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englishstrawbie · 4 days

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Station 19 7x09

Now that was one hell of an episode! Forgive me, this might get long.

Carina DeLuca, I was a little mad that you tried to ruin another sexy moment with baby talk but then you did that little lick before you kissed Maya's abs, so all is forgiven. 🔥 Also Carina describing Maya as her "hot, hot, hot wife" when the episode gave us that ending felt intentional and mean.

The mutual "I love you", the nose rub, the kiss... I love these sweet moments between them. And then there was the "I'll see you at home", which said just as much, like they were willing it to be true because they both know that the wildfires are going to be a hard fight. Especially after Carina had just been treating a patient whose husband was lost in the woods.

"What if this is it? What if I never see him again?" ... we all know where Carina's mind went at that moment.

"I'm sure he's doing whatever he can to find his way back to you" ... oh, I hope she hangs on to these words when she finds out about Maya. (Assuming she does...? It seems to me like they need to get Maya out of that fire pretty damn quick, before Carina even has chance to find out.)

"Monogamy is for the weak" ... "Or the very very dedicated, that's what I said - and that's who I am now" ... THANK YOU for remembering the whole line. It drives me crazy when people only quote the first part, when the second part of it says a whole lot more about who Maya was then and who she is now. That said, I have mixed feelings about the idea of her offering to get pregnant if Carina can't - because the whole point of pushing the IVF at the same time as adopting Liam is because it's Carina's dream to carry a child and experience childbirth. Still, it says a lot about how much she's changed that she's even willing to think about doing it.

THE ENDING. I expect it's been said enough already but HOLY SH*T. What a way to end the episode, to set up Carina for joy and heartbreak at the same time. Stefania's acting was on point in that moment, the little "no" of disbelief when Helm told her she was pregnant and her "why, do you think it's Maya's?" joke. Contrasted against Maya's absolute panic as the flames surrounded her (even if the special effects of the fire were a little distracting). I don't actually believe it will end in heartbreak, I very much believe that Maya and Carina will get their happy ever after with lots of babies. If anything, I suspect we may see Maya question her job with the fire service again as it feels like it's been leading to that - and I'm still not keen on that idea, but (as someone else pointed out to me) if that's her decision, at least she makes it on her own terms.

Although, at this rate, Andy is going to be left with a team at 19 made up of her ex-husband and Beckett. 👀

I loved all the Maya and Andy scenes we got, I'm glad their friendship has been more prominent this season. I love hearing them both say how proud they are of each other.

Maya Kathleen? Didn't they mean Maya Katherine, after her mom?

All the throwbacks to previous episodes and scenes were great and I hope that continues into the next episode. Dibs on the puppy. Hughie. The five OGs on top of the fire truck was such a wonderful scene, watching them all get into the same position as the last time we saw them there. It made me sad that Dean and Jack weren't there.

"We're 19 - family forever" ... ❤️❤️

I hope Theo getting hurt doesn't interfere with Vic's plans to move to DC with Crisis One. It's where she belongs. I love the idea of Travis going with her, although he has good chemistry with the new guy whose name I don't remember.

This was an A+ episode for me and I really really hope next week's finale lives up to the same hype.

#station 19 #maya bishop #carina deluca #my rambles

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sarcastic-gypsy · 1 year

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The Station 19 storyline...

Am I the only one who absolutely hates the Beckett and Ross/Sullivan storyline? It seems way too dragged out by now. Why enable characters like that in a show as popular as station 19? It doesn’t add up with the statements of the writers wanting to stand for inclusivity and equality. It would have made sense it the writers actually tried to make a point with it, or if there in any way had been foreshadowing to future episodes to sort of create a bigger picture of things. Yet now it seems that the storyline is that way simply just for the sake of it, and due to writers not being able to or wanting to come up with better storylines. Plainly, it just seems like its promoting misogyny, sexism, homophobia, and chauvinism.

The same goes for the sidelining of Travis, Vic, Carina, and Maya. Why do they not have more screentime each and in interaction with each other? It seems that Andy, Ross, Beckett, Sullivan, and or other side characters are constantly in the picture as well. Travis and Vic should have a bigger storyline as well, where we actually see them interacting with Maya and Andy outside of the station.

The Jack redemption storyline? I’m just not buying it. It seems extremely hypocritical when compared to the way that Maya has been treated. Both Jack and Maya have been in the wrong with some of their actions, as well as some of the things they have said, but suddenly it’s all “station 19 protect our own, we’re a family” when Jack is suffering and pushing people away. Where is that energy for Maya? Where are her friends? It’s really sad to see the way the show has ruined her friendships with Andy and Vic. They really made Andy and Vic treat Maya terrible and say horrible things about her. I miss seeing Andy, Vic, Travis, and Maya interacting and actually spending time together and supporting each other!

So, it seems that Jack is allowed to suffer and be a person who treats others terrible, but when Maya is suffering because of a demotion caused by her saving a kid its everyone for themselves? Why drag that storyline out so much, but allow Sullivan and Beckett to continue their chaos and shitty treatment of others seemingly for no good reason at all? That just doesn’t speak anything other than hypocritical to me.

And sorry to say it, but it’s literally the most out of character thing ever to have Carina and Maya to suggest that Jack should be the donor and have them continue to actually use him as a donor. Also, yes I see why Carina would be able to forgive Jack, it’s so in her nature, but to practically swoon over him? That would literally never happen, Carina wouldn’t do that - what were the writers thinking? Lastly, that whole storyline with the Marina baby, everything was wrong about it, and it was extremely disrespectful to all queer/non-straight womenx. Please STOP putting men into/between the storylines of queer/non straight women like that, it’s just so unnecessary and weird? Both Jack and Maya could have had great storylines respectively without interactions such as the one carried out in that storyline.

I definitely also think it was the wrong choice to make Travis treat Emmett like that, it seemed to out of character and unnecessary. They were such a great couple, and Emmett was such a great addition to the show. Definitely feels like the show is missing something without Emmett and Travis/Emmett as a couple.

Last but now least, give Carina more screentime and a bigger storyline, she’s a series regular for god sake, act like it. She’s literally one the most popular and one of the best characters on the way, it’s time the station 19 writers and producers recognize that. The same goes for Marina, stop dragging this baby storyline out so much please, that would not have happened if it has been a straight, cisgender couple and that’s just sad. Stefania and Danielle are way to talented to have their characters disrespected like that, and Marina is way too important to be disregarded like the writers have been doing for a while now.

Sorry for the rant, but it just made too much sense in my head to not get out.

#station 19 #marina #maya x carina #maya bishop #carina deluca #travis montgomery #vic hughes #stefania spampinato #danielle x stefania #danielle savre #barrett doss #jay hayden

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evita-shelby · 2 years

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I love your writing!!! I was hoping you'd write my request about Luca comforting your character Eva after a miscarriage?? If you are comfortable writing something like this that is. If not it's ok too. Tyia!

The empty nursery

Cw: miscarriage, loss of a child, grief

Gif by @twvstedsouls

“I was thinking Felicidad if it’s a girl.” The witch put a ring on a necklace and held it over her belly.

She was barely showing and already she had begun making plans.

“Could be a boy you know.” He wants to stay and indulge her, but he doesn’t want the risk of running late again.

While the company was mostly a front, her family was putting great effort into making it a real company.

“Have you seen my wedding ring, tesoro?” It isn’t where he always leaves it at night, not put away with the rest of their things and he isn’t surprised to see it dangling over her belly.

“Yes. Its doing something important right now.” She answered as she offered the necklace to him. “Would you do the honors, Luca?”

“You will make me late to work again.” He says as he comes to sit on the bed and takes the necklace from her.

“If it moves in circles, it’s a girl, if it moves back and forth it’s a boy.” Eva explained as they waited for the ring to move.

It moves slightly and moves back and forth.

A boy.

“Leonardo.” He says surprising her. Most men would name their sons after themselves, but Luca isn’t most men.

In six months, he would be a father.

In six months, he would have to update his will to include his newborn son.

Leonardo Changretta Smith, two last names as it’s custom in Mexico.

“Lucky bastard, a boy on the first try.” Matteo had two daughters before Stefania finally gave him little Alessandro last year.

The telephone in his office begins to ring and he hopes whatever it is will be quick.

“Is this the office of Mr. Luca Changretta?” the calm and steady voice asks and instantly her knows it is unwelcome news, the only time a nurse calls you is for bad news.

“Yes, this is he. How can I be of service to you?” Luca asks hoping they won’t try to distract him with small talk.

“Your wife, Mrs. Changretta suffered a fall today and had to be admitted to our hospital---” the nurse begins, and he cuts her off.

“Which hospital?” he demands and signals for Matteo to take over for today.

Luca can’t seem to get there fast enough; he is still running when he is being shown to her in the room they had her in.

“What happened to her, is she hurt?” he asks the doctor waiting for him outside the door.

“She fainted, a simple fainting spell, but I am afraid there was nothing we could do to save the baby.” The doctor answered almost as if he could understand the pain these words brought. “I am very sorry for your loss, sir.”

Eva had lost their child.

Just this morning they had discovered they would have a son, a son they had named and loved even before he was born and now, he would never be.

“Does she know?” he is not prone to emotion, but Luca can’t help but choke on the words.

Eva stares at the windows and refuses to even look at him. Not when he moves the chair as close to her bed as can, not when he pressed a kiss to the side of her temple and not when he takes her hand in his to comfort her.

“I’m sorry, Evuccia, will have more, I promise you.” He said softly.

She hid it well, but he could feel her grief.

She never cries loudly; Eva barely cries at all. Got used to hiding her sorrow so much, her own body has forgotten how it works.

“But we will never have him.”

She comes home the next day, but she is not the same woman he left after breakfast yesterday.

Yesterday she had been filled with life and now she is empty.

Yesterday she had seen her little Leo fit in the hand of the midwives as her body expelled him from inside her.

Yesterday she had set out to begin decorating a nursery for the perfect baby boy she’d have.

Eva had already chosen the theme, how she would remodel the room and find a way to get a skilled woodworker to make a toy ship like the one she used to have as a girl.

And now that will never happen.

She could have a thousand little boys with Luca’s eyes and smile, but they will never be Leonardo. She will never be able to hold him or see him grow or hear his first laugh.

Eventually the bleeding stops and her body has seemed to have healed, but her heart hasn’t.

Days turns to months and Eva hates how people want her to try again because somehow that will make it better.

Eva hates the pity and those stupid sayings like God wanted another angel. She hates that women aren’t supposed to even acknowledge their pain because you weren’t supposed to be so attached to something not yet born.

Luca had made it worse by having the housekeeper just lock up the empty nursery so she won’t have to see it.

Easier to move on if you can’t see it.

But that isn’t her way, her way is to be confronted with it, to know it happened and to live with it.

This morning Eva steels herself and goes into the nursery.

It’s empty, with only a few dressers and the half-assembled crib that had arrived that day.

Even in its emptiness it hurt her like knife to her heart.

Eva falls to her knees and for the first time in ages, lets herself grieve.

“It wasn’t your fault, Evuccia,” she doesn’t hear or feel him come in ,its only when he comes and holds her on the dusty rug as she cries . “These accidents happen.”

Eventually it will pass, she knows this, there will be good days and bad ones, but it will pass.

Eventually they will have their happiness back.

#eva smith shelby #luca changretta x eva smith #luca changretta x oc #luca changretta

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mayasdeluca · 2 years

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The writers have really done everything I didn’t want. And from the promo for next week, will continue to do terrible shit…and to think last week I was like okay maybe this could be good. I think I need to take a break from S19 for a while. And I’m now more convinced than ever that this is Danielle and maybe even Stefania’s last season.

It's hard when we still have expectations for this show knowing they've already let us down so many times because it continues to be some of the same frustrating things over and over, especially the double standards and sexism. Last week did seem promising since their fight on the roof was well done but then their conversation this episode just didn't have much point at all to me. I guess they're trying to drag it out more but in the beginning of the episode you have Carina acting all cold towards Maya and then by the end that's somehow reversed and Carina is trying to talk to Maya (I guess based on a convo with Jack? But why is she able to show sympathy towards Jack so easily but not her wife) and then Maya is cold and it's just a stupid cycle. A break would probably be good if all it's doing is making you miserable.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it's the last season in general. The lack of promotion is flat out weird and it just has that vibe but I guess we'll see. If it's Danielle & Stefania's last then it's definitely mine as well because that's the only reason I'm still hanging on at this point lol

It does feel like they're pushing Maya into a corner of no return though. Like she's going down this dark road, I'm sure she'll hit rock bottom and then something will happen to make her get help and maybe things will get better with Carina but then what? It's not like she can get any higher at Station 19 as far as her job is concerned. It's clear that Andy will be the next captain so I do wonder if they would ever write her out as Maya transferring so she could captain elsewhere or something but who knows. If I were Maya I would've left a while ago since they all treat her like trash.

#asks #anon #station 19 spoilers

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jazy3 · 3 years

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Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X7

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

They did it! I can’t believe it! They actually killed DeLuca off! I’m so happy right now! As long time readers will know I have never been a Andrew DeLuca fan and I speculated back in the summer that they might be planning to write his character off after it was revealed that the planned finale for Season 16 included an explosion that was supposed to claim the life of one of the characters. I speculated that DeLuca was the most likely candidate with Tom and Jackson being the most likely runners up because I felt that they had gone as far as they could with DeLuca’s character and there wasn’t much left for him to do on the show.

Add that to the fact that the actor who plays DeLuca said a bunch of stuff to the press last year where he spoiled some pretty major plot points and stated that he knew things about where the show was going when he hadn’t even read a single script for the season yet and I was pretty sure his days were numbered. That being said, the show had teased us a bunch of times about firing, killing, or writing off the character during seasons 15 and 16 and they never went through with it so a big part of me was skeptical that they ever would.

But it turns out I was right! His days were numbered and they wound up killing him off in the Mid-Season Premiere! I’m still in shock. It hasn’t really sunk in yet to be honest. This episode honestly made me wish we’d gotten to see the remaining episodes and finale of Season 16 as planned. Based on what we know it looks like the plan was for Richard, Bailey, Meredith, and Carina to stage an intervention, DeLuca was to go away and get treatment and return to the hospital only to die tragically in an explosion.

Season 17 would have opened with the characters finding out about that and mourning his death and I think it would have been interesting to see Meredith navigate that as in the Finale Hayes asked her out and she said yes. It seems likely that if the COVID-19 Pandemic had not hit when it did and shut down production and altered filming for this season we would have seen Meredith and Hayes go out for a drink and start dating.

Seeing Meredith navigate the loss of her ex-boyfriend who she was no longer close to while in the beginning stages of her relationship with Hayes would have been very interesting and I’m sorry we didn’t get to see that. I’m also sorry that due to safety restrictions Meredith and Hayes haven’t had much screen time this season, but it looks like that’s about to change as I’ll get into a bit later.

Back to the episode at hand. I never liked DeLuca as a character and I hated him with Meredith so I’m glad that they killed him off and that we never have to deal with that nonsense again. I’m glad that they caught the human trafficker Opal and took those people down. I was never super invested in that storyline so I’m glad they wrapped that up. I feel so bad for Carina though. She’s a great character and is wonderfully acted by Stefania Spampinato.

My heart broke for her in this episode because while I won’t miss her brother I know that she will and will be absolutely gutted when she finds out that he’s died especially after she worked so hard to get him help and treatment for his Bipolar Disorder. I’m glad she has Maya there to support her.

LOL at Bailey sleeping through the whole damn episode! What did I miss indeed! That poor woman slept through DeLuca getting stabbed, almost dying, not dying, having surgery twice, and then actually dying as well as the other shenanigans going on at the hospital. I loved that she was asleep at Meredith’s bedside especially after they spent a good chunk of Season 16 fighting.

I also feel really bad for Richard in that he’s obviously grateful that DeLuca helped save his life and wanted to help and when Owen turned him down because it wasn’t a good idea for him to scrub in Richard lurked in the background in the OR gallery the whole time to make sure that everything was okay. Plus he can’t talk to Meredith about it right now because she’s in a coma which must be so difficult for him. The extra stress also puts his sobriety at risk and that worries me.

I got to be honest I am struggling to understand Teddy’s point of view this season. She’s being really awful! She’s being cruel to Tom. She was cruel to Owen. I don't know what Teddy expected to have happen. Both Cristina and Amelia walked away from their marriages to Owen and moved on with their lives in large part because they realized Owen was in love with Teddy and always would be.

And then she finally gets what she’s wanted all these years and the minute she realizes Amelia’s baby might be Owen’s and not Link’s she runs back to Tom and has a several months long affair with him and then drops him like a hot potato as soon as she realizes that the baby is Link’s and after Owen finds out about the affair she refuses to talk to Tom for months and then comes crawling back to him and wants to be his friend after Owen makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her. WTF?

I feel bad for Tom. I really like his character. He’s super interesting and complex and he deserves better than someone who treats him like that. Tom is a good man at heart and he treated Teddy like gold and in return she’s done nothing but break his heart and stomp all over him when he’s already down. He deserves someone better. I’ve never been an Owen fan, but honestly Teddy is behaving so horribly I’m on his side on this one.

They had some great scenes in the OR together, but Teddy clearly read too much into it. Every time he gives her a crumb she’s convinced he’s forgiven her and wants to give her a second chance and that’s not it at all. Owen has been clear. He doesn’t forgive her and he doesn’t want to get back together with her. All he wants is to co-parent peacefully and work together as colleagues because he values her skills as a surgeon. That’s it.

It was cute to see Teddy Face Timing with Leo. I’m glad they are finding safe ways to incorporate the kids into the story. Speaking of which, the scene where Amelia and Maggie tell Zola that her Mom has been placed on a vent and she might not come off it was heartbreaking. That kid has grown into her own as an actress and really holds her own in that scene.

Her line about how she didn’t want them to tell Bailey or Ellis yet because they’re too young to understand broke me heart. Zola’s only a few years older than them but she’s old enough to understand the impact of what’s happening in a way that they can’t. And she remembers how hard it was when Derek died. When Cristina left. When Alex left. She doesn’t want to put her siblings though the same thing especially when Alex’s departure is still so fresh for them and they never got a chance to really know their Dad. The fact that Zola can recognize that at such a young age is raw and heart breaking.

We saw Winston and Maggie reconnect this episode which would have been super hot and enjoyable if Meredith hadn’t just been put on a ventilator! The scene where Jackson showed up looking for Maggie was too funny! I loved the scenes with Jackson, Link, and Winston in the backyard having beers! Winston has a great sense of humour and seems to be a calming presence. I like the idea of those three being friends.

Link’s face when he realized that Winston doesn’t know that Maggie and Jackson used to date and are also step-siblings. I’ll be interested to see Winston’s reaction when that comes out. I loved Link’s rant about how worried he was about Meredith and what her declining health and potential death was doing and would do to Amelia. Did anyone else catch that he called Amelia his wife? I’m calling it. They’re foreshadowing an Amelink wedding!

I liked hearing Jackson talk about how Meredith is family and they’re all worried and Winston’s comments about how all they can do is just keeping moving physically and metaphorically. I’m also loving Amelia and Maggie’s wardrobes this season. Their sweaters in this episode were gorgeous! Hats off to the wardrobe department! They’re looking good!

I loved seeing Jo and Hayes work together again because I love their friendship, but to be honest I was expecting more of the friendly teasing and banter of last season where she egged him on about Meredith and they traded barbs. Their scenes in this episode were a lot more intense and agitated. She totally played him with that line about Meredith.

He kept saying no to taking Luna to see her Mom and so Jo made it personal for him. If Meredith asked to see her kids Hayes would never say no and he would move heaven and earth for her. By making that connection Jo got him to agree to her plan. I also love that the reason he kept saying no in the beginning was because of what happened to Meredith.

She went from laughing and joking to being put on a vent and he doesn’t want to run the risk with any other patient and it’s obviously eating him up inside. He misses her. He cares about her and he’s clearly terrified about the possibility of her not waking up. That being said, Jo’s line where she compared Alex leaving her for Izzie because he found out he had kids he didn’t know he had and sending her a heartfelt letter to Hayes spending years watching his wife and the mother of his two boys die of cancer was way out of line. Super not okay. I really think that Jo is going to adopt that baby. I think that’s why they are setting up her interest in OBGYN.

In other news, Nico is still a terrible boyfriend to Levi. I honestly don’t know why Levi puts up with him. Levi really shone in this episode I think. He felt responsible for what happened, but instead of bungling things and making things worse like he might have done in the past he got out of his own way and asked Dr. Khan who was a vascular surgeon in Pakistan prior to immigrating to the U.S. to take his place.

I feel like this episode implies that the Beach is limbo now as I don’t know how else DeLuca could have ended up there as he wasn’t someone who was close to Meredith the way that Derek, George, Richard, and Bailey are. Not sure how I feel about that as I was kind of liking the is it a COVID dream is it the afterlife ambiguity.

Onto next week’s promo! I’m not excited that they appear to be setting up an episode in which the other characters mourn DeLuca’s passing as none of the other characters apart from Carina were really that close to him. They spent the last two seasons establishing that everyone hated his guts, considered him a nuisance, and only put up with him because they had to. So to me the other characters mourning him doesn’t feel authentic or real. It just feels forced.

There are several things I am excited about though. Seeing Maggie’s reaction to his death I think will be interesting. She was visibly upset and ran to his side when Alex beat him up in Season 13 and mourning the loss of your ex-boyfriend who you were no longer close to while being in a committed relationship with someone new I think is an interesting dynamic. She’s kinda standing in for Meredith here because she’s on a vent.

I’d like to see Catherine support Richard and make up for her horrible behaviour last season. And the best thing of all: Hayes!!! In the promo trailer we see Hayes sitting at Meredith’s bedside talking to her about how she needs to fight and how they all need her to fight. Bring it on! It’s about damn time! And Derek’s back and he’s … fishing? I’m excited to see what happens there and if they actually get to talk and have a real conversation this time. It has also been announced that Sarah Drew will be returning for a cameo as Dr. April Kepner this season so I’m excited for that!

Until next time!

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sole-cuore-amore-e-droga · 3 years

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Belgium brings their ex-vocalist back to Rotterdam 2021

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Here we chop chop boys like we chop chop wood

This review space would’ve been reserved for Belarus. Unfortunately, their broadcaster was not ready to make nice, and ultimately refused to serve EBU with anything but not-even-so-thinly-veiled propaganda, so much so that EBU, after all they’ve given the time for them for to snap out of it, finally had to be like “bye bitch” (- Lizzo) with enough push from the fandom, and informed everyone that Belarus will miss this year’s contest <3

Which means that I don’t have to deal with 41, but with 39 writeups to do overall, if my timing permits! The Roop could’ve always used a little less competition, anyway /j

Speaking of The Roop’s competition, time to aim at another one of their semifinal folk with a review. Come forth, Belgium!

ARTIST & ENTRY INFO

Hooverphonic, eventhough they’re not as big of a name as Flo Rida, is the biggest act to compete in this year’s Eurovision, and even had lasted longer as a thing than Flo Rida. He barely even got his proper famous kickstart around in the 2000s. Hoover have been around at least for 5 years more than him, if “Years active” section on Wikipedia is anything to go by. And back then they were just known as Hoover, correct. Their lineup of singers has changed for quite some time, but otherwise the band since its inception is rooted in basically two men: Alex Callier and Raymond Geerts. They used to have a keyboardist too but was he a part of their glory years in 2000? No? Thought so, he’s irrelevant then. In fact, their first vocalist wasn’t even present on their first album, so they went to have another one, who did just one album with them before 2000 and left. Now I’m only constantly and consistently bringing up 2000 because that’s when they had their break out moment in relevancy - after they changed their singer once more before they found someone called Geike Arnaert - the woman you’re seeing on the MV’s thumbnail right now, and not someone certain for whom there was a public outcry for she is the only Hooverphonic component that’s not coming back from 2020 to 2021. But more on that later. I’m here to present you the break-out hit, for those who just don’t know:

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I used to like to think of Hoovers as trip-hop sensations, well not in the style of Massive Attack because they have their trip-hop sound with actual hip hop thrown in, Hooverphonic’s style is that but with a tinge of symphonic.

Well, “Mad About You” wasn’t really the only hit they had, before that they got a bunch of minor and domestic hits, and their music was used for soundtracks. So it’s a little bit cheating still to think of “Mad About You” as their breakout hit, but that’s still the biggest song of the band. If I were to recommend you stuff from them that aren’t necessarily the biggest hits but still, “The Night Before” with yet another one of their vocalists is pretty good.

So when I tell you that Hooverphonic is a band of a very long career. Well some bands do survive a lot without having their lineup change for 10+ years, but Hooverphonic vocalistes come and go sometimes, and for 2020 forray, when they were first announced, they came in to that talk show studio where they were guests in with a promising little starlet Alex Callier found at The Voice Belgium (for the Flanders region) and was her mentor there, Luka Cruysberghs, as their current vocalist.

Is it just me or her and Stefania Liberakakis look like they could be cousins?

All went smooth and dandy, until Alex started spouting stuff about Eurovision the fans found not amusing, such as calling Eurovision a circus or something, later begging and pleading to medias that his statement was “lost in translation” - now I would say it happens to the best of us, like for Tornike, but deep inside I think I know Alex meant what he meant, inside or outside context. Because everything just went even more sour when everyone found out Hooverphonic were missing from the common song “Love Shine a Light” for the 2020 consolation programme in place of Eurovision, and when they were forced to explain, Alex just straight up said he didn’t like the song, so he decided to not do it. Fuck, I myself don’t adore the 1997 winning song, but I like it, and would’ve still done a piece of that song out of respect. Take it or leave it, god damn. Also they were noted to be the only people plugging in their other material in the time when Eurovision 2020 artists on the consolation programme were either saying inspirational stuff or “hope to see you soon!” or a combo of both, once again, courtesy of mostly Alex. Now I’m not saying his ego is bigger than Kirkorov’s... of fucking course not, no one has an ego bigger than Kirkorov’s. The only thing that can beat him in that regard is if someone booked Kanye West for Eurovision last minute.

Following 2021, they were very excited to jump on the “leave 2020 songs behind” train, while a few artists like VICTORIA and The Roop rallied for to keep their entries in tact if they were allowed to. And with that, in late 2020, they went ahead and celebrated the 20 years of “Mad About You” by getting rid of Luka as a vocalist and bringing back the aforementioned Geike to reprise her part. Seems pretty reasonable, but for the Eurofandom it was simply seen as a dick move, and mostly for the reason that all 2020 artists deserve a 2021 chance, even if they’re band members. What felt more dickish is that Luka was straight up told “byeeee u’re no longer our bandmate xo” on a Zoom call between band members. Like, it’s fine to be told you’re fired in person, even if still humiliating, because what’s the other better way? What’s equally worse is to be told this via email, but the email you were sent was sent like a few months ago and you only read it NOW. At least I guess that proves we know what the “sad and losing game” was that Luka asked to be released from now, heh.

Not to worry Luka-stans, as Alex will still have her, just as not the part of the band anymore. But instead give her a solo career. Yeah well we’ll see how long that lasts.

With the 2000 glory heydays lineup of Hooverphonic we have their entry be “The Wrong Place”, as the completely quite different song they promised (or didn’t) when saying that they will certainly and absolutely get rid of their old one for the 2021 if they had a choice. What they didn’t get rid of is the theme of the worse part of relationships - “Release Me” is about probably wanting to be let go of and released rather than kept by the side when it’s probably not working out. “The Wrong Place” is one of those episodes that probably happened during then - they had a house conflict, she chose to have a smoke to forget about it, the man’s after her Johnny Cash T-Shirt. Not much else to say about the song’s technicality fortunately than I’ve already said so much about the band, so how does it fare in the Hoover-lore, for me?

REVIEW

See, I would like to root for Luka ever having her chance to get to experience Eurovision if she wishes, but maybe it’s lowkey for her own benefit she wasn’t the chosen vocalist for the song, as Geike could do “Release Me”, but Luka wouldn’t be able to do “The Wrong Place”.

“The Wrong Place” is well-suited to the first vocaliste’s melancholic blend-in timbre, and a singer like Luka would sound a little too light on this with her soft-spoken sound of her voice. Besides, I don’t think she could be old enough to relate to the lyrical subject’s domestic struggle issue. Not to say 20 year olds don’t smoke and drink, it’s just that “The Wrong Place” feels a little bit too much mature enough.

Although I think that both of them could absolutely rock the music video visuals.

The song itself is very Hooverphonic. They used to do this kind of standout triphoppy sound back in the days, but as of lately they kind of grew out of the label to do more of the music that kinda sounds like movie soundtrack music. Idek the exact label I could give it to their music so move soundtrack music it is I guess. It has a decently paced structure (could’ve done without the overly repetitive ending where they repeat “you’re in the wrong place” over and over, like ffs I know where I am!!), and interesting lyrical choices. Such as “organic cup of... tea”, as in, WOW! HOOVERPHONIC HAS ENOUGH WITH THE TEABAGS FULL OF GROUND AND GRINDED TEA! THEY WILL ONLY MAKE TEA FROM PURE HERBS AND FLOWERS, AS IT WAS USED TO BE DONE! and acting like her Johnny Cash T-Shirt is the kind of prized possession her man is not allowed to wear to rub it in her face. Imagine if it was something more mundane. “Don’t you ever dare to wear my... pink polka-dot T-shirt”? Damn right it doesn’t seem to suit the mood lol.

It’s not what I exactly wanted from Hooverphonic, but probably what I subconsciously needed from them anyway, ever since they were announced for 2020. I only got into “Release Me” sometime AFTER the contest, “The Wrong Place” is a bit more instant to stand behind. So well done to them to commit to their craft.

Approval factor: I guess I do have to stamp this with my stamp of approval. It’s nice and all. Follow-up factor: “The Wrong Place” follows up as a more of a Hooverphonic discography track after the fairly average and overlookable “Release Me” (eventhough the latter has the tinge of theirs as well because it’s a more symphonic ballad, and they do have symphonic stuff on their discog afterall). As a Eurovision entry, it comes across as even better somewhat, and even slightly more standout, but that might not necessarily work in their favour. Qualification factor: And that’s because they’re absolutely stranded in the semi with too many qualification choices to name. Belgium gets to be a bit quasi-obvious, but they’ve failed with a Hooverphonic-penned song before, plus, the pop girlies of this semi are more likely to eat out a band like this alive, but I wouldn’t exactly say Belgium is doomed to fail either, because I am positive Hooverphonic will think of something. I’m just saying that shocking things can happen every now and then.

INTERNAL CORNER

Well, considering Alex Callier is not running his mouth this time as much as he did so last year’s season, I think it’s safe to say that Hooverphonic have had nothing to write home about.

No, wait...

Well I did mention that Luka got replaced as one of the events that happened to Hooverphonic’s lifetime, but thank God that Alex promised her a solo career, right? Right?

Well, apparently, we’re getting towards it.

And the first lyrics of her first solo forray post-Hooverphonic-vocalist-duties features the lyrics about possibly her making someone “regret it”. Lol now watch this song to be a karma kick into Hooverphonic’s ass if Belgium happens to not qualify this year. Luka forewarned y’all with sharp precision.

Annnnnd that’s pretty much it, besides the band jumping on the trend of turning their entries into a Festivali i Këngës 59 acoustic night European version by presenting their own acoustic version of this track. I did not have the kind of courage to link to the Azerbaijan’s “slow version” on their review in fear of overruning my post even longer than they would usually be for these reviews, but at least it moves people to a certain degree

Well, my question of the days is, does “The Wrong Place” in acoustic make you sad twerk?

youtube

ANY LAST WORDS?

Belgium’s big weakness is when it comes to stage their entries, notably for the last two years where the Eurovision actually happened. Sennek was awkwardly put in the middle and succumbed to the curse of Lucie Jones of grimmacing too much and therefore ruining her score in the process, possibly. Eliot was just simply upstaged by the decision to include big drums on stage. Alex Callier acknowledges all that sort of thing, so if anything goes absolutely right and Hooverphonic manage to make it to Rotterdam (which I think they can do because Belgium and Netherlands are neighbours lol? unless their lockdown rules get super strict in May), he should get on to mending all the flaws that Belgium had in the past for staging, and have a spectacular vision. Because it’d be sadly hilariously ironic if Hoovers miss out on the final due to the staging again. Can’t just constantly blame the vocalist - Geike would be flawless live, if Hooverphonic trusted in her for so many years. Can’t blame the song - it’s not too bad. So staging, I guess.

Good luck Hooverphonic, you’ll certainly need it. Also can RTBF consider that they could send anything else from the Wallonian music scene other than The Voice Belgique acts~

#eurovision #eurovision 2021 #rotterdam 2021 reviews #belgium #hooverphonic #the wrong place

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calzona-ga · 3 years

Link

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven’t watched the March 11 crossover episodes of “Station 19” (“Train in Vain”) and “Grey’s Anatomy” (“Helplessly Hoping”) on ABC.

RIP, Andrew DeLuca: surgical attending at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, ex-boyfriend of Meredith Grey, brother of Carina DeLuca, and, as of ABC’s crossover episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Station 19″ on Thursday night, murder victim by the hand of a henchman in a trafficking ring. Yes, DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) was stabbed by one of the human traffickers he and Carina (Stefania Spampinato) had chased through Seattle, and despite receiving care at his own hospital, he died. But his efforts weren’t in vain, we learn: The traffickers are all arrested.

It was the culmination of a “Grey’s Anatomy” story that had been cut short by the COVID-19 production shutdown in March. In what turned out to be one of the final episodes of Season 16, DeLuca suspected a patient was being trafficked by her so-called “aunt” who had brought her to the hospital, but because he was in the middle of a manic episode, no one believed him. In the midseason finale of “Grey’s” in December, DeLuca — medicated for his bipolar disorder, well-rested and clear-eyed — spotted the trafficker, Opal (Stephanie Kurtzuba), and this time, he wasn’t going to let her get away.

In an interview with Gianniotti, who was on “Grey’s” for seven seasons, he said that when he learned how his character was going to die, he’d wanted to make sure that it was apparent that DeLuca — “a very brave and noble person,” in Gianniotti’s words — go out as “a pillar of representation for people struggling with mental health.”

“It wasn’t that he was unmedicated and unrested, and that’s what led him to put himself in a dangerous situation,” Gianniotti said. “This was the most DeLuca thing DeLuca has ever done.”

In the episode, as DeLuca hovered between life and death, he communed with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) on the beach where she has spent most of this season, also in a liminal state, having been taken down by COVID in the season premiere. There, Meredith has hung out with Derek (Patrick Dempsey), her dead husband, and George (T.R. Knight), her dead friend — as well as characters who are still alive.

Of his beach scenes with Meredith, Gianniotti said: “You see DeLuca more happy and relaxed than you’ve ever seen him ever on the show, because all of those stressors are all gone. And he’s with the person whom he loves, which puts them even more at peace.”

“Grey’s Anatomy” — now its 17th season, and still the one most watched shows on television — is itself in limbo, according to showrunner Krista Vernoff. With negotiations with Pompeo for a contract extension ongoing, Vernoff told Variety she has to “plan for both contingencies” as she and the writers room map out the end of the season — or the series.

Though DeLuca is dead, Vernoff revealed that we haven’t seen the last of him — that’s what the beach is for, it seems. And Gianniotti, mentored by “Grey’s” executive producer-director Debbie Allen, returned recently to direct an episode that will air in the spring. He will miss the fans, Gianniotti said: “I’ve never seen a show be so beloved. To feel that love, and have felt that love over the seven seasons has really been remarkable.”

As Vernoff said, “He’s still in the family.”

In an interview, Vernoff talked about how she conceived of DeLuca’s death, the difficulties of not knowing whether the show is ending and how shooting during COVID has changed “Grey’s Anatomy.”

And what in God’s name is happening on the beach!?!

You killed DeLuca.

I’m the worst.

How did this story come about?

Honestly, the story told itself to me. I went for my walk on the beach to come up with my pitches, and these episodes came in whole cloth, like a vision. And I was like, “Oh, no! Really, that’s the story?” And it was. We knew as I pitched it that it was the midseason finale story.

Sometimes stories tell themselves to you, and your heart just breaks. You’re like, “That’s not what I want the end of that story to be!” But that’s so much of life this year.

Can you talk about killing a major character this season, and having the cause of death not be COVID?

That was born, I’m certain, of my psyche wrestling with all of the ongoing tragedies and traumas in the world not stopping due to COVID. There’s this feeling of injustice, like, no, COVID is enough. But sometimes you’re going through all of it at once.

Can you talk about putting DeLuca on the beach with Meredith, and the larger meaning of the beach as a storytelling device this year?

The beach was born out of desire to have an escape from the pandemic.

We came back before almost anyone else. And the actors were scared, and nobody really knew for sure that all the safety protocols were going to work. Doing the pandemic felt like the right thing creatively, but it also felt like the thing that was going to make the actors feel safe to come back to work, because they were all going to be able to be in masks. And if they weren’t, they would be outside. And once the decision was made to do COVID, and then the decision was made to give Meredith COVID, it felt like a way to get Meredith outside without a mask, and in a non-pandemic world.

If you’re a magical thinker like I am, that beach is a real magical in-between place. But if you’re not, if you are not a believer in magical things — if you are an atheist, a scientist, a whatever, my stepsons don’t believe in a magical place — we’ve designed it very carefully so that it also could just be a dream. So anytime someone’s on that beach with Meredith, they are also in her room so she’s hearing their voices from her hospital bed.

When DeLuca visits her on the beach, for me, DeLuca’s between life and death. For my stepsons, Meredith heard in her hospital room that something happened to DeLuca. So now she’s dreaming DeLuca! I wanted very much for the motif to work no matter what you believed.

It just feels to me like whatever you believe, that’s right.

DeLuca has been on the show for a long time. What did you want his final episode to say about him?

I think he went out a hero. I think that he went out fighting for what he believed in. And he was through his mental health crisis. He’d become a very productive member of the hospital staff. And he wasn’t going to let this woman walk away again.

What was it like when you told Giacomo Gianniotti what was going to happen to DeLuca?

He was so relieved that I was not having him kill himself, or go out in a mania frenzy. And he was excited to play it — he played the hell out of it. He actually does appear in a couple more episodes this season. And he’s directing an episode.

I’m going to assume that Meredith wakes up and finds out that he’s dead. Do you see the beach as a place she’ll have an awareness or a memory of in any way?

Yes.

OK!

I don’t have too much more to say about that, because I don’t want to spoil too much. And also: Sometimes I change my mind. But at the moment, yes.

It’s been such a heavy season for both “Grey’s” and “Station 19,” reflecting the world right now. But I know that’s not necessarily where your heart is as a storyteller. Can you talk about where the thinking is on continuing “Grey’s Anatomy”?

When you’re living through a pandemic, and you’re coming back amidst a pandemic, and you decide to do the pandemic, the nature of the storytelling turns a little bit darker. And so for this moment, it is where my heart is.

And I also feel like my heart as a storyteller, my sense of light, and my sense of hope and beauty and joy that infuses most of what I do is expressed through that beach. The joy, the collective joy for all of us in getting to see Derek Shepherd again, getting to see George O’Malley again, in getting out of the hospital and getting onto the beach, and seeing Meredith’s relief there — I know that we’re worried about her, but also there’s joy.

And in terms of whether or not it’s the last season of “Grey’s Anatomy,” I don’t know. And that’s the truth. I wish I knew. It’s a source of frustration at this point. And it sort of doubles my job, my workload, because I have to plan for both contingencies. But I am. And God willing, I’ll know soon.

It can’t end like this! Can you reveal how many episodes will be in this season of “Grey’s Anatomy”?

17.

That’s a lot.

It is a lot. Yeah, it’s a lot, considering what we’re navigating.

Will anyone else be joining Meredith on the beach?

Yes! But I won’t tell you.

Returning cast members or current?

There are some surprises in store.

Now that you have shot more than half the season during COVID, can you talk about what you’ve learned over the course of the year?

The crew is exhausted because they’re behind masks and visors all day. The masks and visors are dehydrating and stultifying, and as a result, you need more breaks. You need to send everybody off the stage to take their masks and visors off to hydrate. You can’t ask everybody to be there for 12 or 13 hours at a stretch. So we’re shooting 10-hour days. And that is a really significant change to what we’re able to accomplish and shoot.

What I’ve learned, and I’m continuing to learn, is how to write the show in a way that makes it producible — we cannot have scenes with as many characters in them. And we cannot have as many scenes. And we cannot have as many locations! Because we can’t have as many company moves. All of it has to become smaller, and that changes the stories we tell. If you usually have five or six people in a scene, and now you usually have two people in a scene, sometimes the whole cast isn’t in the episode. You look at an episode and you’re like, “Where’s Amelia?” Well, she’s home with the kids! We didn’t make the company move.

I think that there are silver linings: Deeper, longer richer scenes are really beautiful things sometimes. But they’re different for “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Do you see a light at the end of the tunnel, both for these fictional characters and for all of us?

Yes, I do! I feel like we’re all living the light at the end of the tunnel right now as our parents and grandparents get vaccinated. And as we begin to emerge, hopefully, from this year of cocoon. I feel like we’re living in in some light, and I do see a light at the end of the tunnel for these characters,whether this is the end of the series or the end of the season.

There’s so much coming up! I know this one is going to be devastating for the fans. And I feel it too. I cried harder watching this episode, this cut, than I’ve cried since I watched the episode where George O’Malley died. And that is a really powerful tribute to the character that we built and to the actor.

#grey's anatomy #krista vernoff #andrew deluca #giacomo gianniotti #variety #spoiler #17x07

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ragazza-paradiso · 3 years

Text

my eurovision 2021 ranking (before rehearsals)

hey!! 🤍 i’ll try to keep this short & sweet (and bear in mind some of these are subject to change & depend on my mood) but this is my rough ranking of this year’s entries based solely on the studio cuts <3

dislike:

39. 🇩🇪 jendrik - i don’t feel hate: i knew this would be my last place since i first heard it. he seems like a nice guy but this type of music is just. not for me? in fact i don’t think i’ve ever even managed to make it all the way through since my first listen :/

38. 🇱🇻 samanta tina - the moon is rising: i love love LOVE samanta & think she is an absolute gem but this song & me simply do not go together. that being said i appreciate both her voice & the message

37. 🇵🇱 rafał - the ride: while this is slightly catchy & seems to be an ear worm for me, i cannot take this song seriously. rafał looks ridiculous in those sunglasses in the music video. the lyrics are awful too

neither like nor dislike:

36. 🇦🇱 anxhela peristeri - karma: this is very strange because usually i am the no. 1 fan of ethnic influenced ballads at eurovision, but i just do not get this one. i can definitely see the appeal but it’s not for me

35. 🇲🇰 vasil - here i stand: i think his voice is great however the song doesn’t do much for me. i find it quite forgettable & think he was definitely capable of giving us something better which is a shame

34. 🇫🇮 blind channel - dark side: i enjoyed this quite a bit when it first came out but it’s quickly slid down my ratings. the lyrics are too edgy for me & it’s a throwback to a genre of music that i don’t really enjoy anyway. but i can appreciate that it sticks out & does something different

33. 🇨🇿 benny cristo - omaga: i was a massive fan of kemama last year & while i liked this upon first listen, i have to say its far too generic to really stick out after a while. plus some of the lyrics are a bit creepy lol. having said that i think seeing him perform it live could definitely change my opinion

32. 🇸🇪 tusse - voices: another year, another generic well produced pop song from sweden. should we be surprised anymore? it’s okay, i don’t hate it, but i’m struggling to find anything i like about it. plus the lyrics are the most “eurovision cliche lyrics” i’ve ever heard

31. 🇬🇧 james newman - embers: okay while this is ranked relatively low, i have to say this is better than anything we’ve sent since 2017. it’s a nice song, i enjoy it when it’s on, but i don’t have an urge to play it, if that makes sense?

30. 🇲🇹 destiny - je me casse: i know this is probably blasphemy but i just do not understand the hype around this song. destiny has a great voice but i don’t see how this song sticks out in anyway that it’s the favourite to win? it’s another one that i won’t skip but i won’t seek out to listen to

29. 🇦🇹 vincent bueno - amen: i do enjoy this, but i wish it just had a bit more oomph. the lyrics for the verses are good but the chorus is just lacking something. i do think this could be a dark horse to qualify though

28. 🇸🇮 ana soklič - amen: i just realised the two amens are right next to each other on my ranking lol. anyway, this is only so high because of her amazing voice. the song doesn’t really do anything for me, but you have to appreciate that level of talent

27. 🇺🇦 go_a - shum: this is one i know i’ll appreciate more live, but i just can’t get into the studio version. plus i really liked solovey last year so this one seems worse in comparison

26. 🇲🇩 natalia gordienko - sugar: this is good but i think all “dream team” songs are a little bit dated nowadays. however saying that i love the music video & moldova always improve live

25. 🇵🇹 the black mamba - love is on my side: this has been a big grower. it’s not a favourite, but i think it definitely has its niche, and i can appreciate that

24. 🇳🇱 jeangu macrooy - birth of a new age: grow was in my top 5 last year, so it was always gonna be hard for jeangu to deliver something as good. this has grown on me, but i’m still not 100% on board

like:

23. 🇳🇴 tix - fallen angel: i didn’t like this at first because i was so heartbroken that keiino didn’t win the national selection, but i’ve gotten over it now lol. it’s cheesy but in a good way, i think this act doesn’t take itself too seriously either which makes it more enjoyable

22. 🇸🇲 senhit ft flo rida - adrenalina: it’s fun, catchy, even has a surprise verse from flo rida! probably san marino’s 3rd best entry ever (justice for complice & crisalide 💔)

21. 🇨🇾 elena tsagrinou - el diablo: it’s just a very good pop song. i’m not in love with it but it’s of a very good quality (well. apart from the lyrics). i’m sure the staging will improve it even more

20. 🇬🇷 stefania - super girl: greece is one of my biggest growers from last year, i think this is a MUCH better song than supergirl was. i’m really rooting for stefania

19. 🇪🇪 uku suviste - the lucky one: this has been such a big grower, it’s insane. i can recognise it’s not the best song but i just really like it for some reason.

18. 🇪🇸 blas cantó - voy a quedarme: i’m a sucker for native language ballads, and this is a pretty standard one, but it’s good to me. blas seems like a real sweetheart too, which helps :)

17. 🇨🇭 gjon’s tears - tout l’univers: this is another one of those songs that i really should love, and while i like it, i can’t really connect with it. gjon’s entry last year was my second favourite, and unfortunately this doesn’t scratch the same itch that did, it’s still a very good song & i completely understand why it’s one of the favourites to win

16. 🇧🇪 hooverphonic - the wrong place: i really don’t like hooverphonic as a band (actually it’s mostly alex callier that i dislike) but this is just a good song. i am still upset that luka didn’t get to go to eurovision though :/

15. 🇮🇪 lesley roy - maps: another massive grower! i much prefer this to her song last year. i really hope ireland can get their shit together & give this song the staging it deserves

14. 🇦🇿 efendi - mata hari: this is basically a carbon copy of cleopatra, and i guess i liked that so i like this. however i will say it has dropped in my ranking a bit. i’m ranking this solely on the song, efendi herself is a different matter & i’m not really educated enough on what’s happening in azerbaijan/armenia to comment but from what i’ve seen it’s not the best, let’s say

13. 🇱🇹 the roop - discoteque: i prefer on fire from last year, but this is definitely not a bad effort. i can’t see it as a contender for the win though. another one i will probably enjoy much more live

12. 🇷🇴 roxen - amnesia: i really like the message of this song. i just wish she would work on her english pronunciation, but that’s a minor complaint. but i really like roxen as an artist

love:

11. 🇷🇸 hurricane - loco loco: i love girl groups, and this is no exception. vocally they’re really good, i love that it’s in serbian, & i also just really love sanja vučić lol

10. 🇭🇷 albina - tick tock: i wish this was fully in croatian, but i think it’s a great song regardless. i loved her performance at dora so hopefully they’ll do something similar/even better at esc

9. 🇧🇬 victoria - growing up is getting old: i preferred tears getting sober from last year but this is still really good. the lyrics are some of my favourite of this year, they really resonate with me. victoria is a really interesting artist & i’m really glad she got introduced to me through esc

8. 🇮🇱 eden alene - set me free: the revamp has made this move like 20 places up in my ranking lol. she is so talented & i just hope they have a good staging concept!

7. 🇮🇸 daði og gagnamagnið - 10 years: think about things was good but i think this is even better! i love the retro influences & the lyrics are so sweet

6. 🇬🇪 tornike kipiani - you: i might be one of the only people who adores this song. the lyrics paint such a clear picture of a simple, strong love. and i think it’s quiet but powerful at the right moments. i know i will be heartbroken when this doesn’t qualify :(

5. 🇫🇷 barbara pravi - voilà: i played this too much & ruined it for myself, but i love it again now. very authentically french but without overdoing it (cough 2017 staging cough), just a beautiful song

4. 🇮🇹 måneskin - zitti e buoni: i’m not a massive rock fan, but a song like this i just vibe with. it’s just so good. italy is always either my no. 1 or in my top 5 since they returned (apart from 2012 & 2014) and they’ve done it again. this is definitely a contender to win

3. 🇦🇺 montaigne - technicolour: this song is eclectic but i love it. i didn’t like don’t break me, but this is so much better, and so much more authentic to montaigne as an artist. i know it’s divisive, but i’m on the side that loves it

2. 🇩🇰 fyr og flamme - øve os på hinanden: this is just so fun. i love the 80s vibe, the performance at the national selection was simple but still very engaging. this is one i will play for many years after the contest

1. 🇷🇺 manizha - russian woman: where do i even start. native language, ethnic influenced sound, important message, charismatic performer. this song is amazing. and i’m so glad i’ve found manizha to listen to!

so that’s it!! if anyone wants to chat about their thoughts please message me!! 🤍

#esc 2021

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statticscribbles · 3 years

Text

Supergirl

Summary: El/Max song-fic SUPERG!RL by Stefania, slight au where Max finds El first

It’s raining and Max knows she should care but her family hates being here, and hates her, and she doesn't care so she’ll just keep running. She doesn’t expect to crash into anyone, or for her board to not smash into the ground but hover before dropping.

“How did you do that?” She doesn’t really care about her safety right now. The girl, Max thinks she is, tilts her head and the board floats back up pushing into her hands.

“You care about it.”

“But you don’t. You don’t know me.” Max isn’t sure why she’s digging herself a hole with this strange girl who can hover her skateboard.

“Do you need help?” She finally asks and the girl tilts her head when Max offers her hand out.

“I’m Max, who’re you?”

Max doesn’t have powers, she knows she doesn’t know what it was like for El, what it’s like to feel like this, but she knows she wants to help.

El is quiet, she doesn’t talk much but the way things hover and float, Max thinks maybe she’s trying to communicate even if she doesn’t want to talk at all.

Max taps on the block that's hovering, it nudges her arm slightly. She wonders if it’s meant to mean anything when another block joins the others, it doesn’t spell out anything, just the blocks floating around the empty space.

“El.” One of the blocks flies and hits the wall.

“You okay?” Max mumbles but El still doesn’t say anything, the block returning to float next to the other one.

“We can talk about it, or I can just sit here with you.” Max sits next to her careful not to actually touch her, the last time she’d done that burned into her mind, the darkness and heat that seemed to swallow her before El had pulled away, nose dripping blood that she’d wiped on the back of her hand.

El’s grinning, the blocks hovering as well as a pen, she can now write without having to use her hands and she laughs grinning at Max who smiles back. Max wonders just exactly what the limit to her powers are she wants to see but if the way blood drips from her nose if she moves too suddenly makes Max hesitate. El seems to want to test the limits as well, the pen has paper alongside it, instead of scribbling on a piece taped to the wall.

El can crush the blocks now, she can smash cans and plates against the wall when she gets mad. Max doesn’t see her mad much except when Billy is around, but he’d learned to stay away from both of them after he’d broken Max’s board and El had shattered his wrist while snarling at him.

Max is nervous, she’d never been to a dance, or on a date and she’s sort of hating that she’s nervous in the first place especially when she gets back home, El’s managed to float candles and flowers, of course the minute she moves they fall, smashing into the ground and El sways a little but still smiles when Max rushes over.

“I wanted it to be pretty for you, like you.” Max can’t help but blush as they return to the makeshift table and dinner that El had set up.

Max leans forward kissing her on the cheek.

“Well it’s certainly beautiful like you.”

Max laughs a little when she feels herself hovering a few centimeters off the ground.

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#max mayfield imagine #max mayfield #max mayfield x el #el #eleven #eleven x max #stranger things imagine #stranger things request #stranger things #written #stattic

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booasaur · 4 years

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oh, you’re very welcome! my duty to promote good content haha - love that you co-signed the other anon even without watching yesterday’s live LOL! they’re adorable together and they genuinely seem so excited and happy about the news, which makes it even better! jeff is always the cherry on top :) really happy for stefania - so many years on greys and she finally gets her due on another show! crazy to think that she’d still be recurring on greys if it weren’t for marina 💀 cont in the next msg

your ideas about S4 alike to mine and im also hoping that we get to see carina’s situation while growing up. S3 showed everyone’s backstories so the newest regular needs her backstory too! yes, im also a bit confused about what she’s going to do professionally too but so far, i feel like the show has done well in terms of balancing screentime so im hoping they know how to integrate her job into the show too. so excited for her to get proper promotion and to see more shades to their relationship!

Lol, then thank you again. And yeah, cosigned, even without that one live they gave us soooo much good content! ...assuming that’s all I missed. I don’t even know now.

And really, it’s so cool that it would have to be the Marina storyline and reception that got her the full time role! That’s our power. :D (Joking, obviously.)

True, s3 really delved deep into their backgrounds and even if the process had been started years earlier, like, good luck the same is true for Carina, heh, even if on a different show.

S19 has done okay with screentime among the non-Andy characters, I guess, true, so...if we’re to see the same kind of thing for Carina, plus the fact that she is in a relationship with another regular character, meaning much of their personal story slices of time actually dovetail into one larger story instead of two smaller ones, that’d be pretty interesting. Like, we saw Andy/Jack, Jack/Maya, Andy/Robert, and I don’t expect Marina will get exactly that because all of those involved Andy in some way and caused conflict that affected the whole show (the way the Maya/Andy friendship does, and why I love main character ships so much) but it’ll definitely be a step up from where it is now. Maya’s still the captain, I wonder if that’ll somehow play a part, though I can’t see how yet. Carina isn’t a general doc looking for a job to do, she’s a specialist in a field she likes and is good at and that has very little to do with a fire station... Welp, we’ll see!

#replies #femslash related stuff #sent on 20200802 #Anonymous #5 #station 19 #carina x maya #marina

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eddie-redmayne-italian-blog · 5 years

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My Report 6 years ago about Eton College: What incredible experience!!

“ETON, 11 DICEMBRE 2013

Hello everyone ………… we go again …….. ‘cause obviously I do not know where to start!! I’m always very excited, ‘cause basically are sooooo shy. Everything ‘I’m going to tell you, I’ve lived with Stefania 82, after a train journey from brands, reached me in Turin and we left together December 11, for this wonderful adventure.

We arrived in London at around three in the afternoon, more ‘precisely in Paddington, where we stayed for a day and a half. It has been very hectic around, and running and we are washed, changed and made up, ready to go to Paddington Station, take the train, and going into the Etonian adventure ! My fear was to arrive late. The English, as we know, are very punctual and if they close the doors do not come more ‘.

We arrived at about 4.25 to Eton Central, dark and fog ………. The station and ‘beautiful, seems to be already’ in the country … find pubs, clothing, gadgets …..

We asked directions for the College, and we started to walk away, across a bridge, and go straight …… It was like being on the set of Harry Potter …..

Arrived, we arrived at Eton College!! There was no one, apart someone who was unloading drinks ……. We read “entry Vip’s” and we poked around in the backyard …..

We couldn’t find the entrance to the chapel … we walked around a bit ‘…. took pictures ….. and at some point have sprouted two Japanese girls ….. I asked them if they knew, but nothing ….. we look good with one of the two and we recognized! She was the girl that was the Donmar February 3, 2012, kisses and hugs, we said goodbye after giving appointment. Finally a gentleman, and I think guardian ‘popped up and gave us an indication of the chapel. It was located on the top floor near the entrance. we go up, we opened a big door and we entered. There were gentlemen dell’organizzazxione, very kind …… the boys of the choir that we were trying …… and …..: WE WERE THE FIRST!! In the meantime we descended down ‘to take more photos, and suddenly came Tracy and Chrissie ……… we were very happy to see them again ……. We laughed and joked for a while ‘, and then we go up, also because’ people were coming. Where do you think we could sit??? In the first row, in front of the reading sit!! We always had our head turned to the left to see if it came ……. so many people ….. and then all of a sudden I check a mustard-colored coat, and ‘HIM with HANNAH!! They took place almost in front of us. Someone had the view just right!

Very sweet, cute, hand in hand with her …………. The atmosphere was simple and elegant ……… , Olivia with her mom, we all were’ waiting for the concert begun. For me, It has been a great thrill to sing with them ……. I sang many years sacred music in a professional choir, soprano, so I knew all the songs of Christmas in both English and Latin. Alternated moments of reading, singing and choral singing together …… Eddie bed last ……. Hi ‘s ‘climbed on reading sit, presented the song, London Snow, and author Robert Briges, and has begun ….. I ‘seemed to relive the evening of October 12, where he read and interpret’ poems by American poets … It has an elegance in the exhibit remarkable setting and gestures ‘beautiful …….. and’ always been like DIVINE!! The voice and ‘amazing!! Every now and then directed his gaze towards us ……. After the reading, and ‘returned to his place, and we have concluded the concert with other songs. Eddie was gone ……… panic “”, “noooooooo …….. disappointed ………

We leave the Chapel and Eton directing us and we crossed the street in front of the church where the party was about to unfold. We were served champagne, wine, canapés, snacks of all kinds ….. Suddenly I see him come out the front door, was coming ….. enthusiasm had returned !! As he entered he greeted several people took photos and autographs ladies and girls and then ‘approached. “Girls!” He exclaimed, and he greeted one by one, joked a bit ‘, as in his style, made all kinds of crazy photos …. drunk … I took pictures …….. and then I stafania82 and we gave him our gifts. Immediately did not want them to open, but after the insistence of Hannah he did. The fact that he didn’t want to open it, according to Stephanie, was for fear that it was a gift out of context. In fact, when he opened them, he ‘relaxed … He received a book on the castles of the Marches, where he studied, and a book of Turin, where I live, in English / Italian, and telling him that ‘my city’. browsed …. “Wow, wonderful” He was surprise …….Always kept them carefully in his hands as he spoke with others….. that satisfaction …….. Hannah always remained with us, chatted with Tracy, Chrissie …… took pictures with us, and I photographed her.

When we remembered Giffoni, both didn’t know more ‘as they had tears in his eyes …….. thank us ….. their watched and talked to each other “Do you remember the painting?” He says Hannah ….. “yes !” had a look sweet and she kept looking and thank us …… with looks of gratitude …… They must have found its good!! He’s away again a second , and then ‘back greeting us, he had to go ………. when he was to go to the’ I stopped him and asked him to write a message to his followers Italian. Without hesitation, and ‘came back, took the book and thought for a moment ……. and began to write his farewell …….

This’s Eddie Redmayne, a simple person, who does an amazing job and in an extraordinary way, with talent and passion …. He ‘s a Lord …..

I started this blog with the heart, with a passion for a young and talented actor , appreciative and sensitive … and that ‘s why I try to respect his privacy in an absolute …… Meet Eddie Redmayne in a similar context for me, ‘was how to approach more’ to the person who the actor …. To see him and meet him in his world, where he lived, and in the land where he lives, it ‘was important, both before and now, because I have a much more ‘wide of the person, and you realize how much talent has , and how difficult it was for him to break the mold and set out into a totally different world.

I don’t celebrate his beauty, celebrate the actor, the person …..

I thank all the people who were with me: Stefania-82, from Marche that shared with me these two wonderful days… - Tracy, sweet as always, cheerful and helpful - Chrissie, imposing nice woman, with the loud voice and with sympathy seeping from every pore. - Olivia and her mom, who like to know the mother of Olivia! He has Italian origins ……. she crazy for Eddie!

- Joanna - Hannah as always helpful and polite and finally Eddie ………..

THANK YOU ALL THE FOLLOWERS HAD PATIENCE FOR REPORT OF THE DAY.

#eddie redmayne #five years ago #eton college #fantastic beasts the crimes of grindelwald #newton scamander #newt scamander #report #the theory of everything #the danish girl #les miserables #obe #talent #oscar winner #best actor #fan adventure #by me #we' re there with tim

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dia-luneris · 6 years

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After party

All eyes were set upon the bride this evening, in her dress of deep red, adorned with a necklace, that had been especially commissioned for the occasion.

The murmurs from the guests, were ones of approval

"Is that a Daruistel piece??" a noblewoman spoke, having it confirmed, by another lady at her side "Yes, their craftsmanship is unmistakable..."

It could be seen that the bride looked nervous, but her smile returned to her face, once she had her husband's hand in her own. The two families were finally joined, and the future of their houses was no longer up for speculation. Although the name of House Emal would unfortunately fall into the history books, being that they had no male heir... at least their bloodline would continue.

Ensuring that two family lines, would not fall into dust, however, was not something to be taken lightly. And the subject was clearly still on people's lips. The bride expertly dodged all mention of children, while her husband simply smiled politely, and assured their guests that the families would prosper.

"And I thought my job would be difficult tonight..." Aiden mentioned, stood beside the butler of House Luneris. The other man was a mute, but gave a nod all the same, gesturing to the bride, and frowning. It was not an expression of disapproval, more along the lines of 'I feel bad for her'. Aiden could understand the motions well enough, so the lack of speech wasn't really an issue. He nodded, then returned his focus back to the crowd, watching them fragment into their own groups.

Lady Elenion was next to speak with the bride, taking her by the arm as one would a sister. Elenion Fonteyne Luneris, was wearing a gown of rose pink silk, and had her pale blonde hair gathered and braided in several places. Among the braids, sat a cluster of flowers. She always had flowers in her hair, and was pleased to see her new sister-in-law with roses in hers.

Aiden felt an elbow at his side, breaking his focus. His fellow servant was smirking now, as if to say 'stop your staring, we have work to do'.

The footmen scattered around the ballroom, took notice of the Miqo'te moving from his position. They followed his lead, and took to the tables that were lined along the edges of the room. Aiden, and Kurokaze, the more experienced servant, took a bottle of wine each, and began filling glasses as quickly and precisely as they could. They then placed them upon silver trays, to be carried out and passed onto guests. Balancing a tray filled with glasses, was one thing, but Aiden had to do so while walking steadily. The man felt as though he should be holding his breath, but forced himself to keep composed.

"I swear... If one more person asks me when I'm having babies..." Lady muttered quietly. Damien chuckled, softly "It is what they do... They're nobles, they gossip" he whispered to her, while they danced.

Lady sighed, feeling her irritation calming, having her moment with him "I mean, it's not as though I don't want them one day... That's better than never having them..." she trailed off, remembering when she was against the idea. She could feel him nod, being that she was small enough, for the top of her head to sit under his chin. She smiled, just happy now that they were together. That was all she wanted really.

Lady Elenion eyed a tray passing her by, with what looked like a bowl of biscuits on it, alongside some sliced cheese. She was quick to grab some, before the footman was able to leave. Her eyes grew wide as she popped one into her mouth. The taste was divine, and she needed to have more. Her hand deftly plucked the bowl from the tray "Mine" she uttered quietly, making off with it. Once she had found herself a nice, quiet corner, she began eating more of them "Holy fucking shit, these are good..." she spoke out loud, not really caring at this point who would hear.

Kurokaze side-eyed the young woman, stood near by with his empty tray. He strode over to his co-worker, and angled his head, motioning towards the wayward noblewoman. Aiden could see that she was busy delving into a bowl of sorts, and the sight brought him a smile. She was clearly a wildfire in spirit. He turned to the table, and put his tray down. It was as good a time as any to ask her, and it would pry her away from the snacks, giving someone else a chance to sample them. The other butler watched him, giving an approving nod.

"Miss Elenion, may I-" Aiden began, watching her as she bent her head over the bowl, completely distracted "Hmmm?" she raised her head, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel, and flecks of biscuit sat upon her lips. Aiden blinked, and tried his best not to laugh "What are you even eating??" he asked her, smiling so much.

She offered the bowl out to him, and crunched on her mouthful of biscuit. He took one for himself, and ate it, receiving a happy smile from her "These are good..." she nodded "Mhm... But what were you going to ask me??" she was much more focused now, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. The bowl rested on her lap, surrounded by crumbs scattered on the expensive silk. "Uhh, I was... going to ask you, if you would like to dance..." he admitted, quietly.

Elenion took the bowl from her lap, and put it down on a chair beside her. She promptly got up, and with one quick motion, took the handkerchief from Aiden's top pocket. She used it to wipe down her fingers, and then her face. The man watched as she did so, noticing her hand then going back to his pocket, to shove it back where it came from. She smiled sweetly afterward, and offered him her hand.

Aiden beamed at her, despite the oddness, perhaps even more so because of it. He took her hand in his, to lead her to the dance floor, but she had it in mind to lead him. Eagerly, she found a place for them, and kept one of her hands held with his, while taking his other to land upon her hip. Aiden moved that hand to her back, instead, as would be more appropriate. Elenion flashed him a cheeky smile, as if to say 'I liked it better where it was'

Lady Stefania noticed the two, and nudged her head in their direction. Damien watched them dancing, and smirked, seeing his little sister taking the initiative. It would be needed however, considering how shy her dance partner normally was.

Elenion was oblivious to them being watched, choosing to comment quietly "You didn't have to move your hand"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you are up to no good, Miss Elenion"

"Eleni, call me Eleni"

"Eleni it is then"

"Kuso..." the Miqo uttered, under his breath. His charcoal black tail flicked to and fro. He was busy, trying to tidy up a spill, after knocking a wine glass over, when Khatayin drew closer "I heard that..." she spoke, loud enough for him to hear, but still not enough for a crowd to catch. The man's eyes grew wider with realization, now large orbs of gold. His ears pressed against his head. He immediately gave a very stiff, and formal bow of apology, for speaking such a way near to a lady "Gomenasai..."

Khat folded her arms, and nodded, slowly "I'll accept your apology. But... I do wonder, why don't you speak, if you can understand me??" Kuro straightened himself again, and folded his own arms. He angled his head, before coming up with an answer "Hear well. Not speak well" he replied, very, very quietly. Khat mouthed her reaction, her black lips forming an 'ohh'. The man nodded, now loosening his arms, and placing a hand against his chest "Kurokaze. Saito"

Khat did the same, wearing a smile "Khatayin Dagasi. And don't worry, I'll just pretend I didn't hear you" her words drew a smile of approval from her new friend.

Lady Diamat could hear murmurs on the wind, regarding her adoptive daughter, dancing with a member of staff. Such a thing would have been offensive to the upper classes previously, and may very well be still, but she was happy. The duskwight watched her son, with his wife. And her daughter, with her friend. She leaned against a pillar of varnished wood, and smiled.

Her husband made his way over to her, with another glass of wine to hold out to her. She accepted it, and held onto his arm "Eleni seems content..." she mentioned, wondering what her partner's thoughts were on the situation.

"Better a member of staff, than a stable worker..." he replied, dryly. A frown was something he wore on most days, but the idea of his little girl growing up, was not something he welcomed. Diamat leaned against him, planting a kiss on his cheek "She will be alright..." she assured him "I'm certain she has a dagger under that dress. Not that she will need it".

A thank you to @dagasiandco for the use of her characters, Khatayin, and Elenion, and a shout out to @ffxivaltaholic for the necklace made by their oc’s family company :)

#ffxiv rp #ff14 rp #ffxiv #ff14 #Diamat Luneris #Connie Emal #Aiden Arkwright #Kyle Madigan

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mayasdeluca · 1 year

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A few takeaways from that live...

1-Merle saying that Natasha didn't reinstate Maya as Captain because she still had a lot to learn and then later Danielle saying how Sullivan only made her Captain because he didn't want to give it to Andi and Maya wasn't ready I think is bullshit. I think Maya was ready to be Captain and she thrived at it to the surprise of everyone who maybe thought she rose up the ranks too quickly (Lt. to Captain in 3 years). But when you're ready, you're ready. Kids skip grades all the time and sometimes 2 because they are beyond the grade suited for their age.

2-When they talked about the promo and said that it' was going to be such a great episode and there were heart wrenching and powerful performances...by Merle/Natasha, Jaina/Andi, and Barrett/Vic, I'm sorry what?! That episode should have been ALL about Maya and Carina. I don't need other performances cluttering up the screen over Maya being cared for and the aftermath to that.

3- I think Merle casually* spilled that Andi does get the Captain job (what episode are they filming now?) and that Maya sees Diane which we probably assumed because there is no way Maya would be cleared for duty after her accident if she didn't see Diane at least for a few sessions. Whether or not Maya embraces therapy is a different story.

*I say "casually" because she just said it and didn't make a big deal like gasping thinking she may have spilled like Danielle usually does or like her and Stefania did last week, she just continued talking like it was nothing and moved on.

Now on the personal side: So Boris is getting to direct next season (has he directed the show before?). I did not know Merle is so musical theater inclined and yes, I would love a musical episode especially if it mean Danielle can go back to her semi pop-star roots and sing again (since she keeps refusing to revisit that). And Merle talking about old school things and Danielle being like I was born in 88. I lol'd at that because I am of a certain age that remembers things like phone cards like Merle was describing.

Lots of great thoughts!

I totally agree about the convo re: Maya not being ready to be captain. I didn't get that vibe at all either. She was more than qualified and even if it's true that part of the reason she got the job is because Ripley & Sullivan didn't think Andy was ready for it, that doesn't mean that Maya also wasn't ready for it because she was well prepared and knew what she was doing. Just because the team decided not to respect her as captain initially doesn't make any of that not true. She proved she was a great captain all of Season 4 and more than capable of doing the job. Also Merle/Ross wasn't around then so I really wonder how much she actually knows about that whole history.

It's very frustrating that when Danielle will have other guests on lives or whatever, the topic of Marina/Maya tends to be avoided. I understand that Danielle probably doesn't want to make it about her and is always wanting to talk about the other person and supporting them and it's a lovely quality she has but...yeah. The promo was clearly mainly about Maya and what's going to happen with her but I guess they decided to talk about Ross' plot in the episode instead. It appears like there will be multiple storylines in the episode so we better just prepare for minimal screentime from now. It's obnoxious that they claim to be covering it in a big way though when it seems like they won't be. But I'm sure we will get more of the aftermath stuff in the episodes afterwards. I wouldn't be surprised if episode 8 is actually better for us than 7 at this point.

Okay I thought the same thing! But no one else seemed to be talking about/caught on so I didn't say anything lol but the way she so matter of factly said that Andy will be captain felt like it happened already? I mean we know she will be captain at some point because it's inevitable but she made it sound like it was already a lock. I think they're currently filming episode 13/14 but I'm curious about the search and rescue type call in episode 12 and that BTS pic because why is Ross also suited up? And is Beckett around? I guess we'll see. And yes the fact that Merle called Diane 'her therapist' in regards to Danielle seems like a good sign that we will be getting therapy scenes plural. At first I was worried Diane would be there just for Crisis One stuff based on BTS things but hopefully we get a decent amount of therapy scenes as well.

Boris hasn't directed the show before, no. I don't think he's directed any TV before, just a movie or two. A musical episode would definitely be interesting! I have mixed feelings about it because I feel like these writers just aren't capable of making it good lol and musical episodes come off as cringe most times to begin with so I don't know how it would go really but they definitely have the talent for it. They definitely had a fun dynamic throughout the live though with some funny moments!

#asks #anon

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franciscretarola · 4 years

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Amatrice: how the L’Aquila earthquake predicts its future

(Poggio Picenze, near L’Aquila... all photos by Francis Cretarola) (from 2017) The day after the August 24th central Italy earthquake, we received numerous messages from Le Virtù customers, friends from all over North America, and friends in Italy. People on this side wanted to know how to help and those in Italy, especially those around L'Aquila, Abruzzo - which is very close to Amatrice and knows more than it cares to about this type of event - were telling us that, this time, they were okay. As we started to put together our relief efforts, we wondered if Amatrice, Accumoli, the villages in Marchè along the Tronto river, and the other badly damaged towns would ever be rebuilt, if life in them would ever be the same. Our knowledge of L'Aquila and the aftermath of its 2009 earthquake didn't make us very sanguine about the future.

But on the second day after the quake, I saw a Facebook post made from Amatrice by a friend of ours from Paganica (a small village just outside of L'Aquila). She was in Amatrice volunteering to help the victims. And seeing the post made me think about the last time we'd seen her. It was last summer, in her home village. She had wanted us to see how things were, many years post-earthquake, in Paganica.

What follows is reconstructed from my notes from and photos of that visit.

__________

Cathy and I park beneath the church of Santa Maria Assunta, in Piazza della Concezione, just off the main road that snakes through Paganica, a satellite town of L'Aquila. Like many of the villages around Abruzzo's capital city, Paganica suffered terrible damage during the April 2009 earthquake. It was at the epicenter of the event. Across the road from us, the baroque facade of Santa Maria della Concezione is scarred by fractures. Directly in front of our car, Paganica's monument to "ai caduti," those fallen in Italy's two world wars (a squat, massive rectangle of stone inscribed with the names of the dead), is rotated about 10 degrees counterclockwise on its base. The shaking had been fierce.

It's July of 2015 - six years after the quake - and our friend Germana Rossi, a native of Paganica, has promised to take us inside the zona rossa, the forbidden "red zone" protected by chain-link fence that's deemed too dangerous for habitation or visit.

In 2001, we lived up the road in the village of Assergi, also part of the extended city of L'Aquila. On days when we didn't want to drive the twenty minutes into the city to shop its daily market, we did our food shopping at a little mom-and-pop store in Paganica. We ate often just up the road at the Villa Dragonetti, a fresco-covered, 16th-century palace where the cuisine was as simply elegant as the hospitality was easy and warm. We met Germana later, in 2006 in Philadelphia, when she came over as part of the Abruzzese folk group DisCanto. We gave the group the keys to our row home in South Philly during their stay (and we crashed down the street on my brother's floor). In 2007, Germana returned the favor and offered us the use of her late grandmother's home in the oldest section of Paganica, the part of town now locked behind the fence.

Few people walk the piazza. The faces of those we do see seem preoccupied and drawn. And a little suspicious of us. In the weeks and months immediately following the quake, L'Aquila and its surrounding areas became destinations for "disaster tourism." Though we know this place well and are here by invitation, it's hard not to feel awkward and inappropriate.

After a short, uncomfortable wait, Germana arrives. She wears a brightly colored summer dress and greets us happily. Everyone in Paganica knows her and the other Rossi family members, which puts me at ease.

Germana wastes no time and we move toward the old town, the entrance to which is blocked by the fence. As though swinging open a garden gate, Germana moves part of the fence and enters the zona rossa. We follow closely behind her.

We walk up into the oldest part of the town along alley-like medieval streets. Many buildings are braced with wood or steel supports. Cracks web across facades; some interiors are exposed and visible from the street; the early evening sun shines through gaping holes in roofs. Germana points out - almost dispassionately - damaged architectural treasures, broken monuments of the town's ancient culture and history. And I am reminded of the tour she gave us in 2007, when she proudly pointed out some of these same details, the elements that gave Paganica part of its character and specific beauty. Nature has invaded the streets. Weeds rise chest-high, grass bursts from the cobblestones. At one tiny square, a man - also defying the authorities - appears from nowhere. Germana smiles and they exchange brief but warm greetings, speaking in a shorthand understood only by terremotati (earthquake survivors). She introduces us to him. He smiles wanly, but then walks over to a slim fig tree which has taken root in the street in the six years since the quake, plucks two pieces of fruit and gives them to Cathy and me.

We arrive at Germana's home. She pushes open the narrow wooden door and we enter. I remember the space well, even through its debris-covered chaos. All around us, the broken and dust-covered relics of a family history lie waiting to be reclaimed. We climb the steps to her parents' room. Their bed is exactly as it was immediately after the earthquake. Large chunks of masonry, which at 3:32 in the morning fell onto the sleeping couple, still cover it. It's terrifying. Nothing has been done since the quake. The Rossi family was allowed to return to take whatever articles they could, but no restoration has been attempted. The government has not acted and it will not allow the family to begin its own work.

It's tough to know what to say. Nothing comes to mind that wouldn't be said merely because I feel like I should say something, anything. Cathy and I returned here shortly after the quake in 2009. We visited all we could of L'Aquila, most of which was and remains cordoned off behind fencing, and met with Germana. Her parents, who were living in one of the many tent cities inhabited by the survivors, came to meet us at the Villa Dragonetti, which had miraculously escaped severe damage. They sat at our table and apologized for being disheveled, for not being better able to welcome us. The father's face was still scarred from the fallen masonry. We've come back to L'Aquila every year since, but this is our first time behind Paganica’s fencing.

Germana leads us back to the car and asks us to follow her to Poggio Picenze, another village inside the so-called "L'Aquila crater." It was also terribly hit. Her friend, Stefania Pace, wants to show us her home.

We pull over at a bar outside Poggio Picenze's fenced-off old town to meet Stefania. She's a blond woman in her mid-forties. It doesn't take long to understand that she's possessed of a strong wit and spirit. She's sad, as Germana’s sad, but not broken. Banked anger flashes in her eyes as she and Germana explain the bureaucracy that prevents action and the corruption and waste that informed then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's original reconstruction efforts. Berlusconi had treated the earthquake as an opportunity to salvage his scandal-damaged reputation and to funnel money to his supporters. In the mountains around L'Aquila, "new towns," characterless, (as it turns out) often poorly built warrens blight the landscape. Some are positioned in such a way that their inhabitants can stare down into the fenced-off ancient villages to watch centuries of history, tradition and culture slowly rot under the weight of the seasons. The psychological effect on the population, especially the elderly, is profound. Many, like Stefania, are still living in what was supposed to be temporary housing.

Again, we walk past the fence - no one is guarding any of these places - and into the old town. The devastation is terrible, and the place, centuries old as it is, looks more like an ancient abandoned ruin than a 21st-century town. Only a car, its roof crushed by fallen masonry, reminds of the present day. Stefania's husband Mariano has joined us and leads us to their former home. Stefania can't bear to enter, but we walk in. Part of the house is fairly intact, and he points out many of the improvements he'd made shortly before the quake, restoration projects designed to highlight the home's original rustic character. He laughs grimly while recounting the plans he'd had for the space. The property immediately next to the theirs has been obliterated. A second-story door opens on a room and floor that no longer exist.

Everything is overrun by insurgent grass, weeds, and saplings. Mariano bounds up the hill to a small tree, another fig, picks some fruit, and brings it back to Stefania.

When we received word of the L'Aquila earthquake, it was just after 9:30 pm in Philly and we were winding down a pleasant Sunday dinner service at Le Virtù. We spent the next six hours calling friends and relatives in the region. It wasn't until the next day that the scope of the disaster became clear. Much of the city, particularly its medieval center, was destroyed. And some of the towns around L'Aquila - Paganica, Camarda, Fossa, Onna - had fared worse.

It was a gut punch. But our loss had been relative. All our friends and family had survived, though some had lost their homes. In the days that followed, standing in Le Virtù, our paean to Abruzzo decorated in photos, ceramics, and artifacts collected during our travels in the region, suddenly felt absurd and robbed of meaning. The restaurant was dedicated to the entirety of the region, but it simply would never have existed if not for our time spent living in L'Aquila. In a way that we acknowledge to be unearned and shallow, we considered L'Aquila our second home.

It was surreal also to see and hear L'Aquila and Abruzzo, overlooked places well off Italy's touristed path, be for a time a topic for the local, national, and international press. A place that we'd tried to promote - at Le Virtù, with culinary tours, by producing TV shows for Comcast and PBS, by bringing musicians to the U.S.- was suddenly, albeit briefly, in the public eye. But for all the wrong reasons. Journalists flocked to the city and its environs without knowing anything of what these places had been like before the event, what had been lost, or what was at risk. And for as long as there was spectacle to report - bodies and survivors pulled from the debris, images of pain and devastation, the occasional uplifting story about the courage of first responders and defiant civilians who'd thrown in immediately following the event - L'Aquila was news. And then, as invariably happens, the world moved on.

But the losses continue and the risk - to a centuries-old culture, ancient ways of life, unheralded architectural and artistic treasures, intrinsic things without calculable price - remain. Things that are soul-nurturing, essential, that have sustained a people and could offer much to the 21st century but have gone largely unnoticed by the rest of the world, struggle to survive and, in places, diminish. The area around L'Aquila, like much of Abruzzo, contains precious but undiscovered things: stunning parkland where sheep and goat herding continue, cattle forages free-range, and wolves and bear roam wooded solitudes; small farms producing heirloom vegetables and fruits, ancient grains, the finest saffron in Europe; artisanal cheese and salumi makers; tiny medieval villages with singular culinary customs and vernacular architecture; ancient religious rites that predate the Romans; jewelry making, stone- and wood-carving, and other craft traditions; and obscure artistic masterworks. The culture of shepherds and farmers persists and informs daily life. Most of the world is blithely unaware of what's at stake.

Le Virtù exists solely because the Abruzzo in its entirety had so inspired and moved us. When we opened, we were true neophytes with no real restaurant experience, ignorant in ways that now seem ridiculous and frightening. But we believed that the region had something important to offer, not only to Philadelphia's culinary discussion, but also - if we honored Abruzzese values of generosity, quality, and humility, and fostered a convivial environment - to the local community. If we've succeeded, it's owed to our commitment to Abruzzo's culture, not to our unique creativity and invention. It's painful to see our roots in L'Aquila in peril.

________

The earthquake that struck Amatrice and surrounding towns (in Lazio, Umbria, Marchè, and Abruzzo) had eerie similarities to the L'Aquila event. It occurred at 3:36 am (L'Aquila shook at 3:32 am), and we again learned of it towards the end of dinner service at Le Virtù. Amatrice was part of Abruzzo until 1927, when Mussolini redefined the region's boundaries with Lazio. It's a mountain village with a pastoral tradition and culture that would be very familiar to anyone who has traveled Abruzzo. It’s best known, however, as the birthplace of spaghetti all'amatriciana, its namesake pasta dish of tomatoes and guanciale (cured pig's cheek). Most people experience that dish in Rome, however, and all'amatriciana is usually lumped in with the capital city's cuisine. It shares this misidentification with pasta alla griscia (from the village of Grisciano, also near Amatrice) and carbonara (most likely from eastern Lazio and western Abruzzo, or possibly Napoli). Amatriciana was also popular in nearby L'Aquila.

Reports on the earthquake often made reference to the pasta dish or discussed the town as a summertime getaway for Romans. Most of the reporters going to Amatrice and the other affected towns were seeing them for the first time, and had no idea of what they'd been like before the quake. It was understandably hard for them to provide context or even understand the profundity of the event. Amatrice had only just been added to the Borghi Piu Belli d'Italia, a loose association of "the most beautiful villages in Italy." And now much of it was rubble.

Recent history tells us that the world will probably move on pretty quickly from this disaster, if it hasn't done so already. And, if history stereotypically repeats itself, it will do so without assuring that Amatrice or the other towns are restored to their former state and that their ways of life and culture can survive. In fact, it will probably do the bottom-line calculus and decide that rebuilding isn't a worthwhile use of resources, that there'll be too little return. It did this in the Irpinia region of Campania in 1980 (after a quake which also impacted Molise). And it seems to be doing this in L'Aquila. I fear that they'll be a new "Amatrice," a conglomeration of modern housing with designated shopping malls that doesn't foster community or acknowledge the ancient culture: an Amatrice amputated from its soul.

But there are some who refuse to accept this.

When Germana awoke the morning after the Amatrice quake, she drove from her Paganica home (a converted garage) to Amatrice to help with the relief efforts. She came home, slept for four hours, had a shower and drove back. She repeated this for several days. Her ancestral home is still behind chain-link fence. She fights a daily battle against bureaucracy, apathy, resignation, and indifference. And she continues to remind us of what's at stake, what truly matters.

In the days after the quake, she made many posts from and about Amatrice. The most moving for me was a film of street musicians made before the quake. Young and old musicians play a salterello, an Abruzzese form of dance music similar to a tarantella. The music is played on bagpipes and tambourine. A crowd has gathered around the musicians. One player passes the tambourine to an older man in the crowd who without pause perfectly continues the traditional rhythm.

It seems unreasonable to me that we would ever allow this music to be silenced.

#Amatrice L'Aquila Paganica centralitalyearthquake Abruzzo Abruzzese terremoto

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steelmistsrp · 7 years

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Congratulations && welcome, Stuart !! You have been accepted for the role of The Corrupter: Juliere Lekal. Please be sure to make a separate blog for your character && send it into the main within 48 hours !! Once that is submitted we will invite you to join the OOC blog && an option to join our skype chat if you should so choose !! Any triggers you (and other applicants) have submitted have been added to our trigger list. Please be sure to read our Welcome Checklist as you begin to get started. The Follow List&& OOC page will also be updated for you once your blog has been submitted. Thanks again for you application && we look forward to writing with you !!

Stuart, Juliere’s history was simultaneously exactly what I envisioned && a complete surprise, which is honestly lovely. Though I was hesitant to give him a #tragicbackstory as part of his skeleton, I think you put an interesting and thought provoking spin on it. I, as Ferra, am very excited to move forward with plotting, and I’m sure I speak for the others when I say we’re so happy to see this role filled !! Thanks&& Welcome !!

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

Name: Stuart, Stubious Age: 25 Pronouns: He, him Timezone: PST Activity Level: I write like the wind, six days a week. This is meant to be a break from the work writing, giving me a more relaxed, flexible outlet for creativity. You can count on consistent activity, probably in the evenings.

IN CHARACTER INFORMATION

Skeleton Name: The Corrupter Character’s Full Name: Juliere Heritage Lekal - There is irony in Barnabe and Stefania’s choice of second name, as Juliere finds his noble blood deplorable and wants little to do with his noble stock. Despite this, there is poetry in it too; within Juliere’s name is his greatest hope, claiming the Survivor of Hathsin as his spiritual heritage. Faceclaim: Brett Dalton Gender and Pronouns: Cis-male, He, his Sexuality: Straight Age and DOB: 30, 2nd of Spokial, 522 AC Education Level: As the son of a noble house, Juliere attended Elendel University both to placate his parents and to seek the wide array of connections available there. He graduated in business administration.

Biography: (Trigger Warning: Pedophilia used as blackmail)

Fanatic. It was an uncomfortable word, Juliere was sure. People liked to throw it around when they were feeling unsafe. But Juliere wasn’t the type to slather at the mouth after the Survivor, the man. He sought the Survivor, the ideal.

The Lekals had been Survivorists for a long time. Since Juliere was old enough to attend with his family, he had shown up for the periodic meetings of the Church of the Survivor. It had molded him from an early age, shaping his view of the world to the clear vista of potential that his role models preached.

“Potential is a man’s purpose.” The first time young Juliere heard those words, it was from the mouth of their family’s Survivorist priest. They thrilled him, filling him with hope for the future. He had had such hope. Priest Donaire had been charismatic and powerful, with enough presence to dominate the assemblies he spoke to. People hung on his every word.

Juliere wanted that power. And power was what he got that day. Donaire’s persistent idiom regarding the purpose of man drove Juliere’s young mind into a epiphany, and all at once, he Snapped. Though he speaks of it only to a trusted few, he still holds this event as sacred, as part of his connection to the Survivor’s power, endorsing his new understanding as the ultimate truth of humankind.

This new light of religious understanding was soon to be tainted with the ideal-shattering reality contained in the nobility around Juliere. While there was no hiding his new allomantic abilities, he only made the mistake of sharing his newfound zeal with his parents once. His father scoffed at him, while his mother was disturbed. Wounded, he learned to temper his zeal. Outwardly, Juliere would become the model son and brother. For his parents, he would show what they expected of him. For his sister, he would be what she needed, whenever she needed it.

He would be just like Priest Donaire. Donaire didn’t rave. He spoke softly, but with passion. He could whisper when it was time to whisper and shout when it was time to shout. It served the family image well to have Juliere become a star member of Donaire’s congregation, simultaneously making him a prominent part of the Church and freeing his parents from needing to sit in a pew very often. While Donaire’s dealings were mostly above-board, he recognized Juliere as a valuable member of his flock, and brought him into his inner circle. There, Juliere saw that Donaire was the epitome of potential realized, and that sometimes meant transcending the laws of others; neatly evading financial pitfalls or legal trouble, buying and selling in specific ways that amplified profits, wisely investing the Church’s donation funds to maximize their budget, paying off the wrong voices and paying for the right ones, and so on. Most laws, Juliere realized and rationalized as he reconciled with his role model’s behavior, were tools to help those still learning the Survivor’s path, keeping them safe while they strove to reach where he had arrived. While he had risen above the need for law’s safety rails, he could understand that others were still progressing.

As he prepared to attend Elendel University, his eyes were opened to the blatant hypocrisy that was the hedonistic, apathetic noble lifestyle, particularly when contrasted to the doctrines of self-improvement and achievement that the Survivor had embodied. Never mind that he had had his fingers in this hedonism with his very first drug deals playing out outside the parties that his wealthy friends wallowed in, and his manipulation and amplification of his newly acquired addicts’ apathy served to advance him from one social circle to the next.

It shook Juliere to see this unpleasant truth played out among his parents, their associates, his friends, and, to a certain extent, even his beloved younger sister. Juliere deeply valued and constantly practiced his allomancy, and his sister was an Oracle. That should have been the world to her. Juliere understood that his sister hadn’t yet had the kind of awakening that he had, and he sought guidance from a now aging Donaire regarding what he should do.

Donaire reminded him of man’s true relationship with law. Just as the weak needed the safety rails of law, Juliere decided that what his sister needed now was a protector, someone to safeguard her until she realized the true potential she possessed. Now it was just his duty to help her understand as soon as possible that what she could be was so much greater than what she currently was.

His relationship with his sister, along with Donaire’s counsel, opened up brand new avenues in Juliere’s mind. He had learned of potential at such a young age, whereas others with years far beyond his still had not, and it was his duty to see that they, too, reached for their greatest selves.

And where better to start than by debasing the hypocrites within his own religion?

While he employed a gentler hand with his sister, Juliere felt no such limitation with regard to the rest of the Survivorist nobility. Their debauchery and foolish fixation on the finite possessions they owned worked against them, with Juliere employing every dirty trick he’d learned with Donaire to ruin them above board, while working his tendrils in through drug addiction under the table. Servants and secretaries were the beginning, and once they were hooked they would give him the blackmail materials he needed to work his way up the ladder. Sometimes it took as long as several years to topple the more powerful heretics, but Juliere was determined to teach the nobles of Elendel what true Survivorism was.

It seemed the only criteria Juliere needed in order to start breaking someone down was for them to somehow be involved in something he felt was unworthy of a true follower of the Survivor. Once he had gathered sufficient materials to destroy a heretic, he would deploy them with masterful subtlety, usually crippling their finances and social standing, ruining their estate permanently.

It was only once these false believers were fully defeated that he would have them killed.

Through his connection to Donaire’s inner circle, Juliere found access to minds that thought similarly to his, and began bringing them into his court. It soon became apparent to Donaire, however, that Juliere was supplanting him, and Donaire then renounced him publicly in a passionate sermon.

It was a simple matter, then, to make Donaire his next target.

Juliere had known for years that Donaire had a penchant for the underage. It was Donaire’s trust in Juliere that destroyed him in the end, having previously revealed most of himself, faults and all, to his younger prodigy. Juliere found it was his easiest character assassination yet, and likely his most satisfying physical one, though of course he didn’t pull any triggers himself. Once they saw the truth, it was easy, with a few well-placed words, to motivate the family members of Donaire’s latest conquest to take aim and fire.

Juliere took advantage of the subsequent chaos and pain in Donaire’s congregation to radicalize as many members as possible, bringing them under his thrall. He spoke of how Donaire’s fall was the fruit of the nobility’s decadence, and how it was time for true survivors to achieve the glorious potential they had always had, and simply forgotten. Many listened, and Juliere’s now headed more than a web of contacts. He had an organization. Not even the Iron Syndicate could touch him now.

The Burning Word. The name had just fit. Even after he had defeated Donaire, the man’s words still burned in his head.

“Potential is the purpose of man.”

Personality:

Juliere Lekal truly believes his cause to be a just one, but his fanaticism is deeply cloaked in his charisma and charm. As a general rule, he doesn’t glare. He smirks.

Enneagram Results: Type 3 (The Achiever) with Type 2 wing. You can read about it here.

Juliere hates his middle name as a moniker of his birthright as a noble. As the hypocrisy of the upper crust was gradually revealed, Juliere unwittingly began to loathe himself as a noble, wishing he could have been a commoner, closer to the origins of a true Survivor. He finds himself a great contradiction; a man borne of sloth and decadence called on to use his considerable resources to promote the cause of a commoner who died over 500 years before.

Juliere sees the drug empire and blackmail hoard he’s creating as a means to his ends, rather than the end goal itself.

Juliere’s strengths lie in charisma, subtlety, and loyalty. He has learned to put this face forward nearly always.

His faults lie in self-righteousness, fanaticism, and hypocrisy. These he veils behind his affable mask.

Trivia:

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor

Element: Water

Extra Content (OPTIONAL): I’m completely open to the ideas on The Innocent’s extra content regarding how their sibling relationship could play out. I had similar thoughts, and it could be excellent.

Admin Questions: How much Metalfire does the Burning Word control? Do I need to steal it from the Iron Syndicate?

Stuart, you and I (Admin Cori) can discuss this more in detail as that’s a good question. I think you bring up a good/fun point with that and we can get into details more in private!

#steelaccept

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