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itsthemoofacewriting · 3 years

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Amongst the trees

So. I’ve been having horrible writers block, the worst I’ve ever had, but then I saw b00giewara’s art on twitter. It’s so soft and pretty that finally, my mind and fingers ran. (Also, just the thought of post time skip Sanji in Water 7 outfit has me foaming at the mouth).

This sits in the same universe as Potato Peeling, for no reason other than I want it to.

Summary: On a lazy afternoon, there was nothing Sanji would rather be doing than helping Nami with her trees. Rating: T. Slightly suggestive.

This can also be found on AO3 and FFN.

Enjoy!

Sanji had been in the kitchen for a few hours already. Everyone had been fed for breakfast and lunch (Luffy a few more times since between then) and he’d used the lulls in-between to do his weekly inventory. He’d made more progress after lunch, only pausing to serve drinks.

The pantry was done, which took the most amount of time, and he was just about to wrap up with the fridge. As much as he didn’t mind doing the inventory, sometimes it was a nice quiet task, today he felt a bit restless. It was a beautiful day, sunny with the occasional soft breeze that took the edge off from the heat and he’d much rather be out there for once than in the kitchen counting supplies. It was his own fault really; he’d decided to do this.

However he quickly found a good reason to leave when he noticed the mikans were starting to look a bit low.

And thinking about mikans, naturally his mind drifted over to Nami. Which then lead to him thinking about how he hadn’t seen or heard Nami for a few hours either. It wasn’t overly unusual, during the day they both had things that had to be done but considering the lull- it was strange.

Poking his head out of the kitchen door and looking out onto the deck, there was no sign of her. Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were fishing, Franky was tinkering with something, Brook was down for his afternoon nap, he could hear Mosshead’s obnoxiously loud weights from the crow’s nest and Robin was sunbathing. But the sun lounger next to her was empty.

Nami’d mentioned in the morning that she’d wanted to catch up on her maps. Perhaps she was using the quiet afternoon to do that. He’d give her a tiny bit longer so that he didn’t distract her from her maps, but if she hadn’t appeared by the time he was finished, he would take a drink to her and coax her into a break.

With that in mind, he grabbed an empty wicker basket from the pantry and climbed up the ladder to the upper deck.

It was peaceful up there, only the soft wind and distant sound of the crew from the lawn deck could be heard. At first, he’d thought the humming sound was from the crew, it sounded far away, but the closer he got to the mikan trees, the louder it got, and he was starting to piece together where Nami actually was.

It was confirmed when he reached the trees and turned to see Nami bent over and doing something with the soil on the furthest tree from him. She hadn’t seen him yet, too engrossed, and angled away from him. He may have used the opportunity to gawk at her a bit. He may have also taken a few quiet steps to the side so he could get a good view of her behind. But they were together now, so it was acceptable.

“Taking in the view?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder at him and belatedly he realised the humming had stopped. Of course he couldn’t sneak up on the cat thief herself.

“It’d be rude not to.” And even though he’d been caught red handed, he still tilted his head like he hadn’t.

She shook her head at his antics, and his view was cruelly taken away from him as she stood to walk over to him. He could hardly sulk when it was replaced with her sunny smile.

“What brings you into my neck of the woods then?” She asked, taking off a gardening glove to brush a piece of hair out of the way. He wasn’t quite sure why she ever bothered with gloves, she always ended up covered in soil, something that was proven now with the stains on her dungarees.

“We’re getting low on mikans, so I thought I’d take advantage of the good weather to come pick some.” He caught her bare hand in his to press a kiss on the back in greeting, lingering for a second being letting her hand go.

Her cheeks pinked. “Great minds think alike. The weather’s perfect for taking a bit of time out for the trees,” she explained fondly. It was no secret amongst any of them how much they meant to her or how much she enjoyed doing this.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Well, Usopp gave me some compost for the soil, so with that done I’m moving onto pruning.” She’d turned to face the trees, already pinpointing branches and leaves that needed to be taken off. “Want to help? I think I saw Usopp’s shears somewhere around here.”

That was the last thing he’d expected her to ask him, and he was a bit stunned by it, so all he could muster up was a nod as he went in search for the shears.

It wasn’t entirely new territory. He’d helped her with her tress countless times. Held the basket, pointed out fruit she may have missed or perhaps a bad twig that needed to go; it was always assistant work.

Having his own set of shears was a whole new playing field.

As far as he was aware, no one helped with cutting her trees, not even Usopp or Robin and they were the other green thumbs on board. He’d never been bitter or offended by it, it was no secret how much these trees meant to her and he’d respected that.

But this. This new ground made him a bit giddy, how far they’d come since knowing each other and especially since they’d got together. How much she was trusting him. He was more than aware of how big this was.

He quickly found the extra set of shears from where she’d said they’d be and joined her back at the trees, his basket long forgotten.

“Show me what to do, I don’t want to mess this up.” Whilst he was still giddy, he was gradually getting more and more nervous. This was important and he didn’t want to screw it up. He felt like he was keeping his cool on the outside though as he stood next to her, even if he felt like he was about to have a meltdown internally.

Perhaps he wasn’t being that smooth with the knowing look Nami gave him, but she soon eyed his jacket instead. “Firstly, I think you need to look more the part. Let’s lose the jacket, you don’t want to mess that up.”

He followed her command, taking off his jacket and draping it across the railing. It was a pleasant enough day that he wasn’t worried about it being lost to the sea.

“Let’s leave the waistcoat on,” she said, trying to look innocent but he saw straight through it, although he was more than happy to let her have her way. “And the tie, it might come in handy later. But we could roll up the sleeves.”

Before he could do that himself, her hands were at his wrists, nimbly undoing the button and rolling the fabric up to his elbows. Despite the warm weather, goosebumps erupted along his forearms as her fingers grazed along the skin. They’d been together for a few months now, so touch was nothing new between them, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to the casual touches he shared with her now. Don’t get him wrong, everything about their relationship was exciting to him, but it was the simplest touches and how comfortable she was around him that pleased him the most.

“That’s better.” She nodded to herself, hands lingering on his arms before pulling away and taking the shears out from one of her pockets.

“Thank you.” He smiled down at her tenderly and the flush she’d just managed to get rid of bloomed across her cheeks again. He found it adorable how the softest gestures flustered her the most.

“Right,” Nami said, clearing her throat and focusing back on the trees, “it’s quite simple actually. Cut any branches that are damaged, unhealthy or crossing over one another.”

“Like this one?” He pointed out a withered branch.

“Yes!” She confirmed brightly. “If in doubt, it probably needs to go, otherwise you wouldn’t have noticed it.”

He nodded in understanding and with that, they both started pruning. Nami had left him to have a tree all to himself as she worked on the one beside his. She moved confidently, barely batting an eyelid as she snipped away. He, on the other hand, moved more cautiously, considering each branch before cutting it off. She said not to overthink it, but he couldn’t not. He wanted to do a good job; he’d been entrusted with a whole tree.

A few branches in and his free hand was becoming full of branches he’d cut off. He glanced to the side, wondering where Nami was putting hers. She must have read his mind, because she met his curious gaze, smiled, and moved a basket between the trees they were both working on.

“Throw anything you chop off into the basket. Usopp likes them so he can add it to the compost he makes,” she informed him.

Sanji snorted at that, of course Usopp did. He wondered if the three green thumbs on board traded tips.

“Which, by the way, I’m pretty sure he’s sneaking coffee out of the pantry to use for his plants and to add to the compost,” she breezily informed him, already knowing what reaction she’d get from him.

“I knew it!” He said, outraged. His inventory checks had been off for ages and he’d been trying to figure out where the extra coffee had been going. “Now I have to fight Luffy off from the fridge and Usopp from the pantry. The one place I thought was safe.”

Nami laughed at his turmoil. “I’ll adjust the budget.”

He smiled at her gratefully for that.

They descended back into silence after that, and it was nice. It was just as relaxing as some of his tasks in the kitchen, but with the added bonus of fresh air and the sun warming his skin. He’d also say the company, but she spent a fair amount of time in there with him now anyway. But it was a nice change of pace to partake in one of her activities together for a change.

Nami’s hands didn’t falter as she softly broke the silence, “The first few weeks after leaving Cocoyasi village, I thought I was going to lose the trees, the constant change in weather made it hard to look after them.”

Sanji was silent as he let the information wash over him, it’d never crossed him mind before, but now he thought about it, it made perfect sense. “I never thought of that,” he said in awe.

Nami hummed in agreement and shook her head. “Me either! Normally in the winter they need more care and, in the summer, less, but with the fluctuating weather they were all over the place.”

He cut away another branch, throwing it into the basket before moving around the tree. He tilted his head to indicate he was still listening.

Nami continued, “It took a bit of figuring out and by the time I could get a book on it, I’d already figured it out. They’re like temperamental children, I just had to keep my eye on them a bit more than normal.”

Of course she’d figured it out, she was one of the smartest people he knew. “I’m glad you worked it out, the ship would look empty without them.”

“Me too, I don’t think I would’ve dealt with it very well back then if I’d lost them. Everything’d changed so suddenly back then but they were a constant for me, it helped having them.”

He frowned at that; he could only imagine how stressful that must’ve been, but she’d never said anything.

“Not to worry though, it resolved itself and now look at us,” she said, trying to ease the look of concern on his face and changed the topic swiftly, “You’ve done a good job.” She looked at the tree critically but nodded to herself.

She stepped forward and cut off a few additional branches that he’d hesitated over. “Maybe a bit overly cautious, but I knew you would be, that’s why I let you have the shears.”

He beamed at her praise and they moved onto the final tree, working on opposite sides until whatever they could reach was done. They both stepped back, proudly taking in the much neater trees, until they looked up.

“Any chance you’re tall enough to reach the top?”

He wanted to say yes so badly but as he eyed the height, he knew he wouldn’t be able to without actually scaling the tree. “Sorry Nami-san, I don’t think so.”

“Don’t worry, I knew it was a stretch.” She put her hand on his arm in understanding and looked up at the trees. “Bell-mère used to stand us on her shoulders to reach the higher branches she wanted to prune or pick off the fruit. She said it was good for us to learn, but I’m convinced she just didn’t want to haul the stool around with her.”

He laughed with her at that and briefly imagined how adorable the sight would have been until an idea came to mind. He crouched down in front of her and when all she did was blink at him, confusion written all over her face, he elaborated, “I can’t offer to stand you on my shoulders, but I can do this.” He patted a shoulder, trying to encourage her.

She was silent for a moment, stunned at the offer. “As much as I trust you and don’t doubt your strength whatsoever, are you sure you’re up for this?” She asked cautiously.

“Huh?” He blinked at her.

“My thighs are about to be either side of your head. I don’t want to brain myself on the deck when you go down like a sack of potatoes,” she deadpanned, eyebrow raised as she looked down at him.

“It wouldn’t be the first time my head’s been there,” he quipped, leering up at her, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

She barked a laugh, hand slapping his shoulder half-heartedly in retribution but overall, she was too amused to be angry.

It took a bit of more reassurance to convince her, but as soon as he’d convinced her, he positioned himself and helped her get onto his shoulders. He smoothly rose to his feet, barely wobbling.

Hands down it was the best decision he’d never made. If he could assure Nami’s safety, he could die happily right now. There was so much of her everywhere. Her thighs snuggly sat either side of his head, he could feel the slightest brush of her breasts against the top of his head and her hands were in his hair whilst she adjusted to the new position.

“You okay down there?” She asked, half amused and half cautious, testing the waters to make sure he was okay.

“More than okay,” he replied happily, tilting his head to the side to pillow into her thigh. She was so soft; he was in heaven.

Nami snorted above him, shaking her head and tentatively removed her hands from his hair. When he stood solid, she reclaimed the shears from her pocket and started to snip again.

Before they could dip into silence, he asked, “How often did you tend to the trees together when you were younger?” He loved hearing about her childhood with Bell-mère and took any opportunity to ask about it.

Nami was more than happy to share. “We had a big orchard, so it was almost daily. It could be pruning, picking fruit, or tending to the soil. Although, me and Nojiko spent more time running through it playing games, not so much helping.”

His hand stroked up and down her calf absently, encouraging her to continue whilst he listened. He moved to the side after noticing she’d finished with a section before she had to ask.

“We definitely over pruned when we did help, but she never scolded us,” she continued, throwing a branch down into the basket at Sanji’s feet. “After that she just kept a sharper eye on us.

“Sounds nice.”

“It was,” Nami agreed, “I always ended up covered in dust and dirt. Kind of like now actually, not a lot has changed it seems.”

“It suits you.” And it was the truth. Whether she was in skimpy bikinis or dirtied dungarees, she was the most attractive person he’d ever laid eyes on.

They moved onto the last tree and by now the bucket was almost overflowing with branches and leaves. Usopp would be thrilled, no doubt.

“She sounded like an amazing woman,” he said after a moment, letting the stories Nami had told him of her Mum play in a loop in his head. In a different world, he wished he could’ve met her, to see how similar they both were and see that part of her life.

She didn’t need any prompting to understand what he was talking about. “She was,” Nami agreed, voice filled with warmth. “She’d have loved you -little to the left-” and he took a step to the left, “-she would’ve seen your smooth talk coming a mile away, mind you, but she’d have found it amusing.”

“Like Mother like daughter,” he quipped, squeezing her calf teasingly. Nami gave a snort above him and muttered something he didn’t catch, but continued, “I’d have loved to cook with her.”

“She never would’ve let you leave.”

“I have no complaints about that.” Her home sounded like it held so much warmth, Sanji thought to himself.

“What about you?” She asked, trying to sound confident but there was a waver in her voice. Sanji found it sweet, after all this time she didn’t want to bring up that part of his life. He didn’t mind, especially with her.

“Well, Zeff you’ll win over easily. He tries to deny it, but he has a soft spot for women too. He’ll just spend his time trying to embarrass me instead.” The day would come, he knew it, but for now he was safe. “I don’t remember a great deal of my Mum; I was too young. But I have no doubt that she would’ve loved you too. She was kind like you.”

“See, it’s that smooth talk that would’ve won you brownie points.”

“Even with you?”

“How do you think we got here?”

He couldn’t see her, but he knew she had that smart look on her face that he adored, and he rested his head back on her stomach. If she hadn’t been on his shoulders right now, he definitely would’ve pulled her into a hug.

“Okay, I’m done.” Her hands were back in his hair, shears stowed away in her pocket.

In a similar fashion to convincing her to get on his shoulders, it also took some persuasion on how to get her back down. They went back and forth, until Nami finally agreed (“If you drop me” “Never, Nami-san”) and then she was sliding over his one shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck, and falling into his outstretched arms. To his credit, he stood solid.

“Reminds you of old times, huh?” He cheeked, beaming down at her in his arms.

“At least I didn’t have to fall through the air this time.”

He let her down onto her feet and he expected her to move away, onto the next task but she didn’t move. Instead, her hands dusted over his shoulders, trying to take off any soil that had transferred from her dungarees.

“It’s been a while since you’ve worn this shirt. I like it.” Her hands smoothed across his shoulders, feeling the texture of his orange pinstripe shirt and the way it fit him snugly. He’d filled out in the crew’s two-year gap, so where it used to fit loosely, it sat tighter across his shoulders. He would throw it away, because really, he knew he was pushing his luck getting into it, but when she reacted like that, he was more tempted to never take it off.

“I like your dungarees,” he said softly, his hand fingered the denim straps as hers rested at his waist. There were dirt stains littered across them, but there was something quite charming about that. Although that might just be because of the person wearing them more than anything.

His hand moved from the strap of her dungaree and swept an errant lock away from her neck, his hand filling the empty space, thumb soothing across her pale skin. The quiet, the rustling of the trees and their afternoon spent together all added to the atmosphere until it had them leaning in closer.

They’d done this so many times before that they read each other like a well-oiled machine. Her hands tightened on his waistcoat and he was going left as she went right until their lips met in the middle. It was slow, unhurried, like they had all the time in the world and really, they did. It felt like they did anyway as they embraced, with only the gentle breeze accompanying them on the upper deck.

They parted slowly, and in his case reluctantly, but the feeling soon passed when he opened his eyes to the sight before him. Nami looked truly relaxed, face nothing but content, half lidded eyes looking back at him and wind playing with her orange hair.

That soon changed when he leaned back into kiss her and was promptly denied. Gone was the serene expression, in its place were alluring, teasing eyes. The sudden shift would give anyone else whiplash, but Sanji knew what that look meant- it would only end well for him.

Her hand was on his tie, taking a step out of his embrace and promptly turning on her heel. She pulled him after her, which she didn’t really need to do because he was glued to her back in an instead, but he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t a turn on.

They didn’t go very far, only walking around the trees to occupy the gap between the trees and the main mast. In all honestly, Sanji had never really taken notice of it before, but he was glad for its existence when she pressed him up against the mast and heavily leaned into him. His body pinned between it and hers.

It was intimate and if anybody wondered up there, they’d be hard to spot. She positioned herself between his legs, something he more than encouraged as he made more space for her there.

If Sanji thought she looked breath-taking before, it was nothing compared to the angelic beauty before him now. The sun filtering through the trees casted her in a golden halo and her hair looked like molten gold, oozing around her, and making her look otherworldly. She was surrounded by orange blossoms and it was the perfect backdrop to encapsulate her, she belonged there.

Sanji wanted to burn the moment into his brain but Nami had other ideas.

Their next kiss was anything but slow, it was full of purpose. It was the kind of kiss they usually shared in private, not for someone to stumble upon by accident, but he definitely wasn’t going to complain. He matched her enthusiasm, lips sliding against each other’s and his hands found themselves in the back pocket of her dungarees as hers burrowed themselves into his hair.

“Good spot, right?” She murmured, not waiting for a response before reconnecting their lips.

If he’d had the chance the response, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to actually verbalize his agreement. He was dazed, head spinning, trying to keep up, and although they’d done this a million times before and more, he didn’t think he’d ever be over it.

Although they couldn’t start anything out here, his body didn’t seem to know that as he shifted, ready to roll his hips into hers and hopefully progress to the bedroom if they could make it there undetected, until he felt something press into thigh.

“Is that shears in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

It was a stupid joke, and it ruined the mood, but it was worth is when Nami broke into peeling laughter. Instead of throwing her head back, she burrowed into the crease of his neck, smothering her laughter so they didn’t attract attention. His arms left her back pockets, winding around her waist, pulling her into a hug instead. It wasn’t what he wanted, but they wind this down.

“That was such a stupid joke,” she said as she started to calm down.

“Yeah, it was,” he said fondly, still soaking in the warmth of her laugh.

“Although I suppose we should stop, otherwise you’ll be in a similar predicament and I still have things to do.”

“Me too.” He looked up at the sky and from the way it was starting to descend, he knew he should really start thinking about dinner. Except neither of them moved, but Nami did rest her hands more causally around his shoulders, matching his hold on her.

“Didn’t pick much fruit in the end, huh?” She joked, looking off to the side at the empty, abandoned basket.

He’d completely forgotten why he’d gone up there in the first place. “This is much better than what I’d expected.”

“Because you had your head between my legs?”

His eyes lit up and his grip tightened on her hips. “One of the perks, of course.”

“Maybe we could do something similar in my room later,” she suggested, in a provocative whisper, leaning closer.

This woman. She was everything he ever wanted. He didn’t give a verbal answer, he was pretty sure he couldn’t without wheezing a few times, but his enthusiastic nodding got the point across well enough, and it made her grin.

She rewarded him for his candour with a slow kiss that was over far too quickly for his liking.

“You free tomorrow? I can probably pencil you in for some fruit picking.”

“You’re too kind, Nami-san. Making time for lowly me in your busy schedule.”

“I’m nothing if not kind, Sanju-kun,” she agreed, winking at him. “Right, I really do have to go, see you after dinner?”

She was out of his arms and walking away before he could reply, grabbing the basket full of branches to sit at her hip as she went.

She knew the answer anyway- it was potato peeling night after all.

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Urrrrrrrrrgh. I am so soft for these two, they’re so much fun to write being all soft and in love. This was so self-indulgent, and the story doubled in length because of it.

Usopp, Robin and Nami definitely get together to talk about plants/flowers.

I based my research on orange trees, so if there’s some differences, don’t come at me.

For some reason, my writers block has really exaggerated my imposters syndrome, so if this wasn’t your cup of tea, please keep it to yourself. Not sure I could handle it right now.

Also, just to tease because I’m definitely going to finish them, I had two other pieces planned for SaNami week before the writer’s block, they’ll be on the way.

As always, please excuse any errors.

Thanks for reading.

#SaNami #SanNami #sanjixnami #SaNa #opfanfic #opwriting #one piece #Nami #Sanji

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fandom-sheep · 3 years

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MCC 24 JUL 21

Green Guardians and Pink Parrots Part 1/2

Alright I’m finally back! I’m only half watching while I clean my room but it’s fine.

I’m watching Fundy’s POV on my main screen and Ranboo’s on my phone where I’m typing this.

Ranboo pre game stream let’s gooo.

I’m so very entertained by the background Tubbo noises.

He’s so happy. I don’t know if I have it in my to watch Fundy’s POV even though I’m cheering for the Green Guardians.

Sands of time. Let’s go!

We are going to hear these boys in each other’s backgrounds.

This has “mom can we play Minecraft at our sleepover” vibe.

Phil’s streaming. Where is the fox boy…

Boys trying to out noise each other.

Please tell over to tubbo about how loud he is being. It would be funny.

It’s so much fun watching this boy achieve his goals. I love watching people achieve their goals.

Actual MCC server!!!

Good time for screeny. Nobody is chilling.

BURGER!

I saw him! I saw that fox run past!

“Ahh” - Ranboo

“Aaaa” -Tubbo

“Ahhhh” -Ranboo

“Aaaa” -Tubbo

High school ish age boy in competitive scenario. This will be so much fun.

Microphone magic time!

Hey I hear the boys!

And it works well.

It does echo???? How???

“It was a joint effort. I came up with some bad ideas you came up with the idea that works.” -Tubbo

Also known as every other group chat I’ve ever been in.

Lmanburg flag at rally?

What?

No. Let’s do free clout.

Ranboo being a problem.

Why is everyone in that VC?

What problems are these children causing.

Fundy is live! Where is my iPad time to dual wield streams.

Spatula???

Dual spatulas.

It’s time to start!!!

Where is the fox?

You know. I might reverse it. I might have to watch Pink Parrots mainly and just ignore green guardians.

I’m going to put Wilbur on my iPad so I can see the chaos man. Now to decide which POV I’m listening to. Probably Ranboo. Wilbur on mine is slightly behind.

They asked if Wilbur was going change his skin? That never happens. He had to wear the sweater of shame at Christmas time.

I have them both almost perfectly sinced but it’s at the point it almost sounds echoed.

No it’s just tubbo who sounds echoed.

Nope can’t get it to sync. Just listening on my speaker.

No surround sound here. Unless I get really board.

Manifesting the win?

Manifolding the win.

Bavid.

Time to annoy the other teams.

From here on I’m going to try to be productive while I watch. Wait no. The music isn’t in sync with the one I’ll mostly be watching.

Oh I forgot TapL was there. Nope it’s not syncing. Just going to have Ranboos on my phone be secondary.

Wilbur POV let’s go.

We trash talking. Look at them go.

Ahh. English area codes. What the enigma.

Let’s win pink parrots!!! How do I always end up cheering for this team…

I need to make pink parrot art.

Oh no. Just Wilbur.

Oh no. It’s all Tubbo.

Wilbur reminds me of a good camp counselor motivating his team. Not like one of my coworkers.

My brother isn’t home today so we can’t have a watch party like we wanted.

My mom is confused with my and my brother’s investment in MCC but we told her it was the national championships of Minecraft.

Oh poor Fundy tagging on the other side.

I need to remember to collect channel points.

I’m sorry why is my internet acting stupid. Work you!

Pink and purple. The tween girls second most idea color pallet.

They are over motivating the Soot.

Thought Wilbur was going to explode from peer pressure there.

Yooo. I figured out how to watch Fundy! I can split screen my ipad between the app and the website. Tiny Fundy screen and big Wilbur screen and tiny Ranboo screen on my phone.

They can’t warn fast enough.

Time to watch and ad and support Wilbur because it got too far behind for my liking while I fought with the tiny Fundy screen.

I need to put away the books I’m pressing flowers in. But I don’t want to mess up the flowers.

Wonder how soon I’ll have to start a new post because I ran out of bullet points.

Nah I’m not keeping Fundy’s POV open. I want full screen Pink Parrots.

Music brain made the lyric connection.

I could drink 3 bottles of water every round.

The boys with the superior bladders.

What happened with Wilbur? What I didn’t see anything happen with the stream.

Nox crew role play??? What?

Wait. Did red team just fall into the void?

What?

I found a skirt and I’m wondering why I don’t wear it more often.

It goes down to my knees I could even wear this to church.

Offhand wool!

Time to battle in the box!

Exciting death boots.

Go!!! Do wool! Get em!

Oh wow. They both died. At the same time.

They can hear the Tommy. That’s how well these dudes know one another.

Bragging on each other.

Everyone surprised that Wilbur is entering his old man years.

Woohoo!

Random history moments with Tubbo.

Woohoo (again)!

Ranboos just going to jinx it.

Oh no I need my charger!

Got my charger! Rejoined at “Minecraft butts make big… videos” and am quite confused.

Skilled boys!!

Poof goes the Bur.

They beat Dream???

Casually refolding every bandana I own while watching battle box.

I found a peppermint tea bag.

Come on get mid! Noooo.

Pink parrots doing pretty good from what I see in MCC live.

I thought Ranboo had an actual burger on his face cam. I was so confused for a moment.

Yelling across the room casually.

Wilbur is back. You can hear him.

Wilbur is like a kid trying to get a duck out of the pond.

Sky battle?

Shake? Shake shake shake?

Oh no. Now all the chat is crying over Ghostbur. Myself included.

Pink parrots on top so far! Never mind that didn’t last long.

Go Wilbur! Go Tubbo! Go Ranboo! Go TapL!

Wilbur go poof.

3rd atm.

Oh we’ve gone down.

No he was not good. But he paved the way for TapL.

We’re in 2nd?? Are the other teams dead or something?

If we’re going down and yelling timber.

4th. Not bad.

Woohoo!

Go green guardians!!

So proud of them.

Pants and Boots!

Still in 6th for sky battle.

Bless his heart TapL is so worried.

Red Rabbits and Green guardians are close.

My streams are out of sync. So confused.

We’re in lead!!

WE WON!!!

My iPad is struggling with Will’s stream but it’s going!

Come on Parrots!

Alright got it up again. Got it up again.

If I were a streamer I wouldn’t be good at MCC. I can’t competitive properly. I just like making jokes and being goofy.

Not a good lead but oh well never mind we don’t have the lead.

Red Rabbits YUM.

“Do not engage” as they set off tnt.

Get those stupid rabbits! Or whoever is attacking. I’ve never been good at any sports.

First again!

Hold on guys!

They won!!! With Wilbur hovering on the edge of the void!!!

PINK PARROTS FIRST PLACE (for now but I’m still excited)

Talented team!! Look at them go!

Get your screen shot little Y/N fan boy.

Not surprised we’re more popular than the olympics.

Had to go brag to my parents that there are more people watching MCC than the olympics. They were also not surprised.

Sands of Time. The wildcard game.

Sand sand sand sand.

We have a key for a vault already?

Putting away shoes. Nothing to make you be productive like watching Minecraft peeps play a competitive game.

“Everywhere is a way into somewhere”

Come on boys.

Time to switch to Ranboos POV. See if I can spot that N with my grown up can spot things vision.

Nope don’t see this mysterious letter.

TapL if you got nothing to do bother Ranboo to help him find that N.

Calm Tubbo. Tubbo chill.

Really. The map is broken and they are taking forever helping.

Key!!! Fight Fight Fight.

Ranboo apologizing.

If his team loses this kid will blame himself.

Go Tubbo and Ranboo.

Vault open!

Out of sand = prepare to book it.

1:30 (90 sec) let’s go.

Less than a minute. Evacuate!

Oh no Ranboo is lost. Hurry kiddo!

They made it?

They made it.

Off goes the Wilbur. Now to wait.

Come on pink parrots.

Is it bad I can’t see sands of time coins in MCC live or am I just crazy?

5th. Better than I expected.

THEY ARE STILL FIRST???

Barely. But they are.

We get to vote now?!?

Quick to the voting!

I had to fight Twitter to vote.

The app didn’t want to work.

What’s the acronym one?

I’m sorry did I just hear that Wilbur taught Tubbo how to spell fuck?

Ranboo has the iron bladder.

I drank so much water but I just kinda do that.

Listen to Wilbur getting soft and encouraging Ranboo in his first game.

And Wilbur wanting him back. And planning to manipulate Scott.

Doesn’t surprise me that Wilbur would manipulate Scott. I know he probably doesn’t but still.

Look at all us audience beings.

Hooray David. I don’t know who you are but sup.

I’m sitting on a yoga ball to type and I about fell off. That wouldn’t have been fun.

All of Wills chat blessing him.

David just did the vocal equivalent of 👍🏻

Ooo I found a dollar.

And of course Tubbo likes the olympics. Trampoline boy should love them.

Nooo. Not tubbo!

Whoopsy. There go the parrots.

Why does my Wilbur stream keep goofing. See this is why I don’t actually liveblog I am so behind it’d be delayed anyway.

Instead of replacing with Phil replace with Kristen.

Keep it up Pink Parrots keep it up. *clap clap*

Where is my old cheerleading book?

Oh this is so behind. I saw ranboo fall on his POV then waited a few moments to see him on Wills.

Let’s reset it again for now. Look like it’s close. And I got an ad this time.

If it gets super behind again I’m going to just switch to Ranboo on my iPad and see if that works.

Wills is slightly ahead now. That’s how I like it.

Wilbur is such a motivating human. I swear I keep thinking that I’m hearing my coworkers encouraging campers at a kickball game or something.

Oh we’re dropping. But we’re still going.

How the actual hay are we still here.

Keep it up TapL!!

2nd!

300 and a bit to get back to first.

Look at Ranboo and Wilbur. So happy.

Ok singy boi with the ability to do one sound for a long time.

I want TapL on DSMP. It would be funny I like this guy. What does this guy stream? I want to start watching him.

Ace Race? I love ace race.

Ooo buildmart. Used to be my favorite but now no one hates it anymore.

I like least liked games. Least liked games act as great equalizers. No one is happy and it’s funny.

“You have such a way with words” -TapL (?)

“Thanks I’m a song writer” -Wilbur

Why are we doing dramatic monologues?

Sounds neat. I like this deep story.

Who is dying? What? I zoned out for a minute.

Cant wait to see that audio appear on tiktok.

You go Wilbur. I believe in you.

You go Ranboo become a lover or hater of Ace Race.

“I keep on stabbing people in the butt with my fork” -Ranboo

Again can’t wait to see that audio appear on tiktok.

I love Wilburs angry “which glitch” he’s experienced all of them.

No don’t stop Wilburs channel! I’ll watch an ad but let me watch ace race.

Ranboo has learned to dislike ace race.

Feels like a achievement. You have made Ranboo hate ace race.

Tubbo did it! Whoop!

Good job Will!

Good Job team!

Second team to finish!!!

Wait it says they are in 3rd on MCC live?

Phil Head!

Hey 1st. Good job Parrots!

The perspective I watch doesn’t matter. All I see is shifting at Wilbur either way.

Ranboo booked it.

Techno. Oh how we miss him. He was there last MCC but still.

Wait why are they in the soggy? I missed it?

Dunk tank?

End on build mart! Everyone sounded so sad! I’m so happy! I picked the right team!

Oh acronym is terra swoop force!!! Go Philza.

I’m practical shot who will win.

Pink Parrots doing actually pretty good according to MCC live.

Good job guys!

Resetting Wilburs stream while nothing is happening so I don’t miss anything later.

OH WAIT STUFF IS STILL HAPPENING I SEE IT ON RANBOOS!

Oh final text block. I’m going to have to make 2 posts.

#mcc #minecraft championships #pink parrots #Wilbur soot #ranboo #tubbo #TapL #delayed liveblogging

4 notes · View notes

ladyhistorypod · 4 years

Text

Episode 4: Let’s Ms. Behave

Sources:

Charlotte Corday

The British Museum

Brooklyn Museum

Find A Grave

History Channel

UCL Art Museum

Encyclopedia Womannica (Podcast)

The Blonding of Charlotte Corday

Giulia Tofana

Wut. (Podcast)

History Collection

Historical Post

Medium

Mike Dash

Virginia Hill

The Mob Museum

Encyclopedia of Chicago

Alabama

Further reading/watching: The Damned Don’t Cry (1950 film), Bugsy's Baby: The Secret Life of Mob Queen Virginia Hill (eye roll from Alana), Virginia Hill (1974 film)

Click below for a full transcript of the episode!

Lexi: A brief warning about the following episode of Lady History: this episode contains sensitive topics, such as suicide and murder. If you or someone you know needs help, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. To learn more, visit suicidepreventionhotline.org

Alana: I think my therapist is listening to our podcast.

Haley: Wait what really?

Alana: Yeah. Because I was looking at like our dem– like our listenership and it said a bunch of people in Arlington and I don't know that many people in Arlington. I know like my mom's... my parents’ like family friend from… my dad like went to high school with them and then they introduced my parents and we call her my Arlington mom and so I was like oh maybe it's her but that's too many people to just be her and I think my therapist lives in Arlington and I told her about this so shout out Dr. Sterman.

Haley: I would love–

Alana: If you’re listening.

Haley: –Your next session she's like ‘by the way I don't listen to your podcast’ even though... and just like out herself from… not super listening but also listening we just had…

Alana: I might bring it up. I'm seeing her on Tuesday, virtually obviously, but I’m seeing her on Tuesday.

Haley: ‘Just wondering, do you listen to my podcast?’

Alana: Well I'm going to talk about how like ‘oh I started my podcast and it's doing this this and this for my mental health’ and then be like… just see if she says she’s listening.

Haley: I feel like she wouldn’t though. I feel like she wouldn’t just to…

Alana: I don’t know if she would.

Lexi: Does that cross the like professional boundary?

Haley: Yeah…

Alana: Is that a HIPAA violation?

Lexi: Is it though? It’s only a podcast

Haley: Well none of us are in the medical field.

Lexi: No. We are not.

Alana: Let us know.

Haley: So we can’t have a definitive answer. But I can see someone–

Lexi: Hey if you're in the medical field or are a certified therapist please email us at [email protected] and let us know if listening to your patient’s podcast violates HIPAA.

(Alana laughing)

Lexi: Thank you. You can also email other stuff there. Don't, don't– you don't have to be a doctor to email us.

Alana: No. I also I have a– because you can do asks on Tumblr, and I have our ask page for the Tumblr– Lady History pod dot tumblr dot com– I have… you can suggest a lady.

Lexi: Please, suggest ladies.

Haley: I would love that.

Lexi: Please suggest ladies to us at Lady History pod dot tumblr dot com.

Alana: You can also DM us, and as previously mentioned if you DM the Instagram that's Lexi and if you DM the Twitter that's me and they're both at LadyHistoryPod. We're gonna plug that again at the end so it's just a constant cycle.

Haley: No one can slide into my DMs. I'll just use one of… if you want to slide into my DMs, use like, the Twitter and just be like this is for Sprinklebear McPuss-n-Boots and they’ll know it’s for me.

Lexi: Okay if you DM or email any of the accounts, if you need the message to go to Haley, please use that name only. Any messages directed to Haley will not be given to her.

Alana: We’ll be like ‘who’s Haley?’

Lexi: So go back–

Haley: I don’t even know what I said. I forgot.

Lexi: No, so go back–

Alana: Sprinklebear McPuss-n-Boots and I will never forget it.

Lexi: Just go back, listen to that however many times you need to to get it in your brain, and then use that when you address Haley in any of your communication to our general inbox.

Alana: Hang on, my light went away because I have to go change Haley’s contact info in my phone.

(Lexi and Alana laughing)

Haley: I really hate if like I am interviewed for a job and they’re like… ‘so… Twinklebear McPuss-n-Boots…

(Lexi laughing)

Alana: It was Sprinklebear

Lexi: You didn’t even get it right. She can’t even–

Alana: Sprinkle… Sprinklebear…

(Lexi laughing)

Haley: I used to have a crush on Puss-n-Boots when Shrek first came out.

[INTRO MUSIC]

Alana: Hello and welcome to Lady History, the good, the bad, and the ugly ladies you missed in history class. I’m the next best thing to being in the same room as Lexi. Lexi, what's the name of your favorite plant?

Lexi: My favorite plant is probably a pothos. Just really cute, a cute plant, a good plant, grows well, grows well in my climate, has not failed me, has not died, so that is why I love the pothos.

Alana: And also in the virtual studio is Haley. Haley, how’s the weather?

Haley: It's quite gloomy. I am in San Francisco so we're still dealing with the wildfires. But I think it's just Karl the fog today.

Alana: Karl the fog?

Haley: Yeah the San Francisco like fog that just like looms over this bay area is called Karl. He even has a Twitter, a whole kids’ picture book. Karl the fog.

Alana: That's giving me An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green vibes.

Haley: And also, oh, the SF MOMA… the new building of it is Karl the fog. It doesn't– it looks kind of like a… like an old time steam iron, like on an ironing board. But it's like meant to be Karl the fog. Or like blend in. Karl just mushes his way through San Francisco.

Alana: Oh my god that's incredible.

Haley: Yes.

Alana: And I'm Alana and I theme my canvas tote bags based on event.

Lexi Nice. Solid.

Alana: Thank you.

Haley: So can I tickle your tastebuds with a fun fact?

Lexi: Oh… oh, tickle away.

Alana (whispering): Tickle your tastebuds…

Speaker 1: This is either going to be like the best thing I've ever created because like– let me just give you a side note: I thought of this joke while taking shower and was cracking up for ten minutes.

(Alana laughing)

Haley: It's either– it's probably gonna flop. But, with this fun fact– it’s kind of setting the mood for our crime theme and it's about the guillotine and the family of the guillotine, Dr. Joseph– I think his name’s like Ignace? It looks like Ignatio, but it’s like Ignace Guillotin– was so horrified that like their family member invented such like a horrible thing, and if you don't know what the guillotine is, it is basically a big sharp knife that comes down from a pulley, will slice your head off, used in many executions– that they appeal to the French government to change the name and the French government just took it to a step higher and was like no we won't change the name but we will make it one of like the official ways of executing people. more s– to the point that the last execution was like in the 1970s. And this is like across Europe and at least for France it was in 1977. So this is where it gets to my cringy joke because I've used this before. If you want a sick burn while your parents are talking about their childhood and they grew up in like the 60s, 70s, you can just go ‘Pft, the land and time of the guillotine. Such heathens.’ And I like this more than the… the burn that goes like ‘when the dinosaurs roamed’ because dinos just like didn't live when humans lived and it always made me so mad where it’s like I learned that the dinosaurs were born millions of years ago but we have this like iconic just… execution machine that was used for so so long and no one realizes that this was just used until the 70s as a humane way of execution, which like I won't even get into that whole argument. There's so much of a rabbit hole of whether the like guillotine was humane or not. But it's just– it's almost funnier because like it did happen this was an ironic like ‘oh you’re so old you’re like a dinosaur’ this is like ‘you were born when the guillotine was used!’

Alana: Because that's like a burn but it's also true.

Lexi: Yeah. That's the worst kind of burn, I– I mean the best kind of burn because it hurts the worst.

Haley: I once said it to my dad because he was like talking about something when he was like younger and I was like the guillotine just looked at me and was like ‘excuse me?’ I was like ‘you lived during the time of the guillotine, heathen.’ And he was like ‘well…”

Alana: It's true!

Haley: Because he was like ‘no that's like the Middle Ages’ and I was like ‘let me school you on some facts. And that actually is a great segue into my first gal.

Alana: Alright, let's go Haley.

Haley: Uh, so my gal, like Artemisia, we have another one with her own movie. It's an unfortunate movie because I couldn't find it anywhere, but who am I talking about… Charlotte Corday. And other names include… side note, I don’t speak French, I speak Spanish. Please don’t come after me, with my horrible horrible French pronunciations, I had my boyfriend, who speaks some French, pronounce them to me… probably didn't remember anything that he said to me. Her other names are Corday d’Armont, Marie-Anne Charlotte, and now her like more modern name is Charlotte Corday the Assassin. So I love Charlotte as a topic, because other podcasts, like crime, history, women's studies, have covered her to an extent. Like I– you'll see in the show notes I like I've even used her– thanks, Encyclopedia Womannica. But on the other hand, not many people know about her. And they don't even know like her influence with the French Revolution because I've been in like many discussions about like history of crime or what like– the world history that we had to take, and I asked like about her and my even like my history teachers like ‘I don't know who that is’ and everyone just gave me that blank face and it's like wait a minute, this is weird, why isn't this covered. So of course, I'm going to cover it. And let's crack this case wide open before we do a deep dive and go over just like some historical background and some of the people be talking about because I don't want you guys to be lost in this whole mumbo jumbo. So Charlotte was a Girondin sympathizer– again, my French is not good– she came from a family of impoverished aristocrats from a little town outside of Paris, France. And as a noble family she was given the opportunity to go to a formal education, but really this formal education came because her mother and one of her sisters died. And her father was just so grief-stricken and also just couldn't handle the now need to raise two daughters, so he sent them to a Roman Catholic convent so they could get a formal education. During this formal education of hers, she learned about French politics, history of France, and was able to mold her own theories and just ideas about the world around her. Thus, she became a French moderate Republican party member during 1791 and 1793 and this is during the French Revolution.

Alana: I'm guessing that moderate Republican back then doesn't mean the same thing that moderate Republican means now.

Haley: No, not at all. I'll explain more. So that's– this is exactly why I wanted to do our whole kind of let's see the players let's name some names and let's go over some history because just looking at her based on just the woman it's very hard to understand why she's one, seen as a hero; two, seen as a murderous assassin which both are correct in a way.

Lexi: I mean, goals. No I’m just kidding. I’m not condoning murder.

Haley: No so that's basically where she's at in the scope of where she grew up and what role she’ll play in the French Revolution, or what side she was on. And she's also mainly known for murdering Jordian Jean-Paul Marat, and he was on the other side he was Jordian so she was very opposed to his ideals. So again like Alana said is this kind of like what our U. S. politics is like? No, this isn't the Republican Party. However we have two extreme sides and people on one extreme, people on another extreme. That is very much similar. And he was an outspoken leader of the French Revolution to the point where he was the founder of a popular journal, deputy of Paris to the convention, opposed legislation that would hurt the other side, empower him and to Charlotte and other Girondan followers. So now that we cover the big picture ideas and we know the players and we know how extreme both these sides are, let's do our deep dive. She was committed to fighting the Girondist side of the revolution, posing the radical Jacobin faction. So this was right before the Reign of Terror, and why I mention this is because all her actions were to stop a civil war; and the Reign of Terror was a part of the French Revolution that kind of like started the first French Republic and culminated in a series of massacres and like many many public executions. So this is what she tried to stop from happening in French society. However, her whole story and what role she played in the revolution actually caused the Reign of Terror. So that's why for me as– in high school was like why aren't we talking about her and now we're gonna talk about her now. So, we come to the point where our victim Marat was continuing his train of like bloodshed, and was responsible for utter catastrophe, and putting a lot of lives in danger of like the French– like the French people were just terrified of him, to an extent. And that’s why Charlotte just hated him. He was seen as definitely one of the leaders of this one extreme side that had to be taken out. So that's exactly what she kind of planned to do. And she was not in Paris, she was still in another city outside of Paris, France. So, Charlotte stabbed him while he was taking a bath; and that's really the punch line of like her whole story. If you do like a quick Google search you'll get a lot of stuff for her and even in some textbooks that I tried to look at it was just like Charlotte Corday assassin… stabbed Marat in the heart. Really, she stabbed him in a planned assassin while he was taking a bath. I'm gonna just go through the accounts of this whole story because they're not really pieced together in one area and I'm going to piece them together now so you can understand why he was like in a bathtub, why she stabbed him, and so on. Because this just sounds so strange and it's really strange to see this as your history. So the planned assassin started because she wanted, like I said, to stop from a civil war happening in France, and she truly believed that to do this you have to kill one of the leaders; and also to an extent make the other side seem strong in that way. Like if you kill one of the leaders, you prove that the other side is just as strong or stronger. So she originally planned to kill him at a Bastille Day parade to make a huge show of it and this was on July 14th 1793. Unfortunately, or fortunately for her plans in a sense the event was just like it either didn't happen or it became apparent that Marat was not going to be at that public event. So she quickly had to say okay what else can I do, how can… what will be the next step to kill him. On July 13th, so the day before this event was supposed to happen, she was able to get a meet and greet with him or just gain access to him by saying and promising to betray her political side and give some insider secrets– like name names, basically become a traitor. And Marat was like cool you're definitely high up in the Girondin side of it, let you like, come into our area, we’ll hold– like we’ll basically keep you hostage, in a sense, like that's the feel I got… like Marat was also like come to our side because if anything happens you'll be on our turf; and she did. She was like cool, great. You don't know I'm gonna kill you, you think I'm gonna come and like give you all my secrets and then you'll protect me in a way. So Marat was having this meeting in the bathtub, but this was a very normal occurrence for him because he had a terrible skin disease or infection that he would just be in the bath all the time, like the water soothed him. So he was just very vulnerable, but that was his normal state– like nothing was wrong with him taking a meeting in the tub… so like she could be alone with him. It would be more weird if they were just walking around in the streets together. And instead of having this whole conversation that Charlotte said she would, she took this knife out of her bodice that she was just like hiding there and stabbed him in the chest.

Haley: He died almost immediately; and she actually waited for the police to come. She did not run away– she waited and confessed, essentially. She was proud of what she did, she wanted this assassination like the public assassin– assassination to still have some sort of effect on the public to show that her side did it to the other side, she is responsible for ma–Marat, and she did it as this political leader, in a sense. So at the trial, she allegedly proclaimed ‘I killed one man to save a hundred thousand’ and she kept reiterating that this was in fact a planned assassination, this wasn't out of passion. She took some thought, even wrote down like accounts and like had this whole… I saw like some people called it a journal or like statement– different written statements basically on her thoughts of an upcoming civil war and what she thought she was doing to help prevent that. She was also able, before the trial she was able to write down like write a letter and write her thoughts, feelings, concerns to her father. So her father was still alive and was able to get this kinda like last testimony of hers. And of course during this trial because she did essentially plead guilty… she was ordered to be executed via guillotine just four days after the murder; so July 17th 1793. And another quote from a lawyer from all this whole trial came from I think this was a man named Vergniaud, but I couldn't find this quote as in from like a reputable source as yes this was him, so could have been just another lawyer and not this guy. However, someone as a witness to this whole trial on this whole ordeal said ‘She is leading us to our death, but she is showing us how to die’ and it was because he, as a lawyer, saw this whole thing, saw her whole plan, and knew okay this is going to become a massive shit show. Like this won't end well. She is not preventing a civil war; she actually just started a whole other battle. However, she is showing us how to die with dignity, and showing how to like own up to the actions and just just die. Essentially die because a lot of people through the Reign of Terror did die. So you thought I'd be done– and I know this is gonna be my longest but this is such a great great story– because now we get into her overall death legacy, and we do know a lot of things, unlike Amelia Earhart where we just don't know what happened to her after death. A lot of this we still have artifacts and evidence of. She overall became this French savior, like the savior of French society in her circle. Months after her death, there are just so many portraits of her in different scenarios; short hair, long hair– like I needed to go back and make sure these were the same Charlotte Corday and if there could have been multiple Charlotte's just to make sure that these images looked so vastly different. And it was because people wanted to show that she was just this holy woman and ladies now weren't the ones who are supposed to be stuck in the kitchen with raising the kids. They had the power to do something in life and in society, but they also had a spin on it, so like– like I said, she was seen as a savior, this holy woman, goddess… like they even used her Christian name so Marie-Anne Charlotte, which she– to my knowledge, and to my research didn't necessarily go by that name. But there are definitely images of that name and her with very fair skin, white, brunette hair, looking very womanly and accentuating her womanly features. So that really pissed off the other side. Like all Marat’s supporters, they were absolutely flabbergasted that she was getting such a reputation. They thought this can't be happening; she just murdered one of our political leaders, and she was executed for it, why is everyone trying to kind of put this holy cap on her. And yes, that worked to an extent, like their outcry, because like yes she did murder someone. But it didn't help enough, and there were women in French society who did try to distance themselves from her and just for ideas of what women should be like. But, Charlotte did such a good job at like the legend of her as a woman, even before she died, that it didn't matter. Like I read an article about whether she had blonde hair or chestnut brown hair from a 2004 academic article; like this is still being discussed. And she had a part of her reputation– like she knew that whether it started a civil war or not she needed to form her own reputation. And there's even accounts that she witnessed the paintings and drawings of her that would be published and printed post-execution, and she gave comments. She was like no no no no, make me look more like a schoolgirl; or like make me more with curly hair. I don't really know the specifics but it was documented that she would give kind of suggestions on how she would look like. So while she did it, she tried so hard to like make herself look like this holy woman, and yes it did work. Marat, when he died, one of his very close friends, Jacques-Louis David painted the classic portrait or classic image, not portrait The Death of Marat, which is capturing the scene of his death and that is still considered like a classic image and the classic picture from– especially from the French Revolution. So I don't– I don't want to go as far as saying either Charlotte's portrayed as this holy one or this heinous, murderous, like scoundrel because both of them have lasted to this point in history that no one can make up their mind whether this was like a good thing that happened or a bad thing that happened. And I don’t even– I don’t even want to put out like in the universe whether we should have the discussion; if we should say like yes or no. I just wanna give you the facts and let you kind of like decide but that is Charlotte Corday.

Lexi: She is very interesting.

Alana: Yeah that's real cool. That's fun. That was a good transition for… from the guillotine to…

Lexi: Yes, good choice.

Alana: Charlotte Corday. I’m glad we let you go first.

Lexi: Alana hit us. Hit us with it. Don't hit us please don't hit me.

Alana: I won’t hit you. Okay so I will be talking about Giulia Tofana. Um.. Ooooh Haley's face, I'm so excited. I feel like– I hope I do this justice. Oh no. She is Giulia but it’s spelled G-I-U because she's Italian. Okay. So. I like to give credit as we've seen in the past like where I have first found out about my stories. And so I first found out about Ms. Tofana– I should I should call her Giulia not Ms. Tofana because there’s another Tofana, her mother’s name is also Tofana. I heard about this for the first time on Wut. W-U-T which is another great edutainment podcast by women. I'm gonna promo them without needing a sponsorship or a collab because women supporting women. So if you like us, go check them out. That was fun. They're not specifically women's history they're just kind of fun facts in general so not as niche as us but still pretty cool. And then I heard about that podcast from my friend Jesse on Twitter… I think we're friends I don't know I think we're friends… so shout out to Jesse. So Giulia Tofana, G-I-U because she's Italian, lived in the seventeenth century. Exact dates are kind of weird because she was a woman and not highborn. Best guess she was born in Palermo in Sicily. Her mother was executed for poisoning her father, possibly because he was abusive. This is a thing– like a running theme that we’ll see it later. Also later, Giulia's husband died mysteriously, probably also poisoned, probably also abusive. So she moved to Rome at some point in the 1630s-ish, probably, as a widow with her daughter to sell cosmetics and be apothecaries and poison people. Dun dun dun…

Alana: So women in the seventeenth century have so many options. They can be sex workers, they can be essentially auctioned off to almost always abuse of older men and then later if their husbands died become respected widows. Those are your options. So many! So many options! What– how are you going to pick, so many things.

Lexi: The amount of choices is staggering.

Alana: Paralyzed by choice, really. My sources call these women ‘aspiring windows’ as if they are gold diggers and not battered women with no escape. I love– I love that like my running theme is criticizing my sources. That's my thing. Giulia crafted essentially her own poison. Created her own poison, or what by all accounts… she was the one who came up with this. Between like her and her mother and her daughter they came up with this poison called aqua tofana, named after her. It's a combination of arsenic and belladonna and lead, which are things that are already in cosmetics at the time but not quite lethal, still have problems, but not lethal unless they're ingested. And so having these things on a vanity looks totally normal. And so Giulia, as someone who experienced abuse, who had watched her mother get executed for defending herself, essentially… I am not condoning murder, and I know it's never good to say something at the beginning of a sentence like ‘I'm not condoning murder’ and then doing ‘but’... I feel like… there are no options.

Lexi: Self defense.

Alana: Self defense.

Lexi: And it seems very clear– again, we don't know the whole situation but it seems very clear that she was in a bad situation.

Alana: A bad situation. Yeah

Lexi: We are not the judge, jury, or the executioner so we can't say.

Alana: So she, having probably been abused and having watched her mother probably been abused and watched her mother get executed for essentially defending herself… she's going to help these other women get out of their marriages in such a way that it can't be traced. Because this poisoning with this mixture of belladonna and arsenic and lead, it takes really long for someone to die. Really long is like two to three days, but it also looks like natural causes or another illness which always happened in the 1600s. People got sick and died and that was just normal. And it gave these men time to get their affairs in order and to confess their sins and in a very Catholic area at a very Catholic time you like automatically got into heaven as long as you confessed your sins. So since these people had time to confess their sins, our murderess wouldn't have to feel so guilty that she was condemning her husband to hell even though he was probably hurting her. It only takes four to six drops to kill someone, depending on their size and all of that other stuff. And another side fact, side fun fact: Mozart, who nobody knows how Mozart died, Mozart wholeheartedly believed that he was poisoned with aqua tofana, but nobody knows. I feel so good that Haley is just nodding fervently. I feel like I'm doing a good job. Thank you for that.

Haley: I've awkwardly read so much on arsenic poisoning. Just so much so, but yes you are correct. There are probably just so many people who died of arsenic poison in the 1600s because autopsies weren’t like what we have today where you can do a toxicology, so so many people would seem like they were getting ill, because a lot of the times it just looks like a common cold or flu-like symptoms, they just weren't feeling good. But then they would die so now people do toxicology because it's a thirty year old man with no pre-existing conditions. But when you're talking about it in the 1600s it's like ‘oh they got sick we don't have modern medicine to help out.’

Alana: Nobody knows what's happening, essentially. It's like ‘oh no another person got sick.’ So Giulia Tofana sold this with her daughter and some employees at this family business, essentially, which is a weird way to think about it– that the family business is murder. They operated like this for about fifty years, for decades. And… at least the estimated number is something like six hundred plus people died because she sold their wives poison. But she got caught, and legend has it– and there are so many foggy details but this seems way too specific so I think like somebody exaggerated but, one of her clients who had bought the aqua tofana to poison her husband had poisoned a bowl of soup but decided, ‘no, I can’t. I can’t kill someone’ and dramatically knocked it out of his hand. And that's where I am thinking this… somebody exaggerated. Somebody made this up because that's way too specific. But she stopped her husband from eating the soup and confessed her crimes and turned in Giulia Tofana and her daughter and their three employees at the business. And all of them were executed. Under torture, of course, it's the seventeenth century, she turned on a bunch of her clients as well. So a bunch of her clients were also executed. Some of them were not executed, because they claimed that they didn't know that it was poison and it was just ‘oh no, I spilled some of my lotion in my husband’s soup… Oops. Oopsie poopsies I’m only like fourteen I don't know any better.’ I made myself laugh with that one I’m sorry. But those people were spared. So there is something to… was Giulia a hero, was she a murderess, could both of those things be true…

Lexi: Was she an anti-hero?

Alana: She's kind of an anti-hero. I think that's what we’re going for.

Haley: I like that, I like anti-hero.

Alana: I think– I also think like–

Lexi: Like a Robin Hood, but murder.

Alana: Batman, but murder. Does Batman kill people?

Lexi: Robin Hood stole things, he didn't kill anyone. This is like the Robin Hood of murdering people.

Alana: Sure.

Lexi: It's like murder the rich, give to the wife?

Alana: Vigilante!

Lexi: I don't know. Vigilante murder, yeah.

Haley: So far we’re on the track of like ‘our criminals are good, question mark?’

(Alana laughing)

Lexi: Mine was definitely a criminal, but we'll get in that.

Alana: Well, I am done. So, Lexi let’s get into that.

Lexi: What a segue! Okay. So my lady, though definitely also had a lot of background trauma as it seems that a lot of these ladies had definitely did crime. So we'll just jump in. Have you guys ever heard of the queen of the mob?

Haley: Yes. I'm so excited that you're doing this one.

Alana: Maybe. You'll have to tell me her name.

Lexi: Okay.

Haley: This is truly like my favorite episodes so far, and I like hate when people like get really into criminals like some people, like for Jeffrey Dahmer, people love him, think he's like the most beautiful man, same with Ted Bundy, and that's not where my head is at.

Lexi: That’s creepy.

Haley: I have a true fascination with the history of crime, death, medicine, and how our society perceives it now. When I say I love these people or I love these stories that is not where I'm going.

Lexi: You're not doing the whole crime fandom crush thing.

Haley: No.

Alana: I have seen people get like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer's signatures tattooed on themselves.

Lexi: That’s creepy.

Haley: Yeah

Lexi: And I don't condone that.

Alana: No we don't like that.

Lexi: But you can be interested in crime especially because as someone who has taken courses in the forensic realm… and who likes bones, and likes that kind of thing, I think you can be interested in the human phenomenon.

Alana: As academics.

Haley: That’s where we’re at for me.

Alana: Not as fanatics.

Lexi: Yes, yes.

Haley: I was listening to like you guys speak and kind of like going back in my head like oh, I seem like such a psycho when I’m like ‘I love Charlotte’ like she is just a fascinating human.

(Alana laughing)

Lexi: Well now we’ve clarified which is good.

Haley: She assassinated someone. And assassinations aren’t swell.

Lexi: But like when you think about like what is interesting on TV, or like what is interesting in our fiction, it's because humans have a general interest. So–

Haley: I wanna write a whole paper on that. Just truly that whole concept.

Lexi: So the queen of the mob, Virginia Hill. You can learn about her at the Mob Museum, people are really really fascinated with her and her story is really interesting. And she was born on August 26, 1916 in a place called Lipscomb, Alabama. I might have said that wrong, you know general– general reminder I say things wrong sometimes. She was born on her father's horse farm. Her father was abusive and he actually beat her and her siblings when they were children and one day she got really fed up with him attacking her and her little siblings so she hit him with a hot skillet in self defense. At the age of fourteen, Virginia married a man named George and three years later the couple moved to Chicago. When they got there she dumped him because you realize the world is a lot bigger than her hometown in Alabama, and so seventeen year old Virginia wanted to start her life anew. At the time, the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Exposition, which is a World's Fair style event, and it was conceived to bring hope in the wake of the Great Depression that was happening. So Virginia took a job dancing, like as a shimmy dancer, so she had a really unique–

Alana: What– what does shimmy dancer mean? Like a go-go dancer? Like a str– like what?

Lexi: I think you dance shimmy like you shake back and forth and you wear tassels, I believe.

Alana: Dream job.

Lexi: But someone feel free to correct me.

Haley: Yeah, I was thinking one of those 1920s cigarette girls.

Lexi: Yeah that could probably be it because this is a similar era.

Haley: Like they would have like the thing that went over them holding a plate platter like tray that they would just like walk around, dance around, and you can buy stuff from them.

Lexi: Yeah. It could possibly be akin to that. When the fair ended, Virginia became a waitress at one of Al Capone's old haunts the San Carlo Italian Village, which is a restaurant not a town. I had to Google that. Though Capone was at that time in prison, he went to prison in 1931, the community of criminals that he had built was still thriving, and it was– it was in this role as a waitress serving tables of America’s mobsters that Virginia met the man who would change her life. His name was Joe Epstein. He was an accountant and bookkeeper for Capone's crime family, and he took a liking to Virginia’s style, and that doesn't mean like her physical attractiveness… she had a certain style of a way that she talked to the mobsters, and she seemed to really have like a no-nonsense kind of ability to deal with the mobsters, which is really unique in a girl so young. So he felt he could trust her, and he took her on as a money launderer for his racketeering. She laundered the money by placing large bets on horses in Chicago's racetracks. She later moved into betting scams which is basically when she learned how from Joe to collect bets on fixed boxing matches. So the matches will be predetermined, but she would encourage people to bet the losing side. Virginia didn't just launder money. Joe taught her how to dress and act like a rich woman, and used her to cross state lines with stolen furs, jewels, and other items, because of course no one would suspect a nice, rich lady of stealing things and crossing state lines with them. The craziest part is that this all happened before Virginia even turned twenty. So by the age of twenty she was wearing really wealthy clothes, working really wealthy circles, and basically was a part of the mob. Over time, Hill became a trusted cash carrier, money launderer, and information gatherer for Joe and the rest of Capone's crew. She had many rich boyfriends and often used these relationships to benefit her mob family. In one instance she dated an oil tycoon named Major Riddle. No, you cannot make up this name, and yes, I wrote in my script to pause for insane laughter but no one is laughing. I think his name is hilarious.

Haley: I think that’s the best name ever.

Alana: We're on meat. We're on mute. Lexi that's why we're not laughing you didn't... they won’t be able to see the face that I made.

Lexi: Yeah. That's true. I forgot. Well anyway she dated this oil tycoon Mr. Riddle and she convinced him to give her money for investments that were like completely fake and she took that money back to her boy Joe. And Hill used her womanly charm, and by that I mean she seduced men. And through these methods she was able to obtain valuable information for her mob bros. Joe encourage Virginia to move out east to build connections between Chicago and New York crime syndicates. In New York, she laundered money and met many more men including a Mexican night club dancer named excuse my pronunciation, if this is wrong, Miguelito Valdez. At some point Virginia marriedValdez to help him maintain his residence in the United States. And then Virginia, at the same time as this marriage, had an on and off affair with Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel who is a really famous leader in organized crime.The pair is well known to have real chemistry so this wasn't just considered to be a case of her seducing someone. They think that she genuinely liked him And unfortunately at the time Bugsy was married to another woman. In 1940, he was sent to jail on a murder charge. While Bugsy was in jail, Virginia tricked Valdez into signing divorce papers. And it was all very “90 day fiance” of her if you ask me. It is unclear if it was through her marriage or not but at some point Virginia had become very fluent in Spanish. She used her newfound language skills to begin trafficking drugs particularly heroin from Mexico to Chicago. In the 1940s, she attempted to start a career acting in Hollywood while transferring cash from New York to Chicago to LA. Meanwhile, Bugsy was setting up his new crime life in Las Vegas which he believed was the new up and coming resort destination for Americans and in hindsight he was probably right. He wanted Virginia to join him and she did but mainly only to spy on his activities and report back to her other mob leaders like Joe. Unfortunately, Bugsy’s biggest dreams were dashed when his resort project the “Flamingo” failed. He had drowned too much money into elabore improvements to the resort and lost cash when lucky winners struck it big in his casino. In a desperate attempt to save the business, he closed the casino and reopened the Flamingo as a hotel only, which sadly was unsuccessful, because we all know how Vegas went. Hill received orders to leave Las Vegas, so she did. 12 days later, someone shot Bugsy dead in their home. In 1950, Virginia went to a ski resort in Idaho, which I didn’t know you could ski in Idaho, but apparently you can. And she fell in love with an instructor named Hans Hauser. Again, very “90 Day Fiance” of her. Though she was still laundering money and Hauser was not a criminal, he still wanted to marry her. The couple eloped and had a son named Peter. Later that year, Virginia was subpoenaed to appear in a trial on organized crime which would be shown on National TV. She arrived like a star, dressed from head to toe in expensive clothing and jewelry. As a witness, she served her crime family well, evading details and giving vague, basic answers to in depth questions. She used creative lies to explain away all the cash she had laundered, explaining how she had bet money on horses to win her initial cash. She also insisted that most of her wealth came from gifts of suitors, or as we would probably call them today her sugar daddies. Now quick side note- this kinda gives me vibes of the musical Chicago and that song about the main character’s testimony, where she basically used her charm and virtue as a woman to get out of murder. “Well I can’t help it sir, I am just so beautiful men flock to me and give me free things.” On the stand, Virinigia denied that her male friends and lovers were racketeers. When the investigators caught her in her lies, she simply denied knowledge of the nature of their work. “But I never knew anything about their business” she would say. She denied her ability to have any financial knowledge, you know, because she was a lady, and ladies don’t do money things.

Alana: Ladies don’t money.

Lexi: Ladies never money.

Alana: Women be shopping but women don’t be money.

Haley: I love the comparison, like this whole story cuz this is so much like Charlotte. Both of these ladies are trying to be like, “Oh women do this, this is how women look, look how beautiful we are.

Lexi: That’s the vibe. That’s the vibe she was going for. The investigators were still suspicious, it did not work. Because, you know, it was about to be the sixties I mean it was the fifties but was about to be the sixties and so women were going to be liberated. As Virginia left the trial, she cursed out the press and she punched a reporter in the face. Then as she got her car she told reporters she hoped an atomic bomb would be dropped on them, which I think is a timely thing to say. This was right after World War II. That- That’s a big insult. That’s really mean. Virginia and Hans then realized that they needed to leave America so they moved to Europe. The IRS was still on Virginia's tail and she knew she could not return to the States ever again. She met up with her old boyfriends and colleagues while they were in Europe and it was clear she still received money from her life's consistent characters like Joe. In the nineteen sixties Virginia and her family settled in Austria and her mental health rapidly declined.

Viriginia had suffered with her mental health through most of her adult life, getting hooked on sleeping pills and almost dying from a sleeping pill overdose on at least one occasion. Her life was turbulent, her trauma was intense, and she survived at least three separate suicide attempts. On cold, winter’s day, March 24th, 1966, in Austria, Virginia took her own life. Pedestrians taking a walk along the water found her body, laying in the snow, along with a note stating the reason for her death, “I am tired of life”. Her husband Hans also took his own life, passing in 1974. Their son Peter, who would go on to become an American soldier and veterean of the Vietnam War, died in a car accident 20 years later. The family is buried together, in Salzburg, Austria. To this day, some crime enthusiasts believe Virginia may have been murdered, force fed pills as a method to hide a murder as suicide of someone with a history of mental illness. Though her apparent struggles with her mental health throughout her life really suggest this theory is unlikely. I think Virginia can teach us a lot, for starters I think the importance of mental health help is something her legacy can teach us. Virginia had a horrible childhood and instead of getting help she needed, she was married off and eventually she was convinced to do crime. She spent a lot of her life struggling, and it's possible some for mental health issues stem from that early trauma. I think Virginia can teach us a lot, for starters I think the importance of mental health help is something her legacy can teach us. Virginia had a horrible childhood, and instead of getting the help she needed, she was married off. She spent a lot of her life struggling, and it is possible some of her mental health issues stemmed from that early trauma. I think Virginia also teaches us that it took more than men to make the Mobs of early and mid century America function. Virginia was often called the mistress of the mob, but that’s not fair- she wasn’t a mistress of the mob, she was a member of the mob. Women, both those whose stories are recorded and those whose stories were forgotten, played central roles in organized crime. So maybe next time you think about famous figures like Al Capone, think of the women like Virginia Hill who supported the crimes too. And that’s why we cover the good, the bad, and the ugly of women’s history, because there are so many stories that go untold.

Alana: That was so beautiful.

Haley: That was mind blowing.

Lexi: Thank you! I am gonna leave in you guys calling it beautiful too!

Alana: That was incredible.

Lexi: I really thought about that really hard.

Alana: Holy shit!

Haley: I truly love that like all our stories had a moral like that the ending for Alana was also just like you have to face that you're a killer that's a no no and like Lexi here with mental health and then me being like it's not all black and white you’re both bad people!

Alana: Nuance and context is like my mantra these days.

Lexi: That’s academics.

Haley: Yes.

Alana: Nuance and context as academics.

Lexi As people who studied at a university. Oh my.

Alana: I have a bachelor's degree.

Lexi: Mhmm. Is this podcast just proof to your parents that you got a bachelor's degree?

Alana: No, they paid for it.

Lexi: They know.

Alana: They know.

Lexi: They suffered.

(Alana laughing)

Lexi: You can find this podcast on Twitter and Instagram at LadyHistoryPod. Our show notes and a transcript of this episode will be on lady history pod dot tumblr dot com. If you like the show, leave us a review or tell your friends, and if you don’t like the show, keep it to yourself.

Alana: Our logo is by Alexia Ibarra you can find her on Instagram and Twitter at LexiBDraws. Our theme music is by me, Garageband, and Amelia Earhart. Lexi is doing the editing. You will not see us, and we will not see you, but you will hear us, next time on Lady History.

[OUTRO MUSIC]

Haley: Next week on Lady History: we're going to be in the kitchen cooking up some great stories about famous women chefs and cooks alike.

Alana: WHERE WE BELONG.

Lexi: In the kitchen.

Alana: /s.

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hayesit · 4 years

Text

matt’s 2019 year in review

here it is! and it’s late because i had other/better things to do (and procrastinating), was recovering from hangovers (also procrastinating), and recovering from being sick (procrastinating).

i’ve been doing these year in review posts since 2016, so here is my fourth installment. every year i look back through my google calendar, my camera roll, and my bullet journal as a gratitude exercise and to chart my own development as an adult.

here is my spotify wrapped 2019!

the beginning of this year was off to a good start: i met two friends that i know through the internet! i met my friend riley when she visited boston (i met her through a mutual friend and through overwatch league twitter) and my friend jimmy that i’ve known for…. 6 or 7 years (?!) through tumblr and designed the logo for me and alex’s late podcast, hardly tea, may she rest in peace.

i moved dorm rooms in between the fall and spring semester, and once again i was not happy with where i lived. i lived with 4 rando’s that i was placed with and the 5 of us barely even talked with each other. my direct roommate i saw for only two weeks, and for the nights he slept over in the bed (that he was paying room and board for) and had the worst snoring humanly possible that not even earplugs could kill (video below). i hardly slept while he was there and roamed the halls of riverview suites like a ghost due to the anxiety i felt about my lack of sleep (we love a vicious circle)! he disappeared after those two weeks without notice and i lived in fear of him returning for the rest of the semester (which he didn’t), but returned to my normal sleep schedule.

youtube

that semester was my first semester of full-time grad school. i got a poor grade on an assignment that had a note from the professor that said she knew i could do better and it hit me how much different grad school is from undergrad and how much more effort and dedication it requires. after crying in my professor’s office, my work ethic has improved since then, but it’s not anywhere near where i’d like it to be (more on that later).

now to more positive things for the spring semester: i met some friends that semester both ~on and offline~ that made the semester far more bearable AND i did however truly pop off in every last one of my powerpoint presentations for class. i looooove making powerpoints and just fuckin telling jokes about my research topic and have ppl tell me that they are looking forward to my presentation & that i should teach college classes :)!

me and 4 friends had a social group in which we’d drink and play board games and forget about the board game and drunkenly talk shit called cabam after all our first initials! i always looked forward to that and dug the group chemistry a lot.

during this semester i grew a “ beard “, otherwise known as i chose not to shave just to “ see what would happen “ (praythatitfilledin). sorry about that!

the overwatch league was something that i had to look forward to watch every week and i had my experience enhanced through sideshow and avast’s unofficial companion streams, which guaranteed lots of laughs. i have bought tickets to two boston home games in 2020 which i am very excited about! analysts have predicted boston to be in 20th place this year (there are 20 teams) but i’m still excited for the 2020 season anyway!!

i can’t have a year-in-review of 2019 without mentioning game of thrones. due to the show’s final season being undeniably weak, i enjoyed the camaraderie with the other people that watched thrones during those six weeks. i haven’t thought about the show or its universe for quite a while, unfortunately. i truly was quite into the world of westeros, but the weakness of the end of the story cheapened the journey of each of the characters, in a way. such a shame.

while i got my diploma in december 2018, i walked across the stage of umass lowell’s tsongas arena with my bachelor of arts in psychology (and minor in theatre arts). it wasn’t as emotional or triumphant of an experience and just felt weird, considering i had already gotten my diploma and was going to remain in the clutches of rowdy the riverhawk as i am staying for my masters degree in applied behavior analysis/autism studies. i brought a ceramic monkey to graduation. it didn’t have any symbolism, but i just wanted to see if they’d stop me (which they didn’t)

this summer was better than most summers of mine go, i hung out with alex nearly every weekend, got my very first iphone, and got a data plan. the combination of these three things got me back into playing pokemon go, an unexpectedly fun pastime! went on lots of walks!

my favorite day of summer was going to a lake with alex and our friend gianna, who i grew closer to after meeting her during macbeth last year. fond 2019 memories with gianna include: doing simulation patients with her, watching movies with her and alex, and the halloween party. what a great gd person and a great gd friend! big fan and eternally rooting for her.

fire emblem: three houses came out on the switch in august and is, without a doubt, my game of the year. there’s truly so much to love about the game: the world, the characters, new changes made to the series, things that were gone but returned, interesting micromanaging, and best of all, how huge my brain feels when playing it.

i got a 6-week summer job as a paraprofessional at an extended-school-year program for children with developmental disabilities at a preschool in haverhill which taught me a lot of lessons, such as: i hate cleaning shit off of children.

then i had feelings that didn’t make much sense for about a month! whoops!

my full-time job i currently have is working at my old high school as a behavior specialist. i provide consultation and work on programs to lead to more appropriate behavior in students, primarily ones with developmental disabilities. so far it’s been fairly rewarding, some days are more challenging than others, some days are a lot of sitting in meetings, and some days are a lot of running around. some days there is not much to do at all, which has its obvious upsides and downsides. working at the high school isn’t something that i want to do forever, but it’s a good place to start with. i’m definitely learning a lot and there are a lot of benefits to working here. sometimes i can work on my grad school work (which is all online until the 2020 summer semester) which is definitely huge. and my commute is either a 15 minute walk or 3 minutes if my mom drives me!

a ~complex~ thing about working in my hometown is that it makes the most financial sense to live at home because it’s so close to work. this is my first time living at home full-time since high school and i’m not enjoying that part too much. most weekends i visit alex in lowell, but being stuck at home with no car (going to retake the license test in the spring when the ice melts!) and having to go to bed so early definitely hurts. sure, i have what is likely the lowest amount of expenses i’ll ever have in my life (no car-related payments, no rent, no groceries), but i feel landlocked. i feel like a teenager with minimal freedom, which is in part because my mom doesn’t quite understand yet that i’m a 22 year-old that should have a lot more freedom than i do now. the most i really do on weekdays after work gets out (2:30p) is go to savers with my mom if it’s tuesday (senior citizen day), maybe go for a walk if it’s nice out (which for most of the school year, it isn’t), or be on the computer watching bon appetit videos and playing overwatch, fire emblem, or pokemon, eat a bland dinner at 6, go to bed at around 9:30. sad! truly not a situation that i want to be trapped in that much that much longer!

i think the best and most important part of this year was becoming closer with alex. as i mentioned before, we see each other most weekends, to our great benefit. our living situations have flip-flopped, with me living at home and alex living in an apartment near campus, which in both similar and different ways have taken their respective tolls on us. having each other while going through changes and stagnations in our lives has been immeasurably important. thank you alex for providing a place to be myself other than my own head. thank you for being my best friend.

now i come to the thing that i’m most excited about for 2020. not 2 suck my own horn but i have cobbled together a fuckin dream team of five friends (me, alex, chris, kelly, and molly). the two times we have all gotten together it has been so satisfying in such a wonderful and otherworldly way that i am filled to the brim of happiness being around them. the craziest thing is that i met chris and kelly through twitter! TWITTER. and they’re real-ass people and my real-ass friends! i haven’t been so pleased with something in my life like this for so long and it feels so good to have adult friends that i have chosen rather than friends by circumstance. it’s truly a crime that we can’t see each other more often, but we already have a day picked out for the next time we all do something together. feeling emotional writing this paragraph bc i love me gd friends so much!

there is a lot of uncertainty about this new year for me. i sure as fuck don’t want to live at home more than i have to but don’t know where to go, my practicum class starts for me this summer which means i’ll most likely have to change jobs (fine by me, but will be exhausting), i recently began my search for therapists and hope to find one soon to help me ~unpack things~, my thesis begins in the fall semester and i don’t know what to do for it, and i’m not 100% dead-set on working in special education. it’s been hard transitioning from living on campus and going to school full-time to the life i have now.

#year in review #personal

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fucking-zawa-sensei · 5 years

Text

Riptide - Chapter 4: Fool in Love

Chapter Title: Fool in Love

Word Count:18k+

Rating: Explicit

Summary:

He’d never been happier.

This is exactly why it hurts that much more when the rug is torn violently out from underneath him, when he’d just barely gotten his footing, just barely learned to walk.

The memory is abrupt and disturbing, cutting through his thoughts like the sharp edge of the sword he’d seen Nemuri use to slice expertly through the rope on deck.

Notes:

This is a preview, you must read the entire fic on AO3 (too big for Tumblr)

Thank you all for your patience with me as I wrote this chapter. I know it has been many months since I posted chapter 3. I have a lot planned for this story and I assure you it is not being dropped, I am going to be updating as often as possible, but with each chapter being almost 20k, it is taking a lot of time. This one took a lot out of me and I am happy to finally be able to share it with you. I hope it was worth the wait.

There is an OC in this chapter named Bait who was created by my dear friend, Beth! Please go check her and her art out on Twitter and Tumblr. She has some fabulous drawings of Bait there to fill your eyes and soul with happiness.

Read it on AO3 here

Fool in Love

The night’s chill feels harsher now than it did before. Logically, Shouta knows the temperature doesn’t fluctuate much in this area. It’s comfortably warm during the day and mildly cold at night.

Still, somehow, leaving the protective embrace of Hizashi’s cavern, resurfacing after the siren carries him through the tunnel again, makes him feel vulnerable and raw. It’s as though he’d just re-entered this world, reborn from another dimension, another universe, another existence.

Something has changed.

He is different now.

With a certainty that makes shivers run down his spine, Shouta knows that nothing will ever be the same.

More importantly, as Hizashi’s hand falls over his, where he holds onto the edge of the dinghy as he uses his long tail to propel them back to Shouta’s ship, he thinks…

I don’t want it to be the same.

As he looks down at Hizashi’s glowing green eyes, turned up into little slits as he grins at Shouta, he thinks…

I never want to go back.

It almost feels as if the world was a lie before Hizashi. In a way, he supposed it was.

He sees the dim lights lining his ship’s deck all too soon, knows it means he’ll have to say goodnight to the siren, be raised up out of the water and out of his embrace. They cross the remaining distance in a shared silence. The small boat gently bumps into the side of the larger vessel as Hizashi brings them to a stop.

Shouta looks up, sees Nemuri’s head pop over the railing. She gives them a little wave, which he sees Hizashi enthusiastically return in his peripheral, small beads of water spotting Shouta’s still damp clothes as they fly off the tips of his glossy fingernails and into the dinghy. Nemuri disappears, returning moments later with arms full of rope. She tosses it over, the ball unfurling as it descends down the side of the ship. Shouta catches the end and makes quick work of tying it to the dingy, his body moving on autopilot.

When he’s done, he pauses, holding his palm up to signal to Nemuri to not pull him up just yet. She moves her hands away from the rope, holding them up to show she understands, before crossing her arms over the banister and looking down at them, a smirk on her face.

He sighs, feeling her gaze on the top of his head as he turns back toward the water, where Hizashi is looking at him curiously, head tilted a bit as he bobs up and down in the slow current.

“I know the last time you uh…” he starts, before shifting his stare from Hizashi’s soft face to the long, dark shadow beneath him. “Changed…” Shouta continues, and Hizashi’s tail flicks a little more than usual below the water.

He looks back at the siren’s face. Hizashi’s eyes a little narrowed, eyebrows pulled together.

“I know that it didn’t go great,” he says. Hizashi looks to the side, a small frown forming on his lips as Shouta can only assume the blond is remembering his near death experience. “I know I...more or less discouraged you from doing it again, but...uh…” Shouta sighs, rubbing at the back of his neck. He tilts his head back and sees Nemuri above them, raising her eyebrow. She juts her chin out as if to say go on.

“But...would you want to...we have a couple weeks off right now. So I was wondering if you’d want to...uh...go into the market with me? Look around?” he finishes, looking back down at the bottom of the dinghy, thankful for the lack of real light down here.

Hizashi’s laughter is a comforting surprise. He jumps a bit when the sound bursts through the silence, looking back at the siren as the water around Hizashi ripples with his giggles.

“I don’t know what I thought you were going to ask, but with that dramatic face! I never expected you’d ask for a date!” Hizashi says, and his grin is back in place. He swims closer, coming up to rest against Shouta’s small boat. He reaches out his hand, little drops of water pit pattering on the wood.

Shouta answers the request, filling Hizashi’s hand with his, intertwining their fingers to the best of their ability, what with Hizashi’s webbing getting in the way. Shouta was surprised how quickly this was becoming normal, routine. He quite liked like the feeling of the soft fins against his skin.

“Of course I’d like to go with you,” Hizashi says, quieter this time. His smile is small, private, and Shouta finds himself matching this on his own face.

“You’re alright with…” Shouta uses his other hand to gesture toward the ocean, and everything below its surface. “Your other form?”

Hizashi nods, some of his hair falling over his shoulder and sliding down his upper arm.

“It’ll be fine. I know what I’m doing more now. I’m not scared,” he answers, and his grip tightens around Shouta’s hand.

He hears the silent message in that small movement.

I’m not scared with you.

It had only been a few months since Shouta had met the quirky merman, and yet the blond had rocked his very foundation. He’d always been a rather cautious, suspicious man.

Now, he can’t help but feel the same.

“Me too,” he says, squeezing his hand in return.

They only get a few seconds of comfortable silence together before Nemuri smacks her hand against the banister and shouts down to them, “Some of us want to sleep a little tonight!”

Hizashi snorts and Shouta rolls his eyes and as he lets go of the siren’s hand, about to move back to tug on the rope and let Nemuri know she can start pulling him up, he feels the small boat dip toward the blond. It has him stumbling a bit, quickly reaching out to steady himself on the edge of the dinghy, and he turns toward Hizashi just as the siren is pushing up further out of the water. He grabs Shouta’s still damp shirt, tugging it toward him, and Shouta goes willingly. Their lips crash together a bit harder than expected, what with them both falling into it, but it quickly softens out. It lasts only a few seconds before Hizashi drops back into the water with a gasp.

Shouta knows he’s grinning, knows he’s blushing. He reaches back and tugs on the rope and the boat begins to rock as Nemuri raises him up.

The whole time, he stares down at Hizashi, and the blond stares up at him.

---

As the creaking of the boards grows more distant, Shouta’s footsteps fading as he makes his way to his cabin, Hizashi begins backing away. He stares up at the large vessel, smiling as he watches the light from the lanterns spill through the gaps between the railings. He moves his arms gently through the water, pushing forward to drive himself backward.

He looks down to the water, where the glow is reflected on the calm waters.

He laughs, bringing his hands up to cover his mouth. He can feel his own lips spreading wide into a grin against his palms. His whole body feels airy, bubbly, like he could float up out of the ocean and right onto Shouta’s boat.

A kiss!

Our first kiss!

The notion feels childish, everything about this felt childish, his body and mind so giddy, as if this was the first kiss he’d ever had.

It was breathtaking, beautiful, just like the man it had come from.

His fingers move across his lip, touching it softly, reverently, quite unlike the hungry embrace they’d shared.

He wanted it to continue, he’d wanted Shouta to stay there all night. He wanted to wake up next to the other man like he had when he’d changed to his human form.

He wanted to spend every hour, every second with him.

His face feels flushed, he knows he’s embarrassingly smitten with Shouta, but he doesn’t care. Hizashi lets himself fall back into the water, his hair spreading out around him as he floats on his back, arms spread wide.

He stares up into the purples and pinks of the galaxy millions of miles away, the sky bursting with stars. It used to bring him awe, used to make him feel incredibly small, humble.

Now, he thinks the glittering novas above him feel miniscule.

He’d experienced something far more stunning. He shuts his eyes and laughs again.

It was unbelievable, this new feeling, his chest warm and full, so much so he feel like he might burst any second.

That’s when he hears it.

A deep, low hum, methodical...enchanting.

His ears buzz, goose bumps break out along his arms and back. His vision stars to blur around the edges, tunneling forward, focusing on the furthest point in front of him. He can feel his heartbeat slowing down, calming, almost as if he were on the brink of sleep.

He grits his teeth as he hears it, the hum drawing out, tilting upward in pitch, calling to him, and beckoning him.

He knows it’s miles and miles away, but it resonates all the same.

He understands the voice.

Come home.

The singer’s voice was strong, and if he was anyone else, he’d be diving under the surface of the water and headed toward it.

Hizashi wasn’t just anyone, though.

The fine hairs along the base of his neck stand on edge as he looks behind him, toward Shouta’s ship, probably just a few hundred yards away. He can still make out the lights along the deck, the last stragglers probably getting ready for bed.

He’d wondered, for a while now, how exactly Shouta thought Hizashi managed to live like this, in solitude.

He’d told the captain about the disapproving elders. He’d told them how all the other sirens feared humans, but he hadn’t told him everything.

Shouta had been wary in the beginning, and Hizashi hadn’t been oblivious. He’d seen the way the other man’s gaze had skimmed across the surface of the water, looking for lurking shadows waiting to strike. Shouta was right to assume there would be more sirens.

There were always more sirens.

No one else lived like Hizashi.

No one else got to bend the rules like this.

He’s nervous, as his mind breaks free of the haze and his pulse begins to race. He turns back toward where the melody is drifting on the air.

This close to Shouta and his crew...could he risk it?

He sucks in a large breath, expanding his lungs as far as they’ll go, and dives.

He swims, deeper and deeper, jaw locked tight, fins alight along his sides and back and hips, casting an eerie glow across the ocean’s floor when he finally reaches it.

Then, with eyes closed, he opens his mouth.

With an intent he hadn’t pulled forth in years, he sings.

It takes only a few belted notes for the buzzing under his skin to cease, the other siren falling silent. He listens closely when he stops, mouth closing into a frown. How far away were they? Had they figured out his location?

It was impossible to tell.

He’d have to be careful, keep to the depths, and not let anyone spot him, human or otherwise.

He couldn’t go back.

He wouldn’t.

Read the rest on AO3 here

#erasermic fanfiction #erasermic #maizawa #eraserhead #present mic #yamada hizashi #aizawa shouta #bnha #mha #riptide

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planetoban · 5 years

Text

Savin’s Answers from Twitter, Part 4!

Still catching up on the backlog; this post covers tweets from May 2018 through October 2018

As always, tweets are in order from most to least recent, and answers are not 100% true/canon since things may change during production of the sequel. Text is unedited save for formatting; in a few places I added [comments] for context.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Also: If you’re going to ask Savin something, please be respectful and appropriate. He’s a person just like you and me.

@jeltezandberg1: I also hope the dutch dub would be re-released on blue ray. Because the dutch DVD version was never fully released ,except for the first volume. The reason for it was because the publisher responsible for the dutch DVD version went bankrupt.

@EiffelSavin: Not cool. We'll see what we can do but unfortunately we don't own the rights to that dub

(x)

@RedVioletPanda: I'm wondering, does Aikka have any other family besides his parents? Also does Spirit have a family or not?‏

@EiffelSavin: If we produce the spinoff you'll have your answer regarding Aikka

(x)

@GaulStg2713: I watched a few episodes back when Oban first aired, and recently I just finished binge-watching the whole thing and now I've learned about this! Awesome! (Is it too much to ask for a heroic Crog guy in this one? I love their design and was sad the only Crog we got were jerks.)‏

@EiffelSavin: I agree with you. If we do produce a sequel your wish may be granted... 😉

(x)

@ILOVE659709491: I’m curious if Maya had not died in a racing crash but had still died due to illness or in a way DW couldn’t blame himself for, would Don Wei still have abandoned Eva and have the same severe reaction to Maya’s death even if it wasn’t in a racing crash, or would DW

‏@ILOVE659709491: have raised Eva & maybe remarry and not have as severe a reaction to Maya’s death but actually move on from it sooner if Maya had not died in a racing crash?

@EiffelSavin: I don't think he would have abandonned Eva if Maya hadn't died a crash. She died while racing for his team. That made him feel directly responsible.

(x)

@Helloworld1012: Sounds interesting. Also, I have to ask regarding OSR 2 has a plotline already been decided?

@EiffelSavin: Yes. We're moving ahead very slowly, but we do have a pretty good idea of where we want to take the new show

(x)

@Dmitry14846442: I wonder if the full version of "Never say Never" exists at all.

@EiffelSavin: Not sure.... ABC family made me listen to it before they chose it but I don't remember how long it was. If it wasn't intended to be released as a single, then there's probably only the short version though.

(x)

@AshBashS_: Ever thought about setting up a type of Kickstarter or patreon? I know those who love the series would like to help out any way they can.

@EiffelSavin: That's certainly an option for a bluray release, a pilot or some early development.

@EpicLoneDreamer: Man... Still hard to understand how geniuses can be broke. The sequel is written already? OMG. What about two queens? 11 years waiting!

[note: AFAIK Savin hasn’t said anything about the sequel’s script being finished]

@EiffelSavin: I must bear the blame for some of it, with zero talent for brown nosing & for choosing projects that stand a little out of the ordinary. Another part can be put on the production system, especially in France, which tends to favor doing the same safe stuff over and over again...

(x)

@penguin_elder: the second question why did jordan easily submit to the idea of becoming avatar,seeing from his actions he wanted to be with molly ithought he would be the first one to disagree on such a big responsibility.keep doing what your doing you're fan from the middleeast

@EiffelSavin: Jordan had sort of a predisposition as he gradually realized Eva didn't have the same feelings for him that he had. Then came a rare chance to save the galaxy, even if it meant losing all he had been. Jordan took it. Cause that's the kind of guy he is & also out of <3 for Eva...

(x)

@Helloworld1012: I’m now super curious, in ep 17 Mrs Stern said something about Eva being capable of stealing from a shop of leaving a hotel room without paying for it. So I’m curious, Is Eva actually capable of stealing or leaving a hotel room without paying for it? I had she

@Helloworld1012: actually done that before? I know Eva’s rebellious, but I can also see she’s a bit of a ”goody-two-shoes.” So I’m curious is Eva actually capable of breaking the law

‏@EiffelSavin: Well, it's the evil headmistress speaking so we can't take her words for granted. But she does hint that during previous attempts to escape from her boarding school Eva may have not always strictly stuck to the law.

(x)

@TengIlar: Hey, guys! There are no announcements, no arts, no teasers, no trailers, no news - nothing at all! Are you still alive? #OSR #OBAN #oban_star_racers

@EiffelSavin: Alive but dealing with a number of different projects, not all related in animation in my case. If you really want to know, I've just spent two weeks leaving in the streets to do research on the lifes of homeless teenagers for one of these projects.

@Helloworld1012: Out of curiosity what project is that?

@EiffelSavin: A project about young punks surviving in the streets with their dogs. But I won't say anymore for the time being. It's very much a work in progress.

(x)

@MassimoJPN: I just got to know about the Blue-Ray project of OSR and I'm incredibly excited now !! Is there any chance that there is gonna be the german voice acting on the discs as well ? I would even get it without, but the old voices are childhood memories ! :)

@EiffelSavin: We should have French, English and Japanese. German is more problematic as we don't own the rights to that version.

(x)

@LiveforOban: I’m curious, do all star race teams managers own their own race team like Don Wei does, or do most star-race managers work for someone else & don’t own their own race team? Also, the show made it clear that when he was Maya’s manager Don Wei worked with only one

@LiveforOban: racer at a time & that his team used only one star-racer at a time, so why is it that in 2082, Wei Race has several star racers?

@EiffelSavin: There are other managers/owners like Don Wei but most teams were not able to survive without the support of a larger parent company. Remaining a relatively small team in terms of funds, Don Wei has usually concentrated all his means & efforts on one top racer: Maya then Rick.

@LiveforOban: So I’m guessing Maya was his first racer.

@EiffelSavin: yes

(x)

@ILOVE659709491: I know Maya was considered to be a beautiful young woman, but I’m curious when he was younger did women consider Don Wei to be a handsome man? In 2082 is Don Wei considered attractive?‏

@EiffelSavin: Don Wei was not bad looking but was no Don Juan either. His charm came from his intelligence and well as from the power of his dream to succeed in the racing business. That's probably what touched handsome Maya.

@ILOVE659709491: What does not bad looking even mean? Does that mean he was fairly attractive? Because I need more clarification on that.‏

@EiffelSavin: I mean not ugly by any means but not someone you'd turn around to look at when his walking down the street - unlike Maya.

(x)

@LiteMorgan: What’s the plan with the theme music? Aware there were a bunch of versions - Japanese, French, Japanese remix for most of EU, and the American version.

@EiffelSavin: We should have the original Yoko Kanno version + the french version as bonus. US version is less probable as we do not own the rights.

(x)

@EiffelSavin: Today I recovered the digital copies of #ObanStarRacers' Japanese master tapes. We'll hopefully add the Japanese language tracks to our planned #bluray release !

@firechikara: Awesome! I hope you'll include the different Opening Theme (apparently from what I've seen, there's a short and long version) as a bonus.

@EiffelSavin: yes!

(x)

@ArkantosRedwolf: Do you have by any chance the Latin American dub? That would be the mother of all nostalgia if you could added to the bluray release.

@EiffelSavin: We'll try but this may be more difficult to obtain. We do not own the latin dub and had no direct part in their recording.

(x)

@Helloworld1012: I’m still really curious, but in ep 18 Maya was wearing a traditional Chinese dress during her date with DW and I’ve noticed her racing uniform resembles a Chinese dress, so is Maya from China or at the very least Chinese?‏

@EiffelSavin: I think I already answered that. Don Wei's origins are only hinted at but for me he's of Chinese origin and Maya isn't. Regarding the dress that was just to please Don. That beeing said anyone is free to interpret the series as he likes and make it his own 😊

(x)

@LiveforOban: Why did Don Wei have such a severe reaction to Maya’s death? No matter how much he loved her & no matter how brutal her death, Don’s reaction was to severe. Considering his personality changed he abandoned his kid & tried to forget his past.

@EiffelSavin: Extreme love can lead to extreme consequences. Romeo killed himself after Juliette killed herself. Don Wei's reaction to Maya's death was a little less radical but the idea is the same. He couldn't bare to leave without her all the more as he felt responsible for her death.

@LiveforOban: Doesn’t that basically mean Don Was obsessed with Maya?

@EiffelSavin: Yes, but in a good way - at least until she died. These two really loved each other and formed a perfect family before drama struck.

(x)

@vaatil: watching Oban with the pals for the first time, we re on episode three and i loVE RICK‏

@EiffelSavin: And rightly so - Rick is the top bad ass dude! 😉

(x)

@Helloworld1012: I'm curious, since their in the concept art but Are Aikka and Eva going to return as major characters in the sequel/spinoff? Also, I'm curious but what will happen to Aikka when he returns to Nourasia? If I'm not mistaken the Crogs are still in control of his planet,

@Helloworld1012: And he's already done several things in the race to risk banishment.‏

@EiffelSavin: Yes, but there's also a new Avatar now, which should change things a bit - or do they? 🙂

(x)

@ILOVE659709491: Did Kanaletto manipulate Eva’s life from the moment she was born? In episode 26 Kanaletto States so himself that for centuries he manipulated time just so he could find Eva & use her.‏

@EiffelSavin: Correct.

(x)

@djinni0024: I know you aren't on Twitter much, but for the sequel, do you guys plan on making it have a darker theme, with more adult tones to it? Most of us (that being your original fan audience) are well in our 20s-30s.

@EiffelSavin: That would be ideal, but it depends on who will finance us

(x)

@NoelCT: Beautiful work, as always. I've been excited to see 2 Queens for years. I'm sorry it's still taking so long to come together, but thankful you haven't given up on it.

@EiffelSavin: Haven't given hope! Actually currently looking for a new character designer to start over on a slightly different direction.

(x)

@KananJarrus: Would be awesome if the #ObanStarRacers Soundtrack got a re-release, for people (like me) who missed out on it years ago. Great, high quality soundtrack @EiffelSavin‏

@EiffelSavin: One of our plans with the Bluray release is to add all existing tracks as a potential bonus (and there's around 85 of them).

(x)

@Helloworld1012: I’m curious since it got to me, that during her time in the boarding school Eva most have done things besides drawing & mechanics to pass the time, but Does Eva like to read? & if so what kind of books did she like to read? Also in ep 18 I noticed Maya wore a chinese dress during her date with Don, is Maya from china or Chinese?

@EiffelSavin: Don Wei's surname implies that he's of Chinese origin, which would make Eva half Chinese. [Implying Maya isn’t Chinese]

@RyanMoate: I can imagine that if Eva read it would be articles about her father's racing career and probably manuals considering she built the rocket seat.‏

@EiffelSavin: Yes, a mechanical geek. Plus she loves hardcore techno - the best way for her to relieve her stress and teenage angst!

(x) (x)

[In response to Catsuka posting the OSR pilot]

@copperfield42: wow, it [Molly Star Racer] looked more silly that the final product...

@EiffelSavin: All the main ideas were in the pilot, but it was a little more comedy oriented and aimed at a slightly younger target audience. As we developed the world and the characters, we fond a new and more fitting equilibrium for the show.

(x)

@ILOVE659709491: I know there are other possibilities for DW's background, but I just want to know, could the theory that Don Wei was born to a high-class family in China, but that DW turned his back on the life he knew when he eloped with Maya also be a possible background for Don?

@EiffelSavin: Choose as you prefer. But bear in mind that you don't need to have been born in the "upper class" to want to behave like someone from the "upper class".

(x)

@Alix_Mei: One question, this series going to be in Netflix?

@EiffelSavin: too soon to say

(x)

@RedVioletPanda: Now that I'm thinking of it, would the Nourasians Knights be similiar to Shaolin practictioners @EiffelSavin ?

@EiffelSavin: Not a bad comparison. They both have strong training, both physical and mental, with the addition of magical training for Nourasian Knights.

(x)

@fictionjustis: Is DW’s grey hair due to stress & grief and has nothing to do with his age? In the flashbacks where Maya is alive DW seems to be in his 20s + DW and Maya seem to be the same age. Maya was only 28 when she died, meaning Eva was born when DW was in his early 20s‏

@EiffelSavin: Don Wei is a little older than Maya and more in his forties at the start the show. But stress may have also played a part

@fictionjustis: I’m curious, a little older is so vague. So does that mean Don Wei is only 2 years older than Maya or that his 5-10 years older than Maya? How many years of an age difference did Don & Maya have?‏

@EiffelSavin: I don't have my old notes with me but it was probably around 10 years older, or something close

@fictionjustis: Really, because they don’t look that far in age.

@EiffelSavin: May have been a little less but in real life it's often hard to tell if someone is 25 or 30. In animation, with stylised designs, it's even harder. The acting and body language play a big part.

(x)

@ILOVE659709491: Maya seems to influence Don Wei the same way Eva influences Aikka. Is it possible that though she didn’t introduce him to racing Maya may have encouraged Don Wei to follow his dreams & be a race manager even though it meant going against his parents wishes & expecta- -tions of him? Also DW has a strong comparison with Aikka is it possible that like Aikka DW came from a high-class family that placed high expectations on him?

@EiffelSavin: The main point these two have in common is that they had feelings for their partner or friend. Regarding Maya, it was more her parents who were against her becoming a racer. Not exactly what any parent would have in mind for their beloved daughter

(x)

#oban star racers #sav the world #Sav! The World #type:staff #type:text

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kmindset · 5 years

Text

Reconciliation in Currency: One

Summary: Sometimes reconciliation comes at a cost. Literally.

On ao3 My Twitter

Chapter 1: Man in the pinstriped jacket

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me?”

Your friend’s worry was evident over the phone. “Su Na, I’ll be fine. Joey is letting me stay with her until get on my feet.”

She hummed in disapproval.

“Flight 301 to South Korea, section B, now boarding.”

“Unnie, I will be fine.” You stand, lifting your carry on bag onto your shoulder. “You’re still picking me up from the airport right?”

“Of course! After so many years away I know there are things you haven’t told me. You are spilling everything!”

“I would love to hear you rant some more but I’m boarding the plane.”

Normally, you would sleep through most of your flights but returning to Korea was making you restless. Unable to sleep, listen to music, read, or focus on a movie, you were almost out of options. Thankfully, you were right at the beginning of coach which was the perfect area to listen to the flight attendants. “My section is amazing! There is a man who gave me 60,000 won just for getting him a drink.” She was hidden by the crevasse of the cabin where they resided that separated business class from the rest of you but you could hear her clearly.

“Really? Why is someone like that flying commercial?”

“He said he was having trouble with his private plane.”

The other woman opened her mouth again but the wall behind her dinged signaling someone was calling for her. The first class stewardess walked back to her section with a dark colored drink.

Your curiosity made you tilt your head to see into first class. The stewardess handed the man his drink but all you could see was a hand, an expensive looking watch and the sleeve of a grey pinstripe suit jacket.

The moment the plane arrives at the gate everyone stands as if it won’t take 20 minutes to get even half the passengers off the plane.

You move your legs to allow the impatient older woman next to you to push her way onto the aisle. You busy yourself texting Su Na and Joey that you have landed and checking emails.

When you look back up almost everyone has cleared. You make your way off the plane

“That Kim takes my breath away.”

The same attendants.

“I finally saw him when he was exiting the plane.” the second says. “I have never seen someone so perfect.”

They go on gushing on the perfect businessman who apparently gave the first attendant his business card.

When they split for another flight you finally laugh at their teenaged ramblings.

“_____!!” Su Na’s voice covers the baggage arrival announcement you were calmly waiting for.

An embarrassed wave is all you can give before she is pinching your cheeks and fawning over how much prettier you have become.

“Unnie, we’re in public.” You say, pushing away her grabby hands. Though you’re more than mortified it’s nice to see a familiar face.

She gushed over you for hours, asking if you had eaten then taking you to stuff your face at your favorite restaurant you were happy was still there. She took you to refill your t-money card which you were also grateful for but the line was drawn at the fifth outfit she made you try on for your interview. As grateful as you were slightly jetlagged and had yet to see Joey.

When she finally dropped you off, you were greeted by a message from Joey. She’d texted you the house code as she was going to be late.

You helped yourself to the food she bought for your arrival. When she arrived there was a hug that you were pretty sure would leave a bruise.

The two of you talked as if no time had passed.

“Yeah, I have a job interview in the morning. It isn’t the best and It isn’t what I got my certification for but it’s something.” The defeat in your voice couldn’t be masked.

“A step in any direction is progress.”

True enough but it didn’t help your mood. You said your goodnights and laid down for a restless sleep. Sleeping with a weight on your mind was always hard, you couldn’t help but think back to the one person who could lift it.

“Taehyung.”

He heard the quiver in your voice right away. “______, what happened.”

“I can’t do it.” You sobbed into the receiver. “I can’t do it.”

“Aegya, I know you are nervous and scared but you can do this. You have done it before and you can do it again.”

You lean your head back against the wall. “Tae, if I don’t pass this test all my credit hours will have been for nothing!”

“But that wouldn’t happen anyway. All I am saying is I believe in you. You have the potential for greatness no matter what.”

It got quiet and you knew what he was thinking. “And you’ll be right there with me right?”

He chuckled lowly with what sounded like a sniffle. “Of course. There’s nowhere else I would rather be.”

A comfortable silence fell over the conversation as you calmed down and finally felt fatigue.

“TaeTae, can you sing to me?”

He was quiet for a moment before he began to sing. Slowed down version nobody by Wonder Girls in his soothing tenor.

There was no better sleep than sleep aided by Taehyung.

You didn’t have that anymore but you needed it right now.

Seoul sparkled like a diamond in the dirt at night.

It’s beauty served as the backdrop to many fantasies. A hand came to undo the expensive watch from the wrist of the man that loved to admire such a view.

He didn’t care for the price as he threw it on his nightstand, his pinstripe suit jacket joining it. All his attention was on the view. It made him think of her. The pain in his heart had subsided over the years but would he ever feel ok?

His mind drifted as it often did to a thousand what-ifs.

He urged himself to stop as his jetlag became more apparent. He needed a drink.

You stared at the search engine homepage with fingers slightly shaking. You wanted more than anything to look him up. You wanted to reach out and hopefully get a warm response. You wanted to tell him all about your time away and be filled in on everything you knew the extraordinary man accomplished in the years apart.

But the last interaction came to mind.

His handsome face scowling in betrayal. The same feeling of guilt from the day returned at the dismay in knowing you caused that scowl.

You closed your laptop quickly. ‘ Not tonight.’ You thought with a sorrowful heart.

Morning came far too quickly.

As you awoke, a fresh wave of nerves hit you like a truck. The thought of waiting until you found a better job crossed your mind as you disapprovingly examined your dark circles but your resolve strengthed when you saw the makeup to hide such bags was running low.

You weren’t sure how to dress for the interview as the listing was vague but it was clear on the payment. It seemed as though it would be clerical work or assistant- type tasks.

As long as it paid, it was currently good enough for you.

You were early arriving at the building the stood tall in the heart of Seoul. Everything about being there made you nostalgic. You breathed in familiar air with a content smile. As you entered the building your awareness of the oh so familiar city put you in a melancholy state. The heels you willed yourself into wearing took you almost on autopilot to where you were told in the interview announcement email. The elevator ride even sparked a memory that sat on the tip of your subconscious. There was no time to try and reach for it as the doors opened to reveal the most beautiful area you ever set eyes on. The beauty and meticulous detail applied to the whole of the area reminded you of him. It brought a smile to your face. An olive colored desk with white trim that swirled downwards at the end was the first thing you focused on. The words ‘Welcome to Kkangji’ were written beautifully on the front.

The name made you smile, mind drifting to the snow white kitten from times past.

“Ma’am.”

You looked up to see a woman smiling from behind the desk. “Are you here for the interview?” You nodded, a little embarrassed at the first impression you must have been making. “Ah, he will be pleased you are early.”

She picked up the phone and said a few quick words in the receiver before placing it back down. “Follow me please.”

You followed behind her quietly. The hall was as beautifully done as the waiting area. Expensive looking art pieces and their almost as equally as expensive frames were gorgeous. “He made most of these himself.” the receptionist leaned over and whispered with a smile. She must have noticed you looking. “He designed this whole floor of the building.” There was something deeper in all of it that warmed your heart now. His artistic soul was poured into everything.

Finally, she stopped in front of a large white door. It was simple yet powerful for some reason.

She opened the door to reveal the lavish office. You stepped in, eyes landing on a large desk. The chair behind it, obviously occupied, was spun facing the large window.

“Sir, here she is. Ms. ____________ , this is Mr. Kim Taehyung.”

Three things happened simultaneously. First. The receptionist left the room almost as quickly as she dropped you off. Second, the memories from minutes before hit you full force. The company name. The building. The outstanding art. All linked to the man you knew better than anyone in this building.

And third, he spun in his chair to look at you. “________?” “Taehyung??”

You had to be dreaming. It felt impossible that your Taehyung could be the man running all of this. The first instinct was to run and hug* him but there was something about his blank expression. The picture of him dressed impeccably, sat behind that desk radiated a kind of power you were unfamiliar with. Only when his gaze traveled down to his phone had you noticed how long you had been stood there.

You cleared your throat and approached. The glare of his unreadable face now off of you made you confident enough to move. Right in front of him now, you picked up his name placard.

Kim Taehyung, CEO and Director of Art

“This explains the waiting area. It looks like something from your wettest art hoe dreams.” you tried to joke.

“You don’t know about my wet dreams, _____.” His tone was sharp and cold, like a knife cutting through the friendly air of your comment. He reached out as he stood to take the placard from your hands.

“I-I- uh”

“As articulate as ever I see.” Your mouth clamped shut like an offended child at the comment. “I won’t waste your time, Ms. ______. Do you have your resume’?”

His stoic demeanor shocked you but you nodded. You handed him the professional looking paper, complete with your most recent sources from the past few years. You smiled proudly trying to regain any confidence you had before you saw him.

He quietly looked over it. A hum here, a raised eyebrow there. It was painfully quiet. “I can answer any questions you may-” your sentence stopped short as he tore the paper in half then again.

“Tae what the hell?!” formalities were dropped as he must be out of his mind.

“There must have been a disconnect. This job isn’t one you would require this kind of experience for. I am already aware of your experience to some degree though.”

“Tae, what are you talking about?”

“I need someone.”

“I have always been here for you.”

There was brief silence before he scoffed ‘Have you?’ more to himself than you. “I refuse to stoop as low as some in my business so I’ve decided to opt for something mutually beneficial.”

You sighed, still very confused. “Use simple words, Taehyung.”

He learned from where he sat on his desk to get close to your face with a smirk that told you he knew his next words would floor you. “I want to fuck you, wreck you whenever I fucking feel like it, and give you money for it.”

Your mouth hung open like a dead fish now. You stared at that familiar face to see nothing you recognized. His boyish charm and triangular face shape now switch for a mature charm* and square jaw. His unique eyes that once were so playful now sinful and taunting. Even his dark locks were now a long greyish brown. This was not your TaeTae. This was CEO Kim Taehyung.

“H-How are you like this. I can’t believe that came from your mouth.”

“Because you don’t know me anymore.”

“I haven’t been gone that long.”

He straightened up, now glaring coldly. “Years, _______. Years.”

“I don’t want you to go.”

“I have to though.” This had been a common back and forth for weeks now. Though before where it was playful now it was desperate, pleading, and very much hurt. The chance to volunteer in your field was too much of a miracle to pass up. Only it meant traveling out of the country. Away from Taehyung. You were almost at the point where you had to say your goodbyes but he was making it difficult.

“Aren’t I important to you?”

You stop, your mouth opening some in shock. You wanted to believe it was a joke but his face held the betrayal he clearly felt. “Of course, why would you ask that?”

“Because it doesn't seem like it!”

“I can’t stay here for someone else. There is nothing here for me.”

“I’m nothing?!”

You open your mouth to tell him no, that he is wrong so you want to shout until your voice is gone but instead you turn to go through security.

“Looks like there were opportunities here.” An unreadable look with a tone of smug disgust.

“For YOU, Taehyung. You still aren’t getting it.” You shake your head incredulously as you pick up the remains of your torn resume.

“My success could have been yours too.”

“I wanted my own path not to crowd yours.”

“So you left me?”

“I obviously wasn’t gone forever!”

“How was I supposed to know that?!”

At this point you were so frustrated you had to take some deep breaths. “You were supposed to trust me.” You turned around to see him taking off his belt, jacket already off and tie loosened.

“What are you doing?”

“You still want the job right?”

You were silent not wanting to admit you need the job despite what it was. With much hesitation, you nodded. “Yes.”

He walked up to you, getting close to your face again as he slid off his belt with a snap. “Then strip, it’s time for your interview.”

#sugar daddy taehyung #Taehyung smut #taehyung angst #bts smut #taehyung fanfic #bts angst #CEO Taehyung #dom taehyung #ao3 #bts ao3

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thespoonplayer · 5 years

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(DJ) Spoon’s Review of 2018

This year I haven’t listened to much music at all, at least not in comparison to previous years and I certainly haven’t been to many gigs. I’m sure this won’t last but this year I’ve been busier at work so less likely to plug in, I’ve stuck to the radio in the car just to keep up with how messy Brexit really is (ooer a bit of politics) and my runs have been 100% fueled by podcasts so music has just taken a backseat. However, I couldn’t let the year go past without some kind of list...so here is a pot pourri of my favourite discoveries of 2018.

1. Podcasts

Seeing as these have been so important this year I’ll start here...and cheat slightly by bigging up some oldies, but good enough to bang on about again.

Old favourites : Running Commentary (Comedians Paul Tonkinson and Rob Deering take you on their runs and chat sometimes about running, but always about life, kids, comedy and anything that pops into their heads), Adam Buxton (always entertaining ramble chat from Dr Buckles whoever is on, I’ve learnt stuff and I’ve laughed a lot), My Dad Wrote a Porno (Sheer filth as ever but genuinely caused me to LOL during my runs, wondering if people can hear that I’m listening to chat about vaginal lids).

New entries : Off Menu (Ed Gamble and James Acaster opened their genie run fantasy restaurant a month ago and it has quickly become one of my favourite podcasts ever. Eclectic guests pick their fantasy 3 course meals, simple premise and it works. The Scroobius Pip episode was a perfect clash of two excellent pods), Blank (another late entry into 2018 from Jim Daly and Giles Paley-Phillips ostensibly about blank moments in life but just rammed with infotaining chat from ‘non standard’ guests including a jaw dropping episode with Michael Rosen and fun with Gary Lineker and Susie Dent), Poddin’ on the Ritz (sadly now finished with maybe its only series) this pod recorded backstage at Young Frankenstein by Hadley Fraser and the sublime Ross Noble made me laugh more than any other in 2018, it might be about musicals but their search for Kenneth Branagh’s snowglobes and Lesley Joseph adoration was a joy.

2. Board games

They say a family that plays together, stays together. Well we are together more than you can imagine. We’ve played over 220 games this year! Here are our favourite new games into our collection:

The game of the year is Azul, a seemingly simple tile grab and place game, building up a mosaic prettier than anyone else, is full of strategy and a little (but not too much) shafting of others. If you really want to shaft your fellow players though then pick up Unstable Unicorns, a card game where you aim to grow your stable of unicorns, whilst stopping others filling theirs. SO many different cards, tactics and ways to mess it up, you will swear at some point. Discovered in the excellent new board game cafe The Dice Box in Leamington, we bought Meeple Circus before we left, it’s that much fun. Rehearse and perform the best tiny wooden meeple circus performance, accompanied by a bespoke playlist. Stack the acrobats, balance the lions and raise the bar. Another board game cafe, Chance & Counters in Bristol introduced us to the frantic game of Klask, a cross between air hockey, pool and table football. Slide the magnets around to flick a ball into your opponents hole, avoid the magnetic biscuits and don’t KLASK! When is a game not a game? another game of the year has been played a lot in our house, and it’s The Mind. 100 cards numbered 1-100, no words between players and a tense task to lay cards in ascending order. Simple? yes? possible? nope! but it’s sure to cause fun and arguments. The final two of MY favourite sadly aren’t quite as loved by my family, but I’ll get them there. Sagrada is a similar game to Azul with you attempting to build a beautiful stained glass window with coloured dice. More variations and thinking needed than Azul which adds to the challenge. And finally and lovely chess like 2 player game which transports you to the sun dappled Greek island of Santorini. Take the powers of a god and build the traditional blue domed white houses of the island whilst trying to stop your opponent climbing onto a roof. A lot of ‘aha, you’ve stopped me’ moments.

3. TV

It’s been a long old year at work, and in the world of parenting so we’ve found ourselves flopped on the settee many evenings just soaking up great drama, comedy and chilling ;o)

We are very late to the party with Suits but that means we have 8 series to wade through! Really neat writing, bants and relationships between characters, a ‘don’t worry they will always win’ calmness about it and you get to see the Queen in her knickers...ish. Another Netflix treat this year was Magic for Humans with Justin Willman, a hugely likeable and funny magician pulling off tricks that constantly make me smirk with a huge dollop of WTF? amazing. A huge recommendation. A late entry to my TV highlights of 2018 is from the warped warped mind of Charlie Brooker...of course with Bandersnatch. An interactive choose your own adventure TV ‘event’ (I know) that had us hooked for the full 90 minutes (only if you want to see how much bloodshed you can invoke!). Completely on the other end of the spectrum was the sublime and minimalistic Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. I don’t like fishing and why would I find two old mates just teasing each other for half an hour entertaining? No idea but it was beautiful. Like Radio 4, comforting and perfect. Then a few suspenseful dramas that got us on the edge of the settee, Killing Eve (quirky AF), Bodyguard (did they really kill Keely Hawes that early?) and Informer (bleak bleak bleak) and sweaty bullocks in ‘should be in the next section really’ Bird Box (made Informer seem like a giggle fest).

4. Films

Really haven’t been to the cinema much in the last 12 months and only once to see a ‘grown up’ film I think but kid’s films are SO good at the moment that’s ok. A few stand out films for me were:

Ralph Breaks the Internet, much better than the first one, lots of #lolz internet jokes and more than a little heart. Wrap me up in a duvet and give me a hot cocoa and Paddington 2 any day, tears at the end. A little more sighing but just as much emotion in Christopher Robin, not sure why Eeyore had an American accent but the characters were spot on and nicely faithful to the original concepts. The one time I did venture out for an adult (it’s a 12 so almost ;o) and saw Ready Player One I was delighted, yeah it might not be a) as good as or b) anything like the book but a visual treat and an enjoyable romp.

5. Books

I read A LOT, until my Kindle donks me on the head in bed anyway...literally a tiny selection of books that have kept me awake.

The Secret Lives of Colour - Kassia St Clair. They say never judge a book by its cover. Well that didn’t work...I bought this purely because it is a beautiful package, the hardback a lot more pleasing imho. Simply 2 coloured pages about how each colour was discovered, invented and introduced throughout history. I never really gave it a thought that colours were...made. Weird and fascinating.

This Is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay. A hilarious ‘secret’ diary of a junior doctor that horrifies at the same time. I think we all knew it was a hard life but bloody hell, if you didn’t love the NHS before you will after this. A thoroughly enjoyable and insightful story of Adam’s journey through medicine. And that ending...wooof.

Moose Allain - I Wonder What I’m Thinking About. I love Moose, I love his colour-me-advent calendars, I love his tweet threads that show the best in Twitter, I love his cartoons and this book is all of those wrapped up in one. And a certain Mr Spoon is to thank for the publication, find me in the back of Unbound funders! An inspiring book for anyone who loves art, creativity and childish humour.

Factfulness : Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World - Hans Rosling. A brilliantly clever and educational book about why the world is NOT as shit as it might seem some times. It’s all backed up by real data and lovely lovely graphs!

Lee Child and Ian Rankin. A highlight of the year is the next Reacher and Rebus novels and these two didn’t disappoint. Rebus’ latest adventure Past Tense, is a self-contained story that could introduce anyone to the man machine that is Jack Reacher. Rebus however is back, retired but won’t lie down, in In A House of Lies, an old case comes back to haunt him and will this finally be his downfall? I doubt it!

6. Music

As mentioned, I haven’t ‘been into music’ as much in 2018 for various reasons but I’ve still enjoyed some great new discoveries:

Barns Courtney - The Attractions of Youth, discovered via the use of Glitter and Gold for the theme tune of Netflix’s Safe. An album of ‘cheesy, commercially viable blues and folk rock’ apparently. I just liked the visceral nature of some of the tracks and it always fired me up at work on slow days.

Isaac Gracie - Isaac Gracie, a rare listened to recommendation from my wife. Isaac is everything I claim to like, fragile thin sensitive boys with acoustic guitars....and I do very much with this. Painful screeched out tales of heartbreak. Sublime.

R.E.M. - Live at the BBC, 104 rare and live tracks from arguably one of the best bands ever. Some of the tracks I haven’t heard since my bootleg cassette buying days at Sheffield Uni, when the world was in black and white. Not all tracks are of the greatest audio quality but bliss for a fanboy like me.

Creep Show - Mr Dynamite, a spin off project for Mr John Grant and even from the eclectic crooner this is an odd one. Glitchy electronica with vocoders all over the place. Weird and very Marmite.

Public Service Broadcasting - Every Valley and everything else. The latest offering from the other PSB was a trip through the miner’s crisis and Thatcher years. Bleak? yup but fascinating snippets of well, public service broadcasting and guest stars including the obligatory Welsh rockers the Manics. This album is perfect by itself but it ‘forced’ me to go back and really discover all the PSB albums. The Live at Brixton release is a huge recommendation, I wish I was there.

Rex Orange County - Apricot Princess, maybe I just added this in to seem cool as Rex, aka Alexander O’Conner, was ‘one to watch in 2018′ from the BBC. A multi-instrumentalist that dabbles with hippity hop, R&B and piano pop. The first track alone contains about three musical styles if you wait.

7. Food & Drink

I run, because I really like food. And thankfully I’ve run a lot in 2018 so I got to enjoy a lot.

I was introduced to the weird fermented tea monstrosity that is kombucha by my sister-in-law. Vinegar tasting drink that may or may not help your gut that grows in your living room. WTAF? However, health benefits aside the LA Brewery Strawberry and Black Pepper drink is something, alongside my pilgrimage to Leon, worth going to London for. I’ve heard it’s also for sale in Solihull but I don’t often travel that far beyond my class ;o) I’d say, try it...but I suspect 9/10 people with hate the flavour.

I suspect 10/10 people that try the Aldi Black Forest Mince Pies would love them, but you won’t get a chance as I’ve bought them ALL. Aldi are a bugger for getting you hooked then never restocking. I only managed 10 boxes in 2018 and we’ve rationed well so have 12 left to get us through the bleak January weather. Cherries, Dark Chocolate, Chocolate pastry and a smidge of mincemeat. Perfect!

There are many ingredient delivery services available and I’ve only tried Gousto but I don’t know why you’d go anywhere else. 33 recipes tried and 32 of them I’d have again, with the one not so good one was still far better than anything I’d cook by myself. So easy, so tasty and if you want to try it I can give you a big discount that will help us buy another box, a tad expensive without a discount but worth a treat every so often.

Genuinely I traveled to London just to visit Max’s Sandwich Shop...kinda. It was certainly the deciding factor in a day out at the Summer Exhibition (see below). I downloaded the Kindle version of this book when it was promoted in an email, I bought some Scampi Fries and made a Fish Finger sandwich, I crumbled up some Ginger Nuts into a Mascarpone and Jam sandwich and I made a Fried Egg, Shoestring Fried and Gammon sandwich then I NEEDED to go and see how it’s really done. Amazing over the top sandwiches in a rough little hipster cafe in Stroud Green (no me neither and it’s a long walk from the tube!). So good I had to a) buy the hard copy of the book and b) carry half the sandwich home as even I couldn’t manage it all...not with deep fried macaroni balls filling me up ;o)

8. Places

A family that plays together, stays together as a great man once said. And we don’t just play inside, we love adventures so adventures we had.

I’d never been to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, as it’s in that there London which often seems hundreds of miles away...but I’m so glad that I visited this year. A trip with a good friend with neither of us knowing quite what to expect. We saw, and laughed, and marveled at, paintings, sculptures, videos, photos, models, and weirdness by Banksy next to Joe Lycett next to Grayson Perry next to Harry Hill, next to me mate Lorsen Camps from Coventry. The SA allows ANYONE to submit artwork for consideration and anyone can be accepted. I think this has to become a yearly visit, awesome.

My parents have been wanting to take our kids, and their big kid, to The Forbidden Corner in North Yorkshire for a few years now...and I’m so happy we finally got round to going. Started as a folly to entertain his children this huge labyrinthine site is crammed with strange sculptures, mazes, tricks and squirting fountains. Many hours were spent squeezing through holes, getting lost and getting wet. Beautifully eccentric.

A family holiday to Brittany meant we could visit the loopy city (it’s their phrase!) of Nantes and more importantly Les Machines d’Ile. Ostensibly the workshop of a group of engineers and artists that make huge animatronic machines and animals...that you can ride on! Needs to be seen to be believed, the Elephant brings out the big kid in everyone...and we can’t wait to go back in a few years when they’ve built a huge forest over the river with ride on caterpillars and dragonfly. Incredible. The city itself is dotted with crazy art and interactive pieces encouraging play, I know a city closer to home that should be the UK Loopy City of Culture!

Luckily Tilly is a Harry Potter obsessive AND it was her birthday last year so it gave us the excuse we didn’t need to visit the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour. Wow, just wow. The incredible detail in everything made for the film, the engineering, the amount of artists involved and the presentation of the exhibition blew us away. I’ve enjoyed everything in this list but this maybe was the most magical in the best way.

Many many amazing experiences warrant a mention, but I just don’t have enough words, include Talking Birds - Walk with Me, Print Manufactory Darkroom Workshop, Ludic Rooms Random String Festival, Go Karting with Tilly, some dancing balloons in Broadgate, Godiva Festival with Tony Christie et al, Bristol Gromit trail, Disc Golfing with my girls, Edinburgh Fringe with Dick and Dom and with another wonderful dick from Coventry starring in Bon Jovi musical We’ve Got Each Other, Pandas! at Edinburgh Zoo, Matilda the Musical with Tilly at last, running the Coventry Mile with the girls’ school, Dippy the Dinosaur in Brum, Wicksteed Park (amazing family fun theme park like what they used to be), Cycling on Stratford Greenway in the sun, Autotesting at MotoFest, Bourton-on-the-Water (it’s just a shame 3 million other people know about this gorgeous village), Giant Pac Man in the city centre, Pork Pie making with a good friend, CET several times, Novelty Automation in London and being on The One Show, a couple of Hope & Social gigs and much much much more fun with my wonderful fam and friends. Roll on 2019!

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officialhexrpg · 6 years

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Arts & Graphics: June’s Writing Challenge Winner!

June's theme for the Arts & Graphics forum on HEXRPG was all about Ancient Egypt! In this challenge, artists had to write a report of their findings as a Curse-Breaker working in Egypt.

3rd Place: K8ekt

I had left Hogwarts as a Professor of Arithmancy six months previous. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my job there. The students were always fresh faced and willing to learn. It had been a pleasure to watch them develop and grow from children to confident young men and women. But I had always felt there was more to life. More I was capable of. Yes, being a professor had been rewarding but I felt destined for more. That’s why I had decided to change my career from teacher to evil spell breaker, and I was thriving. Information on the whereabouts of an ancient pharaoh’s treasure had been discovered back at Gringotts in Diagon Ally and the head Goblin had chosen me to investigate. I was a little nervous of course, as this was my first solo mission but I was also very excited. The head Goblin himself had chosen me, I must have impressed someone along the line somewhere. Now, here in Egypt, glancing around the tourist shop, I wondered just how I was going to get to the tomb of Mustava. Magical wards had been put around the pyramid to stop wizards and witches from apparating anywhere near it. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to get inside to even begin my search. Maybe the head Goblin had been wrong about my abilities. But then I noticed a poster above the counter which read: ‘West Valley Tomb tours leaving daily! Get your tickets here! Egyptian or British pounds accepted!’ I couldn’t believe my luck! This was the opportunity I’d been waiting for. I approached the shopkeeper and pointed to the poster. “Mustava’s Pyramid please?” I asked holding out a handful of coins. I was hoping that some of them were either English or Egyptian pounds as I had no idea. I was relieved when he nodded and took some of the currency then handed me a notepad with a list of names. I scribbled ‘Septima Vector’ under the ‘Mustava’ heading and left to find the bus station and my coach. The coach ride was long, hot and stuffy. The air conditioning didn’t work and opening a window barely helped. I wished I’d taken an anti-sickness potion before I had got on but I hadn’t had time, and the bus was so overcrowded I couldn’t risk opening my bag. All the muggles were suffocating, and it didn’t help with the sun’s heat burning through the windows. Finally we screeched to a stop as we reached our destination and I hurried to get off desperate for fresh air. It wasn’t much better outside. There was no cover and the hot rays were pounding down, bouncing off the fine sand which was everywhere. I really wanted to cast a cooling spell but I couldn’t get my wand out here. I needed to sneak away from the crowd of photo snapping tourists, but how? There was nothing to do but follow the crowd inside the pyramid. It was dark and had a fusty smell down were they were being shown. Muggles had added some basic lighting but the light was still dim. We were shown into a small room I realised was a tomb. The Pharaoh's mummy was laid in a large sarcophagus in the centre of the room, the walls were covered with Egyptian hieroglyphs and paintings of gods, crops and animals. There was an opening on the opposite side of the room leading into another passageway with security tape across it. It looked promising so I backed away from the crowd quietly, ducked under the tape and left the group behind. I didn’t get very far though until I reached a dead end. Dang, it was sealed off. Then something caught my eye. There was a section of drawings on the wall to my right that didn’t look like normal ancient Egyptian figures, they had pointy hats and held wands just like wizards. There was writing under the images I recognised to be ancient Greek. I frowned. Well, this was certainly unusual. It had to mean something. But what? A simple translation spell should help. “Aparecium.” I commanded and the writing moved and merged into a language I could understand. I could understand it alright but I was none the wiser. It was a brain teaser and I didn’t have a clue what it meant. ‘I’ve been around for millions of years, but I’m no more than a month old. What am I?’ “Come on, it’s your job to figure these things out!” I whispered to myself under my breath, looking around at all the images of wheat fields, gods, suns and moons… I paused. “Moon! That’s the answer!” There was a moon on the opposite wall to the rhyme. I raised my wand and touched the painted moon gently with the tip uttering ‘Alohomora’. The whole wall moved back, opening up in front of me. I smiled and slipped through. As the wall shut behind me I was encased in darkness, the room was pitch black, I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face, so I quickly spoke the word ‘Lumos’ and the room was illuminated by the light of my wand. I gasped at the sight that met me. The room was full of treasures. Boxes made from solid gold and silver, filled with precious gemstones surrounded me. I had found it! I couldn’t believe how easy it had been. Wait… Why had it been so easy? I wondered to myself before the realisation hit me. I might have found the treasure but I needed to get out, and there wasn’t a way out. That’s when I saw the skeletons. Hunched up by the wall I had entered by were the bones of the crypt finders before me. The wands in their hands told me that they were wizards and witches, like me. Probably all evil spell breakers. Something was shining next to one of the bodies on the stone floor. It was a single shimmering gold feather. It looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place which bird it belonged to. I bent down to examine it more closely. As soon as I picked up the golden feather a high pitched shriek filled the room. Ah. Even though I had never heard the noise before I instantly knew what it was. My fear was realised when the bird swooped down over my head, so low the air moved strands of my hair. I knew I needed to silence the yellow Fwooper and soon, it’s twittering song had the power to make witches go insane. Pointing my wand in the direction of the deafening tune I shouted ‘Silencio’. I couldn’t hear my own words but the charm must have worked because the room suddenly became silent. Deathly silent. I could hear wings softly flapping but the maddening melody was gone. The Fwooper dived once more, this time dropping an object at my feet before settling on top of a silver broom by my side, her round eyes fixed on her gift. My attention moved from the bird to the box on the floor. I knew better than to touch it and instead retrieved my secrecy sensor from my pocket and aimed it at the item. Sure enough, the rod began to vibrate uncontrollably. As I suspected, the relic was blighted with evil. It appeared to be a board game, I had seen it in a book I had read in preparation for my trip here. It was called ‘Senet’, the full name meaning ‘game of passing’. “I wonder...” I said out loud then shrugged, I had nothing to lose. Sitting down opposite the Fwooper I aimed my wand at the game, using ‘Locomotor’ I moved the first piece on the board. The bird glided to the floor silently and moved another piece with her beak. We carried on like this, taking it in turns until it was my final move. Well, that was lucky, I thought with a sigh of relief, I had won the game! The counters began to dance in a circle, getting faster and faster until they turned to a blur, a beam of light shot out from the middle, shining across the room and onto the ceiling. An opening was appearing and dust fell from the newly revealed gap. moonlight flooded the room and I realised it must lead outside. I needed to get up there, but how? As if my new feathered friend knew what I was thinking, she flew back onto the silver broom and nudged my arm with her head. “Thank you.” I said, stroking her under the chin, mounted the broom then flew up, up through the hole and out of the pyramid into the cool night air, relieved the baking sun had set but surprised at how much time had passed since I had started my tour. A smile crept onto my lips as I realised my first solo mission had been a success.

#HEXRPG #f: ag #w: writing challenge #d: June 2018

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chapmannewsletter · 4 years

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Leroy Nathaniel Chapman, Sr.

June 11, 1947 – August 28, 2020

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A man of purpose and influence

Has Been Called…..

“Our deepest sympathies go out to Mr. Leroy Chapman, Sr.’s family, friends, and the countless people who have been inspired by his leadership as a role model,” The Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute Founder Mr. Echol Chapman said. “My 1st cousin and I was like brothers. Leroy was a supporters of The Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute, and we will forever be mindful of the generosity shown to The Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute. My 1st cousin “Leroy was an amazing, multi-talented humanitarian, and I will miss him.”

I would like to share an article written by his son, Leroy, Jr:

From Son to Father….

Dad turned 70 last week.

It’s a milestone birthday for Leroy Chapman Sr. for two reasons.

As a Baptist deacon, he knows the biblical significance of age 70.

Psalms 90:10 says “The days of our years are threescore years and ten.”

Dad has spent his years obeying the biblical commands of men to love the Lord, to teach their children, to honor their wives and to build a spiritual inheritance. I can vouch for him.

Age 70 also carries significance to him as a son. His father, my grandfather, died when he was 70 years old. It was 1979, and I was 8 years old when Aaron Chapman succumbed to cancer.

Through those eyes, Granddaddy seemed old.

Through these eyes, my 70-year-old father seems young.

Men are destined to become their fathers, and it’s my great hope that I, like Leroy Chapman Sr., can make it to 70 years young. Like him I would like to live a life of singular purpose and uncommon decency. Like him I’d like to do it without a single regret.

Doesn’t mean my dad is perfect or ever has been. It means the direction of his life was correct from day one. So even his stumbles pushed him closer to who he wanted to be. A good Christian, a good family man, a good Marine/guardsman, an asset to his family and community.

And even at this age, I’m finding it tough to measure up.

We all remember the wonder of invincible dad, the one you looked up to when you were 6 years old. The man with the strength, wisdom and courage to do anything and conquer all. I remember being that guy when my kids were young.

We remember sage dad, who you discover in young adulthood when you figure out how much time, cost and sacrifice it takes to raise a family and deprive it nothing. I still can’t figure out how my parents gave us a life I considered to be privileged given their modest paychecks.

I now see a man in full. In full control, in full blossom at the height of his influence.

Dad has always made a living with a steady pair of hands and a strong back.

He’s a retired S.C. National Guardsman and a retired textile worker. Before that he was an active-duty Marine, who served a combat tour in Vietnam. You know, guys like him can’t sit down. In retirement, he picked up a job doing janitorial and maintenance work for the Greenville County School system. His latest assignment is at Greer High School.

Keeps him busy. Keeps him surrounded by young people and optimism.

Keeps him in front of children who benefit from seeing a dad in full.

At school, Leroy Chapman Sr. is an example of a present, caring father for hundreds of kids. We live in an age where too many children are estranged from their fathers, who never experience care and affection from an elder male.

When he’s not working, he’s at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in West Greenville. He’s president of the Male Chorus, which celebrated an anniversary last week. He’s a past president of the deacon board. And true to his personality, he’s a consummate “glue guy”— he works to keep it all together, no matter the task, no matter the ask.

A considerable amount of his time there is spent feeding the poor, mentoring youth and housing the elderly.

So while I oversee teams of journalists who support the Deep South’s largest newspaper, I’m convinced that I am not as influential as he is.

I can touch a few keys and shout at the world.

But I don’t think that measures up to someone who has dedicated themselves to touching people – in person, face to face.

It underscores one of the most valuable lessons my dad has taught me, one I’ve passed along to my boys.

There is one thing a man must do to exert his influence and take his rightful place as a builder, instructor and protector. He’s got to show up.

And at 70, my dad is still showing up.

“Lord has accepted into his presence and good and faithful servant.”

Visit Our website: http://www.thechapmaninstitute.com

Visit Our blog: https://www.sowingseedsoffaithblog.wordpress.com

Lets start thinking about making a million dollars and also start thinking about serving a million youth. …

How you can help……….

Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute is a charity on:

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Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute has a online bookstore on Amazon

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If you would like to make a donation to our scholarship funds:

please mail all money orders/cashier checks to

our mailing address is: 559 Thomas Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois, 60440

our telephone number is: 630-739-9660

or email us with your questions

our email is: [email protected]

visit our website: http://www.thechapmaninstitute.com

click on the link below or paste it in your search engine..

If you would like to become a member

Send all membership request to:

The Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute

559 Thomas Road

Bolingbrook, IL 60440

Attn.: Membership Department

If you would like to make a donation to our scholarship funds:

please mail all money orders/cashier checks to

our mailing address is: 559 Thomas Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois, 60440

our telephone number is: 630-739-9660

or email us with your questions

our email is: [email protected]

visit our website: http://www.thechapmaninstitute.com

Visit Our blog: https://www.sowingseedsoffaithblog.wordpress.com

Visit Our websites: https://www.veterans039s-family-first-scholarship-fund

click on the link below or paste it in your search engine.. https://www.pauline-penn-performing-arts-scholarship-fund

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Membership is vital to the growth of an organization. It is the members and supporters that keep our organization prospering towards reaching the needs of the children, youths, and young people we fight for on a daily basis. Whether it is attending a workshop, seminar , or conference, volunteering an hour of your time in one of our offices, or chairing your own committee, it is you that keeps The Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute moving and developing, and we appreciate your interest and commitment in our fight to pursue an adequate education for all, leaving no child behind.

visit our website: http://www.thechapmaninstitute.com

Consider becoming a 2020 “Becoming a Rainbow In A Child’s Life” the stories are often both moving and impressive. Each “Rainbow” can have a BIG impact. We hope you will read how it all works on http://www.thechapmaninstitute.com on our Facebook page, our Twitter page, Path page, Tumblr page, Instagram page and LinkedIn page then respond to this on going challenge. If you have any trouble connecting through our social media sources , email us at: [email protected]

Think about “Becoming a 2020 “Ray Of Sunshine” In A Child’s Life “are often both moving and impressive. Each “Ray Of Sunshine” can have a BIG impact. We hope you will read how it all works on http://www.thechapmaninstitute.com on our Facebook page, our twitter page Path page, Tumblr page and LinkedIn page then respond to this on going challenge. If you have any trouble connecting through our social media sources , email us at: [email protected]

Support us….

Your car….

Send all donation to:

The Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute

559 Thomas Road

Bolingbrook, IL 60440

Attn.: Saving Lives & Changing Lives: One @ a Time

Mr. Echol Chapman, Publisher

“Leroy Nathaniel Chapman, Sr.” Leroy Nathaniel Chapman, Sr. June 11, 1947 - August 28, 2020 A man of purpose and influence…

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casscutting · 4 years

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Author Interview: David Viergutz

I had the pleasure of meeting David (online) by complete chance. I was mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed one night and came across a post from a writer that I follow. He had just finished reading this book with one of the most beautiful covers I’d seen in a while. I read the caption then immediately went to Goodreads to see what this book was about. I was HOOKED from the synopsis and added it to my “Want To Read” list.

I went back and commented on that post, gushing over the cover and saying how I needed to read this book. Sometime after I get a message request from this guy, David Viergutz, I am shit with names until I get to know someone (online and in-person) so it never dawned on me who it was.

But I opened the message and he was saying how he saw my post and offered to send me an e-book in exchange for an honest review and I JUMPED at the chance and I am glad I did. I knew from the first page of his book I was going to love it and I did. I also hoped that he would be down for an interview and I was elated when he said yes.

David is an amazing writer and author and I look forward to seeing his career take off because I know it will. I encourage every one of you to go and get a copy of his books you won’t regret it.

Why don’t we start off with an easy question, why do you tell us who you are and a little about yourself?

So, I’m a bit of an oddball in the writing community, or so I feel. I’m a father of two (15 and 2, yeah…I know…) and a Law Enforcement Officer. I joined the Army straight out of high school and became a LEO shortly after. I had ZERO idea I wanted to be a writer. It wasn’t until my wife came around, about 10 years later, who convinced me I COULD be a writer. It was interesting, she looked at me and said, “Write the damn book!” after we had discussed how I had wanted to write one since I was 12. Like so many others, writing fell to the wayside as work took over.

Besides work, and writing, I’m a personal trainer and have my own business, and I recently dove head-in to leatherwork. I’m still learning, but it’s fun.

My wife is also a LEO and a medical student. I’m just counting down until residency so I can retire at 32 and write full-time, haha.

You are the author of The Box And The Bird a novella that came out in October 2019 as well as The Demonic Compendium a wonderful novel that I've had the pleasure of reading. Can you tell my readers a little about these books?

The Demonic Compendium is my flagship into the world I am writing. I never set out to write a book, I set out to create a universe. Most of my favorite series end so soon and I wish there was more. In writing epic-fantasy, I wanted to make sure this wasn’t an issue for my readers. That being said,

The Box and the Bird is a taste of The Demonic Compendium Universe, also known as The Darkenverse. (Think Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Star Wars Expanded Universe). This book is a fast-paced intense read that follows Samantha Lawson as her husband Richard returns home from a business trip with something terrible. This book ties into the main universe, but is not considered on the main timeline. I offer it free on my website davidviergutz.com.

The Demonic Compendium is my bread and butter and the first of many in the series. While it is epic fantasy, I bring in some elements that I think set it apart. Anti-heros, doom-and-gloom, dread, epic-battles and a fully immersive world. One reader said he felt like he wasn’t just in the story, he was also watching my main character Shaw cast wild demonic-magic and tromp through the castle.

The Demonic Compendium takes place in the wake of a terrible tragedy that has befallen a budding kingdom. We follow Shaw as he is forced to make terrible decisions for the greater good, and hopefully, find his purpose in the process. Not to give too much away, but there’s a reason my personal mantra for writing is:

“The hero doesn’t always win. The good guy doesn’t always get the girl. Things are going to get a lot worse.”

What was your inspiration for these stories, where did the original spark come from?

Well, I truly wrote the book I wanted to read. I thought back to a few captivating moments from what I’ve read and seen in movies and wanted my readers to get chills as they read the epic moments. Think about when Gandalf stands on the bridge with his infamous line. Or King Leonidas when he boots the emissary into the hole. Or when the Red Ranger screams “Tyrannosaurs!” I wanted a book FILLED with those moments, so I focused on those big events, and built a world to fit it.

The Demonic Compendium is the first book in your debut series, how many books do you have planned for the series altogether?

It’s hard to say. I’ve purchased covers for three additional books, as well as a novella from the same timeline following another lead character. As long as my readers love it, I’ll keep writing it. That said, I have a new series flagship releasing this year in the urban-fantasy genre.

Steering away from the book related questions. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I spoke above about my wife giving me inspiration to write this particular book, and get to the end of it, but my overall spark came when I was about 10 years old. I carried a black notebook with a home-made floppy-disk holder on the inside cover. I’d write my story paragraphs out, then read them to my friends and transfer them to the floppy disk.

This was my art, because I had failed art…I couldn’t connect two dots, I would have just eaten the crayon because I thought the assignment was stupid. I find my ability to write is a carry over from my ability to speak, so I stuck with what I was good at.

From idea to publication about how long does it take you to write a book?

Planning and plotting are about a solid two weeks (part time, a few hours a night). After that, my pace is a steady 1000 words an hour. On a good day (I’m married with kids remember) I can pump out 10k if I’m left alone. Most of my books are planned and plotted for 100k, minus the novellas. So, math aside, I’d say 30 days. I wouldn’t say a month, because life likes to drop a dragon in my living room. Now that I have my business processes down, 30 days is an accurate guess. When writing TDC, I had to learn the business, hire a cover artist, formatter, etc, so that delayed my process.

Both of your current books are indie published why did you choose to go this route and not the traditional one?

I love working for myself, and as I see my books as my art, I am reluctant to give that up. I’m very much a self-made-man, and I feel when my writing is loved and only my own efforts are responsible, it’s just that much sweeter when I make a single sale.

Which authors inspired you to write?

This is a tough one, as a lot of authors I enjoy have a lot of overlap. I prefer their methods instead of just their stories so I’ll mention those. From Dean Koontz, I loved The Husband for the mind-bending twist. Michael Crichton for the adventures in Jurassic Park, and Garth Nix for his epic magic in The Abhorsen Series.

What is the best writing advice you’ve heard?

Write the story you want to read. You don’t need to please everyone; you just need to please your fans.

Can you tell us about your writing process? What’s a typical writing day for you?

I’m a musically motivated to write. When I sit down at my desk, I make sure the music I’m listening to matches what’s happening in the story. There cannot be any words however, it must feel like I’ve got my own theme-song as I narrate on paper what I’m seeing in my mind.

My process is that of a plotter. I start with my epic moments, then think about who I want to be a part of them, then build in my what-if statements.

What-if a dragon lands in my living room? What-if it looks terrifying?

Now, I’m forced to answer my own questions with more plotting.

And then it seems to be entirely confused. And then it has crippling self-esteem issues.

I then arrange these series of thoughts into an outline, expand on them, and use that to write pages.

If the perfected productive writing day existed what would it look like for you?

I’m an easy fellow. 5:00 AM-6:59 AM workout. 7:00 AM-7:59 AM post-workout shake, shower, get ready, chores at home. 8:00 AM-11:59 AM in the office with hot coffee. 12:00-12:44 PM break to warm up meals and walk around neighborhood. 12:45-3:45, edit what I just wrote 4:00PM-5:00 PM, marketing, social media and business functions. 5:01-8:00 PM family time to include dinner. 8:01-11:00 PM, read, more writing or hobbies.

Why do you write?

Because I can’t afford to pay an author to write books exactly how I want to read them. I love my own stories.

What is the hardest thing about being a writer?

Okay besides the usual gripe that I hear/read people hear/write about, self-esteem, doubt, anxiety, introverts, socially awkward etc.…

How about the fact that we’re trying to make money on a commodity that has fallen to social media, instant gratification, and the digital age? The average e-book sells for $2.99. That’s a lot of books to sell just to fill the gas-tank.

What are you currently working on?

Book Two of The Demonic Compendium: The Queen of Duska Cereal of Third City: A novella from the TDC series timeline

The Bullet Board: An action packed urban-fantasy heist.

Lastly, what is the best advice you can offer someone who dreams of one day being an author?

Fake it until you make it. Undoubtedly you know something I don’t about writing, even if you’ve only written a Facebook post. You are the expert of YOUR stories. Stop looking for validation from others on how THEY would change YOUR story.

If they don’t like your story, they can write their own. Give yourself some credit and when you’ve finish something, anything, show it off, and be proud, it’s your art.

Author Links: Website Instagram Twitter Goodreads Facebook

Book Links: Goodreads Amazon

Question of the day:

If you could ask your favorite author a question what would it be?

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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What Makes The Expanse a Truly International Show

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We talked to the cast and creators behind The Expanse about bringing such a global story to the Amazon platform.

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When The Expanse Season 4 launches on Amazon in December, the science fiction drama based on the bestselling series of books by James S.A. Corey will be available in the "same" place around the world for the first time ever as an Amazon Global Original.

Previously, The Expanse aired on Syfy in the United States, streamed on Amazon Prime domestically, and was available internationally via Netflix, with all of those release dates coming at different times. When Amazon swooped in to save The Expanse after Syfy cancelled it after three seasons, that not only meant we would get more of one of the best and most vital shows on TV, it also meant that, moving forward, this story would be made available to multiple countries closer to the same time.

Prime Video, as it is sometimes known, launched globally in 2016, becoming available in more than 200 countries and territories. This is in addition to the more than 100 million people in the U.S. who have access to Amazon Prime Video, according to a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners survey.

While The Expanse has always been a show that works to include diverse perspectives and tell a story about what outward expansion would look like not just for the United States or the western world, but for the entirety of the human race, this is particularly true heading into Season 4, based off the events of Corey's Cibola Burn. When we catch back up with the crew of the Roci, they will be setting off on a U.N. mission to explore the new worlds beyond the Ring Gates, the first step of a new world for humanity, which is now faced with the opportunity to explore thousands of Earth-like planets.

read more: The Expanse Season 4 — What's Next For Naomi & Amos?

Den of Geek was part of a group of reporters who had the chance to chat with the cast and creative team behind The Expanse about the move to Amazon and what makes The Expanse such an international show.

"Whether we succeeded or not, it was always the intention to not have the American experience of space, you know, the mandate was always the show cannot be white guys in space," says Ty Franck, one half of the writing team known as James S.A. Corey who writes the books and serves as an executive producer on the show.

"Because of that [mandate]," says Franck, "we always sort of tried to write to as many different audiences as we could. Hopefully we succeed more than we fail, that's always the intention. And I think, you get people in other countries, they see themselves on screen, and we're talking about issues that are true worldwide and not just true here."

Franck's writing partner and fellow executive producer Daniel Abraham noted that, in writing The Expanse book series, the authors drew from historical precedent and not just American or western examples. Because "history rhymes," Abraham said, this has led to the books and TV show feeling not only internationally-relevant, but also extremely topical, with The Expanse showrunner Naren Shankar adding that modern parallels to the experiences the characters go through in the series are often discussed in the writers room, using the Syrian refugee crisis and Prax's experience as a refugee as one example.

read more: Why We Need The Expanse More Than Ever

"It was always a part of the project," says Abraham, speaking about the books' diverse cast of characters that is also maintained in the show. "When we were talking about it, the mandate of the books was to be as rich, as diverse and the full as our lived experience of world and doing less than that seems weird. So as long as the show was as complex as like a teaching hospital, we win."

"And everybody is, you know, first and foremost human," adds Shankar, "which means, they're good and they're bad. There are violent people and kind people on every side of the factions in terms of Earth, Mars, and the Belt, of every color and every gender. It's like... they're people. And that's what people are."

While it's important to note that The Expanse is an American TV series filmed in Canada and based on a series of novels written by two Americans, it also includes an incredibly diverse cast who hail from around the world themselves. We spoke to some of them about what makes The Expanse an international show and what the move to Amazon could mean for the show's ability to start conversations and encourage change.

read more: The Expanse Season 5 Confirmed

"I am very excited about the fact that they are on Amazon because this is a global show," says Dominique Tipper, who plays Belter and Roci crew member Naomi. "It's very allegorical and I think not many of the people see themselves in the characters, but they see themselves in the situations that the characters find themselves in."

Tipper, who is half-Domincan, half British and grew up East London, hopes that The Expanse finds a broader audience now that it is on Amazon. "I'm really excited that we are now with somebody who has the kind of weight that Amazon does. Because I think the show is worthy of that in what it represents across the board."

"I just want it to go further," Tipper says. "I wonder if the little kids that grew up how a lot of us on the show grew up have seen it yet. I don't know if they have and I didn't know what it would do for them. I hope it would empower them, and I'm really interested in that and I'm interested in using the show as a vehicle for that—not only for it to be seen as art, but maybe we can use it as some kind of vehicle for outreach in the communities that we represent because I don't really see the point of it otherwise. So I think we're going to start working on that."

I am half Dominican & half British & like so many of the BAME faces you see on your UK AND US TV screens, WE are descendants of the Windrush generation. The Windrush generation have as much right to be here in the UK as any one else. Please support this cause! @AllWindrush %u2764%uFE0F pic.twitter.com/fXVa2aj8N1

— Dominique Tipper (@Mi55Tipper) May 23, 2018

Frankie Adams, a New Zealand-Samoan actress who plays Martian Bobbie Draper, is proud to be an example of a Pacific Islander on TV, but notes that she is one of only few examples across film and television.

"There's not really many of us that are going active on the world stage, " says Adams, who was born in Samoa and grew up in New Zealand, "and the only person I can think of that I saw when I was younger was Lilo from Lilo & Stitch and her big sister, and that was great, but there was never anybody that I saw that I was like, 'Oh my god, that's me,' you know?"

read more: The Expanse Book 8 Review — Tiamat's Wrath

Adams spoke about the privilege of having the opportunity to be that for other women, saying: "I definitely experience that with women in New Zealand, Australia, and in the Pacific Islands where they've gone, 'Oh, like Frankie's doing it, that's so awesome.' It just gives them so much hope and I think it's such a wonderful thing to do for young women."

The only photo I got at the wrap party. You%u2019re welcome. pic.twitter.com/Wt5d1htlLd

— Frankie Adams (@ffrankieadams) January 28, 2019

"The show is about the people of the world," says Iranian-American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, who plays U.N. Secretary-General Chrisjen Avasarala on The Expanse. "It should have been on Amazon from Day One. If it's about the people of the world it should be shown to the people of the world."

Aghdashloo says that, prior to the Amazon switch, she would have to tape the show and send it to her brothers and mother, who live in the U.K., to watch.

"Now, they get to watch it simultaneously," says Aghdashloo. "These game-changers can change everything, it's just incredible, unbelievable that the whole world gets to watch this show and see what is happening in this future world. Which they keep calling it science fiction and I keep saying there's nothing fiction about it anymore, this is what is happening in today's world."

Cas Anvar, who plays Martian and Roci crew member Alex, was born in Canada to Iranian parents. He spoke to Den of Geek about the importance of the organic diversity of the Expanse world, and how important it is not only for viewers of color, but white audience members as well, to see.

read more: The Expanse Season 4 Reveals Release Date, Footage at SDCC

"It's not just as important for the kids of color and the women of color and the paint color to see themselves," Anvar says. "It's also equally important for the people who are not of color to see these people in those positions so that they can go, 'That's normal.'"

"I think it's only fitting because it is such a global narrative," says Steven Strait, who plays Holden, of the move to Amazon. "We were in Europe recently and we went through Germany and we met people from France and all over that part of the world. And it's remarkable how universal the story is."

Strait said he was struck by the fact that, even though the source material was written beginning almost 10 years ago, the story feels so relevant to what's happening now.

"I think we do have a globalized world," Strait says, "and a lot of the issues we deal with in the show sociopolitically and what not are mirrored all over the place: the things we're dealing with in the States are similar things they are dealing with, Europe which are similar things they're dealing with, Asia. It's a universal human narrative."

The Expanse Season 3 Reviews | The Expanse Season 2 Reviews

For Strait and the other cast members, The Expanse represents not only a chance to tell an important story, but starts important discussions.

"The show really reflects the current state of affairs and how intimately it shows what the repercussions of those things are across borders," says Strait. "[Science fiction] is a genre that really lends itself to allegory and using allegory in very powerful way. One of the things I'm most proud of on this show is that, in a time where things are really divided and it's very difficult to communicate across partisan lines or social lines or whatever... art can manage to bridge a divide and you can spark conversations out there that maybe wouldn't be had otherwise. If you mask the names and times, and things like that, that allow it to be more digestible. I think it's one of the things I'm most proud of about this show. The work feels important."

The Expanse Season 4 will return on December 13th on Amazon. The show has already been greenlit for a fifth season.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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duaneodavila · 5 years

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Highly Agile Team Training: It’s A Jungle Out There

As much as I bemoan the inevitable spring arrival of our fresh-faced consultants (shameless plug: check out “Baby-Birds: A Care and Feeding Guide for In-House Counsel”), I can usually find a way to insulate myself from their never-ending fountain of theoretical opportunities for efficiency. What I can’t seem to duck is the quasi-mandatory trainings with outside consultants. You know the ones I’m talking about, the perky Stepford types who come armed with their seasoned smiles, personality quizzes, and pop-psychology theories that are targeted at making you a better version of your corporate self.

Since my company apparently signed up for one of those “consultants of the month” clubs and hasn’t figured out to how to quit yet, I’ve been subjected to quite a few of these. To date, I’m a blue INTJ eagle with reformer and Ravenclaw tendencies who is best suited to being a lawyer, reality television producer, or honey badger patronus. Thank goodness, I paid attention on career day in high school. I just don’t have the stomach for 90 Day Fiancé.

These days, I apparently also don’t have much of a stomach for consultants peddling what I can only describe as the “it’s so obvious, I can’t believe we’re paying good money for this” method.

Enter Highly Agile Team training. Allow me to summarize the three tenets of this method which will purportedly make you better suited to be a part of such a team.

Point one: Show up on time to meetings. End the damned things on time.

Point two: Set an agenda for said meetings. Send out the damned thing in advance of meeting so people have time to read it.

Point three: Be honest, open, and truthful (or, to use one of my new favorite, not at all an HR issue, acronyms — H.O.T. Yeah, that’s right. Go forth and be H.O.T.)

There, I just saved you half a million dollars in consulting fees.

Here’s the jaw-dropping part (okay, I grant you that the price tag is pretty jaw dropping in itself, but wait, there’s more): the business lapped this up like they’d never heard of such radical, outlandish behavior. Imagine, being punctual and prepared for a meeting, and saying what you mean instead of saying one thing at the meeting and dissecting it like an episode of Thrones the minute the meeting is over. What novelty! We could change the world! Or as I like to think of it, we could all be attorneys!

Seriously, I sat there watching my internal team members scribbling notes in their H.O.T.-branded notepads and gazing up at the consultants like they’d just cracked the code for calorie-free pizza. I started to wonder if maybe I’d grown too hard, too cynical, too unwilling to appreciate fresh perspective when it was offered.

And then the consultant wrote asses on the white board instead of assesses. So, no then.

I will say this for Arthur, consultant extraordinaire and purveyor of Highly Agile Team training and all things H.O.T., he could read the crowd well enough to know there were more than a few doubtful faces (thank you Quality and Safety VP). It didn’t take him long, but Arthur eventually narrowed his consultant’s gaze on me, taking on his most professorial tone.

“You read skeptical to me,” he says. “Crossed arms and closed off posture are body language symptoms indicating I don’t have your full buy-in.”

Instead of pointing out that body language symptoms make it sound like I have the fever and chills and in dire need of a decongestant, I offer Arthur a broad smile. “Oh no,” I say breezily, “I’m really enjoying this session. I just should have brought a cardigan with me.”

He eyes me, debating whether to move on and let it go or try and use me as some sort of shame-based teaching moment. He goes for the latter.

“So, Kay,” he says, squinting at my name placard, “how would you assess your H.O.T. behaviors? On a scale of one to 10.”

“I’m a solid eight, Arthur.” I know, I know. I’m a total 10 and so are you, dear reader. At least when compared with my seatmate, Andy from Sales, who I’m pretty sure hasn’t been able to find an open and honest conversation with two hands and a flashlight since the Reagan administration. But I don’t want to invite Arthur to pick on me further. We’re paying this guy by the hour.

“Pretty confident in your assessment, Kay.”

“She’s definitely an eight,” pipes up Randy from R&D. Thanks, buddy. I’ve never been so thankful to be described as an eight in my life.

“She’s the lawyer,” Jim from Finance adds.

Sensing a fellow bullshit artist, Arthur withdraws and declines to make eye contact with me for the remainder of the morning session. Smart move, Art. Smart move.

Once we’ve all had a turn assessing our H.O.T. behaviors (and that’s assess, friends, not asses), we move on to the part of training that everyone loathes — role playing. I brace myself as Arthur dutifully proceeds to move small teams through conflict-resolution role scenarios that are frankly as pleasurable as a root canal when the anesthesia has worn off.

Still, I learn a few things from watching my fellow business partners struggle. This is tough stuff for them. They don’t want to be blunt. They don’t want to have the difficult conversations. They don’t want to be perceived as anything other than amiable team players. And that’s where we add value. We’re not afraid of conflict — conflict and resolution is what we do best. We know that when two parties are motivated enough, there’s always a path forward, even if it means cutting our way through a jungle of barbs and ankle-turning twists to find it.

Hours later and sick to death of role playing, we reach the pinnacle of our H.O.T.ness. We use our newly acquired skills to look inward and decide … what animal would I be in the corporate jungle? Seriously, I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment, since as you regular readers know, I love to wax poetic in these columns as to my trials and tribulations in the in-house jungle.

My business partners pick solid, if predictable picks: Lions (courageous leaders), cheetahs (fast and agile), and monkeys (fun and clever). Bless the Quality and Safety VP who deadpans that he’s the baboon from The Lion King, a little wild-haired and crazy, but generally in the right.

Warily, Arthur turns to me. “What about you, Kay?”

“I’m an African honey bee,” I say sweetly.

“A honey bee?” He doesn’t want to ask, but he just can’t help himself. “Please elaborate.”

“I’m a hard-working team player with just a bit of a sting when needed.” Actually, what I really want to do is have my watershed Network moment here and tell him I’m the one-eyed crocodile you never see coming, rising from the murk to rid the corporate watering hole of the weak all in the name of keeping the company herd strong. I don’t say this, mind you, because I like my job and it’s easier to do my job if my business people think I’m a nice person. Or at least a useful person who can help them navigate their way out of the jungle to yes.

I do get at least one other unexpected joy out of this particular training. I get to decide what jungle animal Arthur (and others of his ilk) would be. After much deliberation, I settle on the majestic capybara. Not because I have any idea what their function is in the jungle, but because they are the largest of the rodent species.

Kay Thrace (not her real name) is a harried in-house counsel at a well-known company that everyone loves to hate. When not scuffing dirt on the sacrosanct line between business and the law, Kay enjoys pub trivia domination and eradicating incorrect usage of the Oxford comma. You can contact her by email at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @KayThrace.

Highly Agile Team Training: It’s A Jungle Out There republished via Above the Law

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notjustagirltattoopodcast · 4 years

Text

Not Just A Girl: Literary Ink

You can listen to the third episode with Jennifer Edge here. Or you can view the footage of this interview on YouTube with English subtitles/closed captions here.

NOT JUST A GIRL: Tattoo Podcast

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Season 1, Episode 3: Literary Ink

Eddy: [00:00:00] Hello friends and welcome to not just to go the tattoo podcast where every week I give you a glimpse into the lives and art practice of some of my favourite people in tattooing. I'm Eddy, and for the third episode of not just to girl, we'll be discussing keeping busy in lockdown, tattoo conventions and Harry Potter fandom.

Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are the traditional custodians of this land that was stolen and never ceded. I am honored to be on the ancestral land of the Awabakal people. I pay my respect to their Elders past and present and extend my recognition to their descendants.

Our guest [00:01:00] today is the wonderful Jennifer edge all the way from Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is the co-owner of Main Line Ink and known for her colorful watercolor and abstract tattoos. She's also the mastermind behind my favorite convention. Literary Ink. I had the great pleasure of meeting Jen last year when I attended the convention for the first time. And I've honestly never felt more welcome at a tattoo event then I did there

Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to be here. It's always so good to chat to you. How are you doin?

Jennifer: [00:01:40] I'm great. I appreciate you asking me on the show and thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoy our show Literary Ink because it is one of my favorite things to do.

Eddy: [00:01:50] It's honestly so good. It's funny cause I was like thinking about doing this podcast for a little while, but I was a bit scared because I have no idea what [00:02:00] I'm doing, but when I got to be on your podcast, your Literary Ink podcast a few weeks back that's so much fun. That it really gave me the kick I needed to do this. So thank you for inspiring me.

Jennifer: [00:02:14] You're welcome. And I still don't know what I'm doing. Help. Um, but it is something that's a lot of fun. I'm glad. I'm glad you jumped on board with that. A lot of the creatives right now with us being stuck at home. It's becoming a chance to see what outlets we are wanting to try. I want to dabble in this. I want to dip over there and that, let me see how colorful this can be. I'm going to totally do my work backwards of what I normally do. I think it's been awesome to see everybody kind of rising up in their areas and just testing out the waters and just, I don't know, not even really testing just like full on belly flopping in there. It's been great.

Eddy: [00:02:51] Absolutely, well I mentioned before that you're the creator of Literary Ink which for our [00:03:00] listeners is a Harry Potter themed Convention. How did that come about and how did you make it so big?

Jennifer: [00:03:08] Um, as for the making it big, that was a liquid luck. I drank it right before the convention, and that's what happened there. Um, actually the, how it came about, um, uh, the, the real story behind it was, um, my business partner now, Danny Siviter, he's the other co-owner of my Main Line. We were talking about possibly doing a convention, and I started talking about theme in a convention, and then at the same time I was wanting to get tattooed by one particular person, and he never really came near the East coast. And I was afraid of flying at the time, but in the past two and a half years because of Literary Ink, and he can because of Explorer Tattoo Conference, my happy but has been on several, several planes. So I got over that real quick. But, um, I wanted to get tattooed by Jonathan Penchoff, which on Instagram is [00:04:00] earth grasper. And he is one of the biggest Harry Potter fans out there. And I was like. How do we get him here? How do we talk? Oh my gosh. We have to have a Harry Potter themed tattoo convention. Just kidding y'all. It's wizardry. Please Warner Brothers and J K Rowling they don't endorse us don't come sue me. Wizardry tattoo convention.

But yes, that was at the beginning. That was my goal. I'm going to make this show. That's the Harry Potter theme, just so I can get this guy to come tattoo me, so I don't have to fly to him.

Eddy: [00:04:31] I can't believe you started a convention just to get tattooed.

Jennifer: [00:04:34] Well, you know, and then the other thought is if the convention worked out well, you can get tattooed by all your favorites. It's all, but that was kind of the loose, what started it? And, uh, I jumped in, I belly flopped. Um, uh, I was just like, Oh, it's only gonna cost this much. This isn't that big of a deal.

No, it was a little different, a little bit more than I expected. Um, but as for [00:05:00] how it grew, uh, the first year we were really lucky, like, you know what I mean? With that being said, you say Harry Potter theme, people get excited, which is awesome. And that's what we were looking for. We had gotten a very, very small hotel, which was kind of the biggest hotel space we could get for everybody, but there were only like 50 booths.

So we didn't think, you know, we're just like I'm telling Danny. I'm like, maybe 20 people will sign up and come. It'll be okay. But, uh, a few people noticed it then the diehard Harry Potter fans got involved and they showed up. And a lot of them just were really, you know, big name folks, and a lot of folks were just really awesome, huge Harry Potter fans, and it was just an eclectic mix of really different folks and it was just really awesome.

Eddy: [00:05:45] The Harry Potter fans are definitely a separate kind of people like we are the ultimate nerds i think.

Jennifer: [00:05:55] I agree with you because most Harry Potter fans are both, they, they've watched the movies, they've [00:06:00] watched the books. They do have their favorites. They have their favorite movie. They have their favorite book. They have how they like to watch them. How, you know, one one thing. I love watching them during Christmas. They always, most of the time came out around there. So that's kind of embedded in my brain. Um. Yeah, it's, it's one of those fandoms that it, she just did so well. She did well, not so much sometimes on what she says on Twitter, but she did well with showing you how to get through crisis, how to get through being alone, how to get through all of us, get bullied like everybody, even the bully gets bullied and how you choose to live your life, I guess. I feel like she kind of just. She brought out a good Luke Skywalker character. We hadn't had one of those in a minute. Just I'm going to do good for the sake of doing good.

Eddy: [00:06:46] I think the fandoms really taken the concepts behind it and ran with it and made it something else like I think she's not even relevant in it anymore, a little bit. We've just [00:07:00] made it this whole wonderful universe of accepting and loving and like kindness and community.

Jennifer: [00:07:07] And dirty with some of that fanfiction that's out there. I've heard about that. You guys, there's some crazy shit out there. I've read some of it.

Eddy: [00:07:17] Well like talking about like I guess the themes of Harry Potter, I found that you know, that whole idea of like, love and kindness, friendship and stuff that carried across into the convention because it was hands down the most inclusive convention I've ever attended. Um, and like, what stood out to me was. How welcome everyone seemed to feel. And I certainly felt incredibly welcome. And, um, I also didn't feel like objectified, or I feel like as a woman I was separate as I have felt at [00:08:00] other conventions. Was that a part of your goal or is that just something that came about because of who you are?

Jennifer: [00:08:06] Um, uh, another fun story and to just throw out there, uh, we, we got our first 30 people in after the first year. Like we opened up the first year, we've sent out all these invitations and we got our first 30 people in, and my wife was like, do you see what's happening? And I'm like, Oh my God, yes, they're all Hufflepuffs. and Jessica goes, no, they're all women. And it kinda hit me a little then. I think sometimes it still strikes me as Holy cow, but our convention is about 70 to 80% women. Um, and our tattoo industry as a whole is 80% men, so 20% women. So it wasn't intentional in the beginning, but it's, it's. It's a theme that has carried on and carried over. Um, women are the first people to sign up. I mean, every time we've sent out the invites and just, that's, that's no kiddig and like everybody's on [00:09:00] board. They are getting their, their seat. And that's been a big part of it. The other thing is, um, I was, uh, I was at the Explorer Tattoo Conference women's summit in California this last year and I was talking to them about their numbers too. And the women's summit was open to anyone, like five guys showed up. And I'm proud to say that one of the guys from my shop was there, and another one would have been, but he just got his wife in town. I only have two guys at the shop, but you know, the support that was going on there and just seeing kind of what was happening and you know, hearing from the presenters there and the owners, you know, women are the first people to buy seats.

It's like right now we're, we're in our industry and we have a hunger for knowledge. We have a desire to get where we're wanting to go, and we're really pushing forward with that. And you know, there are a bunch of guys out there who are super awesome and they're helping facilitate this ride. And I think that's something that's great. And you, you see them as for some of the other crazier stuff that's happened in the past. I think those [00:10:00] things are being moved now. They, you know, everything is being shifted. People are watching.

Eddy: [00:10:05] Yeah, absolutely. I think our allies are understanding the importance of the role they need to play that they do need to be more vocal and to come forward with their support of marginalized groups but like it is, it's a little sad that there were only five men who showed up to the women's summit. Like, we've got things to say too.

Jennifer: [00:10:28] I agree. I think there were transgender people who showed up, so I thought that was really awesome too. I mean, it's, they're wanting everything to be open and kind of moving forward. And I think that, you know, at times it's still a an interesting industry at times. It's still, you know, seeing the places where some people think you should be. And I have been very, very lucky. Um, I've heard some crazy stories from women that it never touched me that way. I mean, have I been made to feel uncomfortable? Yes. Had I been outright touched, groped, or [00:11:00] pushed down or done something bad to, no? And some of the people that I've heard have had God awful stories.

Eddy: [00:11:05] Yeah.

Jennifer: [00:11:06] Um, you know, the guys that I worked with, they were just a bunch of dirty, dirty jokes and at the same time, like I know that if anybody ever came in and offended me or said something about me being a lesbian, they would have taken up. And that's been almost every shop I've worked in. Like I've been lucky though. I've only had three shops and the third one was the one I opened. So, um, you know, that experience and kind of going through those bits has been wild to hear. And getting in front of all these women who are coming to Literary Ink and you can getting these stories. I'm sitting there going, Oh my gosh, that happened. And they're like, well, yeah, more than once. If, and I'm just flabbergasted. But you know, I don't know.

Eddy: [00:11:45] That whats good about Literary though because the way you present yourself on Instagram and the way that you present Literary Ink is that it is inclusive and safe. So you know, those of us in the industry who maybe haven't had such [00:12:00] pleasant experiences. We look at what you're doing with that and go, Oh, I'm going to be okay if I go there. I'm going to be welcome, and no one's going to grope me or take weird pictures of me from like up skirt angles, you know, like all of the kinds of things that happen at conventions.

Jennifer: [00:12:16] I'm pretty sure if something like that happened. We've had a couple of undercover officers at both the shows. We never told anybody, so there's always been somebody around, and I've had a lot of the people who are on the doors, they're very aware. Um, I think, I think I would have a big cow, if anything did like that, like that happened. It would be taken care of immediately, but it's weird the show's a little different. I think that, you know most Harry Potter fans, most people who read the books, who watched the movies, who put so much time and devotion into learning more about it and then putting it into their art. Like, you know the folks we invited, I found them off of Hogwarts tattoo on Instagram. I found them off of hashtags where I was just looking and found them on Instagram. And just how many Harry Potter tattoos and wizardry tattoos have they done [00:13:00] to see that. And when you're doing that, you also get a good, good look at how somebody, like you said, if you've looked at somebody's Instagram and you know there's 45 pages of something you don't want to read, you're not going to, you're not going to go back and see past five of those posts or whatever. But if you're like, Oh my gosh, and this person is doing stuff like, you know, raising money for the homeless, and Oh my gosh, this person did cat donations. It's awesome to see the good in the world and do your best to pluck that out and put it all in one place for a weekend.

Eddy: [00:13:28] We have, we're very fortunate being artists and being on instagram where we have a platform to reach people and do good work. You know, we can do fundraisers. You know, we can spread kindness, love. Even just encourage other people to spread kindness and love. You know, again, that's what I found at Literary Ink, like how I made more friends at that convention than I've ever made at any tattoo event ever. And they're people I still talk to a year later [00:14:00] and will probably continue to talk to, especially the Hogwash crew.

Jennifer: [00:14:05] Yeah, they're crazy. I had Chelsea on the podcast last week, and she goes, do you realize that Hogwash American had all these people from overseas in it? And Hogwash London had all these people who weren't, and I was like, shit. But, uh, that's a fun group to talk about. And, and yeah, we've been the last few podcasts, we've had a chance to talk a little bit about all of that. So.

Eddy: [00:14:38] That's so good

Jennifer: [00:14:39] It was a fun one. She burned some Sage. We talked about exercise and death eaters. We talked a little bit about the documentary coming up, or we hinted at it. We didn't talk much about it. Um, we hinted at it and, uh, you know, we just talked about year one and year two and it being what it is. You know? I think that that's the other [00:15:00] thing, Chelsea, from the very get go, like before the show even opened, she goes, you don't know what you got. And I was like, what do you mean? She goes, you don't know what you got. And I'm like, okay, um, I feel like this, this, this pause, you know, it was 12 days before the show happened and it got stopped. And this pause has kind of allowed me to really take a break. Like I put it off the shelf or I put it on the shelf.

I put, I put, I put this box that literary was in on the shelf for a few minutes and, or about a month and a half. And just kind of napped and painted and just didn't think about work. And, uh, I think it was a much needed break. That's allowed me to get to a really cool refocus. I cannot wait until three and three quarters y'all, it's going to be awesome.

Eddy: [00:15:45] That must've been pretty intense. Like, you know, we've all been affected by the COVID crisis in different ways that you literally had to cancel an entire convention of [00:16:00] international artists, at the very last minute. Thats insane.

Jennifer: [00:16:01] Put the lemon juice on top of it Eddy-Lou, what the heck. Ouch Yeah, it was difficult. And it's funny cause I've chatted with some people and one lady was just like, it was awesome. She's like, could you imagine if we all had it? And then one of the tattoo wizards would've died and I was like, Oh my God, yes, that's so fucked up. But anyway. Um, it was funny. I thought it was really, I mean, it was, it was funny, but not really, um, in the overall sense of, I think that everything happens for a reason and sometimes we're just meant to. Um, especially now, like how long everybody that I've talked to has not ever taken this long and not tattooing as a forced break, as a normal break. And I tattoo, um, this week I get a tattoo this week. The day that I go back, it will literally be 60 days from the last day that I tattooed. And, um, I'm, I've been [00:17:00] telling everybody in the group, don't worry, we haven't forgotten what we're doing. It's, we're going to go back. It's just like riding a bike and I'm just excited. It's not even like I'm nervous. I'm like, I cannot wait to draw on you and tattoo you and sit there and our facial mask and all of our gloves and our bubonic plague spray, it's going to be great.

Eddy: [00:17:18] Its gonna be different and like this whole thing must've been really different for you because I think you're one of the hardest working people I know. When I, when I was like, with you guys in Chattanooga for a week, I don't think I saw you even sit down like at all. It was constant, like just constant. You're like a windup toy who gets wound up every like five minutes or something, Yeah, like and always on instagram, painting, with your coffe, with your wife in the background building something. You never stop. You needed this.

Jennifer: [00:17:58] I'll have to add you to the coffee club. You'll have to argue, are you a coffee drinker and more [00:18:00] of a tea person,

Eddy: [00:18:01] But when you're drinking coffee ready for bed.

Jennifer: [00:18:05] Doesn't matter. You tag yours in at my bedtime and we'll be like, look, she finally, finally joined. We're good. The coffee club has been another thing that has been one of my favorites. I've actually made, um, uh, stories on my, on my, my, my main page so you can watch all of them. Um, Jessica and I've started getting a little more fun with them when we do them. Now it's, we did like a tic toc of us drinking coffee the other day, and it's just a few different people that have been reposting their coffee and just saying hello to each other and kind of, you know, sometimes you can't text everybody that you love all the time. So if you see a little coffee text and you've been tagged in it, it's just fun. But yes, during quarantine, I've painted about 27 pieces. I paint fast. It's like I tattoo. There's, it's, I have lots of layers, so there's always about 13 pieces that are drying and I'm swapping them out. [00:19:00] Um, we did one, one thing with, uh, I ended up painting a Bob Ross with Kitty Koniption and Azha. And that was a blast to the point now where I'm like, I would love to do this with the group.

Like, you know, get on zoom, there's like 10 of us and we're all painting the same Bob Ross. Um, it was so much fun. Yeah, it was just crazy. And you know, it doesn't have to be perfect. Mine did not look like his photo at all. And then I ended up adding the, uh, the Ford from, from Harry Potter to it. And I'm like, I'm going to do all my Bob Ross's and then I'm going to put my fandom shit in it just for fun. Um, but you know, it's, it's been great. It's, I haven't painted in a year and a half, so getting back to it, I call, that's been probably one of the most amazing things. Me and my wife, uh, she actually planted and did all this crazy shit for the garden, but I keep telling everybody, we did a garden, she did a garden.

I'm going to eat from the garden. We redid our studio. Um, yes, I am busy, but at the same time, I keep myself there so I don't get to some crazy ass place that I can't come [00:20:00] out of. Um, I did take four days and stayed on the couch and had four days of, I just can't get up. I just can't paint. I just can't podcast. But, um, you know, I pulled myself out of it. We're all allowed a moment. We all need a moment. So.

Eddy: [00:20:17] Well thats the biggest thing I've learnt coming out of this that it's okay to take a moment when you need it if you want it. You know, there's no shame in working your ass off if that's what feels good for you. But there's no shame in doing absolutely nothing.

Jennifer: [00:20:33] Exactly. And I will, and that's something too, like I have a bigger appreciation because you know, you talk about being a workaholic like I am. I know you are too. But those four days on the couch when I just couldn't get up, you know, I have friends who are, who have told me I just have a hard time and I can't get up. And I'm like, I don't understand. Just just work it out. And those four days, I was like, I get it. You know? And I, and I have a bigger appreciation or a better understanding of [00:21:00] sometimes you just can't get up and that's, that's okay. It's do what is comfortable for you. That's what life's about right.

Eddy: [00:21:04] At the end of the day you know all of these ideas of how we have to achieve things or productivity, they're external, it's really got nothing to do with art. And yeah, I mean, for me personally, I'm not a religious person. So for me, life is just about finding joy in any moment and doing what feels good for you. As long as you never had another human and or animal. Even like anything, just be nice and friendly and don't hurt anyone.

Jennifer: [00:21:40] I think that's a good way. Um, I keep telling everybody, I'm a big fan of the golden rule. My grandmother raised me up, do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. And I think until you understand that or get a true appreciation for it. I have so much more joy in trying to help out other people and doing things that [00:22:00] just, you know, puts a smile on somebody else's face whether they know you did it or not. It's, it's an amazing thing to be helpful to just, you know, kind of do more cause people don't, um, do enough. Uh, I've always preached, I think the good people need to get a little gooder. And the people who weren't so great need to be better. Um, we have a lot going on in the world and, you know, and, and now even more, like I was saying that last year, we have so much going on in our world because of things in our presidency. And, um. We now have COVID and you know, the bubonic plague that we've been stuck in and it's, it's forced us to take this break. I think it's forced us to see a lot of things about ourselves. Um, a lot of things about our partners if you have one or you know, your kids, even like, I've talked to a lot of people who, you know, tattoo artists, clients who just been like, they're different struggles and stories you know we're all going through this together. We're all having our ups and downs with it. But at the end of the day. We are all [00:23:00] getting through it and that's, that's the part for me where, I mean it is encouraging. We are going to get through it. That is what our race does. We get back up and we push on brute,

Eddy: [00:23:09] We're essentially glorified cockroaches ,

Jennifer: [00:23:15] So can Cher . The apocalypse it'll be Cher and the cockroaches. I'm good with it. Shoot.

Eddy: [00:23:26] Amazing. Well, um talking about the golden rule and stuff. Um, you know, I, I noticed that in your studio as well because I, I got to guest there when I visited Literary Ink everyone at your studio is really kind and welcoming too. And I found that even, you know, your clients and your friends and everyone wanted to be involved. And I think because you do a lot for other people that in turn attracts them to you when people want to do things for you. And I've heard you talk about Amanda Palmer's "The Art of Asking", and [00:24:00] that seems to be like a really, really important part of your like life in general, but especially in your work practice.

Jennifer: [00:24:08] Yes. And, uh, I've actually sent her an email and I'm hoping one day I've met her once before she signed my leg and it's tattooed on me permanently. Um, there's a story there we're not going to get into it today. And, uh, wait, uh, I'm hoping one day to, I don't know, I feel like our paths are supposed to cross with Literary somehow. We'll see. Um, but you know, who knows, uh, as for The Art of Asking my aunt, uh, ever since I've been little, you know, you're always at a, no if you don't ask, you're at a 50, 50 if you do, you might get a yes. And I think with that, um, you know. If you're kind to people, if you just tell them the truth. Um, I have, I've only been tattooing for 10 years. I'm now 43. Um, [00:25:00] I got into this game a little later and when I first started tattooing, and there would be people who would come in and, you know, I knew enough about tattoos I had, I had enough to know what's a good tattoo, what's not a good tattoo.

And in the beginning, people would come in, they're like, well, my tattoo artist said I heal this out bad, but I'm about ready to get it covered up. And I'm kind of like, Ooh, no, that's just a shitty tattoo. They lied to you. Just being honest with your clients. Um, you know, be honest with who you're taking care of. And there's been people who've come in, I really want to get this. It's. It's this part and I want it to be realistic, and I'm like, not me, but Hey and Aneil or Kay would be happy to do that for you. You know, you can't tattoo your whole town. And if you just do good business, good business will come to you. Or at least that's, that's my belief. I'm a big, you know, the karma thing, the golden rule. Live your best life as good as you can. And I think, I think you will get your best life and you'll also look at it a little half full because if you don't expect anybody to repay you or if you don't expect anybody to give you [00:26:00] what you think you deserve, you'll be happier. Like just live your life and do the best you can do.

Eddy: [00:26:06] Yeah thats it and being honest is I think so crucial especially in what we do like I am always horrified at the amount of artists who lie to their customers because they want the money or they couldn't be bothered. I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'm not here to take all their money and do every tattoo. I'm just here to do this small amount of tattoos that I am comfortable doing to the best of my abilities

Jennifer: [00:26:36] Mine still looks great by the way, y'all, she tattoos amazingly. I mean, I know y'all know this cause you're already watching her and stuff. My wife is so excited. I'm excited for my wife. This lady gets to tattoo her at three and three quarters or right before um a bad-ass Bow Peep from Toy Story. We are so excited. She got a ... arm here. It looks so good. I mean, it's shes gonna be like.

Eddy: [00:26:58] I had it drawn up ready to [00:27:00] go like two or three weeks before I was even on my way to the US. I was so bummed out I didn't get to do it.

Jennifer: [00:27:09] She's ready. I'm ready to do. I told her, I was like, you let her have that whole arm. Just let her have the rest of your forearm. She's like, I'm gonna cause it's just, it's going to look so great. She's got a lot of animals and stuff on her and this is her black and gray arm, which you predominantly do. But I decided I'm going to get a colored piece from you one day cause you rarely do them and they look so nice. I want another thing to go with my other horcrux. We'll have to just figure it out.

Eddy: [00:27:32] That was fun that we got to do a little Harry Potter tatt swap

Jennifer: [00:27:41] Last year was so crazy. It was just crazy. We had, we had, we had tripled on the numbers. We got more than we were supposed to. I went away for a cruise and came back and we had oversold and I was like, Oh shit. It was a, it should have been the numbers we would have been at this year. And we would have stopped. So we're gonna, we're doing the same number again this year, [00:28:00] which are what would have happened, but yet again, now it's just on repeat this upcoming year. Um, but I'm really excited to see how it's all pulled together. We've been working on new sets. We've been working on some crazy ass behind the scene. Shit. Um, it should be really, really rad. So.

Eddy: [00:28:16] For our listeners, they build entire sets like It's like actually stepping into the wizarding world its insane.

Jennifer: [00:28:27] That's been one of the best parts. That's where I was like when I was talking about like rethinking the show. Um, I want to really tune in on the experience while you're there. Like we're still gonna have some after party scenes and stuff, but I think really making it worth like you walking through and in your cosplay, you can get a photo in front of this and then there's the broom and there's all these other pieces. And what Kay's? Talking about doing it, it just, it's insane. I can't wait to see it. I've seen little pieces of it being built. Um, all the vendors from last year, half of it ended up getting squished during the move. So [00:29:00] we have we have some pieces of it, so it'll be kind of gone. But we've got this other new thing that's coming in and we've got a better way of storing it. So I hope to continually add sets and pieces where when you do walk in, you're kind of like, are we, are we here? Yes. You've stepped through the magic.

Eddy: [00:29:17] I love that everyone rocks up in their cosplay too.

Jennifer: [00:29:23] I know we had a lot of tattoo artists. We had a ton of just people attending. I was really excited. The Kuwaii Kuwaii team, they live in Knoxville, but they come up and take care of our cosplay section of the show. They're really good friends with Kitty Koniption. Um, Kitty works in my shop and, uh, they've just done a really good job of kind of bringing it all together and having the different events. And then one thing we did, um, whereas conventions are, uh very similar. You get, you know, any convention, tattoos, a blanket convention, you could be any convention. You, you have all these people there in the booth then you have people come in to check everything out. [00:30:00] So the biggest thing was what can we do to make everybody feel a little more, like you said, welcomed or a little more. What's happening at this show? Um, so we kinda did different things. We had a room of requirement and just, you know, bringing in the different bits of more fun stuff and that the attendee experience, we had Hagrid's motorbike there last year and we let people hop in and take photos. And that was one of the biggest things that everybody was so excited about. And it was just a box with a sidecar. I mean, it really wasn't Hagrid's vibe. We all may believe do what.

Eddy: [00:30:29] Yeah and Gracie was dressed as Dragrid

Jennifer: [00:30:35] Yeah. She's got two photos on, on that bike that are just like, you know, she, she got some epic photos from last year show. Um, it was wild to see her and it was, that was when she was with us, cause you know, we met her at the first show and then I snatched her up about four months after the first show and started training her in Chattanooga and she moved here. Um, now it feels like a year ago, but it hadn't been a full on year. [00:31:00] Uh. October before October, August, June. I don't know. She got here and it's been wild. I actually posted a photo of her today. Um, I watched the documentary again today and I there at the end. You see her and Betsy and Jess White and I was like, how funny. I had no idea then that that girl was going to be working on our team a year later. It's just, it's crazy who you meet, how you meet folks, um, when you're kind of like, you should totally come and work here. It's, it's good stuff.

Eddy: [00:31:28] She's a beautiful human.

Jennifer: [00:31:32] I like to collect those.

Eddy: [00:31:35] So when, um, with the documentary, like, so that, that was about the first year and like the start of Literary Ink, when do you think that's going to be out in the world for everyone to watch.

Jennifer: [00:31:47] We have actually sold it to a company and they're supposed to be dropping it. Um, I believe in October, um, I've seen the first poster. Uh, I've seen the first trailer. Uh, [00:32:00] it's going through a documentary company. It's going to be, I think it'll be like on Apple and you know, where you can find certain things. Um, I'm not for sure everything for sure yet, cause I'm just in it. I talked to the director a little, but I'm just in it, y'all. Um, but it is in the works. It will be coming out this year. And yes, it was actually filmed. Uh, so I met Axel first. I met Axel at the Chattanooga film festival in town, and he came up and he's like, I love your work. And I was like, awesome. You want to get a tattoo? And he's like, Oh no. No, no. And I was like, Oh, okay, but you love my work. And he's like, I like what you're doing. So he was one of those, I didn't know at the time. He was a film director and he looked through my Instagram and started seeing some of the things that we did with Main Line and some of the things that we do for our community.

And so that's all that he was talking about. And then about two minutes later, I get this message from him when it's like, Hey, I've got a friend who wants to tattoo, will you talk to him? And I said, I'll totally talk to him. I'm not taking on an apprentice, but I'll talk to him. I talked to him and I was like, God dang it, it's you. So that was my first [00:33:00] apprentice. And so then we had Literary Ink coming up and Axel was like, we need to do something together. And I was like, yeah, we do. I've got the show coming up. What do you want to do? And he's like, I don't know, what do you want to do? And I was like, you want to do a documentary? And he's like, of what? And I'm like, tattoos and Harry Potter. And it kind of got smashed into all this crazy stuff. And. The film is more like you actually get to follow me, Ebony Mellowship, Chelsea Hamilton, and a Aniel through our experience of, you see me, it's starting the show you see a Aniel of going to Cuba and talking to his wife who's stuck there, who's been stuck there, who's now finally here.

But you don't know that in the film. You see Ebony from overseas coming over here and talking about tattooing, and then you see Chelsea from California and it's, it's kind of almost like you're seeing these people in this very unique state. You've got all these tattoos in the background and literally were filmed for like seven days. You don't realize what it's like to have a camera in your face for seven days. You don't think about the [00:34:00] shit you say until you see it on an iMAX screen with all your tattoo wizardry friends sitting there going, ha you said that, and you know it it's crazy. Our first year we filmed a documentary. We had a dinner the night before we opened our second year we we rented out an IMAX and we showed everybody that film and we had butterbeer crunch icecream. And what's really fucking funny too, is the second year we had got that snowstorm, there were like 10 people who couldn't make it because of that crazy snow storm that happened. And then year three, we've got, you know, death eaters coming in with COVID-19 bubonic bunny foo foo spray plague, and we get totally bumped. So it's awesome death eaters be damned. Everybody needs to be pulling out their charms and shit.

Eddy: [00:34:47] We got this, we got this, get our patronus out

Jennifer: [00:34:57] I hope so

Eddy: [00:34:58] I loved in the, when [00:35:00] you did the kind of the preview of the documentary in year two. There was a moment where Chelsea made this, I can't remember exactly what she said but it was an awesome feminist statement, and I was like yeah, and I could hear all the women around me just like clapping and be like yeah Chelsea. and then all of the like I guess not all of them but some of the boys just went completely silent because she just called the entire industry the fuck out.

Jennifer: [00:35:25] It was a very bold statement. Um, I remember when she said it, I looked at her and I we're filming. I was there when it happened, and at the end of it I was like. Are you okay with saying that? And she's like, somebody has to, then I was like, you have balls. Yeah, you're right. Um, she, she basically, she called out a lot of, uh, male tattooers who, you know, she's, she, you know, you're touching people you shouldn't be, and if you're trying to get them in touch with you, they shouldn't be. And she really, she kind of landed on it. And, you know, like I said, a lot of things have happened with the #metoo stuff. [00:36:00] Um. Tattoo artists everything is kind of coming to a light now because of just the all in industries. Everything is become hyper aware of what's going on, and I think it's because you have so many women that are using their voice now, and it's not about being silenced anymore. It's about, I've got two sisters over here, we've got this.

Eddy: [00:36:18] Yeah, I'm so thankful for the #metoo movement and how much it has had a positive on the tattoo community.

Jennifer: [00:36:27] Definitely. I mean, like you said, in a lot of the folks I've talked to, a lot of the ladies I've talked to as well, um, about Literary Ink and all of them saying that there's so many women here. Um, I didn't, I didn't even think about it. I didn't realize it. And when you start seeing it hitting you in the face, it's kind of like whether you know what you got or not, you know? Now it's time to talk about it. And it's something I've actually, most of the ladies on the Literary Ink podcast, I've been like, this is a big deal, and it still gets me because you just don't think, Oh my gosh, we are 20% of our [00:37:00] industry. Not at this show, this show we're like 70 to 80% full on. And it is an amazing thing. And you know, when Danny and I were looking for somebody and we put out that we were hiring most, I think 90% 80% of our, um, applicants that were wanting to come and tattoo with us were women. And he's like, Jennifer, everybody feels safe here. And I was just like that's, you just don't think about it. But that's an amazing thing to point out. Cause you know the first thing, if anybody were to do anything weird to any artists that Main Line, Oh Lord, you know, you can get out. We're going to call it the cops. It just, that's not going to happen here. It's not what it's about. We are artists that instead of putting anything on canvas we're choosing to put it on people, and I want every client to feel comfortable from, you know, um, females, males, um, them, they, whoever is in the chair, males fe, just whoever's in the chair, you should feel comfortable.

You're paying a lot of money. If you go and talk to somebody and your artist is just being rude to you. [00:38:00] Don't let them tattoo you. Walk out. Find somebody who makes you feel comfortable. This is, this is your body for forever and it is worth the extra five or $600 like it's worth it. Look at your phone you dropped 1200 bucks on your phone. Think about doing that for a forearm. You'll end up with a beautiful masterpiece.

Eddy: [00:38:21] Absolutely, I'm always really interested by how people devalue art and tattooing. I've had um somebody wearing a $600 pair of shoes. Say to me that a $400 tattoo was too expensive. And I was just like, bitch please, dollar per use. You'll wear this tattoo every day for the rest of your life there is no better value for money. And aside from that it's something empowering that you, you are making a choice to change your body in your image. And become more of who you want to be through art it's fucking [00:39:00] powerful.

Jennifer: [00:39:01] I think that's, that's one of the best parts of our job. Um, also, you know, getting those personal relationships. Like when we were talking last a couple of weeks ago on the podcast, and I was talking about hugging, it was the quote they pulled out and they were like, you know, and I was like, what are we supposed to do? Stop hugging? And your comment was like, no, you can't. That's what we do. You know, seeing all those pieces fall through and together right now and seeing how people are changing and how they do open up to tattoo artists. And you know, people joke, well, you're like a therapist. Well, yeah, you're in a lot of extreme pain. Here I am, and you are touching them. You're holding the back of their arms. You can tattoo the top of it and it's a memorial piece and it's about their grandmother. And they're telling you the story. Like it's, it's an emotional thing. And if you find the right artist, you know, you stick with them. I have, I have two or three that I have constantly gotten tattooed by cause it's an enjoyable experience. I feel very comfortable in their chair. Um, I've been wanting to get stuff done on my back.

I had a Jonathan do, the big piece from Literary Ink, year one and I'm going to [00:40:00] add an additional piece to it. And you know, feeling comfortable with somebody to get. I'm going to have to get more naked that time to make sure that, you know, this is all taken care of. It's a big thing to make sure that you feel comfortable with a guys tattoo and you a female's tattooing you that you just, you are comfy in that chair and you are walking away with that product that, you know, I looked at your book and 45 pages in I knew that everything you did was great for me. Um, I think that's also shifting. Whereas, you know, people, the people who are spending more money now, they get that whole it is a lifetime. It's not just whatever. And the people who aren't in 10 more years when they're still wearing those expensive shoes and they say that their arm shitty, they'll go and get it covered up.

Eddy: [00:40:41] Yeah I'm not I can't really gatekeep tattooing and tell you what a good or bad tattoo is but I do I am very passionate about picking the right artist for you and getting a good quality tattoo and that it is worth the wait, like absolutely.

Jennifer: [00:40:58] I think that's part of the [00:41:00] fun too. You know, cause now it's, um, I get tattooed by "Find Your Smile". And I've gotten tattooed by Betsy Wets on insta. It's like at both of those, but Betsy Butler in Charleston and I chomp at the bit where I'm like, have your books opened back up yet? Because with my schedule, I book out this many months. I'm trying to wait for her schedule open up to make sure I can get that one date so I can go down there, you know? But it's, it's part of the game. Um, I know I'm going to get my tattoo at some point. I'll wait. She's got this one particular arm I'm having her work on so I can call this other person. Or, Hey Aniel, today's the day he started working on me too. So I'm just like, Hey, I'm going to see once a month for two hours. Let's just kind of knock this stuff out.

Eddy: [00:41:39] Aniel's um your apprentice as well isn't he?

Jennifer: [00:41:43] Not anymore. Yeah. He, uh, he's been signed off and so's Gracie, both of them. I've got two apprentices which have been signed off and, and they're still working with me. Is that not just the craziest shit you've ever heard apprentices leave [00:42:00] everybody? I don't, I don't know what people are doing wrong. Um, uh. Um, I'm very blessed. I have two very amazing apprentices. But yes, Aniel is the first one. Um, he's been with us now I think a little over three years. Um, he's kicking the tattoo games ass man. He came in and he picked up very quickly. He's got an education from Cuba. He taught at, um, university in Cuba. Um, he paints insanely, if you've been watching his stories on Instagram this whole time we've been in quarantine, he's painted about 15 dogs. And they just, every three days you see his new painting. He's working on a cosplay right now. If this guy in cosplay, I cannot wait to see it. It looks like some more, you're from some crazy ass Xbox game, like God of War it is insane or Viking something. I was like, Oh my God, and you know, he goes, I know it is so big. It's like, I get to do some massive work Oh Jesus, that's great buddy. Um, but it is, it's really awesome. And to see [00:43:00] that, um, to be blessed with that, to have a friendship out of something. When, you know, most apprentice situations they do, they turn out horrible and people leave. They always leave. And I think a lot of that comes down to the person who is training them does not just, it. It's a respect factor. You know, back to the golden rule. You don't have to go wash my car and go wash my clothes. That's not training them to be a tattoo artist. That's, you know, grunt work. Um, I did more things like, you know, I properly asked him how to clean out my car. Like, you know, I'm just kidding. I never asked him to do anything though.

One day he went and he cleaned out my car. I thought that was the sweetest thing ever. He's like, I cleaned out your car. And I said, because I've made jokes about it. And he's like, yeah. And I was like, that's so awesome. But, uh, you know, we did more fun things. We, uh, I took him. One of my favorite memories is, uh, I took him to his first show. It was before the first literary ink. It's a smaller show. It was about the size of what we did for first year, and it's in Nashville, it's called Full Moon Tattoo Horror Fest. And they bring in people from the movies [00:44:00] and they have a, just different kind of fun things there. And there were about 30 booths and the second day we go in. No, wait, it's the first day. The first day we go in, I ended up winning tattoo of the day, first place, and the second day he won tattoo of the day, second place, and I was just like, this is happening. And it was his and he's still a tattoo baby. He had been, he was, he was a month away from being signed off. So he was even there as an apprentice.

It was great. It was just like, I'm so proud of you. We both cried on the way home. We're just a big bunch of babies. But it was one of those moments where, you know, you start start realizing everything that led up to him getting to the United States, if you want to believe in this weird voodoo shit, which I kind of do sometimes. And everything that led me to say we weren't going to do an apprentice. Danny and I were even talking about it cause we jointly share them. I want everybody to learn as much as they can. And we're both like, you know, doing our best to try to teach. But, um. Just, it's amazing to find a friendship within it and know that it's not going to go [00:45:00] anywhere. Whether he chooses to venture off and do his own thing one day, or whether he chooses to stay with Main Line and we just continue to build. Um, which I hope is the case. It's, it's really well to, to meet those folks and know that you're just supposed to make a little extra room in your heart. Did that with Gracie too. You know, there's, there's people that are coming into. My road from Literary Ink and from Main Line that just these people are meant to be around ya'll are all mean to grow together and do things, you know, good to the world.

Eddy: [00:45:28] It's funny how it can, it just like, It just kind of ends up with the right people. Like I had no intention of ever taking on an apprentice. I was always like I would never do an apprenticeship theres enough of us around. I've been Alana for a while and she always talked about how much she wanted to be a tattooer, and I've never met anyone who so desperately and passionately wanted to do it and genuinely did the research and put the effort in to get there. And then I was just like, you know [00:46:00] what? I've never met anyone who deserves it more so you know, hey Alana. Come on in and it's really funny. I take the responsibility so seriously, like I kind of writing up lessons and a curriculum. I was like, I need to do everything right by this girl to make sure that she has the best experience possible, but she doesn't. She doesn't even need that. She's very good at self guiding that all I need to do is just all the support. It all comes really naturally.

Jennifer: [00:46:30] Has it opened you up as an artist? Have you gotten better because of it?

Eddy: [00:46:34] Definitely, because I have to think more about my process, the way I tattoo felt a bit like a happy accident. Like I just kind of. I'm very technical, but I've never really thought about

Jennifer: [00:46:49] You are so technical.

Eddy: [00:46:49] What I do you know? But now I'm actually having to break it down into steps and like the how I do things, the timing, the rhythm, the depth, the speed, [00:47:00] everything, every little aspect of it. Why I use a particular machine. And what is it about the makeup of that machine that effects, you know, the way I pull this line and everything, like really breaking down every last little bit of what I do and then having to explain it to someone else. And help them understand it, its been amazing actually

Jennifer: [00:47:25] I, uh, I feel like training him and teaching him and go into Explorer, turned me 180. Like there was a twist. It was a, because you do have to slow down and it. It's funny cause I was saying something when I was like, well you got to do it like this, but I do it like this. And he goes, why? And that's because that's just the way I do it. And then he left and I looked and I was like, Oh shit. Why? And so me pulling back like grey shading got better. My line work got stronger because sometimes you get into your, your rhythm and you're like other, when it's like, wait. And there it [00:48:00] is. Um, that's been those pieces of of learning that you just don't expect to get. And I don't think you're going to find it unless you choose to train somebody. And that's a big thing in itself. I wasn't supposed to have another one. Gracie was already half trained, but the person that was training her wasn't going to finish it. And you know, I just, it was one of those moments where I'm like, your loss, dumb ass, you know, boom. You got to snatch that up. That's insane. If you have someone that's good and you have someone that's trying and they just need more guidance, or like you said, just being there for somebody who really wants it. That's about all you need.

Eddy: [00:48:35] Absolutely, and I mean it makes for a better future in tattooing I think. You know, I used to be a bit of a gatekeeper, like you know theres enough of us we don't need any more, and then I realized, Oh wait, if I'm sitting here saying, no, we don't need any more the only kinds of people that are going to be coming into tattooing are people who are self taught which you know. Like I had a bad apprenticeship where I basically had to teach myself. [00:49:00] And I had limitations that have taken years and years to overcome. So that's not the best way to do it for me, in my opinion, for me personally. And then you know, a lot of studios in my local area that were taking on apprentices they were just looking for cheap labour, they weren't in a position to train or educate someone. So when I've got a studio full of really skilled artists and we've got something to offer. It's almost like we have a responsibility to ensure the next generation of tattooers have not only come through it without any of the abuse we experienced, but to be like highly technical, highly knowledgeable, and highly respectful of our traditions.

Jennifer: [00:49:43] I think that's a big thing with, with a lot moving forward um watching the Explorer conferences happening, watching what's happening out of other folks who are doing seminars and putting them up and saying that, you know, the education game it is being turned up. The things that, [00:50:00] you know, even hearing some of the stuff from our government, what they're wanting to talk about, possibly bringing in, we have like a, the tattoo co the coalition for tattooing now and they're looking into these laws and they're doing their best to go and talk to these people to say, you do not know what we're doing. We are actually like, you know. Really playing. We are trained every year to be able to handle this stuff. Um, bloodborne pathogens. You know, we, we were trying to do that, like when, when people have shut down because of quarantine, you know, the whole time Danny and I have been constantly researching. I have a friend who she works, um, through, you know, UTC, but she's also working with our ... and like I was getting, can you give me as much information? Can you explain this to me in layman's terms where I know what's going on so that when we go back we know what we're doing. We were allowed to go back the sixth of this month and the, the rules and regulations they set aside, we felt as though it wasn't enough. So we added stuff. We're like to keep us safe.

We're going to do this, this, and this. We're following their guidelines, but we've added a couple extra [00:51:00] cause we are as close to you because we are opening skin. Um, I think that moving forward, a lot of places are going to have to tune it in and turn it up, you know, cause this is not going to be the same world when we come back. We're probably going to either A, always have to wear a mask or wear them for a really long time. Um, and I hate wearing them, but I wear them every time I go out now, you know, I'm safety first.

Eddy: [00:51:27] Yeah, well and you know I think a lot of tattooers have been getting angry about the shutdown because they're scared obviously. It's coming from a place of fear, they're saying, we know about bloodborne pathogens so we know how to keep safe but this is an entirely different thing so we do have the responsibility like you've done to do more.

Jennifer: [00:51:52] It's just flat out scary. One of my favorite memes that I have seen has been the, uh, wearing your mask compared to [00:52:00] peepee on your pants. Have you seen that yet? No, I'm going to send it to you. It's like here, let me explain. If somebody pees on you and they're not wearing pants, it goes on you. But if you're wearing pants, it kinda stops it. If you're both wearing pants. I was dying. It was it's a little stick figure man and its. So if you both wear pants and he peepees he peepees just on himself. But I mean, it's, it's a really good analogy of, Hey, this is what's going on, but this is why we want you to wear a mask.

Eddy: [00:52:34] Definitely and there's a lot we can do to ensure the safety of our clients because I guess it's not just about us and our need to pay our bills, it's about our client and then them going home to their family and making sure that we do our bit to keep the community safe.

Jennifer: [00:52:56] I agree. And I think. I think that's what a lot of [00:53:00] tattoos are doing right now. I mean that, that concern is there for everybody. And I think you're right. A lot of fear. We don't know what's going on. Um, I saw a gentleman post, uh, something the other day where he was talking about, I see all these people who are on the front lines and they're saying, we're supposed to be scared. And then I see all these people protesting who are not, you know, who are also on the front lines and that. I'm asking, they're saying that this is fake. What am I supposed to believe? Um, we have so much shit going on in every direction and we had all this stuff on the media and they're slowly pulling away.

I mean, the United States is opening back up and you know, people are still dying. And I think that a lot of things are going to shift. You know, we're probably not going to be seeing concerts for a few more months, if not several more months. We're not going to have a lot of people getting together for a lot, you know, a long period of time. And. Had it been, you know, any, just, I think we made, we, we as soon as we, we, we closed down Literary Ink our shop closed and we had two weeks and that's when I [00:54:00] think had everybody just shut down then we would have been even getting back a little sooner. But you know, New Zealand out of everybody, from what I've seen has been one of the most, Oh, we're locking this shit down y'all. We have five whole cases now. It's been crazy to say, but they did it so early. They were like so ahead of the curve. They saw this shit coming in. They're like, we got you bud and I think they just opened back up like a couple things like, um, today or yesterday. Um, but it's, it's just moving forward. Everybody keeping knowledgeable and I think tattoo shops are going to have to, like I said, tune in and turn it up. Like it's changing out there and I want to do the best job I can to keep my clients safe. And me too. I mean, I come home to people so.

Eddy: [00:54:40] ...we have to look after ourselves.

Jennifer: [00:54:53] It's, it's, it's hard cause you got, you know, you've got folks who have kids and they might not have had as much savings. That's [00:55:00] the part where it's really scary. On a side note, I have seen so many tattoo artists Instagram's turn into I made this, I painted this, I'm taking commissions, I'm doing this. I went back to doing this and it's been amazing to see the creativity still pop through. I mean, you're trying to podcast, you're like, I want to see what this does. I think I'm going to enjoy this. And I try to podcast because I didn't know either. I was just like, we have all these people here. We've got to talk to them. Cause that's what I do I talk y'all. And uh, it's, it's, it's that part and it's just kind of venturing out.

You know, I told my wife, I was like, I took guitar lessons 20 years ago. I still have the guitar. It's an amazing guitar. Oh my gosh. It's an ovation. It's gorgeous. She's red. I call her the red headed bitch. Um, and I start guitar lessons next week because we need to, you know, I want to do something artistic that's not painting, that's not tattoo or any, or just not tattooing [00:56:00] something else that I'm sitting down 35 minutes to, to learn and just be more.

Eddy: [00:56:06] It's really helpful doing that I think because from what I understand about the way our mind works, whan we do become really one track it really limits our brain and as we get older, like, you know, we're not learning new things. I think it has the potential to stunt our growth as humans. So having like lots of things and lots of directions and really like expanding and pushing your mind, it really benefits your life and your experience as a whole.

Jennifer: [00:56:37] I agree with you completely. When we were on the podcast with, did my wife come in as the storm trooper for you? Did that happen?

Eddy: [00:56:47] I think I've seen pictures on Instagram of that.

Jennifer: [00:56:52] This is the storm trooper comments that work. So apparently it was going to happen. There we go. [00:57:00] Okay. We have a Stormtrooper helmet and it seems to be making appearances everywhere. Um, when we went, when Aniel and I went to Tattoo The Lou last year, I brought it and he goes, what is that for? And I said, Stormtrooper trooper ice breaker.

And he's like, okay. We took photos with everybody in the mask we're being idiots. It was awesome. Um, at what point in your age, are you supposed to stress more about being cool than just having fun? Um, you know, we as kids, I've gotta be cool. I gotta look cool. I was thinking about this the other day and I'm just like, but it's so much more fun just to go ahead and be a little stupid. It's just, you know, having that fun, stupid humor, just laughing, you know, why couldn't Snape, um, teach herbology cause he couldn't even keep a Lily alive. There's so many there. It's awful. Have you not heard that one its wrong, wrong.

Eddy: [00:57:59] Shit

[00:58:00] Jennifer: [00:57:59] Nope, you haven't. Thats awesome.

Eddy: [00:58:01] I feel awkwards laughing at that

Jennifer: [00:58:07] I know it's so bad, but you're like, it's true. The first time I heard it, I was like, too soon. But it's true.

Eddy: [00:58:19] Amazing. Okay well, I guess we've covered a lot of things today hey?

Jennifer: [00:58:33] Wait, are we supposed to finally start recording? Nope. Well

Eddy: [00:58:35] Um before we finish up is there anything that you wanted to add or do you wanted to share with our listeners?

Jennifer: [00:58:48] Um, guys, be sure to tune in we're going to be announcing the date soon for Literary Ink three and three quarters, it will be in 2021. Um, we decided to push it off far enough to make sure our lovely people from [00:59:00] overseas get to come. And we all have a chance to recoup from the incredibly insane pause that the world has put upon us. I hope that everyone out there is being good to each other and washing your hands. Um, thank you again for being on, like letting me be on the show this has been awesome. Um, maybe we can, we can talk to the boys and we can swap up episodes and share them on our on our podcast together. If you want to, I think that'd be kind of fun

Eddy: [00:59:27] We'll be putting the footage up on YouTube. So for our listeners, if you head over to Instagram and follow us on Not Just A Girl underscore tattoo, you'll be able to find regular updates and where to find everything, I'll put all the details for Jen, for Literary Ink for Main Line in the show notes and anything else you need to know. So make sure you subscribe, follow and share, and follow and share Literary Ink as well just to spread the love of tattooing. Thanks so much, Jen for your time.

Jennifer: [00:59:57] You're welcome.

Eddy: [00:59:57] Thank you to our listeners for taking [01:00:00] the time. We really appreciate it. I hope, hope you all have a wonderful day and stay safe and as Jen said, wash your hands. Wash your damn hands, bloody hell.

Jennifer: [01:00:18] Wash your hands. Wash your hands, wear your mask, wash your hands. I want to be able to stay tattooing. I want to have a show next year.

Eddy: [01:00:32] Yes I want to start travelling again.

Jennifer: [01:00:40] Have a good one guys.

Eddy: [01:00:46] Bye

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