i don't remember where that came from #i don't know how it happened but i'm super attached to that ship #the new shitpost files of watchpoint gibraltar

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hotvideo · 7 years

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RUSH IT (1977)

COMEDY LEGEND HENNY “TAKE MY WIFE, PLEASE” YOUNGMAN HAS A SON NAMED GARY. I’M GONNA GO OUT ON A LIMB AND SAY THAT GARY WAS ONE OF THOSE FREE-SPIRITED CELEBRITY KIDS OF THE 1960s/70s, YOU KNOW THE KIND. AN AGITATOR, EVER PLAYING HIS PAN FLUTE FOR THE PEOPLE, JUST HIM AND HIS TRUST FUND AGAINST THE WORLD. THE WORLD, IN GARY’S CASE, WAS NEW YORK CITY. BUT OFF-OFF BROADWAY WASN’T HIS BAG, SO GARY CROSSED OVER INTO FILMMAKING. OLD MAN YOUNGMAN GAVE HIM THE GREEN LIGHT, LINED UP THE FINANCIERS AND GARY SHOT RUSH IT WITH ALL HIS NEW YORK ACTOR FRIENDS, IN HOPES OF USING THE MATERIAL LIKE A 78-MINUTE TALENT REEL. THE CAST INCLUDES FUTURE HOLLYWOOD HEAVYWEIGHTS LIKE TOM BERENGER (THE BIG CHILL), JOHN HEARD (CUTTER’S WAY) AND JILL EIKENBERRY (TV’s “L.A. LAW”). AFTER VIACOM ACQUIRED RIGHTS TO THE FILM, RUSH IT PLAYED A LOT ON MOVIE CHANNELS LIKE SHOWTIME. THE SOLE VIDEO RELEASE OF RUSH IT CAME IN THE FORM OF A BIG OL’ CLAMSHELL VHS FROM UNICORN VIDEO, MARKETED AFTER TOM BERENGER’S CAREER TOOK OFF. I TRACKED DOWN A COPY OF THE TAPE AT EDDIE BRANDT’S SATURDAY MATINEE.

RUSH IT IS ABOUT A CAREFREE FEMALE BIKE MESSENGER (JUDY KAHAN) MAKING HER WAY IN THE CITY. SHE’S GOT THAT QUASI-ANNOYING ANNIE HALL THING GOING ON, IF A LITTLE MORE JEWISH AND, WELL, BASICALLY HARMLESS BECAUSE SHE’S IN HER TWENTIES AND ISN’T ANYONE’S MOTHER YET. SHE RIDES AROUND MANHATTAN IN A DUMB HAT, SMILING AT EVERYTHING WHILE BUZZY LINHART’S EBULLIENT SONGS BLAST OVER THE SOUNDTRACK. COULD BE WORSE. I MEAN, THE WORLD DIDN’T COMPLETELY SUCK BACK THEN. SURE, WE THOUGHT IT DID. OH, DID WE EVER! WE THOUGHT IT WAS OVER, MAN. THE SIXTIES WERE OVER. THE SIXTIES WERE GREAT! THE SEVENTIES WERE FAR WORSE. THESE WERE THE POST-WATERGATE YEARS. NEW YORK WAS ONE BROKE-ASS TOILET, AND YET IT WAS KIND OF MAGICAL, TOO.

DISCLAIMER: NO ONE WHO APPEARS IN RUSH IT WAS EVER A BIKE MESSENGER. REAL BIKE MESSENGERS DON’T KICK THEIR FEET UP WHILE TRAVERSING DANGEROUS METROPOLITAN TERRAIN, THEY RUN RED LIGHTS, FLIP STRANGERS THE BIRD AND DRINK FORTIES IN THE PARK. IF ANYONE HAS ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT, A GANG OF THESE CATS WILL APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE, UNBUCKLE THE SEATBELT STRAPS ON THEIR MESSENGER BAGS, MOVE FOR THEIR CHAIN WALLETS AND REENACT A SCENE FROM THE ‘96 X-GAMES. REMEMBER PUCK FROM MTV’s “THE REAL WORLD”? THAT’S A FUCKING BIKE MESSENGER! INCORRIGIBLE, UNREPENTANT B.Y.O.B. PUNKHOUSE SNOTROCKET RASCALS.

“How ‘bout a date tonight, bimbo?”

THIS LUNATIC PLAYS THE PERVED-OUT DISPATCHER AT THE MESSENGER SERVICE. APPARENTLY JOE SPINELL WAS NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE ROLE, SO GARY CAST SOME ELEVATOR MAN WITH A CHECKERED PAST INVOLVING MANY INCIDENTS OF PUBLIC MASTURBATION. HE’S THE MOST AUTHENTIC SLICE OF THE APPLE IN THIS TURKEY. WHY CAN’T THE MOVIE BE ABOUT HIS TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS? LET’S FOLLOW HIM AROUND WHILE HE’S HAGGLING OVER THE PRICE OF A PAPAYA AT HIS LOCAL BODEGA OR CHECKING OUT THE SNATCH ON 42nd STREET.

HERE’S TOM BERENGER DOING HIS BEST BOTICELLI POSE FOR SOME LITTLE CHINA GIRL. BERENGER’S CHARACTER IS A STALLION WHO PREYS ON CITY CHICKS WITH HIS LOOKS, ESCHEWING ALL STRINGS IN THE CLASSIC LOVE ‘EM AND LEAVE ‘EM STYLE. HIS PREFERENCE, ADMITTEDLY, IS FOR “MORE MATURE WOMEN... ESPECIALLY MARRIED ONES.” YEP, IN THE END, HE’S JUST A GIGOLO. OH, BUT WHAT HE REALLY WANTS TO BE IS A FAMOUS PAINTER!

BERENGER TRIES TO PICK UP JUDY, BUT SHE’S HIP TO HIS ACT AND SPEEDS OFF ON HER BIANCHI. THEN SHE BUMPS INTO AN OLD BOYFRIEND, SOME SUIT WITH A FOXY ITALIAN BROAD ON HIS ARM. JUDY CALLS HIM A HEEL AND KEEPS ON PUSHING. SHE DELIVERS SOME SHIT TO SOME ECCENTRIC IDIOTS, INCLUDING A DRUGGED-OUT TALENT AGENT (ANTHONY HOLLAND, ALL THAT JAZZ) AND GAGGLE OF SUFFRAGETTES WHO’VE BEEN CRYOGENICALLY FROZEN IN A GREENWICH VILLAGE APARTMENT SINCE 1917. JUDY TAKES A BREAK AND GOES HOME. HER PAD HAS SOME FABULOUS TOKENS OF SEVENTIES SINGLE GIRL CHIC, INCLUDING HANGING HOUSE PLANTS, CINDER BLOCK BOOK SHELVES AND FRAMED PICTURES OF JANE AUSTIN. SHE RECEIVES A VISIT FROM HER NEIGHBOR, BYRON (JOHN HEARD), WHO’S JAZZED ON SOME GIRL HE JUST MET. JUDY AND BYRON ARE PLATONIC FRIENDS BECAUSE JUDY, WE’RE LEARNING, IS KIND OF A DYKE; NOT SO MUCH IN THE SEXUAL SENSE, BUT IN THE CULTURAL ONE. SHE’S TOTALLY FINE BEING ONE OF THE GUYS UNTIL THE RIGHT ONE COMES ALONG.

THE SUMMER I EXCAVATED RUSH IT FROM THE TOMB-LIKE STACKS AT EDDIE BRANDT’S, I WAS OBSESSED WITH THE ACTOR JOHN HEARD’S EARLY CAREER. IT STARTED WHEN I SAW HIM IN CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER, THEN GREW WITH BETWEEN THE LINES AND CUTTER’S WAY, THEN CONTINUED ON THROUGH A SLEW OF EXEMPLARY ROLES IN NOT-SO-GREAT FLICKS LIKE FIRST LOVE, ON THE YARD, BEST REVENGE, HEART BEAT, AND CAT PEOPLE. DUDE HAD CHOPS, CHARM AND AN IRRESISTIBLY SELF-EFFACING WIT. BY THE TIME HE WAS CAST AS JACK KEROUAC IN HEART BEAT, STARRING OPPOSITE NICK NOLTE AND SISSY SPACEK, HEARD WAS WELL ON HIS WAY TO BECOMING A LEADING MAN. BUT I SUSPECT HE NEVER FELT COMFORTABLE WITH THE HOLLYWOOD MACHINE, HAVING COME OUT OF THE LESS BULLSHIT-Y WORLD OF NEW YORK THEATER. IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES, HEARD ATE AND DRANK HIMSELF OUT OF THE RUNNING. THANKS TO THIS SELF-SABOTAGE, TODAY HEARD IS BEST KNOWN TO THE IDIOTS WHO COMPRISE 99% OF THE MOVIE-GOING PUBLIC FOR PLAYING MACAULEY CULKIN’S DAD IN THE HOME ALONE FLICKS.

BYRON INVITES JUDY TO SOME GET-TOGETHER AT HIS GIRLFRIEND’S PAD. MERRILL (JILL EIKENBERRY) IS A SECRETARY, ER, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT WHO’S REAL HUNG UP ON THAT POST-ROTHKO ABSTRACT SHIT AND ITS MARK ON THE THEN-EMERGING BOURGEOIS HOBBY KNOWN AS DECORATING. FROM THIS INTRODUCTION ONWARD, WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT BYRON SEES IN MERRILL. HE SHOULD REALLY JUST GO FOR JUDY, WHO WEARS OVERALLS TO PARTIES AND IS CLEARLY A GAS.

JUDY MEETS A CHARMING 28-YEAR-OLD JEW NAMED MARK, WHO’S, OF ALL THINGS, A DENTIST. WOW! EDGY! SO THIS GUY STARTS PULLING A LOT OF NUMBERS WITH JUDY, AND SHE’S KINDA DIGGIN’ IT. THEY MINGLE AND GET COZY. THE COMBINATION OF GOD’S EYE AND CARLO ROSSI IN THE ABOVE FRAME IS FABULOUS.

MARK’S “BLEEPER” GOES OFF, AN EMERGENCY BACK AT THE OFFICE, AND HE LEAVES JUDY WITH A SEMI.

THEN MERRILL MENTIONS TO JUDY THAT MARK IS MARRIED. JUDY’S LOOKING GOOOOOOD IN THOSE OVERALLS, AIN’T SEE? I WONDER IF LENA DUNHAM EVER SAW THIS MOVIE.

THE NEXT MORNING, BYRON COMES OVER TO GET A RECAP OF JUDY’S EVENING. THE USZH, SHE’S STILL 25 AND SINGLE.

THIS IS WHAT A DOOR IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE. IF YOU’RE UNDER 30 AND THE DOORWAY OF YOUR BIG CITY APARTMENT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE THIS, YOU’RE WASTING YOUR PARENT’S MONEY. THIS BARE BONES ASSEMBLAGE IS ALL YOU NEED TO PARTY LIKE A TRUE BELIEVER: OLD TERMITE-INFESTED WOOD PAINTED A MILLION TIMES OVER, QUESTIONABLY SECURE, DIRTY AND DELIGHTFUL. MY OLD SPOT LOOKED LIKE THIS. THEN I MOVED. NOW, FOR A MERE $1,000 MORE A MONTH, I GOT ONE OF THEM NEW CHINESE JOBS MADE OUT OF RECYCLED AMERICAN REFUSE AND PARTICLE BOARD, PLASTIC WINDOW SLATS FROM HOME DEPOT (ALSO MADE IN CHINA!), THE WHOLE PATHETIC PACKAGE.

BYRON’S NEW GIRL STARTS GETTING UPPITY ABOUT BYRON’S ASSOCIATION WITH JUDY. JUST WHAT TYPE OF PERSON CHOOSES TO BECOME A BIKE MESSENGER, PRAY TELL? BYRON REVEALS JUDY HAS HER MASTER’S DEGREE, SHE’S JUST DOING THE BIKE GIG COS HER DEGREE IS TOTALLY WORTHLESS AND IT’S FUN RIDING A BIKE IN A CITY YOU CAN SMILE AT COS YOU REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT ALL MEN ARE RAPISTS, DESPITE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM AND SECOND WAVE FEMINISM STATING OTHERWISE.

BACK AT THE BIKE SHOP, THESE TWO JOES PRACTICE THEIR HIGH NOTES FOR SOME FUTURE “CATS” AUDITION.

JUDY SPOTS BUZZY LINHART BUSKING. ALRIGHT! BUZZY KNOWS WHERE IT’S AT.

BERENGER FINALLY GETS THE BEST OF JUDY. HE WRITES HIS NUMBER ON HER BACK AND TELLS HER TO CALL HIM. THAT NIGHT, SHE HAS TO READ IT IN A MIRROR AND INVERT THE DIGITS. TWICE SHE CALLS THE WRONG NUMBER, FIRST IT’S SOME PEPE PERSON AND THEN A PHILIPINO WITH CATFISH WHISKERS. SO JUDY AND BERENGER GO OUT AND BALL. PRETTY SOON, THEY’RE AN ITEM.

BERENGER SHOWS JUDY HIS WORK. HE’S INTERRUPTED BY THE TELEPHONE. IT’S TOM’S OF FINLAND CALLING, ASKING WHERE THE SAILOR’S CAP WENT.

BERENGER TELLS JUDY A BUNCH OF SHIT ABOUT WHAT A SHITTY, SELF-ABSORBED PERSON HE IS -- JUST A SLAVE TO THE MUSE, MAN. BUT HE’S A STALLION, SO JUDY DIGS HIS FEARLESS HONESTY AND ACCEPTS BERENGER IN SPITE OF HIS MANY SHORTCOMINGS.

BERENGER ALSO TELLS JUDY HE’S BROKE AND MIGHT BE MOVING TO PENNSYLVANIA TO LIVE ON A FARM WITH AN AMISH COUPLE HE MET AT NIAGARA FALLS. THAT IS, UNLESS JUDY WILL LET HIM MOVE HIS ART STUDIO INTO HER APARTMENT.

MORE SUPERFLUOUS BERENGER PORN.

JUDY BUMPS INTO BYRON OUTSIDE THEIR BUILDING. HE’S WEARING A SUIT, WHICH INDICATES HE HAS A REAL JOB, PROBABLY IN AN OFFICE WHERE THE EXECS WITH THE GRAYING SIDEBURNS DRINK ALL DAY AND GRAB-ASS WITH THE LITTLE CHIQUITAS IN THE TYPING POOL.

BACK AT HER PLACE, JUDY RAPS TO BYRON ABOUT HER NEW STUD AND HOW TO KEEP HIM. BYRON SUGGESTS A FAKE PREGNANCY.

THEN, APROPOS OF NOTHING, BYRON DOES A REALLY BAD BRANDO IMPRESSION. THIS IS IN NO WAY INDICATIVE OF JOHN HEARD’S TALENT AS AN ACTOR.

BERENGER COMES OVER AND STARTS MOVING JUDY’S STUFF AROUND. JUDY DIGS BERENGER’S TAKE-CHARGE ATTITUDE.

BYRON AND MERRILL HELP MOVE THE REST OF BERENGER’S SHIT OVER. JUDY, MEANWHILE, IS GROWING WARY OF BERENGER’S OPPORTUNISM.

THE NEXT EVENING, BYRON AND MERRILL INVITE JUDY AND BERENGER OVER FOR SUPPER. BERENGER WEARS SOME GONDOLIER’S SHIRT WITH A FUCKING POCKET ON THE ARM FOR HIS SMOKES. AFTER SOME WINE, MERRILL STARTS HITTING ON BERENGER. SHE ASKS HIM IF HE’LL DIG HER PAINTINGS AND LET HER KNOW WHAT HE THINKS. THEY REALLY SUCK. NO ONE SAYS THAT, BUT OF COURSE THEY DO. THEN MERRILL ASKS BERENGER IF HE GIVES PRIVATE LESSONS.

BACK AT WORK, JUDY DELIVERS SOME FILM TO A CASTING AGENCY. THE MANIAC WHO RUNS THE PLACE FLIRTS WITH JUDY. I DON’T KNOW WHY THIS SCENE IS IN THE MOVIE, EXCEPT TO FLESH OUT ITS ALREADY TOO-SHORT RUNNING TIME.

AT HEADQUARTERS, JUDY JOKES AROUND WITH THE HORNY DISPATCHER, WHO SAYS HE WON’T ASK HER OUT ANYMORE SINCE HE KNOWS JUDY’S BERENGER’S OLD LADY.

WE GET TO SEE BERENGER RUSH IT A BIT, TOO. HE DELIVERS A PACKAGE TO SOME OFFICE, WHERE AN OLDER, STILL-FOXY SECRETARY REPEATEDLY ASKS HIM WHAT SHE CAN DO FOR HIM. ALL HE NEEDS IS HER SIGNATURE, BUT HE ASKS HER OUT FOR AN EGG McMUFFIN. GUESS WHO’S BUYING?

THEN BERENGER CRASHES SOME ART OPENING, APPROACHING THE OWNER OF THE GALLERY WITH HIS SLIDES IN TOW LIKE A TOTAL ASSHOLE. THE OWNER TELLS BERENGER HE’LL HAVE TO SPEAK TO HIS WIFE (CHRISTINA PICKLES, THE WEDDING SINGER), WHO, IN FACT, RUNS THE GALLERY.

WHEN THE GALLERY GASH FEASTS HER EYES ON BERENGER, SHE QUICKLY STARTS ASKING ABOUT HIS WORK AND ITS DIMENSIONS.

WHEN SHE’S SATISFIED, THEY MAKE A DATE FOR A STUDIO VISIT.

BERENGER RETURNS TO JUDY’S PAD ELATED WITH THE GOOD NEWS. JUDY’S HAPPY FOR HIM, BUT ALSO KIND OF BUMMED THAT HE DIDN’T TAKE HER TO THE OPENING.

JUDY AND BYRON HAVE A CHAT ON THE WAY TO THE LAUNDROMAT. BYRON REVEALS THAT HE’S PLANNING TO BREAK UP WITH MERRILL.

WHILE JUDY’S OUT DOING HER OLD MAN’S WHITES, SAID OLD MAN SLAVES AWAY IN THE STUDIO THAT USED TO BE JUDY’S APARTMENT. DIG BOWIE’S PINUPS IN THE THE BACKGROUND!

BERENGER RECEIVES AN UNEXPECTED VISIT FROM MERRILL, WHO’S BEEN SUNBATHING ON THE ROOF. SHE ASKS BERENGER IF SHE CAN WATCH HIM PAINT. HE TELLS HER TO COME BACK WHEN IT’S A BETTER TIME TO PARTY, HE’S ON A DEADLINE.

JUDY AND BERENGER GRAB SOME MALTS AND PARK IT ON THE CURB. THE LIGHT’S REAL NICE AND THE WIND’S BLOWING SOFTLY, MAKING THE SCENE PLAY MORE NATURAL THAN THE OTHERS. IF I WAS ONE OF THESE TWO PEOPLE, I’D CHOOSE THIS SCENE FOR MY ACTING REEL.

WHEN JUDY TELLS BERENGER THAT BYRON’S CUTTING MERRILL LOOSE, HE ISN’T SUPRISED. HE TELLS JUDY HE’LL NEVER LET SOME CHICK COME BETWEEN HIM AND HIS PAINTING.

“Don’t EVER buy me a strawberry shake again. I said VANILLA.”

BERENGER PICKS A CONVENIENT TIME FOR THE GALLERY GASH TO STOP BY -- i.e. WHEN JUDY AIN’T AROUND. SHE DIGS BERENGER’S WORK AND BEGS FOR A CLOSER LOOK.

JUDY AND HER GIRLFRIEND FROM THE MESSENGER OFFICE (HARRIETT HALL) GET TOGETHER IN THE PARK TO RAP ABOUT BOYS AND WHAT HEELS THEY ARE.

WHEN JUDY GETS HOME, SHE FINDS BYRON MOROSE AND CARRYING A BOX OF MERRILL’S SHIT TO DELIVER BACK TO HER. BYRON ASKS JUDY IF SHE’LL COME WITH HIM.

WHEN THEY GET TO MERRILL’S, BYRON TELLS JUDY HER COMING WITH HIM WAS JUST A PLOY TO GET HER TO ACTUALLY DELIVER THE SHIT HERSELF SO BYRON WON’T HAVE TO SUFFER THE AGONY OF SEEING MERRILL’S STUPID FACE ONE MORE TIME. JUDY, EVER THE GOOD SPORT, OBLIGES HIM.

“Oh... it’s you. Where’s Byron? OH. Okay. Well, can you tell him he still owes me $4.37 for his portion of the Con Ed bill from July? Thanks!”

AS JUDY AND BYRON RETURN TO THEIR BUILDING, THE GALLERY GASH IS JUST LEAVING.

B-B-BUSTED! WHEN JUDY ENTERS THE PAD, BERENGER’S IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING HIS SHIRT TO ONE NOT SOAKED IN SWEAT AND SCENTED VAGINAL OILS. HE TELLS JUDY HE GOT THE SHOW. SUDDENLY, WITH THE HELP OF A SHORT FLASHBACK, JUDY KNOWS THE SCORE.

AFTER A LONG, CATHARTIC RIDE AROUND THE CITY, JUDY VISITS THE GALLERY WHERE BERENGER’S GONNA HAVE HIS SHOW. THE PAINTINGS IN THE BACKGROUND REMINDS ME A LOT OF THE KIND OF WORK ALAN BATES’ CHARACTER MADE IN AN UNMARRIED WOMAN, OR THAT ARTIST JEREMY BLAKE WHO ESSENTIALLY MADE THE SAME KIND OF SHIT IN THE EARLY 2000s, ALBEIT DIGITALLY, BEFORE HIS TRAGIC DOUBLE-SUICIDE WITH HIS CRAZY WIFE AFTER THEY DID TOO MUCH COCAINE AND CONVINCED THEMSELVES THEY WERE BEING HUNTED BY THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY. IF THIS REVIEW HAS TAUGHT YOU ANYTHING, IT’S THAT I KNOW FAR TOO MUCH BULLSHIT ABOUT CONTEMPORARY ART AND NOT ENOUGH ABOUT MAKING LOVE. ANYWAY, JUDY WINS.

SHE GOES FOR ONE LAST DELIVERY. ONCE AGAIN, BUZZY LINHART’S MUSIC COMES ALONG FOR THE RIDE.

FINALLY, BYRON TELLS JUDY HE’S FOUND THE PERFECT GUY FOR HER: IT’S BYRON!!! WELL, ALRIGHT! JUDY LAUGHS. HARD. THE END.

#vhs #annie hall #unicorn video #70s new york #bike messengers

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v-le · 7 years

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My Trip to S. Korea (5/25/16 - 6/2/16)

Hello, friends!! I am back! Ahaha I have several posts that I’ve been wanting to make, but this one in particular has been fueling my interest more than ever these days. Rather than a review or a rant, this post is simply.. a log? :)

On May 25th of last year, I had the opportunity to travel to Korea as a 16 year old junior. I left school a week and a half earlier than everyone else, but it wasn’t just for fun. I was a part of IVSBP, the Interact Vietnam Soccer Ball Project (s/o to my wonderful team: Rotarians Nick, Marriane, Avis, and Sue, Roteractor Oliver, & fellow Interactors Gina and Abdul), a service project that aimed to bring the power of play to less fortunate children in Vietnam. In 2016, the Rotary International Convention (RICON) was being held in Korea, and I was blessed enough to be a part of the team that represented IVSBP with its very own booth at RICON. In this place, over 45,000 Rotarians from all over the world would gather for several special days.

Each and every day, I documented my journey by quickly (and messily) scribbling each entry onto a currency conversion diagram paper that was partially cut up for reasons I cannot recall. Here is my 7-day “diary”, as transcribed word for word from the paper itself, with extra commentary below each entry:

Day 1

Arrive in Seoul Incheon + struggle tremendously to find driver. Astounded/fascinated/freaked out by tons of tall apts. Notes smog. Eat funky dinner w/ ppl, walked late at night.

Yes, I was admittedly spooked by the massive apartments that stretched on and on for as long as the eye could see LOL. The drive from Incheon to Seoul was one that I will never forget. That foreign feeling of being in a country that I dreamed about so many times makes my heart bulge with longing excitement. Also, our lodging was an Airbnb located in the heart of Gangnam. And so, our first night-walk was one that I wished could last forever.

Day 2

Wake at 6:45 am. Go to convention to set up. Kintex was rly cool. Cooler empty. Ate lunch (self-service). slow business. Went home to rest. Took metro home b/c no shuttles running. Took a long ass time & struggled little bit but managed to get it down. Went to COEX. Good shops, not enough time. Son Hoyoung fansigning + mini stage. Ate kbbq alone + did well even though scary. Home @ 11:30. 1:30 am sleep.

RICON was not held in Seoul, but rather in Goyang, which is a city about an hour away from Seoul. Kintex is the convention center, a massive two-structure building, with its own restaurants inside. To this day, I have spotted several shows / dramas / music videos that were filmed at Kintex as well. The Korean metro system is hands down my favorite part about Korea. It is very affordable, convenient, & easy to use once you get the hang of it. My team and I struggled a little bit at first because we were confused by the questionable red/green colors for some stops & routes, but I quickly realized it simply meant express versus “all-stop”. Myself and two others managed to go to the COEX Mall by metro, which was about a mile from our own apartment. One of my goals for Korea was to see a celebrity randomly, and it just so happened on our first full day! I was shopping in Aland with my friend when she suddenly ran up to me and said “Vanessa, Vanessa come look over here, come with me, there is someone singing outside!!”. We hurried outside, and there was Son Hoyoung, promoting his solo album with a mini fansigning event! After shopping, we wandered the streets of Gangnam once again, settling on a random bbq place for dinner. We were just 3 measly American high schoolers in a foreign country, but we ordered, ate, and paid for everything with ease. It was quite an exhilarating experience.

Day 3

Wake 6:45 am. Preconvention. Slow business. (BTW saw Music Works notice about Song yoo bin busking the night before --> day goal: leave & get to COEX by 6 pm) Talked to lotsa ppl. Managed to rush to shuttle station 9 @ 5 pm. Very late bus out of all 20 stations. Eventually wound up @ COEX at 7:20 pm w/ a very distraught heart. Went & finished COEX shopping. Struggled to eat stew at place w/o menu. Abdul + soju = dafuq is wrong w/ you; gtfo. 1:30 am sleep.

Ah yes, this day will go down as one of the most frustrating/ stressful/ depressing days I have ever experienced. RICON offers 20 different shuttle stations, each w/ their own buses & unique routes that run all throughout Seoul. The one that was crucial for me that day was Station 9, specifically at 5 pm. I remember stressing out the entire day about how we could get permission to leave early enough, which route to use, and simply making it to Song Yubin’s event with ease. And yes, I was able to successfully figure all that out throughout the day’s activities. It was just up to the bus to take us there. Unfortunately, although each station should have had buses running every 15 minutes starting from 5 pm & onward, Station 9′s bus was late to begin with. In fact, there was just one bus at first, but it filled quickly, and with only 3 seats left, we didn’t want to separate our group of 4, so we decided to wait for the next bus that would come in “5″ minutes. Those “5″ minutes trickled into the longest hour of my life. I remember standing in the burning sun, looking towards the end of the street the entire time, keeping my eyes peeled, standing on my tippie toes, my forehead sweating, my face twisting into distress as each minute passed. We finally made it onto the bus around 6:10. Yubin’s event started at 6. I remember falling asleep on the bus ride there, but waking up every ten minutes or so, just to see if we could still make it. By the time we walked out into COEX’s exhibition hall (the same one that Son Hoyoung was at the day before), it was completely empty. I didn’t cry because I wasn’t that petty, but.... I definitely felt extremely down. I had completely missed a once in a lifetime opportunity. To see one of my favorite, young & talented vocalists before he became popular and ventured into the kpop-idol scene. There was just some terrible kinda fate happening that day, in which the world just really didn’t want me to see him. For dinner, us 4 wandered around Gangnam again, but settled for something closer to our apt. It had no English menus nor pictures at all. And so once again (the other time would be the metro debacle), my handy dandy Korean-reading skills helped us out, and we barely managed to order various ... ingredients?? (only ones that I understood, though) that all went together in some sort of soup... To this day, I’m not really sure what we ate, but I remember it tasted delicious nonetheless.

Day 4

Same wake. Opening ceremony cool = k-tigers + Lena Park. Sleep-inducing speeches. Arrived back to booth @ 1 pm. Mango six yucky bubble tea. Left to Namsan. Actually used diff shuttle route + taxi to end up @ Namsan cable car. Went to tower. Managed to wander into Myeongdong. V cool. Metro home.

RICON officially begins! Lena Park performed and I was awestruck. At the convention, there are hundreds of different kind of volunteers, and some of them aid convention-goers with travels going to and from Kintex. We asked about getting to COEX the day before, and this time, we came back to ask about getting to Namsan, because my friend especially wanted to go there. I remember hearing the girls behind the table whisper about how we were just using them for our own personal, mini adventures, and I started to feel a bit embarrassed ahah. Regardless, the shuttle we took didn’t take us directly to the cable car site; we had to take a taxi after it dropped us off. I remember we struggled immensely with flagging it down and relaying our destination, but the driver thankfully understood perfectly, and took us right to the cable cars. From there, it was smooth sailing to the tower. It was very dreamlike, arriving at the top as the sun was setting, and leaving when the night had settled in completely. I remember taking a panoramic picture of the view, which I later used (and still use) as my facebook cover photo LOL. Wandering to Myeongdong was also quite the adventure, for we tried asking a civilian about “Myeongdong market” or something, but could not receive any helpful advice. If anything, I think we simply wandered farther into the city around Namsan, and *poof* there we stood in the middle of all the stores. And of course, we conveniently used the metro to make our way back home from there.

Day 5

6 am wake WTF?!?! Still left @ 7:30 anyway. V tired today. Kept falling asleep + lightheaded. Ate 떡볶이 & fell asleep disgustingly. Waited excruciatingly long for Nick to decide to go home. Left @ 5:30. Got back to station @ 7:15. Ate expensive bbq. 쌈 so good. Ate the snow w/ signatures like 정유미, 인순이, 박서준, 유아인 etc. 100% milk! Very nice lady :) . Gong cha jumbo. cool. Night @ 12 am for once.

By this time, the long days were getting to us, and we were thoroughly exhausted. However, dinner was quite fun, we ate with other convention-goers from the Bay Area as well. To this day, whenever I eat 쌈(ssam), it never compares to the kind I ate in Korea, and I have immediate withdrawals. And im not sure why i decided to write those names in Korean, but yes, the bingsoo place we stopped by had various signatures of celebs plastered around the walls, like Jung Yoo Mi, Insooni, Park Seo Joon, Yoo Ah In, and more. The “ice” was made of 100% milk, which was the entire shop’s selling point, & it was delish. Also, I, of course, had to get my pmt fix at the gong cha located near our apt. too.

Day 6

STOP waking us @ 6!!! Went about the usual day. Learned about fire w/ DC advisers :( . Ate frozen sticky dog for lunch. Fell asleep a lot still. Oliver felt much better: Myeongdong! The travel/transportation ladies seemed to dislike us so we managed to find proper shuttle. Shopped for a while. Felt rly sad that I couldn’t find good stuff for EZ. Going broke. Ate 김치 볶음밥! Yummy! w/ cheeseee. So full; couldn’t finish. Store ppl are scary. Very late. Everyone exhausted except for me. Got home 12:30. Slept 2:15. *written on the side* Gina lost her phone :( .

Not a super eventful day, but we went back to Myeongdong again because we felt like we didn’t have enough time to fully explore the first time we were there. Once again, whenever I eat some form of kimchi fried rice here in the states, it never ever ever compares to the kind we had that night. Literally the best fried rice I ever had. Cheap and generously filled, too. Our team was dead tired by the night, as in they kept falling asleep on the subway LOL. Except I stayed alert, out of duty, amusement, and just pure excitement for another deep night in Seoul.

Day 7

Leftovers for breakfast. Very slow day @ convention. Left later than usual. Fell asleep @ booth a lot. Closing ceremony PSY, but everyone else was p lame. Ravi’s speech was very sleep-inducing; I’m sorry :( . Went to shuttle + left @ 8 pm. Ate super expensive dinner beef 한우 w/ M & N. They r weird. Service 짬뽕! But too spicy. Large Gong cha @ 10 pm; only 5 bucks left :( . But Nick paid for the pmt. Its 1:30 am rn but we gotta wake at 3 am b/c flight @ 7:30 am. I GOT MY PERIOD, FUCK!!!

And that, is how I ended my last log in Korea LOL. The leftovers for breakfast refer to the kimchi fried rice leftovers ahaha. Getting to see PSY was also pretty cool. I’m not sure why I said “beef 한우(hanwoo)“, but yes, it was quite expensive, where like 1 of the slabs of meat costed about 50,000 won! But this restaurant was also where I finally got to experience the concept of “service” in which they gave us free food :’) Also,I’m not sure why I said 5 bucks, but I meant 5,000 won ahaha. Having a flight late at night was quite exciting, for the Seoul nights were my favorite kind of memory overall. Or rather, they were all I really had since I spent all my days at RICON.

Welp, this ended up wayyyy longer than i anticipated, but it was honestly really refreshing to go over some memories that happened over a year ago. Although this trip was mainly for RICON, I had the amazing opportunity to delve into the culture that I had only seen countless times through a computer screen. As Oliver had said, we were volunteers by day, & tourists by night. I enjoyed my time more than I ever expected, and I have promised myself that I will go back. Soon.

Thank you, sk, for treating us so well.

#south korea #travel log #trip #the food was to die for honestly #i will go back to read this each time i feel like im forgetting parts of this trip #i have to go back i swear

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keeplovinanyway · 7 years

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Vidcon Day 1

Just a private little something I’m sharing with those who wanna know! <3

It‘s 21:35 on a Saturday.

In fact, it‘s not just any Saturday, but it‘s my first day of Vidcon Europe, in Amsterdam, on the 8th of April in 2017.

I came back from my day at the convention center about half an hour earlier. My mind is so full, my heart is so full, I‘ve cried but then stopped again because it all is SO MUCH.

I‘m gonna try to get it out into words here, write it all down, recount the day, in an attempt to feel less overwhelmed and more like I‘m going to tackle all of what has happened.

Earlier today, it was 08:10, and I had just arrived at Vidcon. I know this, because I posted it all on my instagram, yeah, that helps a little to relive it all. Thank god I did that.

So, I arrived, and I felt AWESOME. There weren’t many people in the entrance hall and at the registration lines. I went and left my coat at the wardrobe, and then I went to Hall 1, which is where basically everything’s happening.

The hall is huge. It has a glassy, convex (idk) ceiling, very high, so it feels really light. They had booths and everything there. You could see the area where the meet & greets would be happening, separated with a low barrier. There were five lines where you’d queue up later, all still empty at this point. On the right of that, straight when you came into the hall, there was a queue for everyone to pick up their wristbands for the m&g’s. There were quite a few people there, but it was fine. I was just standing there for a little while, taking in the atmosphere, and I was so excited for the day.

Only about 5 minutes later a friend of mine arrived (the lovely Josi), and I didn’t recognize her immediately, but she went up to me and then we hugged and talked. We’ve only met really briefly before, and I thought she was so sweet then, but after today I feel like she’s really become a friend.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. So, she came to me, and we started talking, really easily. In English first, and then just switched to German like that, and then back again, and that’s kind of how we spent the whole day, talking sometimes English, then German – unless there were others we were talking to, of course. In line we did in fact start to talk to the two girls before and behind us, and they were really sweet as well. I can’t quite remember what we talked about – I think one of them was from the US though, I think I remember that, and the other one from the Netherlands? They were super nice.

We finally got our wristbands, and immediately went to the m&g area right next to us and started queuing for Hannah Hart. It was 8:54 (according to my insta) then, and the queuing had started at 8:30. There were a couple people already there, all sitting on the floor in a line, and we joined them. It weren’t that many though.

In line again we started talking to a girl behind us, she was from Edinburgh and really lovely as well.

The time moved really quickly, and at 9:30 both Hannah’s m&g started, and a panel at the end of the hall. We could see the big screen of the main stage really clearly, as well as the actual people on the stage as tiny humans. The panel was called The Power Of Community and Tyler Oakley, John Green and Kati Morton were on it. I really, really would have loved to go there, but then I’d have missed Hannah’s m&g. So I watched from afar, (longingly), and prayed for the queue to move slower.

It went quite quickly then, in fact. We were getting to the front of the line, and Hannah was hugging everyone so sweetly. Two girls, one of those who we’d met and Josi, went before me, and I filmed both of them meeting Hannah. She was so sweet to them, especially Josi, who shared something special to her with Hannah, and I felt really warm witnessing that.

Then it was my turn. I went up to Hannah, and she was kind of turned away, but then she turned to me and hugged me, asked for my name, and pointed out my shirt (“It’s all fun and gay till someone loses their rights.”). And then, I didn’t quite realize it happening, she turned away again and suddenly someone handed her her phone, and she pointed it at my shirt and I think she asked where I got it, and I started babbling on about how I let it ship to Germany and it was expensive, and then she showed me her phone and it was a video and I was startled and laughed and said “oh it’s a video, that’s so rude!” and she actually took a picture then instead, because, tbh, I think that video would have been a bit uselessly with what I rambled on about. Soooo she took that picture and put it on her insta story!! And then, maybe (god it happens all so quickly), we hugged again, and I went off to the side, gushing with the other girls about what just happened.

It is crazy, something like this. I feel very calm in the moment, because, you know, those are just the people I know and love, there’s nothing scary about it! But before and afterwards it hits me that this is something big, and I get really shaky and excited. Kinda useful, how that works for me!

After that, we went really quickly to the panel I talked about earlier. We’d only missed half an hour, so only half the panel. But they actually did questions from the audience for the second half, so we sadly didn’t really get anything of what they talked about.

We were sat quite far ahead though, dazing happily at the stage, probably. At one point, Josi and I waved at Tyler and he saw us and did a little smile of acknowledgement in our direction, and it made me feel soooo happy, just knowing he knew we were there!

After the panel, we quickly looked around the rest of the things in Hall 1, discovered the merch stand and I bought a shirt from Hannah, and then went off to see another panel in the Auditorium, which was located in a different area. As it turned out, that’s also the only place that really has Wifi, so sitting there I just updated twitter a little, downloaded my picture with Hannah and posted that (it’s so cute!!! and she liked it!) and so on. The panel was Being True To Your Voice and the people on it that I knew were Mamrie Hart and Ricky Dillon. Unfortunately, the panel felt a little bit stiff to me, in the way the people interacted and the questions were asked. After the natural flowing conversation from the Power of Community panel before that, it felt a little forced. So I kind of just did use that time mostly for updating the Internet with everything. I also saw that Kati Morton tweeted about doing a little inpromptu meetup in the Europe Foyer (there’s just a bunch of tables), up until half an hour after the panel ended. So after it ended, I immediately went there, while Josi met up with my friend Lena (who we had briefly met before already) to go to a m&g together. Kati was really lovely, I joined her on a table of about 15 people, and sat down directly next to her because that’s where still most of the room was available. They just talked about random things it seemed, and when I sometimes joined in, Kati would acknowledge it in the sweetest ways, like put a hand on my arm or my knee, she’s really lovely. After about 25 minutes she took pictures with everyone there and was so, so wonderful.

I then had a little bit of time where there was nothing to do. It was 12:30, Lena and Josi were at the m&g still, and there aren’t any other close friends. So I got myself a hotdog to eat (I was SO hungry) and wandered around the hall for a while. I managed to actually suddenly have Wifi in the middle of the hall, right before the m&g area, and it went on and off but I used it to quickly be updated again. Lena and Josi saw me standing there and we talked for a while over the barrier, but then I walked around again, once again just enjoying the atmosphere. I’d just been considering going to the supermarket and getting some food for them, when they finished. We walked around the area a little, signing and looking at the huge wall where everyone can write on, and went to the merch stand again. Then they bought food for themselves in the hall, and I bought icecream, before we had to leave to make it to another panel, Kickass Women Doing Kickass Things, once again happening at the main stage area. Hannah Hart, LDShadowLady, Jenn (ugh idk her last name or handle) and Hannah Witton were on it, and they were all incredible. The area was PACKED, so many beautiful people there, and the four of them were so dynamic and wonderful in how they interacted! Hannah Witton moderated the panel beautifully and naturally, I really enjoyed that. They talked about really great things as well, it was so interesting.

Me and Lena left the panel a little earlier though, when they had just started taking audience questions, and made it to our m&g lines. I queued for Mamrie Hart, and the line was really long, because I got in at the last moment possible to catch as much of the panel as possible. Mamrie seemed to be taking her time with everyone which is AWESOME because it’s so much nicer to be actually able to talk to people when you meet them! But for me it was kind of unfortunate, because half an hour later, I really wanted to attend a Q&A on the mainstage.

But for now I was sitting there in a line, and once again started talking to people there. The girl behind me was who I talked to first, she was from the US but lived in ireland right now, and she actually told me that she needed to work on some things, so after we talked for a couple of minutes, she started doing that and I chatted with the two girls before me in line. As it turned out, they were Germans as well, and we switched to talking German then. Especially one of them had a lot in common with me – also being named Laura, being 22, studying psychology! And the both of them were girlfriends and had met on tumblr, and were in a long-distance relationship for two years, kind of similar to my girlfriend and I. It was really nice talking to them!

It became 15:30 then, and the line was still sooooo long, and the Vlogbrothers Q&A with John and Hank Green had just started, so I made the decision to leave Mamrie’s m&g and go to the Q&A instead. I would have loved to meet Mamrie, but I don’t think I regret the decision either, because it was just so awesome to hear those two talk in real life. I really, really enjoyed it!

We were sat in third row quite to the middle for the Q&A, and Tyler’s Q&A was half an hour after theirs ended, so we just really quickly got some even better seats in second row exactly at the aisle, so he would easily be able to see us. The seats actually filled up really quickly, so I am glad we went about it this way. Unfortunately we couldn’t save a seat for Lena, who wasn’t with us at the Vlogbrothers Q&A either.

Then the Q&A started, and I was so awed to see Tyler right in front of me in real life. I probably gazed really lovingly at him the whole time, because you know, just being my heartfelt self. Lisa (his manager for those who don’t know) did the Q&A with him; I think she took tweets for it, but maybe they were questions she thought of themselves. In the beginning I thought it were really standard questions, but then it got a little more casual and deeper (at the same time, yeah, cool isn’t it) and I enjoyed myself soooo much. For the last 15 minutes I think they were taking audience questions, and they were really fun as well!

Tyler interacted with the audience all the time really well though. He always pointed out little things he saw someone doing, or hairstyles he liked, or children in the audience, and even managed to make inside jokes with us in this short amount of time. It felt very much like just hanging out with us, and I think the audience felt the same way.

Something Tyler said that meant a lot to me was, that he found us all so chill and polite when meeting him, and that he loved that. I value that a lot, and it also pleases me, because I always thought it might be true that we in countries that don’t have English as their mother language are more calm about approaching English YouTuber’s. Because we can’t build this huge fandom and hype it all up with our friends; our friends don’t get YouTube, usually!! So I’ve always wondered if we’re calmer because of that, and it seems that is true.

Another moment that stood out was when Tyler gave advice about what to do as someone who’s part of the LGBTQ+ community, but can’t come out for various reasons. The person asking the question asked it very general, but I somewhere thought that this was a really special question to them – and I feel like Tyler definitely took that question to heart, be it for the person who asked or for everybody else. For both, probably. He was very sweet and talked really long about it, talked about holding on, about not giving up, about being valid to yourself. I so nearly cried during that part.

The best moment of it all was, though, really at the beginning. Tyler saw me, and he didn’t just smile at me, but pointed at me and said “hi!”, and I grinned so so hard and then gripped Josi’s leg and she held my hand for about ten minutes until I’d calmed down enough, I LOVE HIM, that made me so happy. It’s such a small moment, and I know this, but just knowing he saw me, recognized me, acknowledged me in this crowd!!, when he is so loved by so, SO many … I will never stop to feel special for that.

Not the only moment I nearly cried, though. That happened a couple of times, I just randomly teared up, just because I felt so damn happy to be there. The energy in this place is amazing, everyone’s so happy and excited and friendly, everyone loves the same thing – I can be my whole nerdy self and no one fucking cares. I feel so blessed to experience this, and I value those moments where I took the time to really take that in.

Well, let’s move on now. Tyler’s Q&A ended, I was still dazed, we got food again and went to the Europe Foyer to attend The Amazing Meetup Is Not On Fire, a fan meetup for Dan and Phil (who weren’t there). Lena and I weren’t all that keen about it though when we arrived, and so we actually went outside instead, sat on some stairs in the sun and enjoyed having Wifi for once. Josi wasn’t too pleased (sorry, love), but I was really happy to have a bit of a more quiet time. While I do want to seize all the opportunities, to me that also means always doing what’s best for me in this moment, and after this whole very emotional day, I’d already been very tired and exhausted. Social interaction is wonderful to me, but it also exhausts me, always. So this time to wind down a little with just two friends, to catch up on the Internet and twitter, I really valued that. I felt very happy sitting there!

After a while we left again, to go to the Saturday Night Featured Creator Show. That was just a lot of people performing on stage, moderated by two YouTubers. I was really tired and not that excited about it, because, well, all the input and the interactions. It was 19:30 at this point. But we went there, and I was pleasently surprised by the first 40 minutes at least! Kati Morton talked again, it was really moving and special and she cried and was so lovely. I cheered her on a lot, because she fucking deserves it. Then there was a person I didn’t know talking about loving herself, about body positivity; again, really moving. There were a few other people and then there was some stuff that I just wasn’t that interested anymore, so at around 20:40, Lena and I left.

Well, and now I am here. In my tiny, tiny hotel room, in the city of Amsterdam, all alone (finally oh god), and I feel so, so much better after writing all of this down. This felt like a huuuuuugee pile of emotions and thoughts and memories in my head, and remembering all if it in such a structured way, well, this is great.

And maybe some of y’all enjoy it too, even though it’s so fucking long.

I am really tired (god, I wrote 50 minutes on this), and really excited for tomorrow. I should write something like this tomorrow as well. We’ll see. I’ll do what’s best in the moment. :)

I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE <3 :)))))))

Good night!

#mine

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