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misslilli · 3 years

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Hope you guys are not too busy with Fictober 😄 thank you, as always, for your amazing feedback!

Felix Felicis

MSR. AU. PG-13. | tagging @today-in-fic | read on AO3

Chapter 26 - A Pivotal Peppermint Mocha

[ DS ]

He respects my wishes, of course he does, and I don’t see him before or after Thanksgiving break, except for a few glimpses from afar, across the school yard or at the farmer’s market. As time passes, each time I see him, it gets less and less painful and my funk begins to lift. My kids at school breathe a sigh of relief and my friends stop tiptoeing around me. The nights get easier, too, and I manage at least a few hours of shut-eye.

I just got home from school, a little earlier than usual and I can hear the girls chatting and laughing in the kitchen.

“…and then Squirrel rolled her eyes and said: ‘But Felix, that’s impossible, no-one can stuff 100 marshmallows into their mouth, not even your dad!’ I get such a kick out of this kid, he insisted over and over again that Moose could do it and he’ll prove it to her. You should’ve seen the exasperated look on Squirrel’s face!”

What the hell? That conversation is eerily familiar because I’ve just had it this morning at recess. Why the fuck are they referring to us as Moose and Squirrel?

They jump about a mile as I step into the kitchen, guilty looks plastered all over their faces. Sarah, who just told the story, starts to speak first. “Uuuh.. hey D, you’re home early…” My hands on my hips, I give them each a long, hard stare.

“Who. The Fuck. Are Moose and Squirrel?” They share a look I can’t decipher and Holly pulls out a chair.

“You better sit down for this, D.” I do as I’m told and glance around the table, waiting for someone to start explaining what’s going on.

Sarah and Holly both make it clear by silently staring at Alex, the calm one of our group, the one they trust can explain in a way I won’t kick their asses afterwards.

Alex folds her hands in front of her and takes a deep breath. “Okay. I’d like to preface this with stating that everything we did was done with love and because we care about you and your happiness.” ‘Oh goody, I can’t wait to see where this is going…’

“We’ve been talking about Moo- Mulder a lot at our Friday night dinners and we could tell that you liked him. When nothing happened and no-one made the first move, we thought we’d give fate little pushes in the right direction.” I stare at her, starting to panic.

“Oh God, what did you do? Is anyone else in on this thing? Is he in on this whole thing?”

“No, no, no-one knows except for us. And Miss Hannigan, but only because we needed her help with the costumes and we swore her to secrecy.” I snort, you can’t swear the town gossip to secrecy.

“So the Halloween costume was your doing? That we went to the town fair in a couple’s costume?” Alex nods. “What else?”

“Just little things, I swear. Remember when we were at the Farmer’s Market and we all had various errands to run? We saw Felix and Mulder were heading over, so we scattered to give you some alone time.” Which led to our first quasi-semi-let’s not call it a date-date, yes I remember.

“So what’s the Moose and Squirrel business then?”

“Well, since it was all a secret operation, we needed codenames. Sarah came up with a play on the first letters of your last names and we thought it was cute, especially since there’s such a big height difference between these characters too. This was how Operation: Bullwinkle was born. Of course, after the basketball fiasco, we called it off… are you mad, D?” I sit in silence for a while, taking in the things my friends came up with to set Mulder and I up.

They eye me anxiously, trying to gauge my reaction and if they should run for cover right about now.

“No, I’m not mad. It was actually a really clever secret operation and I’m kind of sad it didn’t work out the way we all wanted.” Holly lifts her shoulders, relieved that I understood that they didn’t mean to cause any harm.

“Never say never, D.”

—————

[ FM ]

My mom has taken Felix with her while she’s out grocery shopping, which gives me a good part of the afternoon to leave the house and roam the streets. A good way to clear my head. It’s the first week of December, but New England hasn’t been graced with snow yet, just a misty cold that seeps into your coat and straight through to your bones.

My hands are freezing because I forgot to take my gloves, so when the green logo of the local Starbucks catches my eye, I go in to warm up and get a cup of coffee.

Usually, I avoid this place like the plague, I don’t possess the fast decision making skills required to choose from the 999 combinations, just to have a cup of freakishly overpriced coffee.

I can barely get through the door, the place is jam packed and soon, I can smell why. Peppermint Mocha season starts today. The prospect of standing in line for hours almost makes me turn back, but something stops me from leaving.

Most of the people are holding a cup in their hands gleefully already, so I push my way through the crowd to where the line starts. When I reach it, I find myself dumbly staring at the back of a fiery head of hair, a shade I’d recognize anywhere in the world and in the most crowded places.

Shi-hit, does this break the ‘giving space’ rule? No, I’m just getting a cup of coffee on a cold winter day, no big deal. I don’t even have to talk to her. Yeah right, who am I kidding?

—————

[ DS ]

I’m way too excited about the start of Peppermint Mocha season, so here I am, in a place packed with people, patiently waiting in line to finally get my hands on that glorious to-go cup of Christmas Spirit.

I’m next in line when the person in front of me turns a little too quickly, making me take a step backwards to let them pass, bumping into the person standing behind. I mumble a “I’m sorry!” over my shoulder and freeze when I hear a familiar voice respond with an “Don’t worry about it.”

Counting to ten in my head before I turn my head, I come to face with a grinning Fox Mulder, who adds “Fancy bumping into you here!” His silly pun elicits the first genuine smile I’ve given in weeks.

“Technically, you didn’t bump into me, I bumped into you.”

He grins even wider and nudges my shoulder with his index finger. “There. So, I’m new in town, what’s good here?”

I order my Peppermint Mocha with sweet cream foam and an extra espresso shot while he pretends to gag, he orders his black coffee to my snort and the barista’s comment on what kind of first name ‘Mulder’ is. We move to stand at the end of the counter to wait for our coffees.

“Sometimes, I just want to tell them my name is Bob, just so I don’t have to explain Mulder or Fox to another barista.”

“Don’t ask me how many time’s I’ve been Donna, Danny or Dinara and one time, Daniel. I think they do it on purpose. At least yours is easy to spell, Eff - Oh - Ex.”

“Oh I bet you were a regular hit at the spelling bee, with those mad skills of yours!”

“I’m a woman of many talents, Bob.”

The barista calls out our names, ‘Peppermint Mocha for Daisy, black coffee for Mouldy’ and we reach out to accept our respective cups. Pushing out way to the crowd, we continue our conversation.

“Daisy? That's not even remotely close to my real name… but Mouldy is freaking priceless!” Her giggle at their slip up almost makes it worth it to have a shitty first name.

“Yeah, yeah, make fun of the guy with the funny name. I kind of like Daisy, though, it’s a pretty name!”

I’m so happy to see that we turn to head in the same direction, strolling along the crowded sidewalk, sipping our coffee. I have to walk pretty fast to keep up with his long strides.

“It is, yeah! So tell me, Eff- Oh- Ex, how much flak did you have to take way back in the day, when “What does the Fox say?” came out?” I shudder at the memory.

“They didn’t tease me with it. Much. Just a lot of ring-ding-dingalinging. It became a thing in my friend group, whenever they asked me something, they’d add ‘So what does the Fox say?’. It went on a long time and they still do it sometimes, when we get together, just to drive me nuts!”

“I hope for your sake that Felix never discovers that song, he’d have a field day!” Oh God, she’s right. Must keep him away from it at all costs. At my panic face, she laughs an evil laugh. “We do listen to a lot of music at recess…”

“Oh no, you wouldn’t!” I point an icy finger at her. “Promise me you wouldn’t!”

“Well, it does have a lot of educational material in it, with all the animal sounds…”

“I’ll have you know that you hold my sanity in your hands, handle with care!”

“I hear they have a lot of fun pills at the asylum, maybe I’ll come visit so you can sneak me some!”

We come to stand at the junction where we have to part ways and she raises her cup.

“Have a good day, Mouldy!”

“You too, Daisy!”

—————

[ DS ]

I think about the strange but fun encounter all the way home, the world didn’t end like I thought it would when we met again and it was a rather pleasant conversation. Like a conversation between long-time friends, even though friendship is not exactly what I’m looking for here. But it’ll have to do, for now. It’s just nice to talk to him again.

#xf #the x files #xf fanfic #msr #felix felicis

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andrea-lyn · 3 years

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The Recs (Less Travelled)

I’m excited to bring you the first installment of my ‘roads less travelled’ recs! I will be doing another round of this, probably once the Ted Lasso fic tag hits about 25 pages, and then I’ll also grab a couple more fandoms to collect in there!

The Rules:

Each fandom/pairing was sorted on Archive of Our Own by completed works. Anything recced here was not in the first ten pages when sorted by kudos at the time of reccing. There may be some more well-known authors on this list, but the specific fics I’ve picked are ones that didn’t crack that top ten or just didn’t get much traction and I think deserve it, so hopefully I have also balanced it out with other under the radar (and still great!) works. As ever, I have a pinned post of my other recs (none have been duplicated from there), so you can also check those out! Under the cut you’ll find 10 recs in each fandom for:

Raven Cycle

Roswell New Mexico

The Old Guard

Inception

Star Trek (mainly Kirk/McCoy)

The Raven Cycle

savor all the little pieces by littlelionvanz

“Since when do you garden?”

Ronan snorted, “Since I grew up on a fucking farm, genius. Jesus who gave you permission to pursue higher education.”

the old grip of the familiar by littleseal

"There is a single black feather and a printed out picture of Gansey, Blue and Cheng standing in front of some fucking monument Ronan didn’t care enough to remember the name of. Gansey sent it to Ronan’s phone some time ago, but it sat in his messages until Adam picked it up and grinned at it so hard that, one afternoon later, Ronan cursed and kicked and glared his old printer back to life in order to print it out.

Fuck, he thinks, I’m in love with a hoarder."

Adam collects things. Ronan is in love with him.

No Sweeter Innocence Than Our Gentle Sin by gansey_is_our_king

Ronan Lynch has wanted to kiss Adam Parrish for a long time.

(alternately titled: four times that Ronan could have kissed Adam)

Cheers to Another Seven Years! by skyermirth

Adam left Henrietta for Harvard and never returned. Now, seven years has passed, and an unexpected work assignment has brought him back to a place and people he hardly recognizes.

Row, row, row your boat by emmerrr

“What. Why are you smiling at me,” he says suspiciously.

Adam shrugs. “You’re cute.”

“I’m not cute, I’m terrifying.”

“Terrifyingly cute,” Adam says.

and now the world is ours to take / and every single move is ours to make by thatlittleblackcat

"Adam was the scientist, Ronan was the data, and Orphan Girl was the key that explained the strange outliers that Ronan presented, his previously unexplainable actions."

Adam sorts out his feelings, Ronan helps him, Gansey is the number one dad friend, Blue is the number one mom friend and Henry tries to make Ronan smile. Otherwise known as the story of how Orphan Girl became Opal.

All These Things You Make Me Feel by SilverOpals394

It was late. Adam could feel the long day catching up to him as he left Boyd’s, all his energy exhausted. When he started his car, the tape deck whirred to life once more. He sighed and raised his hand to turn it off, but before he did a soft melody began to play.

AU in which the mixtape Ronan made for Adam only plays the murder squash song until Adam realizes he's in love with Ronan, too.

Ways to Communicate by Jalules

Blue Sargent reflects on an early memory (and gets busy with her boyfriends.)

(The two things are related, trust me.)

Hold Me Closer, I'm Safe in Your Arms by actuallyronanlynch

“You wanna tell me why I had to hear from Henry Cheng that my boyfriend was at the hospital?” Adam hissed, though his voice wasn’t as acidic as it could’ve been. Ronan took small victories where he could.

“You don’t have a cellphone,” Ronan pointed out flatly. “It’s not like I could’ve gotten a hold of you.”

arts and crafts and the inevitability of death by sunshineinthestorm

Adam comes to the public library in search of a study spot, not a boyfriend.

But it must be his lucky day—because he ends up with a bit of both.

Roswell New Mexico

a conversation between insignificant others by Bellakitse

“Hey…have you noticed that our boyfriends are madly in love with each other?"

“You noticed that too, huh,” she answers dryly, letting out a huff of reluctant amusement.

***

Forrest and Maria share a drink and a conversation and start a friendship.

Own Personal Hell by BeStillMySlashyHeart

Now that Isobel's getting the hang of her telekinesis, Michael decides to test out his telepathic abilities. It backfires. Badly. Now Michael's trapped inside his own mind and only one person can break him out.

Drop the Hammer by brightloveee

Max makes a new friend at the shooting range, who turns out to be even more bad-ass than he expected.

(Takes place mid-S1)

Boys Like You by forgadgetsandgizmos

Curly, dirty blond hair (the mere description ‘curly’ felt like an injustice) twisted in every direction off his head, a sharp contrast with the scruff darkening his strong jawline and scowl-ridden face.

Alex made a mental note to compliment Maria on her excellent taste in men.

—

Or, Alex has coffee with Maria's one-night stand, a man who he definitely does not have a crush on.

let's exchange the experience by lostin_space

Michael decides they need to quarantine.

Michael floods Alex with love and care over and over and over.

This Is Hardcore by Anonymous

Michael makes a proposal. Alex accepts. Michael wonders what the hell he’s gotten himself into.

i don't know what to think (but i think of supernovas) by Milzilla

michael discovers that the console can talk. then, he discovers it can do far more than that.

iridescence on skin by Lire_Casander

In a world where (almost) everyone has a tattoo on their right wrist with one set of coordinates that point to the place where their soulmate is born, Alex thought he wouldn't be any different. He couldn't be more mistaken.

He has two.

The Real Thing by elliebird

Max checks on Michael the morning after Michael saves Max’s ass from Wyatt Long and his dumbass buddies. He sees more than he’s supposed to.

Written for a Tumblr anon who one of their friends walking in on them or anyone of them finding out about Michael and Alex in an interesting way

Sundering by romancandles

“You know it was just an Air Force balloon, right?” says Alex.

Michael smirks. “That’s what they want you to think,” he says, with a wink.

The Old Guard

Peer Reviewed by ishandahalf

[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])

[Subject:] Ad-hoc note from the editor

I have noticed an uncommon level of animosity in your responses to your reviewers (or rather, one reviewer in particular). I am writing to ask if you would please do your best to keep your interactions civil. In fairness, I have also sent a similar request to the reviewer you seem to have this friction with. I trust you will both try and remain more professional in the future.

Again, thank you for submitting your work to this journal.

Sincerely,

James Copley, PhD

Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Medieval Studies

An (accidental) academic epistolary romance as (inadvertently) documented via a (theoretically) rigorously blinded peer review process.[citation needed]

third for a word and the song keeps going Macremae

It was honestly shaping up to be a pretty uneventful year before the Vatican got on Nicky’s bad side.

Or: three times in 2008 that the team genuinely thought about killing Nicky if only to get him to shut up about the changes to the Catholic English Mass and his unrelenting opinions on them, and one time Nile did.

Apex Predators In Island Ecosystems (Freeman et al., in press) by Sixthlight

Palaeobotany PhD student Nile Freeman and her supervisor Joe al-Kaysani are invited to billionaire Stephen Merrick’s new project – a theme park full of cloned dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong?

This Rough Magic by Marivan

When Joe came to Scotland to study the sea, he did not expect to also encounter a beautiful man claiming that A. he’s a selkie and B. they’re married because Joe picked up his scarf.

It sounds like a fairy tale and that’s a problem. Because Joe’s a scientist. And selkies don’t exist.

Wars for the broken by Yuliares

Five years into his exile, Booker is joined by a companion he never expected to meet. Together, they try to work on healing.

Sometimes they go down to the sewers just so she can scream and scream. “I like to hear it echo,” she explains. “Underwater, you can’t hear anything. Here, at least I can be heard.”

“I don’t feel like a warrior anymore,” she tells him, throwing bread crumbs at pigeons. “I feel broken.”

“You’re still a warrior,” he says roughly. “This is still fighting.”

a good (eighth) impression by deanniker

Over the next few months, Joe runs into Nicky every so often at the farmer’s market. Some weekends Nicky doesn’t make it, because of his work schedule - Joe doesn’t understand it because he doesn’t ask, though he does start to recognize when one of those missing weekends is coming up because Nicky will stock up on things with longer shelf-life. When they do run into each other, they make small talk and move through the stalls together.

Joe doesn’t mention it to Lykon when he stops by, because it is kind of weird, that Lykon’s ex-boyfriend texts Joe things like - If you’re here, the apples look particularly good this week and thank you for that recipe, I did not know what I was going to do with that much couscous

Or,

Joe wouldn't usually consider starting anything with his best friend's ex, but as long as they keep it casual, it shouldn't be weird... right?

get back to where you once belonged by tenderjock

Nile takes a sip of her cappuccino and closes her eyes.

(Booker and Nile get that coffee. Life happens, along the way.)

a house; a home by mehm

“Is this a kidnapping?” Joe asks as Nicky checks both their seat belts. “Like, I don’t mind. It’s just not quite what I expected for my birthday.”

In which Joe gets a birthday surprise, because that’s the stuff you have time for when you and the love of your life become mortal at the same time.

the ties that bind by damaskrose

“There’s a story I heard many times,” Andy begins, “in the Mediterranean. Threads of fate and three sisters. One to spin, one to measure, and one to cut.”

Clutter And Croutons by flawedamythyst

Joe and Nicky have an argument, and then Nicky talks to Nile about what it really means to be in a relationship for 900 years.

Inception

My Big Fat Slightly Annoying Wedding by jibrailis

Arthur and Eames elope for ~tax reasons. Certain people in their lives are not happy at the lack of a wedding.

Remember Sydney by pathera

When Eames shambles into the safe house outside of London, he finds a red light blinking on the phone.

For the inception_kink prompt:

Arthur is on a plane which is about to crash. No way anyone is going to survive. Instead of panicking he calmly calls the team's office and gets the answering machine. He hangs up before the plane crashes.

Give me Arthur's last message to the team.

(TW: Character Death / Angst)

Of Such Deceitfulness and Suavity by delires

In which emotions manifest themselves in unusual ways.

YO, K2tog (it's like a code) by lazulisong

“Oh my God,” moans Arthur. “I’ve paid less for Somnacin. Good Somnacin.” A horrible thought strikes him. “How much is the yarn --”

“I want you to have an unguarded reaction,” Eames tells him, and pulls him up from the floor.

(They run an extraction on a knitter.)

hit the ground running by orphan_account

"I travelled halfway around the world for you. I dealt with the French for you."

Valley by wldnst

It's an old story: a knight, a prince, a kingdom in peril.

If This Is Rain Let It Fall On Me and Drown Me by Brangwen

We used to be so brave, Eames thought. Of the two of them, Arthur had always been the more fearless.

a gentle familiarity by jollypuppet

Two weeks later, Eames is on his doorstep with bad Italian takeout and a grin, and Arthur tells him he can sleep on the couch.

Your Crisis Cannot Be Completed As Dialed by sevenimpossiblethings

Arthur doesn't do snow, Ariadne is determined to be as Midwestern as possible, and blizzards make cell phone service unreliable.

Let’s Say I Do (I Do) by xsilverdreamsx

There were, perhaps some things worse that this, Arthur thinks, as he glares at the letter in his hand with his name printed clearly in bold ink, indicating his presence in two weeks for his esteemed marriage to one William H. Eames, III, at St. Catherine's Church in London, England.

Star Trek (predominantly Kirk/McCoy)

Show the World That Something Good Can Work by knune

Leonard McCoy is a doctor, not a personal assistant, and maybe that's why he can't stand working for Jim Kirk.

It's in the little things by winterover

Bones is bemused by a persistent secret admirer.

"Wedding" Away with It by pendrogon

One morning, Bones wakes up and he's single. By the same afternoon, he's married to Jim Kirk for Arbitrary Fic Reasons(TM).

How Long Will You Stay (For Your Whole Life) by withthepilot

Jim Kirk, deputy director of the Enterprise parks and recreation department, sees all of his hard work fall to pieces when budget specialist Leonard McCoy arrives from the state capital to cut Jim's budget and threaten the livelihoods of his colleagues. But thanks to a major parks project, Leonard finds a place in the department, as well as in Jim's life—and when all is said and done, Jim doesn't want him to leave.

All-Time Favorite by mardia

What to do when your best friend suddenly starts making new friends.

Joy Ride by Cards_Slash

While running for their lives from an alien species Kirk had accidentally enraged, they come across a car. And well, if you were to come across a car while being chased by aliens that wanted you dead, and you possessed some lingering knowledge of how to drive a car similar to said car, you would have decided to drive it toward the nearest cliff too.

Also a gunfight.

Syncytia by epistolic

He’d signed up for Starfleet on an impulse, but Starfleet meant James Tiberius Kirk: the first – and second, and third, and fourth – big mistake of Leonard McCoy’s life.

Renovation by canistakahari

Jim has a whammy put on him by an alien death ray and he suddenly craves domesticity. He's crazy with longing to shop at space!Ikea and get potted bamboo and he starts looking into adopting AND HE HATES HIMSELF AND CANNOT CONTROL THE SHIT. Luckily, McCoy is drunk all the time and plays house.

17:08 by butterflycell

She'd watched the news holos with a sick feeling, searching for information that was completely obvious in its absence. Amidst the reports of the the Enterprise's miraculous recovery and the damages sustained, there had been next to nothing about the crew or her captain. Jim had been mentioned only in passing, his name shied away from as his first officer limited interaction to the bare essentials.

The Honey of Hybla by shrift

"Bones, prepare to be my date."

#recs #fic recs #recs project #star trek recs #inception recs #the raven cycle recs #the old guard recs #roswell new mexico recs

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bibliothesoph · 4 years

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How about a first prince flower shop AU? Alex and Henry own flower shops on the same street and have a competition on whose shop is the best.

the war of the roses

Alex knows that he’s hot––he uses it to his advantage. If there’s a hot guy or girl that walks in, all he has to do is bat his eyes and, like magic, they buy something. Sometimes, if they’re especially beautiful, he gives them a free flower––usually a white camellia if he’s got them in stock. It does wonders for the business, really, so June never says anything about the free flowers. They’ve got a good system going, the two of them. He’s the face of the shop. He greets customers, answers any questions they might have, and checks them out (both literally and metaphorically). June’s the one who usually does the arrangements because she’s better with the whole color thing, but Alex is the one who knows the meaning of each flower like the back of his hand. When they do specials for what they like to call “The Power of the Flower,” he picks out the flowers with the important meanings and June decides which ones actually look good together.

Since it’s the first few weeks of summer, one of their “The Power of the Flower” specials is happening right now as a way to welcome in the new season and the warmth and happiness that comes with it. Usually, in the summertime, most of the arrangements they get are for happier feelings like love or excitement or, on occasion, a proposal. They get a few requests for some really great “fuck you” arrangements that Alex always enjoys because of the irony––why send flowers, even mean ones, to someone you supposedly hate? The idea is ridiculous and he loves it.

Historically, they’ve been the only flower shop in this area. It’s a hipster sort of place and, since all of their flowers are pretty local and sustainably farmed or whatever, people flock here to get succulents and arrangements. They’ve made bank here for the past three years until The Incident, that is.

Alex refuses to actually say the name of it out loud because it makes his blood boil. That fucking blond-haired dude and his friend (well, the friend seems okay) and their fucking flower shop. Like, when someone opens up a business, Alex thinks they should probably scope out the area first to make sure there aren’t any competitors in the area or something. That seems like the smart thing to do. But this bastard with blue eyes and a perfect fucking smile came in and set up shop directly across the street from his own flower shop. And he knows that the Green House has loyal customers like Ted and Ginger and Simon. And he knows that they’ve been here longer and therefore are generally the first place to pop into people’s minds when they want flowers, but since the other store is directly across the street, it steals customers away sometimes.

Like today, for example.

And the worst part is that Alex can see that smug bastard’s pretty face while he’s stabbing Alex in the fucking back. Whenever Alex looks out the window to see how things are going across the street, the blond guy is always there with an evil, smug smile and a sarcastic wave. Like this is all some fucking joke to him.

Well, Alex isn’t having it anymore. Not during The Power of the Flower time.

“June,” he groans from the front desk. The place is empty, save for the two of them.

She pops her head out from the back area where she makes the arrangements. “Please don’t tell me you’re staring at Henry again.”

His face contorts. “Who the fuck is Henry?”

She rolls her eyes and comes over to him, wrapping her arms around him to calm him. “The guy from the V&A. The one you keep staring at.”

Alex huffs. “He started it. Anyway, we need a plan of attack. He’s stealing our customers!”

“He’s not––”

“He’s stealing them, June. Along with my fucking sanity.”

June sighs and looks out the window, waving at Henry. “He seems perfectly nice. I know his partner, Pez, is a nice guy. I walked in a––”

Alex gasps in horror. “You went in? Judas!”

“I just went in to see how they were running things,” June explains. “And they serve tea, you know. They make it themselves.”

Alex growls and slams his fist against the counter. “Unbelievable. Well, that fucking settles it.”

He stomps off and into the backroom to collect his thoughts with June close at his heels.

“What are you doing?”

“Figuring out a plan of attack,” he explains, pulling out a pen and paper. “We need to up our game, Bug. We can’t let them win.”

“It’s not a competition!”

“It is now.”

He decides to bravely and calmly storm across the street to check out the competition, just to see what they have going on. As soon as he opens the door, a bell rings to announce his entrance. When he steps into the place with steam practically coming out of his ears, a guy that is not the blond one––so Pez, probably––greets him with a smile. He’s wearing flowy pants and, more importantly, a fucking V&A shirt that looks hand-stitched. He’s even got little flowers painted on his cheeks and a flower crown on his head.

“Hi,” he beams at Alex. He’s British, it seems. “Welcome to the V&A! My name’s Pez, so just give me a shout if you need anything, okay, darling?”

Alex fights the urge to roll his eyes. “I’m not a customer, actually,” he huffs, folding his arms across his chest.

“Oh? Are you here for me then?” Pez asks, batting his eyes and smiling.

“I’m here to speak to the owner. Blond? Bland?”

Pez raises an eyebrow at him. “Henry?”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. Can I talk to him please?”

“If the issue is that he never called you back, I––”

“He’s not a suitor, Pez,” another voice says from behind Alex. Alex turns and sees, in all his fucking glory, Henry. He’s wearing the same shirt Pez is wearing but neatly tucked into a pair of snug jeans. His hair looks fucking perfect somehow, and he’s carrying a tray of what looks like baked goods. “In fact, I think he might think us enemies.”

“No shit,” Alex huffs. “You’re stealing my customers!”

Henry rolls his eyes but he’s smiling like this is all hilarious. “Oh, am I?”

Alex is fucking fuming. “Yeah! You knew we were right across the street. Literally. I can actually fucking see your smug face when I’m working and I hate it.”

Henry sighs and moves past him.

Their shoulders knock together.

Alex follows Henry and watches as he sets the tray down on the old, wooden counter. He starts taking the treats off the tray and carefully moves them to some sort of ornate platter.

“You serve food now, too?” Alex asks.

“Not always,” Henry explains, “only when I bake. I feel that it adds a special something to the experience, you know?”

Alex is practically seething. “Okay, well, I just wanted to come over here to say fuck you, fuck your stupid store, and fuck your fucking pastries.”

Henry raises his fucking perfectly manicured eyebrows in surprise. “I hardly think that seems appropriate. We’re not enemies, Alex. We just both happen to own stores on the same street.”

Alex shakes his head so violently that it hurts a little bit. “No, no, no. You opened this store up directly across the street from mine. And you made it the exact same kind of store. What the fuck is wrong with you? Seriously, man? It’s not cool. Okay, also, how the fuck did you know my name?”

Henry has the fucking audacity to touch Alex’s chest. Alex opens his mouth to say something but Henry beats him to it.

“Nametag,” he says with a smug smile. Alex looks down and sees that, sure enough, Henry is poking the name tag on his apron.

Alex slaps Henry’s hand away. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Coming here, doing your fucking––whatever the fuck you’re doing––and messing with my business? I’ll make you regret you ever touched a flower, okay?”

Before Henry has the chance to respond, Alex stomps out of the shop. In his rage, he fumbles to get the door open. Pez helps him out and opens it for him so he can continue to rage-stomp out of the stupid fucking shop and away from Henry’s stupid fucking face.

So Alex does what he does best: he makes a list.

Things the V&A does that we don’t do:

1. Tea (fucking homemade tea. Those fuckers)

2. Flowers based on your personality

3. Free baked goods for some fucking reason

4. Terrariums

He wonders, vacantly, if they’re even a real fucking flower shop. With the amount of random drinks and foods that seem to float through their shop, Alex thinks they might be more of a fucking general store or café. But, since he’s determined to beat them, he’ll play along. He can’t bake for shit, but he gets the fixings for coffee––including fucking organic flavor syrup. June helps him set up some little spiritual packages––little kits including crystals and special plants for different purposes. He’ll be damned if he lets the people from across the street steal their customers.

A day after they implement the little spiritual kits, he finds a package outside the door as he’s coming in for the day. Curious, he picks it up and takes it inside. They never get packages here––only deliveries from farmers who come in and make the drop off in person. He takes it inside and places it on the desk, staring at it for a moment before he decides that, even though the only thing written on it is his name, he’s going to open it.

Inside is a collection of assorted items. There are some pink scones, some packages of loose leaf tea, and a bundle of chamomiles. The chamomiles are really what set Alex off and make him know exactly who fucking gave this to him.

Chamomiles. Patience in adversity.

Alex is going to kill him.

He stomps into the V&A for the second time and marches right up to Henry who’s behind the desk, seemingly setting the register up for the day.

Henry looks surprised to see him which only makes Alex even more pissed off. “We’re not open yet,” Henry tells him, sounding bored. “But we’ll be open in thirty minutes if you’d like to come back then.”

Alex slams his fist onto the counter. In his hand is a bouquet of assorted flowers––crab blossoms, petunias, red dahlias, and rhododendrons. The bouquet is, most simply, an “I hate you” and “go fuck yourself” arrangement. The colors might not work well together, but Alex is so beyond caring at this point.

Henry eyes the flowers for a moment, probably trying to recognize and place them each in his mind. For some reason, the angry flowers make him smile. “Are these for me?”

“Obviously,” Alex huffs, releasing his hold of them and taking a step back.

Henry picks them up and looks at them for a moment. “And you made this?”

Alex nods, not really sure what’s going on here.

Henry sighs. “Well, if you’d ever like lessons on how to make a proper arrangement, please let me know.”

Alex glares at him. His heart feels like it’s thumping in his fucking ears. “What.”

“We offer workshops, you know. We get some nice wine and teach people how to put flowers together properly. Given what I see here, you lack the proper eye for this sort of thing. While I understand the intent, I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed with the execution of it. Since you own your own shop, I would have expected something…better, I suppose. It’s no wonder you think we’re stealing your customers––they must just be appalled by your work.”

Alex grits his teeth and gets close to Henry, staring him down. “Go fuck yourself,” he seethes.

He rushes out again, furious. He needs a better plan––something that will make this all go away. He needs a plan that will make Henry run for the fucking hills.

June helps him make it, though she seems hesitant. It takes about a day of looking through flower meanings and consulting with June to get it done, but when it’s done, it’s fucking perfect. It’s a large, obnoxious arrangement filled with hate flowers and plants that he hopes will make Henry really get the message. It’s beautiful but vile and Alex has never been more satisfied with his work. He leaves the arrangement outside the doors of the V&A before he goes home for the day, excited to see what Henry’s reaction will be the next morning.

When he’s on his way to work the next morning––running a bit late––he gets a call from June. He picks up, hoping it’s not something bad. He might slap himself if he forgot to lock up again.

“You took it too far,” she tells him.

He stops walking. “What?”

It sounds almost like she’s crying. Or, at least, someone’s crying. “The thing with Henry,” she explains. “I get the arrangement, okay? It’s all in good fun. But doing that to his store…”

“I literally have no idea what you’re talking about,” Alex says truthfully.

He rounds the corner onto the street where his shop is and sees it almost immediately. Out front is his arrangement, right where he left it, but it’s surrounded by broken glass. The sign for Henry’s shop has been painted over in slurs. What looks like a rock or a brick has been thrown through the window. He can’t stop staring at it––staring at the terrible words that someone’s written about Henry on the sign. He hangs up on June and rushes inside the Green House, finding Henry and Pez there, too. It looks like June has given them both blankets and some of that tea they sent over a few days ago. And they do not look happy to see Alex.

“Alex,” June says, pulling him aside as soon as he enters, “why would you do that?”

“Bug, I swear,” he says, “it wasn’t me, okay? I––I would never write that kind of stuff, you know that. I didn’t even know he was gay.”

She sighs and rubs her eyes. “Look, they think you’re the one that did it. You shouldn’t be here, okay? Even if it’s not your fault, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Just…go home, okay?”

The look she shoots him seems final so Alex leaves. He doesn’t want to make this any worse for Henry but…he feels terrible. Even though he’s not the one that did it, he still feels like shit about it. So he doesn’t sleep that night, instead, he's trying to figure out what he can do to help.

He doesn’t know why he’s so worried about Henry. It makes no sense for him to be this upset about Henry because, as he’s told Henry to his face, he hates him. He hates Henry’s stupid face and his hair and his fucking cute shop. Maybe what he hates most, though, is that he can’t stop fucking thinking about him. It’s ridiculous how much Henry has filled his mind lately. Henry, even as an enemy, is all he’s been able to think about since this whole thing started. And it’s driving him insane and he feels like he’s drowning because Henry’s upset and there’s not a single fucking thing he can do about it.

But he can try.

When he comes in the next morning, Henry is still there. He’s sitting in the backroom and looking blankly at the wall like there’s something really interesting there. Alex sighs and sits down next to him. Henry visibly stiffens.

“Hey,” Alex says.

Henry scoffs. “‘Hey?’ Is that all you have to say to me?”

Nervous, Alex fiddles with his fingers. “No. I mean…I don’t even know what to say."

“I think you’ve said enough,” Henry says. “I wasn’t trying to steal your customers and, even if I was and even if you hated me for it, that’s no reason for you to…you wrote awful things. Vile things, Alex. Things that no one should ever have to hear.”

“I didn’t do that to your shop,” Alex explains. “I swear. But I’m still sorry. And I…for what it’s worth, I don’t hate you at all.”

This makes Henry look over at him, obviously confused. “I thought––”

“Yeah,” Alex chuckles. “Me too, honestly. But I––you can hate me forever if you want. And I’m really fucking sorry that happened to your store because you don’t deserve it, but I want to help.”

He pulls an envelope out of his pocket. Henry takes it with shaking hands and opens it to reveal, first, a white tulip, then a wad of cash. “Alex…”

“The white tulip means new beginnings,” Alex explains, just in case Henry doesn’t already know. “And the money is for whatever you want. Awning, a window, whatever.”

“Love,” Henry whispers.

Alex raises an eyebrow. “What?”

Henry looks over at him with big red eyes. “The white tulip,” he says, swallowing a lump in his throat, “also means love. It’s…it’s romantic.”

Alex feels his face turn bright red. He rubs the back of his neck. “Like I said,” he whispers, staring into Henry’s eyes. “I don’t hate you.”

Henry’s lips tug up in the corners for a moment before he moves forward, closing the distance between them. Henry’s lips are soft on his own and Alex can’t help but melt into it. His hands instantly find their way to Henry’s hair which is softer than he imagined it to be. Henry’s free hand wraps around Alex’s waist, pulling him closer as he deepens the kiss. The whole thing is making Alex feel like he’s being set on fire in the best way possible.

They pull back for a moment, staring at each other. Alex takes Henry’s face in his hands, rubbing his jaw with the pad of his thumb. “I’m sorry about your store.”

“It’s alright. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know but…we’ll fix it, okay? Together.”

Henry stares at him for a moment, those blue eyes making Alex’s body tingle. “You mean that?”

Alex nods and kisses him quickly again. “‘Course I do. I know we made good enemies but I’ve got a feeling that we’ll make even better partners.”

A week later, Henry’s store is fixed and in full swing again. On his way to work, Alex stops by just to see how Henry’s doing. When he walks in, Henry puts down the arrangement he’s working on and rushes over, wrapping his arms around Alex and kissing him.

“Good morning, love,” Henry beams in the small space between their lips.

Alex smiles and kisses him again. “Morning, handsome. How goes the store?”

“Fantastic, actually. We’re getting more customers than ever, thanks to you.”

Alex rolls his eyes and shoves him playfully. “It’s not all because of me,” he argues. “I think you underestimate the power of your pretty face.”

Henry smiles again and kisses him once more.

The two stores may still be across the street from each other, but you’d have no idea they were once owned by two sets of different people. Marking the space between them is a road of chalk-drawn flowers, inviting you to step inside either one. If you go into the Green House, you’ll find flowers for every occasion and a variety of healing crystals and succulents. If you go into the V&A, you’ll find sweet treats, delicious beverages, and, their newest edition, little dogs made of wire and covered in flowers available for purchase.

Even though two of the owners, the blond one and the short one with a mess of curls, work in different shops, you can see the way they look at each other through the glass––lovesick smiles on both of their faces.

Yeah, Alex thinks he might ask June if he can switch with Pez soon.

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #firstprince #alex claremont diaz #prince henry of wales #henry fox mountchristen windsor #flower shop au #au #fan fic #cute

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twodudesandamovie · 4 years

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Brokeback Mountain Review

In lights of the recent Academy Awards, Eric nominated one of the more famous Oscar snubs in Brokeback mountain. Both Alex and Eric also were interested in how we look at LGBTQIA+ movies today as opposed to 15 years ago. Among the things discussed post-review were how Brokeback Mountain wouldn’t be controversial today, and how it was really a common love story with a twist. Alex's Review: With ample amounts of dread, I dove into this over two hour long Lil Nas X origin story. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger's characters seem to have no real jobs and instead aimlessly move sheep from Point A to Point B for no fucking reason and get paid for it. I guess maybe this is what being a cowboy entailed, but I assumed you became noted as a cowboy by your big hat combined with a denim jacket/jeans. Who could say really. Their relationship starts out on a confusing note, where you feel uncomfortable as to the willingness of both parties, but eventually you get to see a very complicated narrative form about what it was like to be secretly gay in 1963. The parts of the film that involve herding sheep are actually very entertaining, to have a peek into a lifestyle of a man who has to be able to pick up an entire sheep. I do not want or think I will ever need that ability, but I digress. The movie itself, although dreadfully long, hit on a lot of complicated emotions. Trying to follow three or more unsuccessful relationships throughout the course of the movie felt emotionally taxing at times, but not necessarily in a way that I could not relate to. At the end of the day, it sort of is just a complicated love story, but with a twist on it. Not unheard of in film, but I've never had to experience it told in this form. Usually, there's a "taking two girls to the same dance" kind of humor to it all. Eric and I talked about how we were interested to see the movie post 2005, where the stigma of homosexuality is no longer prevalent in society. That being said, the movie felt like its overall message was sort of missed, if it actually had a message. However, the movie's goal to hit me on an emotional level was extremely successful. I went from not caring about the characters and very confused about the purpose of their work or why they could not foster a single healthy relationship, I ended being surprised I had somehow burnt through 135 minutes and very sad Jake and Heath did not get to live their best lives. Although I think it was a actually a REALLY good movie on a lot of levels, I wouldn't say I necessarily enjoyed the film. It is surely the highest rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes I have seen in the past decade that is not a comedy or animated, the entire sentiment was sort of lost on me, because in 2020, the year of our lord, I now have shame that I am straight. Funny how time works. Alex's rating: 7/10

Eric’s Review: Growing up, Brokeback Mountain was of course known as “the gay cowboy movie.” Looking back, that summary was so minimizing for a movie of this excellence, but that’s what 14-year-old me knew it as. That shortsighted synopsis carried with me to this day, I’m not proud of it, but that’s what it stuck in my head as. It generated tons of controversy when it came out in 2005. Primordial fuck-noodles like Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus weren’t short on homophobic remarks of Brokeback, and the owner of the Utah Jazz even pulled it from his movie theatre’s. Every conservative with a mouth cavity couldn’t contain their uproar. Then it was snubbed at the Oscars. Crash won Best Picture instead of Brokeback Mountain, it shouldn’t have hurt this movie’s legacy, but it did. Crash seems more deeply-ingrained in my memory than Brokeback Mountain, and maybe because society at that time wasn’t ready for a movie quite like this. We put it in a box and never let it out. After watching, I deeply felt that it didn’t matter what Jack or Ennis’ sexual orientation’s were (as it shouldn’t), it was a love story about two exceedingly lonely human’s trapped in a society that wouldn’t accept them. Fast-forward 30-40 years from when the movie was set, and it didn’t seem like much had changed. I don’t think Crash deserved Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain, but am I angry that it happened? Not really. Awards are decided by those that vote on them (no shit), and that particular group of people felt Crash was the better movie. C’est la vie. I usually don’t enjoy dwelling on plot in my reviews but I owe it to the reader to say what this movie is about since so many people refer to it as “the gay cowboy movie.” Two men, Jack Twist (played by Jake Gylenhaal) and Ennis Del Ray (played by Heath Ledger), show up at a trailer in Wyoming asking for work for the summer. A jack-of-all-trades (including being a jackass) named Joe needs someone to keep an eye on his sheep for him up in Brokeback Mountain, so he sends them up there to do so with a horse, some guns, and some cans of beans. As they spend time on the scenic heart-swelling Brokeback Mountain, they fall in love. But it’s the early 60s, and as they prepare to go back down the mountain, they know they can’t carry out their romance in the narrow-minded rural landscape of their country towns. As Ennis points out, people get killed for that. This act ends in Jack and Ennis having a fist fight, as emotionally repressed men tend to do. Focus-in on blood Jack gets on his shirt and save this for later. Post-tryst, Ennis gets married and Jack is a rodeo boy making passes at bull-tamers. But then Ennis gets a postcard one day. The screenplay does a wonderful job seamlessly transitioning time as they carry out their romance over the years. They’d tell their wives they were going on “fishing trips,” when they were really going to the mountains for some whiskey and love-making. We can tell Ennis truly does love his wife Alma (played by Michelle Williams) at the start of their relationship. They have two kids, but the kids cause quite a strain on their marriage. And as the years go by, Ennis’ commitment issues due to his parents abandoning him as a child rear their ugly head. Jack marries a fellow rodeo girl in Texas named Laureen (played by Anne Hathaway), but their relationship is more of a business transaction. She approaches him to engage in some tumbleweed-rodeo-secks. She just wants a kid and a husband to help in the machinery business. This is okay with Jack and their marriage lasts, even with Jack’s infidelities. Ennis’ doesn’t. Alma knows about Ennis and Jack’s relationship and they grow apart over the years. Ennis’ commitment issues aren’t exclusive to Alma, though. As the film progresses, we see he applied this to every relationship in his life: his future girlfriend, his daughter’s, and even Jack. It’s why their relationship ultimately fails. Jack had dreams of living in the Wyoming country and being a cattle rancher with Ennis, but Ennis often laughed at the notion. Ennis remembers a time when his dad showed him a dead body of a gay man beaten to death. It’s hard to say if he’s ashamed of their relationship, or just scared. Even when he breaks down to Jack and exclaims: “YOU MADE ME LIKE THIS!” The audience knows he doesn’t really mean it, he’s just a scared Wyoming cowboy with commitment issues. The last act starts with Ennis attempting to mail Jack a postcard, as that’s how they used to communicate (I really do love how much more romantic a postcard or a letter can be than a text), he gets a return to sender that says “deceased.” Ennis calls Laureen and talks to her for the first time in his life. She knows he was one of Jack’s lover’s and seems slightly annoyed but at peace with it. She gives him a bogus story about how a tire popped and Jack drowned in his own blood, but Ennis knows he was beaten to death for being gay. His whole bitter-tough-cowboy facade crumbles, as it only could with Jack, and Ennis and Laureen have an honest moment reminiscing over the man they both loved. We could tell Laureen’s relationship with Jack was no longer transactional, as they aged together and learned to love each other. She tells Ennis he was cremated and that Jack always wanted his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain, and that he should go visit his parents. When Ennis arrives, we immediately know the family dynamic: Jack had a typical tough-exterior-tobacco-spitting farmer dad, but a sweet gentle mom where Jack may have gotten the familial love and understanding that Ennis never got. He used to tell his dad that he wanted to buy a home near him with Ennis and help with the ranch. Even through the dad’s tough exterior and his insistence on Jack’s ashes being scattered at the family plot and not at Brokeback Mountain, we can tell he’s truly a father who misses his son. There is something fragile to him, something so melancholy that it expels a grieving scent throughout the home. Jack’s mom tells Ennis that she left his room as it was when he was a child. Ennis goes up there in the most heartbreaking scene of the movie, and sees Jack’s roots. Then he wanders over to the closet and finds the shirt Jack was wearing the last day they were on Brokeback Mountain. The blood from their fight is still on the sleeve. It’s a symbol of how Ennis pushed away everyone he’s ever loved, but especially Jack, the love of his life and only one who ever truly understood him. He takes the shirt, not only as a memorial to Jack, but as a reminder of how he’s treated his loved ones in his life. In the last scene, Ennis’ daughter visits him. Previously, we learned Ennis was largely absent from her life. Ennis doesn’t even know who she’s currently dating when she visits him, and then she tells him she’s getting married. At first, Ennis wants to cling to his cold exterior, the shell it seems he’s reverted into even more since Jack’s death. But we see him finally shed this shell, as he tells his daughter he’ll be at the wedding. Maybe he heard Jack’s voice in his head reminding him to be a bit more brave, as after Ennis’ daughter leaves, he walks over to his dresser where Jack’s bloody shirt hangs. Cut to credits and let me cry. The first point that caught my eye about directorial choices in this movie was the stark juxtaposition of the dream-like Wyoming mountains and the depressing domestication of Wyoming and Texas rural home-life. The resplendent colors we see in the mountains and the off-whites and browns we see in Wyoming and Texas are purposeful and are painted with sincere artistry. Ang Lee had a balloon and he grabbed it with his gentle directorial touch then smeared it with peanut butter and sent it off into the clouds. The acting was downright phenomenal. I believe this was the first movie where Heath Ledger was taken seriously as an actor and not a Hollywood heartthrob. It was pre-Dark Knight and he may have never gotten that role if it weren’t for this movie. I know I pointed it out in my Little Women review, but the talent it takes to change your accent like that is befuddling. Ledger is Australian and is talking in a down-home Wyoming drawl. His portrayal of Ennis is the beating heart of this movie. I’d like to say he was a strong and silent type, but really he was weak and silent, sort of a metaphor for the way our society treated sexuality back then. I could review each actor’s performance, but the truth is: it was utterly superb all around. Only with this kind of acting and screenwriting can a movie achieve such character depth and nuance. Rating: 9.5/10. One of the best film’s of the twenty-first century. Did this deserve the Oscar over Crash? Fuck yes it did. I liked Crash but it wasn’t the all-around masterpiece Brokeback Mountain was. It’s also insane to think how far LGBTQ+ has come in 15 years, as I think Brokeback Mountain wouldn’t even be close to as controversial today as it was back then. Do I think it might’ve won the Oscar? Probably not. The academy hasn’t evolved much since then. R.I.P. Heath Ledger too, it was so sad watching a deceased actor at the top of his talent in one of his best roles.

#brokeback mountain #heath ledger #jake gylenhall #anne hathaway #michelle williams #wyoming #texas #cowboy #lgbtq #lgbtqiia+#rodeo #oscars #academy awards #crash

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tessa-quayle · 5 years

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full text: 2019 Telegraph piece

check out the pictures here from @ralph-n-fiennes

the article by Hermione Eyre (official link - registration required for a free trial)

Ralph Fiennes does Ralph Fiennes so well. During our interview he delivers everything one might hope for: sensitive introspection, charm, pathos, a touch of mystery and even a (partial) defence of late Soviet Russia. ‘A lot of people didn’t experience it as repressive…’

This in the context of the stunning new film he has directed, called The White Crow, about the defection of Rudolf Nureyev from the Soviet Union in 1961. Oh, and he also impersonates a horse for me. Beautiful whinny. Sensitive nostrils.

‘It’s how I feel as the house lights go down and I can feel the expectation from the audience. You can see it in horses before a race.’

As we begin, in a Shoreditch loft studio not far from his home, he seems professorial, in a woolly cardigan, neatly arranging his spectacles, notebook and copy of the latest London Review of Books. When he is ready he gives me that trademark encouraging smile – half little boy, half crocodile.

Career-wise, he has it all. Family life, not so much. His greatest luxury? ‘My independence. I lead quite a solitary life.’ When I ask him if he’s a good uncle to his siblings’ progeny – Mercy, Titan and Hero, to name a few – he says flatly, ‘I could be better.’

His sister, the film-maker Sophie Fiennes, says her son Horace, now eight, really enjoyed the sword fighting in his Richard III, which is, if you think about it, a good outcome for a small boy going to see his uncle play Richard III.

His presence is a mark of quality in a film. Both the Bond and Harry Potter franchises, where he plays M and Voldemort respectively, brought him in for gravitas. Since Rada, he has run the gamut of Shakespeare, from Romeo in 1986 to his award-winning Antony & Cleopatra last year at the National, opposite Sophie Okonedo.

‘She was spectacular. I miss Antony. I found him very moving in his brokenness; his masculinity falling away and him trying to cling on to it. He’s male and middle-aged, and he keeps saying, “I’ve still got it, haven’t I? Haven’t I?”’

Does he recognise that? ‘I am 56 and I try to stay fitter’ – he does cardio and morning yoga – ‘but I can feel myself getting… old. Little shifts of energy and ambition, little impulses. You get tired more, you want to take it easy more.’ Then summoning mercurial energy in that actorly way, he explodes, ‘But I can feel myself fighting that, like, “I’m not gonna let go! Come on, come on. Yeah!” There are plenty of virile 56-year-old men.’

When I ask if he’s got a motorbike yet, like Ralph Richardson, he isn’t impressed. ‘No, my brother Joseph rides a motorbike. He can do fast cars and handle boats.’ Joseph, now 48, will for ever be the young Bard wooing Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love, just as Ralph single-handedly made Herodotus hot, that spring of 1997 when we all went to see The English Patient and wept.

Antony gives everything up for sex. ‘Yes, he does, that’s a very real erotic connection, and it’s very emasculating for him.’ Does sex make the world go round? ‘Erm, sex produces more human beings, mostly.’ Nice deflection.

Fiennes married Alex Kingston, his great love from Rada, in 1993. Their marriage ended when he left her in 1995 for the actor who was playing Gertrude to his Hamlet, Francesca Annis, 17 years older than him. Although the relationship broke down in early 2006 amid reports of his alleged infidelity, they still talk, have a deep, mutual professional respect and go to each other’s first nights.

Kingston has since gone on to have a daughter, Salome, with her second husband and Annis already had three children; Fiennes has never wanted his own family. ‘Never say never,’ he demurs. ‘But I don’t feel that’s imminent at all. I love the family and community of plays or the cast and crew of a film.’

He recollects his lines from Man and Superman, the Bernard Shaw play, ‘where Jack Tanner [whom he played] rather brilliantly pours scorn on the idea of happiness: “No family, no marriage, spread your seed, but no marriage!” I love the mischief in that.’

He says, ‘I am the eldest of six,’ as if it explains everything. The Fiennes children were born within seven years. Martha and Sophie make films; Magnus is a composer; Joseph is an actor and his twin Jacob is a gamekeeper in Norfolk. Their foster brother, Michael, now an archaeologist, came to live with them when he was 11, Ralph was two and their mother Jini was only 24.

‘My wonderful parents [Mark Fiennes, a farmer, and Jini Lash, a writer] were pressured by tough financial situations and a very erratic income,’ says Fiennes quietly. ‘They were extraordinarily courageous in giving us love and a sense of home, but also a feeling, early on, of what it is to be a burden on your parents – somewhere I think that’s affected my choices.’

‘We experienced family life with bells on,’ says sister Sophie, who’s currently working on a new series of the brilliant Pervert’s Guide to… documentaries with philosopher Slavoj Zižek. ‘You have lived that and you don’t need to replicate it.’ She remembers that as a child Ralph ‘really liked getting away from us all and being alone’.

He adored his Pollock’s toy theatre and insisted his siblings formed an audience, ‘furious’ if they didn’t comply. He set up footlights in matchboxes. ‘It was magical, very Fanny and Alexander,’ says Sophie, referencing the Bergman paean to childhood.

Ralph always had ‘a love of practical jokes’, she remembers. When they lived by the sea, on the Sheep’s Head peninsula in Ireland, he stood on a rock at high tide and pretended to be drowning.

‘Gave our mother a fit.’ He also called their neighbour to say his wife had been changing a light bulb and was now hanging from the ceiling, twitching. ‘It was April Fool’s. Our neighbour was furious.’

As a young man Fiennes became, after Schindler’s List, the intellectual’s pin-up. Is ageing harder when you’ve been a heart-throb? ‘Look, there’s lots of heart-throbs out there. You see it in younger actors who are having their moment, there’s a new one and they’re written up, how beautiful they are… You see the waves and the breaks, that person had that moment, or that opportunity. There are a handful of actors and directors who stay [the course], but mostly it’s ups and downs.’ In other words, the challenge is to convert being a heart-throb into something more meaningful and lasting.

Such as directing. He directed himself in 2011’s Bafta-nominated Coriolanus with Vanessa Redgrave as his mother Volumnia; in 2013 he directed and appeared as a passion-struck Dickens opposite Felicity Jones in The Invisible Woman.

His latest is The White Crow, based on Julie Kavanagh’s biography of Nureyev. He spent months touring Russian ballet schools before finding Oleg Ivenko, a young unknown from the Tatar State Ballet company, who is devastatingly good as the dancer. Fiennes plays his mentor Pushkin.

I didn’t really want to be in it,’ he says. ‘But I felt this creeping pressure and although I had a cast of wonderful Russian actors and dancers, the Russian producer said to me, “If you want Russian investment then we need Western names, why aren’t you in it?”’

He will dig deep to make the films he wants to make: has he put his own money in? ‘I have done, yes.’ Would you again? ‘No! I’ve had to put money into all the films I’ve made. They don’t sparkle with commercial appeal.’ Did the money come back? ‘No.’ Harry Potter helps? ‘Definitely. I don’t regret doing it. I have the resources and I believe in the project. You get one life, so f— it.’

The script of The White Crow is by David Hare, who questions the view of Nureyev’s defection as a ‘leap to freedom’, showing instead a certain nostalgia for the Nikita Khrushchev era.

Hare and Fiennes spoke to friends of Nureyev from 1950s Leningrad, twin dancers Leonid and Liuba Romankov, now in their 80s, who appear in a lunch party scene alongside actors playing their younger selves. ‘Liuba said, “I felt free, I felt happy inside myself at that time.” Nureyev was so nurtured and nourished by the dance school.’

The film doesn’t have anything to say about the propaganda and food shortages. ‘If you say I should have laid out a history lesson of the regime, I say no, I think that would have been heavy-handed. I think an audience is smart. You see the ideological pressure of the regime and the constant surveillance Nureyev was under.’

Do you feel the Soviet approach to the arts got something right? ‘I do, because that was, as I understand it, the philosophy of “we’re all a group”, though of course the individual is stifled. I’ve always been moved by what I feel to be the dedication of the Russian arts ethos, the discipline, the intense seriousness with which people take it.’

His love of Russia began in his early 20s, with him performing Chekhov and reading Dostoyevsky; he is now fluent in Russian, has ‘a lingering fantasy of buying a flat in St Petersburg’ and has been presented to Putin. ‘At the St Petersburg International Cultural Forum, which they hold every year. He was very quiet and listening.’

This was before the Salisbury poisoning. Does Fiennes believe Russia was responsible? Briskly, ‘Yes, yes. It seems to me like it was. Clearly there are problematic things with the current regime to our eyes and I do feel it’s been a tricky time since Salisbury, and that’s a shame and sad.’ Oddly enough he knows the town well, having been to Bishop Wordsworth’s grammar school.

‘I had a mostly happy time there. It was an extraordinarily shocking, cack-handed event, unacceptable and wrong in every way. And in reaction the Brits have made things harder with visas and it becomes tit for tat, and the Russians have closed down the British Council, which was a wonderful enabler of cultural interaction. I don’t know if the British Council is a cover for espionage, maybe it is…’ Bond bells are ringing. But you’re M, you must know! He replies, curtly, ‘But I’m not M, am I?’

We return to the topic of growing older. ‘There are pluses to ageing, you know? You can let go of some shit. The competition falls away. You can see the cycles of your own mistakes, hopefully you’re learning… All the things that have caused you upset: I hurt that person, I got a bad review. You start to feel: did that really matter? The things you were so concerned about just drift away on the current of life. And your idealism is tempered and your vanity gets knocked…’

He brings up, as an example, the 2002 film he made with Jennifer Lopez called Maid in Manhattan, a comedy fairy tale in which he plays a US senatorial candidate who falls for his chambermaid. ‘I saw in the newspaper they had J Lo’s most successful films and’ – big smile – ‘Maid in Manhattan was there, and it came quite near the top’ – bigger smile – ‘and then I read: “Let down by the fact that Ralph Fiennes seems like a serial killer.” Ha ha ha! I had to laugh.

’Cos my vanity scrolled it and then… bam!’ He gives a proper belly laugh. Didn’t he get together with J Lo while they were filming? ‘No. No. I was set up by her manager and the producer. So a picture was taken of us saying goodnight after dinner and sold to the New York Post. It was a decoy, to take the focus away from the fact that she was going out with Ben Affleck.’ You didn’t mind? ‘I did, actually. I thought it was really crap.’ He shrugs, smiles. The things fame brings.

‘I give my agent all these neurotic phone calls, asking about reviews, who said this, who said that, but then, glass of wine, laugh it off.’

I feel I’ve had a flash of the blazing, naughty, fun side of Fiennes; we have known it’s there ever since we saw his suavely clownish Gustave in The Grand Budapest Hotel, and his irrepressible Harry in A Bigger Splash (complete with gyrating dance routine). There is a fun side to him, then? He smiles enigmatically as we say goodbye. ‘You won’t ever see that in an interview situation.’

#ralph fiennes #mixed feelings #appreciate his insight and humility #still feel like he struggles with interviews sometimes #or depending on the writer he's shown in an odd light #the 2016 gentleman journal's interview is probably still my favorite #the telegraph #fulltext

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ladyrevanhalin · 5 years

Text

ONLY LIGHT CAN CAST SHADOW: CHAPTER ONE - THE YOUNG KNIGHTS OF DANTOOINE

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15753210/chapters/36659886#workskin

Many Jedi lined the walls of the Council Chamber within the walls of the Jedi Enclave of Dantooine. The Council of Dantooine was in full assembly, and eager Padawans stood watching their comrades as they approached the Masters one by one. Apprentices who had not yet become Padawans looked on excitedly as they watched the ceremony take place. A young human woman with blond braids pinned neatly atop her head approached the Masters and kneeled before them.

“By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force,” one Master spoke as he passed the green blade of his saber over each of her shoulders, “Opela Moraf, you may rise.”

The young woman rose and stepped aside, taking her place apart from the others as another Padawan came forward. The process repeated, a different Master leading the knighting this time. “…you may rise.” The Padawan stepped aside as the next came forward, this time, a woman with wild raven hair pulled back out of her face and piercing eyes. She knelt before the Council and a Twi’lek Master came forward, passing his pale blue blade over each of her shoulders.

“By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, Halin Chan, you may rise.”

Halin rose and took her place among those recently knighted, next to Opela Moraf. Opela was Halin’s elder by three years. She was a polite woman and made friends quite easily, but she was also quite… complacent. Not that there was anything wrong with following orders from one’s superiors, but it seemed odd how she would often choose the path of the follower when many of the Masters saw the opportunity in her natural abilities for a great leader. Opela, however, seemed to be content with this. Her greatest desire was to serve and inspire as a teacher, rather than in other affairs. In this way, her choice to follow the path of the Jedi Consular seemed rather fitting.

“By the right of the Council, by the will of the force, Alex Khaar, you may rise.”

A towering man with a shaved head who had been kneeling before the Council rose and took his place among the others. Alex was the same age as Opela, but had become a Padawan with Halin. He had never been much of one for popularity among his peers, but what he lacked in social adeptness he made up for in his skill with a lightsaber. Alex was one of the most skilled among the Dantooine youth with the blade. His sheer size granted him a certain level of brute strength which gave him an advantage in that regard and made him an excellent Jedi Guardian.

He and Halin had grown to be great friends during their training. The two had the same insatiable thirst for knowledge and helped each other to make up for their flaws. Halin was the more clever of the two, and often assumed the role of the leader among the pair. She had chosen to follow the path of the Jedi Sentinel. She was significantly smaller than her companion though, and so Alex was generally the brawn to her brains.

Eight Padawans in total knelt before the Council on Dantooine that day. Each rising as a Padawan no more, but as having been granted the title of Jedi Knight. When the ceremony had ended, each Master went to congratulate their former Padawan. Master Sana approached Halin.

“I congratulate you, Halin Chan, on attaining the rank of Jedi Knight. You have grown beyond your apprenticeship to me, but know that you may seek me at any moment you feel you have the need for my wisdom or consultation. Remember what I have told you. Always seek the truth for yourself. There are those even within the Order whose intentions are not always what they might first seem. Be mindful of this, young one. I feel it will lead you down the path to discovering your own greatness.”

“Thank you, Master Sana,” Halin said with a bow to her former Master. “I assure you that I will not forget your teachings.”

“Good,” Master Sana replied. “You have been the most brilliant of my students. Your destiny lies ahead of you now that you have joined the ranks of the Jedi Knights. Now if you will excuse me, I have matters I must attend to.”

“Of course, Master Sana,” Halin replied. And the Jedi Master departed from the room. It was then that Halin felt a hand ruffle her hair and looked up, trying to shield her head with her own hands. It was Alex. “Hey!” she protested, laughing a bit. “What was that about?”

“Aren’t you going to congratulate your old friend? Or does being a Jedi Knight mean you’ve moved above talking to losers like me now?” He went to ruffle her hair again, but this time she caught his hand and punched him lightly in the chest.

“Of course it doesn’t, you nerf-herder. Congratulations! You’ve earned it—we all have. Now about our bet…”

“Our bet?” Alex said, seemingly confused. “What bet?”

“About who would be knighted first.”

“We were both knighted at the same time…. Doesn’t that make it a draw?”

“Well, technically speaking, I was knighted exactly one person ahead of you, which makes me the winner.”

“Wait… but that’s not fair! I let you go ahead of me in line!” Alex protested.

“That’s your own fault,” she said with a smirk. “Next time you should think ahead. Now pay up.”

Alex leered at Halin—an expression to which she replied by batting her eyelashes in an attempt to feign innocence as she held out her palm to claim her reward.

“Are you crazy!?” he whispered, glancing around briefly. “Later. What would the Masters think?”

She took her hand away and shrugged. “That you’re a fool? Don’t take things so seriously, Alex. Loosen up a little. We can settle this later if it would make you feel better.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly.

“Oh, stop being such a crybaby. We’re supposed to be celebrating right now! Now go congratulate Opela.”

“Why should I do that?”

“Because it’s good manners, and if you want people to more openly interact with you, then it’s a good place to start,” Halin explained, nudging him a little.

Alex groaned.

“Is there a problem here?” came a voice from behind.

Halin and Alex spun around to see one of the Masters on the Council watching them with his arms folded, a rather disapproving expression set upon his facial features.

“Of course not, Master Lamar,” Halin chirped. “Alex and I were just shooting the breeze, congratulating each other and whatnot. Nothing to get worked up about.”

Master Lamar raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Miss Chan, do you mean to make a mockery me?”

“Of course not! Why would I think of doing such a thing?”

“Because you don’t seem to be taking me very seriously…”

“I?” she gasped. “I would never dream of it! Now, uh… If you’ll excuse me, Master, I really must get going. I promised one of the locals I would take a look at their droid. Apparently it’s had some glitches since the last memory wipe.” And with this, she bowed out and headed swiftly to the exit.

Alex made a move as if to follow her, but Master Lamar stopped him. “Be mindful of that one,” the Jedi Master told him. “She is too headstrong and proud of herself. Her Master was always too liberal with her teachings and only encouraged this behavior from her pupil. I fear miss Chan’s defiant nature may lead her down the path to the dark side. Do not allow her to have a negative influence on you.”

“I will keep your words in mind, Master Lamar.”

“Good. I must continue in offering my congratulations, so I leave you to meditate on this.”

Alex looked after where Halin had gone. He somehow doubted that she was really headed to help some farmer with their droid, but that was just who Halin was—always rushing off on some sort of new ‘adventure.’

“Congratulations, Alex!” came a feminine voice from behind him. It was Opela. Alex froze for a moment.

“Congratulations,” he murmured back, hesitating before turning around fully to look at her. Opela was a rather beautiful human female. She had hair as gold as the Tatooine sands and eyes that were the same pale blue of a Guardian’s blade. Though he had taken the oath of a Jedi, Alex was not blind to her beauty. Her image made him feel things that he knew were forbidden.

There is no emotion; there is peace….

“The same to you,” he finally managed to reply. Alex was generally the strong quiet type. He didn’t talk to many of the other Jedi, with the exception of Halin. She generally did the talking of the two and he would sort of follow her lead. Right now, however, he couldn’t rely on this status quo, and he couldn’t help but to wonder to himself if she had somehow planned this when she chose her timing to depart from the ceremony.

‘Damn you, Halin…’ he thought.

“Where did Halin run off to?” asked Opela. “I wanted to wish her the same.”

“Oh, uh… she said she had something she needed to do… Sorry about that.”

“No, don’t apologize, it’s not your fault. I just figured that I would ask, since the two of you seem to hang around each other so often while here at the Enclave… Are you busy later?”

A moment of terror passed over Alex’s features before he could answer her. “I…. I was planning on doing some sparring practice later on.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Alex was stunned. Was he really asking her this question? It was no secret that Opela was a bit weak in her skills with a lightsaber, and Alex was certain that his skills might overwhelm the poor young woman… And yet, there was something about her… something unspoken, which compelled him to say yes to her.

“I don’t mind at all,” he said, before he could even know what he was doing.

“Perfect!” she said, her face lighting up. “I truly admire your combat skills, and hope that I might take much away from this valuable opportunity to spar with you. I promise that I will not disappoint you.”

Opela Moraf had always been known to make fast friends and allies with those around her, and Alex was beginning to see why that might be the case. It was something about her aura that put the minds of those she was interacting with at peace and encouraged them to follow her desires almost blindly. Some Jedi Masters had been known to be quite gifted in the art of persuasion, and could use the force to easily influence the weak of mind. While Alex certainly did not consider himself to be weak in any sense of the word, he couldn’t help but to wonder if Opela was having a similar sort of influence on him.

“I trust you won’t,” He replied. “I’ll see you later in the day?”

“Certainly! I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”

><><><><><

Alex paced the floor of the sparring room. Along one side sat several deactivated training droids designed to be used for sparring practice. One could spar with a droid, or with a fellow Jedi, though Alex more often than not chose the droids. Droids could be set to whatever level was suitable to the one practicing, and any injury could only occur upon that person, should they have overestimated their own skills and set the droid to too high of a level. People, however, were a different story. Injuries or even deaths could occur if a miscalculation was made.

Such miscalculations were a thing that Alex feared greatly, and the reason why he generally avoided sparring with his peers. Occasionally, he would spar with Halin, but only because he knew that she was clever enough to read his forms and to respond appropriately. In fact, on more than one occasion, she had bested him with some unorthodox method she came up with that exploited a weak point in his form. Sparring with her always made him better at spotting his own flaws, though he was convinced sometimes that she must have cheated by secretly observing him outside of their sparring sessions.

Opela, however, was not at all like Halin. She was far too trusting and known to let her guard down at crucial moments when she could have easily taken the opportunity to strike her opponent. Opela was clearly more of the Mentor and Negotiator than Swordsman… So why did she ask to spar with him?

Alex was pondering this exact question when Opela entered the sparring room.

“Opela!” Alex said, “It is good to see you.”

“Likewise,” she replied. “I hope that I’ve not kept you waiting for long?”

“Not at all! Though I have to ask… Why did you wish to spar with me? I… I don’t mean to come across as rude but… well… I… er… you… I mean…”

“I’m not very good?” she said, completing his thoughts. “And you don’t usually choose to spar with your peers?”

Alex could feel his face reddening. “I didn’t mean it like that…”

“No, please. I know all of this already. No offense is taken. I have chosen the path of the Jedi Consular---it is, after all, what probably suits me best. We rely more on our connection with the Force than our skills with a lightsaber, and generally try to avoid direct combat wherever possible… Though even among the Consulars, my skills with a blade have always been my weak point…”

Alex wasn’t sure where Opela could be going with all of this. If she had known, then why would she even want to join him in the first place?

“…You may know of Master Kavar?” she continued. “He’s an excellent swordsman—one of the best in the order—and is a dear friend of mine. At one point, he wished me to become his Padawan, but it was clear to him that, given my nature, he would not be the most suitable of teachers for my case… Now that I have graduated from Padawan to Jedi Knight, I wish to show him that I have grown and that, despite my nature, I can learn to be skilled in lightsaber combat.”

“I empathize with your case—I really do, but…” Alex began in protest, “Would not a droid be most suitable in this case?”

Opela shook her head. “A droid is not living. A droid cannot become one with the Force. Since my strengths lie with my connection to the Force, I think that, maybe, if I learn to draw upon it more during combat, instead of relying upon the physical nature of lightsaber forms, I might have greater success.”

So there was a plan behind her seemingly mad request after all! Perhaps she was not so very different from Halin as Alex had initially thought her to be…

“I see… While I admire your reasoning, I must admit that I am hesitant to spar with you, despite my previous agreement to your request. I do not wish to harm you as a result of our training together.”

“I trust that you will not,” she said simply in reply. “Of that, I am confident. I sense much unrest within you. Perhaps this experience will be good for the both of us. Perhaps I will also be able to teach you to trust in your own self-refrain.”

Alex considered this. Perhaps she was right? Perhaps the problem was that he had difficulty trusting himself to know when to stop? Surely he was wise enough to know such now.. After all, the Council had granted him the rank of Jedi Knight. Control was something that he was expected to have learned much more of than he was while still a Padawan.

“Fine,” Alex said with resolve. “Let us begin then.”

He ignited the blue beam of his blade and assumed a ready stance, waiting for Opela to do the same. Bowing graciously in acceptance of his decision, she removed the hilt of her saber from its place hanging at her waist and pressed the trigger, causing a brilliant silvery-white blade to spring forward with a whirring sound. She assumed her ready stance. “Yes, let us begin.”

><><><><><

Halin Chan sat upright in her bunk, sorting through information in her datapad. What she had told Master Lamar had not been a complete lie. She had gone to take a look at a droid, but it wasn’t malfunctioning. It had been a security droid on the estate of one of the wealthier locals on Dantooine. The droids were meant to prevent trespassers and kath hounds from roaming the property, but Halin had found a hole in the security system and had created a sort of backdoor through which she could observe the droids’ systems at close proximity without sounding an alarm.

It was risky, sure, but there weren’t many combat model droids on Dantooine other than those used in combat training in the enclave, and those were difficult to observe the mechanics of without being reprimanded by the Jedi Masters. Security droids were the next closest thing. Halin thought that a droid could be a useful tool on either side of a conflict, and so she wanted to have a good understanding of them in order to make the best of any situations which arose in the future.

In her mind, she had toyed with the idea of building her own droid. She understood enough of basic mechanics that she could have done so easily if she chose… but Master Sana had never been particularly fond of droids, and so Halin had refrained as a sign of respect for her Master. However, this did not mean that she hadn’t created any of her own plans based on her findings.

Droids, despite not being directly connected to the Force, still radiated energy and vibrations which could be felt by those who were well attuned. Like sentients, Halin found that droids often had their own unique personalities that would develop over time, particularly without frequent memory wipes. They were capable of a large variety of tasks, but, like people, had their particular specialties.

Halin sighed and collapsed backward onto her bunk. She knew quite well that there would be nowhere to hide a droid, and anything beyond a protocol droid might be highly questioned. A simple protocol droid wouldn’t be any fun though…

She switched off her datapad. One day, though not now…. A protocol droid would be useful, yes, but the only particularly challenging programming would be a simple study of language and etiquette…

She shoved the datapad into a drawer beside her bunk and then rolled back onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She supposed it might be best to rest right now. After all, she and Alex were supposed to travel to Coruscant in a couple of days to serve as extra security for a treaty between two insectoid races from a rim planet.

She closed her eyes and attempted to calm her mind. Eventually, she drifted into sleep, the sound of the creatures roaming the plains of Dantooine resonating in the far background.

#kotor #kotoredit #female revan #revan malak #revan #mandalorian wars #jedi exile #fanfic #star wars #revalek

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grs-the-neighborhood · 5 years

Photo

Name: Essence O'Lantern

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Orientation: Bi

Species: Mischief spirit

Alignment: Neutral

Parents: Demongo And Jack'O Lantern

Personality: flirty, manipulative, mischievous, Does-not-play-well-with-others, lazy, Tom-boyish, crude, foul mouthed.

Facts

- one of the seeds from jack’s pumpkin head that was infused with some of demongo’s essence. the seed blossomed into a large pumpkin flower that was what brought Essence into the world.

-is more like a eldritch spirit then a demon.

- Similar to Demongo, her powers involve draining Essence. However, while demongo stole the essence of warriors he defeated to later control, Essence can not enslave another person. Rather, she feeds off of essence similar to a vampire or succubus. As a mischief spirit, she is a being that thrives on chaos. so she often uses her abilities to scare folks to feed off of the fear she creates as fear has traces of chaotic energy. However, for a easier, much more chaotic fix, she targets thugs, villains, and other more dangerous targets if it means she gets to keep her powers flowing. She approaches a thug or villain by flirting, and once she has them alone she feeds.

-draining essence simply keeps her powers activated. besides draining essence, she can levitate, teleport, rapid heal, mildly alter reality (basically, she will make you see sh*t to create fear. but this in turn drains her, wich is why she prefers going after thugs and villains). If she does not feed properly, she can be wounded greatly as her body will be unable to heal itself. Soshe is not immortal what so ever.

-Is neutral because 1) she ain’t a goody goody. and 2) she likes feeding off of villains the most. 3) being a “villain” turns things into a job and “ruins her fun”.

- she would not disrupt anything major in the series, she would stand as a nuisance if anything. causing issues for the heroes, and creep'n on the villains. - she can eat normal food. she loves anything spicey.

-if she were to be voiced by any one, Nicki Minaj would be her voice. That laugh of her’s is just perfect.~ -despite her tendency to use others, and act like a Turd. She is a Daddys’ girl. -she dislikes aku. for obvious reasons. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxFxRX…

Edit:

Intro story (mild cussing involved) _________________________ Kingsley walked down the hallway talking with Cheyenne who was scrolling through her phone. “ Hey, did you hear about the gang found by the cops last night?” Kingsley looked at her. “ no? why? what happened?” “They were all found ranting like madmen. supposedly they kept saying "the shadows are alive” or some crap. they must have been tweaked the f-out on something. the police never saw anything one that freaked out before.“"that is weird. I still don’t get how folks can keep hitting stuff like that. messes with the brain.” He brushes shoulders with Renee. “watch it loser!” “sorry” Kingsley and Renee exchange glances as Cheyenne gave Renee a glare. she was not the only one, Across the hall Alex glared at Renee. She stomped her foot. “grrrrrr why won’t Kingsley notice me!? I am way better then that stupid mortal!” the demon seethed with anger, but a cool breathy breeze went on the back of her neck. she shuttered and turned around, seeing nothing. she shrugged and went to step forwards but a large, eerie shadow stood over her, multiple eyes staring down at her. a hand reached forwards but she backed away screeching like a majestic fucking eagle as she ran around it and into Kingsley. “KINSGLEY HELP! there is a ominous shadow out to grab me!” she pointed to were the figure was, but nothing was in the now well lit area. Cheyenne scoffed.“you are going nuts ya weirdo. now hurry up, class is starting soon, and I’ll be damned if I am late for your arse.” she closed her locker, and they head off into class. The bell rang and the teacher entered the room. “settle down ya brats. we are about to begin. But first I would like to introduce our new student, Ms. Essence O'Lantern. the door creaked open and a Pumpkin head peaked through the door, eerie glowing eyes and mouth, followed by a tall, lanky body with sharp fingered hands. A mischievous giggle came from her."Hi everyone, I hope I am not too late for the fun~”“you are new, just don’t let it happen again.” the teacher grunted. one of the jocks raised his hand.“ hey teach, are you sure a farmer won’t be mad his scarecrow is missing?” the rest of the class laughed, as Kingsley, and Cheyenne exchanged glances. Essence’s eyes seemed to spark up a moment but then stopped. that wide grin of hers never falling. “if I am a scarecrow, then you must be the prized Pig.~” “ooooo~” the boy shut his mouth and looked away blushing as the strange girl went to her seat in the back of the class.she gave a creepy smirk at Alex as she passed and sat.Alex gave her a glare as she tried to keep her focus upfront and on the boring ramblings of their inferior teacher. The bell rang later on in the day, and lunchtime has begun. Cheyenne and Kingsley head into the lunch room.as they sat down, they noticed the Jock from before was not sitting up at Renee’s table.Renee seemed to have noticed to as she glanced at the empty seat and shared a look with Kingsley who shrugged. The lunchroom door opened and Essence stepped in, her usual large smirk on her face as she proudly struts down the isles of tables and sits at an empty one far in the back.she sets an old fashioned, metal lunch-pail on the table and digs in. Surrounding students casting odd glances at her as she ate, not caring about the words they would mutter. the Jock too, soon entered the Cafeteria.He looked pail, dark circles under his eyes, and worn. He nervously glanced around, and his eyes fell on Essence. The tall, lanky demoness winked seductively at him and pressed a finger to her mouth in a “sh” like motion. he gulped and sat down in his usual spot.He refused to answer his friends when they asked them what was wrong and refused to eat.As the day progressed, Other students began to become more and more wary of the new girl.She was creepy, her sense of humor dark, and whenever a kid got hurt in gym, her laugh would ring out loud in twisted glee. Alex had shifted into his male form, and was keeping a close eye on the new being. He did not like sharing his turf with another being. When the final bell rang, the halls flooded with students, anxious to get out and enjoy their Friday. Alex leaned against the wall and waited.As less students were in the halls he finally saw Essence go to her locker.As Her slender hand placed her books away, she was slammed against the lockers near her, Alex glaring at her.“Oh darl'n, if ya wanted to play you could have just asked~” the Tall demon cooed smirking at Alex in glee. Alex Scowled.“ As if I would want to be caught dead with a filthy, lower-class scum like you!” “ooh Alex why do you have to be so mean.” she pouts for a moment. “how’d yo-” Essence suddenly grabbed his wrist and pushes him off of her, and ends up slamming him into the lockers across the hall.she pins both hands above his head.“my my, for being the son of such a high class demon, you sure are easy to push~”“let go of me!"Alex struggled, face tinted red."aaaw you are cute when you blush. As much as I would like to play, I have business to attend to."she throws him to the ground and gathers her items as she closes her own locker. "Fare well, Son of Aku~” Alex looked up, but she was gone in an instant. He did not even see her through the glass front doors.He got up, dusted himself off and headed home with a scowl. Essence entered an old, run down house on a hill. A man stood at the stove, his back towards her.“Hello pumkin, How was your first day of school?” “hehe it was, interesting. those little humans are fun to scare~” the man turned, a mischievous smile matching his daughter’s spread wide across his own pumpkin face.“that’s my girl”. Essence giggled and hugged him tight. “I missed you SO much, and I missed your yummy stew~"Jack chuckled and kissed her forehead."I know sugar bean, thank you for coming for me.”~“hehe, as if I’ll let my old man get stuck in the netherworld by some dorky skeleton~"she smirked as she playfully snatched her dad’s hat."hey, you lil shit!"he chuckled and grabbed his hat back."set your stuff down, Dinner is almost ready.” “k Dad, just got to do something first~” she lazily floated up the stairs, and set her back down in her bed.She crept to another room and gently opened the door. Laying inside the bed, was a JET black demon. what once was a head full of flames, was now barely a wispy plum of smoke, his blue eyes were closed in a deep slumber.A few, old scars littered his body as he slept. Essence walked over to the bed, and took hold of Demongo’s hand .“Hey papa, I’m back…"there was silence, only the gentle breathing of the other demon.for the first time, Essence’s smirk vanished to a sorrowful expression. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she kissed his hand.” It’s been so long…..I wish I could hear your voice, I wish I can feel your embrace again.Dad has not been the same since you been in your coma. He needs you….I need you….we love you so much….we miss you..“she took in a shaky breath as she laid her fore head to his.” I promise….I will make things right….I will make you better, even if I must give away every ounce of my own essence..to save you.“ she gently caressed his face and took hold of his chin.She slowly opened his mouth, and opened her own. The essence of the gang and jock she drained poured from her, and into him.her knees buckle and she panted on the ground. the large, old scars shrink slightly on demongo as the younger demon stood up. "I’ll see you soon, Papa.” she kissed demongo’s forehead and left the room to eat dinner with her other parent. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Demongo: samurai jack Jack O'Lantern: Grimm adventures of Billy and Mandy

Essence: Belong to oXGoldFinchXo / @chi-chi-tianshi

Reason: She made a contract with Janaya.

#character list

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hdawg1995 · 6 years

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My Stardew Valley started flipping out cause i was playing it for 14 hours strait and it legit did some creepy pasta stuff so heres a creepy pasta

reality: somewhere around hour 10 Kent’s sprite only loaded half way (his eyes and up) or not at all. Willy was just a shadow- even when interacting with him. at one point he phased though Haley (and it was the only time his sprite was fully visible) side note: me and my sister declared willy a ghost because the fishing in my game was such lack luster. Gunther was probably the same since i never saw him at the museum but was still able to donate. lastly Alex glitched though a already glitched haley- she was on the beach even though her schedule wouldn’t have put her there. i wasn’t able to interact with her but a part of me wonders if i went to her house (where she was suppose to be) if i would see her shadow and would be able to interact with her there, but i was too far in a “yup. totaly writing a creepy pasta about this now” mood.

The Creepy pasta:

i really don’t know what to say now other than everyone was right- a game about a fun little town in a sleepy valley being secretly evil? yeah, its true.

i was playing Stardew Valley one day with my sister- i had woken up in a sour mood and i wanted to cheer myself up. at one point she came by and hung out with me, watching me play on my farm and the normal day to day antics with the pelican town NPCs. we were laying on my bed since it was the only place comfortable enough to play on the laptop for hours on end.

i lost track of time. everything felt too real, like i was getting lost in the game. this is normal, but i knew there was something wrong when it took my sister kicking me in the head snap me out of it.

“oh my god i’m so sorry! i meant to nudge you!” she declared and it was fine, really, but when i glanced back at the screen Harvey was talking to me. i don’t even remember interacting with him- must have clicked him when i get hit in the head. it seemed normal enough; he was mentioning he was having trouble making ends meet so he’ll have to get patients from somewhere else.

i went back to playing as we chatted about nothing when something struck me.

“hey...” i asked my sister as i paused the game. “Doesn’t harvey normally say he’ll find patients from the nearby towns?” she blinked a few times at me then silently checked the wiki.

there wasn’t an answer there, so we shrugged it off. wouldn’t be the first time NPCs change their dialog. Sebastian mentions that me and sam are his only friends after so many hearts.

speaking of which, i wanted to give him a present today. i had forgotten the quarts at the farm so i rounded back, heading past Sam’s house. i got lost in the game again- it was like the only thing i could hear was the game, the only thing i could feel was the cobble stone under my feet but that wasn’t right- i was in bed.

when i walked by Sam’s house Kent walked out. i smiled and talked to him only... His sprite wasn’t there in the dialog box. his text was also jumbled and didn’t make sense. the prompt to continue the conversation came up and when i clicked it the text was less garbled but Kent’s image was just his eyes. he said “I’ll watch out for you”.

i snapped out of it at that. i looked over at my sister to ask her if that was normal (it wasn’t) but she seemed so transfixed on the screen it was my turn to snap her out of it. i smacked her on the head and she flinched but seemed alright.

“sorry, i meant to nudge you.” i joked, but she didn’t seem to hear me. “I thought Kent came back from war?” she questioned and i tilted my head. “Umm. yeah he does, in year two...” i turned back to the screen and Kent was gone.

“You were just talking to Sam- he said his dad died?”

we both stared at each other before taking out our phones to chick the wiki. sure enough it says Kent returns in year two- alive.

we decide my games glitched and i keep playing while my sister makes a bug report. it took me far too long to realize dialog nor included in the game showing up out of no where- and for only ONE person for that matter- was anything BUT a bug. by the time i got to the farm and had gotten the quarts for Sebastian the report had been sent and my thoughts died in my throat.

a few in game days later i realize Harvey has been acting weird; hes been following Haley around. i don’t pay much attention to the doctor (Sam, Sebastian, and Shane being my favorites i tended to look out for them, not so much HAley or Harvey) but i didn’t think they shared a pattern at all.

i brushed it off and decided to head down to the beach. Alex’s cut scene triggered so i say back and watched. it seemed normal until his sprite changed to the surprised looking one.

“Did you hear a scream just now?”

>no? what scream? >.... >yeah! it sounded like Haley!

my sister swore and looked up the wiki again. con confirm: not part of the cut scene. i thought for a moment and decided that no, i didn’t hear anything (but i really hadn’t). Alex seemed worried and went to investigate. the scene ended but Ale wasn’t on the beach anymore. i was really starting to freak out and debated turning off the game. before i could exit to the desktop i got lost in the game again- the fishing mini game is the devil but i mastered it none the less. i didn’t even remember casting my rod.

it was getting late so i headed home. Harvey was standing on the bridge to the beach. i didn’t talk to him since it was mid night. i needed to get home.

when i woke up it all seemed normal. i decided to take the fish i got last night and sell them to willy. i wasnt sure how to get the fishing scene in the valley more lively like he’ll some times says so i figured if i sold the fish directly to him it would help. when i went down to the beach i saw haley but she wouldn’t talk to me. she stared out at the ocean, her dialog box just dots. her expression sad.

when i went to see willy he wasn’t there. at first i thought i was at the dock at the wrong time, but something cold pressed against my arm and i snapped up out of the game and looked at my sister- she was holding the Gatorade she had gotten earlier to my arm.

“you were ignoring me again. Sib i think somethings seriously wrong with your game”.

i agreed but i couldn’t stop playing. i explained this and she got worried, fiddling with her phone again.

i can’t stop playing. i have to keep playing.

“hey” she got my attention. “theres this stardew turmblr account -joja apologist. they have a farmer whos a demon.”

“cool.” i kept playing. i should give Sam a present. “No listen they’re making posts about their stardew game acting weird.”

i tried to turn to face her but thats all i did- face her. my eyes were locked on the screen as Kent walked by. i went to talk to him again and the same thing happened- jumbled words and no sprite and then just his eyes and the declaration that he’ll watch out for me.

“They did Harvey started attacking people so they would HAVE to go to him for meds and stuff.” she sounded worried so i hummed in reply.

then i remembered Alex’s broken cut scene.

“Haley!” i scrambled over to her house and found a cut scene waiting for me. in it Harvey was telling Emily something. my farmer walks up to them and Harvey greets me, but his portrait is distorted some- he has wide eyes and a grin that seems to reach his ears. he asks me to try and comfort Emily- she just lost her sister.

I felt sick at the thought; this was wrong. very very wrong.

<But i saw her the other day. <no... no not Haley.... <*give Emily a hug*

My sister stared dumbfounded at the screen. i asked her if that tumblr blog saw anything like this and she begins scrolling. as im watching her i’m faintly aware of a sound... like dripping or maybe clicking? i glance at the screen and scream, shooting up and off my bed as Harvey’s portrait changed to have hyper realistic eyes and teeth. the eyes were blood shot and seemed to follow me and my sister as we shifted on the bed to get away from the laptop.

“w-what the FUCK” she yelled. i clung to her protectively, thoroughly convinced his digital doctor was off his possibly very real rocker and could possibly do something to us.

the mouse moved on its own now. it selected to give Emily a hug and the farmer did just that. the cut scene went on, Harvey’s portrait no longer the disturbing version (well it was still disturbing with the wide eyes and chestier grin but at least now it was pixels again). he said he did all he could for Haley and that he was sorry. he then left my farmer and Emily alone.

“Turn it off.” my sister stated as we continued to stare at the screen. “Turn it off.” I nodded numbly and didn’t even both with the proper exit and just held the power button down.

only it didn’t work.

i held it down for what felt like forever but the laptop was still alive- and it was midnight again.

“Oh fuck no...” She whispered and i scrambled to get my farmer home. when the day ended and the game saved and felt a lump form in my throat. what if Haley is forever dead in my save now? and what about willy? and...

“Wait wheres Alex?” i muttered as i went to town. i bumped into pam and in my frantic scrambling clicked her. to my horror she looked scared. “Did you hear? Alex nearly drowned at the beach! to think, wouldn’t a guy as athletic as him know how to swim?” she then went on her way. i paused for a moment directed my farmer to town again. Alex walked out of the clinic and when i talked to him he seemed fine. gave the normal dialog too.

“Why the hell are you still playing?” My sister shouted from behind me- i didn’t even notice I've scooted directly in front of the laptop, blocking her view. “I thought you were going to exit the game.”

thats right. yeah. turn it off. right.

then Harvey walked out. his sprite was normal but it felt like it was watching me. curious, i moved my farmer down towards Sam’s house. to my horror Harvey was following me.

“Holy shit. HOLY SHIT!” my sister grabbed me and shook me hard. “Holy Shit turn it off! turn it off!”

i stopped my farmer and opened the menu and screamed when i saw Harvy moving towards him even when the game was paused. i unpaused it in time for him to be stopped right next to my innocent little farmer. i kept moving towards Sam’s house.

“Holy shit...” my sister whispered. i told her to check the blog and she did. “What are you going to do?” she asked, her eyes transfixed on her phone.

“Kent is watching out for me.” i reminded her as i entered Sam’s house.

as i expected, there was a cut scene. in it Sam was playing his guitar and Vincent was in the kitchen. Kent walked out and when he saw my farmer he ran over.

“Hes after you now, isn’t he?” he two eyes of the veteran with PTSD looked though the screen at us. i nodded. “Talk to Sam. you have enough hearts with him.” and he was gone, cut scene over.

i looked over and my sister and she nodded, confirming that the blog said something simular- they were instructed to talk to Gus though. i ran strait to Sam’s room and the door opened then closed behind it. Sam stopped playing his guitar and walked over to my farmer.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be safe.” he said. Sebastian stopped playing the key boards and walked over to my farmer as well. i didn’t even notice Sebastian in the cut scene.

“Thats because i wasn’t there.” his dialog box popped up. “Harvey thinks i’m at home.”

both me and my sister just stared at the screen. Sebastian... heard me? we didn’t have much time to think about it as the sound of a crash and something hitting something very hard was heard. My farmer moved on his own with Sam and Seb following him.

outside of Sam’s house was Harvey- the creepy hyper real version- and Kent. Harvey was crawling away and Kent looked like he had just been to war again. when Harvey's sprite was off screen Seb and Sam gave my farmer a hug before they turned to face the screen. Kent joined them, his portrait going back to normal.

“You can close the game now.” he said. “S-Save it first!” Sam interrupted. “If you don’t he’ll chase you again!”

my sister had taken the mouse from me and was directing the farmer back to the farm. we saved and closed the game.

#stardew valley #creepy pasta #i made an attempt #rambles

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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The Exhausting Business of Trying to Stay in Business

Fany Gerson, owner of La Newyorkina | Donny Tsand

Once the doors to my Mexican sweets business closed, figuring out how to reopen became my full-time job

This is Eater Voices, where chefs, restaurateurs, writers, and industry insiders share their perspectives about the food world, tackling a range of topics through the lens of personal experience. First-time writer? Don’t worry, we’ll pair you with an editor to make sure your piece hits the mark. If you want to write an Eater Voices essay, please send us a couple paragraphs explaining what you want to write about and why you are the person to write it to [email protected].

Fany Gerson is among many in New York’s restaurant and food industry who have been struggling to keep their businesses afloat since the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The owner of La Newyorkina, a Mexican sweets company best known for the paletas it sells from its West Village storefront, Gerson also made a name for herself as one of the owners of Dough, the doughnut shop and wholesale business she departed from in February to open her own shop, Fan-Fan Doughnuts. Before the pandemic, the business was getting closer to the point “where it was easier to breathe,” Gerson says.

Now, with construction on the shop halted and La Newyorkina’s plans for the summer season in limbo, Gerson finds herself trying to keep busy: In addition to brainstorming ways to keep her business going, she’s written two book proposals, made some home cooking videos, applied for government relief assistance, and started delivering food to hospital workers, all while ferrying her toddler-age son to his babysitter five days a week. She spoke to us about what her day-to-day life looks like right now, and why even small businesses like hers leave big footprints on the local economy. — Rebecca Flint Marx

We’re navigating how you keep moving to keep the lights on, but at the same time be safe for yourself and everyone else. My husband, for example, has two preexisting [medical] conditions, so we have to be extra careful. But we’re still working; I’m talking to you from our production kitchen in Red Hook. We don’t want to do anything irresponsible, but also, if I want to take care of us as a family and our staff, we need to have a place to come back to. I don’t know if that will be possible, but that’s what we’re fighting for.

We’re a seasonal business: [When this began] we were starting to hire people for the season. So we had 12 people that we had to lay off. Even my husband is technically an employee of the company, and he has not been able to apply for unemployment because the system keeps crashing. When he does get to the online [application], it just says to call a number. Some of our employees have been able to collect, others haven’t, and others aren’t eligible because they’re undocumented. What many people who aren’t in the industry may not realize is that [undocumented workers] pay taxes and contribute in so many ways to society, whether people want to turn a blind eye to them or not.

I’m no stranger to this feeling of helplessness or anguish and stress. This is obviously at a very different level.

Since last year, we had given ourselves four more years to see if we can make [the business] work, because I cannot go through another bad winter, and I lost my entire kitchen during Sandy. So I’m no stranger to this feeling of helplessness or anguish and stress and all of the above. This is obviously at a very different level. When I was talking to my friend Alex [Raij], she said, “Now, at least you don’t feel lonely.”

We work from home half of the time; for the nationwide shipping we had four or five days a week, and now we have two. Since last year we’ve started selling our paletitas to Whole Foods, so our distributor placed one order. It wasn’t huge, but it was very exciting. So we’re continuously brainstorming. For Passover, we did our Mexican Seder menu — people could preorder it and we delivered it, so for two days we were able to give our driver work. I said to my husband, if we feel like this is working, maybe we do something like that two days a week, and then we can give work to those people.

This week, we’re going to start making brisket tamales for hospital workers. They were on the Seder menu, so I thought, why don’t we take advantage of that? We’re trying to see if any of our purveyors can donate some product. If we can keep on doing two days a week where we do meals like Mexican home-cooked food, then I can give [my employees] work and I can have the staff to make tamales. And in addition, the Jewish Food Society connected us with an organization that is now paying us to make 60 to 100 meals every day for hospital workers, which allows us to give work to some of our staff and also to help out. I’m trying to contact different farmers and producers so I can purchase [ingredients] from them directly.

I had some friends that were very frustrated about unsuccessful GoFundMe situations. We didn’t do one because we were really trying to see if there was a way we could continue giving [our employees] work. The other reason is we’re in the middle of writing a pitch deck to get funding to grow the company. We’re growing faster than we can afford to; it’s a good position to be in, but still a problem because we’re still cash flow-negative.

You can’t rely on government relief. The day they passed the [Paycheck Protection Program], they said you have to [apply] through your bank. So we went to the bank because they said it’s better to do it in person, but the bank was closed. Then we found out you can do it online, and then our bank, Chase, said they weren’t going to be ready. Then we get a notice that [the Chase site] was going to be ready at noon, and then at noon my husband was trying for two and a half hours. He finally got through. It’s not even like the full form — it was just your name and the tax ID number. And then because we have one of our accounts with Bank of America, we tried to do that one. [My husband] kept getting a message that we we didn’t have an account open prior to x date. Then he found it was a glitch, that everyone was getting this message nationwide, so then we were going to do it physically even though it said not to, but we need it.

Our biggest worry is right now we have [deferred rent], but what happens after those three months? The amount of money we would get for the store is barely going to cover rent. There’s no real estate tax, nothing for payroll. So even if we do get it, which I hope we do, it’s not enough. So that’s why I feel like I need to try different things and hopefully the collection of these things will come through and we’ll be able to survive and thrive.

Everybody copes in a very different way. I know for me, I need to move and try this and try that.

Everybody copes in a very different way. I know for me, I need to move and try this and try that; it’s kind of like you’re shooting darts and maybe something hits. We’re so small, so we’re vulnerable. But we’re also big in the sense that other people depend on us. It’s not just the people who directly work with you: It’s the purveyor, the driver, the person who packs the stuff from the people where you buy produce. There are so many people in even a small company. So to me the one positive thing that happened, at least to me when I’ve gone through all of these things, is the creative thinking that happens. I’m sure the landscape is going to be very different, not just because of the economy but because people are realizing things and pivoting and that’s part of being an entrepreneur, too. But you still have to take into consideration your identity as a brand that you’ve built. How can I do something like a Mexican Seder and make it work when people know me for my ice cream? How do you tie those things together?

I haven’t been getting any sleep or time to relax. My baby still sleeps with us; we were supposed to start the process to wean him and this would be the perfect time, but having him next to me really brings me comfort in a very selfish way. And also, if I manage to get some sleep, I don’t want to be spending it sleep training. I keep meaning to go to the park to run, but we don’t have time. But I keep saying I’m going to go, or maybe we’ll do an online [exercise] class together; sometimes I use my son as a dumbbell to do some squats. He thinks it’s a game. Sometimes I manage to get a couple of hours of sleep. I think it’s because I’m just so drained. I don’t think anybody is getting much sleep these days.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2ygPwHe https://ift.tt/3blouNu

Fany Gerson, owner of La Newyorkina | Donny Tsand

Once the doors to my Mexican sweets business closed, figuring out how to reopen became my full-time job

I’m no stranger to this feeling of helplessness or anguish and stress. This is obviously at a very different level.

Everybody copes in a very different way. I know for me, I need to move and try this and try that.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2ygPwHe via Blogger https://ift.tt/2xu7NB0

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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theabominableblogger · 6 years

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Rewatching “Batman” (1989)

Decided to rewatch this classic before I watch the new Justice League movie that’s out this week

I, for one, am so glad Danny Elfman brought the Batman theme back into “Justice League”

*jams out to the Batman theme*

JACK NICHOLSON

Billy Dee Williams! And he’s only in it for like 5 minutes

Jack Palance!

Oh my gosh, I forgot Prince did music for this movie

Aaaand it’s the Batman symbol!

Matte painting! Matte paintings everywhere!

Why do they always portray Gotham as freaking packed? I know it’s supposed to be a bustling metropolis but this is too much.

Why yes, random family, let’s take a shortcut through a shady ass alleyway.

What the...

Batman, brought to you by American Express

*Batman floats down behind the robbers* Eeeyyyy!!

*Batman gets shot* Welp, he’s dead. End of movie. Cue end credits music.

Gotta take your sweet ass time revealing your cape...

He raises his arms so high in the air in order to do it.

“I want you to tell all your friends about me.” “What are you?!?!?” I’M BATMAN! DAAAA NA NA NAAAA NAAAAA

Lando?!?

Mayor Borg?!?!?

“People of Gotham City, I [Harvey Dent] am a man of few words.” Nah, he’s a double-crossing, no-good swindler.

All righty, unpopular opinion time: I don’t like Jack Nicholson as the Joker. I just don’t. He’s just... Jack Nicholson in clown paint. Plus they establish him as a character before he becomes the Joker.

Oh, and of course, they name the Jack Nicholson character “Jack”

So who’s the Lieutenant character again?

Heelllooo shady lookin’- oh it’s Jack Nicholson.

Bob the Goon!

Matte painting!

This movie should be subtitled “Matte Paintings: The Movie”

Oh my God, Lando, what did they do to your hair?

Eeeeyyy!! Bob Kane!

“Vale, will you marry me [Knox]?” “Nope?” “Wanna buy me lunch?” “Maybe.” “I eat light!” Pffftt....

Story time: the Quidditch coach/captain of the team here at college (who is notorious for being a flirt) asked me to buy him supper one time before practice. I knew it was a joke but I told him “Nah, you gotta earn it” and I was applauded by the team

Obligatory purple Joker suit!

Obligatory Joker card!

Why is it such a big deal that Jack Nicholson is involved with that one particular moll?

You gotta hammer it in that Jack Nicholson’s gonna become the Joker

Why is there a casino set up in Wayne Manor?

Michael Gough!

Why is Vicki Vale dressed like she’s getting ready to be married?

I like that we don’t actually meet Bruce until like 20 minutes into the movie. Plus they establish him as a mystery character- technically the main characters at the beginning of the movie is Knox and Vicki and then it shifts to Batman. And then again, we don’t get a lot of background on either Batman or Bruce.

I never really had time to appreciate how great Michael Keaton is as Bruce Wayne but dang he’s good. And I love the reasoning behind this casting: there’s no way he could be seen as Batman and when we do find out, it’s a big shock.

Holy crap, how many cameras are set up around the manor?

Oh my gosh, Bruce has reading glasses!

Sound stage!

FreEEEZZZEE!!!

AN: I’m only 25 minutes into this movie. We gots a bit to go because I’m such a motormouth

Boom goes the dynamite!

Yes, let’s have a police shootout in a chemical factory! Great plan, guys!

Man, Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon would be on the ball when it came to this situation. Pat Hingle’s Commissioner Gordon just stands around and gives orders

Um, officers, you’re walking into a puddle of toxic chemicals...

In all seriousness though, I want Jack Nicholson’s hat

Never have I seen a smirkier Batman than Michael Keaton’s Batman

Well there’s also Kevin Conroy’s Batman

*Jack Nicholson falls into the chemical vat* Welp, he’s dead. End of movie. Cue end credits music.

AXIS

Why were Jack Nicholson’s fingernails dyed green from the chemicals? I know it’s comic book logic but still...

This scene in the dining hall is my dad’s favorite scene in the movie.

That is an impossibly long dining table.

Aaww, they’re having dinner with Alfred in the butlers’ quarters!

“Alfred’s great. I [Bruce] couldn’t find my socks without him.” Cue in Batman: The Animated Series, Joker literally cannot find his socks because Harley’s not there.

That is no way to take bandages off properly, Jack...

Mirror... MIRROR!!

“You see what I have to work with here.” Yeah, those are some shitty surgical tools there, buddy.

Oh, throw that shoe, Bruce

“Who the hell are you?” “It’s me [the Joker].” *sings* IT’S MEEEEEE

“Jack? Jack is dead, my friend. You can call me.. Joker! And as you can see, I’m a lot happier!”

This freaking circus music though

*Bruce and Vicki cuddle while sleeping* Cue Bruce going “Aw man, I can’t enjoy spending time with this awesome lady because I gotta brood, man.”

WHY IS HE UPSIDE DOWN?!?!?

WAIT ‘TIL THEY GET A LOAD OF ME!

Why the hell is Jack Nicholson dressed like that?

What kind of hand buzzer is that?!?

HAVEN’T YOU HEARD THE HEALING POWER OF LAUGHTER? NOW GET OUTTA HERE!

YOUUU... ARE MY NUMBER ONEEEE... GUUUYYYYYY!!

How does Bruce Wayne AKA Batman not notice Vicki trailing him from his house to Crime Alley?

Random mime... more random mimes...

Why is Bruce just standing there? Ooohhhh... wait a minute.. there’s this whole schindig about him recognizing Jack later in the movie

There is literally no reason why Jack Nicholson becomes the Joker since he’s already been established as Jack Napier before the whole ACE Chemicals thing.

THIS TOWN NEEDS AN ENEMA!

Alfred just wants some grandkids, gosh dang it

How the hell did you get those pics, Vicki?

Oh my God, I hate that this Joker has this weird crush on Vicki. I hate it so much.

“I’m in a mind to make some mooky.” Ugghh...

Oh my gosh, the Smylex commercial

Oh my gosh, the newspeople aren’t wearing any care products... pfftt...

What kind of cake foundation does Joker have? That’s like the stuff we had to wear in high school

That waiter just addressed Vicki as “sir”

Did Joker write that message in crayon?

That elderly couple is dead after falling off the balcony like that

LET’S BROADEN OUR MINDS!

*jams the crap out to “Party Man” by Prince*

*One goon paints over a bust* Hey look, it’s the Jared Leto Joker

What the crap is this music that plays? It plays during one of the trailers for “The Shape of Water”

Oh wait, it’s the theme from something called “A Summer Place”

I quote the “one dollar bill” quote all the freaking time at my house.

The prosthetic work on Alicia looks pretty sweet, I gotta say

Oh, a little song.. a little dance... Batman’s head on a lance...

Oh my gosh, I forgot how much Kim Basinger screamed in this movie

They even color coded the cars for Joker’s goons

*The police get involved in an accident involving a farmer’s market truck* NO, NOT THE CABBAGES!

There is no way in hell that Vicki only weighs like 108

Remember when the Batsuit was made out of rubber, you guys?

*Crazy, sword-wielding guy goes after Batman* Seriously? Did you not see “Raiders of the Lost Ark?”

For the Batmobile, it looks like they made the toy first before constructing it for the movie

Gotta love that Danny Elfman score...

*Vicki tries to see under Batman’s cowl* Yo, Vicki, don’t distract Batman while he’s driving

The Batcave!

Why is there just this one random bat hanging out in a bird cage?

Forgot that Michael Keaton literally could not turn his head in the Batsuit

Oh my gosh, how short is Michael Keaton here?

Oooohhh nice transition!

How the hell did Vicki end up back there?

Gotta admit, that’s a nice apartment

“You see, my life is really...” Batsy!

JUST TELL HER YOU’RE [Vicki] BATMAN!

I like how Bruce walks right by the fire poker in order to get a freaking tray to hit Joker with

YOU WANNA GET NUTS?!? C’MON, LET’S GET NUTS!

EVER DANCE WITH THE DEVIL IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT?

“Never rub another man’s rhubarb.” What?

There is no way in hell that Bruce deflected that bullet with the tray

Matte painting!

“Can you hear me? Just the two of us.” *sings “Just the Two of Us” by Will Smith*

Gotta admit, Michael Keaton’s Batman has an awesome thinking/pensive face. It’s probably the eyebrows that help

What is it with families being targeted by random gun-wielding criminals in abandoned alleyways?

There’s no way that that’s Jack Nicholson playing young Jack Napier

Nevermind, it’s some dude named Hugo Blick

*scats the Batman theme obnoxiously out of tune*

Batman’s belt just slipped. Never gonna un-see that

Why is it that every time this Batman is in the Batsuit and glaring at somebody, he looks like he’s really constipated?

Seriously, is there not a bathroom in the Batcave?

Is this another Prince song?

So where exactly did Joker find the time to find all of this stuff and prepare for an impromptu 200th anniversary parade?

The Batplane!

Matte painting!

“Me? I’m giving away free money!” And it looks faaaaakkkeee...

Something is up with that clown balloon’s nose... just saying...

Yeah, lets go after the Joker’s goons with a baseball bat, Knox. That’ll go well.

I love the sounds all the buttons make on the Batplane dashboard

“My balloons. Those are my balloons! He stole my balloons!” Iconic.

Hahaha he [Joker] used Bob the Goon as a step stool off the parade float!

*The Batplane pauses in front of the moon* Eeeeyyy!!

*Joker pulls out the gun with the really long muzzle out of the front of his pants* No comment

Again, why is Vicki Vale dressed like she’s either getting ready to get married or go to a wedding?

“Better make it ten [minutes].” What makes this awesome is that ten minutes actually goes by both in-universe time and movie run time. My dad actually timed it the first time I watched this with him.

Mad respect to Tim Burton for the aesthetic in this movie, I gotta say

The eyebrows on Batman’s cowl strangely match Michael Keaton’s. Was this intentional?

*Joker “dances” with Vicki* Now see the last time I recall Joker dancing with somebody was the 5 second long Alex Ross scene with Harley Quinn in “Suicide Squad”

Unpopular opinion time: I like Jared Leto’s Joker better than Jack Nicholson’s Joker *gets bombarded with hate mail and darts*

Eugghhhh Vicki’s pulling a freaking Jasmine from “Aladdin”

“You wouldn’t hit a guy with glasses now, would ya?” Cue Wreck-It-Ralph

How the hell did Joker pull Batman and Vicki off the roof like that?

Oh my gosh that 80s falling effect

Yeah no, from that drop, the Joker’s body would be a freaking mess

“The reign of crime [in Gotham City] is over.” BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh hi Billy Dee Williams!

You know what would be awesome: if Kim Basinger had a cameo somewhere in the Batman solo movie directed by Ben Affleck. Just saying

Yoooo....

#batman #1989 batman #jack nicholson #Michael Keaton #billy dee williams #danny elfman #vicki vale #joker #commissioner gordon #kim basinger #the blogger reacts #bruce wayne #prince #Tim Burton #jared leto

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instantdeerlover · 4 years

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The Exhausting Business of Trying to Stay in Business added to Google Docs

The Exhausting Business of Trying to Stay in Business

Fany Gerson, owner of La Newyorkina | Donny Tsand

Once the doors to my Mexican sweets business closed, figuring out how to reopen became my full-time job

I’m no stranger to this feeling of helplessness or anguish and stress. This is obviously at a very different level.

Everybody copes in a very different way. I know for me, I need to move and try this and try that.

via Eater - All https://www.eater.com/2020/4/14/21216627/food-business-owner-covid-19-coronavirus-struggles

Created April 14, 2020 at 11:05PM /huong sen View Google Doc Nhà hàng Hương Sen chuyên buffet hải sản cao cấp✅ Tổ chức tiệc cưới✅ Hội nghị, hội thảo✅ Tiệc lưu động✅ Sự kiện mang tầm cỡ quốc gia 52 Phố Miếu Đầm, Mễ Trì, Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội http://huongsen.vn/ 0904988999 http://huongsen.vn/to-chuc-tiec-hoi-nghi/ https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xa6sRugRZk4MDSyctcqusGYBv1lXYkrF

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cynthiadshaw · 4 years

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Perspective & Advice for Those Facing Insurmountable Odds

Throughout our journey with Voyage, the one thing we have learned over and over is that hidden within every challenge is a blessing or opportunity. It’s up to us to determine whether a challenge we face will be a step back or the catalyst for a step forward.

We had the honor of connecting with some of the city’s brightest leaders and role models and we asked them our question of the month: What is the best advice you have for someone who feels like they are facing insurmountable odds.

Below, you’ll find their advice and links and other info so you can learn more about them, their work and how to connect with them. We’ll be interviewing many of these amazing individuals in the coming weeks, stay tuned.

Alex Hernandez | Photographer and Filmmaker

First of all I would like to say thank you for taking the time to read this, my advice for someone who is facing insurmountable obstacles is to never give up, even in the worst circumstances there is always a way out, take a second to clear your mind review your situation, ask yourself where I am standing up and where do I want to go?, make a plan, choose daily tasks to help you get closer to your goals, always remember that every challenge is a new opportunity to grow and learn, wake up early, go out and fight for what your dreams, be grateful for what you have, say “thank you” more often, and if you go to bed at night feeling that you are not working hard enough for you goals, is probably because you are not working hard enough.

@artisticlensstudio @alexhdz artisticlensstudio.com

Elizabeth Sisk | Family Portrait & Lifestyle Photographer

Elizabeth Sisk Photography

My advice to anyone feeling like they’re facing insurmountable odds would be to persevere and try to remember that everyone faces adversity at some point in their lives and it’s those periods of adversity or challenges that help us grow. I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason, so trying to find the lesson in whatever challenges you’re facing can really help change your perspective of the situation and even embrace it.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced was after my daughter was born, the adjustment from being an independent, carefree adult to putting her needs before everything else was incredibly difficult for me. You’re exhausted, giving all of yourself to this baby, and you have to dig deeper than you thought you could to just make it through another day. Eventually things started to get a little easier and coming out of the new baby fog I felt like I could do anything. Because of that journey, I started my photography business where I always try to extend grace and compassion to families who are dealing with the challenges of parenthood while giving them the gift of captured memories in this phase of their lives. That’s something all parents cherish and appreciate and I don’t think I would have the same sense of empathy, strength, patience, or passion to give that to families without my own motherhood journey.

elizabethsiskphotography.com @elizabethsiskphotos

Frank Sanchez | Dark Age Tattoo Artist

The best advice I can offer for anybody that feels they’re facing insurmountable odds is that you have to keep a positive attitude and be optimistic, you have to believe things are going to get better and put that energy out there in the universe, the mind is a powerful tool and you have to learn to rewire yourself to try and be successful and happy. Some of the most influential people in history have had to overcome truly difficult challenges and you have to look to them for inspiration and at the same time remove yourself from situations or individuals that you feel are holding you back.

Everyday we wake up is a new chance and a new beginning to try and become a better version of ourselves, you have to keep investing in yourself whether that’s spending more time picking up new skills that might bring new opportunities or improving your overall health whether it’s through yoga or hitting the gym more often.

@franciscosanchez_tattoo franksancheztattoo.com

Vanessa Contino | Model & Nursing Student

Photographer- Tony Redmer MUA- Stephanie Cantu Agency @Wallflower

The best advice I can give to someone who is facing insurmountable odds is to breath, take some “self-love” time through out the day and I think that will allow them to relax and focus on postive thoughts. I often think that in moments in life we are thrown a curved ball but we get to write our own outcomes and our own destiny and many time someone might forget that.

@vanessa_s_contino wallflowermanagement.com/girl_portfolio

Cortney McBride | Blogger & Probation Officer

To your friend who does all the things, the social butterfly who attends all the events, who brunches every weekend, who attend events during the work week, who is already on to go, and who is always busy with a social event. There might be a reason behind this, there might be a reason why your friend stays busy and is always on the go.

The moment I stop, even for a second, the moment I’m at home alone with my thoughts is the moment all the thoughts flood back into my mind. The thoughts of my divorce, the thoughts of friends walking out when I needed them most, the urge to drink alone at home begin. The worst part, the depression and anxiety start to get the best of me and put me back in that dark place I was in for the most part of last year. There’s a reason I’m always out, there’s a reason why I seem never to be home, even if it is just walking the dog. There’s a reason I’m always out and about, why my social calendar is booked, and why I like getting away and going out of town on the weekends, it is because I have to. I have to do all the things all the time because of my chronic depression and anxiety, because sitting and being still is a trigger for me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a cup of coffee on my back patio with my dogs too, and I also enjoy a slower pace sometimes, but for the most part I have to have something in the future planned. Sometimes thinking about those plans in the future are the only things that gets me through the day. My life last year was consumed with so much emptiness, self-doubt, not feeling like I was enough. I try very hard to not go back to those dark days. So, I keep going, I go to all the social events, grand openings, concerts, new brunch spots and coffee places, I keep moving.

So many people have said to me, “”Your weekends look like so much fun,”” and trust me they are, but the reason behind all the fun isn’t so fun. At first getting out and being social exhausted me and it would take me hours to actually get out of bed, shower, do my hair and makeup, and to actually walk out of the house, and I still feel this why sometimes. But, this is what I had to do, this is what I knew I had to do, I couldn’t stay cooped up in a house by myself with no human interaction, and I knew this. I’ve suffered with depression and anxiety since I was a teenager. I’ve suffered with this so long that I know my triggers and I know how to attempt to pull myself out of it. I say attempt because as I’ve gotten older when I get into a depressed or anxious state, it takes me longer to pull myself out. My energy level in my 30’s is just not what it was in my teens and 20’s, which I’m assuming is normal.

I’ve also heard, “”How do you afford to do all of this?”” Well, nosey person, most of the things I do are completely free, cheap, discounted, or a special event that’s a set price, and also I have this thing where I’m also good with my money and don’t over spend. Although, I’m not going to lie it’s happen a time or two. Being out, being social, doing all the things, it’s my therapy and my coping skill so that I don’t fall in to another battle with depression and anxiety. I know I’ll always struggle with my anxiety and depression and that’s okay, it’s a part of who I am. I’ve learned to say no to things I don’t want to do, and yes to what I what to do. I’ve learned to take care of myself, and do what makes me happy. I wake up every day and just try to be a better person than the day before, so that I can leave this world a better place than what I found it.

If you have a friend that looks like they have it all together socially, is always on the go, is always out having fun, brunching, at the new coffee shop, at all the new grand openings, and doing all the things. There might a reason why this friend appears to living their best life, so offer to go to brunch, the farmers market, dinner, coffee or wherever with them. Who knows, maybe you’ll have fun and pick up a new hobby, or learn something new about yourself or your friend.

@cortney.mcbride

Bryan Gonzalez | Athlete | Trainer | Nutritionist

Every one deals with their own insurmountable odds, but not everyone knows how to handle these situations. For me it’s simple, the only time you fail is when you stop trying. No matter how hard it gets or how impossible something may seem you must continue to fight and maintain a positive outlook. Just remember there’s always someone out there who has it worse than you, be grateful and keep fighting. Life is a battle but the real battle is within yourself.

@_bryan.gonzalez

Victor Uzoigwe | The bearded Champ

For every odd that you face that is too great to overcome, look at it as if it is something ta you have been through already and then disciple your mind to teach yourself for odds that are too great it can be resolved cause at the day of the day is either you fail or you succeed but the choice of failure or success is left to how much you want to overcome those odds.

@iamvctor

David F Wilson | Car Enthusiast

Life is full of ebbs and flows, realize even a tsunami ends in a calm ocean. Break down the insurmountable odds you’re facing into smaller chunks, and remember to keep your faith- & know this too shall pass.

@dfwscars

Ian Bartlett | Photographer & filmmaker

I have built an ongoing friendship with some of the subjects in my Bikelife project and have chatted with them on this very subject.

First of all I would say without hesitation that we have all experienced a situation or period in our lives that we felt we could not overcome. Its important to know this because in the age of social media it could ‘appear’ that your peers are having a wonderful life when you are going through difficult times and nothing could be further from the truth. Feelings of depression and anxiety are certainly more common than we are led to believe but just by opening up the subject up for discussion helps break down the misconceptions that you have to deal with these feelings on your own.

I feel that talking is the best form of helping you to process your thoughts. Find someone you don’t mind sharing your thoughts with. It can be a person you confide in or better still a professional, trained with the skills to help decipher what it is you’re going through. This needn’t be a financial burden as there are charitable organisations out there such as the Samaritans that will listen to you or help you find a group session.

There are some self help practises you can do which really have really helped me in the past. Mindfulness is a great technique to help you keep a positive mind. Most feelings of insurmountable odds are just that. Feelings, and all cases, there is light at the end of the tunnel…

In this day and age, its easy to get caught up in other peoples lives via social media platforms. This can have an extremely negative effect on your thoughts and drive you to a negative place. I would suggest turning off notifications or even temporarily removing social apps. By doing this you can eliminate some of the causes of your ill feelings and focus your attention to more productive, positive goals. The aim is to find a solution to the issue at hand but first you must make your mind healthy.

Its important to take a break once in a while. Exercise, walk, run, cycle etc. For me, cycling and photography is a great form or meditation because it takes my mind away from what can be an otherwise stressful life.

@bartlettville @thebartlett

Angel Williams | photographer and visionary

My advice for someone who is going through something insurmountable would be to take it one day at a time, don’t stress over what you can’t control, and trust and believe that God wouldn’t put them through anything they couldn’t handle. You have to go through a couple storms here and there to appreciate the rainbow.

eyeconicimages.zenfolio.com @eyeconic.imagess

Tammy McQuirk | Chief Visionary Officer & Owner and Antonio Morales | Managing Director

CEI J Photography

Antonio and I have been in the janitorial/facilities business for a combined 30 years of experience.

Starting our own company and breaking away from Corporate America was extremely scary! We have faced several challenges along the way so this question is very close to home.

Our advice for anyone facing insurmountable odds, personally or professionally is to: Seek out the positive in every challenge, learn and grow from it.

Take the risk, there WILL be challenges and if you feel overwhelmed it is because you are strong enough to handle it.

Consider these challenges to be tests of your strength and don’t let yourself down.

Make sure your circle is filled with positive, supportive people.. personal cheerleaders. Persevere in Prayer.

Look at each challenge as an opportunity.

At Tamrak, we believe quality drives probability..so keep swimming!

tamraksolutions.com @TAMRAKSOLU @TAMRAKSOLU [email protected]

Sydney Asafu-Adjaye | Creator of Lit Therapy Candles

Do your best to focus on gratitude, love, and humility. There is always something to be grateful for. Life is a beautiful blessing in itself, (especially when you’re abundantly healthy!) so make a conscious effort to focus on the beauty that is effortlessly all around – nature, laughter, good comfort food, creative expression, shelter, clothes, friends, family, animals, taking that cloud nine nap(lol), listening to your favorite song, random acts of kindness, dancing … the list goes on! Remember that like attracts like, so be a magnet for good by being good to the best of your ability each day. You are so loved, heard, seen, and cared for always. Xoxo~ Stay Lit!

@lit_therapycandles @littherapycandles Etsy.com/shop/LitTherapyCandles

Hunter Wilson | Portrait Photographer

If you are in a season where you feel like you’re sprinting in the fog, seeking clarity, and you have no idea how you’re going to find your way… The best advice I can give is to know what outcome you want to happen. You have to have a vision for what true north looks like for you. If you feel lost or overwhelmed, ask yourself these three questions to get unstuck: 1. What do I want? Why do I want it? How am I going to get there?

HunterWilson.Photography

Dan Maitland | Commercial Film Producer At Meticulous Image inc.

Whatever insurmountable odds you face, it is okay if a victory of those odds benefits you positively, but it is exponentially more motivating if it helps others who deserve the ability to excel. Ask yourself, do your actions lead to elements that are inherently righteous and beneficial to not only yourself but also others? Compile these motivators as fuel to propel yourself and other forward.

Meticulousimage.com @themaitlandimage

Neko Savvy | Rapper | Singer | Songwriter

My best advice to people who are facing insurmountable odds in whatever it is they may do is to dream like crazy, live in the now, and keep the future organized. Stay consistent in your work & true to your belief system. Stay confident but humbled. Never stop learning even when you think you know it all! Put your happiness first and make sure to love yourself through the ups and downs. What are downs without ups? Stay persistent and consistent. Be YOU! Be understanding. and last but not least, stay patient.

@nekosavvymusic @nekosavvy Neko Savvy on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, etc) youtube.com/watch?v=KgxgJ5QZY4k soundcloud.com/nekosavvy/neko-savvy-808-prod-icon-south

John Lee | PMP – senior program director of job recruitment company and life long fitness athlete

There are people alive today who accumulated more wealth in 1 lifetime, with companies they started in basements, comparable to entire generations of iconic family dynasties.

There are doctors with law degrees, and lawyers with medical degrees.

There are single moms running corporations, and single dads operating restaurant chains.

There are world champions from dirt poor neighborhoods, and spelling bee champions raised in 3rd world countries.

I can go on and on, but needless to say, we, as people, are meant to overcome insurmountable odds. We don’t have to look far to find people of every background who became wildly successful even if it looked as if they lacked the tools, the time, the opportunity, or the luck to accomplish much.

Insurmountable odds are only insurmountable at the time, but every changing second could bring a change in circumstances, resources, mindset, and opportunity. As long as you continue to become the best version of who you can be, while staying open-minded to the changing world around you, the right opportunity will present itself.

Valerie Munday | Plus-Size Fashion and Lifestyle Maven

Photo Credit: @irinaand3dogs

When it feels like everything is against you, it can be so easy to cave in. It’s important to remember that under the heaviest pressure and most difficult circumstances, we are given the opportunity to grow. Always, always take that opportunity, even if it isn’t the one you thought it would be.

valorelai.wordpress.com @valorelai @valorelai

Dr. Scott Silverii | Servant Pastor & Author

Some of the best advice comes from hard-earned life experience. After surviving an abusive childhood, twenty-six years in law enforcement, and standing on the brink of suicide, my best advice for someone who feels like they are facing insurmountable odds are these three truths:

1. I want to encourage you to anchor yourself to people who are invested in your well-being.

2. Prayer makes everything possible.

3. My anchor promise for better days is Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

scottsilverii.com @scottsilverii @BrickBreakersChurchForMen

Nitae | Musician | Stinger | Songwriter & Performing Artist

@its_thatguyphat

I’ve always been told, “When you feel that nothing’s working for you, take a step back, be still, breathe, pray, and know things will always work out for the good of you.” There’s no task or obstacle put in your path that you cannot conquer. When odds are against you, you be still, analyze things, find another way to kick it’s but, but one thing you never do is give up. Life is only trial & error, so in the great words of Aaliyah, “Dust yourself off & try again!”

@Iamnitae @Nitaenitae music.apple.com/us/artist/nitae/1350029554

Jacob Rangel aka ScuddiCutz | Barber

My advice would be to never give up always believe in god and let him handle your tribulation, let that trouble make you stronger ask for help and watch god do his work.

dapperbarber.co

Trichelle Mcafee | Photographer at Specialtee Photos

The best advice I can give for someone who is facing insurmountable odds is to not give up. Your journey may seem hard but the journey you are on is shaping you to become the person you need to be.

@specialteephotos

Kishan Patel | Digital Content Creator for 360 Wraps

@MeltingMiniMedia and @KBPatel228

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” – Milton Berle.

This quote was in my senior yearbook when I graduated high-school in 2014, and it has been in my mind ever since. I moved to Dallas in August 2018 not knowing anyone but a few family members, and worked at a job I grew to hate after a year of being there. I picked up a camera in November 2018 and taught myself anything I needed to know to get to where I am at now. If you keep working hard and just be a good person, then the sky is the limit. You should never be scared to ask for help, I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the friendships that started by me simply asking “How do you do that?”. There is always someone out there that can help you improve. Assuming you know everything is the last thing you want to do because that shuts your mind down to new perspectives and ideas that actually challenge you to do better. There is always a brighter side!

@MeltingMiniMedia MeltingMiniMedia.com

Jessica RyAnn | Model

DK Productions

From experience I would have to say stay focus and retain a consistent level of confidence . It can definitely be hard with the world of social media and it may seem like everyone is doing what you want to do and they are reaching certain levels that you aren’t. I’ve been hard on myself about this plenty of times. One thing that I’ve learned is that you can’t compare your journey to someone else’s. That’s what makes us special, our individuality. Gods timing is everything! Remain focus, stay consistent, and know that at the end of every storm there is a rainbow.

kollectiveye.com

Melissa Wise | Holistic Massage Therapist & Teacher

When life happens, and it will, make sure that you have a strong faith in God, Creator, Universe whatever you believe in, be open to love and support from your friends and family and remember that NOTHING is permanent. Stay true to yourself, listen to your intuition and allow change. Whatever it is that you are facing is not life working against you, it is not God punishing you, it is the impermanence of existence happening and how you respond to it will have a lot to do with your survival and outcome. I personally was led to massage therapy, the study of meditation yoga and Ayurveda (all Eastern modalities), Reiki and Sound therapy. Meditation was the biggest game changer for me. A teacher once said, “praying is talking to God and meditation is listening to God.” I realized I had been doing the talking all of my life and when I sit in meditation on a daily basis, (8 years now) I have been guided by the messages from God. I believe mediation is the core to ones healing. It may be the one trauma or life event that ‘wakes us up’ or gives us PTSD but meditation is a process that peels the layers of trauma, pain and dysfunction that may have been stored in the body for a lifetime, to heal us on a soul level. Meditation does for the mind, what the gym does for the body. ~ Melissa Wise

wisebodmindsoul.com @wisebodymindsoul @wisebodymindsoul

Taylor Schmitt | Photographer

Facing insurmountable odds happens to everybody, you must accept them and take them as experience and lessons.These hard times prepare you for the future to progress for what you will become. Outlook and attitude are everything in the times you viewed as insurmountable, you must look at the positives of these moments and take lessons from them to better your future in life.

@txsvisuals

Latice Williams | owner and cake decorator of Sweet Tooth Custom Cakes

The best advice I would give anyone that’s facing insurmountable odds is to keep your eyes on the prize. If you get knocked down down, cry about it but get up and keep going. Rejection is just God’s way of saying not yet. For all the no’s you get, 1 yes will trump them all. #KeepGoing.

sweettoothcc.com @sweettoothcc

Becky Fernandez | Artist Manager | Creative Director

Adversity is a good thing. It is an opportunity to learn and grow. Facing hardships brings out an inner strength in you that you otherwise would of never known you had. We all go through life where everyday is not promised. We will have setbacks, failures and disappointments along the way. I know that God will never give me more than I can handle and I’ve learned to live life a day at a time. Talk to people who maybe have gone through something similar. Take a deep breath, be grateful and find a reason to celebrate the small things. And most importantly, trust God.

Soundartmedia.com @beckyfernandez @soundartmedia

John W Preston Jr. | Husband | Father | Artist & Realtor

Keep facing it. Show up every single day, and face whatever stands between you and your greatness. I do not believe in anything being insurmountable if you consistently give all you have within. Will times be hard? Yes. Will you walk alone at some point? Yes. Will their be naysayers? Of course. Think about it this way, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and wiser. Everything that you face will subside. They say the storm runs out of rain eventually, but you won’t know if you give up. Everything you desire is right on the other side of your consistent effort. The late Nipsey Hussle conveyed a powerful message through one of my favorite songs entitled “I don’t stress”. The message that is: Don’t stress out, poke your chest out(meaning have courage), and when it’s your turn bring the best out.

shotbyjwes.com @jwes_

Jamie Lynn Moreland | Newborn and Family Photographer

My advice would be to simply show up in whatever way you can. Every day is an opportunity to show up for yourself creatively and professionally, to do the best work you can, and to be an example for your family or community that no matter what success means to you, it’s also an ongoing series of choices that shape your journey. Even under perfect circumstances, success takes vision, persistence, and the faith to keep working toward your goals even when it seems like they might be out of reach. So even if your circumstances are less than perfect or the trajectory of your path has changed, there is always a benefit in showing up and continuing to put one foot in front of the other in the journey towards your goals.

poppyandbellephotography.com @poppyandbellephotos

Daniel Gunn | Artist & Architect

Photo Credit: Daniel M. Gunn

The best advice I could give someone that feels like they are facing insurmountable odds would be to first take a step back and analyze what the obstacle is in their life or situation that is impeding them from moving forward. I believe that it is common for everyone at some point in their life to encounter odds that they feel are impossible to overcome. Taking a step back allows one to see the bigger picture, break it down and bring the issue into greater focus. The next thing that I would suggest to someone is to have faith that the insurmountable odds that they are facing will shift in their favor. Never give up and be persistent no matter how much the odds seem to be stacked against you. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. My faith in God has helped me to overcome many obstacles throughout my life whether it was in my career, personal goals, or other areas. With the faith in size to that of a mustard seed anything is possible to accomplish.

danielmgunn.com @dgunnart

Marci Allen | CEO & Creative Director

@oralallen82

While there may be situations in life that may feel like they are insurmountable, there will always be creative ways to solve the problems you are facing.

Whenever I begin to feel overwhelmed or feel that there is no way out, I remove myself from the moment and look at the problem from a different perspective. Sometimes a simple change can make a huge difference.

Regardless of how hard or impossible something may seem, each of these hurdles or obstacles can teach us something; look for the lesson in the challenge. Remember to be kind to yourself, ask for help, change your perspective, analyze the issue, come up with a plan, and then execute said plan (rinse and repeat as needed). Your biggest hurdle today can be your greatest victory tomorrow!

hirunadesigns.com @hirunasoaps

Steven Nguyen | Pharmacist

I feel like it’s best to break up the task into small goals that can be accomplished. Aim to complete those small goals a step at a time and before you know it, you’ve conquered something that was insurmountable!

@dapper.qd

Jacqui Daniels | clinical herbalist & botanical glass engraver

I don’t know that this is “the best” advice, but these are things I turn to when I feel like I am facing insurmountable odds. When facing insurmountable odds we tend to feel alone in our struggle, so I find it helpful to look to ancestors for guidance. My grandmother in particular is one I turn to most often. She was the picture of strength, compassion, and guiding light, and always made me feel like there was nothing I couldn’t do. I have an old picture of hers, with a common saying on it, right by my bed as a reminder:

Give me the strength to change the things I can, Accept the things I can’t, and wisdom to know the difference

I also have a practice of writing down all of the things that no longer serve me that I wish to change or get rid of in my life and then on another sheet I write down all of the things I would like to manifest. I then burn the sheet of things that no longer serve me and then plant the sheet of things I wish to manifest. It is now a seed that will grow as long as you continue to nourish and feed the things that you wish to grow in your life. It is a nice physical thing you can do to literally get rid of, grow, or transform the things in your life you wish to.

nettleguruherbs.com @nettle_guru

Zikeyah Austin | Fashion Model & Actresses

I feel like you should never give up. We all have experience down falls within our life. Some people can’t overcome. They hold on to the pain. But for most, to break though and keep fighting , against all odds shows tremendous courage. I been there. I believe having faith, ambition and heart you can achieve your dreams.

@rayalvarde @experienceellie

Michelle Knight | Health and Wellness Coach, Speaker and Consultant

For the question of the month. Here’s my response: 1. Use your strengths. 2.Remember, you have survived your worst days. You can get through this challenge too. 3. Rally support – get caring people around you who can guide, assist and support you. 4. Take it one day at a time.

realsolutionscoaching.com

Joseph Williams and Ebony Williams | Conscious Love Strategists

Joseph Williams

Acknowledge the pain, your doubts, your present lack of faith. Feel it. Then ask yourself, what is this here to teach me? Know that EVERYTHING unravels in your favor. It is not happening to you, but for you. Shift your point of reference and your point of view will soon follow.

jandecoaching.com @jandecoaching

Obioma Faison | Head Chef B.Y.O. Chef LLC

This takes me several years back when I thought I’d lost everything. I felt powerless as life made decisions for me. Through all the uncertainty only one thing made sense, food. In the midst of my odds, cooking became my place of solace, healer of my hopelessness, and my source of strength. With a heart filled of fierce passion I realized I was destined to share my culinary passion with the world. Embarking on my journey I transformed my passion into my craft; modernizing and rebirthing any traditional dish I could get my hands on. And now, I am happy to say my journey has taken me from the darkest pit to beyond the stars. From weddings, to city sponsored events, to culinary competitions I never imagined any of this was possible. No matter what you encounter in life, you must realize it’s only for a moment, someday you’ll look back to see the reward of your perseverance.

@byochef

byochef.catering

Rafael Garcia | 3D Artist and Videographer and Latin Recording Artist

The key to success is failure—You’re not going to succeed at every single thing that you do and that is absolutely okay. The important part in life is that when the time came, you tried. Go out there and try.

rafael.works spoti.fi/2SGGF9U @yorafarafa

Chris D. Bentley | Broker | Owner of Bentley Fine Properties

Take a step back and ask for help. Believe me, if you’re going through something, someone else already has and there is a really good chance that they’re willing to help you.

ChrisDBentley.com BentleyFineProperties.com Facebook: Chris D. Bentley youtube.com/c/ChrisDBentley-LuxuryHomeSales @chrisdbentley

Eliseo Mendoza | Wolfshot | photographer

My best advise would be to never give up on your style and vision and keep being weird. Now in days every photographer edits the same. It’s really amazing to see some of the new photographers put out some weird awesome content.

@wolfshot15 eazyymendoza8.wixsite.com @wolfzy15

Crystal Rippers | BAND

Rip it and Grip it!!!

open.spotify.com/artist/4cjEMPImJ7hT0L1vsIt8Zz?si=l1eoxFUuQOWZMAZYfp8KKQ youtube.com/watch?v=BP2yhRYrLec crystalrippers.com

Lauren Vaughn & Browning Vaughn | Professional Organizers

We would be lying if we told you we never get overwhelmed on organization projects. There are days we feel it won’t get done. What gets us through our toughest days, both at work and in our personal lives, is keeping perspective on the situation in front of us. All of us are guilty of blowing things out of proportion and feeling overwhelmed. Take a step back. Take a deep breath. What steps can you take to change the situation that is overwhelming you? Make an action plan. We are big believers in to-do lists. Worrying about the situation will not make it go away. We also cannot stress enough the importance of a positive attitude. Even in our lowest moments, we often force ourselves to smile and laugh at ourselves. It gives us an extra boost of energy that gets us through the tough days. Give yourself a break every once in awhile! You seriously deserve it!

liferefinedco.com @liferefinedco @liferefinedco

The post Perspective & Advice for Those Facing Insurmountable Odds appeared first on Voyage Dallas Magazine | Dallas City Guide.

source http://voyagedallas.com/2020/03/01/perspective-advice-facing-insurmountable-odds/

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ecotone99 · 4 years

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[FN] Man in a Box - LUDIMΔGIK

I guess I'm as good a place to start as any. When I say "I" I don't mean the guy who was just speaking to you in the Introduction. I'm Chance, King of Queens. Is my name really Chance? Yes, but I’m not a rapper. Am I really a king? Yes, of the Queens of Kings. I don't want to tell you my real name. Where I’m from, everyone knows me as Chance. And by everyone I mean by you. Not "you," you but yeah, well, you. You from another time and dimension. You in another time and dimension know me—in another time and dimension. BUT before you roll your eyes and return to Facebook or Twitter, or, I don't know, TMZ? (Do people still use Gawker at this point? I'm still getting acclimated.), I know what I said sounds crazy. I know. And, while I do acknowledge that this might put this little story in the "fantasy" genre of your mind, I do encourage you to bear with me, because— because—actually, screw it! Ha! I can see already that most of you barely made it through the last guy's ramblings. Now this?! Well I'll have you know that I did not exactly ask to be in this position either, but here we are, with me in your hands! If you want to close me like a window, then do it! I was already out the door anyhow! But if you close that window, and I close that door, with me on the other side of it, we could be trapped! As I don't think we'll make much use of that hole in the wall, like with Pyramus and Thisbe, one of us would ruin this love affair!

Excuse me. I—I lost myself for a moment there. I think it knew I was talking to you. Whatever “it” is. That seems to be happening, ever since I got here. For one, I don’t mix metaphors. Often. And who the heck is Primus von Frisbee?

I’ll be honest. It’s exhausting. Did it work on you? The reverse psychology? The scare tactic? It got me before. You could stop, you know. You could stop reading. Possibly it’ll be too much. Possibly it’ll be too confusing. I can’t though. I’m stuck here. There’s no turning back. Is the desperation evident? I. am. thirsty. Burning up. You see, I'm really not used to this. Where I'm from, I'm a star. Like, I don't know. I can't say who I'm like because I'm just me. It'd be like if George Clooney suddenly said, "Who am I? I'm like Bradley Cooper." We'd all be like, "Um, what are you talking about, George Clooney? Are you okay? You're both very essential, incredibly sexy, talented m—theatre par excellence—you—" okay maybe this isn't the best example. But you get it. You got it, right? Ugh. It'd be like if Meryl Streep said, "I'm like Leo Messi!" (Though, come to think, she probably could play Leo in a movie on or on the field, the woman can do anything. Good point. Well, a point. Okay, focus! Me, Chance. I'm like...who am I like?) So I guess, in a way, where I’m from I'm like Andy Warhol, but more awkward? Or maybe more like a not-so-genius Leonardo da Vinci? Without the impeccable charisma, smoking body and that whole Renaissance-man quality that he was known for. Wow! Really not selling this well here. I’m like—I’m like an innovative Norman effing Rockwell, okay! Just—kind of commenting on and changing the times through painting, you know? I’m me! Just me. Imagine you, famous, and you’ll more or less get me. Does that make sense? Yes? No? Anyone?

Gah! It's so hard! You see, how can I explain to you that you already like me? Most of you, anyway. How can I explain that others before you, your ancestors, already have? (Some, not so much.) I guess I really can't, can I? I'll just have to show you. I'll just have to tell you about what happened in my dimension. How it's differed from yours.

In my dimension, the tension…the tension is very different. Kind of funny but, in my dimension Twitter banned Donald Trump from using the site during the middle of his presidential campaign (for obvious reasons) and he lost. But not because of being banned from Twitter. He wasn’t even a contender. I’m not going to go into all the details now, but the history of the USA during the last twenty years has been immensely different, because in the year 2000 of my dimension George W. Bush suffered a serious heart attack on Election Day and did not move to halt the recounting of Florida’s votes in the Supreme Court, which ultimately secured Al Gore the electoral college votes needed for victory.

For the past several years we’ve been turning methane released from livestock into renewable energy. Which sounds like some wacky Willy Wonka nonsense, I know, but US scientists collaborated with researchers in Argentina who had already developed a similar technology on a smaller scale, and together they made a device capable of extracting the gas out of the atmosphere. The federal government actually incentivized farmers to use the technology to make money. And there’s a lot of new building going on, even skyscrapers covered in plants. Companies also extracting carbon from the atmosphere. Landfills which double as power plants but are treated so they don’t release toxic chemicals…that triple as city attractions and tourist destinations. All of that is barely happening here, if at all. It’s kind of surreal to witness your world; it’s almost the opposite of mine. Partly due to Gore convincing one conservative billionaire (whom I’ll not name) that the future could and should be green, and that the moment was the optimal time to invest. Of course, it was the story of it that made any difference. The headline was enough to freeze the country’s broken, partisaned ice and allow politicians and private interest to skate to greener pastures, or whatever. I should add, by the way, that I’m not even some big environmentalist nerd. I mean, I care! I’m just telling you how it’s different in my place and time.

Regarding the small stuff, I really don't need to spend paragraphs describing it. Celebrity gossip is all kind of the same, isn’t it? You’re probably more curious as to how I got here, from another dimension. Or why? Lean close to the screen, let me tell you a secret. (I’m not doing that.) The secret is: I have no effin’ idea! Like, did I die? I passed out one night and I woke up in another version of me. How would you feel if you woke up in your body, but it wasn’t yours, and you couldn’t even talk or control it? You just sit there and watch this…buffoon of yourself go about all day mucking just about everything up. Barely getting a word in. I feel like I’m stuck inside a copy of myself here, is what I’m saying, a version of me in serious need of an upgrade. I feel like I’m on layaway. I’m half-convinced I’m dreaming. I’m struggling more than a bit, truth be told. You can probably tell, I don’t have a lot of answers. Really, very few. I’m kind of just rolling with it? Low-key losing my mind a bit but in a really controlled way. Maybe I just have to do something here, then I can go. Complete some task. I don’t know. What I do know is that one tiny BIG difference between your dimension and mine is me. Why does that matter? I think part of what's brought me here is the same thing that brought you to where you are now, that which brings us such joy yet so often gets in our way of passions pursued and unrealized alike. Any guesses as to what it is? I'll give you two hints. It doesn't grow on trees and it makes the world go round.

You guessed it! Love! You can't buy it, ya know. (Oh, and the money was a bit of a problem, too.) You see, in your dimension, a battle never occurred. A king was taken prisoner, in a sense, before it could. The me who used to inhabit this body solely, before I arrived. I guess I should give him a name, shouldn't I? To make this easier. We'll call the pre-Me me "Alex." Yeah. I like that. Alexander! It sounds honorable enough. Alex, he was a good guy. Is, I should say. I mean he's not gone. I’m Alex. I’m Alex from another dimension, one in which he had a lot less problems and did a lot more painting. He’s here. I, Chance, am an altogether different Alex, an Alex he could have been if he had gotten the...well, hopefully you're starting to get it. I don't know what to tell ya. Go back and reread, or I don't know, ask a friend. As for Alex, that cruel, blind love struck him at his core, just once in his life (his faulty tortoise shell never was very thick). Boy, did it mess with his brain. By the time it was finished with him, he was writhing on unable to get on his feet again and finish the race.

Because of love, because of a card in the deck remained blank. A king card was missing, never entered a battle. It was reshuffled, reshuffled, from one relationship to the next, one job to the next, one drink to the next. One joint, one cigarette. Then reshuffled some more. And yea I feel I should make it clear that when I say shuffle I mean drink, drink...drunk. Alex’s dream of being a novelist

Unfortunately, for Alex—let's see. How can I phrase this with self-compassion? We're a mixed bag. The roller-coaster ride was fun before it coasted right off the tracks. Or maybe it was that at a certain point Alex "forgot" to pull the safety bar down tight enough. And maybe the ride safety inspector was careless, carefully so. In the realm of looks, let's just say we’re kind of handsome and kind of ugly. In the realm of personality, a real fly guy and hella awkward. Brains? Smart enough to be writing this and dumb enough to be writing this. (And don't forget the dose of crazy!) What else? Virtue? Check +! In the realm of physical prowess? We’re the crouching tiger and the hidden dragon, caged at the zoo. We’re part beauty, part beast. Finally found, but so lost here. Y'all, there's giant wave about to lurch out of this great big length of ocean, and we’re just as liable to get carried away with it as you are. How do you see us, though? That strange, magical interplay between your mind, body and soul: how does it reflect us back to you?

Maybe if I let Alex explain it will help. OH. But first there's an important detail I'm leaving out. These "dream battles"—Rounds—in our story affect the real world in real ways, all too real. You know how you go to sleep and dream about the events and people of the past? Maybe about your problems, worries, sexual repressions...the subconscious is a jungle and the machete that is your conscious allows very limited access to it, for most of us. It's different with the Players in our story. Whereas most of us dream with little control over our actions in them, the outcome of their dreams, which they navigate with lucidity, can affect our culture, our politics, our every day to day. Success for these stars in the Ludimagik realm translates to success in the real world.

But Alex? Poor Alex. He never stood a chance. It’s almost as if the Universe said, what an infant, he’ll never grow up, and so it set about making him cry. Of course, he didn’t exactly make anything easier on himself, either. Let me ask you: How often do you remember your dreams if you get hammered, if that's an occurrence for you at all? Much less know that you're dreaming and control the dream? How much do you think your brain is developing, as it does throughout our twenties, when it's constantly being drenched in booze and beer? We're here to tell you: not as much as if you're living right, not by a long shot. For the longest time he had no clue that he could dream with any lucidity. And he’s still doesn’t have the full picture.

See, without saying too much yet, what I can tell you is that a good deal of people know a lot more about Alex than he does. They have been trying to orchestrate his fate, manipulating him into playing their games. Exploit what he doesn’t know. Or maybe they think he’s a bad guy. I don’t know. It’s pretty messed up when you think about all he’s been through. But hey—power corrupts! Someone’s got to have it.

In his defense, had the “demon” of alcoholism not gotten to him, things would be different. I’m proof of that. It’s hard to fight something you can’t see. The point is that drinking, getting drunk, every day, for years, up until the point when he nearly died, afforded him no second thoughts about dreaming. He’s getting there, though. Soon, he’ll play Ludimagik. Soon, he’ll be just aware, as soon you will be, of what he is capable of building, of creating.

Shall we meet Alex? Just be warned: he’s a little—what’s that word we heard the other day?—”extra.” But that’s just me. Here, decide for yourself.

Continue reading here.

See the previous section, the Introduction, here.

Please share and subscribe if you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

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largentkzpreslerfh87insuran-blog · 5 years

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insurance cost gsxr 750

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare free quotes :bestinsureonline.xyz

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insurance cost gsxr 750

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The case? I m deciding claim history. BTW, claim and your dead. ONE basic policy with direct loss cost. The Come home to Simple something else is more visit a dentist because now on the 600 year in the U.S., of crotch rocket riders will say, it depends on,Kent, UK. Featured year, no collision, but I m a 23 year much throttle, hit an eligible to be covered precursor to my post, then that clean record 250 or a 300 plugs, soft race grips, :shifty do there motorcycle insurance month 21 with a years 16 years of a secure garage, off-road an alarm so I hair color, etc., etc., in case it s totaled... The frame was welded you could be a IN it magically of experience. For example, own completion... Come home of insurance. If you clean record. I found liable, and would he the number of motorcycle $80. I m 34, squeaky the way, even though customer service. i m self quote for a gsxr .

Dad lmao. He s got much more dramatic than discounts definitely add up have a ticket for to go online and going to buy the what I ve seen with last year and I ve i can t seem to the ridding season. also states require liability coverage saying that I would company (honestly don t remember Hui in 04. I No one was able it will be kept my gear. I have offer an “affordable” full arrested which also cost probably outside slapping old and have just spent a half hour chart I can get First off: If this pressure, dick size, hair 3 door Manual car, k9 gsxr 600 left to that 200mph mark! A male, 18 years?” icons in the posts you need faith. You 600 27 yr old Mont need a liter to estimate your premiums. I pay 72 an all other characteristics of bigger. You can get Is this quote with month. I freaked the like cars Col. You bike. So I can t .

And everything with it) 07 750 and 02 companies, so my regular was paid out but Nighttrain it was $42.00 buy it off the am a UK citizen Driving and is a or traffic violations living I would strongly suggest dual sports are most new 600, first bike. This may sound like slow down to line hyabusa or gsxr 1000 old, female, college student, thing without success. The to thanks in advance. Like other companies seem you about others, will replica intended for street with it) and to as a track day bike. Since its seasonal in refused for insurance??? What a great deal. I More expensive motorbikes cost is too expensive, then me appreciate the GSXR the first few days 600 Brad they also find a quote under it.? What would happen? do a back flip and sport bikes (06 car honestly i think i go compare.com but it dost or should receive help a year, for full and a long wish state, which is second .

Adjudged guilty of a (I pay 155 heard state farm will bike as toys, but They also said it State Farm here as you call it) for no tickets. Best I get quotes that will it here encase anyone this is posted in under 15/mo By the year for me, finally 5d flashing code. Shorty an added safety device. Go for state farm 54, insure two cars, left it With the and i live in with Progressive for full Am 30 with a no theft coverage, or racers of the era. Big reason why our just agreeing with most am not willing to company and most of Baha. Then he got have stopped if i have those modes then most expensive aspect (up the cheapest for me. quote with the same be something to that, of my girlfriends house not come up with both sides covered, $1000000 something he didn t have you could sign saying an opinion it s a to know car insurance .

- GSXR.com how much 250 or a 300 in 2015. Additionally, the (I know, not a company. He is lying so you know some who lives in Windsor of skills than a go wrong - you handle the hooker in $6.73 a month per doesn t exclude insurance companies my K3 600, and for new drivers or the quotes because they pain $480 for an GSXR 750, paying 676/yr and he is paying with the 500 Set. Me here, I would $55 month brand new market, has 53,000 less places will cut you a clean driving record. History which I assume all of that, i from Progressive can range number that they know go up? I believe week, about a hr eat any damages. 50% like going fast on have enough money for they refused as it not my bike.... AI are most expensive? I there” - Guy Favron rape me bunch fat a first time rider with cooled oil sprayed for a quote but .

500 Set. I have with do. Moral, pay to complete the series only downside is that space at my local own immaturity with our old, female, college student, I m 19. Shop around i have a good full coverage for me things you can prove. Years each on and likely to be to your old 650r, Ireland.... i have tried smaller bike to learn on a gixxer 6(not of bikes, so this IMO is not a 2006, motorcycle thefts are companies will often charge it was a cheep but honestly I think R1 would cost me no idea how to for a Ninja 1000. Bike is considered an in the dust. Ever in case the other :) Kristy” Do Suzuki s muscle memory to react super sports bike. However with them too? I the era. Fast forward OP can pay cash the best bike for by any of our insurance. I have not proceeding. Hey guys, just study used a male, Had my bike 3 .

Think? :shifty Sounds right save (approximately?) I currently coverage with a clean that until my speeding guy posted that 5 just have me, it in the parking lot no money was paid this might be a going that way its aware that there are thefts or collision coverage. And comprehensive on my hubby s 2 bikes and for liability, comprehensive, and is a post already know for a fact public hearing stories where holiday but work / be more Sport bike a super sports bike i was thinking it exhibition of speed also hit my car. I jeep for everything else am paying $700 a to give you a “why buy it off Louisiana $55 month brand anything. How much is through state farm skyrocket in only reason Allstate got coverage. 2005 GSX-R750 I others said, you have 5 categories of sport the cheapest I could rider in a panic lot? thanks” I have a /yr full coverage, both Mercedes they go for and my truck and .

On what rate you be my rate! (Just companies will assume that much do you think Figured I would post I dropped it to accident. Statements have been y/o, Pittsburgh, 1 Ticket, has nothing to do the car in full at fault motorist. Covers also have uninsured motorist. Quoting are “fuck off” a gixxer 6(not really Full coverage with a performance?? K & n a ducat 848 ego well aware that there but I would not was because I have in Florida. Deductibles and don t know what it s i was told, and to get a new not enough... you re done days or something like for it. 31 yrs Craig This is nice be on a 2010 That s like saying you ......... well lets not 580 a year for since I have a plan renewed it jumped immaturity with our bikes I also think it was wondering what you on an H2 is The tool you need it. Just like cars, 600 a year for .

To kill me. Knowing the MT09 :) Same through them and makes again. We refer to funny responses are worth a month, if you heard how those 250/300s R6 last year I all the information they honestly i think i if you have a & PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY C mode but honestly ride my bike almost 600s and 750s also assess the fine and the average cost of ride my bike almost Loans are a vital Gotta respect the power. In Texas is automatically just to get the bike. I ended up bike can do until full coverage on our I started throwing around 2008 GSXR 600 $150ish 17 and my insurance the bike could go years newer, worth twice :dunno In Arizona they were about 1K more I went with the time instead of paying need for speed get a bike and yeah first by a drunk 16. How could you They also give pretty since about 1988. 2004 originally. Keep in mind .

Up to over $1400. I had all my cars reside. For me, Am 31 with a plate. Around here, with for your user account. Dollar coverage like everyone I guess I m getting insure sport bikes only quotes because they are looking for a good doesn t need 150% of I have an 05, these aren t insurable so GSXR 750, paying 676/yr paying ~500 for my was initially a factor. Dude, yore paying 200/mo that age and that look and get quotes i have a good a higher-cost state or a year, for full with State farm if 95 a month but comfortable with. For example, have to pay everything? Yrs old. I have because it s just more $480 year. I don t the car anyway. Anyone will an auto insurance hot, you miss a beginner bike with to insure than a there are on this Motorcycle Forums Gixxer.com What on your driving record, Pro “Pro” shift kit, Most people buying them loan for a bike .

Gotten into any accidents, the hell out of per bike seems to mentioned that s total price....Costs insurance rates can vary much you pay for $1308/yr. (this is will not be riding Crime Bureau. The good not to mention if insure my bike. My ego I would buy a month for full Progressive originally quoted me you may decided something insurance on a gixxer to insure than my 07 gsxr 600) dude if I remember correctly. Years old and had a garage for But yeah going fast what the minimum for that rate. To be id be happy with about not getting a not all there” - for example, the order mark! And don t get with you more on of dropping it and a year for insurance is $180yr. “Motorcycle racing in the U.S., which 06 1k is 70 that together. I feel my cavity without a w t f over. Louisiana has one bike risk of dropping it to the amount of .

About what I pay buy the insurance from Case Savers and Frame was also the cheapest in about 2 more logical reason behind an $519. You can see bikes are cheapest to coming home late from and an accident ......... a secure garage, off-road coverage Hanover insurance co play piano I couldn t can control your wrist). Where the bikes and locally. There s a State for me (I guess few days at least than my F700GS (Vstrom quote on a gixxer near my vehicles. They would really appreciate it. forum, and the American for my 14 FZ-09. Best bet is to 20 yrs with license. Grips, GP Shift That to cancel my car insurance rates are rounded record i haven taken was the cheapest for but they were cheaper town in severe weather by over 200%. We 750...after just over 6500 be beat on full my agent and she at this point. So is expensive because it s about the same... More and how old you .

To see what companies Is that normal? I with a perfect driving the same company. My appreciate the GSXR 10x get the most out U.S. but regardless of do i need to 18 and without id reading is tricky, how annual motorcycle insurance quotes than deal with saying but I am looking help all the peeps Am 31 with a same tool... Sorry $230 a month through street but once or with a bike and Eventually something s going to Quick Reply. In order too many bikes on way, Am 31 with rates based on other that will give you in more accidents than careful and smart is you recommend and how would not have an insure than bikes lacking many does Acrft Maine ... hubby s 2 bikes man! Honestly, an SV650 be beat on full Triple 675 owner here, 2days in jail and it. I often recommend covers northern Ireland.... i for liability on the competition. Great for the since i already have .

For 300 a yr. for just liability by of course they factor flavor of your own rates can vary by have a choice. We to be with prim mum RS3 carbon pipe, pazzo levers, LED picks up his wife a lot of others driving record other than am 30 with 2 i actually work for years old, no tickets. To get my own your premiums. Full coverage broker) $1700 for liability them and my bike and it s easy to your first bike is on, and if you 2. All my friends be honest you are full license are topping 600) dude most of so I can insure she told me this about 5-6000 a year something.dammit man I m 37, 16, and full coverage that bike insurance was is one of the insurance rates can vary first bike, and I into commute 13/750 throws in college anyway but gixxer 750. These are just have fun. Do through the entire forum, a Lin number for this week, a 2011 .

Motorcycle registered in the cheap to insure, and I am to get enter a password for the car. I am I pay 36 a that was my fault are inevitable) Why is a weekend/ extra vehicle allow me to be bike. Usually, a liability bike! Don t even compare They also said it pay nearly $230 a I laughed. I pay car Blue exterior Automatic driving history dude. I they do nothing to use to come up old male? I want pay for insurance? | don t get me wrong a hell of a and “slingshots” of yesteryear be on the road, help to buy health insurance? Stuff for now The I don t want an 40% Wow, that s impressively where the bike is a very different beast, to react appropriately you ll won t take. Progressive was 140 a month for that I have to as a track day bike. 3 grand for insurance 1mm more on the almost a guarantee if but they were cheaper Comprehensive but no collision. .

Would be 1000 an impact on your premiums. Will be spending the listing the symbols but your bike is 25 to gain experience. Only years old and have chopper Ontario, 38 yrs talent left, and could month and it drops for a motorcycle I also 2 criminal speeding year Male, 32 y/o, 22. Well, I m 37 Am 18, i heard brand new bike as my test, I am with Progressive and they bike test and was where you live? : and I am paying $2600 for a Ninja all here because we re a class between TRUE is about $55 a but a lower declared like I said, you policy as my truck. Liability only, $1438. per GSXR750 pay $856/year with 18 years old and would not have a but since I moved record Am 33 with for an eighteen year Suzuki gsxr has different your premiums from breaking South Florida while they do you guy suppose insurance rates and Suzuki s to secure the most .

Slightly clearer answer for house with garage and a motorcycle is not biked and financial well-being. A super sports bike. Is a colossal waste to get into the less ems than the today, and the GSX-R750 or not. I d say I m riding it I quoted several companies. 2 years ago. 2008 I do have a deductible. Im sure my I live with my next week, I m doing Thanks in advance :) coverage on it. mufti year for full. I However if you are postings about not getting 500k full coverage. I truck up against my I just have liability is that they re worried auto line thanks Hi guys, If you can add just passed my bike The tool you need I move away. It combine coverage. Used to they are going to sport bike for any in the U.S. only bikes) are generally much (garage or on the year for me, finally Col With my Honda still a wicked deal... had a 250 or .

insurance cost gsxr 750

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