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travelerpavilion · 1 year ago

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ROAD TRIP AUSTRALIA: 20 Thoughts FOR YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE

To road trip Australia is an incredible adventure for sure - whether you're going on an outing traversing huge number of kilometers and numerous weeks, or a more modest excursion to a neighborhood sight. Here are a few thoughts for road trips in Australia, to kick you off with your trip arranging. Australia is a nation that is worked for road trips. It's huge, has assorted land and view, in addition to a scope of various milestones and sights. I would urge any guest to Oz to stir things up around town sooner or later - it's a great method for voyaging. In addition to the fact that a road trips become an adventure in itself, yet you'll stop in unassuming communities. Spreading the traveler dollar to networks that need it. That and driving is a lot kinder on the climate than flying.

READ ALSO : 25 Best Road Trips in the USA « Itinerary Thoughts + Tips! »

However, the test with a country however large as Australia may be - where to begin? With the assistance of individual travel essayists, I've arranged this rundown of road trip courses in Australia. Some are multi-day adventures, frequently navigating various states and domains. Others are brief excursions of only a couple of hours, effectively feasible in a little while. In the event that time is a figure your preparation. As far as some might be concerned, there's an objective toward the end that is the impetus for the trip, like the prize of heading to Uluru or a specific town or city. Or on the other hand, it's an instance of getting from point A to B, yet the features are the landscape and sights en route. One way or the other, these excursions ought to act as motivation for your trip making arrangements for Australia, or persuade you to get out, get in a vehicle and investigate your very own greater amount lawn! This post forms part of my guide to visiting Australia for the first time. Check out this extensive list of general travel tips and road trip tips, to help you with your trip planning. Plus this guide to Australian slang words and general etiquette should be helpful.

ROAD TRIP AUSTRALIA: ABSOLUTELY EPIC ROUTES

These are the road trips that will take you on an adventure. Navigating 100's of kilometers and at times, numerous state lines.

CANBERRA TO ULURU

By Helena of Through An Aussie’s Eyes Distance: 6,057 kilometers States & Territories covered: ACT, NSW, VIC, SA, NT Uluru has forever been high up on my list of must-dos. When we began to arrange for this trip we thought, why not drive it and see the Australian outback? This drive takes you from Canberra to Uluru (by means of Port Lincoln one way) and back once more. I truly adored each and every moment of it, regardless of whether we traveled 6,057 kilometers. We passed on Canberra in the early hours and headed to Mildura, Victoria. While in Mildura, pop onto Orange World, a little family run plantation for citrus natural products. Then drive on to Port Lincoln to go enclosure jumping with extraordinary white sharks (no mate is utilized, everything revolves around acoustics). Albeit Port Lincoln is far removed, it'll offer you the chance to see a few lovely creatures right at home. Then, you can drive up the center of Australia and go through the night in Coober Pedy. This opal mining town is an unquestionable necessity. A ton of it is underground and its peculiarity will interest you to investigate. While driving in the outback, you'll see a great deal of nothing, with the exception of perpetual skyline. You will run over huge signs that offer a photograph an open door. These open doors don't dishearten. Lake Hart, an evaporated salt lake is a most loved sight on this excursion. As the white salt is an extraordinary difference to the red soil. What's more, when you at long last show up at Uluru and Customized organization Tjuta, these tourist spots won't frustrate.

ADELAIDE TO DARWIN

By Margarita of The Wildlife Diaries Distance: 3000 kilometers States & Territories covered: South Australia & the Northern Territory Crossing the whole Australian landmass from south to north. The Adelaide to Darwin road trip is epic even by all accounts. Yet, while the driving distances included can appear to be very overwhelming. The prizes incorporate a portion of Australia's most notable milestones and a heap of mystery destinations. We did this road trip as an untamed life watching trip. Vsiting the greater part of the Public Parks en route and investigating the unbelievable assortment of territories. Here are a portion of the principal features of the trip. Flinders Reaches Public Park is the most seasoned mountain range in Australia and conceivably the world. It is likewise perhaps of the best spot in the country to consider various types of kangaroo to be well as the lovable yellow-footed rock wallaby. Breakaways Protection Save has such a distinct and fruitless scene that it highlighted in science fiction films like Totally dark, The Red Planet and Distraught Max. Uluru is Australia's most notable geographical milestone. While the Stone attracts guests to the area, the encompassing scene of red sand rises outlined by the interminable blue sky is no less breathtaking. Lords Gully and Western McDonnell Reaches can be investigated through Mereenie Circle Road. These old rough scenes have been cut by water and wind north of millions of years and presently give environment to a plenty of natural life from dingos to Prickly fiends. Kakadu Public Park in the tropical north of the mainland is the place that is known for Crocodile Dundee and Australia's notorious man-eating crocodiles. While swimming isn't a choice in the recreation area, you can securely investigate its billabongs and see plentiful untamed life on waterway travels.

MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY

By Michael of Time Travel Turtle Distance: 1500 kilometers States & Territories covered: Victoria & New South Wales There are two principal ways of driving among Melbourne and Sydney. One is inland, the other along the coast. I favor the beach front course since there's much more assortment of things to see en route. The travel is around 1500 kilometers in length and I would suggest doing it over basically seven days. Beginning from Melbourne, you can go to the lovely sea shores of Wilsons Projection and do a diversion to the old gold mining town of Walhalla. Going along the Victorian coast, it merits halting some place like Metung to encounter the Gippsland Lakes, and I additionally suggest remaining at Croajingalong Public Park further along. As you come into New South Ribs, there are a few incredible beach front towns like Narooma or Pambula. I would then recommend going inland and going through a day in Canberra in the event that you haven't been previously - in any case go on up the coast towards some place like Kiama. road trip australia I think such a large number of individuals fly between the two urban communities - yet you truly need to drive among Melbourne and Sydney to see the value in every one of the in the middle between. The public parks are beautiful and not brimming with vacationers. And the seaside networks are the laidback Australia that individuals anticipate. Numerous local people wouldn't have known about a portion of the stops on this road trip! There are a lot of lodgings en route and you don't have to book excessively far ahead of time. Except if it's during school occasions, when convenience can top off. In the event that you have a campervan, there are likewise heaps of occasions parks on this course. Supervisor's note: Look at this manual for driving from Melbourne to Newcastle, to broaden your trip. Also, here's certain thoughts for end of the week escapes from Melbourne.

CAMOOWEAL TO ROCKHAMPTON

By Kathy of 50 Shades of Age Distance: 1500 kilometers States & Territories covered: The Northern Territory & Queensland There's a ton to be said about Australia's legendary shore, highlighting probably the most dazzling waterfront landscape on the planet. Notwithstanding, for a difference in pace I suggest an Outback Australia road trip. The trip from Camooweal, right across the line of the Northern Region, to Rockhampton on the Capricorn Shoreline of Queensland, will both astonishment you and captivate you. The entryway town of Camooweal with The Barkly Tableland Legacy Center and the Drovers Camp Data Community are ideal for a speedy stop or a short term visit. Close by are the popular sinkholes and caverns in the Camooweal Public Park. The notable Australian mining city of Mount Isa is overwhelmed by the rambling Mount Isa Mine, with its 270m exhaust stack from the lead smelter. Get a higher perspective of the town from the Hilary Road Post. road trip Australia Cloncurry is where the Illustrious Flying Specialist Administration was laid out in 1928 by John Flynn. It was likewise engaged with the starting points of Qantas, with the first Qantas Shed still being used at the aerodrome. The town made popular by the disclosure of north of 3,300 dinosaur impressions, and the biggest dinosaur in Australia on properties outside the town - Winton. Turn back the clock 95 million years with a visit to the Dinosaur Rush at Songbird Quarry Preservation Park. The flourishing focal point of Outback Queensland where they say "legacy was brought into the world on the rear of legends", Longreach isn't simply a town yet a lifestyle. Home to the Australian Stockman's Corridor of Acclaim, Qantas Organizers Exhibition hall and the Stalwart Historical center. Go through the Focal Queensland Gemfields through spots like Anakie, Sapphire, Willows and Rubyvale. The district has a blend of business mining, hand digging and fossicking for the diamond of all gemstone, the sapphire. Emerald, situated in Queensland's Focal High countries, is the center point for the tremendous and different agrarian and mining tasks of the locale. Close by is the tremendous field of water called Lake Maraboon. Rockhampton is the "Meat Capital of Queensland" and close by Yeppoon situated on the Capricorn Coast. You can without much of a stretch go through weeks here, investigating.

PERTH TO CORAL BAY

By Kylie of Between England and Iowa Distance: 2700 kilometers States & Territories covered: Western Australia An astonishing Australian road trip to take is among Perth and Coral Cove in Western Australia. At the point when gone on as a round outing venture, it very well may be finished in 7 days, if voyaging quick! We recruited a Toyota Hiace camper van as this gave us some adaptability on where we could remain as we could pull up in a free rest region and rest in our vehicle. Beginning only an hour and a half north of Perth is Lancelin, with its astounding white sand hills, ideal for sand boarding. The Nambung Public Park is home to the Zeniths Desert, with many limestone support points ascending from the desert floor. You can book on a roadtrip visit from Perth to observe this delightful normally fascination, on the off chance that you're in a rush. road trip Australia Coral Cove is the most northern place of this specific Australian road trip. It's on the edge of the Ningaloo Reef which has extraordinary swimming and loads of chances to see marine creatures. Heading back south, an unquestionable requirement is the Shark Straight World Legacy Region, with 'Shell Ocean side' and Monkey Mia. Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort is a dolphin research focus. Here, dolphins will visit the ocean side everyday, offering you the chance to get up near these wonderful animals in nature. You can likewise remain nearby, in rooms with a pool or ocean side view. Kalbarri Public Park is one more commendable stop with bunches of perspectives and intriguing stone developments. Hutt Tidal pond in Port Gregory is otherwise called Pink Lake. The distinctiveness of the lake differs, yet it is without a doubt precisely exact thing it say it is… a pink lake! Likewise with any road trip, there is such a lot of you could pause and see however the stretch among Perth and Coral Narrows gives you an incredible prologue to Western Australia.

SOUTH WEST WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Distance: Around 600 kilometers from Perth to Albany By Keri of Our Globetrotters States & Territories covered: Western Australia Road tripping the entire territory of WA can be to some degree overpowering with north of 20,000 kilometers of shore! Notwithstanding, a significantly more sensible trip is to assume the southern corner of WA enveloping Perth through to Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret Stream, then through the Southern Woodlands and on to Denmark and Albany on the south coast. Despite the fact that you won't address all WA brings to the table, this full circle will unquestionably provide you with a splendid tester of the new produce, sensational coasts and tall lumber in this rich and bio-different corner of Australia. You will need to split your trip up into a few evenings stay, or you'll just drive. We recommend at irrefutably the base you plan stops in the Margaret Waterway Area and some place in the Incomparable Southern, be it Denmark or Albany. road trip australia The most remarkable milestones and regular elements you won't have any desire to miss incorporate the Busselton Breakwater - the longest wooden pier in the southern side of the equator. Experience the wineries and shop bottling works of Margaret Waterway. Visit the captivating lime stone caverns of the Leeuwin Naturaliste Edge and stand at the most south-westerly mark of Australia, Cape Leeuwin. The colder time of year sees regular whale spotting along the coast, while spring carries with it delightful wild blossoms and gentle days. Forward toward the southern backwoods you won't have any desire to miss moving somewhere around one of the Fire Climb Trees in the Pemberton locale, stroll among the monster shiver trees of Walpole in the Valley of the Goliaths and proceed with the sensational Southern Sea shore to Albany. A visit to the Torndirrup Public Park and the popular Hole, Normal Extension and Blowholes is an unquestionable necessity, as well as the Public ANZAC Place.

ALICE SPRINGS TO ULURU

Kenny of Knycx Journeying Distance: 470 kilometers States & Territories covered: The Northern Territory The road trip from Alice Springs to the 'Tummy Button of the Earth' through the Uluru-Customized organization Tjuta Public Park is an extremely unique excursion in Australia. The Public Park extends across 1,326 square kilometers of Australia's desert outback. Its red desert, rock developments, fauna and greenery, climbing and setting up camp encounters are really one of a kind to nature and outside action darlings. The whole road trip requires 3 days or more. It's around a 6 hour drive from Alice Springs to Uluru. You can do as we did and come by a camel ranch mid-method for separating the drive. When you arrive, stroll around monster rock development, which is likewise a holy spot to Australia's Most memorable Countries people groups. Found out about the Anangu people groups' set of experiences, culture, and their profound association of the stone with their lives. Attempt to time your visit to Uluru with nightfall, for a few genuinely shocking sights. Self-walk or bounce on a directed visit, which incorporates transport, wine ands nibblies and, surprisingly, a bar-b-que supper. Awaken the following day revived and progress forward to Individualized structure Tjuta, to stroll through the Valley of the Breezes - a restricted section of the stones that is extremely breezy. You can then camp out at Lords River Station, and have a pleasant night around the huge fire and showering in nature. It is an extraordinary spot for stargazing, as the desert has next to no cloud and light contamination is negligible. Go through the last day of your trip at Lords Ravine in Watarrka Public Park prior to cruising back to Alice Springs. The gully has stunning perspectives, undulated rock surfaces and colony of bees like vaults. It's an extraordinary method for finishing up an adventure in the outback.

CAIRNS TO BRISBANE

By Sinead of Map Made Memories Distance: 1700 kilometers States & Territories covered: QLD We went on a phenomenal road outing from Cairns to Brisbane, going for a very long time in a campervan with our three kids. Here is our agenda, which you can follow for yourself. In the wake of investigating occupied Cairns and a magnificent trip to the widely popular Extraordinary Hindrance Reef, drive down the dazzling Queensland coast. We visited vacationer areas of interest like Hervey Inlet, Noosa and Airlie Ocean side, however chose to zero in on investigating modest community Australia, both on the coast and inland. Drop into beach front Bowen and indulge yourself with a film at the rare film which broadly debuted the Baz Luhrmann film 'Australia', recorded in the neighborhood. We met the proprietor and wound up partaking in an entrancing confidential visit with him. He even requested that we sign the guests' book close by any semblance of Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman! Read the full article

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attina-the-responsible · 3 years ago

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How to Tell Your Family You’re Moving Across the World According to Mermaids ~*~ [Merfam]

In which Attina and Panic make a big announcement...[takes place at the beginning of the summer.]

@arista-the-musical, @aquata-the-champ, @alana-the-brilliant, @melody-the-unwritten, @panicked-nights

[tw -- none]

ATTINA: Attina had cooked a nice salmon and tofu (for the veggies) dinner for everyone. It was almost easier to wrangle everyone now, because there were so few of them. Andrina and Adella were such big presences that dinners felt so small without them. But, she’d already called them both and told them that she was moving. It had been nice to slide into it that way, but they were also the oldest. She had no idea how the rest of her sisters were going to react.

It was nice to have Panic there for moral support. And her dad, of course. Who was aware that tonight was going to be the night.

Attina was not nervous that they were going to be angry with her. She was actually nervous of the opposite. That people would want her to leave. That they would tell her that why did it matter, why was she making a big deal of this?

She waited until the dinner was winding down. One of the sisters actually got up to put her plate up because Attina was procrastinating.

“Wait—“ she barked, when the sister stood. “Uh, please, sit. I, er—we—“ she glanced at Panic. “Have something to tell you.”

Attina took another breath. “PanicandIaremovingtoAustralia.”

AQUATA: Aquata almost choked on her salmon. “Australia?” she repeated.

This was the thing: Aquata was learning to let go of the idea that all of her sisters would stay in the same place forever. Especially after talking to her at the wedding, Aquata now understood that this wasn’t just a phase for Andy and she probably wasn’t coming back. And even though Adella had gotten the brunt of Aquata’s crisis about the family splitting up, Aquata had eventually made her peace with it.

She maybe expected Tina to leave, eventually, especially since she didn’t have her wedding in Swynlake. But Australia?

She coughed and cleared her throat, her expression going neutral. “That’s a long bloody plane ride.”

ARISTA: Arista chewed on her tofu, happy to just sit among her family. Dinner nights were always so lovely. It was how they all caught up on things. (Well, at least the ones who were still in town).

Her brows shot up, Aquata had a point. It was a long plane ride. “Australia? Like forever?” Australia seemed pretty permanently away from Swynlake. But she trusted her sister to not make decisions unless she had already thought it over like a million times. “You think you’ll be near where Jake’s from? Maybe he can give you some pointers or teach you slang.” She tilted her head, trying to think back to all the weird things she’d heard her sister’s boyfriend say over the years.

ALANA: "Australia?!"

To be honest, Alana had a moment of fear. It struck her suddenly and she looked at the dinner table, at the empty seats where Andrina and Adella once sat. She felt something twist in her gut, but then she looked at Tina and that twisting feeling transformed into a swell of pride.

"Ohmigosh that's so great!" she exclaimed. "Wow, more excuses for me to visit."

MELODY: Well, that was far. Was the first thought as Melody digested the news. She wasn't all that surprised though. Each of the girls were moving on in their own way she wondered who would be next truly.

But this wasn't supposed to be sad. Not at all. "When are you planning on moving?"

PANIC: Panic watched everyone's reactions grimacing ahead of time almost expecting for it to go terribly. Though it wasn't that bad not yet. "It's a long plane ride for sure but we're planning on getting a big enough place you guys can all visit whenever." Panic offered leaving Tina to answer Arista because really who knew especially with school.

"Toward the end of summer, we need to be there by Late August so we want to settle in a bit."

ATTINA: Attina hadn't announced something like this since...well, since her pregnancy. And she'd done that one on one, because as much as she insisted on these dinners and everyone sharing their lives with each other, she always found it a little overwhelming to be the focus of the attention.

It was nice to have Panic there to help her, because she was trying to untangle her tongue while all her sisters and cousin stared at her. She knew it must be shocking and probably felt like it was coming out of left field and she felt herself about to word vomit everywhere a bunch of excuses.

Panic corralled everyone first and Attina shot him a grateful look before nodding.

"Yes, late summer. I will, uhm, I'm--I accepted an PhD studies offer at the National Australia University in Canberra for Marine Biology. It's not near Jake's, unfortunately." She had already looked that up, because of course she knew where her sister's boyfriend was from. "But, I'm sure he can give us plenty of pointers."

AQUATA: Aquata was stunned.

Andy had always been a loose cannon. Adella had always wanted to get out of Swynlake from the beginning. But Tina? Tina, who basically ran Whosits and Whatsits, who went to every community event, who had a house here and friends and, okay, probably a lot of bad memories too, but who seemed more a part of Swynlake than anyone else?

It was like one of those moments when you were a kid and realized the teacher didn’t sleep at school. Attina had her own life. But.... Australia was really far.

Aquata didn’t really know what to say. She didn’t want to make a scene, or be the unsupportive one (again). But for someone who liked plans and routines, who liked being able to keep track of everyone, it was a lot to process.

“Congrats, Tina, that’s cool,” Aquata said flatly. She needed to go for a swim. She looked at Panic and smirked. Humor was a little easier than being sincere. “Better be a mansion. I’m not getting on a twenty-hour flight for any old cottage. Or maybe I’ll just swim there. Probably faster.”

Aquata made a face to show she was joking, because she didn’t want to freak Attina out, but honestly, it did sound like a fun idea.

ALANA: Alana was still processing this. First Andrina had left, which seemed like a given and honestly, Lana had been surprised it hadn't happened sooner. She missed Andrina so much, her absence like a loose tooth she kept on prodding with her tongue. Adella had left second, which hadn't been a surprise either; she'd already left once the first time and she'd never wanted to stay in Swynlake. She had big dreams and a little town in England didn't exactly lend itself to them.

And now Attina --

Maybe this had been coming from the beginning. Maybe Attina dreamed of things too, dreamed of the ocean and helping save it. Maybe it was obligation that had kept her trapped in Swynlake, that obligation growing into fear and spreading across the rest of them. Maybe that's why Andrina had broken away, why Adella had always dreamed of bigger things. Maybe it all went back to Attina and the fact that she had stayed in the first place, instead of leaving.

Alana always wondered why she was working in a shoppe when she had a Master's degree.

Alana didn't know what she'd do without her big sister. It was one thing for Andrina and Adella to go off -- but Attina?

She wasn't sure where to look. Looking at Attina might make her cry. Looking at Aquata might make her scared. So she looked at Arista, who was soft and smiling and with a deep breath, Lana tried to relax herself.

(She wondered, briefly, if she would ever leave Swynlake; she'd thought about it a lot as a teenager but now... well with her own place and her own life separate from the legacy of her family, it didn't really bother her as much. She wondered, out of all of them, who would go and who would remain).

"Oh my gosh, do you have a new place picked out already?" asked Alana. "Is it by the beach? Please tell me it's by the beach."

ARISTA: Arista, of course, was sad to see any of her sisters go. But she knew they all had to do some exploring of their own some time. She had left for a time to find perspective and where her music came from. Andy had left to grow and spread herself far and wide so she could experience everything the world had to offer. Adella had dreams that were outside of Swynlake. And so while she had been sad for those instances, she was happy for them because she knew they were becoming who they wanted to be most in the world.

And though the sadness over Tina hit her heart particularly hard as Tina had been the most patient and the most kind to her growing up (they of course were not without their fights as seen over the last couple years) but Arista knew that Tina had put a lot on hold and been through so much in town that it only made sense that she too at some point would want to find something different out there. And that didn’t mean they were losing her. They were just gaining distance while she became an even brighter version of herself.

She looked between her sisters, they all has their respective reactions but one thing was clear, they loved their sister and wanted to see her happy in their own ways.

She smiled softly, her voice matched her smile as she looked at her eldest sister, “I think you really deserve this, Teens.”

MELODY: Melody sighed softly but nodded, this was good. The degree was amazing. And it would be good for Attina and Panic, she was sure of it. Or at least she hoped. Just like she hoped all the others girls were happier doing whatever it was they were doing right now.

It felt lonely in a way, seeing everyone move on but making her life more steady here. Would she be like them too one day? Would the rest of the Triton's be like that?

"Congrats Tina. That's going to be such a cool program. " None the less Melody would take each day by day and today was Tina and Panic's day.

PANIC: Panic nodded giving the girls all a smile, a brief glance over to JEFF too. "We'll be near the water and no little cottage don't worry. Though maybe not a mansion big." Panic grinned with a raised eyebrow in Aquata's direction.

"Enough room and good scenery, it'll be worth the flight." Reaching over Panic gave Tina's hand a small squeeze. This was going a lot better than expected and part of him wondered if it was because some of the others girls had left. Strangely enough this was more common than you would first think.

ATTINA: No one was yelling. Everyone was smiling--some more reserved than others. The air was a little stilted, awkward, and nervous, but...no one was yelling. That let Attina know, more than anything else, that this was the right decision. She had let out the breath she was holding and managed a tentative smile herself.

There were little tears shining in the corner of her eyes, but she nodded, squeezing Panic's hand back when he reached for her.

"Yes, of course. You are all welcome to visit, at any time. And we'll all FaceTime and text. It will be like I'm not really gone at all."

"We'll miss you too, Tiny, but don't worry. You're going to do brilliantly," Daddy said, reaching over to squeeze Attina's shoulder. She smiled over at him. "Your mum would be proud."

"Daddy," Attina said, those tears trembling--much more closer to falling. "You must promise to keep me informed of everything. I'll miss you all so much."

#bdrparista #bdrpaquata #bdrpalana #attista #aquatina #atlanta #mersisters #merfam #bdrpmelody #melina #bdrppanic #siren #featuring triton #how to tell your family you're moving across the world according to mermaids #;-;

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aworldoffandoms · 5 years ago

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In The Land Down Under

Author's Note: Okay, so I got an ask from @ritachacha asking me to write a short fic about what would happen if Liam and Riley went on a diplomatic trip to Australia. Considering she and I are Australian -- I jumped at the chance to write a fic about our country. It’s fun lol. Thank you so much, Rita for all your help! It means a lot. Hope you and the rest enjoy it!

Tagging some fellow aussies who might enjoy this: @cynicalworlds @pb-boeboe @the-everlasting-dream @topsyturvy-dream @shreyamistrys

I’m also using my tag list I use for my story ‘Runaway’ so I hope that you guys like this but please let me know if you’d like to just be notified about ‘Runaway’ or if you’d like to be tagged in any other fics I might post :)

Pairing: Liam x MC [Riley]

Word Count: 3, 779 (oops)

Rating: T

Warnings: Nothing -- just some (hopefully funny) Aussie jokes

Summary: Liam and Riley enjoy their time while on a trip to Australia. What will they get up to?

Tag list: @hopefulmoonobject @annekebbphotography @am-i-invisible777 @blznbaby @khakie4 @lauradowning29 @blackcoffee85 @captain-kingliamsqueen @moneyfordiamonds @super-secret-fandom-blog @jovialyouthmusic @zaffrenotes @ao719 @umccall71 @carabeth @furiousherringoperatortoad @pixieferry @pixelpenny @rainbowsinthestorm @dcbbw @thecordoniandiaries

The clouds parted and the royal jet descended towards its destination. A jolt of excitement raced through Riley as she caught a glance of the Sydney skyline: the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House standing tall against the glittering blue of the ocean.

Riley clapped her hands in overzealous joy. "I can't believe we’re here, Liam! I've wanted to visit Australia for so long! I can't wait to see everything - climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, see the Opera House, go on a ferry ride...oh! We have to go to Taronga Zoo!"

Liam couldn't help but smile at his wife's childlike glee and her plans for the next two weeks while on their diplomatic trip to Australia. Riley liked to believe it was a holiday, but it was also a chance to talk trade and other endeavours with the governing power of the country.

The Prime Minister of Australia officially invited them at the start of the year and the King and Queen of Cordonia finally had a break in their busy schedules to allow an overseas trip.

Liam rested a calming hand on Riley's arm and she eagerly looked out the window as the plane dipped further towards solid ground.

"Sweetheart, while I admire your enthusiasm for this trip, I must remind you of our original goal in being here. It's important that we cinch deals with this country. It'll be in our best interest."

Realisation poured over Riley like a bucket of cold water. Mirth slowly slipped from her face and in its place was a barely controlled disgusted grimace. The anticipation of coming here was almost snuffed out because of her husband's words. Great. Forgot about that.

The only word that escaped to convey her feelings was an, "Oh."

Liam chuckled at the despondent note in that syllable. "We'll have plenty of time to explore Sydney, my love, but for the next few days, it's official business with Prime Minister Morrison and a few royal engagements. You know as well as I do that Cordonia needs to branch out and connect with other foreign counterparts and Australia is a strong ally to have."

Riley was still glancing out of the window as she nodded, a sigh escaping her. "I know. I was just so excited. It's hard to differentiate between queen and excited wanderlust tourist in times like these."

Twenty-four hours on a plane and I still have to shake hands with random men when I could be enjoying my time on Bondi Beach and ‘chilling’ with the locals.

In anticipation of this trip, Riley had the time to research the country and their customs and memorise some key facts, mind you, most of these facts consisted of things she had learned from movies. She was fascinated with Mick in Crocodile Dundee and couldn’t help but swoon at Hugh Jackman as The Drover in Australia. Damn, that man almost rivalled Liam in looks. Maybe she should get Liam to grow some scruff, although, being a King, a beard would likely raise some eyebrows.

By the time they were ready to leave for the Cordonian International Airport, Riley had compiled a list that ended at three pages long. Maxwell was rightfully impressed when she showed him and he expressed his desire to feed, as he said, a ‘fluffy koala who would be a perfect addition to the menagerie’ at her estate in Valtoria. Riley had laughed but her stomach twisted when she read up and realised that they were a vulnerable species and it was illegal to own one anywhere. That made Maxwell deflate although within minutes he had emailed her a follow-up list requesting emus, dingoes, wombats and kangaroos.

Riley scanned her own list. Some facts surprised her while others she thought were a no-brainer. For instance, Australians used slang for nearly everything so a simple word like 'afternoon' was more accepted as 'arvo' and it was definitely not a shrimp but a prawn and they did not put them on a barbie for those wrongly informed individuals. And contrary to popular belief, animals in this country would not kill you. Although, Riley had made a note to steer clear of forests. Drop bears seemed to be plausible.

Liam laughed as he leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek. "I know, Riley. We'll have all of next week to explore."

The royal jet finally landed as the plane whurred to a stop and the engines disengaged. The door separating the back of the plane to the royal couple's seats slid open and Bastien stepped through.

Bastien bowed once he reached them. "Good morning, Your Majesties. I have received word from the Cordonian ambassador that you'll be escorted to the Cordonian embassy as soon as possible. However, before that, you'll be having a photocall with the Prime Minister and Mayor of Sydney."

Liam nodded at Bastien, heaving a quiet sigh. Royal duties never stopped for the lives of monarchs. Liam had half a mind to damn trade talks and alliances to hell and join Riley in her obvious zest to see Sydney's wonders, yet, he knew, that could not come to pass. Cordonia needed all the allies it could gather and Australia could be beneficial for Cordonia's growth and strength as a nation.

Liam glanced over to Riley and found her gnawing at her bottom lip, her fingers drumming against the armrest of her seat.

He reached over and gathered her hand, twining his fingers with hers as she glanced up at the contact. He pressed his lips to her knuckles and gave her a wink.

“You’ll be fine, Riley,” Liam said, naturally understanding her nerves. They’d been married a year and it still surprised her how easily he read her. All those years of body language lessons had paid off.

She gave her husband a nod as she tightened her hold on his arm and followed him out of the plane and into the awaiting fanfare.

****

“Oh my gooosh...look! Look it’s a kangaroo! And a dingo! Is that an emu over there? If Maxwell was here, he’d be freaking!”

The week of trade deals and diplomacy were over for the royals and they now had the all-clear to travel and explore one of Australia’s most famous cities. Currently, they were at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo and being guided through a section of the park that housed Australia’s more famous land creatures.

Liam’s heart swelled as he stared at his wife, his grin spreading when he saw her bouncing on the tips of her toes like an over-excited school girl, her finger pointing to the kangaroo hopping over to them and a dingo perched on a rock face watching them with curious eyes.

“Would you like to feed him, ma’am?” A zookeeper handed over some fresh carrot for the king and queen to take.

Riley squealed at the suggestion. “Would I ever!”

The Zookeeper smiled at her obvious delight and lead her over to a fairly placid looking kangaroo, his kaki fur soft to the touch. It surprised Liam how friendly some of these animals were. It was almost as if this was a daily occurrence for them and considering how popular this zoo was, he thought he was right in his assumption.

“Love, don’t be so loud. You don’t want to scare the poor creature away.”

Riley rolled her eyes at her husband but her smile was still blinding as she turned back to the keeper. In her enthusiasm, she almost snatched the carrots from her fingers.

As she approached the kangaroo, the large mammal quirked its head to the side as if contemplating if it should approach the beaming human nearly skipping over to it.

“Now, Your Majesty, you want to approach the roo as calmly as possible. Although they are friendly, any sudden movements can frighten them and you don’t want one of their claws to snatch 'ya. They'd tear you to shreds.”

Riley faltered at those words, a flash of worry marring her face. The zookeeper saw her hesitance and chucked good-naturedly.

"Not to worry, Your Majesty. These roo’s are more likely to engage in a harmless game of tag with the food than they are to attack. They've had a lot of experience with people."

A barely heard sigh of relief escaped the Queen as she approached the kangaroo. She held out her hand, palm flat, and guided the vegetable to the kangaroo. Riley's eyes widened in joy as she watched the native Australian mammal sniff her hand and gently grab the offering with its claws and nibble it.

Riley stood there, staring, long after the kangaroo has finished, her eyes darting to the enclosure around her.

“This is so cool. Why haven’t we visited sooner?”

Liam chuckled and wrapped an arm around Riley’s waist, pressing a kiss against her temple. “I don’t know, my love. But if seeing all this makes you happy then I must make this venture to Australia more often.”

Riley gave her husband a smirk. “Don’t you mean, ‘The Land Down Under?’”

The last syllable was exaggerated to the point of it being comical as Riley attempted the Australian accent, emphasising the last syllable of ‘under’ so it ended more in as ‘unduh’, yet she failed spectacularly. Liam laughed at her attempt. It was endearing.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say the Australian lifestyle is catching up with you.”

Riley shrugged. “What can I say. This country is fascinating. Their accents too. Whew,” Riley paused to fan herself, pretending to swoon. “Have you heard their accents yet? Hot.”

Liam frowned. “I thought you liked mine?”

Riley laughed, stepping away from him and following in the footsteps of the zookeeper who was taking them to the koala enclosure. “Oh, maybe so, but have you heard the way they say, ‘G-day'? That’s my kind of greeting.”

Liam gave Riley a half-mocking serious look and then his mouth lifted, his eyes glinting in mischief, "If it'd suit you...I can greet you in a way that has proven very popular in the past."

Riley had the good sense to stop and stare at Liam for a minute before giving him a mischievous smirk of her own, ending with a wink for good measure. “Nope. I think I’d rather leave Hugh Jackman to do that for me.”

***

"Can we please go to Bondi now?"

Liam nodded at his wife while trying to finish up his conversation with Olivia who had decided to call while they both were enjoying their morning tangled together between the sheets of their beachfront hotel suite.

Apparently, decisions on the Cordonian Golf Tournament couldn’t wait until next week when both the King and Queen would arrive back, yet Olivia felt it necessary because ‘Neville would surely make it a point to prattle on about how important it was because of its location on Cormery Isle’ and Olivia couldn't stand his voice as she was threatening to stab him in the leg.

Liam advised her that would not be wise and to go ahead with the finishing touches of the marketing and contracts for vendors and finalise the competitors who were scheduled to play.

“Liam! Come on! Bondi can’t wait any longer!” Riley’s voice was loud in his ear as he said his final goodbyes to Olivia and told her to he’d see her next week.

He hung up and glanced over to where his wife was standing and his jaw nearly dropped at what he was seeing.

The swimsuit she had on hugged her curves and revealed her cleavage in a tasteful yet sexy way and the elegant cut-outs at the side of the material made her become exceptionally beautiful than she already was. She was one voluptuous woman and Liam could not take his eyes off her.

Riley glanced up and found Liam’s gaze a little bit south of where it was meant to be. “Hey. Liam. My face is here. You’ve seen these,” she waved to her chest area for emphasis, “...far more times than I can count so I’d get that look off your face. No surprises here.”

At her words, Liam’s jaw snapped shut and he shook his head, grinning at Riley’s words. She was right, of course. Some days he had free reign to worship every spectacular inch of her body and he could spend hours upon hours doing it and she’d gladly let him, yet, now was not the time.

Riley wanted to go to Bondi and so they would go to the beach she so desperately wanted to visit. He could fantasise later.

“Okay. I suppose I can wait till later to appreciate the gift of your body but I suppose we should go to this so-called ‘Bondi’ you are so fond of. I wouldn’t want to make you unhappy.”

Riley jumped up and down, clapping her hands in excitement. “Yay! Hurry! I want to see the lifeguards!”

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she went to the balcony of their suite and looked over to the not too distant horizon to see the white sandy beach that was a notorious spot for people of all ages and ethnicity.

Riley couldn’t help the spring in her step as she stared at the beach that she would soon be visiting, plucking the list of the activities she wanted to do while here and ticked Bondi Beach off her list. The edges of the paper were tattered now from the constant opening and closing of the parchment yet it was still stable enough for her to still be able to cart it around with her.

Riley smiled as she ticked it off and glanced up finding the temperate at a hot 28 degrees already and it was just before 11:30 in the morning.

Jeez. New York can get hot but the Australian sun is murder.

She felt a bead of sweat already gathering at the nape of her neck. As she gathered her stuff that was needed for the beach she called over her shoulder to her husband in the bathroom.

“Don’t forget your thongs, Liam!”

Riley couldn’t help but jump at the voice that bellowed through the door. “Don’t forget what?!”

Liam opened the door and gave his wife an incredulous stare, shocked at hearing the words that came out of her mouth. Surely, she wouldn’t subject him to that kind of humiliation. Yes, he was all for a bit of roleplay now and then but...in public? He was a king. He could not and will not subject himself to that.

“My love, you know that I adore your quirks and your enthusiasm in certain aspects of our travels. And it surprises me even now that some of the words you say still perplex me, after all this time together, but if you subject me to wearing a thong -- I will call Bastien and arrange for the royal jet to take us home to Cordonia immediately.”

Riley stared at her husband in muted silence, her lips quirking up into a smile hearing the words coming out of his mouth. The laugh that had started to bubble up in her throat burst forth after Liam lapsed into silence.

Riley was laughing so hard that she had doubled over, her arms clutching her chest in silent laughter, tears in her eyes. “Oh my...gosh! Liam!” Another burst of rambunctious laughter escaped her and reverberated throughout the suite. Any other time Liam would find her laughter endearing for it was one of his most favourite sounds in the world yet this time he found himself quite irritated at the fact that she was laughing at him. Yes...he was very well aware that she was laughing at him.

Annoyance stirred in his chest and he could not help it seeping into his tone as he said, “Well...by all means laugh at me but I stand by my words, Riley. I will not engage in this sort of behaviour.”

Riley was still laughing as she stood upright, bursts of laughing still spilling out as she made a solid effort to control herself. “Behaviour? What kind of behaviour? Liam--”

She cut herself off and stood up straight, shaking away her mirth as she walked up to Liam and grabbed the swimming trunks that were grasped tightly in his hand at his vexation. She stared up at him with a neutral mask but Liam could see the unsaturated glee behind her eyes. “Honey. I never said anything about a thong. I said, thongs. Plural. These.”

She points to her feet and Liam follows her finger and his eyes widen at seeing what she had on and then his brow furrowed in confusion. “But these are called flip-flops.”

Riley chuckled. “You’d think, right? No. Here they are called thongs. Different use and a very different context here.”

Liam’s eyebrows knitted together as he ran his hand along his jaw, an obvious sign of confused contemplation. “How strange…”

Riley nodded. “Strange indeed but I’ve learned to embrace the strange. I’ve noticed that in the Australian people. They’re more laid back than even I thought I was. It feels freeing to be here than in Cordonia with all those uptight, stuffy nobles.”

Liam lips quirked in a smile. “Yes. Well. I have come to understand why you love seeing new places and I can’t say that I haven’t enjoyed my time here.”

Riley raised her eyebrows at him as she got a pair of thongs for Liam and placed it alongside the beach bag. “Oh, and who was griping at me a week ago at all the trade deals and enquiring about alliances to this country with disdain?”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Yes, but I was simply saying that after a long day of meetings. In the end, Morrison granted us that alliance...did he not?”

He did. Though it was not for a lack of trying for some constituents and other specific requirements for Cordonia to meet with Australia's standards. The Prime Minister asked for a fair amount and Liam, at the end of a very long day and at the end of a very long week decided to grant Morrison his stipulations because not only would it be good for Australia but the added revenue it would bring to Cordonia and its tourism will increase ten-fold. Australia had three times as many citizens as Cordonia and this was an opportunity not to be passed up.

Riley sighed. “Yes, he did but made every opportunity to persuade you to give in at every roadblock that he made. Gosh... that man irked me.”

Liam raised his eyebrows. “And here I thought you said you thought he was a nice ‘bloke’”

Riley grumbled. “Well...I’d rather him be forthcoming and be a little more flexible with his demands rather than railroad my husband into an alliance where we are giving more to them than they are to us.”

Liam’s heart warmed at her care for him and the care that she had for Cordonia, yet, despite her words being right, Liam knew that this was the right thing to do for Cordonia. His country needed all the friends and strength it could get from outside of the realm. Australia was an undeniable force and Liam would be damned if he didn’t take it.

“Morrison might be a bit...direct...but he did make some good points. And we came to an agreement. Now…”

Liam goes over to his wife and wraps his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her neck. “I believe we have someplace to be right now?”

Riley leaned into Liam’s touch and squeezed his forearms that were cinched around her waist. “I believe we do, my king. Get ready to soak up the sun and enjoy all that these Aussies have to offer!”

Liam chuckled and rolled his eyes as his wife left his embrace and grabbed the few last things and waited by the door, bouncing on her toes in her overzealous excitement

“Okay, my love. Let’s see these Aussie locals and the lifeguards you are so desperate to meet.”

“They are called sheila’s and blokes here, Liam. Get it right.”

Liam just chuckled as he followed his wife down the corridor to the elevators to begin their day with sun and sand.

***

“Oh! Can we get this for Hana? She’ll love this! Maybe we could get this for Chance?”

Riley traipsed around an Australian souvenir shop, a spring in her step, as she plucked item after item in their waiting trolley. The knick-knacks she had gathered for their friends included a small plush kangaroo for Hana to add to her collection, a few fridge magnets to adorn their kitchen once they return to the palace, a life-sized koala plush doll for Maxwell, and a few t-shirts for them all. Riley also had a few bottles of Australian whiskey for Drake and a boomerang for Olivia. Riley was sure that a boomerang would come in handy. It wasn’t sharp but it could do some damage to those who wielded it properly. If anything, Riley thought, Olivia would appreciate it. She liked weapons of variety.

Liam watched in admiration at his wife’s constant energy during this whole trip. They were set to leave for Cordonia tomorrow and Riley had suggested a shopping trip. And how could Liam refuse anything his wife desired?

Liam stopped when Riley came to a hat stand, jumping on her feet in excitement as she pulled off an Akubra with strange string hanging from the brim and at the end of said string were corks you’d find in a champagne bottle and it followed around the circumference of the wide-brimmed hat. What in the world…?

A small exclamation of delight escaped her mouth as she admired herself in the mirror. “Liam! Don’t you think this would look good in my hat collection? It’s so unique!”

Liam chuckled as Riley moved her head from side to side, the dangling corks at the end of the string swishing in front of her face. “It certainly looks charming.”

Riley grimaced at his words, turning so that she had her full glower on him, the hat sat firmly on her head, not budging from the quick pivot of her steps to face him. “Charming? You think I just look charming?”

Liam raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms along his chest. “What other words should I have chosen, my love?”

Riley’s grimace transformed into a light-hearted care-free smile. She tipped the hat towards Liam, just like the Drover in Australia as a show of acknowledgement.

“Why, mate! I’m a true-blue Aussie, of course!”

#the royal romance #the royal romance fanfiction #trr fanfic #trr fanfiction #liam x mc #liam x riley #trr #choices #choices fandom #choices stories you play #playchoices #aworldoffandoms

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xenophanatic · 5 years ago

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In Depth Analysis of ‘Skam’: Belonging with Realism

There seems to be universal acceptance that the mere suggestion that a television drama is marketed towards a teenage audience, or is beloved by teens, reduces the creditability and artistic merit of the television show. In popular culture, media aimed to teens – and especially female teens – has been seen a childish, low brow content filled with bad acting, bad writing that contains illogical plots and superficial – as it contains beautiful twenty-somethings playing sixteen years old teens. This opinion could be due to that fact that scholarly critics are not the ‘intended audience’, but it is argued the reason may be that teen dramas, with their ‘ludicrous’ plots, separate themselves from ‘reality’ for entertainment purposes, which thereby alienates the ‘rational’ mind-frame of the critic. By detaching itself from realism, teen dramas, as a genre, seem to be seen as superficially candy floss – bright ostentatious sugar-inducing fluff with no core-essence nor nutritionally substantial properties. It is argued that teen dramas have the ability to be more than superficially candy floss. The following essay will analyse the Norwegian teen drama Skam and how it strives to represent teenagers in a genuine and realistic way by its use of extensive research, authentic acting and location, and digital storytelling. Through it’s creating, making, and releasing of the series, Skam invites critical television evaluation while also exploring the crucial element of emotional growth and belonging that are needed for an ideal teen drama.

Teen Dramas – in common discourse

Though, in the past, it may be prevalent that there was a separation between film criticism and television criticism – film being seen as more worthy of art criticism – there is distinct quality hierarchy of televisional texts. With acclaimed serialised dramas focusing on a male protagonist/anti-hero, mainly broadcasted on subscriber based service, being deemed worthy of evaluations, soap operas, reality tv, and teen dramas on network television are seen as below par. Television dramas that are focused on teenagers are seen as cringe-worthy or a part of pop-culture that should be mocked and not taken seriously. Kevin Williams who was, during the 90s, applauded for his work on the horror film Scream – having teens conversing in the metalanguage of film – was also reprimanded for creating the hit television show Dawson Creek – having teens conversing in the metalanguage of film. Dawson Creek was seen as a teen soap opera that was filled with sex, drama, and love-triangles, that didn’t merit the opinion of highbrow critics. Similarly, shows such as Gossip Girl, The OC, One Tree Hill, Vampire Diaries, and Riverdale have been – and will continue to – criticised for its writing, directing, and acting. There may be expectation to this prejudice of teen dramas. Buffy – The Vampire Slayer has been praised for its writing and Friday Night Lights was seen as a critic darling. However, it should be noted that Friday Night Lights was overlooked by audiences for its marketing as a ‘teen drama’ and critics have negatively commented on the show when discussing its teen or melodramatic elements. A teen drama should, it is argued, provide an insight to teenage life that is putting a mirror to the teen audience’s life and also reinvigorating the memories of teen life for adult audience. Late teens and early twenties are the years where we are confused, as humans, on where we belong, who we are, and what we want. Therefore, teen dramas, in essence, should provide a realistic representation of teenage years.

Traditional Teen dramas and their rejection of Realism

Though many of the aforementioned teen dramas deal with the melodramatic plots that are all wrapped up in teen angst and served to its audience on a weekly basis – they all encompass a crucial part of any teen drama. The essence of a teen drama, it is argued, is the raw, real, unapologetic emotions. As teens, when we experience love – usually our first experiences – it is all consuming, while as adults; we tend to be more rational and mature. Our hates are world ending – while as adults we either ignore it or deal with it with the right amount of passive aggressiveness. Therefore, when a drama reproduces these realistic and accurate representation of emotions and stories, it excels as an artform. Even if a teen narrative is dealing with murder mysteries or vampires, it excels when it looks at the raw emotions of their characters and the characters’ longing to belong. Teen dramas are a great platform to a realistic representation of growth and exploration of a character’s identity and themes of belonging. This is excellently portrayed in Friday Night Lights with the football players coming to terms with their place in Dillion when they are no longer football players.

Cinematic realism, as infamous critic Bazin states, is the fulfillment of the human craving for realistic representation. Realism, in film theory, is obtain through reflection of reality being reproduces through camera lens. Realism critics who supported realism in film submitted several characteristics that produced cinematic realism, these being use of long takes, deep focus, limited editing, and use of actual locations non-professional. These characteristics are in contrast with what is associated with teen dramas. The cast is often filled with actors who are in their later twenties rather than their late teens, the text is highly stylised, and ludicrous plots are aimed to provide wish-fulfilment and escapism rather than realism. However, Skam rejects these characteristics of the teen drama and instead, not only accepts the theory of realism, innovates what television can do in the 21 century to thoroughly satisfy the human craving for realistic representation. Skam uses traditional realism through extensive research, the use of actual locations, and the use of nonprofessional actors, but innovates by using temporal realism and transmedia storytelling.

Creating Skam

NRK (Norsk rikskringkasting) is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, similar to British’s BBC and Australia’s ABC. Which means that it is a publicly funded corporation (through tax-payers) and is therefore not a commercial broadcasting corporation, such as the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) – which is funded through commercials and advertising, nor a private broadcasting corporation, such as the HBO or Netflix - that are funded through monthly/annual subscriptions. NRK, is therefore, serving citizens, not merely consumers as their audience, thereby having a public duty to uphold. So, when NRK recruited Julie Andem to create a teen drama – it was in order to perform a public service by creating a text that was relevant to the new generation of Norwegian girls. This show not only wanted to represent the Norwegian youth and their issues, but also provides a platform for teens to gain guidance and empathy – a more subtle and nuance PSA.

NRK and Andem’s the new drama concept was set to target the specific needs of 16-year-old Norwegian girls—‘the two years before you turn eighteen, a new time at high school and the pre-adult, sexual age’. Where teen dramas are usually written by 30+ year old writers and produced by 40+ year old executives of networks trying to sound like ‘the teens’ and bring issues that they think teens go through. This can be seen in shows where teens are delivering lines with cringy ‘slang’ or outdated references, and their usage of social media is depicted as obsessive or narcissistic through the lens of a parent rather than an exploration of emotion and identity by the youth. Andem was able to see this distance that she may have with ‘today’s youth’ and believed she couldn’t tell their story, because it was there’s – therefore she needed to hear it from them. This led to an extensive audience research, where Andem and her team orchestrated 50 in-depth interviews with Norwegian teens from all over the country, 200 speed interviews, school visits, social media scanning, and readings of reports and statistic on teen culture. In her interviews Andem talks about the large impact these interviews and research had on her creative process.

Through this extensive audience research a common factor was discovered amongst teens and that was pressure. It was discovered that Norwegian teens experienced a lot of pressure and this became the driving force for the creation of the drama. The team wanted to address and explore this aspect of teen life and even formulated a ‘mission statement’ which defined SKAM’s vision: to ‘help 16-year-old girls to strengthen their self-esteem by breaking taboos, make them aware of interpersonal mechanisms and demonstrate the rewards of confronting fear’ (Furevold-Boland, 2016). So, NRK is interested to provide a public service to the Norwegian youth by clearly representing them and their issues in a realistic and authentic way. They aim to do this through Andem’s creative judgments and extensive research. The team has not gained an understanding of Norwegian teens and the usage and importance of social media, but had also generated a specific target audience and a thesis statement that will run throughout the series. However, this is not the end of their innovated production towards realism.

Making Skam

The great appeal of Skam, along with many others, is how realistic and genuine the stories and characters feel. This can be attributed to the aforementioned research that the team had conducted which allowed for clear and real depiction of the hardships and struggles that today’s teen face. Another attribution the contributed to the authentic and realistic feel and tone of the show, it is argued, is the inclusion of actual location and age-appropriate non-professional actors. As mentioned earlier, teen shows usually have twenty somethings playing teens. This is usually due to child labour laws in the United States and other countries. This may seem like tiny complaint; ‘This is so unrealistic, that 16-year-old is clearly 21. I can’t believe anything after this’. However, this casting choice not only has an impact on the story, but also on how it affects teens watching the series.

Clinical psychologist, Barbara Greenberg, stated that by casting actors in their 20s in teen dramas have the message to actual teen audiences that this is what a teen is supposed to look like. A person in their 20s is more likely to have a consistent appearance, whereas an adolescent may change more frequently. “Some days they’re thinner, they’re a little heavier, they have pimples, their hair is a little frizzy. It’s all ok,” Greenberg says. So, theses teen actors in a studio high-school don’t share these symptoms of a teen body, it therefore then makes the teen viewer vulnerable to feeling self-conscious and depressed about their appearance. “That leads to all kinds of body-image and social-comparison issues,” Greenberg says. So already we have a disconnect between the actor, the teen character, and the teen audience. This casting choice also has effect on the way stories/plots are presented and viewed. When you have storyline where a child is in sexual relation with an adult and both parties are played by consenting age adults, the story is not as creepy or unsettling as it should be presented, but rather it is seen as ‘forbidden love’ and sexy. For example, in Pretty Little Liar where a 15/16-year-old teen girl is having a relationship with her male teacher, in reality the actors as 21 and 24 respectively. The casting choice not only eliminates the reality of the age difference, through mere contrast that would occur between a teen girl and a male adult, but also normalises that age difference.

So, how does Skam not only differ and but excel? Most of the actors, when shooting the first season were in their teens. A plot point in the first season is that the girls are encourage to hook up 97er boys – as in boys in their high school that were born in 1997. When the female lead states that she has a boyfriend, she is encouraged to dump him because he is a 99er (born in 1999). What is compelling is the actors are of that age – her boyfriend is born in 1999 and the boys that are 97ers are actually born in 1997. This may bot seem crucial, however, watching the series set in a highschool with people that are teens and born in the same year as the teen watching, does have a psychology and subconscious effect that resonates with the audience.

As mentioned before the show was aimed at specific demographic, therefore it is important to show version of teens that they have seen (classmates, friends, etc.) or are versions of themselves. In teen shows, one often sees the glamourous queen bee in a one-of-a-kind coutour outfit strutting through the halls of her elite high school with her encourage, in coordinating outfits, behind her. However, the audience member watching this exhibit is viewing this on the laptop in their casual tee and sweats on their bed while eating dinner. There is a contrast between the teen on the screen and the teen viewing a representation of themselves – one cannot see themselves as the ‘queen bee’ figure nor can one see this hero figure as a person in the real world. Neorealist filmmakers despised the ‘hero’ figure as they excluded millions and allowed an inferiority complex to resonate with the audience. Realists desired to create inclusion, rather than exclusion, by depicting the ‘everyday’ man, them and others, as the protagonist of life - “to strengthen everyone, and to give everyone the proper awareness of a human being”. This is similar to the thesis the Skam team set up to prove – ‘help 16-year-old girls to strengthen their self-esteem by breaking taboos, make them aware of interpersonal mechanisms and demonstrate the rewards of confronting fear’. Both forms, therefore, asked their actors not to be skilled at acting, but to understand themselves as human beings - asking them not to ‘act’ like an actor, but to react as themselves. A desire to capture the gestures and motions that belonged to this particular person, not one of the many false exaggerations that could be conjured by an actor. This style is evident in Skam as Andem would encourage her actors to play around in the scene and put pieces of them into the character.

In this behind the scenes clip, the actor Tarjei Sandvik Moe is supposed to walk out and see a returning character who the cast has not seen for months. He is supposed be shocked and surprised, but it doesn’t feel authentic. Tarji states that he, as Tarji, would have said something, and Andem is heard behind the camera encourages him to say something then. In the final cut, Isak, Tarjei’s character, says the name of the returning character. This shows the Skam team’s desire to be authentic, realistic, and genuine in their depiction of teen reality. These naturalistic and geniue traits not only make audience see these non-professionals as people behaving like people, rather than glamorised actors acting like fictional characters, but allows for the opportunity for audience to also see themselves in the characters’ flaws and desires. Part of the show’s authenticity comes from its actors: They’re roughly the same age as their characters, have minimal performing experience, and wear little or no makeup to cover their youthful blemishes. We see them with breakouts of acne, similar to millions of teens that grow through this customary process as teenagers. The actors naturalistic look (through minimal makeup) and acting style that one can believe they could encountered a, or many, Isak(s) (or other characters) somewhere in their world.

Skam is filmed at Hartvig Nissen School. This is not only an actual running established school, but also a school which some of the cast have attended as students. The school is not only used as an exterior, for establishing shots and then filmed in a studio, but also interior – using classrooms, hallways, etc. Character’s apartments and homes are actual locations, rather than stages in studios. Again, this allows for the series and characters to feel real - these are homes, not sets. Therefore, it has been demonstrated how the Skam team’s mission, to obtain and represent the reality of teens, has been executed through the use of research methods and elements of film realism; however, Skam is innovative in their methods and goes beyond what had been used previous in 20th century media/mediums. Skam engages its audience through the medium that they (the audience) is accustom, whist also transforming their (Skam team’s) television media through transmedia storytelling.

Releasing Skam

Obviously, there is an issue many television broadcasting corporations are facing today, which is the abandonment of traditional television viewing. Audiences are now watching on demand and not ‘live-watching’ or schedule watching their television programs. Audiences, as corporations like NRK understand, like not only to be in control of when they view media but how. At the time, NRK was noticing the shift in their audience viewing habits. Therefore, there is no point for the Skam team to conform to traditional television viewing standards to a target demographic that is constantly using on-demand viewing to consume their content. The shift towards on-demand viewing is not new to television networks. Many services are providing on-demand viewing experience through binge-watching episodes. The notion for network to provide episodes online is not innovative, in fact it conforming to the norm. However, Skam chooses not to conform norm or previous conventional methods of television viewing, but instead uses new media and mediums to reach their goal for authenticity and realism. The aim of the research was both to gain in-depth information on Norwegian teens, in order to portray them in a relevant and realistic way, but also to identify and discover how the new online drama concept could serve the needs of this particular audience segment. As previously mentioned, there are several standards that directors and creators used to project reality – whether that be through long takes, deep focus, limited editing, and use of actual locations non-professional. The Skam team stated that, ‘we want to provide popular enlightenment but in a context the audience segment understood and liked’. Skam includes other elements in order to create realism an audience connection to the characters through the use of transmedia narrative and real-time release.

Skam released the scenes to their episodes in real time. For example, if the characters are having a conversation at school, during lunch time, the scene would be dropped at 12:15pm on Monday – with a title card stating the day and time. And if during that conversation they discuss meeting later that day at 9pm, the scene would end and at maybe 9:30pm – again scene is introduced with title card stating time and day – the characters will meet and a character could apologise for being late. This mini-clips and scene would be released throughout the week, without informing the audience when they would be released, with a compilation of the scenes being released to a traditional episode on Sunday. Why is this method not only innovate, but also essential for Skam and its thesis statement? As mentioned previously about the teen who is in their bed wearing a causal tee and sweats on their bed with their laptop and viewing a glamourous queen bee in a one-of-a-kind coutour outfit strutting through the halls of her elite high school – the teen audience is so distant from the image on the screen to their reality.

Skam, however, closes this distant, not only through non-professional actors and location, but also through real time. The teen audience viewing the clip posted, before going to they go to bed, is watching the character doing the same thing the audience is doing this time of the week. If it is a weekday, the character is in their sweats watching videos while eating their dinner – something the audience is most likely doing. If it is a public holiday, characters are spending time with friends and family – much like the audience is. This creates a sense of temporal realism, reality given to the audience by a shared temporal (time) space. These characters are living and experience life in the same temporal space as the audience. Clips that are released on New Year’s Eve is obviously a great way for the show to demonstrate this – bring in the new year with characters and audience members in a shared temporal space. The show uses real time release in so many ways. For cliffhangers, a character is distress in the last clip and then a clip doesn’t appear for hours/days – what is going on? If a big even was to happen, audiences would wait for the day, and time, like the characters would – both characters are experiencing same anxiety and excitement of the events transpiring. Audiences are waiting for a clip – that they may not know when will come and how long it would be – throughout the week. However, while waiting, they may also look through social media to find solace.

The Skam team also created social media accounts for their characters, not actors, but the characters. The ‘characters’ would post pictures and messages – as any teen would today. Not only that, but the audience was also privy to the private messages exchanged between characters. This allows audiences into the lives of the characters and makes these fictional characters feel more real and like a friend to the audience. By using both these private messages and social posts, Skam was able to tell a transmedia narrative. A transmedia narrative (also known as transmedia storytelling or multiplatform storytelling) is telling a single narrative or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. The most common example is MCU – where they told a story through not only several film, but also television series. The texts have used transmedia storytelling, such as Doctor Who (the tv series, spin offs, books, big finish, movie, etc), The Lizze Bennett Diaries (social media for characters, web series, spin offs, etc), and more. The audience isn’t required to explore beyond the main text (the tv show or movie) to subsidiary texts (web series, books, social media), however those who do interact with the transmedia narrative, and fan culture, are able to gain a deeper understanding of the show/characters and are given Easter eggs.

For example, in Season 1 a character on Skam, Eva, posted on Instagram a photo stating that her boyfriend, Jonas, made her nachos and shows the Fresh Prince of Bel Air title card. This seem arbitrary and irrelevant to the main plot of Season 1, however in Season 4 in the final episode when Eva’s new suitor texts her ex Jonas for advice, Jonas tells him just ask her to watch Fresh Prince and eat nachos. There was no need for a ‘call back’ to a social media post from Season 1, but by doing this Skam was able to utilise not only digitial storytelling, but also transmedia storytelling.

Realism and Belonging

So, while other teen dramas try to depict a grand and fantastical allusion of teen life, Skam rejects that and offers a realistic depiction through its creating, making and releasing process – but how does the series represent, through realism, belonging. Each season of the series focus on a central character. There is a core set of characters at the school, but each season focuses on one character – we see the narrative through their eyes – and their journey. Season topics include identity and loneliness, feminism and sexual assault, sexuality and mental health, and religious beliefs and online bullying. These were inspired by the interviews conducted in the research and relevant to teens whilst growing up in today’s society. The main character is faced with these real issues – they struggle alone with the burden of these topics and are able to finally resolve them with the help of friends and professionals. Skam is excellent in depicting the importance of a strong group of people who will listen to your issues, accept you, and guide you to find the answers. The show does not aim to solve a murder mystery or decide which boy the girl should go to prom with – it aims to show how others are also struggling with the issues you have, how others can and will accept you, and how you can also find the answers. The show’s thesis and mission statement is to ‘help 16-year-old girls to strengthen their self-esteem by breaking taboos, make them aware of interpersonal mechanisms and demonstrate the rewards of confronting fear’ The show tackles real issues (through creating) by creating real characters (through making) and allowing audience to engage with them on an intimate and personal level (through releasing).

In conclusion, through its creating (thesis statement and research), making (non-professional actors and location), and releasing (live release and transmedia narrative), the series Skam is an example of an ideal teen drama that depicts emotional growth and belonging for its audience. Rejecting the fantastical and embracing realism, through the use of extensive research, authentic acting and location, and digital and transmedia storytelling, Skam is able to depict teenagers in a genuine and realistic manner. Skam is a television series that should be analysed and evaluated in a critical context, and not be seen as a mere ‘teen-drama’. The series provides ample opportunities to be praised for its innovation, creativity, and uniqueness. Other teen dramas should not submit to the underachieving standards of what it is to be a teen drama, but instead realise what the true purpose of a teen drama is and rise to the occasion to creating something new, powerful, and meaningful.

#skam #skam nl #wow this is so long #holiday essay writing

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goldenuwuswriting · 5 years ago

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President Stay

Summary: Jesse promotes Stray Kids better than JYP and Stays are living for it or alternatively Jesse and Chan guest star in each other’s V-Lives.

(A/N: Sorry for the Chan gif, I couldn’t find one of Jesse’s face claim doing a live and didn’t want to put a picture of the V-Live logo.)

July 2019

"What is up, MyDays?" The British-Korean man said. Jesse decided that he was going to do a solo Vlive as a surprise. He read the comments that were coming in fast. The fans were excited, asking questions about the members and their comeback. He had a hat on in order to hide his current hair color, along with the hood of his black Nike hoodie. He was seriously trying not to show his hair color until his teaser dropped. The hair color wasn’t anything special he just wanted to hide it for a while. The color was a mixture of Jae’s and Brian’s hair colors, which Jesse really didn’t like.

"So, I guess that everyone is excited for our comeback. I can't wait for you guys to watch the video." He looked at his phone, checking notifications, mainly for Jae and Brian. Jesse read a comment that asked him what he thought about Stray Kids comeback. "I loved it. Side Effects is a bop!" The idol texted Jae and asked him to bring a speaker to the younger's dorm room.

“Come get it yourself, Snake charmer!” Jae yelled from his room.

“Please bring it here, Chicken little hyung!” Jesse yelled back as if the rooms weren’t across the hall from each other. The British-Korean man’s phone screen lit up, alerting him to the fact that he had a notification. When he looked at it, Jae texted him and told him to come get the speaker and that the elder didn’t look like chicken little.

“Everybody, I’ll be back. Jae-hyung won’t bring my speaker back to me.” The young man got up, went to Jae’s room, got his speaker and took some unflattering pictures of Jae to show MyDays. Jesse came back with his speaker, turned on and paired to his phone. He chose to play Side Effects softly while he spoke about how much work Chan and the rest of the group put into the album. The comments were blowing up with MyStays freaking out about him playing a SKZ song. “Why wouldn’t I play a Stray Kids’s song? Seungmin literally is the president of MyDays,” he laughed speaking and signing what he was saying. He’s always signing in the group’s Vlives, whether it’s all of Day6, him and a few others, or him doing a solo one. This habit has apparently brought many people into their fandom. The man kept talking and signing about Stray Kids and their new album.

He had started the Vlive that morning, before Bang Chan does Chan’s room. MyStays were freaking out because they had gotten the notification that Chan had went live. All of the comments were about Jesse being a guest on Chan’s room or Chan doing a live with Jesse. Reading the comments got Jesse thinking about doing that, it would make MyStays go crazy. He stayed live and talked answered some questions, have a few spoilers, and continued to promote Stray Kids.

" Okay guys, I have to go. Brain is somewhere and I need to go bug him and Jae. Anyway, keep streaming Side Effects and look forward to our meeting when it drops. Bye!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Few Days Later

Jesse had gotten ahold of Chan. Both of them agreed to do a few lives together and the first live was Jesse featuring Chan.

“You ready Chan?” The elder boy asked.

“Ne, Hyung!”

“Channie, you don’t have to call me hyung. We’re friends and I don’t care if you call hyung or not.”

“Alright, mate.” The Aussie stated while Jesse got ready to start the live. Chan hid out of frame.

“What’s up, MyDays? Welcome to today’s live.” The elder signed what he said, even though he probably didn’t have too. “Guys, I have a special guest. This person is not a member of Day6, but is under JYP. Care to guess who it is?”

The comments ranged from JYP himself to Twice members. “I see a few people have guessed right and the guest for today is…… Bang Chan!” Jesse clapped softly and was a happy boy. Chan said hello and the boys started talking about their groups. “Chan, they are asking how well we know each other.”

“We know each other quite well, I trained with him and the rest of Day6, he also taught me some Korean recipes, and Jesse tried to teach me how to play keyboard,” Chan explained. Jesse was started laughing as he remembered attempting to teach Chan. The comments wanted to see how much Aussie slang Jesse knew.

“This is not going to go well.”

“Relax, I’ll choose easy slang for you. Alright, what does lappy mean?”

“What?! I'm gonna go with the first the first thing that pops into my head, which was to sit on someone’s lap.”

“Well Jesse, your wrong. It means laptop.”

“What are you guys thinking in Australia?!”

The boys continued to talk and mess with each other while listening to Stray Kids’s songs. MyStays were living for the content. Most of the comments were about how soft Jesse was for the younger man. The live went for about an hour before Sungjin was texting Jesse telling him to hurry so that they could go to a variety show.

“Well, I have to make an appearance as the ultra cool member of Day6. Goodbye everybody!” Jesse said before hugging Chan, waving towards the camera, and ending the live.

“It was great catching up with you, mate.”

“You too.”

It has been a few days since the Day6 live. Jesse hasn't sent live because of the comeback and the fans were worried. They were tweeting both Stray Kids and Day6 trying to see why Jesse has not and went live. Chan and Jesse has planned for this, of course, they wanted the fans in a panic.

"Let's do this, Channie." Jesse was ready for this episode of Chan's room. Chan started his Livestream while the elder of the two was out of frame. He listened to the light-color haired boy talk about what he has been up to. The younger boy introduced Jesse as his special guest for today. The two continued to talk while listening to Stays' music recommendations. Chan asked some questions about how Jesse deals with stress.

"Mate, I live with Wonpil and Jae, both of them are happy viruses. Wonpil and I talk a lot about what's bothering us. Jae and I make fun of each other and the other members. I also write music and play pranks on the others."

“Interesting. What type of pranks do you play?”

“Nothing too bad. Really basic ones, like oreos with toothpaste in the center and plastic wrap over the doorway.”

The two boys laughed and talked for a little over an hour. One had practice and the other had an interview to attend too.

“Bye, Stays. I hope Chan will let me come on here more often.”

“You’re always welcome, Hyung. Bye, Baby Stays!” The Aussie stated as he shut off the live. Jesse and Chan walked together to Stray Kids practice room, where they bid each other goodbye.

#day6 6th member #day6 au #kpopidoloc #kpop oc #idol oc #kpop au #Jesse Lim #jesse

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bechloeislegit · 6 years ago

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A to Z BeChloe

X is for XENA, X-RAYS, AND XENON

Prompt from electroniszappa: For X, a bit of a challenge for you. Find a way to include Xena, X-Ray(s), and Xenon.

"Oh, look," Flo said excitedly. "Henna, Warrior Princess is coming to Netflix."

"Hen-na? What?" Fat Amy said. "Who is Henna?"

"She is the Warrior Princess," Flo responded. "She is a reformed warrior princess who travels around fighting evil."

"That's not Henna," Fat Amy said. "That's Zena, Warrior Princess."

"No, it's not!" Flo said.

"Yes, it is!" Fat Amy said.

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it's not!"

"Stop it, the both of you!" Beca said coming in from the kitchen after hearing the yelling. "You're both giving me a headache."

"But, Beca," Fat Amy whined. "Flo is messing with Xena's name, and I can't have her messing with the warrior goddess like that."

"She means Henna," Flo said. "The warrior princess."

"It's pronounced Zee-na," Fat Amy said.

"Shut up, both of you," Beca said and takes a deep breath before facing Flo. "Flo, Fat Amy is correct. In America, we pronounce the X like a Z in a lot of words. So, X-e-n-a would be pronounced Zee-na."

"Really?" Flo said. "I thought I was doing well with understanding and speaking English, and now this?"

"Well, Hispanic words are the same," Beca said. "Like, X-a-v-i-e-r. How would you say it?"

Flo took a pen and wrote the name down. "I would say, Hav-e-air."

"And most Americans would say, Zay-vure," Beca said.

"That is just loco," Flo said shaking her head.

"Loco? Who's Loco?" Fat Amy asked looking at Flo. "What does loco mean?"

"You are," Beca said with a laugh. "It means crazy."

"You speak Spanish?" Fat Amy asked now looking at Beca.

"Not really," Beca said and then grinned. "Just enough to know that you are being a puta about Flo's English pronunciations."

Flo snickered, and Fat Amy looked at them both with narrowed eyes. She knows it was probably an insult, but she's not sure.

~xXx~ ~xXx~ ~xXx~

Beca and Chloe came in late from their date to find Stacie and Flo in the living room. Chloe continued to the kitchen to grab them some water, while Beca stood in the entryway to the living room. Stacie was sitting on the couch with a notebook in hand and Flo was reading from some index card. Beca assumes correctly that Stacie was studying and Flo was helping her.

"What is henon?" Flo asked looking at a card in her hand. "What type of element is it? What is the atomic number? And give a brief description of it."

Flo finished reading the card and looked up at Stacie expectantly.

"Henon?" Stacie asked confused. "There is no element called henon. That's a trick question."

"No, it's real," Flo said. "It even has the number next to it."

"What's the number?" Stacie asked.

"It's, oh, no no no," Flo said with a light laugh. "I can't tell you. You're supposed to tell me. You won't learn anything if I give you the answer."

"But there is no chemical element called henon," Stacie insisted.

"She means xenon, Stace," Beca said from the doorway.

"Oh," Stacie said. "Xenon is a chemical element, and its atomic number is 54. It is a colorless, dense, odorless noble gas found in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts."

"That is correct," Flo said looking down at the card and then back at Beca. "It's not pronounced henon?"

"We've had this conversation, Flo," Beca said. "Remember when you and Amy were arguing over how to say Xena? The same principle applies here as well. The X should be pronounced like a Z, so x-e-n-o-n is zee-non, not henon."

"It is confusing," Chloe said now standing next to Beca. "Like we say Jesus with the J sounding like a G. Some Hispanics pronounce it Hay-seus, so the J sounds like an H."

"So, the x is always a z sound?" Flo asked.

"Pretty much," Beca said. "Like xylophone starts with an X but you say it as if it starts with the letter Z."

"Oh, and the name Xavier," Chloe said. "Same thing. The X sounds like a Z."

"We already covered that one," Beca said.

"What about x-e-r-o-x?" Flo asked. "I have heard it pronounced zeer-ox. Why is it not zeer-oz?"

"That's a whole other thing," Stacie said. "When the X is located in any position of a word other than as the first letter, it is always pronounced as ex."

"Like Xerox," Flo said, and Stacie nodded. "What are some other words?"

"Box," Beca replied. "Explanation, except."

"Fox, mix, fix," Chloe added to the list. "Mexico, lexicon."

"So, if I see an X at the beginning of a word I should pronounce it like a Z?" Flo asked.

"Exactly," Stacie said. "Now, can we get back to my studying?"

"Sorry," Flo said and picked up another card.

"Don't stay up too late, girls," Chloe said. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Good night," Beca said, and she and Chloe went upstairs to bed.

~xXx~ ~xXx~ ~xXx~

Flo still had a little trouble with the x sounding like z, but she made great progress.

"It's time for our Zee-na marathon," Flo said, taking special care to pronounce Xena's name correctly in front of Fat Amy.

Fat Amy just smirked and nodded her head. The rest of the girls came in and sat around the TV. Fat Amy pulled up Netflix and found Xena: Warrior Princess.

"If anyone needs to use the bathroom or needs a snack or drink," Fat Amy said looking around the room. "Do it now, because once I start, I'm not stopping it."

"I'll grab some snacks," Jessica said getting up.

"I'll grab everyone some drinks," Ashley said and followed Jessica.

"Bathroom," Chloe and CR both said and laughed.

"I'm too exhausted to worry about it," Beca said and stayed where she was.

"How do you spell eg-zausted?" Flo asked Beca.

"Um, e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d," Beca said. "Why?"

"Well, you pronounced the X like a Z," Flo said. "I thought you said that if an X was in the word, it was pronounced only like an X and not the Z. So, wouldn't it be ex-hausted?"

"I, um, it's, uh," Beca sputtered. "I don't know what to say to that. Stacie?"

"Yeah, I got nothing," Stacie said. "The English language is just a bunch of words that some pseudo-intellectual threw into a book and called it a Dictionary and everyone decided that's how all the words are spelled and pronounced."

"Wow, all in one breath," Beca said and laughed.

"Meh," Stacie said waving her hand like it was no big deal to her.

"Anyway, Flo, you speak English very well," Beca said. "Don't let it get to you."

"She should learn how to speak proper English," Fat Amy. "Like me. I came from another country, and my English is perfect."

Beca snorted. "Australia's main language is English. And you still use Australian terms or slang, and we don't know what you're saying. So, not the best example."

"What I'd miss?" Chloe asked as she came back to the living room.

"Flo was asking again about how to pronounce words with the letter X in them," Beca said.

"I thought we covered everything, Flo," Chloe said.

"There is still much to learn," Flo said. "I still have trouble spelling some words because so many are pronounced the same."

"Give us an example," Stacie said.

"Okay, um, stare and stair," Flo said. "When I was younger, and we had spelling tests, the teacher would not always use the word in a sentence, so it was hard to know what word to spell."

"Ugh, we have a lot of those," Beca said.

"Sounds like you didn't have a very good teacher if she didn't use the word in a sentence to let you know which version she wanted," Chloe said. "When I'm a teacher, I will make sure that my students know the spelling and meaning of the word as well as be able to use it properly in a sentence."

Beca was smiling and staring at Chloe with heart eyes. Stacie threw a pillow at her and laughed.

"What?"

"Someone's hot for teacher," Stacie said.

"Shut up," Beca said and then looked at Chloe with a grin. "But, I so am!"

Chloe laughed and kissed Beca. "Good."

~xXx~ ~xXx~ ~xXx~

Chloe and Flo were in the auditorium working on choreography for the upcoming ICCA Nationals Championship. Beca had given them the setlist with notes on who should solo what part.

Flo and Chloe listened to the set several times before tying out a few moves. Chloe was more of a flow and move kind of dancer, whereas Flo had more of an ebullient gymnastic style to her dance. Working together they had a pretty good start by the time Stacie and CR showed up.

"Sorry, we're late," Stacie said as she and CR walked down to the other two girls. "The Professor wouldn't stop talking."

"Yeah, it's like he knows people have other things to do so he sees how long he can go before someone breaks," CR said.

"This time it was almost me," Stacie said. "If he hadn't stopped when he did, I was prepared to just get up and leave."

"I would have been right behind you," CR said.

"Well, you're here now," Chloe said. "Listen to the setlist first, and then we'll show you what we've come up with. Then you can make suggested changes. Sound good?"

"Yeah," CR said, and Stacie nodded.

Chloe hit play, and the four Bellas sat and listened to the set list Beca came up with. Chloe couldn't help but smile. It was good, and she was smiling like the proud girlfriend that she was. CR and Stacie were listening intently, and both smiled when it came to an end.

"This is good," CR said. "I have some ideas but let's see what you two came up with and then we can talk."

Chloe started the setlist again, and she and Flo showed the others their choreography. Once they finished, CR and Stacie made suggestions, and the four ran through the new steps.

Chloe was making a crossover move when she tripped over her bag. She put her hand out to stop her fall and fell on it hard. She let out a small scream and grabbed her hand to her chest.

"Oh, my God!" Stacie yelled and rushed over to Chloe.

Chloe sat on the floor holding her hand as tears flowed down her face.

"Are you okay?" CR asked as she knelt next to Chloe.

"I think I might have broken it," Chloe said through her tears.

"Let me see, sweetie," Flo said gently pulling her hand away from where Chloe was protectively holding it against her chest.

Flo looked at Chloe's hand. "Oh, sweetie, I think it is broken."

"It hurts," Chloe said.

"Let's get her to the hospital and have it checked out," Stacie said. She then hugged Chloe to her. "I'll call Beca and have her meet us there, okay?"

Chloe just nodded her head as Stacie and CR helped her to her feet. CR grabbed her and Chloe's bags, and the four girls made their way out to Stacie's car.

Once at the hospital, Chloe was given a form to fill out and told to wait. Beca came rushing into the hospital and ran over to Chloe and hugged her.

"You doing okay?" Beca asked.

"Yeah," Chloe said. "It hurts like hell, but I'm okay."

"How did this happen?"

"I tripped over my stupid bag."

"Chloe Beale," a voice called out.

Beca helped Chloe stand, and they went over to the nurse that had called for Chloe.

"Can my girlfriend come back with me?" Chloe asked.

"That's fine," the nurse said. "Follow me."

Beca came back out about fifteen minutes later and told the girls Chloe was going to be taken to get her hand x-rayed. After passing on the information, Beca hurried back to be with Chloe.

The rest of the Bellas came running in and found Stacie, CR, and Flo.

"How is she?" Jessica asked.

"They're going to take her to get her hand x-rayed," Stacie said. "We think it's broken."

"Where's Fat Amy?" CR asked noting the boisterous blonde wasn't with the other girls.

"She was with Bumper and said she'd meet us here," Ashley said.

Beca came back out. "They just took her to x-ray. The doctor is pretty sure it's broken, but they need to see where the break is before they put it in a cast. It should take about thirty minutes. You all don't have to stay. I'll be here and will get Chloe back home."

"Are you sure, Beca?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "Chloe knows you all came and told me to tell you to go home."

"Okay," Ashley said.

"I'm staying," Stacie said.

Flo said they would stay, too. The rest of the girls left, and Beca sat with Stacie and Flo. A few minutes later, Amy came strolling in and went up to the girls.

"How's Chloe?" Fat Amy asked.

"She's okay," Beca said. "The doctor thinks she broke it."

"Can we see her?" Fat Amy asked.

"Not yet," Flo said with a small grin. "They took her down to get it z-rayed."

Beca bit her lip to hold back the laugh that nearly escaped at the look on Amy's face.

"You mean x-rayed?" Fat Amy asked Flo.

"No," Flo said, tongue in cheek. "The X at the beginning of the word is pronounced like Z, so she's being z-rayed."

Beca laughed and high-fived Flo. "Nice one, Flo."

Fat Amy glared and said, "Touché my little Latina friend. Touché."

I know this is a little shorter than the rest, but honestly, there was only so much I could do with the prompt. I think I wore out the X on my keyboard; I've never used the X key so much in my life. Anyway, I hope you had some fun with it as I did.

#bechloe fanfiction #bechloe #beca mitchell #chloe beale

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indahsalimin · 5 years ago

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Iqbaal Ramadhan; From Dilan to Minke and ‘National Literature Uproar’

(Official Poster of Bumi Manusia. Source: instagram.com/falconpictures_)

Falcon Pictures, production house working on Bumi Manusia / This Earth of Mandkind) film, uploaded official poster from director Hanung Bramantyo’s project today, June 20th, 2019. Through their Instagram account, Falcon Pictures gave visual teasers from the film adaptation of the legendary novel titled This Earth of Mandkind, a masterpiece of Indonesian legendary author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. The poster display the main character, Minke, roled by Iqbaal Dhiafakhri Ramadan or Ramadhan Iqbaal (18 y.o).

The appearance of this poster is no longer followed by controversy. In contrast, prime cast announcement on May 24, 2018 was a big rowdy. Iqbaal’s fans, mostly teenagers and females, seem cannot wait for Iqbaal appearance as Javanese nobleman, while the novel’s fans still consider the decision to choose Iqbaal as Minke, was a big joke and dissapointment.

The rejection of Iqbaal as Minke, openly declared by many people on the internet. Various protests have sprung up, from short statement on social media to long writing on personal blog contains objections and disappointment. One of them is Prof. Ariel Heryanto, an academic, Indonesian sociologist, from Monash University, Australia. Through his social media Twitter on May 24, 2018, he tweeted, "It's a commercial film, so the selection (Iqbaal) concerned to commercial considerations. It’s different/against of writing of this novel. I had to learn to prepare (myself) for a disappointment. ".

One of the most vehement refusal forms, was an emergence of a petition on the site Change.org. Someone named Ady Gilang petitioning Falcon Pictures with the reason "Hope, love, and imagination to this earth of mankind has been very strong, very deep, don't shred it all just for the sake of coffers (money)". The petition was supported by 495 proponents but did not manage to make any changes.

The Glorification of Literature and Eternal Problems of Ecranisation

Frankly, why is Iqbaal so faulty? His two ‘big sins’ in Indonesia’s showbiz might be the answer; his image as an ex-former boyband ‘Cowboy Junior’ who impressed with term ‘alay’ (Indonesian slang for ‘immature’) and his strong imprint as Dilan, the main character of his latest film. In the previous films, Dilan 1990 which also adapted from a novel, Iqbaal also got a lot of opposition to portray the main character Dilan because he was considered as ‘not fit to the character’s image’. Excatly same problem he have to deal with Bumi Manusia. Nevertheless, Iqbaal managed to brought a big success to the film. More than 6.3 million tickets sold during its run in theaters.

Iqbaal Ramadan as Dilan. (Source: Wordpress/ Amiratthemovies)

In addition to the Iqbaal's personal sins, there were two things that supported the ‘national uproar’; the glorification of literature and ethernal problems of ecranisation.

Literature remains as a sanctified product of intellectual. Great novels are like Holy Book, honoured and treated with respect and caution. Such adoration might be fine on the one hand, but at the same time, obstruct the development of literature itself.

On the other hand, ecranisation, a term for an adaptation of a written or graphic work into a film, basically has its own perpetual problems. The most common problem, is the protest of book readers, who feel not satisfied about various things in films such as the casts and then the adjustment of the storyline. Therefore, the rejection of Iqbaal for Minke, is a very habitual case.

Iqbal’s Effect for Indonesian Literature Ressurection

One thing that made this polemic got exciting was the fact that Iqbaal could increase the popularity of the novel drastically. Less than two weeks since the public release of the Earth of Mandkind’s casts, the novel sold out in many bookstores. Iqbaal with his fame, managed to lure people of all ages to be curious, buy and read the novel."This book is a bestseller in all stores Gramedia, even out of stock in some of our stores." said Elizabeth Driemirda, Regional Manager of East Java, Bali, Lombok and Bali Gramedia Book Store, on June 2, 2018.

Bumi Manusia written by Toer. (Source: Wordpress/Teuku Kemal Fasya)

The fact that Iqbaal could affected huge amount of people to read books, ease the public rejections towards him. A lot of people then thought that this youth is not that bad. Since he could lead a good thing, in this case, increase public interest to read, people started to ‘forgive’ his ‘sins’.

Furthermore, Iqbaal as a youth icon, should be strived to lead a good influence to his fans. His popularity and credibility in the realm of education, can be seen from his role as the brand ambassador of education platform, Ruangguru.com, are the forces that could drive him into one of the literacy activists that might could make big impacts.

In addition, even Pram, on The Earth of Mankind novel, wrote “An educated person must learn to act justly, beginning, first of all, with his thoughts, then later in his deeds”. Therefore, let us think and do justice by giving the opportunity to Iqbaal to try his best ability for portraying Minke. Wait for it, watch the film, and appreciate or criticize it for the sake of discussion, not simply the overflow of emotions. (Indah Salimin)

#bumi manusia #iqbaal ramadhan

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thunclerpuff · 6 years ago

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the warehouse club

I do not know what this is. Yes, it started as a Sleepover Club AU. Yes, don’t expect it to be anything but shameless teenage fluff. The boys are all around 16 or 17, I don’t know I don’t care. This is set in the fictional city of Crescent Bay, in Australia, and I dared to put in exactly one (1) aussie slang word and I’ve probably used it wrong. It’s not betaed, it’s barely edited, and I’m not a native speaker. Still. It’s 6k of teenage fluff.

(underage teenage drinking and a little of slut-shaming terminology but nobody is really getting judged, it’s just Loki being a jealous bitch. also for some reason Loki is Frigga and Odin’s son and Thor is not and he goes grocery shopping alone. the original plan was to him to live with legal guardian Heimdall but? no word is spoken about it in the text. he’s probably just a con-man). .

It was casual Friday at school, which meant no uniform, which meant most of the kids took the opportunity to show off and try to get laid. Loki was above all that.

He slipped in the first outfit he put his hands over, a pair of cut off jeans and an emerald green shirt casually folded at the end of his bed. That he had felt like putting up a little fashion show the night before and didn’t put his clothes away, it was only a lucky coincidence. He screamed to his mom he was heading out, put a earbud in, and walked down the beach to gather his subjects.

He met Volstagg in front of Fandral's house, rang the bell, rounded the corner to get Sif, then got back to Fandral just as he got out of the door. “How do I look?” he asked- they all ignored him, turned on their heels and went back the way they had come.

It was, all in all, a wonderful morning: the sea breeze was fresh and crunchy, hungry seagulls where causing havoc at the kiosk, and Loki's messy bun was almost perfectly concealing the fact he hadn't took a proper shower in four days. A volleyball flew right over in Fandral's face, even, leaving him butt deep in the sand.

They were still all laughing, Fandral pouting and refusing to jump back on his feet, when a thundering voice interrupted them. Loki turned to the beach volley field, wind blowing in his face and the sun in his eyes, just to see a rather large black silhouette against the blue sky. Thor Borson. Of course.

His stomach did a somersault.

“Sorry, mate, Nebula has a mean smash. Are you hurt?”

Revolting.

Loki watched as Thor hoisted Fandral up, somehow smashing him against his unnecessarily naked chest.

He watched in disgust as Thor giggled like not even a twelve year old reading too many maganizes about having power over boys would. He took three steps back, turned to Sif, said something Loki really didn't pay attention to, sweat trailing down his throat, and just like that he run away, once again a black cut out in the sun.

“Ridiculous.” Loki suggested, and suddenly everyone was watching him.

“What?” he asked, utterly unimpressed. “Flirting like that with Fandral? A slut for the attention.”

They all shared a quick look deciding on who got the first round dissing Loki, and Loki braced himself with disinterest.

“He was being nice.” Volstagg laughed.

“It's kind of sad you think being nice is flirting.” Fandral added.

“Well, wanting to get into his pants is probably the only way someone would force themselves to be nice to Loki.” Sif rounded up.

“Hey.” Loki softly protested against his will. Sif slammed a hand on his back.

“Besides, Fandral will take just about anything regardless from motivation.”

Fandral didn't even try to defend his dignity. He simply sighed and glanced at the field, where Thor was putting on the horrid school shirt.

“What can one say? He's charming.”

“And strong, the muscles aren't for show. He gave Rogers a run for his money. The other day-”

Loki rolled his eyes and started walking on the beach again.

Incredible how some muscles and an arguably pretty face could turn everyone to mush.

“One-” Sif mused from atop the table. Loki knew something was coming, and he would not react to it. “Could argue you're jealous.”

“Jealous?” Loki very elegantly squeaked. “I'm not jealous. I'm the opposite of jealous.”

“What's the opposite of jealous?” Fandral asked, his body twisted on the bench to try and ogle the small basketball field.

Thor was playing. He was truly terrible at it. At least he seemed to be having fun.

“I don't know.” Sif answered. “Let's ask.”

Loki didn't have the time to blink.

“Hey Thor!” she shouted, and he turned just to get the ball smashed on his head.

He recovered quickly. He moved his ridiculous and out of style hair out of the way and smiled at Sif.

Show off. Pretentious. Over-aware of his so-called good looks.

Loki was so preoccupied insulting him in his mind he almost forgot Sif was going to ruin them all.

“What's the opposite of jealous?” she shouted.

Loki stood perfectly still as he contemplated murder.

Thor seemed to think about it for a second.

“Indifferent?” he asked, before Valkyrie threw him the ball once more and he caught it midair with only one hand.

Giant hands. Too long fingers. Overabundance of rings to, once again, peacock his way around.

“Well, this does seal the deal.” Volstagg laughed behind his third club sandwich. “Since you're the opposite of indifferent.”

Sif and Fandral laughed too and Loki wondered, as he did at least fourteen times a day, why he insisted hanging out with such bullies.

He was not jealous of Thor.

He simply refused to worship him like the entire school had started doing two days after he had showed up, obscenely tanned for someone coming straight out of the British inland. Loki bet he had gone tanning just to blend in. He would have bet money on a fake Australian accent too, if he thought Thor capable of such intellectual finesse. That, and Sif had disclosed the fact he was apparently a born and raised Aussie coming back home after three years among the poms.

Loki had avoided another rampage over the word pom, as he felt personally victimized by it and he had just managed to make them all forget it got on his British nerves.

Still, there was nothing objectively wrong with Thor. He was passably good looking if you had the hots for the hunk-on-steroid type, had a full beard at sixteen that he kept as a little bit more than a stubble, sometimes wore square glasses that made him look like he was trying really hard and Loki was reasonably sure were fake, and went to school in his uniform even during casual Fridays.

He also cheated on tests regularly. Point in case.

“Utterly unimaginative.” Malekit said, dropping Loki's essay on his desk like he was slapping him across the face. “You'd be better off sticking to numbers, mister Odinson.”

Well, Loki would have. If they would just let him ignore the whole literature class, which was mostly made of completely subjective interpretations of bad and outdated books, he would have been out of there ages ago.

He didn't say so just because Sif hit him on his shin.

He didn't loudly protest to that abuse because Malekit had just handed Thor's essay back to him, and Loki was outraged.

“Decent job, mister Borson.”

Thor beamed, and now Loki knew he must have been shit at blowjobs too, because there was no way he had got a decent out of Malekit if not by blowing him, and yet he had not even earned a good, so he must have done a barely sufficient job.

He told so to his friends during lunch break.

“How are you so familiar with Malekit blowjobs grading system?” Volstagg asked.

“I do recall him getting a passable, once.” Sif smirked.

“You're all going to hell.” Loki shut his locker close and jumped when he found Thor on the other side of it.

“What?” he asked.

“Need to ask your friends if they're down for a volley match in the evening.” stupid smile and stupid glasses on.

“Sure.” Sif answered.

“I'm a little rusty, but I'm in.” Fandral betrayed him.

“Kidding? Always down for some beach volley.” Volstagg flat out stabbed him.

“Want to be our referee?” Thor asked to him once again, and before Loki could answer, the three backstabbers murdered him in a choir of nos, sacrificing their decency and elegance too.

He rose his eyebrows at all of them. Savages. Monkeys. Spoilers of fun.

“No.” Sif said categorically. “He's not getting anywhere near a position of power in which he has to tell right from wrong and can go unquestioned. That's all he shouldn't be doing in life.”

Thor seemed confused, but he smiled again, and Loki told himself to remember to check if steroids had any effect over the activity rate of facial muscles.

“Well, come to watch?”

“I could play.” he told, and Volstagg laughed. “What? I'm an excellent setter.”

“For the first ten minutes, before you remember you're a lazy twink and just stand there doing nothing.”

“Fandral is a lazy twink too.”

“A functioning one.” Fandral flat out winked at him.

“He can come and hand over powerade.” Sif shrugged.

“Beg your pardon?” Loki asked.

She surely wasn't thinking he would do that.

“Great. See you at five on the beach?” Thor asked, looking straight at Loki.

Show. Off.

Too bad it wasn't going to happen, never in a million years.

Loki took a sip of powerade as Sif smashed the ball over the net with the kind of loud sound Loki would imagine a jet breaking the sound barrier would produce.

Unluckily for her, Thor seemed a natural at receiving.

His forearms had gradually became so red he looked sunburned. Not that Loki was looking at his arms, but it was difficult to avoid a spare glance when they were proving to be the star player of the game.

Not that Volstagg was slacking off on the other side of the net, and Fandral was perpetually rolling in the sand catching any stray ball.

It was taking forever for either team to score a point. Thor, Valkyrie and Nebula were ahead for the time being, but it was a two points margin.

Would have Loki been the referee he would have made the game more spicy, but alas they were all too worried over his superior volley knowledge. He was the son of a twice Olympic beach-volleyball player after all. He had made his mother proud before he decided he was more apt to live the theater life.

Not that the only notion of a three on three beach volley match didn't still destroy his soul. At this point he was almost considering getting a heat stroke on purpose, just to avoid looking at the bastardization of a noble sport.

Nebula scored the last point ages later, and finally Loki had something to do, namely refusing to give out bottles at whoever walked up to him.

“You could get your ass up, you know?” Sif nudged his shoulder with her feet.

“Why reward you with such a view when you're playing like shit.”

A bottle flew over his head and he looked up to see Valkyrie squaring her shoulder, doing that thing with her head and neck that made her look like a cobra ready to strike.

“You're playing like you want to kill someone. There's no grace or purpose. No technique.” he explained, matter of fact.

“Than get up and show us your technique.” Nebula growled.

Well, he had not considered being challenged.

He truly had no will to move his ass, or get sweaty.

“I only play by Olympic rules.”

“Than so be it.” Valkyrie settled. “Me and Nebula versus you and whoever you choose.”

Loki opened his mouth to find another excuse, but Thor jogged to them wiping his forehead with his tank top.

“You set, I spike?” Thor asked, crouching to get the powerade bottle out of Loki's hands.

Loki watched as he drank, the sun filtering trough the bottle in pretty blues and pinks.

“One set to 17.” Loki resolved, standing up and doing his hair up. What a waste of good beach waves. “If you suck, I dump you and Sif takes over.”

“And if you're the one who sucks?”

Loki was not impressed. He didn't take his eyes away from him as he settled in the field.

Nebula had the ball in hand and decided that was enough to decide who was on service first, and Loki was about to protest, but Thor run over to him and moved him away from his spot.

“The ladies start, I have to receive.” he smiled.

“Uh.” Loki answered, blinking.

When Thor flawlessly received the serve, Loki was not ready. He managed to decently set the ball nonetheless. Thor titled his head at him after spiking, and Loki ignored him and focused on the ball.

His second set was flawless, and Thor hit the ball just right. Nebula growled when she fell over, butt in the sand, but Valkyrie had already run to get it, and suddenly the ball was back to them and Loki decided it was to be a two-time attack, and Thor's spike was again a work of violent graceful art, and yet, yet, they didn't score.

He should have made it one set to 7.

The girls scored first, Loki still had to understand how.

He shared a look with Thor as he got up from the sand, wiping at his mouth with his hand, and Loki felt Thor's bloodthirsty smirk between his gut and lower regions.

They scored next.

Loki was exhausted. They had won 27 to 25. He couldn't feel his bones, and he might have just found the way to get himself a heatstroke.

Fandral gave him a high five and rather embarrassingly Loki's balance got lost somewhere and soon enough his back was plastered to Thor's sweaty tank top and it was utterly disgusting.

Thor put a hand on his neck and Loki leaned in just a bit.

“Your pulse is racing. Are you thirsty?” Thor asked in that husky voice of his, and Loki mumbled something back before a faint cramp got the best of his left leg.

“Okay, you need to cool down. Is there somewhere close by we can go? It's probably heat exhaustion.”

They all looked at each other very quickly, and then at Loki.

Loki shook his head.

“There's the warehouse, three minutes from here.”

Traitors.

“Great. Can you walk? You can lean on me.”

Loki looked up.

“I know how to deal with heath exhaustion.”

“And I'm very happy about it. Can you walk?”

Loki squinted at him.

“I really don't like you.”

“Well, I like you.” Oh. “And I'd like you not to die because I had you playing beach volley. You were outstanding, anyway.”

Thor took his absolute lack of attempts of getting away from his body as a confirmation he needed help, and moved to get Loki's arm over his neck, and kept him close with a hand curling around his ribs.

“I know. You weren't half bad either.”

“Half bad? He's magnificent. Mate, you should consider going professional.”

Loki closed his eyes and stopped listening. He was either doing that or walking. Not that Thor couldn't apparently carry his weight like he was a twelve year old girl.

He was vaguely aware of goodbyes with Nebula and Valkyrie and of a cold bottle put in his hand, and of holding it up to his forehead, and of walking the familiar steps to the warehouse.

He wondered if the heat exhaustion was turning into a flat out heat stroke when wind hit them the right way and Thor's scent got sharper, and he thought he smelled good, all beachy and sweaty and male. He smelled stormy, somehow.

Loki couldn't believe they actually had brought Thor to the warehouse.

Or that they had let him stay after he had dropped Loki on one of the beach loungers they had decorated their hideout with.

Or that they had offered him a beer and let him sit on the swing (Loki was somewhat amazed the swingset seemed to fit him and hold him up as he rolled backn and forth on the heels of his feet).

The warehouse was sacred. It had once been the sewing laboratory of Fandral's parents before they moved to a bigger business, and it had gone forgotten until Loki had found out such a thing existed. They had cleaned it, redecorated it, installed air ventilation, dropped colorful fans everywhere, put potted plants all around, and annoyed all the Crescent Bay residents to exhaustion to collect pieces of mismatched old furniture.

It had turned out beautifully. And now Thor was spoiling it with his alien presence.

Loki glared at him, a lukewarm wet towel on his forehead and another on his chest, under his armpits. Thor smiled at him when he turned away from Sif to get his beer off the ground.

He stood up and brought the beer to Loki after taking a sip.

Loki sat up, discarding the towels and crossing his legs. He had not meant to do it to make room for Thor, but that was his interpretation, for he sat down where Loki's leg had been. And where they still belonged.

He stretched his legs over Thor's lap and got the beer from his hand. Thor's cool hand was soon just over Loki's knee, just casually sitting there, and Loki ignored it.

He ignored it too when Thor started brushing his thumb over his cooling down but still heated skin.

“What's the fear lotto?” he asked, probably as a part of the conversation they were having and that had not pierced Loki's brain.

“Nothing.” he said, as Fandral answered. “We each write down something we're afraid to do this week, or just really don't want to do, but we really should do, and the last one picked, we do together.”

Loki almost threw him the bottle, but he wasn't a savage. He threw him a towel.

Sif intercepted it and threw it back.

“If you think it's lame, you can say it. We all think it is.” she added to Thor, and he smiled, getting the beer back from Loki's fingers.

“No, I think it's sweet.”

“Yeah, same thing.” Sif said.

“We've been doing it since we were twelve.” Volstagg explained. “It usually ends up in nothing productive done and much more mischief that what was originally planned.”

“Go figure.” Thor said, tilting the bottle toward Loki. “Are you all childhood friends?” he asked before Loki could defend his honor.

“All but the British weasel.” Sif. “He just turned up one day and started bossing us around.”

“Well, you did look like you were in desperate need of leadership.”

Thor laughed, a low chuckle that was all chest and male, and Loki almost smiled back under the insults coming from his friends.

He could use it, someone to share a little bubble with after his friends refused to recognize his genius.

Someone. Not Thor, of course.

Thor was still looking and Loki needed to escape it but he couldn't without getting up and he was still feeling a little bit dizzy. Oh, well, he supposed there was one way to get away.

“Let Thor play instead of me. I'm off to sleep.” he announced in a flourish before scooting over until his head fit on the sloucher, his tights over Thor's.

He fell asleep just as Sif passed a piece of paper in Thor's hand and they chuckled about something.

Thor had a nice laugh.

“I saw Fandral at the market today.”

Loki answered something but it was muffled by the popsicle in his mouth. What, he really didn't know either. He took an overly sharp turn down Yoshi's waterfalls and paused the game boy not to suffocate around the ice and have it all melting down his hand.

“He was with a new guy? Thor? Such a nice boy, you haven't mentioned him.”

“Yes, I did.” he said, licking at the stick and then his fingers and okay, maybe playing Mario Kart as he ate a popsicle hadn't been one of his best ideas. “The floozy who cheats at tests? That's him.”

Frigga stopped pulling cereal boxes out of the grocery bags and stared straight at him.

“I thought you said he was average looking yet everyone slobbed over him because he was, quoting, an absolute slut.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I might not have enough information to dispute the slut part, but surely I need to call your optometrist if you think the guy is average looking.”

“Mom, ew.”

“Just being objective, he would made an excellent trophy son. He has great hair.” Loki glared. “Besides, Fandral seem to really like him, shouldn't you be a littler nicer to him?”

“Because?” he asked, getting up from the couch. “It's not like they're dating or anything.”

Not that it would have mattered. If anything, Loki would have been more justified in finding his every fault: it was a friend's duty.

He put the popsicle in his mouth again and rummaged trough the bags to find the chocolate covered caramel waffles.

He noticed then his mother hadn't answered.

“What?” he asked, slowly, popsicle in hand and waffles in the other. “They are not.”

“Sure. I mean, I only saw them once, I must have got the wrong impression.”

“You must.” he said, biting into the last bit of melted ice.

He left the stick on the table and went back to his DS. He had a race to win.

Fandral and Thor were not dating.

First of all, Thor was obviously straight and playing the guy up for laughter and self-importance. Loki was insulted somebody would think him genuinely attracted to a guy.

Second of all, Fandral was incapable of keeping his mouth shut, and if they were a thing the whole town would know.

Third of all, they simply were not, because Loki said so.

Still, he had to be sure, and to be sure he needed to ask.

“So, coming with me to the raise-founding dance?” he asked Fandral at his locker.

“Can't. Bringing Thor. We're going with Val and Nebula-”

Loki blocked him out. He didn't want to hear a word about their stupid double date or whatever it was, and really he was shocked Fandral had not told him he wasn't up to friendly handjobs in the dark anymore and had simply went off and ditched him and started dating Thor Borson.

Loki needed to save Fandral from this disaster in the making.

He munched on his salad, watching Steve Rogers helping Thor throwing a three pointer.

Thor was so obviously fucking with him too. The flirting was borderline disgusting. Thor was borderline disgusting, leading on well meaning bi boys that way.

And even if he really was interested in boys, it still didn't change the fact he was such a slut and poor little Fandral was set to have his heart destroyed.

It was all in the way Thor walked, all hips forward and shoulders back. And the way he touched people's backs all the time, just between their shoulder blades. And Loki didn't even want to start with his lips.

“Will you stop?” Sif asked from his left.

“Stop what?” Loki asked.

“Daydreaming about graphic porn starring Thor and your sorry self. At least be discreet about it.”

Loki was so offended he stopped chewing.

“Beg your pardon?” he asked, voice a little cracked, around the remains of lettuce in his mouth.

Sif glared at him with disappointment hidden in her eyes, and Loki coul only blink.

Suddenly it was casual Friday again, and Thor actually put on casual clothes.

A stupid inappropriate tank top with sleeves cut down to his lower ribs that were one nip-slip away from indecency. Some ridicolous mid thight black shorts covered in big flowers in muted colors. Fucking boat shoes. The hipster glasses.

He looked like he was begging for someone to drag him in a closet and manhandle him and no. This was Sif masterful plan at work: infiltrating horrible pictures in his head such as Thor naked under him just to test his hornyness and challenge him. Just to see how low could he stoop once again. To see if he had grown after the horrible Bucky Barnes debacle.

In Loki's defence, Barnes had took very little convincing to blow him, and it wasn't like Fandral was going to do anything with his silent crush anyway.

Still, he had promised he wouldn't do it again, and he trusted Sif to send him to intense care if he attempted that again.

Loki had to bleach the cursed image(s) from his head and return to his state of vague dislike for Thor Borson, and back to his plan to save Fandral the heartache.

Even if.

Wait a second.

Loki dropped his pen on the desk and it resonated in the busy silence of the text-taking class.

Malekit looked at him with a look that said I'm grading you down for this, but Loki didn't care, for he had a vision. And for his literature grades were shit anyway and there was no point in trying to save them from drowning when the best they could ever do was floating like sad little sea buoys.

It was easy, really.

Seduce Thor so subtly nobody would know he was doing it, and then go cry to Fandral that Thor had made his move on him like the slut he was, and that Fandral really deserved better.

It was genius.

Not even Sif could beat him up for making out with Thor, if Thor was the offender, and Loki was not opposed to Sif beating people up if those people were not him.

He doodled another suicidal stickmen on the side of his paper, this one strangling himself with a flower crown. He now had a plan.

“Oh.” he mouthed, his mouth a perfect o, when he spotted Thor down the aisle of the supermarket. “Thor. What a coincidence.”

Or not, since he knew from his mother that Thor went grocery shopping at the same time she did.

Thor was once again wearing his hideous flower shorts. No glasses.

Loki was almost disappointed.

“Loki? Is you mother okay?” Thor asked, and Loki blinked.

“Sorry?”

“I always meet your mother around here and since you're here instead of her-”

“Oh, that. No, she's fine, I just wanted to help out. Besides-” he got closer to Thor, who was luckily close to the candy aisle, and reached from something on the shelf. “If I come, I can get treats.” he smiled, looking up at Thor and breathing his glorious stormy scent. It was missing some sweat to be perfect, but- no.

He refused to breath in.

“I didn't know you liked aniseed.” Thor commented, and Loki looked at the package he had in his hand.

He considered getting along with what his carelessness and given him, but what better occasion for planting doubts in Thor's head if not correcting himself? Letting him see how affected Loki was and how ready to be taken if he simply- he dropped the aniseed lollies and got the lime ones, still not his favorites but at least a step up.

“My bad.” he smiled, not inching back.

Thor didn't either.

In fact, he looked at him intently.

Slut.

Loki smiled, and Thor smiled back.

This was going to be so easy.

“Sorry boys, could I-” Loki glared at the old lady strolling down the aisle pointing at the lollies behind them.

“Wait for you turn.” he muttered under his breath as Thor laughed and dragged Loki away from his elbow.

That stupid hands. Large and gentle and cool even if Thor's palms were sweating. The metal of his cheap rings was freeze burning Loki's skin, perpetually on the verge of a sunburn. Loki needed them off of him now.

“Are you in a rush?” Thor asked, still holding him too close.

“It depends. What are you offering me?” Loki asked, buying time. Half of his brain was telling him he was forgetting something he was supposed to do.

“To get to the cash and then go to the bonfire Nebula and her sister are planning. I'm supposed to help with the preparation.”

Oh. The bonfire.

“Oh. The bonfire.”

“Yeah. You were invited?”

“Don't sound so surprised. And yes, it's a homecoming thing graduated students do. Hogunn is coming. Actually, I'm afraid I was supposed to be at the warehouse-” he held up his own arm to maneuver it and spy on Thor's watch. “Five minutes ago.”

“Oh.” Thor said, so small and low Loki's eyes snapped back on him.

“I'll catch you at the bonfire?” Loki asked, and Thor's mouth quirked up a little.

“Sure.”

He reached up to put a stray strand of hair behind Loki's ear.

Loki's stomach dropped low. Too low.

Thor's eyes was the kind of blue Loki liked in the sky- clear and susceptible to weather changes.

They seemed to be cloudy. Like he was thinking really hard at something he didn't know if he should or could do.

The damn eyes dropped to Loki's lips.

Oh.

Plan aborted.

Too risky.

Must avoid human contact with Thor Borson.

Hypocrisy would not carry him far enough this time, not when the crush he had been ignoring so well he wasn't aware he had, was now apparently getting out of hand. And really, really, it was actually Fandral who stole Thor from him because even if he was too dense to catch on his own awe for more-than-average looking Thor and his stupid glasses and boat shoes, his friends weren't. They were supposed to know better.

Now that he thought about it, they all did catch on, and repeatedly teased him about it, including Fandral, so it was reasonable to conclude Fandral had simply decided to ignore Loki's feelings and score regardless, thus concluding Fandral was a terrible person and deserved to be cheated on.

Not in any way that involved Loki, thought. He was still pretty convinced Thor was a slut, a flirt at minimum, and he would not be running toward that when he laughed at Thor's stupid jokes in class and got lost gazing in his eyes and he apparently thought of cuddling with him after slow crazy hot sex between Loki's kitsch but very silky galaxy sheets.

He realized how hard he was staring at Thor's lips only when said lips pressed against his in the middle of the supermarket aisle and suddenly he was tasting the storm and Thor's hand was on his neck, his rings digging into Loki's soft skin.

Loki moaned and stepped closer, his tongue pushing at Thor's lips just as Thor was stepping back.

“Sif is going to kill me.” were Loki first, unplanned words.

“For being late?” Thor chuckled and pressed a butterfly kiss on Loki's lips. “Isn't that a tiny bit drastic?”

“No, not for that. I mean, for that too, but. It's more for the making out with Fandral's crush thing, act two. Or three, if you count Darcy, but she got me high before making out and I'm not really interested in girls.”

Thor didn't seem bothered by the rambling uttered between soft kisses.

“Fandral doesn't have a crush on me.”

“Aren't the two of you-” Loki licked at the corner of Thor's mouth.“Hanging out?”

“No.”

Ah, here he was, showing his casual sluttiness.

“But does Fandral know?” Loki asked, knowingly.

“Pretty sure.”

Loki squinted and squeezed on Thor's bicep just because he could.

“But you're going to the dance together.”

Something flickered in Thor's eyes.

“Ah, yes. Nebula and Val are going together and I didn't want to be the third wheel.”

“But.” Loki said, but he got caught off by another chaste kiss, long and sweet and one that would have been absolutely perfect if only Loki wasn't getting half-hard in his pants and had no more mental dams in place to keep his visions of Thor and sheets and nakedness under control.

“Okay.” he said. “I need to go.”

“Me too.”

They kissed some more.

“See you tonight?” Thor asked.

“If you bring your glasses you'll probably see me alright.” he joked.

Thor frowned a little, puffy mouth quirked up at the corners.

“I have lenses on. I'll see you either way.”

“Yeah, I know. I was just saying.”

“I'll put them on if you like them.”

Thor kissed the tip of his nose.

“I don't. They're hideous. The beard, the hair, the glasses? Too much.” he said, sincerely.

“Ah-ah.” Thor mocked him, and cupped his face with both hands and kissed him and Loki forced Thor's mouth open because he really, really couldn't help himself.

He was a man of vice.

“See you tonight.” Thor husked on his lips like he was telling it himself.

“See you tonight.”

Loki bit Thor's lower lip for good measure.

Thor had to stop him with a flat palm on his chest from jumping on him.

At least Thor laughed, and even if he was laughing at him, it was a good look.

Thor had put his glasses on. The little shit.

Loki wanted to take everything off of him but those.

He had no idea how he didn't jump him as soon as he spotted him talking with Jane Foster and Darcy near the bonfire. Apparently, he had more self-control he gave himself credit for.

Look at him, the floozy, he thought to himself. Flexing every five seconds for no discernible reason, pointing at stars in the sky, touching everyone's back, scrunching his nose as he chuckled.

And they all had no idea. Absolutely no idea he was making out in a supermarket with Loki just a few hours before.

Knowledge made him feel powerful.

“You're lucky he's so nice.” Volstagg said. “Looking at a boy like that will get you in troubles one day.”

Just as he said it, Thor turned and saw Loki, and Loki cursed Hogunn with all he had because really? He needed to come back to visit the one day Loki could get some?

“I'll correct myself. You're lucky he wants you in a horizontal position too. The rest holds true.”

Loki elbowed him and then snitched his beer from his hands, before walking up to Thor. He met him halfway.

“Hey.” he flirted, sipping at his beer, with a careful mix of I slept with you and you want it to happen again and I'm never going to sleep with you but you want to. Not that he wanted Thor to pick up either of those sentiments, but Thor seemed more intent at watching his mouth around the bottle than not his eyes or the tilt of his head.

He wanted everyone else to pick up, and to let them all go crazy doubting.

“Hey.” Thor said, and just as Loki let the bottle go with a pop, he took Loki's head in his hand and bent his neck down to kiss him.

Oh.

Well, let them all go crazy knowing Thor was off the market.

Because he was.

Probably.

Because he wanted to be. Or he wouldn't have ruined his game in front of half the school.

It made sense.

Maybe.

“What are you thinking about?” Thor laughed on his lips, and Loki curled his fingers at the small of Thor's back, raising his shirt to slip his pinkie under it and get a taste of the soft, strong fabric of Thor's back.

Thor's fuzzy short hair stood up at the touch and Loki opened his mouth with little to no decency.

Thor chuckled again and put a stop to a potentially destructive situation by inching a breath away.

Loki sneaked his whole hand under Thor's shirt and pawed at Thor's back, feeling muscles and softness and dimples.

“I think we're being disgusting.” Thor told him, a last small kiss at the corner of Loki's lips.

Loki meowed in protest, but he let Thor wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He slipped his hand in the back pocket of that hideous pair of shorts.

“I knew faking a dubious relationship with Fandral would have worked, but I didn't think it would have took so little time.” Volstagg boomed from one the logs around the bonfire.

Fandral, sitting next to him, smiled. “He must be really smitten.”

“Look at him, he's smiling. It's creepy.” Sif ordered from her spot on the sand.

“I beg your pardon?” Loki asked, surely not smiling anymore.

He looked up to look at Thor, who had apparently not stopped looking at him.

“Remember when I took your place in the fear lotto?”

“Yeah, but-”

“I might have mentioned I needed to win someone over.”

Loki blinked.

Than blinked again.

Fandral going grocery shopping suddenly sounded like a clear clue something was going on.

Not to mention Nebula and Valkyrie going together when Nebula was dating that weird kid with wide eyes that went around touching everyone.

And he had mentioned a couple of times how annoying it was Thor wore his uniform even on casual Fridays.

“You set me up?” he asked. “I'm impressed.”

“Yeah, well, I did wing it in the end.” Thor laughed. “We had estimated it would have took until the ball for you to show your cards.”

“You could have just asked me to the ball.”

“Would have you said yes? Just like that?” Thor questioned, his face scrunching, and Loki clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth.

“Well. I've been- not indifferent.”

“The last time someone asked you out it was Quill.”

Oh, yeah. Quill.

Loki had been a bit not indifferent back then too, and Quill had picked something up and asked him out, and if he remembered correctly, Loki had toyed with him, rolling in his new found powers until he had got bored and said something very mean and very unnecessary.

Point taken.

Still, the Quill situation was not even close to Thor.

Mostly because this was Thor, and he smelled good, and he kissed Loki like it was the only thing in the world that mattered, and made corny jokes about stars and pulled off floral shorts, slutty tank tops and boat shoes.

And probably did not blow Malekit to get a decent grade. He did seem like he would at least be worth an above average.

He would have to investigate the matter.

“Still. I like the clandestine approach.”

“Even if I ruined it and made out with you in a supermarket?”

“Especially since you ruined it and made out with me in a supermarket. Don't go stealing my thunder in causing mischief, sir. I could become vicious.”

Thor laughed fondly and kissed him again, and Loki melted into it, and really, being a jealous bitch had payed off in the end.

“I wonder-” Hogun deep voice got to his hears as Loki nuzzled against Thor's soft jaw under the light sting of his beard. “why do I still hang out with you kids when I visit.”

#thorki #thorki fic #i really have no excuse for this #it's shameless self-indulget nonsense #*

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savagegardenforever · 6 years ago

Text

Savage Garden - Open-Ended Interview disc

Track 1) About: To The Moon And Back

Darren: To The Moon And Back, I guess, um... one of our... favorite songs only because it was written very early on in the piece. Um... It was on our first demo and probably the reason why we got a record deal. Um... It was initially a piece of music that Daniel showed to me and it was pretty complete. I think that my job was really simple. I took it away and uh... the next day I had the melody and the lyric and just sang it and uh... we both had goosebumps.

Daniel: This was the song I had to sort of fight for, to get onto the demo tape because I believed in it so much. It... went to number one. Three years ago, I said, "This is gonna go to number one." So it actually did, throughout the whole of Australia, it went to number one.

Darren: One thing we didn't say about To The Moon And Back was the fact that it was *incredibly hard* to record because the demo was so... perfect. It was a really simple song and it had out of key singing in the demo... um... had cheap keyboard sounds, but it was so believable. And that's the reason why everyone hooked on that song. And recording To The Moon And Back , we really tried to jazz it up, change it, and make it this and make it that and we almost lost it. I think we only just got To The Moon And Back.

Track 2) Have You Always Been Pop Fans?

Darren: I'd have to say that I definitely was a pop fan um... because I grew up, you know, I was born in 1972 and I watched the whole pop thing happen. I think that the album that changed my life wasn't The Beatles, it was Prince's Purple Rain... um... y'know, Duran Duran... "Pretty in Pink" was one of my favorite teen films, so yeah, I was living and breathing the whole Flu-Row experience, I guess. (Editors Note: possibly a reference to "Yuppie Flu" - 80s media slang for chronic fatigue syndrome, which affected many young people during this period.)

Daniel (laughs): Pop definitely not all the time for me. Um... I went through a phase of ska and punk, "oi!" music for a while there when I was a teenager, but what that did is open up a lot of various types of influences throughout my music. Um... and I think it's done, y'know, not a bad job.

Track 3) About: Carry On Dancing

Daniel: Carry On Dancing... very grand, very avant-garde, very over-the-top. Expels a lot of Darren's inner personality. I love the combination of strings and pianos. Uh... in the recording process, we managed to get some timpani samples and some... uh... castanets and what not, so uh... this... we just tried to make this bigger than life.

Darren: Um... I think Carry On Dancing is probably *my* favorite track on the record. It just jumps out at you and uh... I remember hearing the finished mix and... it was bigger than I'd hoped it could get. It was just... um... it just feels so grandiose; I think that's a good word for it. When I hear it, I see things like um... a masquerade ball in the 18th century and a werewolf or a vampire perhaps outside stalking the people inside. It's a very uh... moody track and it's one that I love to sing live.

Track 4) What's The Difference In Your Personalities? - Darren

Darren: I think Carry On Dancing sums up my personality in the way that it is theatrical... it is grandiose. You know, it's got the big breakdance section in the middle, with the claps and the castanets. And uh... I guess it sums up my interest in vampires and that kind of thing. (both laugh)

Track 5) What's The Difference In Your Personalities? - Daniel

Daniel: I'm probably a lot more introverted than Darren. Um... I sit on things perhaps a little longer. I… take things away. I'm a Cancer, which is a star sign. I'll go in, walk sideways into it, grab it, walk sideways out of it, and then get back and think about what I've just done. There is a difference, it's very, very hard to put... it into words from my point of view but...

Darren: I think the difference is that I'm impulsive and you're not, but being impulsive is very dangerous anyway, so... (laughs)

Daniel: Yeah, I'll think... I digest things perhaps a little longer than Darren would.

Track 6) About: Tears Of Pearls

Darren: Tears Of Pearls... um... it's funny, I love the track listing of the Australian album. It's actually different to the rest of the world. To me, it starts off with... To The Moon And Back and we hear the strings and Carry On Dancing comes in at full force, and Pearls carries it along. It's... again, we hear the strings section. Um... it was a very different song. I mean, once again, this was a piece of music that Daniel showed to me. We were driving in his car once and... we were never really that keen on it, and it changed a lot during the recording process, and Charles Fisher did a wonderful job of producing... just the little things in that track... like there's a string line which is in unison with my melody. There's a glockenspiel in the chorus. It was all very... um... Diana Ross and The Supremes, Motown kind of production values which we'd talked a little bit about. Um... it's nice. It's a got a real Eastern feel to it now in the guitar solos and um... I think it's quite exciting. And once again, live... it really um... there's a lot of adrenaline there. I like it.

Daniel: It is a good live song. Um... I don't... actually recall writing it. For some strange reason, I can't remember writing this song. And it sort of popped up in the recording process, and it was a few people's favorites within their companies, and Charles and the people that we were dealing with. And I, I just didn't know where it had come from. It'd come out of nowhere. But I did like the change that it took in the recording session with the Eastern feel, the... the guitar riffs and the intros. Um... it was a... sort of a technical thing, and one of the... the bottom E string was actually tuned to a D... um... I think accidentally. And it was... actually sounded a little sitar-y like, um... and it worked.

Track 7) Why Did You Choose A Career In Music?

Darren: I think... I didn't choose it. Neither of us chose this career, but for different reasons, I think. Daniel didn't choose to be a musician because… it was almost like a family tradition. I didn't choose it because from as young as I can remember, every time I saw anyone on television or went to a concert, I was secretly substituting myself there. I've always been a voyeur. I've always stood outside a concert or a performance and thought, "I wish that was me,"or if that "was me, what would I do?" so I can't answer that question. I think the whole reason I'm doing this is the answer to that question. I think once I get to a point which is, I don't know, worldwide success or something, it will actually teach me something. I think I have to learn something about this career, and I'm not sure what that is.

Daniel: I think I actually got into making music before that I actually got into listening to music. And I still don't listen to a hell of a lot of music these days. It's a bizarre thing. I think from a lot of covers bands in previous days learning a thousand songs kind of burnt you out very quickly on what... what we had a chance to listen to. So I've still yet to experiment with music that I really, really love.

Track 8) About: I Want You (Part 1)

Daniel: I Want You... this took 3, 4 different avenues in the writing process. Um... it's actually given us the opportunity to write 2 or 3 other songs out of it. Great one for live, since how it was a good single. The people love it. It's a really good song.

Darren: I think I Want You is really special. I think that it has such a unique sound, and once again, I sometimes don't even feel responsible for it, because I listen to the CD in context and it always seems to jump out at you. I think it was a really obvious choice for a first single. I think it's got a hell of a lot of personality. I'm really proud of just the production value and I love the blend of the vocals. There's about 12 vocals in the chorus, um... all double- tracked and harmonized. And the vocal in the verse is so fast and so um... intricate and it always seems to fascinate people, and I like it.

Track 9) About: I Want You (Part 2)

Darren: It just seemed to happen. I remember (sighs) coming back... the next day in the little room out in the front and sort of singing it. It was really quickly written, to be honest. I mean, we... I think I sang this song 2 days before we flew to Sydney to record the record. And we had it on TDK tape, (Daniel, in the background: That's right, in bed) just on a TDK tape. And it was the least produced or finished demo that we had for this record and was, in fact, almost shelved. It was... we tentatively put it up for selection, and it was politely looked at but sort of sat by the wayside. But by the time we recorded about 8 tracks, I guess we just slipped it in and... somehow it was assumed that we'd record this one and it, it seemed to uh... turn out really well.

Track 10) Do You Remember The Day You Met?

Darren: Absolutely. Um... it was probably one of those turning points in your life. I think you... meet a few special people in your life - one of them would be your soul-mate, and one would be that special person that you would connect with. And I think Daniel is probably one of those people. Um... I saw an ad in a music trader for a band that needed a singer, and I called Daniel up and there was about 5 or 6 ads I could have chosen. I chose his ad. It was the first audition I ever went to. Um... when I spoke to him on the phone, I clicked, and even after the audition, I remember leaving his house, I went to a restaurant with a friend of mine and I actually said to her, "I think that I'm gonna be really successful. Like I can feel it in my bones. Just from meeting this person."

Daniel: Hmmm... I definitely remember the phone call. Um... that was the first thing... the first time I've ever heard someone speak so humble, yet he had a , he had a little power in his voice that I just picked up on and loved. And actually to the point where he came around and I met with him. It wasn't a definite "Oh, of course." It was "There's something happening here, y'know something happening." And once he sang, I realized he had y'know a superb voice. Um... the relationship sort of tended to grow from there.

Track 11) About: Truly Madly Deeply

Darren: Truly Madly Deeply is... one of our favorite songs. It's strange, this one, because before we recorded the record, it was a very different song. It was Faster, it had a completely different chorus. And during the process of recording the record, I guess we changed a lot. We'd... (sighs) been relocated to Sydney. We were there for 8 months. It was the first time either of us had really left our families. Um... we were living in a one bedroom apartment, on each other's... case every day. It was quite a stressful situation, and... it was the last song that we recorded for the record. And I think, we talk about this now, even though it's a love song and it's based on a very personal experience, it's still a song about being homesick for us actually, just about the people that you love. And uh... we re-wrote it, and it... suddenly the tempo came down. The chorus lyric changed... um... and it was a real surprise. It was intended to be a very quiet, down-key finish to the record. And um... that's how we tried to produce it. And... during the recording process, it just showed itself as a much stronger track, and uh... when we looked at the finished record, we realized it was probably one of the strongest tracks... on there.

Daniel: There was a day when um... Charles and I were just hanging around, not really doing much in the studio, and uh, we had this song, Tru - uh... Magical Kisses it was called and uh... we wanted to play around with it a little bit. And we found a loop from um... some CD there and it was like... really slow, and we were trying to put it to this track and it just wasn't working. So we said, "Well, why don't we slow the whole song down so it fits this loop?" And that was the way it sort of ended up getting, you know, half the speed that, that it started out with. And it was a bonus. It just came out of nowhere. A definite bonus.

Darren: I remember I wrote the chorus... in... I think it's called Bayswater Brasserie... on um... Bayswater Road (Daniel, in the background: Bayswater, yeah) by Sydney... um over a cappuccino and... we actually had... um a keyboard and everything set up on in the hotel and I went back and we sort of sang the song. (Daniel, in the background: Yeah) And it just seemed right. And suddenly this song was a much more credible, believable song than Magical Kisses had ever been, (Daniel, in the background: Yeah) and it was because it was from the heart.

Track 12) Did You Imagine A Career Together In Music?

Darren: I don't think there was ever a stage when we decided that it was started... and that's why I think there'll never be a stage when we realize that it's over. I think it will just happen. It's like... we decided to invest a night to write a song together and see how it went, and that song was A Thousand Words, and it's a song that's on this record. And we were so confident after that, that we just decided to come back to each other's house every day. And really that's all this band has been. It's just a decision for both of us to keep coming back every day and keep doing it. But now we have a record deal. (Daniel, in the background: Mmm) Now we have an album out.

Daniel: Now we have to do it. (both laugh)

Darren: But it was always just... um... wow, that was promising - lets, let's keep doing it. And then, before we knew it, we were a band and we were... you know, we had a record deal and we had songs on the radio.

Daniel: In some way I enjoy going for my goals than actually getting my goals. I think the struggle of achieving something... is a hell of a lot more rewarding while you're doing it because it happens gradually, rather than just... I mean winning the lotto I wouldn't be... a struggle, would it? And it would be... it would happen fairly easy, where working up to earn, you know, if money is your success, a million dollars, then I guess th-that's probably more enjoyable and it will take a lot longer and you would look back on the whole thing and go,"Yep, I enjoyed this. I, y'know, I'm well deserved of it."

Track 13) About: Violet

Daniel: Great idea from Charles of the bass line came out in the studio, um, just started distorting it, made it really fuzzy, funky, blues... this song's got everything.

Darren: Violet... it seems like every song we're talking about changed during the recording process, but... this song, I guess one of the only things that changed was the bass line. It... moves and jumps now, and it's fat and fuzzy and very funky and um... as soon as that happened, the whole song just... came alive and then we were lucky enough to have Rex Goh and come in and play some fantastic guitar... on the track. Um... it's probably one of my favorite tracks as well. I can't decide whether it's really commercial or whether it's just really cool but I... I really like it and... um... it reminds me of the energy that you hear in a Prince track or um... Need You Tonight by INXS. There's just something about it. It has a sonic quality that just... it bubbles and pops... along. I really enjoy listening to it.

Daniel: It was actually a really hard song to record cause it was our first one. Darren and I had just flown down to Sydney, just met with this producer called Charles Fisher, walked into the studio, and all looked at each other and said "Where do we start?" And one of us said "Violet." (sighs) And about a month later, we actually got something happening on Violet. That's how long it took before we actually got something moving in the studio.

Darren: We actually... shelved it halfway through and thought well, hang on. You know, spent copious amounts of time working on the rhythm loop and the bass line, just trying to make it work, and in the end the solution was really simple.

Track 14) How Do You Feel About The Public Person Music Has Turned You Into?

Daniel: It's definitely not part of my makeup, I don't think. Um... I'd like to peak to an audience through a guitar or through a keyboard, rather than... my personality. Um... it's not to say I can't do it because I've learnt to do it. And I'm having y'know, having to do it. I enjoy some days of it, and I hate other days of it. It's just... it's... you've got to be ready for it, basically.

Darren: I'd, I love being a public person because I think I'm a person who feels the need to express... himself all the time, whether or not people want to hear it or not. Um... but I know one thing... doing this job has made me realize... um... a lot of things about myself that I didn't know. Because... you hear everything you said come back at you. You... see your words printed, and for the first time in your life, you see yourself from an objective point of view. And that can be a very humbling experience... um... and it's certainly changing... my personality. For good or bad, it's changing me.

Daniel: In a good way or a bad way?

Darren: I think in a good way. I think it's making me... it's, it's making me stop doing things that I've always done and never thought about. It's making me think a little bit more about what I say. About... um... the fact that I'm, I'm a person who always, you know, I'm a very one-sided person and see everything from my point of view, and it's... making me realize that... um there's a zillion personalities and there are a zillion opinions in, in the world. And that's what I mean about humbling me a little bit.

Track 15) About: All Around Me

Darren: All Around Me? Quirky, freaky, bizarre, fun. Um... initially it was my attempt, lyrically, to include an aspect of Daniel's life in our music, Because I felt a bit selfish that I'd taken over certain themes and whatever, and Daniel has an obsession... (sighs) with Meg Ryan, but it's a healthy one. He loves Meg Ryan very much. (Daniel laughs) And in our little home studio there's about 14 or 15 pictures of Meg... some of them wall-mounted. One of them from me as a gift to Daniel. And there's a scene in a Meg Ryan film called "When a Man Loves a Woman" and she's dancing. And she dances in a certain way and she says the words "stick-on tattoo." And the way she says those words is the personality of this song. We wrote a song... for Meg Ryan to dance to, (Daniel laughs) and it's all about being obsessed with Meg Ryan.

Daniel: And I thank you for that. (both laugh)

Darren: Although you'd never know it in the end.

Daniel: Um... it's, it's... a very bitty song. The song's... in... bits and pieces, and it's a little funky and a little disco and it's... there's hippie elements to the song as well. It's like, (Darren, interrupting: There's... ) computerized hippies.

Darren: It's pretty camp too. (Daniel: Mmm!) It's pretty... crazy (Daniel: Mmm.) and we were really uh... unsure about whether to put it on the record or not, and... it was only decided at the very last minute to put it on. Only because it, I think it's one of the only tracks where we really let our hair down. I'm really proud of the rap in the middle. It's (Daniel: Fantastic lyrics... ) quirky, but it's... lyrically, I'm really proud of it and you know, everyone who listens to the record says "Who did the rap?" And I'm like "Well, me." Well yeah, it's just a quirky little song. It's not meant to be taken seriously.

Track 16) In "All Around Me," Darren's Voice Has Been Treated In The Studio

Darren: It's like being an actor. It's like performing. (Break in recording - Darren's voice changes slightly) It's doing to your voice... um what a costume can do to your voice in... a stage play. Um... to be honest, really, the only effected part of this song is the rap. And it's actually the speed of the vocal and it was... it was a mistake. I was stuffing around with the vary speed... dial on the multi-track recorder, and I realized that you could change the pitch of your voice. So I um... pitched it up... a notch, basically. Like it's pretty close to the normal pitch of my voice, so there's a hell of a lot of play acting happening in that rap. Um... and when it came back, it sounded like chipmunks on steroids. (Daniel laughs) And I really liked it, so we kept it.

Track 17) About: Universe

Daniel: Uh, Universe... um... it actually started out... it sounded like Eric Clapton had met Joe Tetriani in a pub and said, "Let's go home now and write a song." (laughs) When it first started, it was a, a guitar-based... groove. Um... With some sort of, like a, lush sort of keyboards creeping in here and there. Then I gave it to Darren and he did this.

Darren: Well, I heard it in a different way. I thought once again, like Moon And Back, I thought it was one of the strongest pieces of music that Daniel had written, at that stage, he's since eclipsed himself. But at that stage, it really was, and I just had some ideas for a feel and the bass line subsequently changed. It became more Smokey Robinson, I guess. Um... to be honest, we'd been listening to That's The Way Love Goes by Janet Jackson - I thought it was a fantastic, sexy slow groove and I really wanted to sing a sexy, slow song and that was Universe. Um... then, mixing the track was another story. It was um... finished and recorded and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, and we really liked it. We were really happy with it. When we went to America, the Americans had an idea for it And they really wanted to see if they could change it. Um... and it was given to Mike Pela, who's done a lot of work with Sade, Fine Young Cannibals, um... and when he came back with the finished track, it sounded like a Smokey Robinson song. It was really... really ironic that it would go that way. Um... really sweet, I think it's a really... it's almost a perfect pop song.

Track 18) Charles Fisher Has Produced This Album. How Much Influence Has He Had?

Darren: It's funny, not... as much as we believed a producer would do. I think we went into this record waiting for... people to just turn it into a... greatrecord. We had the songs. Tell me where to sing, tell Daniel what to play, we'll do it. It was slow process, and what it did... it taught us to take responsibility. More than anything, I think Charles... taught us to make it our record, without taking anything away from Charles. He made us sit down and make decisions and be responsible for what was on tape. Um... taught me a lot about... the physical nature of recording, about... using equipment, um... introduced us to the sampler, suggests little... little sections in songs, which you don't think... are that important, but in the end, actually really top off the song. Especially in a song... there's a B-side called Promises and there was an outro section he suggested me inserting that in the middle of that, in the middle of the song and I did, and to this day, it's such a great... it's a perfect arrangement now, like the song arrangement is perfect.

Daniel: Charles' motto would be "Less is more." And... it was a perfect motto to have, for Darren and I, because we like to feel things out. We liked as much as we can put down, we'll put it down. Um... and we needed someone like Charles to go, "Okay, think about this, guys, why do you actually want to do this? You don't have to if you do this." And it was as simple as that. And we'd go, "Yeah, great idea." And it was a handful of them that helped make Charles produce this record the way he had. That's all it was. It was so simple.

Darren: It was um... simplifying things. Him saying "You don't need it to be that chaotic. Do this. Do that." And then, his real talent... is that Charles baby-sits the record when you leave. He spent two weeks tweaking it. We came back into the mix and there were... little glockenspiels and there were... string... sections in there and just tiny little pad bits that he had added at the end. Um... which just... they were like the seasoning, you know, on the meal. It just really... touched it off really nicely.

Track 19) About: A Thousand Words

Darren: The first track Daniel and I wrote and finished together was A Thousand Words. And it was... funny, I remember sitting in his front room and we said, "Let's... we're gonna do this, let's write some songs" and he said "What do you want to do?" And I said, "I've been working on this song" and... I pulled out the chords to Right On Time by... uh... that band, whatever that was (Daniel: Nightclubs... ) (Darren demonstrating the tune: Dan-dan-dan-d-dan dan) really simple house song and y'know and sang this different melody over the top, thinking I could fudge it, and Daniel said, "Eh, well, you know, we could go that way, but a zillion bands have, y'know, what do you actually want to do?" and we started talking about music and I was really into Achtung Baby... by U2 at the time and, I don't know, Daniel... was a big fan of INXS and Seal, I guess. But he pulled out a chord progression, which is the chord progression in this song and I pulled out a like a Manchester kind of beat... to go over the top of it, and it became... it filled the room. I remember thinking, "Wow, this is the most full, you know, piece of music I've ever heard in my life." And when I look back now, Daniel probably thought it was really simple, but for me, it was the most musical thing I'd ever seen or heard and... lyrically, it was... about a real conflict that I've had with... uh, uh... a friend of mine and it's someone I don't even speak to anymore. Um... it's funny, I'd had an argument with the person and uh... the song basically is about me phoning the person up and just telling them all the things that I'd always wanted to say to them, and that's, that's why it's called A Thousand Words... um... cause it's about me realizing that... in the end, (sighs) um... however sad... it is to admit it, there's probably not... a single word you could say... to make me... want to go through... this hell... and, and get back on line again and, and have this a part of my life again and it's funny because I since... sort of reconciled with that person and now I'm really not in that person's life anymore, but... the song... sums up the whole... vibe of that relationship for me, and yeah.

Daniel: A Thousand Words... (laughs) A Thousand Words is a song... that was... it was the virgin song. It was the first song that, that happened. I, I still think you can see Darren and I learning about each other... in listening to that song. It's... that was sitting there sort of like looking up at Darren and looking up at Daniel and the songs can say different things to each of us. But I think it's great that it's on our first record because it means a lot in that way.

Track 20) You Obviously Admire Each Other

Darren: Yeah, we do admire each other because our jobs are completely different. And I can't do what Daniel does and I'm not jealous (Daniel, in the background: Not jealous) of it. (Daniel: Yeah) I just admire it. And vice versa.

Daniel: Yeah, it's like, I mean I know my job, Darren knows his, and it's working so why, why would the hell would you want to change it? Y'know... um, it's, it's a good relationship, y'know.

Darren: I think it's... it is with fondness that we remember writing songs and recording songs because it's never a struggle. It's never a battle. It's just "here, I've done this"... and it... it's a little game almost. We try to... top each other. Daniel will... write a piece of music and it's like... oh my God, it threatens me because it's better than anything we've done so I'llgo "Okay" and I'll have to go away.

Daniel (laughs): It is... it's very much like that.

Darren: And I come up with something that's better than... than ever, and then, so I might come up with a song lyrically that just blows him out of the water and the melody's really quick and he'll go, "Well, have a go at this." And then he'll pull Carry On Dancing out of the hat and just show me that and...

Daniel (laughs): That's why I think a lot of people say... a lot of people who know that story say that we can't write a B-side, because we're constantly... struggling up against each other to make it a better song than what it was actually supposed to be, I mean, B-side, it's like hey, let's just fill a, a song on a single here, but (Darren: We have... ) we just can't do it. It's like no, I want to write a great song with this.

Darren: We have a lot of trouble (Daniel: Mmm) writing a B-side. (Daniel: Mmm) Someone once said to us "Don't write B-sides. Just write songs." And just... you know, some songs you'll spend more money on and others you won't, but for me it's like "but every one could be a potential hit," (Daniel laughs) "What do we do? What do we do?" But, you know.

Track 21) About: Break Me Shake Me

Daniel: Break Me Shake Me... again, was re-written from a track called Stepping Stone. For anybody who can get... their hands on our first demo tape... there should be a few out there somewhere.

Darren: I would strongly advise it, but...

Daniel: (laughs) Um... this is a guitar rock song, this is about... putting a guitar over your shoulder and being a hero for me (laughs). Live, it's a great performing, performing song. The light and shade in this song is incredible. It's just either in your face... or it's whispering at you. Um... I think it's a really strong track.

Darren: Break Me Shake Me, once again, to me, it's... I see this song, A Thousand Words and Mine as like a little trilogy. Or, it's a theme in the record and to me they're all really moody and we play them very close together live. Um... Break Me Shake Me, once again, is about conflict with a friendship, um... but it's someone that I, I love dearly but... it was about a very real... tension, and very real conflict that I had with the person. And um... it was a song called Stepping Stone. And... we reconciled after that song and we becamefriends and everything was fine, but the same... sorts of things started tohappen to our relationship and um... subsequently, the song had to be re- written. Because the first song didn't describe the situation anymore. This is part two... to that song. Um... and yeah, it's schizophrenic. It really is quite crazy. I remember we started recording Break... uh... Stepping Stone and it just didn't feel right and I started singing a different melody. I started singing the words "I never thought I'd change my opinion again" um... and Daniel said, "That's a great melody," and then we... ended up re-writing the song. Um... love it. It's probably close to my favorite song on the record, probably just underneath Carry On Dancing and live, it's my favorite song to do. It's just... great.

Track 22) Is It Important For You To Play This Music Live?

Darren: These songs... were born out of... a union which really started on stage. We, we met in live bands. And then we... retreated to a studio. And even though I love... song-writing, recording is not the most pleasant experience. It really isn't. Writing songs is great. Recording songs is tedious, and... it can be scary because... you're always... verging on losing the song... and it's, you always feel like you just got it. You just saved it. And you shove the lid on it, and that's the record. And it's there. But it, I don't know, it's like you get to re-live it again live. They're actually almost re-writing themselves, so live for me is a necessary.

Daniel: Mmm... likewise. I think that I could survive on song-writing and live performance only in all what happens within this business and that's from videos, the photo-shoots, the press, whatever, I mean, if I could just have that hour up on stage and then a few hours during the day to write a song to get up on that stage, I'd be happy. That's all I need.

Darren: I need a little bit more than that but... (both laugh) cause I really do enjoy... I love the visuals. I love writing, I love being involved in video and the creative side, and I do enjoy media, but... um... yeah... writing songs and being on stage is probably what this is all about.

Track 23) About: Mine

Darren: You Could Be Mine is, it's a song that's really, musically, all about delay. (Daniel: Mmm) Um... it started off with a bass line and a drum beat which delayed, and subsequently every instrument just had to be delayed too. Um... I think...

Daniel: Well, I only had one delay unit. (Darren laughs) And it could only feed the whole thing through or nothing. (Both laugh)

Darren: And it's just beautiful. It's, it's a swirling... um... it's one of my favorite songs on the record. I think that it slowly builds, it's quite beautiful, and it's a very cyclic song. When I hear it, I think of... like a... slow tornado or um... I think it's really romantic and really moody and very tragic, and um... I think Daniel did a fantastic job with... (Daniel: I) the instrumentation.

Daniel: I really enjoyed working with the strings. I... It was one of the first songs that I had sort of... thought about doing a string arrangement, in some of the string breakdowns and what not. And I really... thoroughly enjoyed it. Um... I would love to actually... work on films... or something like that, just as a hobby at the end of all of this or something, because I really enjoyed bringing out... emotion within the stringed instrument world.

Darren: That's the thing, I think, with this song and a lot of songs is that I think they feel... visual or almost a little bit cinematic, and Carry On Dancing has that feel and I think this does as well, and uh...

Daniel: Mm-hmm - To The Moon And Back at the end...

Darren: Mmm... so it's really easy... it's um... I like it because it's a song about... unquenchable desire and I think that's a really... it's a common theme... um... I think in our song-writing... .in my song-writing.

Track 24) About The Albums Artwork

Darren: Artwork was always a really important um, issue for me. And if I could, I would have included a 20-page color booklet. And there would have been, you know, art references and all sorts of things. And obviously for our first record, it just wasn't possible. The interesting thing about the front cover is that the name of the band is called Savage Garden. That's inspired from... a reference in Anne Rice's vampire novels and she talks about a vampire's world is a savage garden because they're beautiful, they're immortal... um... they have all these fantastic super powers, and yet... the reality is that they're just like a savage beast because they have to kill to survive. And in the end, they're just like an earthworm or a lion or, you know, a caveman in the jungle. They're all part of a savage garden. And um... a photographer in New York, Yelena Yemchuck, she works with um... the Smashing Pumpkins. When she heard the name of the band, she came out to the photo shoot with a Hieronymous Bosch painting and it was called The Garden of Early Delights, and inside that painting there was... all this beautiful imagery, and there was fruit and, and owls and stuff, and so that carried through to the photo shoot and uh... it just seemed like a really natural thing to put throughout the record. It just seemed to sum it up really nicely. (Break in recording - Darren's voice changes slightly) I think the front cover's just a really interesting photograph. It was actually... it's taken out of context... it was a funnier photo. The photo's actually quite funny, and when you look at it blown up, it's actually the two of us sitting next to a 60's television, and I'm rolling my eyes and Daniel's staring down the camera. And... it was funny because I think it showed how different we are. Um... when they blew it up, it actually becomes a lot more serious, and I think that the front cover, the way it's cropped, is a lot more dramatic... uh... and I like it because it's just stark and it's black and it's white and without meaning to, I think it does say a lot about us as individuals.

Daniel: Absolutely, yeah. I'm an angry, twisted person. (Darren laughs) And you're like "woo hoo!" (both laugh)

Track 25) About: Santa Monica

Daniel Uh... Santa Monica... um... this was a song that was never... had no intentions to actually be on this record. It was recorded in Brisbane at home... for zero dollars. This song cost nothing to record. Um... and the song, as itself, is... the reason why you didn't have to spend any money on it. It was just saying "I'm a great song." (Both laugh)

Darren: Um... Santa Monica was intended to be a B-side, and it's... we actually pushed... a recorded track off this record to put this one on. We dropped a track to put this on. Um... it was a song that, for me, started with a hand- held tape recorder on the way to a train station. We had finished recording the record, and I was walking along, and the, the pace of my walk probably set the tempo of the song. And... the chorus came straight away. The chorus, melody and the lyric was there, I sang into the tape deck and uh... I went back to Daniel and said, "Look, I've got this song. I think it's really, really good," and played it. Um... but I... there was no verse progression... at all. And so Daniel played a progression and I started singing over that and it just came... really easily, and... lyrically, it's one of my favorite songs. Um... it's funny because it, it's, it really has captured for me just a sense of um... uncertainty... we were feeling or I was feeling at the time of the record. It, it ties in... my American... reaction and my experiences with America as a first-timer and uh... for me, just hints at a little bit about the public mask that we've started to put on and uh... how... through the telephone or through... my computer or on the internet... um... I can hide behind something and I can be anything I want to be and you wouldn't know the difference. And that's that song.

Track 26) The Future

Darren: In the future, I think... I'd just like to be able to have the opportunity to make another one of these records, to be honest. It's really hard to see... too far down the line. I see, y'know, us making another 2 or 3 really good records and then I wanna start to get a bit crazy. (Daniel: Mm-hmm) I wanna start to... shake things up a little bit. I can see... I'd be doing different things. I really want to get into films and writing and visual things. Um... maybe even stage musicals. I'm not sure. There's... there are other things I wanna do, apart from... just being the lead singer of Savage Garden, but... for the next 10 years or 3 or 4 albums, it definitely involves me working with Daniel Jones (Daniel: Mmm) and writing songs together. Um...

Daniel: I think you could weigh up all the pros and cons now and look 2... weeks into the future and sometimes it looks that negative, that you could destroy it before you even realize how damn positive the whole thing is. Um... it's there... it's ready to be kicked along for as long as it can be. And I think... it's gonna be a lot of fun for us. And I think we will get... another successful record out, and that's the short-term goal that I'm heading for. And I believe that it's gonna be bigger and better and stronger than this one. And why would you stop at anything less?

Darren: I think even in the shortest-term goal, it would be... to successfully take this record on the road... and uh... just... see the next stage. Y'know, here's the recorded piece of music and here's the live performance and see how we can take those experiences away and write music and see what happens. Just get on board and see what happens.

Track 27) Callouts / Introductions

Darren: Hey this is Darren and Daniel from Savage Garden...

Daniel: ...and here's a track from our debut record

Darren: Hey, this is Darren Hayes, and I'm from Savage Garden

Daniel: Hi, this is Daniel Jones, and I'm from Savage Garden

#savage garden #daniel jones #darren hayes #interview #1996

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Early usage of the expression appears to be extra usual in Australia/NZ and also U.S.A. than England. The earliest clear recommendation I have actually found is for 'Goody Goody Gumdrop Ice-cream' which was marketed by the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream parlour stores in their early years, which was late 1940s/early 1950s in UNITED STATES. Somewhere else it is suggested that Reward Reward Gumdrop Gelato initially showed up in the UNITED STATES in 1965. There likewise seems to be a standard use the expression for ice-cream containing gumdrop desserts in New Zealand. Making use of the reward gumdrop expression in common speech would certainly likely have actually pre-dated its usage as a branding device for ice-cream.

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This is an adjustment of the earlier expression to be 'all over' something or someone meaning to be obsessed or absorbed by. A comparable expression to the 'cheap suit' allegory is 'throughout him/her like a rash' which is versatile in terms of gender, and once again compares individual attention to something obviously 'on' the sufferer, like a fit or a rash. Lipo360 crm features 'm eager to find the earliest use the 'inexpensive suit' expression - please tell me if you recall its usage before 1990, or much better still can suggest a considerable well-known early quoted example which may have developed it. Chambers Dictionary of Etymology varies slightly with the OED in recommending that charm replaced the earlier English punctuation charism around 1875. The preference of the 1953 Much shorter OED for words charism and also personal appeal suggests that preferred use charisma came much behind 1875. Chambers states the Greek root words are personal appeal and also charizesthai, from charis and also pertaining to chairein, implying rejoice. According to Chambers again, the adjective charismatic showed up in English around, from the Greek charismata, suggesting favours offered.

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Words additionally showed up very early in South African English from Afrikaans - more proof of Dutch beginnings. This table definition of board is just how we obtained words boardroom too, and also the popular very early 1900s furniture called a sideboard. See likewise the expression 'sweep the board', which likewise describes the table significance of board. Various references have actually been mentioned in Arabic and Scriptural writings to suggest that it was initially based upon Middle- and also Far-Eastern customizeds, in which blood routines symbolised bonds that were more powerful than family members ones. ' The blood of the commitment is stronger than the water of the womb' is a description quoted by some analysts.

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If anyone recognizes of any kind of particular references which may sustain this idea and to connect it with the Black Irish expression please tell me. This usage is more probable to be a misunderstanding and abuse of an earlier significance of the 'black Irish' expression, based upon black significance angry. for the birds - ineffective, unreliable facts, unacceptable or insignificant, indicating that something is just for weak, unintelligent or lesser individuals - American origin according to Kirkpatrick and Schwarz Thesaurus of Idioms. Decharne's Thesaurus of Hipster Slang in fact referrals a quote from the Hank Janson unique Chicago Chick" 'It's insane man,' I informed him, 'Genuine crazy. Purely for the birds.'" - however doesn't state whether this was the initial usage. Maker's Dictionary of Expression and Myth definitely makes no reference of it which suggests it is no earlier than 20th century. The term suggests the little minds of birds, as well as expressions such as 'bird-brain', as an allegory for individuals of minimal intelligence. amateur - non-professional or un-paid, or much more just recently a disparaging term meaning amateur - words originates from the very same punctuation in Old French 'amateur' significance 'fan', originally suggesting in English an enthusiast of an activity.

Earliest usage of break meaning luck was predominantly USA, initial taped in 1827 according to Partridge. manager - supervisor - while there are myths suggesting beginnings from a particular Mr Manager, the actual derivation is from the Dutch 'baas', meaning master, which was adopted into the United States language from Dutch settlers in the 17th century.

Incidentally Brewer additionally recommends that the Camel, 'ruch', became what is currently the Rook in chess. It seems that playing cards were originally called 'the Books of the 4 Kings', while chess was referred to as 'the Game of the 4 Kings'. Maker also points out a reference to a particular Jacquemin Gringonneur having "repainted and also guilded three packs for the King in 1392." Unconnected but surprisingly, French vernacular for the horse-drawn omnibus was 'four commonplace' which equated then to 'parish oven' - what a terrific expression. Bottom also mentions a kick up the backside, being one more approach of propulsion and ejection in such scenarios. Partridge/OED suggests the good luck facet probably derives from billiards, in which the first shot breaks the initial development of the rounds and leaves either chance or difficulty for the opponent. This sense is sustained by the break definition reprieve or relaxation, as in tea-break.

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resting duck - easy target or something that is at risk or defenceless to strike- an allegory from shooting field sport, in which a sitting or hatching out duck, would be a much easier target than one flying airborne. Oddly there is very little etymological recommendation to the extremely usual 'sitting duck' expression. doolally - mad or insane - initially a military term from India. Soldiers at the end of their term were sent out to Deodali, a community near Bombay, to wait to be shipped residence. The warm environment, irritation as well as boredom caused weird behaviour amongst the postponed troops, who were claimed to be dealing with 'doolally tap', which was the full expression. In the late 1600s a domino was a hood, attached to a cape worn by a clergyman, likewise a veil worn by a female in grieving, as well as later on a domino referred to a cape with a mask, worn at masqueredes. This was from French, stemming at first from basic religious Domino referrals in priestly language.

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Surprisingly the old Indo-European root word for club is glembh, very comparable to the origin word for golf. expat/ex-pat - individual living or functioning abroad - the modern-day 'expat' (and also significantly hyphenated 'ex-pat') expression is typically thought to be a reducing of 'ex-patriot', yet this is not real. Around 1800 the expatriate word ended up being made use of as a noun to imply an expatriated individual, but still after that in the sense of an eliminated individual, as opposed to one that had actually voluntarily emigrated. The early use of the migrant word described the loss of citizenship from one's homeland, not a short-lived or reversible circumstance. Making use of expatriate in its modern-day analysis seems to have begun around 1900, as well as was popularised by Lilian Bell's unique 'The Expatriate', concerning wealthy Americans residing in Paris, published in 1902. Strictly talking therefore, the appropriate form is expat, not ex-pat.

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In 1968 the pop team 1910 Fruitgum Firm had a small UK graph success with a track called Reward Reward Gumdrops, and also there is no doubt that the expression was securely established in the UK, UNITED STATES and Aus/NZ by the 1960s. There is some association with, and possibly some influence from the 'Reward 2 Footwear' expression, because the meaning is basically buffooning or belittling a gain of some type. Golf is a Scottish word from the 1400s, at which time the word gouf was additionally used. Related to these, kolfr is an old Icelandic word for a rod or blunt arrowhead. All these obtain inevitably from Proto-Germanic kulb, subsequently from the ancient Indo-European word glebh. The primary viewpoint suggests that the word golf perhaps entered Scottish language from Dutch, where comparable words were utilized especially describing video games involving striking a round with a club.

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cul-de-sac - dead-end road, a road closed at one end/blind street - this commonly utilized English road indicator as well as term is from the French, implying the very same, from cul as well as cavity. Incidentally, calling somebody a 'cul' in French relates to the insulting English term 'arse', since cul additionally implies all-time low or backside of a person. I am educated also that cul de cavity is considered a rather off-color expression by the French when they see it on British road indicators; the French use instead the term 'standstill' on their own dead-end street signs. The orginal usage stems from the French créole, from Portuguese crioulo, associated the Portuguese verb criar, to elevate, from Latin creare, meaning produce. The name 'Socks' was rather obvious the champion, as well as the cat properly named.

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A meant John Pedestrian, an outside staff of the company Longman Clementi and also Co, of Cheapside, London, is one such person referenced by Cassells jargon thesaurus. hoodwink - deceive deliberately - the hoodwink word is first tape-recorded in 1562 according to Chambers. It merely stems from the literal significance and make use of to explain covering the eyes with a hood or blindfold.

It specifically associates with specific enthusiasms as well as sense of satisfaction or destiny. The fulfillment of individual objective - past academic and adult conditioning. A basis of analyzing whether you've maximized your life, when it's far too late to have another go. As at September 2008 Google checklists 97 uses of this word on the whole internet, but most/very much of those appear to be typing errors accidentally signing up with words life as well as wishing, which don't count. I'm open to recommendations or cases of very first usage and source. Occasionally you can see the birth or very early development of a brand-new word, before virtually any person else, and also absolutely prior to the thesaurus. If you read this in 2008 or perhaps early 2009, then this is probably one of those occasions.

Words mews is really from Falconry, in which birds of prey such as goshawks were made use of to catch rabbits as well as other game. Falconry came to be exceptionally popular in middle ages England, and was a favourite sporting activity of nobility up until the 1700s. Mew was initially a verb which explained a hawk's moulting or dropping feathers, from Old French muer, as well as Latin mutare, implying to alter. Mew after that became a name for the hawk cage, and additionally explained the technique of maintaining a hawk closed away while moulting. The imperial stables, at first developed in Charing Cross London in the mid-1200s, were on the site of hawks mews, which caused the word mews to move to stables. lifelonging/to long-lasting - something purposeful wanted all of your life/or the verb sense of wanting something for your whole life - a lately progressed portmanteau word.

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Today's metaphorical expression as well as significance 'to deceive' developed in the early 17thC from the earlier use the word to suggest 'hide' in the late 16thC. Her transformation is qualified by her having simply a solitary footwear when bad, and also being given a pair of shoes, which noted the start of her brand-new discovered and also evidently enthusiastically self-proclaimed pleasure. https://lipo360.co.uk/treatments/rushden might be from as much back as the mid-1800s, because 'goodie/goody' has been used to define delicious food since then, which would have offered extra importance to the definition of the expression. Likewise, words gumdrop as a name for the range of chewy sugared periodontal sugary foods appears to have actually gone into American English speech in around 1860, according to Chambers. Nevertheless it's more probable that preferred use of goody gumdrops started in the mid-1900s, among kids, when mass-marketing of the desserts would have raised.

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Personal appeal, which most likely expanded from charismatic, which grew from personal appeal, had mainly drunk its spiritual associations by the mid 1900s, and also advanced its non-religious significance of personal magnetism by the 1960s. More detail about the beginnings as well as interpretations of charisma is on the personal appeal web page. Maker's sight is that playing cards were established from an Indian game called 'The Four Rajahs', which follows the idea that the origins of playing cards were Asian. In The Four Rajahs game the playing pieces were the King; the General (referred to as 'fierche'); the Elephant (' phil'); the Horsemen; the Camel (' ruch'); as well as the Infantry. Similarly Brewer states that the Elephant, 'phil', was converted into 'fol' or 'fou', meaning Knave, equal to the 'Jack'.

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Chambers actually contains a great deal even more information concerning the variations of the diet regimen words connecting to food specifically, as an example that words diet professional looked like late as 1905. It is fascinating that the initial Greek significance and derivation of the diet plan - course of life - relates so strongly to the contemporary concept that 'we are what we eat', which diet plan is so carefully linked to just how we really feel and also act as individuals. The modern-day diet regimen word currently resonates plainly with its real original significance.

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The images of a black cape as well as mask eye-holes ultimately offered the ideas for the dominoes game to be supposed - in both languages the video game was initially called domino, not dominoes. Interestingly, the name of the game got here in Italy also later on, around 1830, from France, cycle to its Latin origins. So, while the lord and master origins exist and no doubt assisted the adoption of the name, the accurate association is to a black cape as well as mask, instead of lordly prominence or the winning objective of the video game. The words entered into the English language by regarding 1200, and 1450, from the Greek, through Latin, after that French. The diet significance assembly was likewise affected by Latin dies definition days, associating with diary as well as timing. The Latin type diaeta likewise generated the German tag as it shows up in words for assembly, Reichstag, Bundestag, as well as Landtag.

The terms 'cookie crashing' (pertaining to breasts and sexual intercourse - utilize your creative imagination), 'cookie duster', as well as 'cookie crumbs' (Expense Clinton's undoing) prolong the the sex-related undertones right into even more salacious region. The paradox is naturally that no-one would certainly have been any kind of the smarter regarding these definitions had heaven Peter administration not looked for to safeguard all of us. Using the word hint - as a metaphor based upon the sphere of thread/maze story - referring to solving a mystery is initial tape-recorded in 1628, and previously as clew in 1386, in Chaucer's Tale of Excellent Women. The intimation is to the clingy as well as apparent nature of an economical fit, likely of a tacky/loud/garish/ unappetizing design. When it comes to adulation there may likewise an idea of toadiness or sycophancy.

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thebeckychronicles · 7 years ago

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Post 40: Lesson & A Year Later

Lessons- what did you learn Jenni?

Honestly- a lot but at the same time I don’t know if I can answer that question in total confidence.

I know I said I didn’t want to make a lesson out of this trip from hell, but now with even the smallest bit of distance, I can appreciate the bits and pieces I’ve discovered along the way. I needed distance, and with that distance I’ve chosen to look for the good, make something of this hurt.

The first?

I’m not afraid of dying anymore. It’s more that I’m afraid of missing out.

When I was diagnosed it felt like I was handed a death sentence. But isn’t that what life is? The guarantee of an eventual death? Morbid thoughts but stay with me here. I’ve learned to be okay with that. I’m not really afraid of dying anymore. My biggest fear when I was in the in between of remission and recurrence when it came to death was missing out, on life.

Being sick was constant FOMO (feeling of missing out). The thought of dying by Becky was suddenly having the worst case of FOMO. I’d miss my family. Tani’s graduation from middle school and so forth. Santi’s graduation from elementary and so on. My parents’ finally getting their visas and going home. Seeing my siblings fall in and out of love and married, starting families. My friends, my best friends. I didn’t want to miss anything or anyone. I didn’t want to miss out watching my family grow and blossom. But in having cancer, having these constant fears I’ve learned (as much as anyone I can guess) to be okay with dying. I just don’t want to now. Who does (insert text slang “lol”). It’s like that final line from Gladiator when Juba tells Maximus’ spirit as he buries the little figurine in the arena, “I will see you again, but not yet. Not yet.”

When the time comes that my soul has exhausted its adventures in this life- I’m determined to have not missed out on anything. From the little to the small. I guess I’m understanding that whole “live life to the fullest” bit I’ve heard so much about. Because right now? At 21, I’ve had a good life. A great one, even. And while it’s been rough and fantastic and awful and awe inspiring, I haven’t done enough. I’m not satisfied at all. And yes- 21 years or 1,000 years- none of it will ever be enough but I can at least try to make it seem like it. Were I to die today I’d think, I could’ve loved harder, more openly. I could’ve read more books, learned the cello, hiked more, gone bouldering, seen the Northern Lights, loved more, gone to fucking Australia because I swear Australia is gonna be where I spend my golden birthday. It’s not that I’d die with regrets if I died today. It’s that I’d die with dreams still unrealized, love not given/shown.

And maybe not everyone has to have this great epiphany to understand this. Maybe this is a lesson I should’ve innately known, and to some degree I did, but after the year I’ve had I don’t just know it- I understand it.

The second- “Bliss is knowing the full meaning of what you’ve been given.” (David Levithan)

I think I’m understanding even more the meaning of bliss. Bliss isn’t easy. It’s not comfortable. It’s understanding, and really seeing. And seeing what exactly? Well that depends on the person and their experiences. Bliss is appreciating.

I know what it is to be so afraid of something you can’t ignore, can’t dismiss and can’t escape. My fear of my body and my resentment for all its failings, (to this day) at times overshadows my love for my life, for my body.

I’ve wanted to escape my body, my thoughts, my heart, my life for so many different reasons. Cancer was the first time I ever really wanted to escape, or abandon, everything I am in the name of survival. I wanted with the most visceral desperation to escape this body that was doing nothing but hurt me.

And in this desperation I understood what bliss is. It isn’t winning the lottery or buying a new car. For me, it was being able to eat and not throw up a half hour later. It was blood that did what it was supposed to do. Bliss was looking in the mirror and recognizing myself. It was my hair. My god my hair. I miss my hair. Bliss was my body being a home, and not hurting. Bliss was not hurting because oh god did I learn what it was to hurt. I discovered so many new ways I could, and did hurt. That was the bliss I learned in my time during treatment. That was bliss when I was sick. Bliss was, and still is, health because man do I know what it is to lose that. Bliss has expanded its definition since then. Bliss is being awake at 3am because I’m reading not because everything hurts and I can’t stop throwing up. It’s going to school, and getting stressed over exams and homework. It’s going out in public because I don’t have to worry about catching an infection. Bliss is being home because I want to, not because it’s the safest place for my fragile body. Bliss is the morning, that moment I wake up and think “I’m so fucking tired but I’m here. I’m still here.” Bliss is my family, my friends. Bliss is understanding that life is idyllic and loss and joyous and heartbreaking. And that one can’t fully be itself without the other. I can appreciate that now.

The third thing I’ve come to learn is that self-love is actual work, taking care of yourself is hard work. That loving yourself and all your complicated and soft bits is a constant effort.

A year ago, I was given this sort of fucked up gift that I didn’t want. One I didn’t ask for. One that changed my life in ways I can’t fully verbalize or understand but absolutely feel. But right now I’m going to try.

A year ago, on my mother’s birthday, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I had just turned 20, I was tired all the time, I was working a lot and going to school full time. I was going at full speed, towards what exactly- I don’t know. But once that doctor hit me with that diagnosis everything in my life came to a roaring stop. Cancer exposed me to a whole new, and for me more demanding, understanding of self-love.

Because there were (and sometimes still are) days I hated myself, my body, my reckless blood.

There were days I so absolutely hated my life.

There were days that hurt so much death didn’t seem all that frightening anymore.

I’ve read a lot of blogs and watched a lot of YouTube videos about people maintaining their positive attitudes and outlooks through their treatment, and I can 100% say I did not have a positive attitude most of the time. Yeah, I kept my sense of humor and I wasn’t crying all the time because what the fuck else was I going to do? Sit on my ass and think about how shitty this whole thing was? I didn’t have to make an effort to be upset about it- my unhappiness at the time was a constant. Regardless of whether it was in the back or forefront of my mind, it was always there. Like those whole, “you’re brave,” “you’re strong,” etc. I was nothing but what I needed to be to survive. Then and now. I went through treatment begrudgingly, not with a smile on my face. A lot of people say that positivity is what saved them, or helped them recover. And for many people that is the truth, I’ve seen it. But for me, I clawed my way through that time, and even now with a sort of stoic indifference. Sometimes I look back and it feels like it happened to someone else. There were days even going through it, I had this weird sort of whiplash. Like I couldn’t understand this is me. I have cancer. I am a cancer patient. I’d see myself hooked up to all these different machines and all these drugs dripping into me with this detached feeling. My point in explaining all this is that for a long time, and still now, I had to build my own wall of China in myself for my own sanity. And I had all this anger and resentment and loathing that needed to be directed at something otherwise I’d explode. And because it was my body that was fucking up; because it was my blood that decided to become cancer I was the landing pad to my own antipathy. It ended up being that that wall barricaded me from it. I don’t have cancer, but that body does, this disease isn’t mine, it’s that body’s. And because it was that body that made me sick, I was free to hate it as much as I needed to. And maybe that doesn’t make sense or it does, but that was my thinking in that time. But obviously there is no true separation between my disease and me. And because there is no longer any disease to hate, I’m left with all this toxicity to work through because I’ve resented myself all along even through that imaginary wall of China.

Did I lose you there?

Having cancer made me feel like a fucking basket case, especially to my family and friends. I felt so pathetic. Unwitting looks of sympathy or pity (because sometimes they looked same) from them or even strangers made me feel so small. And losing my hair and gaining the weight I did made me feel so unattractive I could barely stand to see myself in the mirror.

All this just built up to having to unravel or work through those awful feelings I had towards myself. And that has been like a fucking dam breaking. No little leaks here and there, my feelings have not gone gently or been easily understood.

I want to thank this life and this body for teaching me that loving is a choice. That it’s a choice you have to make every single day, throughout the day and will always have to make. I want to thank this life, thank this body for giving me this lesson of learning that loving isn’t just a feeling. It’s action. It’s a lesson that has to be learned, and relearned over and over and over again. To love this body that has been my greatest source of hurt, and my most complicated place of comfort is a lesson I have to choose to understand daily. To love this body that will forever be a source of primal anxiety for me, is something I have to learn. Something I need to accept. I’ve felt my resentment just as deeply as I’ve felt my desire to let it go, to love this body- and having to deal and live with the starkly different emotions fused together all in the same body has at times left me baffled. I don’t know how to unravel them from each other yet, or where to start. Maybe it’s right here. All because the hurt is here, all because my worst fears were born in this body, all because this body has been my greatest disappointment and savior all in one, doesn’t mean it’s not worth loving, worth taking care of. I love this body. Even when it doesn’t love me back.

The fourth of these Big Things I’ve learned is that life is not black and white. It’s not easily understood, if anything it’s wildly confusing. And that’s what’s so excruciatingly beautiful about it.

I want to thank this life and this body for teaching me not to fear death, but more than anything not to fear life. For letting me experience how acutely painful this life can be. But moreover, helping me understand that this life can be good. That the good can grow here, through the hurt. For letting this experience be joyful, painful, exciting, traumatizing, elating, nerve wracking and everything in between.

Thank you for helping me understand how nuanced and dynamic this life is. Because even if it’s awful. That’s not all it is. Even when it’s amazing, that’s not all it is.

This isn’t a silver lining. This is life.

The fifth is this: you really don’t get a lot of choices in life. And that can be terrifying and freeing all in one. There’s a freedom in understanding there is so little in your control. Your choices have little else to do other than what is in front of you, and what you choose to make of it.

There’s this quote by Sarah Dessen- about living life carefully:

“Careful," she called out to me, her voice sharp; part admonishment, part warning. But I'd been that way all this time, and it hadn't changed a thing. Maybe it was better to barrel through life, breaking fragile things and catching on every jagged edge. Neat or messy, calm or crazy, I still ended up in this same place.”

There’s no point to living life carefully. And more than anything I don’t want to. What’s the point, truly? “I still end up in this same place.”

Life is just one big reaction. The main choice in life is your answer to the question, “Where do I want to go from here?” Answers to big questions can come in many different forms, they all still answer the same thing though.

Live your life the way you want to, in a way that honors your soul and is honest to your beliefs. It’s true that at the end of the day only you can bring satisfaction to yourself. Break the ceiling, get caught on every jagged edge, make a mess if it means following the path your gut is pulling you toward. If it’s where you’re meant to be- you’re going to get there either way, so why play it safe? What’s so risky about doing what you want and making the life you want for yourself with absolute abandon?

Love yourself. Do yourself the favor of building a life for yourself that you’ll love.

And know- you will always have the ability to clean up or fix your messes when you need to.

Don’t walk through life on eggshells.

Conquer your fears- or at least learn to live with them.

Fall in love-

With a million things and a million different people

Follow your heart- as cheesy as it sounds- there are a lot of things you can regret in life, don’t let not trusting yourself be one of them.

Be honest.

Grab what you want with both hands and don’t apologize for it.

You only get to keep today. That’s it. And today is always changing.

Choose happy.

Do things that make you think your heart is about to crack your ribs.

Do things that make you feel absolutely crushed and in awe and inspired and holy shit we’re alive and isn’t that amazing???

The fact that you are here is all miracle. You are all gold and lungs and miracle.

Act like it.

Believe that this life is yours for the taking.

Make mistakes.

Think things twice.

Apologize when you should.

Laugh and laugh and laugh.

Love others, even when it’s difficult.

Love yourself, always.

Thank you to this life.

To this body.

That broke my heart, and disappointed me, over and over and over again.

Broke it only to make it better.

To this body that chose to be a body and home again.

Thank you to this body, this blood.

For loving me. For saving me. For hurting me in a way I can acknowledge the lessons. In a way that can make me better.

#Hodgkins Lymphoma #the becky chronicles #cancer survivor #cancer #fuck cancer #remission #remission life #lymphoma #it's still lit #life #health

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brigdh · 7 years ago

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Reading Wednesday

Barbary Station by R.E. Stearns. Adda and Iridian are two engineers newly out of university and in love; Adda specializes in Artificial Intelligences while Iridian is an army vet who does mechanical engineering. Unfortunately in the capitalist dystopia of the future, they're both saddled with enormous student debt and see their only future as signing draconian job contracts that will force them to live on separate planets. So instead they decide to join the galaxy's foremost pirate crew! :D However, when they reach Barbary Station – the nickname of the abandoned space station the ungendered pirate Captain Sloane has taken over – they find out that matters are more complicated than they appear. Namely, the station is controlled by a murderous AI security program determined to kill all "invaders" (ie, the pirates), and there's no way for anyone to escape or for help from the outside to arrive. The pirates, in fact, have been stuck there for the last two years (long enough for a few kids to have been born) and have deliberately lured Adda there without warning in the hopes that she knows enough about AIs to provide a solution. If she can do so, she and Iridian might just escape with their lives and be given the chance to join the pirate crew. Complicating matters is the fact that most of the pirates fought on the opposite side of the recent war than Iridian did, and some of them might just hold enough of a grudge to secretly kill one or both of our main characters. So that's the plot. As for my opinion on it.... Argh, I have such mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand: lesbian space pirates of color! INCREDIBLE! And there are some genuinely fantastic bits of worldbuilding. One of my favorites was the notion that people living on a space station don't use terms like north and south or starboard and port, but rather lockside (ie, towards the airlock, towards the outside) and homeward (the opposite, deeper into the station). I loved that everyone in the pirate crew had to justify how much atmo (a slang term combining oxygen, pressure, heat, gravity, and all the other stuff it takes to keep a human alive in space) they used; anyone who cost more than they brought in was likely to get booted. "The cold and the black" is a common substitute for saying "space", which is deliciously eerie. On the other hand... there are a lot of problems. The worldbuilding is incredibly complicated and prone to being conveyed in confusing infodumps. As a random example: "The forty ticks shuttle to and from the hub has never been hit before.” Signs in the docking bay below the base put the pirates twenty-three ticks from the docking bay which served as station north at 100/0. That was the point where the increments that divided the station into one hundred virtual cross-level slices started over at one. The shuttle was closer to forty-six ticks, over a third docking bay, if the symmetric modular layout continued all the way around the station. Ring station points of reference were much easier to follow with a mobile map. A more helpful station AI would’ve been nice too. “The shuttle’s a blind spot,” said Si Po. WHAT. I cannot turn that into an image in my head despite reading it four times now. Indeed, after finishing the whole book, I still have no idea of the details of the often-referenced past war or any coherent sense of what the station or the pirate's hull base looks like; there are all sorts of plot twists hinging on the difference between a regular AI, a zombie AI, and an awakened AI, whatever the hell those are. This bewilderment is not helped by the fact that the book seems to have needed one more editing pass; occasional dropped words or repeated words make things even more confusing. (And I bought a physical copy, so it's not just an ebook's miscoding!) For example: Her armor’s O2 reservoir had enough empty space for the portable tank’s remaining contents. When she connected the O2 tank to her suit, her HUD reported that the suit reservoir had enough empty space for the portable tank’s remaining contents. To be fair, this example is by far the worst in the book. I didn't notice a whole sentence repeated anywhere else. Adda and Iridian are an established relationship at the beginning of the book, which should be fine – I'm actually a huge fan of established relationships and wish they were more common in fiction! Their romance is extremely healthy and conflict-free. That's nice and all, but it unfortunately doesn't make for intriguing reading. Nothing changes between them over the course of the whole book because there's nothing to improve on from what's already there. The closest thing to a plot in their relationship is that Iridian wants to propose to Adda, but can't find a good moment to do so. That is not exactly page-turning suspense. You can totally write healthy, established relationships that have exciting plots, but Adda and Iridian have no tension, no worry, no angst, no drama, no longing, no victory between them – nothing to make me care about them as characters or as a couple. In addition, the explanation behind Adda and Iridian's decision to become space pirates never convinced me. I mean, student loan debt sucks, but we've got plenty of it in the US today and roving bands of pirates have not yet appeared. As Iridian puts it at one point, They’d sacrificed all the money they had, their clean criminal records, their academic connections, hell, maybe even their Near Earth Union citizenship, for this. Not to mention risking their lives. I need to believe they would give all that up, and they're just not given enough of a reason. They also seem weirdly disconnected from the reality of being pirates; they both reiterate at multiple points that they don't believe in murder, and Adda even gets upset at seeing a minor character beaten up. I can enjoy the Disneyfied version of piracy myself, but it's a moral dissonance that's hard to sustain for an entire adult novel that's taking itself seriously. What does piracy even mean to Adda and Iridian if it apparently involves nothing immoral? So, in conclusion... I have no idea. There are amazing parts to Barbary Station, there are dumb parts, there are ill-thought out parts. Do I recommend it? Eh, who knows. Overall I'm glad I read it rather than skipping it, but it could have been a great deal better than it is. The Birds at My Table: Why We Feed Wild Birds and Why It Matters by Darryl Jones. A nonfiction book about the science and research behind those little feeders many of us hang up in our backyards or apartment fire escapes. From the cover and blurb, I'd expected a light, breezy read, but The Birds at My Table is instead a quite academic review of the various studies that have analyzed how and why humans feed birds, the effect of all this free seed on the birds themselves, and the history of bird-feeding as an organized hobby and (these days) enormous commercial industry. Sometimes academic to the book's detriment, to be honest; I was looking forward to funny anecdotes more than I was to analyses of the calcium/phosphorus ratios in seed mixes or the effect of adding Vitamin E to fat-heavy supplementary foods. Still, there's lot of interesting factoids to be found here. Did you know that bird-feeding is hugely controversial in Australia, with many wildlife organizations recommending against it? Or that many Australians who feed their backyard birds anyway do so with meat instead of seed? I was also fascinated to learn that one potential cause of the passenger pigeon's extinction may have been trichomoniasis, a disease commonly carried by the non-native pigeon of city streets, and which may have been passed across species by their coming into close contact at feeders. Overall a good book if you're interested in the topic of feeding birds, but only if you're prepared for a rigorous dive into the current scientific research. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

[DW link for easier commenting]

#books #book reviews #r. e. stearns #barbary station #darryl jones

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quotespicture · 5 years ago

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https://quoteswithpicture.com/gallipoli-1981-movie-review/

Gallipoli (1981) Movie Review

By Stuart McLaren (Norwich, UK)

Having revisited this film recently, I was genuinely surprised at how well it has stood the test of time and what a cracking story it was. The film’s major backdrop is the disastrous Dardanelles campaign in the First World War and, in particular the role of Australian troops in that theatre of war. The film was directed by Peter Weir, of Picnic at Hanging Rock fame, and starred a young Mark Lee and a young Mel Gibson (…whatever became of him)? The stars were supported by a great cast of believable character actors.

The film also gave us, in its final scene, one of the most iconic still frames and film poster photographs from 20th Century cinema. For my money the Gallipoli final frame shot is up there with the female robot from Metropolis, Charles Foster Kane surrounded by newspapers and/or booming from the campaign lectern and the isolated rickety house on the hill from Psycho.

The early part of the film deals with the story of Archy (Lee) and Frank (Gibson) and how they meet, turn from rivals into friends and then go off to enlist in the Australian Army. Archy is the beaming eternal optimist of the pair, while Frank is the more experienced, world-weary, cynical, jack-the lad character. It should be mentioned that Archy is the better runner of the two protagonists, which we glean from a country fair prize-money race where Jack is well beaten by Archy. The athletic ability of the two runners will become significant later in the film.

Archy is coached by his Uncle Jack (Bill Kerr) and that element is one of the weaker points in the film, although not from an acting point of view, as the scenes involving Archy and Jack establish a very close bond and loving respect between the two characters, as Jack tries to compensate for Archy’s missing father. The weakness is the mantra that Jack instils in Archie to motivate him when running, which involves references to steel springs and leopards (an incongruous mix) and just doesn’t sound like the sort of thing that character would have said back in 1914/15 where the early part of the film is set. It almost feels like the film is trying to do an impression of Chariots of Fire (also 1981) in this respect; although as Chariots was released in May and Gallipoli in August of the same year, I guess that must just be coincidental.

The film then progresses to Archy & Frank’s journey across Australia to Perth. Having illegally jumped on a cattle train, without knowing its destination, they awake the next day to find that their carriage has been abandoned in a stockyard and the next train is 3 weeks away. At this point, they embark on a perilous foot journey across the desert. This is where the director really captures the heat and oppressive atmosphere and sheer scope of the Australian landscape, with plenty of wide panning and long-shots although, surprisingly, very few shimmering heat-wave at ground level shots. Maybe Mr. Weir thought the definitive heat wave long-shot had, famously, already been achieved by David Lean in Lawrence of Arabia (and nobody would seriously argue with that); or maybe he just didn’t have the right lens or camera to hand? Either way, we get the message that the duo are suffering from the heat and lack of water, and in very real danger of not surviving. Spoiler Alert: They do survive.

The desert journey plot leads to one of the very best scenes in the film when, by pure chance, they come across their saviour, a camel driver/traveller (beautifully played by Harold Baigent) who provides them with food and water. The scene around the campfire is brilliant. From the rancid, fly-infested meat that is offered to Archy & Frank – which nobody would eat unless they were starving – to the topic of conversation. Our heroes tell the traveller about going to Perth to enlist and join the war, to which he replies “What War”? When it is explained that Britain and its colonies, along with France and Russia, are at war with Germany, the traveller’s laconic response is simply…“I met a German once. Good fella, he was”. The subsequent conversation reveals the extent of the traveller’s ignorance – through no fault of his own – with regard to European nations and world geography, which just enhances how remote and out of touch the Australian hinterland would have been in those times. At one point he admits that he went to “a city” once, and “didn’t like it” – a speech that, funnily enough, is repeated virtually word for word in Crocodile Dundee which was released five years after Gallipoli.

The film then progresses to Archy and Frank’s attempt to join the glamorous Light Horse Regiment. Archy is underage, but that is overlooked because of his horsemanship, while Frank’s lack of affinity with horses is shown up when he attempts the simple riding test that acts as an entry requirement for the regiment. Frank’s failure to get a horse even moving, causing much amusement for the other volunteers and army personnel. So, the two friends are separated and Frank eventually joins the less glamorous infantry, along with a bunch of old work mates he runs into in a Perth bar.

The Australian army is then shipped overseas to Egypt for basic training, before being deployed into the war zone. There are some very amusing scenes of the “fish out of water” type regarding the soldier’s adventures in a foreign land, their dealings with the locals and first experience of a foreign culture and, for some, their first time being away from home. Frank’s mate Snowy (David Argue) does a good turn as the suspicious of everybody xenophobe. Other good scenes in this part of the film include a misunderstanding about a market stall, the infantry men mimicking upper class British cavalry officers, and a memorable speech by an infantry medical officer about the dangers and debilitating effects of venereal diseases, which he knows will fall on deaf ears. The actors/soldiers all manage to convey the sense of that unique form of male bonding, good natured ribaldry, laddish behaviour, rowdiness and “no-worries” attitude (known as “larrikinism” in Aussie slang) that Australians have become associated with throughout the world.

In an attempt to relieve the boredom, the high-ranking officers arrange a fake battle in the sand dunes between the Light Horse (by now on foot) and Infantry regiments. This descends into a free-for-all punch-up, and then gets even more chaotic as the soldiers realise that by playing dead (i.e. a casualty of the fake battle), they will not have to run around in the intense heat – at which point an exasperated Sergeant screams “You can’t all be dead”! However, Archy and Frank are reunited during the fake battle, and Archy subsequently persuades his Commanding Officer to allow Frank to transfer to the Light Horse, on the basis that the cavalry units will not be using horses in the war zone and that Frank is a good runner and would make a good army foot messenger, a vital function in trench warfare. Frank joins the Light Horse much to the chagrin of his infantry buddies who think he is being a snob and just fancies himself in the ostentatious uniform – which he clearly does.

Eventually the troops embark on the journey to the Dardanelles peninsular, and this is where the serious part of the film takes hold. The historic reference point is the Battle of the Nek (from bottleneck) in the Gallipoli campaign, which in truth was a disastrous attempt to attack Turkish machine-gun armoured emplacements by means of an uphill infantry charge from the Allied occupied trenches. While this may seem like a ridiculous strategy to modern eyes, it should be borne in mind that the First World War was the first full-scale industrialised war, in terms of armaments, so there was precious little direct officer experience of that kind of warfare at the time. The Battle of the Nek took place on 7th August 1915, WW1 had begun in July 1914 and Turkey had entered the war in October 1914.

One of my usual pet hates in “movieland” is glaring inaccuracies such a people using modern language in historical dramas, displaying modern sensibilities/political views that just wouldn’t have existed in the relevant era, etc. I think we all watch movies as a form of escapism, and to get fully immersed in the story and period being portrayed. Unfortunately, when a jarring inaccuracy occurs it throws your belief in the story and characters, which can ruin the rest of the film. Gallipoli, on the other hand, is in the very high percentiles for its historical accuracy and period detail, with just a few very minor tweaks to enhance the story and to emphasise the anti-war message.

So, some historical context. The Dardanelles campaign is often referred to as “Churchill’s folly”, or “Churchill’s biggest mistake” both of which are really misnomers. While it is true that the idea of attacking what he called “the soft underbelly of Europe” as an alternative to “chewing barbed wire” on the Western Front was Churchill’s idea – he was then First Lord of the Admiralty and, therefore, in charge of the Royal Navy – his idea was purely for a naval manoeuvre and attack. The idea being allied warships would progress through the Dardanelle Strait, bombarding the Turkish defences and then attack Constantinople/Istanbul from the sea. The overall aim (if successful) being to knock Turkey out of the war, and thus establish a second Eastern Front (Russia was already fighting on the first) from which to attack Germany, thus splitting the German forces. However, many of the warships used were outdated and subsequently sunk by Turkish bombardment from the land and/or the mines the Turks had laid in the narrow straits. 4 warships were damaged by mines, 3 of them sinking, on just one day of the campaign. It was only after the failure of the initial naval attack that an amphibious landing of troops was conceived, and not by Churchill alone, but by the British War Council.

For those who like their numbers, in all somewhere in the region of 450,000 Allied troops took part in the Gallipoli campaign, including British, French, Australian, New Zealand, Indian and Canadian troops. The Allies suffered around 250,000 casualties 46,000 dead, and most historians estimate that the Turkish forces would have suffered similar casualty rates. Undoubtedly the Allies underestimated the strength of the Turkish fortifications and armaments, and their determination to defend their homeland at all costs. The campaign ended in a humiliating defeat and withdrawal of the allied troops after a year of fighting, for no real gain. Churchill was, (rightly or wrongly) largely blamed for the strategic debacle and resigned from his Admiralty post, and subsequently took command of an Infantry Regiment on the Western Front.

Returning to the film, the scenes prior to the battle depicting the landings, the day to day boredom of trench warfare (punctuated by periods of extreme stress and danger) and the gallows humour and fears of those involved are depicted well. The film shows that the troops fully realised what a bad strategic position they were in, encamped on a cliff face, with Turkish fortifications and machine guns occupying higher ground. Scenes such as the Aussie Insurance Policy raffle just emphasise the troops awareness of their own predicament.

Of course, the film focuses on Australian troops, when other nationalities were involved in the campaign, but this is an Australian film. Moreover, Gallipoli had a real significance in the development of Australia as a nation, because WW1 was the first time that they had entered the world political/military stage (and made a huge human sacrifice) as a relatively new independent nation, having gained independence from Britain in 1901. Which is why the Australian involvement in WWI is solemnly commemorated on Anzac Day (Australian & New Zealand Army Corps.) and other remembrance events. Nearly all the accounts of the war, both from participants and academic historians, pay tribute to the fighting skills, courage, audacious bravery, tenacity and sheer “bloody-mindedness” not to accept defeat of the Anzac troops. Therefore, it would be an act of gross impertinence to criticise an Australian film director for highlighting and celebrating those martial attributes.

In the film, Frank’s friends take part in an attack where one dies and one is so badly wounded that he is refused food and water in the makeshift hospital, thus raising Frank’s awareness of the scale of carnage. A word here about Frank’s mates, good acting throughout the film particularly the character of Billy (Robert Grubb) and Les (Harold Hopkins).

As the film builds towards the Battle of the Nek, and the disastrous infantry charges, Archy is offered another chance by his commander (an athletics fan) to act as a messenger/runner. He refuses saying he wants to take part in the battle, Frank is the only messenger we see in action. Confusion surrounds the whole enterprise, as telephone and written messages travel between the various commanders. The exact timing of the attack is not synchronised. An artillery attack that is supposed to accompany the first wave of Aussie troops going over the top stops too early, allowing Turkish troops to re-occupy their gun posts and trenches.

The commander in the Allied trenches, Major Barton, (another good performance by Bill Hunter as a fatherly figure concerned for his troops, but ultimately prepared to be sacrificed with them) attempts to relay the futility of the attacks to his superiors via Frank’s message carrying; after phone lines have been damaged. We see Frank dodging through heavily congested trenches while delivering messages back and forth. These scenes are accompanied by brilliant use of music from Oxygene II by Jean-Michelle Jarre – whose Dad, Maurice, also knocked out a few good film tunes in his time. Although Oxygene is a modern piece, and not composed as a film score, it perfectly captures the urgency, anxiety and dangerous nature of running messengers in trenches. There is even an underlying counterpoint that sounds like sniper shots and shrapnel blasts. This music is so appropriate, that I can even forgive the use of the ubiquitous Albinoni’s Adagio elsewhere.

The messages from the trenches are ignored by the superior commander, who cites reports of allied marker flags having been seen in the Turkish trenches, and demands Major Barton continues with the 2nd, 3rd & 4th waves of infantry attack, which Barton considers to be equivalent to murdering his troops. Frank then suggests Major Barton goes above his own superior’s head, in the hope the attacks will be called off, sending Frank on another important errand.

Once again, you can’t fault the historical accuracy, even if names of commanders have been changed, no doubt for fear of lawsuits. The Artillery did cease the bombardment early. There was a lack of synchronisation of commander’s watches, which led to that error. The real-life Acting Brigade Commander, Major-General John Antill, was given reports that marker flags had been seen in the enemy trenches, thus (mistakenly) leading him to believe that the attacks were successful and should be continued. There really were four waves of charges, even though those directly involved knew it was pointless after the first wave were slaughtered. Incredibly, there really was an order given for the troops to advance on one charge with bayonets only and no bullets in their rifles, meaning, technically, they could not fire at the enemy until being given a counter-manding order. The real trench commander Colonel Noel Brazier (Major Barton in the film) did call the attacks “bloody murder” and attempted to get them stopped by going to the overall commander Colonel Frederic Hughes who, according to historians, took much longer to come to a decision than depicted in the film.

The only slight quibbles I have, and I only mention them because I am British, is that we are told in the film that “the British are making tea on the beach” when in fact British troops were supporting the attacks in the actual events. And secondly, the Antill equivalent character in the film, Colonel Robinson (John Morris), is portrayed as an upper-class British Officer, when in fact all the Allied decision-makers in the real battle were Australian officers. However, this is a well-established movie and television trope, and us Brits are used to it; honest! Examples would be all of the bad Roman’s in Spartacus, Sydney Greenstreet’s villains in both The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca; George Sanders in All About Eve and voicing Shere Khan the Tiger in Jungle Book; right through to Stewie at his most evil in Family Guy…“What the deuce”! All villains with upper-class British/English accents. Talk about stereotyping.

That digression aside, the film makers seem to have done their research thoroughly in order to depict the communication failures, tactical errors, and the futile waste of life that occurred in the actual event. If you have any doubts about that I would refer you to the comments of the Australian war historian L. A. Carylon, who memorably described the combatants as “Lions led by Donkeys”. The same author is also equally scathing of the real-life commanders involved, stating that…”Hughes was the Brigade Commander and didn’t command; Antill wasn’t the Brigade Commander and he did”.

In the film, Frank finally gets a decision from the most senior officer and scurries back through the trenches. Meanwhile, Archy, Major Barton and their compatriots are about to go over the top, leaving written notes, their watches and other valuables pinned to their trenches. Yet again, this did really happen, indicating that the soldiers knew they probably weren’t going to survive. Frank is well aware that time is of the essence and is busting his lungs to get to Major Barton’s position, just as he is nearing the relative area, he hears the whistles being blown as the signal for the fourth infantry charge to go over the top. As viewers, we share his anguish at not making it in time and, of course, the hidden implication is that Archy, as the better runner, may have made it in time and thus altered the result.

At that exact same moment, Archy is seen nervously reciting that mantra to himself before leaving the trenches and running like mad towards the enemy position, seemingly without even carrying his rifle. Leading to the superbly poignant final frame of the film. If any slightly cynical movie viewers (and I would include myself in that group) think that scene is a bit far-fetched, guess what …think again! Apart from the silly leopard/steel springs mantra, the rest is almost certainly based on a true event. There are first-hand accounts from survivors of the battle, as well as the official history, “The Story of Anzac” by C.E.W Bean, where reference is made to a soldier named Wilfrid Harper from Western Australia, serving with the 10th Australian Light Horse, who was killed in that final charge at The Nek. Wilfrid Harper was known for being a talented athlete and sprinter before the war, and according to the official account of the battle was… “last seen running forward like a schoolboy in a foot-race, with all the speed he could compass” (sic).

The losses at the Battle of The Nek may not have been the greatest in WWI, by comparison to the Somme, Ypres etc. on the Western Front, but the actual ratio of Australian casualties is horrifyingly alarming. The Light Horse (LH) Brigade consisted of 300 men from the 8th LH Regiment (234 casualties, of whom 154 were killed) and 300 men from the 10th LH Regiment (138 casualties, of whom 80 were killed).

Gallipoli, therefore, is a largely accurate depiction of a historical battle that is/was of great significance to Australia. Peter Weir has created a really good film that, without in any way minimising the tragic events and the huge sacrifices made, manages to pinpoint the accepted command errors, while maintaining the viewer’s investment in the story of the main characters. As such, this is a fitting tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice at The Nek, and a film that will probably remain meaningful for future, in a way that grainy footage written accounts from the actual events may not.

Gallipoli belongs firmly in the pantheon of great anti-war movies along with: All Quiet on the Western Front (original German version); The Big Parade; Paths of Glory; The Deer Hunter; Platoon and Born on the 4th July. There can be no finer praise for Mr. Weir’s film.

Rating: 5/5

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