#not edited and you can tell but we persevere
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twenty four hours (modern!eddie munson x fem!reader)
"NIGHT TIME RELIGION"
EXTRA CONTENT- "BEYOND THE HOURS"
→ pairings: modern!college!eddie x college!fem!reader
→ warnings: strong language, upside down does not exist, minors dni
→ wc: 2.3k+
→ a/n: just a simple, sweet glimpse into what our favorite idiots' nighttime routine is like. probably got a little too poetic with it, as always <3
enjoy the main story's masterlist here
“You fell asleep again.”
It’s not a question, just a mere observation. Eddie doesn’t even put any emphasis on the key word there, that it had happened again, as he glances up on you sprawled out on his couch.
“Nuh uh,” you childishly rebuke, ironically squeezing your eyes shut tighter as you let your cheek nuzzle deeper into the page of the textbook you’d been taking notes on, “I’m… I’m wide awake.”
Every word painfully slurs with your next, voice mostly muffled. If he hadn’t been so close to you from where he was sitting on the floor, he probably wouldn’t have been able to make out what you’d just murmured.
It only makes him laugh softly as he focuses back on whatever piece of equipment he’d brought into the apartment that belongs to his bike, “Sure you are, sweetheart.”
The coffee table is spread with hand towels and paper towels alike as Eddie fiddles with the hunk of metal. You hadn’t even prodded him about what it was he was fiddling with; you were too busy, knee deep in your studies as you’d made yourself comfortable in his living room.
It was a normal routine now – something cozy, something domestic. Instead of being holed up in your dorm these days, you found yourself occupying apartment 2C far more frequently than you’d ever admit to anyone else. Half the time, the two of you didn’t even have plans. It wasn’t about elaborate date nights or purposeful hangouts anymore; these days, the two of you simply enjoyed one another’s presence. It was enough to just know he was there with you, in the same room, as the two of you were occupied with your own individual tasks. Sometimes, he would be reading a book as you wrote your essays. Sometimes, he’d steal your laptop to shop for new bike parts and accessories online as you caught up on your favorite TV shows. There had been plenty of phone calls with Nancy in which Eddie had let you simply rest your head in his lap, hands mindlessly carding through the scalp of your hair as he tried to offer assistance to his best friend’s daily troubles and rambles.
It was nice, and it was normal, and it was something the rest of the world would have to pry from your cold, dead hands.
The apartment could have easily become something akin to a prison after the bet, but it hadn’t. Instead, somehow and someway, you and Eddie had turned it into a proper sanctuary.
You no longer spent lectures daydreaming about returning to your dorm; your mind much preferred longing to return to Eddie’s room, to picture falling face down in his bed, where the pillow on the right side had begun to smell of your shampoo rather than his cologne.
“It’s getting late,” he sighs when he hears you go silent again. He’s not annoyed by any means. If he had it his way, he’d probably curl up on the couch with you for the rest of the night, content to fall asleep to the view of your face smoothing out in peaceful rest. But he knows if he leaves you be, you’ll wake up with an aching back and an attitude that makes even Harrington cower. He puts down his project for the night, wiping his hands on a damp paper towel before he reaches blindly behind himself to give you a few taps on your rear, “C’mon, we need to get ready for bed.”
You swat his hand away, and it only makes him grin, “It’s not that late. Plus, I’m comfy.”
“It’s half past eleven, baby.”
And oh, do you shoot straight up at that.
Your eyes are finally wide open as you look at him wildly, face struck with confusion, “Excuse me?”
“I said, it’s half past ele-”
“When the Hell did it get so late?” you fumble with yourself as he slowly gets up, making a show out of stretching all his limbs. You don’t even grow distracted when his arms reach well over his head and tug up his shirt, exposing that sliver of stomach that would normally entice you, “I swear to God, it wasn’t even ten like…. Ten minutes ago.”
“Ten waking minutes ago, maybe,” he teases, holding a hand out for you, “Time flies when you’re napping instead of studying.”
It’s hard for him to not smile so softly down at you right now, even as he watches the defeat take hold. Your entire outfit is compiled of his clothes, yet another t-shirt you’d snagged from him along with a pair of sweatpants that he can’t even remember the last time he’d worn them. Your hair is messy, falling out of the convenient style you’d fashioned in it hours before when you’d declared you needed to focus. Your shoulders sag, the corners of your mouth inch downward, and all he really cares about right now is getting you in bed so he can wrap himself up around you.
Your eyes dart between his outstretched hand and your textbook, still open on a page that you’d embarrassingly drooled on, “I know we joked about celebrating when I aced my finals, but can we still get milkshakes when I absolutely flunk them?”
The way you manage to melt his heart is impeccable. He doesn’t even have it in him to be snarky, or to make another menacing jokes, “Of course we can.”
That seems to make your decision. You finally reach out and take his hand, clearly trying to be dramatic as you pull on him with the entirety of your weight, almost as though your end goal was for him to actually end up beside you on the couch rather than to be standing beside him.
If your goal is the former, you fail miserably. He doesn’t budge beneath your drag, only leaning forward to grab your other hand and properly haul you off the couch.
“Oof,” you huff out as you collide with his chest from the force, letting your face smash into him and making no move to pull back, “Can’t you just carry me to bed? Is that an option?”
He almost says yes. Almost.
“We won’t even make it down the hall,” he chuckles, taking slow steps back, guiding you right along with him, “I may or may not have also dozed off at some point. Jury’s still out on that one.”
“Is it?”
You’re hardly lifting your feet, shuffling your way along, letting him walk you deceiving to the bathroom rather than the bedroom. He has no idea if you’ll be capable of doing your full skincare routine, but at the very least, he has to get you to brush your teeth. If he didn’t, he’d never hear the end of it.
“It is indeed,” he finally stops walking backwards, deciding it might become more dangerous rather than just dragging you along, “Probably won’t get a ruling until morning, so we might as well brush our teeth now, doll.”
He’s trying to sweeten the deal. Coaxing you with adoring pet names to keep you in motion.
“Ugh, effort,” you crunch your nose as you say it, and it’s clearly more for show than anything now. You’re fully conscious, capable of getting yourself to the bathroom sink where both your toothbrushes now sit side-by-side in a glass cup, but you don’t let go of his hand just yet.
His palm is warm, and right now, all you really wanna do is curl up in that heat.
Eventually, though, you let go. The two of you stand in the mirror as you go through the motions of wetting your toothbrushes, applying the toothpaste – all the boring, mundane actions that are more habit than conscious choices. But interspersed in the habits you’ve gathered over your years of life are new ones, minimal but vital after the amount of time spent together. Proof of the way this nighttime routine had become something of a religion between the two of you, something to be offered and to be shared rather than simply going through the motions.
The way Eddie carefully rolls the end of the toothpaste tube before passing it to you, simply so it’s easier for you to get your share of it. The way you leave the water running after you’ve wet your own brush just so Eddie can also do so. All the sneaky glances caught in the mirror as the corners of your mouths foam up. Every ridiculous face, every nimble bump of your hip to his, the way he sticks out his very white tongue at you before he spits out into the basin – new things that have all become the normal, but still settle warmth in your chest.
Things that water a garden of vinery and blooms that no longer only belong within the confine of your bones, but his as well.
A shared garden of memories and comfort. Growing, flourishing, nurturing one another.
You lean down to spit right before him, and when you take a second too long, he tugs on a strand of your hair, trying to move you. And even as tired as you are, you find it within yourself to be a little shit as he so lovingly mumbles out around his toothbrush, lingering until he’s bumping you with his hip with purpose.
Passing the floss back and forth (or more like you shoving the floss into his hands before he can try to argue against it), using the same paper cup to sip mouthwash out of – something so bland that you used to do it alone, now something to enjoy with him.
You kind of love it. You kind of love him.
“Should I wash my face?” you question, leaning in closer to the mirror and poking at your cheeks, checking your skin for any blemishes you can find.
Eddie only moves behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and making the entire ordeal far more difficult as his chin rests on your shoulder, “Not if you don’t feel like it. Besides, it’s gonna make your nose cold, and then you’re gonna press it all over my damn neck and-”
You cut him off with a joking glare, reaching up to flick at his nose, but he’s quick to pull his face out of your reach. Smiling widely, showing off those fresh and minty pearly whites.
“If my cold nose bothers you that much, I could just stay on my side of the bed tonight,” you scowl, even though you were already taking his advice and calling it a night, twisting out of his hold to flick the lightswitch and exit the bathroom.
He’s still stronger as he keeps his arms in place, only twisting himself around to face the door frame right with you, whining in your ear, “No.”
He drags out the ‘o’, his voice slowly growing more quiet the longer he draws out the vowel. At some point, it’s less than Eddie has ended the protest, and more that he’s just run out of breath.
His arms only leave your waist for the two of you to get dressed in proper pajamas. Well, what you both consider proper pajamas.
You, left in only his shirt and underwear, and Eddie simply in his boxers.
There’s no more sarcastic comments or lazy banter, although you certainly expect it. You’re almost holding your breath for it, right up until Eddie’s lifting his comforter and eagerly motioning for you to climb into bed first. Not one smartass remark about ladies first that could easily backfire on him as you shoved him into the bed before you.
No, he waits until the two of you are lying on your sides, facing one another, not quite touching when his face breaks into a radiant smile.
“What?” you ask, narrowing your eyes at him, overly suspicious of his random burst of happiness.
“You call it your side of the bed.”
At first, you don’t get it, “What?”
“You called it your side of the bed,” he repeats with the utmost emphasis, finally throwing his hand out in search of your own, pulling it up to eye-level so he can toy slowly with each of your knuckles.
“Is it not?” you’re whispering like two children at a sleepover, your feet finally drifting to toe at his calves. If they’re too cold for his liking, you don’t know. He doesn’t flinch or complain, only spreads his legs ever so slightly so there’s a space left for you to fill as you intertwine limbs.
“It is,” he confirms, nodding a little, finally slotting his fingers between your own, “Just nice to hear you say it out loud.”
And suddenly, you get it.
It’s your side of the bed. It’s your toothbrush resting beside his. Your textbooks and laptops are still on his couch, you have a sticky note with a reminder for yourself to buy more milk put up on the fridge, there’s now a space for your shoes at the front door right beside his daily boots – slowly but surely, you’ve whittled out spaces for yourself here, with him.
Even when you’re not here in this apartment with him, your presence remains. Someone could walk in, and they still see traces of you. You exist here, constantly, right along with Eddie.
“Yeah,” you whisper back, finally scooching closer. He immediately shifts so that you can cuddle into his side, your head resting against his chest and your ear pressed to listen to his thrumming heartbeat. A perfectly carved out space for you even here, between this sheets, against his skin, “It’s nice to say out loud.”
Not a routine, but a religion. Something to worship in the quiet hours between the sound of quiet snores and a noisy coffee maker you already have plans to replace as a Christmas gift to Eddie. An apartment turned altar, with offerings from both of you, to all that has and could become.
You whisper your final prayer, just as you do every night, even when you think Eddie might already be fast asleep, “G’night, Eddie. I love you.”
He’s not already asleep.
“I love you, sweetheart.”
eddie's taglist: @capricornrisingsstuff @thisisktrying @hideoutside @vol2eddie @corrcdedcoffin @ches-86 @alovesongtheywrote @its-not-rain @feralchaospixie @cheesypuffkins87 @thebook-hobbit @babez-a-licious @eddies-acousticguitar @aysheashea @kellsck @cosmorant @billyhvrgrove-main @micheledawn1975 @eddiesxangel @siriuslysmoking @witchwolflea @tlclick73 @magicalchocolatecheesecake @mizzfizz @nanaminswhore @mikiepeach @ali-r3n @hawkebuckley @alwaysbeenfamous @darkyuffie-blog @vintagehellfire @lilmisssiren @elvendria @loveryanax @stylexrepp @princessstolas @fangirling-4-ever @eddiesguitarskills @babez-a-licious @josephquinnsfreckles
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#ghost is bad at endings for one shots can you tell#ghost's stories#twenty four hours#eddie munson#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson x you#eddie munson fic#eddie munson fluff#eddie munson fanfic#beyond the hours#not edited and you can tell but we persevere
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Okay so it's only technically the first half of the original ch7 for "15 Minutes" but my STARS, it's something posted and that feels like such a win right now.
Georgette (computer) had a bad morning but despite that, she rallied after that first freeze/lockup and, look, we got something accomplished!
#ageless aislynn#ais is writing#i'm trying so hard to have a better outlook#yes the computer might still crash bsod or freeze lockup but we just rally from that#we persevere#we go on and do our best with what we've got#🤞😣🤞#this dang thing was written by hand and edited as a tumblr draft#that was so awkward for me i can't even tell you#but i'm going to keep going since it worked#me and georgette just forging our way through the minefields as best we can#😉
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THE SURPRISING HERO ( A PROMPT LIST! )
hello my beloveds!!! an absolutely incredible nonnie sent in a request for prompts based on the idea of someone becoming a vital part of saving the world through unanticipated events, and i hope i managed to achieve what they wanted in this list! basically i got a tonne of inspiration from comic book movies and the more fantastical vibes of high fantasy franchises, and i was going to make these more amusing, but i think there's something so hard-hitting about the concept of being thrust into greatness and heroism when you feel you aren't ready for it! anyway! enjoy, and as always: DO NOT ADD TO OR EDIT THIS LIST, AND DO NOT CLAIM AS YOUR OWN!
FROM THE UNEXPECTED HERO:
“ i’m not supposed to be here. i’m not like the rest of you; i’m not special, or blessed, or gifted. i’m just… me. “
“ you’ve got to be joking! i can’t save the world! i’m just an ordinary person! “
“ it’s funny. all these years, i’ve wanted so badly to see the world. now… i think i’ve never wanted anything so much as to go back home. “
“ so that’s it, then? i’m just supposed to sacrifice everything to save the world, all because some ancient prophecy says so? “
“ i still can’t quite believe we were doing laundry yesterday. now our biggest chore is traveling across the world to save it. “
“ i miss home. i miss how safe and boring and fine it all was. i never would’ve wanted adventures if i thought they’d be as scary and dangerous as this. “
“ they’re right to be angry, you know. everyone has a purpose here; i’m only joining you all because of some insane twist of fate. “
“ surprised? don’t worry, so was i. i don’t think it’s a normal occurrence for people like me to be part of massive quests like this. “
“ look. i’m not the chosen one, alright? i don’t want any part in any prophecy or ancient dictation. i just want to live an ordinary, safe, boring life. “
“ you think i don’t acknowledge what’s happening?! every mistake i make has costs, and those costs are often the lives of innocent people! “
“ you know, last year my idea of a grand adventure was going up the mountains for a picnic with my friends. funny how fast things change, isn’t it? “
“ i’m not a hero! i don’t know how to fight! heroes are special and unique and trained, and i’m none of those things. “
“ everyone looks at me like i’ve got the answers, but i don’t. i was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. “
“ you ever stop to question the solidity of this prophecy? because if the wording is that vague that it could name me as the savior of the world, then maybe we ought to revise it. “
“ this is stupid! putting the fate of the universe on some million-year-old prophecy! “
“ i’m not what you think i am. i’m not a hero. i’m sorry, i know you want me to be one, but… i’m just not. “
“ so you’re telling me, because i happened to overhear some weird out of context conversation, that the safety of the world relies entirely on me? “
“ don’t you see how daft this whole thing is?! i’ve got to save the world now because i happened to take a wrong turn on my way home! “
“ why can’t i just give you guys what i found, and you can go and rescue the world yourselves? “
“ i want to clarify that i’m not a coward. okay? i’m not running away from this. but i’m not exactly save-the-world material. so thank you for the opportunity, but… i think i’ll stay at home. “
TO THE UNEXPECTED HERO:
“ i get it, you know. it’s a huge responsibility for someone who’s only just realized what’s at stake. “
“ the others think i’m utterly mad for even considering you for this task. but the fact is, you’re the only person i genuinely believe to be capable of fixing this mess. “
“ would you like to know the mark of a true hero? it’s courage. not an absence of fear, not an ignorance of it, but rather, the choice to persevere in spite of it. you’re still here. that makes you one of the bravest people on the planet. “
“ don’t let anyone else tell you what you are and aren’t capable of. everything happens for a reason, and it wasn’t dumb luck that put you in our path. “
“ i don’t believe in prophecies, personally. i think the universe is far too chaotic for them to survive thousands of years. but i do believe that you being here is not a coincidence. “
“ fate only accounts for part of what happens in our lives. the rest of it is all choices. and despite how scared and inexperienced you are… you’ve chosen to stay. that tells me an awful lot about you. “
“ how selfish can you be?! running away from this destiny, this task! the world will fall into darkness if you don’t step up, and here you are, hiding from your fate like a coward! “
“ you need to learn to ignore the opinions of others if you’re going to stand a chance at doing this. this is the cost of being a hero. people will judge, not based on truth, but on a limited perspective. “
“ don’t be stupid. we’re not special or talented either; i was trained from childhood, i can fight men twice my size, but that’s not the mark of a hero. “
“ if you like, i could teach you how to fight? you may find it useful. even if it’s just to comfort yourself against these ridiculous self-doubts. “
“ heroes aren’t always massive muscle types. the inventor of new defense measures against attacks, or someone who discovered a cure for a disease, or perhaps someone clever enough to use new fuel sources in the winter… heroism isn’t always found in warzones, you know. “
“ fine. don’t do it for the fate of the world. do it for your family. your friends. do it for the ones you’ll return to once we settle this for good. save this world, not for the world itself, but for the ones you love, so that they may live on. “
“ you should know some things. most people, if you somehow perform outside of the very specific expectations they have for you, will be very quick and harsh in their judgment. it’s not something one can avoid. but you can learn to rise above those critics. remember. they don’t know the real you. “
" fear is normal. okay? we all fear things. the real killer is when you try to fight that fear. you're no lesser a hero for fearing things. expect it. accept it. embrace it. and once it's with you, work with it to fight even more. "
" you keep saying you're not a hero. tell me. what exactly is it that you believe a hero to be? "
" people make the error of assuming heroes to be golden, flawless, immaculate in both thought and strategy. it's never the case. heroes are the most flawed of all. that's what makes us admire them so. "
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Nisha, did you know I would step on some legos barefooted for you? Anyways can’t wait to read for another fandom I have never stepped foot in and would probably never engage with the canon in just because you decided that’s what to make, and I’ve decided to read it anyways. Home cooked meal. -Rotten Anon
The opening line of this message made literal cartoon anime hearts appear above my head, just so you know <3
Also you have inspired me to post a rundown of my WIPs because I am really excited about what I have been working on. And for two of these fandoms, I know you have said you know nothing about the canon, but for the third, I am not sure, so we'll see.
My Current WIPs April/May 2024
Heaven's Gate (for The Walking Dead) - Daryl Dixon x GN!Reader. Strangers to Lovers/Soulmates/Lovers Reunited. Angst, Fluff, Hurt and Comfort. Set during Season 1 to Season 5. 17k in counting (will be a oneshot). You can find a preview here. In this fic, you and Daryl get separated when the Governor attacks the prison, and though you both believe the other person is dead (or long gone) you find each other at the most unlikely time, in the most unlikely place.
I am super excited about this fic, and the themes of hope that I have woven into it. Because yes, I unironically love writing about hope and how the human spirit can persevere - which is something that my favourite moments in The Walking Dead show. This is first draft complete and just needs to be edited.
The Jaws of Life (for DC Titans) - Jason Todd x GN!Reader. Sequel to Emergency Contact. Lovers Reunited. Extreme Angst, Smut, Hurt and (some) Comfort. Set during Season 3. 21k in counting (will probably be a oneshot - if it needs to be split up, it will be put in two parts, but I hope I can get away with a oneshot). (I highly recommend that everyone go read the original in the meantime, because it is one of my best fics ever.) In this fic, you and Jason struggle with the new meaning of your relationship after what happened with Deathstroke - only for this tentative change to be harshly disrupted by the Joker. And you're still heavily mourning when a red hooded stranger breaks into your apartment one night, seeking medical care because apparently - you owe him one.
Everyone give Jaycen @nctzenkane a big fucking round of applause for this one, because he was randomly talking to me about Jason Todd today (we were having the 'some characters are only fuckable in costume' discussion) - and I got talking about how this version of Jason from Titans makes me so passionate to write about the character. And it is solely because of him that I opened up this fic and took a good look at it - I have been thinking about this fic for months, wanting to finish it because I know I am gonna be proud of it, but I kept hesitating because I thought I had a way bigger mountain to conquer with it. But the conversation I had with Jaycen really inspired me and I wrote 5k on the fic just today, and I realized that with this momentum, I could have the first draft done by the end of this month. So I am promising myself that this is gonna be done soon.
Speaking of which - when The Jaws of Life is first draft done, I wanna host a poll so you guys can decide which of those two ^^ fics goes through the editing process to be posted first. Both will be posted (hopefully) by the end of May, but I do wanna know which one you guys wanna see posted first. Which leads me to:
Nasty (for Stranger Things) - Sub!Eddie Munson x Dom!Fem!Reader. Established Relationship. Smut/PWP. 3k (this is gonna be a shorter fic lmao). In this fic, you and Eddie have been dating for a while, but you don't like that all of his attempts to have sex with you have him taking on a (seemingly fake) dom persona. When you finally tell him that you prefer to be more dominant in bed, he isn't disgusted like you thought he might be - he loves it.
This is one I have been sitting on for a while, and right before it was ready to be posted - my brain lost interest in it like tiktok does micro trends. But I think this is gonna be really great to post while the poll for those other fics is cooking because it's short and sweet and for the past few days, whenever I have seen the cover for this in my drafts, I have gotten excited about it again. So I am excited to finish it and show it off to everyone!!
#rotten anon#anonymous#sundrop answers#curren wips#wips#daryl dixon x reader#the walking dead#jason todd x reader#dc titans#eddie munson x reader#stranger things
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There are now 10 main characters on The Rookie — rank them! 😈
Ma'am. Is this because you can no longer Evil Boop me anymore? Is that what this is??
Okay, fine. *Rolls up sleeves and gets to work*
1.) Lucy, my absolute badass superhero! She is kind, caring, loving, and funny. She is someone with a pure heart who wants to see and do good in the world❤️
2.) Tim, he has a strong sense of justice and moral code and a desire to do things right. I admire his strength and perseverance and his ability to continue to give and receive love after being hurt so many times🥹
3.) Lopez, because she takes no shit, but does no harm. Unless, of course, you cross her. She loves fiercely and is a shining example of a woman who can hold her own in a male dominated field.
4.) Harper, my unbothered queen, for many of the same reasons as Lopez. I wasn't so sure how I felt about her at first, but she quickly won me over and has become one of my favorite characters! Plus, her sense of humor and sarcasm is top tier.
5.) Tamara, because I see so much of myself in her. Growing up without anyone in your corner, fighting like hell to change your trajectory and make something of yourself, and not wanting to feel like a burden to those around you. Plus, I think she's good for Lucy. I love their sisterly relationship so much.
6.) Aaron, because he always manages to provide the best comic relief right when it's needed!
7.) Grey, aka Mr. I am so over everybody's bullshit😂. Anytime something goes wrong, I just imagine this man telling himself, "I could be sipping a Mai Tai on a beach somewhere, enjoying my retirement, and yet I'm here."
8.) Luna, she's just the sweetest! You can tell she really loves the officers/detectives and cares for them every just as much as Wade does.
9.) Celina, my girl is growing on me! Now that we've toned down the superstitions, healing crystals, tarot cards, etc. I'm beginning to enjoy her more and more. Especially as she interacts more with the other characters.
10.) Wesley, we haven't seen him much this season, and I hope that changes because he's a solid dude for the most part and also someone who wants to do good in the world and see justice prevail. He's also constantly trying to fight for those who are underserved in his community, and I appreciate that.
Once again, I thank you, Sarah, for the distraction. Another round of tough decisions here!
Edited to add: As Sarah pointed out that *technically* Luna and Tamara are recurring characters, if I had to revise the list, I would move Wesley to the number 5 spot, have Bailey take 10, and Nolan replace Luna at 8. Clearly, I'm not interested in either of their storylines because they both weren't even on my radar when making this list🙈
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Reflections & The Road Ahead
ABOVE: The Turtles make a promotional appearance in the UK, circa 1990. These puffy versions of the green teens showed up on TV and in the press often during Turtlemania, and resemble the characters as they were depicted on licensed Hero Turtles items during that era.
I’m old enough at this point to feel comfortable in saying that life is full of periods of awkward re-adjustment, where the world moves around you and it can take a while to find your bearings. You go to school for years and it feels like it’ll never end, then one day you’re just... done. A day job that perhaps you feel like you’ll be doing until you reach old age and keel over abruptly ends for whatever reason, and suddenly your routine is gone, leaving you wondering what to do with yourself.
Years ago, on a whim, I made the decision to re-watch the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon from the beginning and live-tweet about it over on the birdsite. Things were stop-start in the beginning, but at some point during the pandemic the project began gathering momentum. The threads got longer, my need to point out every weird little thing that happens in any given Turtles episode outgrowing the format of a Twitter thread. And so, almost exactly two years ago, Turtlethon made the jump to Tumblr, and in short order the format for each entry began to take shape: a beat-for-beat walk through a single episode of TMNT, complete with screengrabs and the occasional video clip, and an analysis of why that particular adventure does (or doesn’t) land, typically 2,000 words in length, longer still if it’s really good – or exceptionally bad.
In time, we settled into a routine: two new entries would appear every week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sticking with that turned out to be an undertaking that I vastly underestimated the scope of early on, and there were times where the obligation to write about, screencap, edit and post about Turtles became exhausting, but I didn’t want this to be a project I abandoned halfway through. It was of the utmost importance to me to persevere, to get to the end no matter what.
Now that day has been and gone. We watched Splinter hurriedly declare the Turtles to be his equals, the credits rolled, and honestly it was all underwhelming. Upon further reflection, there’s no doubt there was more story to be told – there's no way Mung angrily telling Dregg he’d gone mad was the intended payoff to him getting pushed around all season – and presumably that’s something we would’ve seen followed up on had the show returned in 1997. But that’s not the world we live in, and so instead, we have to assess Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as it is: the 192 (or 193) adventures that were broadcast, which we can now observe as one overarching body of work. And I guess now all that’s left to ask is... what even was TMNT ‘87? Beyond the obvious and most cynical analysis – that it was initially an effort to promote a line of action figures, before becoming the heart of the Turtles business empire in its own right – what, if anything, was the series about? What was it trying to communicate to those of us who grew up watching it?
Peel away that initial "toy cartoon" layer of interpretation, and the next observation is perhaps only slightly less world-weary: it’s about communicating the idea that the Turtles are cool, to create adventures that will be compelling to kids, ensure they keep coming back and hopefully convince them to explore the other facets of the franchise too. Early on, the show was successful in these respects commercially, but from a creative standpoint it took a while to find its feet. Through the first three years the Turtles were first and foremost a unit, rarely getting to venture beyond their respective descriptions in the theme song. Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines, Raphael is... not exactly rude but certainly quippy, and Michaelangelo is indeed a party dude, whose pizza fixation sometimes appears to reach “this guy genuinely has a problem” territory. (It’s remarkable how integral pizza is to the first seven seasons of the show, only for it to be abandoned completely in the Red Sky era: I’m sure there must have been a strict “NO PIZZA” edict handed down from S8 onward that explains why the series ended on an ill-fitting popcorn gag instead.) One of the common themes explored in the Turtlethon entries for the golden era episodes is that Shredder, Krang, Rocksteady & Bebop make the show work comedically in the early goings, in part because they’re allowed to be flawed and vulnerable: meanwhile the Turtles are constrained by that need to be super cool dudes, the world’s most fearsome fighting team.
With the success of the show assured around season four, we finally begin to see a willingness to explore who the Turtles are beyond those base traits conveyed in the theme song. I’d argue that in this incarnation of the series, Leonardo is the member of the group whose personality adheres closest to what the team were when originally conceived for the Mirage comic: he’s a ninja first and foremost, even memorably declaring his intent to finish off Shredder in the first season. Season three’s “Take Me to Your Leader” explores how the burden of leadership weighs upon him but it’s the following year where he’s fully rounded out, the pros and cons of his overbearing strictness explored in “Leonardo Lightens Up”, while his competitive nature turns compulsive in “Leonardo Versus Tempestra”. More than anything, his role is to serve as an anchor, ensuring TMNT stays somewhere in the neighbourhood of being an action-adventure cartoon and doesn’t float off into complete tomfoolery.
Raphael is the inverse of Leonardo, encompassing everything that makes the Fred Wolf TMNT what it is – for better or worse. He’s the goofball, the one typically given the task of breaking the fourth wall, and if anything is actively pushing against what Leo is here to achieve. With his incessant zingers, Raph is the embodiment of everything that purists who resent the show for not being a faithful recreation of the Mirage comic dislike about it, a situation exacerbated by the fact that the 1987 cartoon version of the character is such an outlier, eschewing the angry, brooding depiction of him seen almost everywhere else. This idea that there’s something inauthentic about Fred Wolf Raph is so pervasive that modern media and merchandise based around the MWS show often skews towards making him “the angry one” instead of the wise guy. It’s an unfortunate bit of revisionist history that loses sight of the fact that 1987 Raph is wildly popular, perhaps now more than ever. The fans who like him really like his witty retorts, outings such as his memorable romance with Mona Lisa, and the entertaining performances from Rob Paulsen that brought him to life. His value is in keeping things light, and in doing so he differentiates TMNT from the earnest action cartoons that preceded it.
Okay, but if Raph is the fun one, where does that leave Michaelangelo? I’d argue that his depiction as the team’s “party dude” is merely window-dressing, a means to convey what makes him marketable but which doesn’t really get at what makes him tick, in part because as alluded to above, in the early days of the show none of this stuff had been thought out. Anyone watching seasons one, two and much of season three would be forgiven for seeing him as one-dimensional, the cowabunga guy. Pizza, pizza, pizza. Dude, dude, dude. These aspects of him can be... grating, to be certain, when watching the series as an adult. Eventually we start to occasionally see beyond this. There’s a sense that Mikey is the youngest member of the team, even if there’s nothing in the show itself directly confirming this: by extension he’s the most innocent, sensitive, and personable member of the group, the one who’d be most likely to befriend you and invite you into the Lair if you were to encounter him, rather than viewing you as a threat. Michaelangelo is both the most “human” Turtle and the one who displays the greatest longing to live as a human, something seen in episodes such as season three’s “The Gang’s All Here” and the following year’s “Poor Little Rich Turtle”. When it comes down to it, Mikey’s character is easy-going but more importantly, he’s kind. There’s an irony in him being the one whose weapons had to be excised from the show entirely, though if anything I think that only gave him a little renegade appeal over and above even the other Turtles.
Donatello has always been my favourite Turtle, and not just for aesthetic reasons as “the purple one”: coming in from Ghostbusters as many of us did back in the day, I think it’s natural that if you were on Team Egon, you were likely to be Team Donnie, too. He's the most creative Turtle and arguably the most introspective, two qualities that also make me gravitate towards him. Putting my biases aside, he’s by far the most necessary member of the team for the series to work: his intelligence and ingenuity seem to almost always play into the climax of any episode as the Turtles scramble to stop whatever enormous threat is facing the city, and without him it’s inarguable that Leo, Mikey and Raph would have been majorly screwed countless times over the course of the show’s run. Around the mid-point of the series his accomplishments seem to go to his head, and his abilities make him vastly overpowered relative to the other Turtles. Despite this, Donnie remains the big purple cog that keeps TMNT ticking.
The show upholds its four main characters above everything, even in situations where this becomes detrimental, and this goes hand in hand with a focus on immediacy: what anyone else is doing isn’t a concern unless it will impact the Turtles somehow, and nothing that’s happened to anyone in the past matters unless if affects the team in the present moment. There’s an unspoken anxiety at work in TMNT that runs throughout the series, apparent even at its height: a fear that if the Turtles aren’t front and centre, chasing the macguffin of the day, then young viewers will grow bored and switch off.
These considerations are apparent in the series from the outset, affecting even the origin of the Turtles themselves, who in this continuity go from pet turtles to their established forms in the space of seconds: they’re not allowed to grow into their teenage selves over the course of years for the same reason that only the most barebones information is conveyed to us about the Hamato Yoshi / Oroku Saki feud that led to their creation. This show isn’t about getting caught up in the details, it’s about the Turtles existing in the present moment.
Yoshi and Saki’s ongoing rivalry is one of the most fascinating aspects of the entire series, and yet one barely explored because the show only cares about the elements of it directly relevant to the Turtles. At some unspecified point in the past Saki framed Yoshi and took control of the Foot Clan because... he was just naturally power-hungry and evil, I guess (later we learned that his mother was also villainous, so there might be something to that). There’s a huge chunk of the timeline which takes place after this of which we know little, covering Yoshi presumably stowing away on a boat and beginning a new life as a penniless refugee living in the sewers of New York. By all rights the story should end here, with Saki having vanquished his enemy and now ruling over his own turf as the head of a criminal organisation in Japan, but his inability to let go keeps things rolling: at some point he follows Yoshi to America, sets up an elaborate network to spy on him, and in a botched attempt to kill his enemy inadvertently mutates the four heroes who will ultimately be his undoing: Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael.
Oh, and along the way Saki happened to run into a disembodied alien warlord brain from Dimension X who had himself been on Earth for an unspecified amount of time, the two bad guys forming an alliance to achieve world domination. None of these events unfold on-screen as the Turtles weren’t involved: instead, Shredder and Krang arrive fully formed, how they met and the circumstances that led to them working together are deemed unimportant. Similarly, Splinter is a wise old man whose exact age is unclear, capable of applying mystical ninja abilities that vary depending on what the plot of the day requires.
Given how scant the details of Splinter and Shredder’s feud were, it should perhaps come as no surprise that in the end, it was never resolved in any satisfactory fashion. By the end of the series Shredder and Krang were banished to another dimension by the Turtles for the umpteenth time, but the power struggle between Splinter and Shreds over the leadership of the Foot Clan that kicked all of this off doesn’t receive any closure; to make matters worse the final three appearances of Shredder and Krang tease the idea of them becoming... well maybe not good guys, but at the very least neutral figures having been overshadowed in the evil stakes by Dregg. I think by season ten, the viewers would have been ready for that: to have Shredder and Krang perform a heroic act to stop Dregg that definitively concludes their run on the show as villains, then let them ride off into the sunset. If we’re to assume there were plans for a twelfth season, there’s no reason that Karai or another villain new to the series couldn’t take their place.
I’m going to skip over writing about Bebop and Rocksteady here as this post is long enough as it is, and I covered their contribution to the series in the entry for “Turtle Trek”. The only thing I would add is that if anyone was truly deserving of that elusive redemption arc and/or a happy ending, it was them: this is one of the areas where the Archie TMNT comic got it right, the idea of them living peacefully on the animal-friendly Eden Worlds providing an opportunity to for the duo to move on.
April is perhaps the most important character in the show other than the Turtles: there are plenty of episodes in the first seven years of TMNT that don’t feature Splinter, Shredder or Krang but none prior to “The Legend of Koji” that don’t incorporate her into the adventure in some capacity. She's interesting to view through a feminist lens: for a character who first appeared on TV in 1987 in a cartoon primarily marketed towards boys, not only is she integral to the proceedings but from the outset she’s her own person, a (somewhat) established career woman who just happens to cross paths with the Turtles and strike up a friendship with them. Because of that need to keep the focus on the green teens we never get to see her grow much beyond this – she likes the Turtles, she likes getting to cover anything that will make for a Great Story™, but that’s as far as it goes. There are a few rare occasions where the show will toy with having a male guest character serve as a potential love interest for her, but it’s not central to what she’s about. First and foremost, April cares about journalism and about sticking up for her friends, the Turtles, and for a cartoon from 35 years ago it’s kind of refreshing that’s she’s allowed to maintain that focus.
Irma’s introduction to the series feels as if it was intended to play up April’s qualities by bringing in someone who in many ways is her opposite: there’s little indicator that Irma cares about her job or is any good at it in the early goings, and while April only makes occasional references to finding a partner throughout the series, Irma is obsessed. Her desire to find a man to sweep her off her feet in some paperback romance novel scenario is a constant theme throughout the first four years of the show, and I get the sense that part of the intended gag is that all of this would come easily to April if she wanted it, but for Irma – frequently inferred by the show to be frumpy or plain – such things remain perpetually out of reach.
When it comes to Turtles discourse there sometimes seems to be borderline hostility towards Irma, perhaps in part because she’s driven by a desire for those old traditions, but I think largely based on people focusing on her appearances in those first three seasons (the only ones people tend to pay attention to, especially outside of the fandom) and viewing her on a surface level: April, so the thinking goes, is glamorous and exciting, Irma is merely her gawky sidekick. I’ve consistently gone to bat for her throughout Turtlethon’s run precisely because The Struggle is Real: Irma exists, living and growing as a flawed human being alongside the successful, infallible April and her friends, the ever-valiant Turtles. She messes up, she fails, she frequently ends up being on the receiving end of pure bad luck but through it all she keeps going, persevering in the background while the focus remains on April and the Turtles. As the show continues, we start to see her maturation, both in terms of taking on different roles within Channel 6 and the downplaying of her man-hungry antics. By the end of season seven there’s a sense that Irma has grown into a fully capable person and shed her insecurities, culminating in her brief reinvention as an action heroine and her defeat of Krang(!) in “Shredder Triumphant!”
There’s an argument to be made that season seven should have been the end point of the series, or at least that years eight through ten ought to be viewed as merely a possible continuation, a look into how things could have continued rather than something set in stone. The truth is that aside from maybe Shredder, the core cast is served poorly by the Red Sky era: the Turtles come across as miserable throughout, April seems adrift after moving on from Channel 6, ultimately losing prominence following Carter’s introduction to the show, Bebop and Rocksteady are robbed of any semblance of personality and Irma only makes two appearances in season eight before being unceremoniously dropped entirely. I’ll freely admit that by the end of season nine, watching each episode for Turtlethon was becoming a deflating experience: by that point the spark was gone from the show, and seeing what it had become just felt sad. Happily, things improved a bit in S10, but I can’t shake the feeling that Shredder, Krang and The Boys riding off in the pick-up truck at the conclusion of season seven would have been the right time for the Turtles to bow out.
TMNT ‘87 was looked down upon from the outset by readers of the Mirage comic who saw it as sacrilege, a mockery of everything the source material was about, and once newer animated iterations came along that adhered more closely to Eastman & Laird’s vision the perception of the MWS version took an even greater hit. Ironically there are a bunch of disgruntled guys around my age – Xennials and the youngest Gen Xers – who will now swear blind that the ‘87 Turtles are the one true faith, and that any deviation from the way the team were depicted then is a disgrace. Click on any TMNT post on Instagram, especially the ones pertaining to Mutant Mayhem, and you’ll find these dudes in the comments pissing and moaning about how much better things were in their day, when the Turtles were real tough guys and manly men, which is an oddly rose-tinted perspective of a show where a significant portion of fights were won with a cream pie or pizza to the face. That’s the thing: at its heart, Turtles is a fun adventure show, one that over its run draws heavily upon martial arts tropes, sci-fi macguffin chases, aliens, monsters, dimension hopping and occasionally time travel: these concepts are all part of the DNA of the superhero comic book, and in that respect, the show is absolutely in the spirit of the Mirage comics which were themselves conceived as both a parody and a loving tribute to that artform.
That’s it. That’s what the point of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show is: it’s a fun adventure cartoon that might not aesthetically resemble the Mirage comics, but it has an innate understanding of how to adapt the underlying concepts of those stories into a series that connects with its target audience.
One of my intended aims for Turtlethon, in pulling apart and analysing every episode of TMNT, has been to dispel two commonly held stances about the show that I see online all the time:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) was never good.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) was only good for the first five episodes, everything after that was terrible.
People who take the first stance are harder to reach. Some of them are from that group of Mirage readers who were around back in the day and still hold a grudge, but the majority of those who hold this opinion have a wider disdain for eighties cartoons in general. They dismiss the contributions of everyone who worked on these series entirely because they were all “thinly veiled toy commercials”: to them TMNT and every other show from that era are nothing but sound and fury, signifying nothing. I hope in my analysis I’ve shown how far this is from the truth: even the clunkiest episodes of Turtles occasionally have moments where the animators go above and beyond to create impressive sequences, and when the show was at the height of its popularity during seasons three and four these teams created a lot of television on a modest budget within a short timeframe. On the writing side, over the course of the series Turtles incorporates themes into its stories of environmentalism (including climate change and conservation), how sensationalist media and wealthy individuals in positions of power can cultivate hate movements against marginalised groups, and gentrification, to name just a couple of topics off the top of my head; an entire side season was also dedicated to having the Turtles travel around Europe to be exposed to its arts, history and culture. These efforts are a drop in the ocean compared to what the Archie Comics version of TMNT was doing during this period but are respectable, nonetheless.
The second position – that the show goes off the rails after “Shredder & Splintered” - is something you’ll hear from viewers who have perhaps purchased the first few seasons or the entire series on DVD and have started watching it, but they’re not engaged with the source material. If you’re only half-watching the show, if it’s background noise while you perform other tasks, then the visual drop-off from “Return of the Shredder” onward combined with the drudgery of the Eye of Sarnath arc might make you wonder if there’s any point in venturing further. Undoubtedly there are stretches of the series that tested even my patience: the ungainly syndicated adventures in season four, the bizarre, sometimes directionless Vacation in Europe arc, and pretty much all of season nine. There’s still great stuff in there, however: the second half of season two is far stronger than the first, season three is full of classics such as “Turtles on Trial”, “The Ninja Sword of Nowhere” and the concluding Big Trilogy, and seasons four through six have phemomenal adventures and character spotlight episode scattered throughout. Season seven – the proper season seven, not the vacation episodes – might be the strongest stretch of adventures in the entire series as TMNT regains its focus and attempts to mature in step with its original audience. There’s so much good stuff in Turtles if you stick with it, and I can’t see how anyone could watch the series in its entirety and come away thinking only season one has value unless your criteria for what makes a good cartoon comes down purely to looking cool and some vague aura of edginess.
ABOVE: A June 1990 TV Guide cover in which Ariel from The Little Mermaid mingles with Bart Simpson, Donnie, Leo and Raph. Yes, Bart is missing his ear, but also WHY DO THE TURTLES HAVE THREE TOES WHAT THE HELL
I hope that if you’ve never actually sat down and watched the 1987 version of TMNT from beginning to end that maybe the breakdowns of each adventure I’ve cobbled together for this blog will inspire you to do so, and that if you’ve seen the show before they’ll allow you to rewatch it with additional insight. More than anything, the goal of Turtlethon has been to point out why Turtles works, while also acknowledging the times when it doesn’t. It’s lost to history now, but there was a vanishingly brief window of time – pretty much just the entire calendar year of 1990 – where the ascendancy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in pop culture occurred in parallel to the rise of The Simpsons. The two series were linked by their indie comics origins and their anti-establishment appeal, however Simpsons was able to reinvent itself after the hype around Bart died down as one of the greatest TV series of all time by continuing to up its game and making Homer the central figure of the show. TMNT was never in a position to make that leap, hampered as it was by budgetary restraints, parental backlash and being more overtly targeted towards children, but as a body of work it still has value, and its longevity speaks to how strongly it resonated with viewers around the world. It is, in a word, tubuloso.
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When Turtlethon was in its early stages, I gave some consideration to what series I might like to deep-dive afterwards. I reference Transformers all the time on this blog and it’s without a doubt my First Fandom, so there’s a natural inclination for me to want to go back and examine the 98 episodes of that show. Between that and TMNT, Ghostbusters was my second major fixation, and there’s a lot of The Real Ghostbusters to explore too.
The natural extension of our journey is to move on to Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, but I honestly doubt it would be fun for me to write or for you to read. I dunno, maybe you want to see me rip it to shreds, but I'm unsure how much financial compensation I’d need to make up for the psychic damage that would inevitably be incurred. (The tip jar is there, if you’re so inclined; let’s just say that Yale could use an international airport.) Moving on to the 2003 version of TMNT would be much more fun, but also a tremendous undertaking that - for now - I don't want to approach. After years of writing about the Turtles, I��m exhausted. I’m also acutely aware that while Turtlethon has been beneficial for me in many ways as a writer – it's allowed me to refine my skills, to learn how to create and maintain a regular schedule, and made me a more effective editor, even if you’d never know it from the length of my posts – the time I’ve devoted to writing about the Turtles would have been better spent working on my own comic series, Corinne Morgan, Corbie, which has been on hiatus throughout the life of this blog.
[SIDE NOTE: If you want to see me put my money where my mouth is, and if I’ve learned anything through analysing Turtles, read Corbie when the new edition of issue #1 comes out in a few weeks. Its influences are more rooted in the Archie version of TMNT than the MWS series, but if you like cute, light-hearted and socially conscious superhero adventures then I think you’ll soon become a dedicated flocker.]
I’ve undoubtedly been teetering on the edge of burnout lately, and my workload has been further encumbered by the technical changes implemented by Tumblr that negatively affected the last two seasons’ worth of Turtlethon entries. Behind the scenes, I’ve gradually been making moves to port the blog in its entirety to a stand-alone website where all 193 entries can be enjoyed in the original format. The thinking is that this will allow me to also write about anything else that takes my interest, post my art and generally keep you up to date on the status of all my assorted ongoing projects. With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to Portertronic, which is now live. The Turtlethon entries for the first two seasons of TMNT have been posted there already, with the rest of the series to follow in the weeks and months ahead.
This isn’t the end, for Turtlethon or for this account: you’ll still see new TMNT posts from me here, as I have a laundry list of one-off bits and pieces related to the series I still want to explore. The plan is that new content moving forward will be made available first to Patreon and Ko-Fi supporters, then appear on Portertronic, and eventually get posted here too. To kick things off, there’s a pair of upcoming Turtles-related CDs I’ll be looking at as part of a crossover event to introduce Excess Volume, a sub-blog that will cover pop music of the 1980s and early 1990s. I’m not going away, just getting off the treadmill I’ve been on for the last couple of years, and trying to refocus on writing shorter bursts of material while I return to working primarily on Corbie.
Turtlethon has always had a modest following – there are only so many people in the world who are interested in reading long-form analysis of a decades-old cartoon – but going into it I had zero expectations that anyone would connect with it at all. I’ve never lost sight of the fact that in real life, if a classroom’s worth of people were willing to listen to me talk at length about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles twice a week that would be incredibly edifying, and over time the readership grew to roughly double that. It probably should have been a YouTube channel from the beginning, but the thought of continually being struck down by DMCAs from Lionsgate ensured that was a non-starter, and perhaps that would have defeated the purpose. I like to draw, and I like to write – obviously! That you’ve indulged me in doing the latter and gushing about the Turtles for the last few years means a lot, and I hope you’ll join me – either through Corbie, over on Portertronic or here on Turtlethon – for the adventures still to come.
#Turtlethon#teenage mutant ninja turtles#TMNT#TMNT 1987#Ninja Turtles#I have always liked... cowabunga
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Sooooo I already have a taglist for my original WIP Impartial (and of course you can always be added to that just lmk!) but I thought I could also make a
Taglist for my fanfic writing!
If you're on that list I'll just tag you on the occasional snippet or meta I might post, art that goes with my fic and when I post something new!
If that sounds like something you might be interested in, give me a shout and I can put you on the list! This can be fandom specific or for all my fics, though full disclosure I am only actively working on FMA fics right now.
Just as a way to stay on top of things if you like my writing, or give me a bit of encouragement if you're into that, since posts can get lost quickly on tumblr.
I'm gonna talk a little bit about what kind of stories I write and the WIPs I'm currently working on under the cut so you can get a better idea of what you'd sign up for.
First thing you should know: Among my readers and mutuals I have a certain reputation for writing very painful angst :D
I cannot claim that reputation is undeserved; I do love writing angst a lot, and I rarely write any fics without it, but I don't write it with the express purpose of hurting my readers. I rarely write whump for whump's sake (except during the recent febuwhump, admittedly).
What interests me the most in my fics is exploring character's personalitites and relationships when they are put in taxing situations. I like to explore inner turmoil, questions of morality, complex conflicts that have no easy resolution and trying to live with trauma. I like peeling away the layers of my blorbos to find out what really makes them tick, and to extend, deepen or just fully map out the themes that their development (or lack of) in canon follows.
I am often told by my readers that I am good at evoking emotion viscerally, portraying complex situations with nuance and pinning down the facets of my characters’ personalities—all things that I also like in my own writing, and so I do hope I am somewhat competent at them.
Here’s a brief look at my three main WIPs right now to give you an idea of the type of stories I write.
when all is lost (and hope a ghost)
A post-canon platonic soulmate AU of FMA, often referred to as WAIL
A soulmate AU in which you can feel your soulmate’s emotions, even when you’re apart. A bond and an opportunity, but also a weakness that can be exploited. Explores what people are capable of when pushed to their limits, contemplates loss and the fear of it and the way that grief changes us. First draft is complete at 27K and currently in editing, first two chapters can already be found here.
everything is twisted (but we don’t feel a thing)
Canon nudged to the left with horror vibes, also referred to as Eldritch Elrics or EE
A fic following the Elrics through their canon adventures as told from various points of view—except neither of them is quite the same since they have returned from the gate. Some subtle quality about them is off, and it’s unnerving being unable to tell what it is. My first forray into the vicinity of horror, a slow write as I take great care in building an unsettling atmosphere. Currently working on the first draft at 7K.
I will go down punching (but I will go down)
First instalment in a four part canon divergent series named Vox Populi, also referred to as VP
A deep dive of Ed’s and Al’s characters, following the question to the end, what would happen if Ed actually was court-martialed for committing human transmutation? A canon divergence attempting to give some agency to the people of Amestris and confronting the Elrics with harsh realities they’d rather not face (part I). Exploring the pitfalls of both rigid and flexible morality (part II), how to persevere when faced with impossible choices (part III) and the concept of sin as a physical reality in the world (part IV). Currently working on the first draft at 23K.
Sound interesting? Sound off and I will add you to my tag list! And in the meantime you are of course welcome to browse through my past fics on AO3!
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Went on a quest for frosted lemon cheerios, decided to write a little silly ASMR monologue to send in to The Empty Bowl podcast:
Hello Dan, Justin, and my fellow sailors of the vast, milky sea. My name is Sofia and I’d like to tell you about my harrowing quest for gold and glory: ie, the limited edition frosted lemon cheerios.
To set the scene, I currently live in northern California and in the way of many Californians I do not often grocery shop—or, at least, not at stores that carry American cereals. Several episodes ago, Dan expounded on the merits of the limited edition frosted lemon cheerios with such enthusiasm even in ASMR tones that I knew I had to try it. With that, and my own life long obsession with lemon flavored foods, I began my search.
Like any fool at the start of their journey, I underestimated the trials and tribulations I would go through:
The first grocery store I tried, Safeway, I arrogantly assumed would have the treasure I sought. But when I went to the cereal aisle, I did not find it. Classic, frosted, apple cinnamon, very berry, chocolate strawberry, strawberry banana, all of these were present, but no frosted lemon—not even an empty gap in the shelves to show that Safeway even stocked it. Disheartened, I left, but the siren call would haunt my dreams.
A few days later, I tried another grocery store, Lucky’s. Despite its name, this again ended in failure. A few days after that, I tried Target thinking, perhaps, it’s a matter of regionality—that the far reach of Target would guarantee the presence of that which I sought.
And again, failure.
Possesssed, I researched online for more details on my white whale—I even considered buying from Amazon, but at thirteen dollars a box plus shipping, I would not make that deal with the devil. And so I followed the trail of clues: I knew definitively it had been released at Kroger’s but there are no Kroger’s in my area. I knew there was a connection between Kroger’s and Ralph’s, but when I searched for a Ralph’s in my area the only hint of it was a former Ralph’s that had been replaced by a Walmart. In desperation, I went.
For a fourth time, failure.
I considered: would I have to live my life absent of frosted lemon cheerios or would I have to sell my soul and give in to Jeff’s foul domination of e-commerce?
This dilemma tormented me until I remembered: for Mother’s Day I would be traveling to southern California with its own set of regional grocery stores.
And so I went to the land where Ralph’s still existed, and as if a sign from the cereal gods themselves, when I walked through those sliding doors the cereal aisle was directly in front of me. In the cheerios section I was again presented with the same varieties as before, but there was a strange gap in the shelves above my eye line. Straining, I saw it: a single box of frosted lemon cheerios stood. Finally, my quest was complete.
But then, as if to reward me for my perseverance, a second box was revealed. However, with it a final test: it was placed so deep into the shelf, it was out of reach. Thankfully, my sister, taller and thus with a longer wingspan was also present, but even she had to use another box of cereal to knock it down enough to be within her grasp.
And so, riding the high of success, I bought three boxes of cereal that day: the two boxes of frosted lemon cheerios and the one box we used to reach them which was, thankfully, blueberry cheerios and which I hope will be a good mix in for those good, good complementary flavors.
After having consumed an entire box of frosted lemon cheerios, I can confirm that all the heartbreak and effort was worth it.
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lawless
Thomas Knowlton x reader
[a/n: this is self indulgent but I was sad- I wrote this a while back, so I decided to edit it for some sappy fluff. graduate school has been really hard, and I’m finding it difficult to navigate through it with other things weighing me down. I’m no stranger to disappearing on this account, and I really am trying my hardest to find my way out of that habit! thank you everyone for your kind words and encouragement. you are all friends that I hold very dear to my heart ♥️ we will persevere! I hope to be back to regular requests and posts by the beginning of next week. much love, always, Sul 💕]
He could see it in your eyes, even across the room, the finite look of disappointment that overwhelms your features. His own brow furrows, eyes locked onto yours, as if willing you to look his way.
“Somethin’ the matter?”
Thomas knows, you know he does, but still he walks inside to whisper the mentioned sentence in your ear.
Immediately shaking your head no, you press forward with the fakest smile he’s ever seen, lips pursed tightly as if you were holding in tears.
“Ima lil bit of a dummy when it comes to some things, but not to yer own self, doll.”
Blinking wildly, your grip tightens a little bit harder on the object in your hand.
“I can read ya like a book. And I don’t appreciate the fact that yer lyin’ to me, either.”
Thomas is still in your ear, but a hushed whisper, gruff tone floating in and out of his words.
“Who said what?”
It’s almost amusing that he knew exactly what happened without having to say anything.
“I’d rather not talk about it Thomas,”
You turn, tossing the book on the table to your left, and then to fully face the man now. He’s got a frown on his face, nothing much different, except the way his brown eyes narrow, and stare you down with a look of worry.
“You sure?”
“I’d…rather not.”
“Whatever you say, darlin’.”
He holds his hand out, to which you loop yours in his. The situation, although upsetting, was something you should handle alone-you could handle alone. Besides, all it did was make your skin crawl. Thomas showing up at your door after a good while of radio silence from you was nothing a stranger.
“You didn’t have to come, Thomas.”
You’re talking to avoid the tears, and it was working, until Knowlton gone and went and found a shovel and brought it all up again.
“y/n, doll, why the hell would ya do somethin’ like that, if ya well knew it was gonna happen.”
He’s referring to the despondency.
“I…I don’t know.”
It’s the truth. Why would you do such a thing, if you knew you were just going to be upset?
For the small chance it wasn’t going to happen, possibly?
“I don’t like the fact that ye forced yourself, either. S’not good, you should want to go to things, not just ‘cause you think ya have to.”
He’s right, you know he is, yet the fleeting feeling of chagrin doesn’t seem to go away just yet.
“It was nice to feel included. I…guess I just didn’t think about how much of an afterthought I was.”
True, the room spoke louder than anyone could.
“You ain’t an afterthought to me.”
The night air was damp, and while the fresh breeze did help your mood, you couldn’t help but feel bad. Yanking him from his plans just because you didn’t feel like calling for him from the wretched place anyways.
You knew he’d come and pick you up in a heartbeat, but you didn’t have the heart to face the man in tears.
“Y’know that, y/n, don’tcha?”
You hadn’t heard him.
“Know what?”
“That yer not an afterthought. Not to me, not at all,”
The man’s laying his heart out to you, holding in it his steady hands. He’s being truthful, being honest—it’s something that you can’t help but sniffle at.
“Yeah, I—“
“No, say it.”
“Say what?”
He stops, nudging you with his elbow. You stop as well, peering up at him curiously, watching as his arm comes to unhook from yours.
“Ya need to tell me that y’know.”
Thomas’ hands are large, warm, and full of callouses, but they are soft. The pads of his thumbs run over your rosy cheeks, holding your face, forcing you to meet his gaze.
“Tell me ya know it.”
“I know.”
You smile sadly, blinking back tears that have managed to well back.
“You aren’t to me either, Thomas. You’re my favorite thought.”
Your hand raises to brush aside the tears, but he beats you to it.
“I know that, darlin’. I jus’ needed to know that you knew,”
He insists, going to pull away, but your hands come to clasp over his, holding them in place.
“Don’t go.”
You whisper, feeling the warmth of the palms of his hands.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
#sul writes#the dreamer#the dreamer comic#idw the dreamer comic#idw dreamer#thomas knowlton#colonel Thomas knowlton#idw the dreamer
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2022.08.12 - https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321324801729421246826
I’m a little sleepy, so I’ll only stream for a little while~~~~
LYN: Hallo everybody and good night. I am Modern Brothers’ Liu Yuning. Welcome.
LYN: It’s been a long time my friends.
C: Why don’t you follow the celebs back?
LYN: Did someone start following me? I don’t know, I don’t really check. Can you tell me who it was? So I can follow them back, otherwise it’ll look like I’m being ignorant.
C: Ning-ge, I’m following you.
LYN: What are you telling me for? Am I at the level where you need to announce even that?
LYN: I haven’t streamed for a long time- it’s been about ten days. The reason is because the crew is being good to me and they and Tao-jie have been working hard and running long days in order to get me out sooner. We’ve been shooting a lot, until very late in the night. Today we wrapped up a bit early so I decided to come stream.
LYN: I really am very tired sleepy today though, so please understand if I’m not as “happy” as normal. Don’t misunderstand it as me being in a bad mood either- nothing’s going on, I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping very much lately. This drama is wrapping up soon and I’ll be entering into the next one, so I don’t know when the next time I’ll get to stream is. Today I wrapped early so I decided to persevere and stream a little.
- /Ning-ge has been speaking relatively softly, for him/
C: What’s wrong? Do you have a sore throat?
LYN: No, it’s because I was filming a lot earlier. I needed to shout. /makes a sudden shouting exclamation/.
C: Do you have to shoot tomorrow?
LYN: Don’t ask. Should I ask for a schedule from the director and send it to you? What do you need to know for??
C: Ning-ge’s shooting a brand spokesperson thing tomorrow.
LYN: How do you know everything?! Is there a hidden camera installed in my room or what? It feels like I’m being watched.
C: Your studio announced it.
LYN: Oh.
-
C: Why are you so mean today? :c
LYN: Stop pretending to be cute. There might be new fans and just passersby who are watching my stream and think that I’m mean when in reality I’m just a fool. This is just the way I stream. I like to joke around and backtalk my fans. I used to be a lot meaner, and didn’t have a filter. You can look up videos online. I’m actually a lot more tame now, because I'm afraid of being evil-edited. As my age grew my IQ had to grow, too.
C: Ning-ge, your eyebrows look a little weird today.
LYN: YOU look weird! What do you mean they look weird? I went with my mom and they gave the second eyebrow half-off (referencing a previous stream)! I’m joking though, please don’t spread that around.
- abs are coming at the end of the year. he’s working on them, so don’t rush.
C: Next time you do your eyebrows, call me.
LYN: LOL. I’m a bit weird in that my eyebrows are pretty thick but I can’t grow eyelashes- isn’t that strange? Usually if your eyebrows and arm hairs, or body hair in general is thick, then your eyelashes will grow long, too. My arm hairs aren’t too thick/long... my eyebrows are just unusually thick.
C: You have a lot of leg hair too.
LYN: Let’s move the focus upwards. Arms are okay, legs are... not so much.
LYN: Forget about my leg hairs, sometimes I think about waxing my facial hair. Sometimes when I’m shooting something you’ll notice that I’m clean-shaven in the beginning and then later you can see my facial hair as clear as day. I saw a comment that read, “Look, Ning-ge’s so tired his beard has come out.” Usually when I shoot a drama I bring a razor. We’ll start at around 10am but then in the late afternoon at around 5p I’ll have to shave again. But it’s not convenient to just use the razor without the shaving cream, so I’ll have an electric one and just have a run around my face.
C: I just finished watching Hot-Blooded Youth.
LYN: Are you a fan of HZT??
C: Talk about The Oasis.
LYN: I’ll wait for the episode to air first, because I know my fans will go to check it out. :) I only have one opportunity a year to participate in a variety show, but even so I don’t really have a space to show my strengths. I need to do better. Honestly, my fans know that I rarely shoot variety shows- and it’s not because I think too highly of myself or anything, I like them and they’re fun. It’s just that I don’t really have the time. Right now I’m spending my time focusing on my acting and my music, and it’s enough to keep me busy. The fact that I was able to get a “residency” in a variety show is already fulfilling enough for this year.
C: Where’s The Truth’s QR code?
[t/n: BC in a pre-show interview, LYN said he would get 90% accuracy rate on the cases, but his actual accuracy was more around 67% in the end. He lost the bet so the show gave him two QR code acrylic stands to promote the show on his stream.)
LYN: People know I used to do streaming, and even while I learned other professions, I’m still more of a pro in this field. I’m better than most artists at this (streaming) only because I’ve been doing it for a long time already. It’s been seven years. The thing is no matter what industry you’re in, there are always certain habits/manners you pick up. Just like when I was a waiter in the customer service- I developed a habit of directing the way with my hand and not just a finger. When you drop something, it’s the same- you’re going to crouch for it, and not bend at the waist and stick your butt out. It’s an “occupational disease” that I learned. People who are watching my stream and work or have worked in customer service know what I’m talking about. There are certain manners you have to adhere to.
LYN: For streaming, one of the rules is that it’s better not to have any QR codes or things of the like. Why? I think it’s unprofessional. Imagine if I’m promoting some sort of code and it turns out to be a scam? All my viewers would fall victim. That’s why I don’t have any codes while streaming. Otherwise, I would just hold up my own WeChat QR code for you to scan (and send me money) and I’d be rich. But if you stream, you’re not allowed to show any sort of code like that.
LYN: But, I did keep my promise to the show! Because whenever I stream I have talked about The Truth for at least five minutes each time. More than five minutes, even. I told them I wouldn’t be able to show the code, but I WOULD make sure that everyone who watches my stream knows about the show called The Truth.
C: 寻一个你 (Searching for You) [Love Between Devil and Fairy OST]
LYN: What song is that? XD
LYN: Wait a bit. I’m a little tired today, but I’ll see if I can pull it off.
C: You have too many songs, you can’t think of it?
LYN: I was joking; It was on purpose! How would I NOT know when it’s my own song?
C: Ning-ge, are you going to Gansu?
LYN: The last time I streamed I might have mentioned that my next drama starts off in Ningxia- I think that’s what I said. And then... a lot of my friends seem to have connections in many places. Which means.. they were able to find out my flight information. You must not be watching The Truth, because that’s illegal. Buying another person’s information is illegal, please don’t do it.
- Later he found out it was a different location because the crew had changed it, but forgot to tell him about it. They changed location the day BEFORE he announced it, so it’s not his fault. :p He’s actually going to Dunhuang.
C: It changed again.
LYN: Yeah.
C: Isn’t Bai Sanwan (Bai Yu) also in Dunhuang?
LYN: I think he should have wrapped up and left already. I’m sure they’re done already, but I don’t know!
- talking about the weather in Chengdu -> It’s HOT.
LYN: I’m so hot I think I could d*e. I feel like it’s at least 40C out. I’m a Northeasterner, I’m better at standing the cold than the heat! I mean, I can stand some heat, but this is TOO MUCH. So it’s about 40C outside but usually we’re filming in a tent. When we’re doing outdoor shoots it’s actually not that bad. I don’t know if any of you Southerners have a steam room- where you’d set dough aside to rise? It’s like that- my goodness, so hot.
C: Aren’t you not great at handling cold either, though?
LYN: I’m okay. What can I say.. my body’s just a little weak. I’m still young.
LYN: But the reason Northeasterners can stand the cold is not because they’re made to withstand the cold, but because we have more tools to help us counteract the cold. When winter comes over there we’re all wearing woollen pants. Southerners in winter might at most add a pair of leggings and wear their normal pants over them. But Northeasterners all wear woollen pants on the inside. When we were kids we’d wear sweat(er) pants- you know the string you’d use to knit a sweater- but pants instead.
C: Ning-ge you’re a little feminine today.
LYN: Shut your mouth! I’m such an old man and you’re calling my girly, are you s*ck? Are you trying to sway the crowd? You’re trying to get them to think LYN’s girly? Huh?! When I stand up I’m 1.9m tall, and you’re saying I’m like a little girl??
C: You turned manly in an instant.
LYN: /manly voice/ Right? I’ll just talk like this from now on. Let’s see who dares to call me feminine. MWAHAHAHAHA.
LYN: /manly voice/ Us Northeasterners can’t really stand the cold. It’s just that in the winter we have layers upon layers of clothing.
- [t/n: referencing something, idk. this man speaks in douyin memes only.]
LYN: /manly voice/ If your boyfriend finds out you’re buying me lollipops, he won’t get angry, right?
LYN: /manly voice/ Wow~ Your boyfriend is so fierce! Not like me, who only knows how to ~~feel sorry for gege~~
LYN: /sighs/
C: Can you speak properly?
LYN: Right. It’s because a lot of people will see the videos and edits my fans make of me, and they might be thinking, “Why is LYN talking in such a strange manner?” I’d like to once again defend myself and say: I really DO know how to speak the Standard dialect. When I shoot dramas I have to use it. If you have doubts you can watch The Long Ballad and Heroes... and my future dramas. Because ever since The Long Ballad, I’ve been doing my own voice-acting; most of the characters speak the standard dialect. So I can speak it.
LYN: I like using my Dongbei dialect while streaming because I want there to be a distinction. When I’m streaming and when I shoot variety shows I’m usually more relaxed. I want you to feel like you’re seeing a different person when you watch my dramas vs my streams and variety show appearances. I want you to doubt yourself and think, “IS this LYN’s voice?”
C: I don’t believe it’s you.
LYN: But aren’t I using Standard right now? I can use Standard for the whole stream right now, but I don’t want to. I just don’t think it feels as close. If I use Standard during my streams I’ll think I’m not being honest. I’ll feel like I’m tricking you, lying to you, acting with you.
C: Be more normal.
LYN: I’m very normal. But someone called me girly earlier and I got scared. I’m already manly enough, don’t scare me. Thanks. That’s why I’m trying to lower my voice. How’s this? Do I still sound like a girl?
C: How long will you be in Dunhuang?
LYN: Maybe about half a month? There’s a pretty big scene that takes place there and when we’re done shooting we’ll head back to Hengdian. I don’t know- I’ll know the details when I finally enter the crew.
C: Is Daimi going?
LYN: Yeah. If she doesn’t go who will look after her?
C: Don’t forget to take pictures.
LYN: I will. Usually when I go out to a nice place I will take some pictures and share on weibo as “beautiful scenery”- all my old friends know. Honestly the pictures I take are extremely average, but I just want to share.
C: Chengdu doesn’t have scenery?
LYN: I haven’t had the time to look. // ? Am I being too sensitive or is this friend trying to stir up some trouble? You can be the judge. I said I would share the beautiful scenery when I got to Dunhuang and this person asked, “Well, what about Chengdu?” As if to say “Does Chengdu not have beautiful scenery? Are you looking down on Chengdu??” I don’t know- am I being overly sensitive, or is this person really trying to trap me.
C: You’re being too sensitive.
LYN: I see. I was too sensitive, you can blame me. But the problem here is that they’re cursing at me, not you. Honestly, the crew here has been taking very good care of me and have kept me busy. I don’t get the opportunity to look around, because usually I am filming in a tent or at home. I’m not on the streets very often either. It’s not like Jiang Junhao can be sitting around and then suddenly get transported to the desert. There is no such situation, so I’m usually in a tent. But when we get to Dunghuang, we’ll be filming outdoors and not in a tent. We’re there to see the scenery and get nice shots of the sky, desert, and stone forests and whatnot.
C: Jiang Junhao was cooking and then whisked away by a UFO.
LYN: That’s unnecessary.
C: How many scenes will you have in YNGS?
LYN: Hm, let me think. Maybe about 60 scenes? I come out in the first episode and someone k*lls me. I’ll be a little soldier who is k*lled in the very first scene and I lay down right there. My appearance in the rest of the drama will be from the FL remembering this scene. A very important role, indeed.
C: I don’t believe you.
LYN: That’s on you.
C: You must have 600+ scenes.
LYN: Not THAT many. Here’s the thing- I the soldier I told you about is about 60 scenes. And then, I play about 6 soldiers. Every time you see me I’ll be k*lled in a different way. My purpose in the drama is to show you how to d*e a hundred ways in olden times. XD
C: I’m pretty sure that’s nonsense.
LYN: This is a LIVESTREAM! Come on, I’m not here to give you classes but can you grow a bit more wise?? We’re all just here to relax and listen for entertainment. Eat some melon seeds, chew on some duck necks and leave. Are you really trying to learn something before you leave? My stream is pretty much like a drama in itself. When you watch a drama and two immortals are fighting and flying through the air, why don’t you think THAT’S fake??? Right? It’s the same- my stream is like a performance. When you’re watching a xianxia drama, are you sitting there asking, “How can people fly?” Why aren’t you picking on that?? You’d be thinking, “These people can’t exist.” My streams are like a drama, and each one is written by a screenwriter.
- /trying to fix the lagging/
LYN: If it’s lagging, don’t leave. It’ll clear up in a bit, and goes in and out. I guess everyone in this hotel is watching my stream right now. They’re taking up my net speed (bc they’re on public wifi) to watch my stream.
C: Ning-ge, 寻一个你 (Searching for You) is so popular!
LYN: If it’s popular, I have the drama (and actors) to thank for that. My song is complete all thanks to their imagery. Whenever one of my OSTs sees popularity I have to thank the production, because not only did they pay me but they’re also getting my music out there.
LYN: Whether it’s popular or not... does matter. XD I bet you thought I was going to say it doesn’t matter, but it does. As a singer, how are you supposed to survive without some charity (free publicity)??
- Wasn’t going to sing today, because he really is not in the greatest condition. He didn’t want to make a song that was popular... not popular because of how he sings it. X’D
C: Just play the track then.
LYN: .. Fine, I’ll sing it. // I’ll try it out. If I get to the middle of the song and feel like I can’t finish it, I’ll stop myself. We’ll say the stream lagged.
- /the internet is killing him, because it doesn’t even work to look up the song/
LYN: Is it really lagging?? Don’t- I meant /I/ would say it’s lagging. If YOU’RE saying that it’s lagging, then I think it’s REALLY lagging. So is it working or not??
- /still troubleshooting/
-- 寻一个你 (Searching for You) [Love Between Devil and Fairy OST]
- /lost his glasses, and says someone stole them straight out of his streaming room/
- /found them on the other side :p/
LYN: Wait- have I streamed yet after the finale of The Truth? Like... have I streamed yet since the ending? So now you know who the big boss was- have I streamed since that reveal? No? Then I can talk about it today. I’m a little confused (in regard to time) lately. Because my brain is going non-stop and sometimes I think about what I want to say during a stream and forget if I was just thinking it or if I actually did have the conversation.
C: The big boss wasn’t you!
LYN: What can I say except I have a the face of a big ol’ villain. I don’t LOOK like a good person, and it’s true too. XD If I had never smiled during the course of the show, someone who doesn’t know me might think I’m asking for a beating. I think a lot of people don’t like me because they don’t understand me- once you get to know me I’m a nice guy and make fast friends. I have a good personality and don’t come with scandals. But just from appearances, I don’t look like a good person.
C: It’s because you like giving an evil smirk.
LYNL I don’t think I did? An evil smirk would look like this: /demonstrates/. I didn’t do that, right? I was very normal!
C: But why didn’t Liu Xialai have a bed??
LYN: This is why you have to come watch my streams, because sometimes I’ll have the answer to questions that were never solved. Some people were even guessing that I didn’t have a bed because I was actually sleeping the the Happy Home. Jiejie, can you rub a braincell? Didn’t you see how dusty it was in there? Liu Xialai normally walks around neatly! He has his makeup and hair done, and there’s even hairspray. Did you really think he could live there, when it was so dusty?
LYN: I said it last time already- he doesn’t have a bed because he lays out a mat! Do you not have sleeping mats at your house?? When I lived in Dandong, just about everyone had a bed (frame), but I didn’t. I bought a mattress and just tossed it on the floor. It was still quite comfortable. So there wasn’t a bed because I slept on a mat. All I’d have to do was take it out of the closet and roll it out and sleep.
C: Was there a bathroom?
LYN: If you’re thinking the fact that Liu Xialai’s room didn’t have a bathroom is a cause for suspicion then this variety show really doesn’t suit you. Now you’re thinking TOO much. But if you want to know, there really wasn’t a restroom in there. People can’t go, but the dog could. Apartment 11 had public restrooms. XD
C: Then does that mean that Liu Xialai didn’t wash up, either?
LYN: !__! Apartment 11 has a public bath! It has scrubbing, cupping, gua sha, everything you could want. When I had time I would go there and have a shower.
C: Then why was your door open?
LYN: You mean when we were going to the Happy Home, why was my apartment’s door open? I want to know, too. When we got to the fourth floor, someone said “Hey, Liu Xialai, the door to 401 is open!” I’m well-versed in variety and I’m also an actor. If someone gave me a line I have to be able to roll with it. This happens sometimes with acting- your partner will say a line you weren’t expecting and you have to be able to pick up the dialogue otherwise everyone will make fun of you. Not really, but you’ll feel like they are. I really enjoy when we improvise; it’s a test for me. So when we got to the fourth floor and someone asked why my door was open, I wanted to know why, too. But I rolled with it and said it was because the smell of dog was too great and I wanted to air out my house. I totally made that up on the spot.
LYN: Later I was thinking about why it was open- doesn’t that mean the program crew wanted to frame me? I already don’t look like a good guy. They wanted me to be a scapegoat.
C: Ning-ge, explain why you weren’t scared when the lights went out in the Happy Home. It seems like in the previous episodes you were always shouting when the lights went out, but in the last episode you didn’t have a reaction.
- /he’s trending/
C: He got used to it. // After being exposed so many times, he matured. // He’s not afraid of the dark anymore.
LYN: You’re all wrong. Me being afraid of the dark has conditions- if it’s somewhere unfamiliar, I’ll be afraid. But we were standing around in that room for a long time already- in the show it might have been only twenty minutes, but we were in there for around two hours! I already scoped out in all directions- there was no door that anyone could come through. When it went dark, I didn’t care because I knew nothing would be coming at me. Usually in the dark I was afraid that there would be a person hiding in the darkness. But at that moment all of us were around, so I didn’t care. I’m not afraid of the dark itself, I’m afraid of the dark and unfamiliar. When it went dark I just thought, “This again?” The program edited it like my non-reaction was strange, they were trying to play it like I was the big boss, see?
LYN: It’s nice that they made me out to be the most suspicious, though. It gives me a greater presence, doesn’t it? :)
C: Did they give you more money?
LYN: They did not. Is there an extra payment for being the scapegoat? No.
C: What’s with the money in your meal cards?
LYN: Each episode the crew will give us our cards, but honestly there’s no saying how much will be on them at any given time. Usually the process is that we go one round of investigating and one round of interrogation, then break for food. After our meal we do the second round of investigating then get together to make our final decisions. It’s technically a prop, and the money was part of it.
LYN: Let me walk you through why /I/ think the money was there- I don’t really know, but this is my guess. One meal was 58RMB- they didn’t want to make it easy for all six of us to eat. We needed to find a way to either get out of paying, get a free meal, or borrow money. They wanted the six of us to interact. They were able to make a whole other show (Check-In Diary) based on one meal card alone. Now tell me if that design element was genius or not?
C: What about the 5M?
LYN: You mean my inheritance? I almost forgot about it. I should ask the program about it. If I really did they’d think I’m crazy. I’m too into the role and I can’t escape it. XD
C: To buy your Ferrari.
LYN: I actually did say that, though. In the scene we were fighting with Cao Baba- when he recognized my voice and asked if I was Cao Yueguang. He wanted his money back and I told him I spent it all, on a Ferrari. He wanted the car, and I told him we would resolve our family matters later. But the crew is too good to me, and probably thought someone would take that piece as hate-material on me, so they cut it out to protect me. XD They were trying to protect me, but really I always tell you in my streams that my dream is to buy a Ferrari. ~To buy a Ferrari, I need to sing more OSTs~
C: Do did you really buy one in the show?
LYN: Have YOU fallen into the narrative??
LYN: You all are too good at finding details. Someone asked why the other five guests all had blue pens, but mine was black. That’s why they thought mine was a voice recorder. I don’t know! I lost my (blue) pen!! I left it on some table somewhere, and then I ended up borrowing my follow-PD’s pen. It just happened like that, it wasn’t part of some scheme.
LYN: It’s because when you’re watching, you’re already set on the fact that I’m suspicious. So no matter what I do, it will look wrong to you. I can’t be too calm, and I can’t be too serious.
LYN: In the last part of the episode when we were all together in the Happy Home, I was already flustered. The moment I said that someone among us was a mole, I was already having a breakdown. It’s a profound feeling- I just couldn’t believe it. There was no way. The feeling is complicated- a little excited but also sad, you know? I knew I wasn’t the mole so I was happy, but I was sad because that meant SOMEONE was. I had chills down my spine.
LYN: We were in there discussing for a long time, but the way the show edited it kind of made it seem like we were all fools. We went through everyone, and in the end we still couldn’t figure it out. Honestly, I only really targeted Bai Sanwan and didn’t suspect the others. I thought he was acting strange and he always has this inexplicable smile. So I targeted him, but in the end he wasn’t it. Later I found out that we were in that room for about an hour and in that time Zhou Keke only said three lines. He might have said more, but I wasn’t paying attention. It was just a sudden realization that he hadn’t spoken all night. He’s shooting three variety shows at the same time, how could he NOT say something? You need to talk more so that the program thinks you have value, but that night he didn’t talk! Strange... That just wasn’t like him. In the end I determined it was him.
LYN: In the moment though everyone looked suspicious. As a viewer you have a clearer picture, but on scene in the maze it’s dark and you can’t see each others face’s clearly so you have a sense of terror and you don’t think ANYONE is a good person.
C: In the promo pictures, why was everyone else’s question mark white but yours was black?
LYN: Did you think the program would hide clues there? You really think they’d put a clue in a place so obvious?? As if you will skip watching the show entirely, and conclude who is the murderer through promo posters alone. Is that what you’re saying.
C: It’s possible. // Yeah.
LYN: You’re too naive. But before the program ended they made a post asking who people thought was the end-boss... and the header image they used was Zhou Keke. After they posted it GQL sent the post to the group chat and said, “It turns out the answer was looking us in the face the whole time.” Because we had finished recording, so we already knew who the end-boss was. See? They’ve handed the answer to you in a video and you’re over here looking at the posters!
C: Ning-ge, I always knew it wasn’t you.
LYN: It doesn’t matter. It really was a fun show to record for. It’s unlike any variety show I’ve been on before- I just came to have fun. I just don’t have the time normally to play murder mysteries or any escape rooms. I had never played a murder mystery before and when the program contacted me they told me to download an app and get the feel for it. I played twice- one I was the murderer and the second time I just guessed and was right. But the thing is the plots of these mysteries in the app are total nonsense!
C: Will you go to the second season?
LYN: If they invite me, I'll go. If I have time, of course.
C: You didn’t sign a contract that (last) day?
LYN: Only Guo Baoyou signed it. Who else out there is as smart as he is? The program designed a punishment, and he had his be a second season. If I go to the next season, I’ll have learned. They will ask me how many I will predict to get right and if there are ten cases, I will say all ten. And if I lose, the punishment is that I have to accept the Ferrari the program has to buy me. Genius! I’m joking- I’ll say I guess all of them right, and if I can’t I “punish” myself with ten seasons of The Truth. I’ll record until I’m in my forties. It’s like this isn’t a variety show contract at all, but an insurance plan. :)
LYN: Does The Oasis air today? Is it today? // ... Tomorrow? Oh. Okay, then you can watch my stream today and The Oasis tomorrow. Usually if I have something airing I’ll try not to stream.
- /trending/
LYN: No, I don’t believe it. // Let me take a look.
C: The comments are so slow today.
LYN: You’re so strange. What do you mean by that? Are you trying to say that LYN is not popular anymore, no one’s watching so the comments are slow?? It’s a fixed speed, don’t worry about it. Otherwise it would go so fast no one would see clearly.
C: Will you stream on 817? [t/n: Ning-ge’s anniversary, of sorts.]
LYN: I’m busy! I can’t stream for you ALL THE TIME. With streaming, it’s always if I have some time left over between my “real” work of singing and acting. If I’m busy with work I can’t stream, but I still have to work first.
C: Was it fun to shoot The Oasis?
LYN: It was quite fun, yeah. It’s a sibling program to The Truth, so I went there as a representative on behalf of our Reasoning Team. It counts as a kind of collaboration. Usually with these running-type variety shows I don’t go because I don’t see the need to torture myself, but this one was fun. In the end variety shows depend on not only the mood of the show, but the relationship between the players. Your motivation for watching a drama or a variety show is the same: you want to see the interaction between certain people and what will come out of it. You’re not there to see what interesting games the program has designed next. So with normal variety shows (where you only shoot one day) I don’t see the point, because there’s not enough time to establish those relationships between people.
C: You’re really trending now!
LYN: :) I can tell because there are a lot more people watching than before. Once it gets up in the trending topics people just come rushing in.
C: Look at Ning-ge’s lip corners moving upwards.
LYN: You caught me.
LYN: Of course I’m happy! I don’t like pretending- and what I mean by that is I don’t like “having taken advantage of you but still trying to make you pity me”. You know what I mean? The type that will respond to “You’re trending” with “I don’t think trending is important. I think the most important thing is that I can bring you good music and good works. In the future I’ll work harder to bring you better songs and better performances.” I don’t like those types of responses. It’s not that I CAN’T say them, though. If you want me to talk pretty, I can talk very prettily. But I don’t like it. I like telling what I consider to be the truth. For example I’ll reply to “Ning-ge, you’re trending” with “That’s great! I haven’t been trending in so long, I bet tons of people are going to start watching. If I send out an invitation card, I bet I’m going to gain at least 2000 more fans. I’m too amazing. I’m going to be popular.”
C: Did you send the invitation?
LYN: I did. You didn’t see it because you’re already following me. // Some people are kind and will subscribe to my weibo if they see it. I’m sure I gained at least 100 new followers.
C: Only 100? Other people get 1000.
LYN: Don’t look down on small numbers. If I gain 100 every time I stream, and I stream so many times a year- how many followers do you think that gains me? Think about it- in ten years’ time, won’t I be on fire? XD
C: It went up by 5000 people.
LYN: Don’t go around paying people off! Don’t mess around! I’ve already said before there’s no difference between having one million vs two million weibo followers. The work you acquire is all the same. There’s no difference, and it’s not like they’re going to pay you more for being more popular.
C: You gained 100 red bean buns.
LYN: Are you calling my fans red bean buns?? What do you mean by that?! People who follow me are definitely not red bean buns, they’re... hold on, let me think of what filling is more expensive... lotus seed paste buns!
-- bathroom break #1
C: LYN, it’s my birthday. Why don’t you wish me a Happy Birthday?
LYN: Why are you so fierce about it? I know we say the person celebrating their birthday is the “top” but you’re going overboard a bit, there.
LYN: Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday. The fact that you’re here means that you think of me as a friend and are celebrating with me. I think anyone who sees me as a friend has good taste. Happy Birthday to you, alright?
C: It’s my birthday. Not only do you have to spend it with me, you need to give me a present.
LYN: 去你的. I have to prepare a present for you? You’ve gotten so bold on your birthday you’re overturning the heavens! Why don’t I go to your house, knock on your door, and give you a great bow?
LYN: How dare you! // The last time I streamed I treated some fans to takeout, and you’re here wanting something from me AGAIN?! That’s going to create some trauma for me- eventually I’ll feel like all of you are just here to trick me out of my money.
C: It’s the Mid-Autumn Festival, will you give out mooncakes?
LYN: People used to say that I definitely had some big company backing me, otherwise how could a mere street singer like me get to where I am today? They thought I had someone backing me and resources and people investing in me. If you understand me even a little you wouldn’t say such bs. I just wanted to say that I do have someone backing me- that’s all of my fans. When I first came into this entertainment industry I brought my fans along with me. Not only are they my fans, they’re also my very first employees. So that’s why they’ve come and ask for mooncakes. Let’s do this.. uh..... if you want to eat mooncakes, go to the market and buy some. Keep the receipt, and then one day when I hold my concert- /cracks up/- You can take the receipt and cut the cost from the cost of your ticket. By proxy, it’ll be like I gave you all mooncakes.
C: Ning-ge, I bought 1mil in mooncakes.
LYN: /speechless/ Is it possible to eat that much in mooncakes?? You’re the type of person who thinks over-exaggeration has no consequences.
C: Is your background fake?
LYN: Say it again! /empties his water bottle and chucks it/ Is it fake?!
LYN: I’ll pick (the bottle) up later. But I really CAN have fake backgrounds on here... I’ll show you next time... /trying it now/ I don’t have a green screen! Next time.
C: Your teeth even turned purple... lol
C: Sing something.
LYN: Not today. I’m sang one earlier and I am pretty tired. Trust me when I say as long as I have one last breath I’d sing for you, but I really am tired today. I won’t sing, and just stay here to chat with you. Let me adjust my condition.
C: I’m a fan of LYN, can you play one of his songs?
LYN: You like LYN? You like LYN??? I guess that’s... pretty nice. :)
C: We have good taste.
LYN: Let’s not over-compliment each other. There are some new people watching my stream for the first time today and I don’t want them to come in and see us just endlessly complimenting each other. Let’s be more honest and real for these new friends of ours.
C: I’m OOO’s fan.
LYN: That’s not important, when you’re here we’re all friends. I may be someone in this industry who sings or acts, or maybe in your hearts I’m something else entirely... but that’s not important. I’m also a normal person, a viewer just like you. When I watch dramas I will look at the comments, and will make my own comments. When I hear a good song, I’ll also add it to my playlist. We’re all the same, here. All just people. I will also post my opinions in public forums. XD
LYN: Sometimes in variety shows or whatever I will see a singer or an actor and think, “Oh, I’m your fan!” or whatever. Or, not fan, but I really like them! The reason is because when I was nothing- like before I even debuted and I was singing on stream. Whose songs were I singing? All the big stars! I was singing WSLs songs! XZQ, MBY, DZW.. I was always singing other people’s songs. I didn’t have any of my own. So in my eyes they’re Singers, right? Then I was able to debut and meet them and become friends with them- it’s the same feeling you have when you meet your idols. I am just the same as you.
- /talks about how nervous he was meeting DZW for the first time, and also how nervous he was to shoot RXSN/HBY with HZT./
LYN: I only work here, but my mindset is like all of yours.
LYN: If he yelled at me, do I hit back or?? I’m sure the whole crew wouldn’t want to get involved, so in this situation should I retaliate or just silently take it? If I just take it, I wouldn’t be able to lift my head at all while I am in this crew. So I decided if he yelled at me, I would throw a fist and if he dodged it, I would follow up with a kick from my left foot. If he happens to knock me to the ground- that’s perfect. I could be beat by him, but I can’t stand being humiliated without doing anything to defend myself. I know they all say that HZT has learned wushu, but as a man I had to at least TRY.
- /saying that HZT is a good person though, and a lot of people are different from how they appear on screen/how you imagine them/
C: When you met him did you have the song 爷们儿要战斗 (Men Have to Fight) running through your head? [t/n: *remember this bc he’ll keep bringing it up, I just didn’t type it out :p]
LYN: /sings it/ But no, at that time I hadn’t heard of this song yet.
LYN: So, I understand your point of view, and that’s why I can understand where you’re coming from. I also have points of contention I can’t look past. But it’s been four years since I’ve debuted and become just a very small public figure, so I have to watch what I say. I don’t want to hurt any innocent parties, so I will be more aware of what I am saying.
C: Tell us about any fun stories from BYOL.
LYN: Is there anything fun? /thinks/ There are, but regarding this question, you will need to monitor the Youku site because I have already been interviewed by them and replied to this question. You can watch the two interviews, there’s really a lot of content.
- /talks about how interviews are usually held around the time the drama airs, but by that time it’s been about 1 to 1.5 years since filming wrapped and any actor would struggle to think of anything interesting that happened on set./
LYN: They’ve probably already shot five dramas in the space of time between that specific one and the interview. Now you want them to think BACK five dramas ago and try to remember what happened on set? You’d be lucky if they even remember their character name!
LYN: But not me! If nothing else, I have a great memory! If you don’t believe me, you can test me.
** Interesting stories from past dramas:
- Hot Blooded Youth - his first time meeting HZT and fighting back if he got yelled at
- Ultimate Note - almost d*ed while riding in Fan Ming (San Shu’s) car. The show was filmed in Yunnan, in the remote wilderness. It’s a two hour drive from the hotel, and another 30 minute walk through the forest to get to filming location. One day after rehearsal they were getting ready to film the take and it started raining. Profusely. They couldn’t just LEAVE because it took so long to get there, plus moving all the equipment, so they decided to wait it out. But they also couldn’t film through the rain, because it was HEAVY and if there happened to be a mudslide it would cost a lot more than if they has just decided to wait. FM’s driver was more skilled than the rest and instead of leaving the car at the base of the mountain, he was able to drive up halfway to meet him.
LYN: I was on my way down with my acting coach and FM’s car drove up next to us and they were very welcome, telling us to get in the car and they would escort us down the mountain. I sat in the middle with FM-laoshi while my coach took the front, and we got to chatting. As we were, we noticed that instead of driving straight, the car was moving down the mountain sideways. I’ll never forget that moment. We almost d*ed.
LYN: Because the road is at a 45 degree angle, which is not bad but after all the rain there was no traction. We started sliding. After about five seconds of silence, FM told his driver to turn the steering wheel so it was straight and just slide down with the flow. But as we were sliding, we were gettin closer and closer to the edge of the mountain! I was in a daze. At any moment we would roll over the edge and that would be the end for us. But he was able to adjust course at the last minute.
LYN: It was awkward because I was scared to death. People always say they’re not afraid of death but when that moments comes- we’re all just bluffing. It’s not like I could stand up and say, “I’m not sitting here anymore. Let me off the car.” I wanted to run. It actually only takes 20 minutes to walk down the mountain, but we were sliding in that car for longer than that. In the end I suggested my coach and I get off the car, because perhaps it was too heavy with the additional people and it was sliding for that reason? THAT or, FM-laoshi could get off WITH me, and we could take a nice rainy stroll. He said it was fine, and let me off the car.
LYN: It became an unforgettable lifelong memory- an awkward one, at that.
C: Any stories for Hao Du?
LYN: Any stories that are memorable are that way precisely because you have been injured. I think happiness is easily forgotten. When I was filming for The Long Ballad, there were TOO many "interesting” stories. [i.e: got kicked by a horse on his first scene EVER, sprained his ankle, sliced his thumb, accidentally punched in the face, etc.]
C: Did it hurt (getting kicked by the horse)?
LYN: Do you think it wouldn’t? Think about how big a horse’s leg is. If you cooked one (leg) I bet it could feed at least thirty people. I was kicked dumb- but, as men will do, you can’t express your pain. You can’t cry- you have to laugh. You have to laugh and cry on the inside. It’s not because I was trying to be professional, but because they already gave me a salary and I needed to do the work. We continued filming after, but Director Zhu- who I am close with- did ask me if I was alright to keep going, as long as I didn’t run. The worst was the second day- I don’t know if any of you work out. You know the soreness you feel on the first day is actually not that bad, but the next day- that’s when it REALLY hurts.
LYN: That drama was shaky because I just kept getting injured. But it’s fine... martial artists will always have bumps and bruises.
LYN: The next scene I had to carry my yifu and run with him on my back down a path made of large uneven rocks. I twisted my ankle. With a person on my back! So it was pretty bad. After that scene, the next day I went to the temple. It seemed like I wasn’t having a good time, so it was time for me to pray.
- ALZ on the other hand, was a VERY comfortable filming experience. Luo Mingxi is a scholar with an ill-disposition. He didn’t have to ride horses, and he didn’t have to fight bc LMX doesn’t have any martial arts skills.
- but the incident of the toothache/face swelling DID happen during this filming period, which was unfortunate because it happened to coincide with a gig he had for Honor of Kings. They already rescheduled a lot to accommodate LYN but who would have thought that the night before their promised date, his face would swell like that. They were really kind about it but LYN was conflicted, wondering if they thought he was continuously putting them off.
LYN: I told my studio to send them the photo of my face, to prove I wasn’t lying to them. They told me it wouldn’t make a difference because the photo looked too much like something that come out of photoshop. What could I do? How could I prove to them that I truly had an ailment?? I posted the photo (publicly) to weibo.
LYN: I don’t know- I usually get sick really badly at least once a year. A few days ago I had that cold, remember? While filming ALZ I had this tooth problem. They let me take a few days off, but it’s not like I could rest FOREVER. I still had scenes to shoot, so I went to set and asked the director if it was still alright. /stuffs a tissue in his cheek/ The director told me to take whatever was in my mouth out, but I didn’t have anything. I think it was on this side- anyway he said he would try to only shoot my good side and avoid the bad side. But it only worked for a few scenes because it’s not like I could NEVER look at my acting partner head on!
C: Your partners didn’t laugh did they.
LYN: !_! What are you saying?! All the people I work with are professional actors, how could they laugh?? They’re very professional.
C: How many days did you get an IV?
LYN: I think I did three days. I couldn’t just wait around, I needed the inflammation to stop so I could continue with filming!
- Floating World & Zuo Bufan didn’t really give LYN any trouble, but through this drama he learned that all things in life have a balance.
LYN: LMX didn’t have a single fight scene, but 50% of ZBF’s scenes were ONLY fight scenes.
LYN: As soon as I see a person I evaluate whether they are worthy of a fight and we duke it out. After 50-60 blows, I’ll say, “Not bad. You were able to cross swords with me for so long. I’ll take you down in the next 50 moves, because I can see that you’re already getting tired.” And then we fight some more. Right at the final moment, there come thirty people- all bearing arms, aimed at my face. At this moment, I have no choice but to... run away. The 爷们儿要战斗 bgm immediately stops and I run. I’ll see the guy in another couple days and then I’ll say to him, “Our fight the last time wasn’t satisfying enough. Today, let’s fight to our hearts’ content.”
- They exchange another 100 blows but at the critical moment, two cars roll up and he has no choice but to retreat. They meet AGAIN another day and exchange another 200 blows, but at the critical moment 50 armed men come up at aim at his nose, and he says “Is there no end??” But this time he is with his fellow disciples and he tells them to retreat first. Before the armed men start shooting at him, because he has something they want, he takes out that item to threaten them. “If you shoot me, I will swallow your Master’s ashes.” At this moment, they are under his control. He throws the ashes into the air and while the armed men watch the ashes he takes his opportunity to run.
LYN: This part I told you about- Our scene is taking place up here and there’s a small ditch at the bottom. I wanted to look cool. You already know what song is running through my head, right? I threw the ashes and ran, jumped to fly over the ditch- and overdid it. I was looking for a place to land but there were only reeds below me- people who have it near their homes will know, they’re quite sharp. If I went down face-first I would be ruined. I turned my body in the air, so that my back would hit the floor. I hit the floor and no one- no one came to help me up! They were stunned, and after a while came over while laughing. They didn’t laugh when I fell, they started laughing when they came over to help me up.
- This isn’t the end of the story, because he meets the same guy again, and they fight “till the death.” After the first floor, they move to the second floor, exchange another hundred blows and at the critical moment- the Japanese come. As they are both Chinese peoples, they postpone the fight with a promise to end it the next time.
LYN: This fight is destined to never end. I really like the character of Zuo Bufan, though. There’s a certain helplessness associated with the character that stems from being part of this particular transitional time period. [a swordsman in an era where people already have guns]
- /plays 爷们儿要战斗; is confused by the lack of “growl”/
LYN: Maybe the version in my heart has it.
- Zichuan & Di Lin: /thinks about it..../ /laughs at himself/
LYN: Di Lin... I had fun shooting that drama. I don’t know what to say.
C: The 20M wire. [being strung on a wire 20M from the ground.]
LYN: Your memory is better than mine!
- /recalls that on the first day of filming (in a tent) they had to be in a desert-like landscape, so the props just put sand/dirt directly in front of the fans and when you opened your mouth to say your lines, your mouth would just fill with sand. /chews on sugar to give us a feel of what it was like/
LYN: The Director is really good, I even went to cameo in his other drama. But he likes to shoot without lights. You probably haven’t really seen any drama that doesn’t use lights. What does he use instead? Fire. // If you can see, that’s great. But if you can’t then too bad!
LYN: That’s why with acting sometimes you have design it yourself- because people can’t see you! You have to find a way to say the lines nearer to the light so people can see your face, but also make getting there natural. The result though was very nice! It really has a texture.
LYN: A lot of the scenes were filmed at night! But I liked it, because as you all know I have a thing where I can’t see the sunlight. When there’s sunlight I have to squint my eyes (the light’s too bright). As with any drama, when I go back to do the voice acting there are regrets, and always things I think I could have done better.
-- bathroom break #2
- Heroes & Bai Choufei
LYN: Bai Choufei... has been cursed out by too many people, I don’t want to talk about him. It’s saddening. Let me recover first, and then I’ll talk about it. I can’t remember anything too interesting, because I remember I was streaming a lot back then to promote it. I did my best.
- Be Your Own Light & Jiang Junhao
LYN: I play a cook named Jiang Junhao. You can call me Jiang-ge or Hao-ge. As for interesting stories, let’s wait until the drama has aired first. I can’t tell you too much about it.
LYN: Every drama will have something interesting.
C: Mu Tianhe (Le You Yuan cameo)
LYN: Mu Tianhe? I only went for one day, do you think anything interesting could have happened?
C: How many scenes was it?
LYN: Like four or five? I just went to have fun, and get the sense of what it was like in a different drama crew. I got to know a lot of other actors, and got to learn from them too.
C: What did you learn?
LYN: ?_? I was just saying that to be nice. Now you’re testing me?? Everyone has something you can learn from. Even if I DID learn something, it wouldn’t do me any good to tell you. What, are you an actor? What would you need to know for??
C: It seems like Ning-ge got younger!
LYN: /laughs/ Was I acting very old in front of you before? Maybe it’s because I’ve started working out. It really does help with your skin and overall condition. Tao-jie keeps complimenting me, saying that I’m in much better condition than I was in when I first started shooting. She said I looked like I was one second from passing out, before. But look now- my face is glowing and I’m standing taller than I ever was. :) I used to only really eat one meal a day but now I’ve adjusted to two. My whole life is a lot more regulated, so I’m in a much better condition. But when I told Tao-jie this, she said, “Isn’t this all for your next drama, though?” and I replied, “I take EVERY drama seriously!” But I was only one or two days from drama wrap. XD The reason Tao-jie has gotten so far is because she sees things transparently, and she’s sharp enough to catch you off guard with it, too.
- /talks a bit about how Tao-jie is teasing him for his better condition :p/
C: Are you hungry?
LYN: You must not have heard me- I went from eating one meal a day to two. I used to only eat one. But the thing is, if you’re listening and wanting to lose weight and think that eating a little less every day will do it- the food is not the most important. What’s important is that you exercise/work out. I’m eating much more than I ever have but because I’ve been working out, I didn’t get fat and instead have gotten thinner/fitter. If you don’t exercise, no matter how little you eat, you will still have the weight.
- /doesn’t have an instructor (like many other artists do) because he thinks it’s something he can take care of on his own. the whole internet is full of free content, and once you look up one video it’s all they will recommend you./
- he’s not working out to lose weight, but to gain muscle (there’s a difference)
- /says that he’s made this promise (to get fit/show muscle) to his fans about seven or eight times already, but this time he is set on finally reaching the goal./
LYN: Now all my fans are making guesses as to what caused this change in me. Is it that I feel like I’ve gotten old, so now I want to work out to regain my sense of vitality/youth?? Some other fans are saying that I must be working out because in my next drama I’ll have to show some skin for one reason or another. Friends, that’s not it. The next drama doesn’t have such a scene, alright? There are so many different guesses, because I’m being so serious about it this time.
C: Then what’s the reason?
LYN: I see so many other people in great condition and I wanted it too. I’ve said I was going to for so many years, so this time I’m determined. It’s just the start though, so who knows. Maybe I won’t be able to keep it up in the end. I’m more serious. Ive been influenced by the 爷们儿要战斗 song. When I hear it I feel like I’m full of energy.
- /talks about how his inward hunch was a result of the chest muscles being worked out more (with daily tasks, in comparison to the back muscles) and tightening. so now that he’s working out the back muscles, they will firm up and his back/shoulders will be straighter as a result. The back brace he bought earlier didn’t help at all and was in fact a waste of money./
[t/n: I am NOT an exercise/work-out person (though I need to be) so excuse me if my explanation of how muscles work is inaccurate/lacking. :p]
LYN: I’ve always been pretty weak as a kid and don’t have a lot of stamina, so my improvement is slow, but there. Let’s not talk about this anymore, because I’m not really clear on it myself. I’m just blindly practicing on my own, and we’ll see what my results are at the end of the year.
C: My mom bought me one of those braces.
LYN: Don’t use it. Don’t... I think it would do you more harm than good. I’d rather you stand against a wall (to straighten your shoulders/back) than use it. It could hurt you.
- /workout vlog is coming/
C: Talk about YNGS, ge.
LYN: I have’t even entered the crew yet, what do you want me to say? I can’t spoil the plot for you. You want me to tell you what happens in the first episode, and who appears in the second, etc? Alright- the first episode depicts a little soldier, and he gets pierced through the chest and the camera pans in on his face like this: /expression/. He dies. From then on, the female lead keeps remembering this soldier that she killed. I only appear in her memories. I told you about this, right? 60 or so scenes.
C: Aren’t you the male lead?
LYN: It doesn’t matter. The thing is that whenever the FL has time, she will think about this soldier. She’ll remember his expression- and in her heart he is the ML. But whether or not he’s the ML in the overall plot, I don’t know.
C: Nonsense, again.
LYN: Listen for your entertainment. Did you really think I could tell you what’s going to happen in the drama?
C: So is your name “Yi Nian” then?
LYN: The FL is “Yi Nian” and I’m “Guan Shan”. From rankings, she should be in front of me.
LYN: There are some insiders here- they always know what my characters’ names are. How annoying. How can I retain a sense of mystery now?
C: Have you met with Shishi-laoshi yet?
LYN: I’m in Chengdu. I haven’t gotten to meet her yet. What, do you want me to call her up? How ill-mannered of me. If I meet her, it will be officially, when the rest of the crew and director are there.
C: Have you met with Fang Yilun?
LYN: Well, I CAN call HIM up. But no- I’m in Chengdu, how many times do I have to tell you? He got in touch the other day, asking when I would be there. We chatted for a bit, and I asked him if the script-reading was going well. He said “It’s fun” and I told him “As long as you’re happy.” When I get there, I’ll let him know what true happiness is. /threateningly/ He’s happy too early. XD
C: Don’t scare him.
LYN: I’m joking! A lot of the things I say in my stream are jokes. How could I really talk to him that way?? Did you also think I would really reply with “Shut up” every time he says his lines? How could I? All this talk is just idle chitchat, so bide the time in my stream. Don’t trust me too much.
LYN: Do you know what FYL’s character name will be, too? I want to see if there are really insiders here. Does anyone know? Come on!
C: Don’t know. / Not important.
LYN: What do you mean? XD You can say you don’t know, but don’t say it’s not important. There are no small roles in this world, only small actors. There’s not one role that is unimportant. I’ll tell you- his character’s name is Mao Shiba (18).
C: I don’t believe you.
LYN: It really is! Remember this name and wait until an official announcement is out. See if I’m lying to you. Names aren’t much of a secret, especially with such an interesting one as Mao Shiba.
C: Ning-ge, could he be called Wei Shuyu again?
LYN: /LOL/ His name in the previous drama was “Wei Shuyu” and you want his name in the next drama to be “Wei Shuyu” again? There’s nothing wrong with this way of thinking, but the thing is no one DOES that. So If I played Hao Du in TLB, in Heroes I would say, “Hello, my name is Hao Du”?? I don’t think it’ll work.
C: Hao Du 2.0
LYN: And in the next one I’ll be Hao Du 3.0. XD But TLB had an original product to work off of, and this drama is an original script so if you really want him to be called “Wei Shuyu” maybe I can go back and discuss it. I’ll send FYL a message and tell him that there were a lot of fans watching my stream today and they would anticipate more of his character if he was named “Wei Shuyu”, so would he consider changing it?
LYN: Alright, let’s stop teasing the poor kid. I bet his fans are already thinking I’m trying to put him down. It’s all good. It’s just a joke- I only joke around with people I am close with. I don’t have any ill-intent.
C: Are you really that close with him?
LYN: Pretty close. I mean- I don’t know. Let me ask you- there are so many people in my streams who are much more educated and cultured than I am- how would you define being “close” with someone? Tell me. What do they need to do together to be considered “close”?
C: Going to the restroom together. / Sleeping together. / Having no pretenses around each other. / Sharing one bowl of rice. / Playing together. / Chatting together. / Curse at them.
LYN: (@ the “curse at them” comment) Being your friend must be unlucky, if they cursed out by you....
C: Go to an amusement park together. / Farting in front of each other. / Laugh together, cry together. / Kiss them.
LYN: Sorry- I was strict enough. The conditions are: 1. we’re of the same gender, 2. I said “friends”, no other emotion there. Can you give me other answers?
[t/n: come on, ning-ge. as they say, you’re not best friends unless people think you’re gay for each other...]
C: Holding hands.
LYN: You must be a girl. You want me to go out with him and then hold hands with Wei Shuyu? Wouldn’t that look strange?
C: Travel together. / Wear the same pair of pants. / Make fun of each other. / Watch LYN’s stream together.
LYN: That’s a real friend, there.
C: Share fun stories. / Share clothes. / Play with mud. / Hate the same person. / Wash together.
LYN: That’s normal, for us from the Northeast. We all wash together.
LYN: You all didn’t really say anything I wasn’t expecting. Other than the “sleeping together” part. // In any case, based on this I guess you could say we’re close enough. We’ve had meals together, we’ve worked together, and we have a common hated person, too.
C: Wash each other’s backs.
LYN: That’s fine. I don’t know if this is overstepping, but in the Northeast friends go to the bathhouses together. Sometimes we’re not even friends! You’ll go to the public bathhouse and wash yourself, but you can’t scrub your own back so you turn to the guy next to you and ask if they could scrub your back, and you’ll return the favor. It’s a common situation.
- /since he’s worked in one, talks in depth about the bathhouses in the North and how someone who hasn’t should experience it at least once./
- /literally walks us through the whole process and steps of entering a bathhouse and what comes after:
-- signing up for particular memberships
-- getting your shoes cleaned
-- choosing a locker (bottom ones are usually nicer)
-- choosing which pool to soak in (including the temperatures of each) (1st floor)
-- saunas (some people like to “steam” themselves and then immediately jump into the cold pool, but ning-ge hasn’t done it bc “I don’t want to d*e.”
C: Do you wear clothes?
LYN: Of course not.
C: It’s not awkward?
LYN: As long as I’m not embarrassed, YOU’RE embarrassed- I mean, I guess I hadn’t thought about it too deeply. I’m sure there is some level of discomfort, but like- you can cover yourself with a towel. We’re all just people.
-- moving on to the scrubbing portion (and the selections of tool (towel or scrub) and cleansing agent (none, salt ($), milk ($), vinegar (free), or lemon (free))
C: Are you marinating a piece of meat?
LYN: You think we’re making Thai-style Chicken Feet? No.
C: I don’t want any of them! I can’t take it!! >.<
[t/n: this is, scrubbing the dead skin from your body after having a soak.]
-- happy new year!
LYN: I got too into talking about the bath! Thanks for spending another year with me. I hope all goes smoothly for you in the year to come. Happy New Year, everyone!
- /continues the bathhouse talk/
-- after the scrub, rinse yourself off
-- after that, two options: 1. go home, or 2. continue exhausting your funds at the cafeteria! (3rd floor)
-- enjoy a cup of tea or a beer with a friend in the lounge area where you can play a game of chess or chat (4th floor)
-- take a rest or a nap in a dark room (5th floor)
-- massages/procedures (6th floor)
- /when you’re all set, you can choose to go straight home, or take another shower first and THEN head home/
C: When you were getting your back scrubbed, did anyone recognize you?
LYN: I was always the one scrubbing other people. Joking. When I was going to these public baths I wasn’t popular yet. Ever since I got popular I’ve never been back. I don’t dare.
LYN: You know how some artists say the biggest fault of being a star is loss of freedom? Mine is that I can’t go to public baths anymore. XD
C: Wear a mask then.
LYN: You want me to wear an Ultraman mask and walk in to a public bath? A Sun Wukong one? Zhu Bajie? It would have been fine if I didn’t wear one, but now EVERYONE would be looking at me.
C: Beauty mask.
LYN: But if I wash my hair, I’d still have to wash my face, wouldn’t I?
LYN: The one I went to back home was just one story and only had the public bath. I don’t know if this is because of poorer economic status, but when I was a kid we didn’t have a hot water heater at home. Many of the neighboring houses didn’t either. If we wanted to wash, we would need to go to the public bathhouse. It’s not because we couldn’t AFFORD to have one, but there was a sense of ritual. Just like how you would go to the theater to watch a movie.
- /only washed in the bathhouse once a week when he was a kid, and didn’t have the luxury of washing every day like he does now./
LYN: It’s a regional difference, I think. Because unlike the South, the North is very cold in the winter. If you were having a bath every day it would freeze you to death. The Autumn season was pretty cold, too.
C: What about summer?
LYN: If you family was better off, you’d wash twice a week.
C: What about the sweat?
LYN: We would have basins of water, and towel ourselves off instead.
C: It didn’t smell?
LYN: Not really? What are you eating that would make you (& your sweat) so smelly?? We were just kids. A good towel-off was clean enough.
LYN: The temperature in the Northeast doesn’t get very high. Around 20C or so. Your so called “summer” to us was only 26C (78.8F). Over there when someone said “It’s so hot, I can’t take it” it would only really be 28C (82.4F). Or, “I’ve never been this hot before!”- is only 30C (86F). What was there to sweat about?? Especially in Dandong, we’re near the coast, so the temperatures don’t fluctuate all that much. People from the South could say “It’s so cold. It’s already 0C (32F), but for someone from the North we’d say, “It’s pretty warm today.” At -6C (21.2F). Can you understand the difference? // I’m sure that anyone from the South would already by dumbfounded at 4C, let alone -6C.
C: It’s a natural freezer.
LYN: Yeah, when you walk into a restaurant, they’ll ask if you want a cold drink or a room temperature one. If you ask for one at room temperature, they’ll bring you something frozen. If you ask for a cold one, that’s fine because it was only in the refrigerator.
C: In the winter would you lick steel pipes?
LYN: /laughs/ I see a lot of people say they would try licking a steel pipe in the winter. I have never done such a foolish thing in my life. I don’t think there’s any need to do that.
C: I’ve done it before.
LYN: You were young but now that you’ve grown up, please don’t pass these foolish ideas to your children. Why would you lick metal in the winter? Are you sick?? Can you be like normal people and just buy your kid a popsicle? This is why we young people need to work hard, so that our children can live good lives.
C: Ning-ge, I’m sleepy.
LYN: I’m about done too. I saw that today was Friday and people would have the day off tomorrow so I wanted to stream a little longer. Let me grab a bottle of water...
- /picks up the water bottle to try to talk into it, thinking it was his mic./
C: It’s Saturday now though.
LYN: I know. If I don’t SLEEP I don’t count the day as over. So if I say “Tomorrow when I wake up...” I don’t mean “saturday’s tomorrow morning (sunday)” but “friday’s tomorrow morning (saturday)”. Even though it’s Saturday already (it’s still Friday to him because he hasn’t gone to sleep yet).
C: Does your drama have a wrap party?
LYN: It does, but I can't go. I’ll have to check the schedule of the next one and if I am free I’ll come back to Chengdu to eat a high-class meal. I’ll come back for a free meal.
- people in the comments trying to scare him
LYN: Friends, it’s like this. I’m afraid of the dark not ghosts. The lights are on so no matter what you say I won’t be afraid.
LYN: I saw some friends say they started watching The Truth and got scared. I don’t think that’s warranted. If even that level of horror scared you to death than I think you need to eat some sort of pellet (弹子 - dan zi). 长长胆. (zhang zhang dan - “grow some balls”) [pun on the “dan”.]
LYN: There are so many people with me in my stream, isn’t it great? I’m sure you’re all.. living people, right?
LYN: Alright, I’ll stop scaring people. It’s time for me to rest and then get to sleep. I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing night. It was great to have me, and I hope I brought you joy. I see that a lot of people are commenting that you can’t stay up anymore- hurry and go to sleep. Goodnight everyone. I hope the next time I stream I can see all of your happy smiling faces. Even though I can’t see you. So I hope you can see MY happy smiling face. If you haven’t subscribed to my weibo yet, please do so. I am Modern Brothers’ Liu Yuning. Hope to see you next time. Good night everyone.
#Liu Yuning#lyn livestream#(4:27:48)#topics:#The Truth conspiracy theories#fun (?) stories from past sets#(literally taking us through 'interesting stories' from EACH of his drama sets)#somehow devolves into a bathhouse walkthrough
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TC’s Writing Tips
I don't do a lot of writing advice because I feel like coming from me, advice feels very disingenuous. But since I hit a milestone today, I figured I would share the writing principles that I personally follow.
When it comes to advice about how to actually write, I don't have any. But as for the mindset to have about writing, these really are what I live by and what I have been living by for years. Maybe some of them will work for you!
Write a lot and read a lot, widely and critically.
Pick a goal that's easy for you to meet, and try to meet it as often as possible.
Keep track of your word count, in a way that’s easy for you to maintain. It's great for motivation.
Unless you're doing final line-by-line editing, do not edit a draft within your document. Open a new document and rewrite it. Every time.
Read your writing out loud. It's not perfect, but it will help you find some typos and awkward wording. Also, write in one font and read in another. That will also help you find typos.
"Show don't tell" has to do with screenwriting, not novel writing, I swear to god. I am so sick of hearing this. In a novel, both of them are useful in different contexts.
Don't ‘write what you know’, write what you're interested in.
We love reactions and engagement, but you shouldn't be writing for the purpose of getting engagement. Interaction should be the cherry on top, otherwise you'll feel a lot more pressured to work yourself into exhaustion and often won't be satisfied with the reactions you get.
If someone tells you something in your story doesn't work for them, believe them. If they try to tell you how to fix it, ignore them. There probably is an issue with that part, but you're the author, and you can decide how to fix it best.
"Constructive criticism" needs to be constructive. But even if it is constructive, you don't have to listen to it. Even with the best of intentions, some advice just will not work for you.
Every story has already been told, but they haven't been told way that you'll tell them. Don't be overly concerned if your work closely resembles something else (unless you're actively plagiarizing, of course). What matters is your voice and how you tell the story. That’s what makes it yours.
If you want to write it, someone out there wants to read it. There is an audience. It might be hard to find, but there is an audience.
There will always be people who don't like your work. That's fine, it's not for them. The earlier you learn to tune that out, the happier you'll be.
Not every idea you have will work out, and that's okay.
Inspiration ain’t shit. To quote Chicken Run, "Hard work, perseverance, and hard work. It takes twice as much hard work as perseverance."
I know this part is going to be controversial but I legitimately do not believe that writer’s block exists, I believe something like that could only come from not being able to follow one of these principles:
Know yourself, your work process, and what motivates you. If you know what you find motivating, you can always motivate yourself.
Lower your standards and write it anyway. Everything is fixable later. If you need to write the easiest possible version to get through it, then write the easiest possible version. There's nothing wrong with that.
That being said, taking breaks is important. You should not work yourself so hard that you get burnout. If you work when you want to work, and take breaks when you want to take breaks, it's much easier to not feel like you're wasting time.
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English translation:
Finn Jones , known for his roles in Iron Fist and Game of Thrones , was one of the main guests at the 10th edition of Comic Con Portugal . Séries da TV had the opportunity to talk to the actor, both at the press conference and in an individual interview.
Press conference
In a good mood, Finn entered the room to greet the journalists and we soon started the conversation with his Marvel series, Iron Fist . Finn claims that his entry into the universe was not planned and that it simply happened. He had to do two or three auditions for the role (which at the time he didn't know was for Marvel) and he says that the hardest part of being an actor is having at least two auditions a week, where you have to read the script. , create a passion for the role and dedicate yourself to it, in a short period of time, and most of the time it is not possible to join the project. Throughout the conversation, it is clear that Finn does not hide the immense difficulties of being in this industry, he demonstrates perseverance and says that it is necessary to fight and not give up. He also gave the example that, last week, he received the news that he was not accepted into a project in which he was very interested, but he quickly received a call to test for another role.
Over the three years he was linked to Danny Rand , he had a lot of physical training and a strict diet. He states that he decided to stay in New York after the experience of filming on the city's streets, feeling that it was like doing an outdoor theater performance . He also tells a story about how they were going to film an action scene at Penn Station, but there had just been a sports game and he remembers that the most drunk fans were screaming and “supporting” the scenes. After six months of recording the 1st season of Iron Fist , they started recording The Defenders two weeks later, and the actors felt relieved to share the lead among themselves, instead of having enormous pressure to be the protagonists. alone their own series.
When asked if he took anything from the film set , from a physical object or some mannerism, Finn says that in Iron Fist he didn't take anything physical, but he took with him all the optimism and hope that lives in the character, even with all the uncertainties and disappointments. in Danny's life. As for some object, he says he took a small Statue of Liberty from the set of Luke Cage .
Finn also states that he is attracted to complex characters, such as Sam Bowles in Dickinson . However, sometimes, when he plays a dark and deep character, it is not so easy to return to his own reality, but he says that music helps him in this matter. You can find out which song helps Finn in the interview soon on our YouTube channel .
The Immortal Iron Fist/The Knight of Flowers
Finn revealed that no one had explained to him how physical the role of Danny Rand would be, as the series was written over time. So, at the time he auditioned for the role, his characteristics were not yet well defined, so much so that the series would not be about martial arts. That said, he considers that he was chosen for his acting skills and not so much for his physical aspect.
The actor spoke a little about his relationship with actress Jessica Henwick, who plays Colleen Wing , Danny's love interest. He says they both met at a Comic Con and when he found out that she was auditioning for the series, at a time when he had already gotten the lead role, they were both going to do a “screen test”, so Finn contacted her for both They prepared to demonstrate that they had a good connection in front of the showrunner .
What many fans wanted to know was whether he considers Danny Rand to return to the Marvel universe. He says yes. However, he doesn't know if it will be himself or another actor, but he would love to play the character again.
Regarding Game of Thrones , Finn compares the two characters and says that playing Loras Tyrell wasn't as intense as Danny, but he really appreciates the character and that he also learned a lot of things from him. Speaking of Tyrell, he was full of praise for Natalie Dormer and Dianna Rigg, saying it was an immense pleasure to work with them both.
A fan asked him if he would like to participate in another big project, the answer? Dune . He states that he would love to play a more “disgusting” character like Austin Butler . Finn also admitted that at the moment he is not tied to any project, but that he continues to work on finding the next one.
Being his birthday on the “The Gentleman of Flowers” panel, the hosts Cara & Coroa surprised Finn and took him a red velvet cake to the stage while the audience sang happy birthday. Then, a fan walked up to the microphone and asked if Finn could share a piece of cake with her, since it was also her birthday! In one of those moments that will go down in Comic Con history, Finn went to the edge of the stage to meet the fan while they both ate the cake with their hands.
Soon we will have the video of our individual interview with the actor on our YouTube channel . Pay attention!
Article by Catherine Miranda.
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Discussion about the Oliva Serie V 135th Anniversary
Join me to learn a little about the highly rated Oliva Serie V, a one-hundred-thirty-fifth-anniversary limited edition cigar. I'm here with my friend Andrew, who is an expert on cigars.
Hey Andrew, I've always been curious about the backstory of Oliva Cigars. What's their history?
Well, Abby, it's quite a tale of perseverance and passion for tobacco. The Oliva story began in the late 19th century with Melanio Oliva, who first planted tobacco seeds in Pinar del Río, Cuba, in 1886.
His family cultivated tobacco for generations, but after the Cuban Revolution, things took a dramatic turn. Gilberto Oliva, Melanio's grandson, found himself in a new world order that was not kind to private enterprise.
He left Cuba, wandered across Spain, and eventually settled in Nicaragua. There, amidst the fertile lands, he rekindled the family's legacy, growing tobacco that would soon be recognized for its exceptional quality.
The Oliva Cigar Company, as we know it today, was officially established in 1995 and has since become a prominent name in the cigar industry, known for their dedication to craftsmanship and the rich flavors of their blends.
That's fascinating! And what about this cigar we're about to enjoy, the Oliva Serie V 135th Anniversary Limited Edition Perfecto?
Ah, this cigar is a true homage to the Oliva family's enduring legacy. Released to celebrate the 135th anniversary of Melanio's first harvest, this limited edition perfecto is a nod to the family's Cuban roots and their journey through the world of tobacco. It's crafted with meticulous attention to detail, embodying the spirit of the Oliva brand—a symbol of their journey from the past to the present, and their commitment to quality that has been passed down through the generations.
Interesting! Can you tell me more about its construction? Where do the wrapper, binder, and filler come from?
Of course! This cigar is a testament to the art of cigar making. The wrapper is an Ecuadorian Habano Sun-Grown leaf, which is known for its rich color and robust flavor profile. It encases a blend of Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos, carefully selected from the Oliva family's own fields. The Nicaraguan tobaccos are renowned for their full-bodied character and complex notes, providing a strong foundation for this exquisite cigar. The perfecto shape itself is a work of art, tapering elegantly at both ends, which requires the hands of the most skilled torcedores (cigar rollers) to create.
Now, what flavors and aromas should I be looking out for as I smoke it?
Prepare your palate for a symphony of flavors. In the first third, you'll be greeted with a rich tapestry of cocoa and earthy undertones, complemented by a subtle cedar zest. It's like walking through a forest after a rain, with the scent of wet earth and wood surrounding you. Transitioning into the second third, the profile evolves, introducing a bouquet of floral notes that dance on the tongue, intertwined with a nutty essence and a playful white pepper spice that tingles the senses. As you reach the final act, the cigar crescendos into a bold fusion of dark chocolate and leather, with a nutty core. A delightful maple sweetness lingers on the retro hale, a sweet whisper of the cigar's complexity.
That sounds delicious! Lastly, what drinks would you recommend pairing with this cigar? Maybe two alcoholic and one non-alcoholic option?
Pairing drinks with such a fine cigar is all about harmony and contrast. For an alcoholic companion, a Macallan Sherry Oak 12 Year Old Scotch is a superb choice. Its rich sherry-infused oakiness and dried fruit notes will complement the deep, earthy flavors of the cigar, creating a luxurious experience. Alternatively, Bumbu The Original Rum, with its alluring sweetness and hints of spice, can offer a delightful counterpoint to the cigar's robust profile, enhancing the overall tasting journey. For a non-alcoholic option, a robust black coffee or a shot of espresso would be ideal. The coffee's natural bitterness and aromatic qualities will elevate the cigar's inherent coffee and spice notes without overshadowing its intricate flavors. Each sip and puff is a step further into a world of refined taste and relaxation.
Thanks, Andrew! You really know your stuff. Let’s fire these up, put some smoke in the air and enjoy this nice ambiance.
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Hiroshi Shidara, Tetsuo Imazawa: "Candy Candy" (1976)
youtube
Candy Candy is a Japanese series based on the manga by the same name created by “Kyoko Mizuki” in April 1975, getting the anime adaptation just a year later. Like other Japanese series from the time, they followed a series of steps, starting with the manga serialization, usually on some manga magazine in Japan, in this case it was serialized in Nakayoshi. Then the rights were acquired by Toei Animation, who would take the lead in the anime production, employing directors, animators, writers, voice actors and other staff to bring the story to the screen. It followed the same steps as any other animated show from the time, which was storyboarding, drawing the key frames, in-betweening, coloring, editing, sound design and quality check, this whole process took a significant amount of labor, but it paid off, the success of the series was not only due to the storyline, but also had a lot to do with the love and dedication that all the staff put into it.
The first episode of the series is titled “A pretty Lasso-Wielding Girl”, and it focuses mostly on Candy’s first years, giving us an introduction to her life on the orphanage and some of her early relationships, we get to see how she was adopted and get a little bit of her personality. From this episode we can tell that she’s not going to be your usual protagonist, in the time this was published it was really typical to get the female character be a damsel in distress and search for someone to save her, but Candy proves to be an independent person with some of her priorities straight, knowing she doesn’t want to be adopted because she prefers to be with her friends. Talking about the episode as a part of a series I don’t really thing this one says too much, and its honestly quite misleading, because this episode just shows you a cute orphan girl that likes adventure and some of her friends, but as the show goes on it introduces more serious subjects that may be too much for a kid, personally I do quite enjoy Candy Candy since I used to watch it with my mother, but just from the first episode you get no clue of what is about to happen, and that can be a little dangerous with a show that looks so much for kids.
The anime was shown primarily on television during its original run in Japan. It was broadcast on several TV networks during specific time slots dedicated to children programming. The episodes were aired weekly or bi-weekly depending on the schedule. Due to its popularity, it was licensed for broadcasting in other countries, reaching an international audience throughout different TV networks or channels. I only found the first episode on YouTube but it’s on Spanish, so I’m sorry for that.
It received a significant popularity specially among young girls due to its subjects of friendship, love, perseverance, and its relatable characters. However, it did had its controversies, particularly related to its ending, which I wont spoil, but it does miss some important plot points. But despise any controversy, it remains a significant anime series that left an impact on its audience.
https://candycandy.fandom.com/wiki/Candy_Candy
https://beautifulillusionwonder.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/candy-candy-episode-1-a-pretty-lasso-wielding-girl/
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From Writer to Author: How Book Publishing Can Elevate Your Work
Introduction:
Every writer dreams of making the leap from being a writer to becoming an author—a published author whose work reaches readers far and wide. Book publishing holds the key to realizing this aspiration and elevating your work to new heights. It offers not only the opportunity to share your stories with the world but also the potential to transform your writing journey.
The journey of writing is a remarkable and transformative experience, taking us from the initial spark of an idea to the fulfillment of completing a manuscript. It is a process that stretches our imagination, challenges our creativity, and immerses us in a world of words and emotions.
It all begins with that flash of inspiration, a moment when an idea takes root within us. It might come from a fleeting thought, an observation, a dream, or a personal experience. That initial spark ignites a fire within us, compelling us to explore and give life to the story brewing in our minds.
As we embark on the writing journey, we delve deep into the realms of imagination, weaving together characters, settings, and plots. We become explorers, navigating uncharted territories and discovering the intricacies of our own storytelling abilities. With each word we write, we breathe life into our creations, watching as they grow and evolve on the page.
Yet, the path of writing is not without its challenges. There are moments of doubt when the blank page mocks us, and the words refuse to flow. We question our abilities, wondering if our story is worth telling. But it is during these moments of struggle that we find strength and resilience. We persevere, pushing through the obstacles, knowing that the journey is as much about self-discovery as it is about the final destination.
Writing demands discipline and dedication. It requires us to carve out time from our busy lives, to sit down and commit to the craft. We form routines, rituals, and habits that nurture our creativity and keep us connected to our stories. It is through this commitment that we find ourselves in the flow of writing, where the words pour forth effortlessly, and the story unfolds before our eyes.
The journey of writing is also one of self-reflection and introspection. As we craft our stories, we tap into our own emotions, drawing from our joys, sorrows, and experiences. We learn about ourselves through the characters we create, discovering hidden facets of our own psyche and gaining insights into the human condition.
And finally, after countless hours of writing, revising, and editing, we reach the moment of completion—the manuscript is finished. It is a culmination of our efforts, a testament to our perseverance and dedication. Holding that final manuscript in our hands fills us with a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. We have brought our story to life, capturing the essence of our initial inspiration and translating it into a tangible creation. If You are new author, don’t forget to check out Common Mistakes New Authors Make When Trying to Get Published and them.
The journey of writing, from the spark of an idea to the completion of a manuscript, is a profound and transformative experience. It shapes us as individuals, allowing us to explore the depths of our creativity and to share our unique voice with the world. So, embrace the journey, relish in the process, and let your words illuminate the world with the power of storytelling.
We will now explore how book publishing can propel your work forward, granting you the title of author and opening doors to a world of possibilities.
1. Validation and Credibility:
Publishing your book establishes credibility and validates your work as an author. It signifies that your writing has undergone a rigorous process of refinement, editing, and selection, making it worthy of sharing with readers. As a published author, you gain recognition for your talent, which can attract a wider audience and capture the attention of literary professionals, such as agents and publishers.
2. Amplified Reach and Exposure:
Book publishing expands your reach beyond your immediate circle of influence. It introduces your work to a global audience, enabling readers from different backgrounds and cultures to discover and engage with your stories. Through distribution channels, both physical and digital, your book can find its way into bookstores, libraries, online platforms, and the hands of readers who may have otherwise never encountered your writing.
3. Opportunities for Growth:
The process of book publishing offers immense opportunities for personal and professional growth as a writer. Working with editors and publishing professionals can sharpen your writing skills, pushing you to refine your craft and develop a deeper understanding of storytelling techniques; Or you will have to Hire an Editor. The feedback and guidance you receive throughout the publishing journey can propel your work to new levels of excellence.
4. Building an Author Platform:
Book publishing provides a platform to build your author brand and establish a presence in the literary world. Through marketing and promotion efforts, you can create an author platform that includes an engaging author website, active social media presence, and connections with readers and other industry professionals. This platform not only helps you connect with your existing readership but also attracts new fans and potential opportunities for collaboration and speaking engagements.
5. Opening Doors to Opportunities:
Being a published author opens doors to a myriad of opportunities. It can lead to invitations for book signings, author events, and speaking engagements, where you can interact with readers, connect with fellow authors, and gain exposure to industry professionals. Additionally, publishing success can pave the way for future book deals, translation rights, adaptations for film or television, and other exciting ventures that expand the reach and impact of your work.
Conclusion:
The journey from writer to author is a significant milestone in any writer's career. Book publishing offers the means to elevate your work, establish your credibility, and reach a wider audience. By embracing the publishing process, you can validate your talent, amplify your reach, and open doors to a world of opportunities. So, take that leap of faith, polish your manuscript, and embark on the exhilarating journey of book publishing. Your stories deserve to be shared, and the world eagerly awaits the voice of the author within you.
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Everything you Need to Know About Minecraft
If your child is a victim of the Minecraft trend, you've likely discovered that resisting is useless. Children are obsessed with more than just the game. There are Minecraft YouTube videos and a entire Minecraft language. There are also Minecraft-like games.
Get the know-how you need to get your child involved on one of the coolest games out there.
Minecraft Games Age Guide One of the best-selling independently created and published video games, Minecraft immerses kids in creative thinking, geometry, and even a little geology as they build amazing block structures. Here's the Minecraft games:
Minecraft 8 years old; platforms: Linux Mac Windows Xbox 360 Minecraft is an open-ended world that encourages exploration and creativity. Players can build items and buildings from beginning with materials that they collect from the environment around them. Children are free to design any kind of creation they wish in this 3-D space. They can also create simple goals. A chance to collaborate with others in larger building projects can help kids develop their collaboration skills.
Minecraft - Pocket Edition, age 8. ntzsw8 Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Android, Kindle Fire Minecraft - Pocket Edition is a mobile edition of the popular PC game. Players can create everything in the game provided they have the right resources.
Minecraft: Story Mode Age 10 platforms: Mac, Nintendo Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iPhone Although a large part of the fun of Minecraft is creating the story as you go along Story mode provides characters, a story line and plots for children who prefer a narrative. This game offers positive messages about teamwork and diplomacy and its learning curve isn't as difficult as the original.
Minecraft Basics Minecraft presents parents with a range of challenges and opportunities. Learn the lingo, discover the most important aspects of the game, and get tips on managing your child's playtime.
The Minecraft Glossary For Parents Do you not know how to tell your mobs from your mods? Your new Minecraft vocabulary will impress your kids.
10 Things Parents Should Be Educated About Minecraft. This video will answer all your questions about Minecraft, from how to play to rules and regulations of multiplayer mode.
Q&A What is the best way to let my child play Minecraft for hours? Sure, Minecraft has learning potential But how much is safe for kids to burn playing it?
Minecraft on YouTube Minecraft is an online game that can be played by all ages and has endless possibilities. Not all YouTube videos are suitable for your child. Here are a few of our faves for children.
12 Best Kid-Friendly Minecraft Channels on YouTube This guide gives a round-up of the most popular kid-friendly channels , and explains what they have to offer.
Wonder Quest (for age 6+) Wonder Quest (for ages 6+) YouTube program is based on Minecraft and its main character is based on the creator Joseph Garrett's other Internet success, Stampylonghead. The videos are a wonderful mix of comedy, adventure as well as quality educational content and humour. They tell the tale of heroes who attempt to stop a villain's plot and return a treasure trove of gems to their hometown. There are even lessons for social interaction that encourage cooperation and kindness as well as perseverance.
Games Like Minecraft Because of its complexity, mild violence, and online community, we recommend Minecraft for children aged 8 and over. What if your younger children want to play but aren't prepared? These games will keep them entertained in a manner similar to Minecraft but without the more challenging stuff. (Check out our complete list of games like Minecraft.)
Blox 3D Junior 5 years old a style similar to Lego and Minecraft, this app's 3-D creation environment allows kids to create, encourages visual acuity and encourages the ability to think critically. The Robot Factory, Tinybop is an exploratory app designed for children who are in the first grade. It's ideal for kids who like to design, create and have fun. Toca Builders 6 Toca Builders allows children to build their own worlds in an sandbox-like environment. It's easier to pick up and play with than Minecraft and also there's no fighting or monsters.
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