#covert affairs icons

[bullet-prooflove]

Covert Affairs: Vostanik Sabatino x Reader (feat: G. Callen)

Tagging: @kmc1989 @novamariestark @words-and-seeds @thiashazzywriting @whateversomethingbruh

You’ve been with Sabatino almost two years when your relationship gets thrust into the spotlight. It’s a litany of stolen moments whenever he arrives back in LA. Whirlwind dinner dates and nights spent ruining you in the sheets of his hotel room. You hit your favourite brunch spots, ranking them with detailed notes you keep on your phone for the next time he’s in town. He gives you a tour of Hollywood, the places he used to haunt back in the day when he was playing with his band. You catch a couple of shows over pitchers of beer in a dive bar or two.

“Do you ever think about doing it again?” You ask him as you watch the band from a spot near the bar. Your back comes to rest against his chest, his arm looped around your waist, holding you close.

“Maybe one day, when I finally put down some roots.” He murmurs into your ear as he nuzzles the curve of your throat. “I miss making music.”

He fucks you in the bathroom of the bar, the pulse of the music vibrating through the walls as he goes down on you to a God-awful rendition of ‘Killer Queen��. Whenever you hear that song in the aftermath, you think of that night. His mouth on you, tongue thrust deep inside when you come for him just as Freddy hits the high note.

Sam’s away in Somalia when Nell and Eric identify a problem. Someone has been downloading classified data from the NCIS server and selling it on the black market. An investigation is opened into everyone who was working at a computer terminal during the download, and you happen to be one of them. You’d stayed late to catch up on the after-action reports after losing a bet to Callen at the shooting rage.

It’s ridiculous that a tickle in your nose just as you’re about to pull the trigger is the reason your whole life blows up.

Part of the investigation includes cloning the personal phones of the people under suspicion so they can deep dive into their lives. You make it relatively easy, leaving yours in the top drawer of your desk when you hit the gym with Kensi. Nobody really believes it’s you, you’ve been with them six years. You’ve shed blood, cried tears, saved their lives, fought their battles. For Nell and Eric, it’s simply a process of elimination, that is until they find a wealth of incriminating data.

Calls from multiple international sources they can’t verify.

An encrypted message app, hidden under the calculator icon.

A secret cache of files that are password protected.

It’s all high-level security, something you don’t need on your personal device, almost NSA level shit. Even with their tech savvy it would take hours to break into the phone and they don’t have that kind of time because you’ve just received a text from a burner cell telling you to meet at The Majestic Hotel, Room 216, later this evening.

You must be meeting the buyer.

They can’t take the risk of that information falling into the wrong hands, so it becomes an op with you as the target. It’s hastily put together, there’s no time to run prior surveillance because it’s going down just as they pull up to the hotel. They catch a glimpse of you stepping into the room before the door closes quietly behind you.

Callen, Deeks and Kensi take up residence just outside the door, allowing a few minutes for the exchange to take place before they use the keycard to gain entry.

When they burst into the room guns drawn, it’s not what anyone expected.

The first thing they see is Sabatino. He’s in a state of undress. His white button up shirt hangs open, revealing his bare chest including that messy scar etched into his flesh. There’s lipstick marks trailing down the hollow of his throat, staining his skin. It’s fire engine red, the shade you were wearing. He holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender, his body shielding you from what he perceives to be a threat.

For Callen it's an echo back to that day in Afghanistan, the one when Sabatino put himself between you and the bullet that would have ended your life.

When you step out from behind him, you’re in a similar state of disarray. Your lipstick is smeared across your mouth, your hands tugging the fabric of the black wrap dress around your body covering up the lingerie that you’re wearing.

You’re both arrested and taken to separate interrogation rooms in the Boatshed. You’re silent in the face of the accusation but Sabatino, he will not stop talking. He’s pissed on your behalf, that your team won’t give you the benefit of the doubt, that you’re being treated like a criminal. Him, he’s used to this shit, but you deserve better.

You don’t blame them for suspecting you, you know how it looks. You’d be doing the same thing in their shoes; in fact, you have.

They sweat you for a while, leave you spinning your wheels. It’s standard procedure in a case like this, let the suspect get in their own head, make them eager to talk. You know what’ll happen in that time, they’ll find evidence of your relationship with Sabatino. It’s not that that bothers you, it’s the intimate items you’d brought with you to the hotel room sitting in your overnight bag. The one that someone is now going to have to search through. It’s humiliating.

It's Callen that comes to interrogate you, you didn’t expect anything different, he is your superior after all. You know that your conversation is about to get a lot more personal because Callen has to consider the possibility that Sabatino’s been using you for intel, he wouldn’t be doing his due diligence if he didn’t.

“Your relationship with Sabatino, take me through it.”

So, you do, from that first kiss in the car to the last time he was in town. As you detail your relationship, things start to make sense to Callen, pieces he hasn’t put together until now. Sabatino’s reaction back in Afghanistan when you were taken, the fact he’d undertaken the prisoner walk instead of a member of your team. He had known that bullet was coming, that the Taliban couldn’t afford to let you go. He’d been prepared to die for you that day.

Callen thinks about earlier in the hotel room, Sabatino’s first instinct had been to get between you and whatever was coming through that door. He understands that urge, it’s reactive and primal, like a wolf protecting his mate.

There’s other things he’s noticed. Sabatino’s smile when you’re around, it brighter, more genuine. The look he gives you, there’s always a warmth in it despite the fact he’s being a smartass. The last time they’d arrested him, he’d been reserved but this time he’s irate and Callen knows that it comes from a place of love. That he’s infuriated on your behalf.

At the end of your story, you give him the passwords for your phone. Everything you need to prove the existence of your relationship resides on that device.

“See for yourself.” You tell him and he does.

Those files you’d encrypted?

Selfies.

The two of you eating ice cream on the boulevard, the sun setting in the background. Sabatino kissing your cheek as you smile into the camera at a bar in Hollywood. Him playing a guitar on the couch in your living room, a book of chords laid out in front of him. There’s more of them, documenting your relationship over the past two years. For anyone else these would be normal Instagram images but for someone who’s a covert agent they’re a death sentence.

The hidden chat app?

It’s full of voice notes filled with private, intimate things that no one else should ever be privy to.

When I look up at the sky tonight it reminds me of Afghanistan, the first night I spent with you.

You looked too beautiful to wake up this morning, I’m sorry I had to leave.

The sun’s just rising here, and all I can think about is how I wish I was waking up next to you.

The international calls?

Callen realises it’s Sabatino checking in, letting you know he’s still alive.

By all accounts he’s looking at a couple in love, one that’s been forced to keep their relationship a secret due the nature of Sabatino’s career. Callen’s worked for the CIA; he knows the risks. He also knows that this man would set the entire world on fire if anything happened to you.

“Come for a drink tonight.” Callen suggests when it’s all said and done. “I wanna get to know Sabatino a little better, you know, just in case he ends up joining the family.”

You roll your eyes as you stand in the main room of the Boatshed, gathering the few personal items that had been transported with you.

“Our very fucked up little family.” You retort.

“Neither less he’s important to you, so he’s important to us too.” Callen tells you.

You can hear the sincerity in voice. Callen doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean, not to you. You’ve been lied to too many times in the past before you’d transferred to LA. Your old partner back San Diego had been corrupt, it had been a severe blow to your psyche. You’d been transferred to LA because you were deemed a problem child. Callen got that, he’d understood it. He’d made you a deal.

“If you’re upfront with me, I’ll be upfront with you, it’s a two-way street.”  

That’s the way the two of you operated and it had worked consistently over the past six years.

“Even after all of this.” You say gesturing at the monitors that oversee the interrogation rooms.

You’re talking about the fact that you’ve spent two years hiding your life with a man, he has a kinda love/hate relationship with. Out of everyone you work with Callen has the most trust issues, this should be a problem for him, but the thing is, it’s not. He understands it on both levels. You’re protecting the man you love, and Sabatino, he’s protecting you too.

“Especially after all of this.” He says firmly before he places his palms on the surface of the wooden table and tilting his head up to meet your gaze. “Look I’m not going to pretend I understand what you see in the guy, but he cares about you, hell he almost died for you, and I can’t fault him for that. Trust me I want to, but I can’t.”

There’s an edge of humour to his voice because his interactions with Sabatino have always fluctuated between irritation and respect. The man is an excellent operative, and the problem is he knows it. You find yourself smiling despite yourself, your fingertips tapping lightly on the table.

“Alright.” You agree because this how you step into the light, how the two of you move forward into the future. “But the drinks are on you guys tonight.”

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[mortimerlatrice]

KinnPorsche Music in Context: Episode One

It needs to be said: I started thinking about how a few of the songs used as KinnPorsche background music had incredibly apt or punny titles months ago. It’s been sort of poking around in my head that it might be some light, surface level meta to collect!

Ho boy was I wrong. I don’t know what I expected because absolutely nothing in KinnPorsche is just surface level. In episode one, I have already found several hysterical jokes, commentary on the shifting power dynamics, water symbolism, and many more gems.

Here is the link to my episode one Spotify playlist. I know there are quite a few playlists out there, but even scouring three of them, I still found additional songs that were not cited or mentioned.

There are 37 (yes, you read that correctly, 37!) songs in episode one and that's in addition to a handful of reprisals, so the insanely long list is under the cut.

For other episodes (as I get to them), go here!

We start, of course, with our beloved theme song, เพียงไว้ใจ (or PhiangWaichai) by Slot Machine. There’s plenty of thoughts on this, I’m not digging into it.

Introducing Kinn – Quantum Sonata by FormantX.

Kinn and Big head into the Italian’s den – Our Final Mission by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen. This is the last time Big will join Kinn on a mission as his head bodyguard (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)

Introducing Don and the Italian gang – Waltz for Little Italy by Bireli Snow.

Introducing Porsch – Diggin' the Drama by The New Fools.

Kinn making accusations and  Porsche mixing drinks hoping to get lucky – Covert Affairs by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen.

After Kinn's iconic "I'm more like my mom," we are introduced to the song that makes the most appearances this episode: Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, L’estate (Summer) composed by Antonio Vivaldi. Now here’s where the KinnPorsche crew start to do what they do best: give us things to obsess over and over analyze.

The concerto has 3 movements and to be honest I’m not 100% sure that they pull from only one of them for the show. Remember when I said I wasn’t musically inclined? If anyone wants to chime in, please do.

Another fun thing about this Concerto? It is traditionally associated with or accompanied by a trio of sonnets (one for each movement). Oh, did I mention Vivaldi was Italian? Themes.

Anyway, the sonnets translated from Italian to English:

I. Allegro non molto– Under the heat of the burning summer sun, Languish man and flock; the pine is parched. The cuckoo finds its voice, and suddenly, The turtledove and goldfinch sing. A gentle breeze blows, But suddenly, the north wind appears. The shepherd weeps because, overhead, Lies the fierce storm, and his destiny. II. Adagio; Presto– His tired limbs are deprived of rest By his fear of lightning and fierce thunder, And by furious swarms of flies and hornets. III. Presto– Alas, how just are his fears, Thunder and lightening fill the Heavens, and the hail Slices the tops of the corn and other grain.

Source

Porsche and his fanclub at Hum Bar – Late Nights by Daxton.

When Yok calls Porsche over to the bar – Mysterious Madeline by Lucas Pittman.

As Kinn is driving over the bridge and they realize they're being followed (and when Porsche is making eyes at the woman across the bar) – Road of Fury by John Abbot.

Big and Kinn fleeing into the tunnels when Big is shot and Kinn is being chased down – They Are Coming by Hampus Naeselius.

There is a brief snippet here with a snare drum and a cymbal (I think?) when Porsche is cheekily asking Kinn for money and pissing in a bottle, but I couldn’t isolate it enough to find it. Any help would be appreciated!

Here, we’re introduced to the perfect fights song, Absolute Power by Hampus Naeselius, when Porsche beats down the street thugs and drives off with Kinn.

She Knocks by Lukas Amil plays when Porsche is being a brat and leaves Kinn at the gas station.

When Porsche comes home to Chay bandaging up Arthee – In Rain - Indigo Days. Can you say water symbolism?

The Joys And Sorrows of Life by Johannes Bornlöf gives a little hope when Porsche and Arthee are sitting and talking about finances and how much they could make off Kinn’s watch.

Porsche at the underground fighting ring has three songs in quick succession: Back to Where it Began by Rockin' For Decades,

Second Hand Slide by Lucas Pittman,

And Around the Bend by Pip Mondy as he turns the fights to his favor. [It is worth noting that they use a sort of stripped down version during most of it, but I couldn't find that version, so they may have done it themselves]

When Porsche comes home to Chay and Arthee celebrating making so much money off the watch we get Gentleman at Heart by Indigo Days. I think this one’s interesting because I’m actually not sure if it’s about Arthee or Porsche…

When Don finds his men tied up and (maybe dead?) – Let Me Introduce Myself by Rune Dale. This comes right after the scene where Korn chastises Kinn for his decision to enrage Don instead of “giving him gifts.” This is Kinn telling Don exactly how he plans to run things and how very different he is from his father. Kinn's mother must have been ruthless with a good sense of humor.

When Kinn asks Chan about finding Jom/Porsche, we're back to Vivaldi’s Concerto. Like the shepherd, Porsche's Destiny hangs over his head.

College Porsche and his stolen pastry get Moonshiner's Turn by Martin Landström.

Jom is approached to act as "a waiter who's actually the greatest boxer undercover,” our dear theater kid gets Concert Hall Hideout by Stationary Sign.

A moment later when Porsche realizes he's been caught? Cheese! by Alexandra Woodward. [This one is not on the Spotify playlist but I did find it on Epidemic Sound.]

When Porsche calls Chay, worried that Chay may be targeted or even taken by Kinn? Extraction by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen. Which is a truly horrible double entendre because the very next song is

Clogged Up by Jerry Lacey. I'm not even dignifying this scene with a response.

Kinn sweet talking Yok (with veiled threats) – Infiltrator by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen.

Porsche’s kidnapping – Honor the Brave by Hampus Naeselius. 

Kinn reading Porsche his own biography – Beryllium - Farrell Wooten. Beryllium is, according to a brief google search, a natural metal that is expensive, brittle, and dangerous to work with (toxic).

Porsche's fight theme – Absolute Power. Except who has the power this time?

Brief reprise of She Knocks as Kinn once again watches Porsche walk away from him (or throw himself off the boat in this case).

When Korn and Kinn discuss how to force Porsche, and moving into the next scene when Porsche finds Chay cleaning up after another break-in, and through to Porsche finding Thee being beaten up – The Stakeout by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen.

When the loan shark tells Porsche that Thee still owes despite Porsche believing they had paid things off, leading to Porsche forcefully kicking Thee out of his and Chay's life? Ghosting by Christopher Moe Ditlevsen.

When Porsche finally tells Thee to leave and after, when Porsche goes home alone to clean up his ruined house, we get one of my all time favorites – Bitter Heart - Instrumental Version by Memi. Although the soundtrack presumably uses the instrumental version, I would argue that the lyrics were taken into account when choosing it:

“Suddenly you look like a stranger A face I knew, but I must've forgotten … We know we could've done it better Fought for the little things that we wanted … Oh, I wish that you hadn't pulled the trigger Shot me down with my bitter heart My blood is getting thicker You shot me down, you shot me down With my bitter heart”

This is getting way too long, so I cut some of the lyrics but I strongly recommend checking out the original.

As Chay tells Porsche that their parents would be proud of him, there is a very brief reprisal of In Rain.

It then switches to No More Drama by Eric Feinberg as they hug and Porsche tucks Chay in. This calls back to the song that first accompanied Porsche, Diggin’ the Drama, and Porsche has made his decision. He can't keep living like this and he can't let Chay live like this either. 

Porsche's letter and Kinn pouring himself a drink – a reprisal of Gentleman at Heart.

During the famous "your life is mine" scene where, at least in the translation, Porsche asks if Kinn is a god, we get a third reprisal of the Concerto. Porsche's destiny is set, the storm has blown in and ruined his life leaving him desperate.

When Porsche confronts Korn and asks to be Big and Ken's boss and through to Korn Playing Chess – So to Say by Taylor Crane

At which point we get one, final reprise of the Concerto as Korn places the Queen on the board and the game begins.

Finally – Free Fall by Slot Machine.

And, in the interest of being thorough....

Episode Two Preview – Global Impact by Philip Ayers.

[shuvodipray]

SuperMan Weds Black Widow

Chapter 1

Clark Kent adjusted his glasses and tie nervously before entering the extravagant ballroom in one of Moscow’s most opulent hotels.

As an ace reporter for the Daily Planet, he was used to rubbing shoulders with VIPs and celebrities. But even he felt out of his depth at the glitzy espionage trial that had become sensational global news.

The defendant - infamous super spy Natasha Romanov who the world knew as Black Widow - had unleashed explosive revelations about conspiracies and undercover operations. Clark was covering the trial, while Superman kept alert for violence that seemed inevitable given the powerful figures implicated.

Sure enough, right after Natasha took the stand, chaos erupted as gunmen raided the courtroom. Clark ducked behind an upturned table before discreetly unleashing his Super alter-ego...

Chapter 2

Superman shielded civilians from falling rubble as special forces engaged the attackers. Amidst the mayhem, he spotted the red-headed Natasha hiding behind the judge’s stand, casually firing at insurgents with stolen guns. Her stoic poise despite the mortal danger intrigued him, as did her fierce determination to survive overwhelming odds.

Once hostiles were neutralized, emergency responders flooded the scene. Superman made sure Natasha was uninjured before questioning her privately after noticing suspicious inconsistencies - she clearly had military training yet downplayed it on the stand earlier. “Just an average ballerina,” she winked playfully, deflecting further queries.

Before vanishing into the night, Superman gave Natasha an approving nod - “The world could use more citizens standing for truth and justice like you, Ms. Romanov”...

Chapter 3

Months later at an Arctic Hydra base, Superman and Black Widow crossed paths again under more violent circumstances. This time, Superman watched in awe as the lithe spy unleashed a lethally efficient barrage of moves decimating a squad of flamethrowing agents before hijacking an advanced spaceship prototype in the hangar.

Catching up as she piloted the ship, Superman assisted taking down pursuing Hydra pilots before offering - “Would you like some help evading them for good? I promise not to ask too many questions about your interesting line of work.” He had solve enough of the mystery behind this compelling woman to know her skills matched her bravery.

“How can I refuse Kryptonian air support?” Natasha smirked back. “Maybe we'll meet again if you’re lucky, Superman..."

Chapter 4

Over the next 2 years, Superman and Black Widow crossed paths with increasing frequency as global threats inevitably intertwined Avengers and Justice League affairs. Covert observation somehow became shared battles against terrorists and alien warlords which subtly gave way to stolen moments between just the two of them.

At first, their bond seemed unlikely - the paranoid spy from Russia and idealistic alien icon. Natasha typically shied away from personal ties given her duties and bloodstained past. But around Superman, her walls softened. His selfless nobility and gentleness stirred feelings she had long repressed. In his eyes, she felt worthy of loyalty and care.

Likewise, Superman found inspiration in Black Widow’s tenacious spark. She matched his tireless commitment to protecting humanity with wit, skill and savvy he lacked. As Clark Kent, he also empathized with her isolation behind personas. Before either realized, stolen weekends gave way to implicit understanding they completed each other. Danger brought them together but far more now bound them...

Chapter 5

And so months later, to the delight of romantic fans worldwide and shock of fellow heroes, Clark proposed to Natasha while foiling a LexCorp scheme. Even Batman cracked a smile when they broke the news, after threatening to hunt Superman across galaxies if Natasha was ever hurt. The engaged couple’s joy bloomed, ignoring the inevitable media circus.

As wedding planning began, Clark and Natasha stole moments alone in remote mountain ranges and oceanside villas between averting doomsday missions. They had witnessed enough strife to cherish interludes of laughter, stories from vastly different upbringings, and promises of a future neither expected. Vows were whispered on the edge of space and under starlit skies.

Until one fateful day, their legendary wedding united former spies, reformed assassins, aliens, kings, and remarkable friends who all now called them family. Binding her life to selfless protector from distant stars, Black Widow embraced hope she long thought impossible given her past. With a kiss, they turned lovingly toward adventure and purpose side by side...

The beginning.

[bethtalksart]

The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds.

Another slightly rainy March afternoon, I walked up the famous Parkinson steps at the University of Leeds. The steps are a hub to the students of the university, many use it as a meeting point, to eat lunch, have a drink, it has historically been used as a meeting point for student protestors too. The steps are an iconic part of the student life at the university, but I was an outsider going in, a Leeds native stepping into the iconic Parkinson building. I'll admit that was an exaggeration, although the gallery is university run, it is open to the public and this was not a covert mission. As I walked into the Parkinson Building, I was greeted with grand high ceilings and a streaming banner donning a headshot of Keir Starmer, who I now know went to Leeds University. I plucked up the courage to ask the receptionist for directions and made my way through the beautiful hallway and found the gallery tucked into a corner.

Although the gallery was small, it maintained a bright and airy feel which appropriately housed its small but impressive art collection. There was a collection of abstract artworks that really interested me.

Additionally, throughout the gallery, pieces related to the climate crisis were labelled and brought up some really great questions and talking points about the artworks and climate change in general. I felt that this interactive aspect to the gallery was really effective in keeping the viewer engaged in the artwork and helped to connect the works to the outside world and current affairs in a direct way. The artworks in this climate crisis collection were varied. Some were specifically created by the artist in response to this problem, but some were old paintings of landscapes that the curators had labelled with the contemporary lens of the climate crisis. I thought this was really interesting as it reminded the viewer that even art that is hundreds of years old is still relevant in modern discussions of art and politics. Another interactive aspect of this collection was the visitors comments booklets. People had written some really encouraging and insightful comments. It was great to see the effect that the collection had had on so many people from different backgrounds, I believe that this type of visitor focused activity in a gallery really adds to the experience of going. Although, I did read one comment insulting Leeds United Football Club. Instead of rising to this mockery, I wrote my own comment in the booklet: "I liked the reminder that we are not above nature. That nature existed before us and will continue to exist after us. The relationship between art, people, and nature is great!"

"Leeds are falling apart again."

One Night, One Dream, Life in the Lighthouse.

On another occasion, I had heard about a new exhibit at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery from a contemporary Iranian artist and I knew I had to see it. Mohammad Barrangi's Iranian roots and influence in his artwork appealed to me from my work on Iranian and Persian art in my Non-Western Art module and his installation art appealed to me from my work in my Museums and Galleries module.

The exhibition explored Barrangi's relationship to Iran, migration, and disability. He moved from Iran to Yorkshire in 2017; he had been an artist as well as a Paralympian runner in Iran until then, continuing his art in Yorkshire.

The room that the exhibit was homed in opened up around a corner into a much taller ceiling. One of the walls was painted a warm yellow that almost signalled that something different was happening in this room to the viewer. The low buzz of traditional Persian music permeated the air and although I could not understand the presumably Farsi lyrics, they added to the feeling of cross-cultural understanding and appreciation that the exhibition created.

The mixture of traditional Iranian art motifs and absurdist childlike whimsy created a strange feeling, but one that completely fitted the story that the artist was telling. The installation in the centre of the room titled The Sea is Stormy captures the innocence of a child migrating across the world and what kinds of things may happen in their dreams.

Again, this exhibition had a section where viewers could write notes to the artist about their thoughts on the exhibit and the impact it had had on them. It was only within the first few days of the opening and there were already dozens of heartfelt notes from visitors that I felt really added to the sense of harmony and bridge building that the artist was trying to achieve through his work.

As I walked back out of the gallery and down the Parkinson steps once again, I was met with a May shower, just as I had done in March, and I felt some kind of full-circle moment, and a satisfaction with my two trips to the gallery.

Barrangi, The Sea is Stormy, 2024.

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To You The Perky, Quirky But Oh So Tough Gal Blonde 👱‍♀️Haired American Actress Of Independent & Several Iconic Films 🎥 Since The Early 90's & 2000's

She is an American actress. Following her breakthrough in the comedy-drama film Coyote Ugly (2000), she starred in The Prestige (2006), Angel Has Fallen (2019), and as CIA agent Annie Walker in the USA Network spy drama series Covert Affairs (2010–2014), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama.

Please Wish This Very Interesting & Lovely Blonde Haired Actress 👱‍♀️ A Very Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

Ms. Piper Perabo 👱‍♀️💛 #PiperPerabo

[lunareffectltd]

Oded Fehr - Covert Affairs S1

335 - 100x100 - Unmarked Icons If you use please like or reblog this Please do not edit, unless you ask first Do not credit as your own

Download Link [Here]

[btscarnivalnet]

Headliner Of The Month

Hello, Carnival Goers and Performers alike, please give a round of applause for our Headliner of the Month:

Our Wonderful Performer: Sunny @sunshinerainbowsbts

You are our Headliner of the Month!

During this month, we want to showcase your incredible talent and skill and share it with the Carnival! For this month, we want you to pick three fics of yours that you’d like us to showcase, and we also wanted to ask you some questions so we can understand how you write, why and what you want to get across with your fics.

Questions For You:

Three Fics:

Paradise

Covert Affairs

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

When did you start writing fics, and why?

I started writing years ago, when I joined a server dedicated to a wild scifi show called Lexx. Prior to joining, I’d never even heard of fanfiction, but there was a group of authors there posting the most incredible stories, and soon I was hooked. Eventually I reached a point where I wanted to see my favorite characters in specific scenarios that those stories weren’t covering, and it dawned on me that if I wanted to see them, then I needed to write them.

That server is long gone now, and I did not have the foresight to save any of my fics, so they’re all digital dust now. Let that be a lesson to everyone - always backup your stories!

I fell away from writing fanfic for a while, but I kept reading for various fandoms like Harry Potter and the MCU. After a while, I started writing for the MCU when I felt the need to see my own ideas come to life. Then 2020 came and I found BTS and the amazing fanfic community on tumblr. And it happened once again - it wasn’t enough to read the fantastic worlds that Army authors were creating. I had to build my own.

What was your first fic?

Baby

What is your latest fic?

The Hook Up

Why did you choose to write about the fics you have chosen?

Paradise

Paradise is the first series I created. The idea sprang from watching Jungkook’s iconic “My Time” performance and thinking about his duality and wondering - what if your shy neighbor was a sexy stripper by night? It's a very simple idea, for sure, but one that has resulted in about 86,000 words written over eleven chapters published so far! Originally, I thought it would be a short five-part series, but I just fell in love with the characters and decided to slow things down and take my time telling their story. I chose this one because it’s my favorite story to write. Yes, it’s a very self-indulgent story, but isn’t that the whole point of fanfiction in the first place?

I remember being so incredibly nervous to post the teaser. It got some attention, but ironically that just made me even more anxious when the first chapter went up! You never know what kind of response you’re going to get with your stories. I have been so, so lucky that this fic has resonated with a group of readers who keep coming back chapter after chapter. We all know what it’s like to write something we love and feel heartbroken when it doesn’t find its audience.

The story feels like it’s starting to wind down now. I don’t want to stop writing it but I also don’t want to drag it out or have it overstay its welcome. But no matter how long it goes on, I’ll never stop being thankful for every single interaction it’s brought me.

Covert Affairs

This Jungkook Spy!AU was written for a request. It’s an example of when you get the perfect prompt and the words just start flowing - I wrote the whole thing very quickly. I tend to write very visually - I see the action in my head and do my best to transcribe onto the page. That worked really well for this story, which unfolded just like a movie in my imagination.

The reason I picked this story is because of its ending. My blog is kind of unofficially a “happy endings only” blog - the vast majority of my stories are meant to leave the reader in high spirits. The ending of Covert Affairs is very different from my other fics. I reached out to a few writer moots before I posted it, because I was afraid to use the final scene I’d written. But they told me to trust my instincts, and I’m so glad that I did, because I can’t imagine it ending any other way. And it has led me to question what a “happy ending” is, anyway. Does it always mean the hero wins, or that the reader gets the guy? Does it have to be “happily ever after” or can it just be finding peace in the moment?

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

This was one of the first fics I wrote working from a prompt as opposed to coming up with my own idea wholesale. As soon as I read the words “It’s hand-holding season,” I knew two things. One, it had to be a Yoongi fic, and two, it had to be soft. Super soft. Like, curling up on a bed made of marshmallows soft.

I’m largely a smut writer. I like smut. I enjoy reading it and I absolutely love writing it. But not every story necessarily needs a sex scene. I chose this story because I felt like it’s a good example of the type of fluff I like to write. Just a series of quiet moments of two idiots falling in love. I live for those moments. Also, I love how silly it is. I try to imbue a lot of humor into my writing.

What was the most memorable line for you in each of the fics?

Paradise

From chapter one, when reader sees Jungkook on stage for the first time:

Like the statue of a god come to life, marble made flesh and blood, Jeon Jungkook danced before you, more beautiful than any man you’d ever seen.

From chapter six, some banter between Jin and reader. I fucking love writing banter:

“What did I say about being patient?” he inquires, cocking an eyebrow.

“Patience is a virtue,” you remark.

“Yes, it is.” He rubs his thumbs over your wrists and the sensation sends a bolt of electricity to your core.

“I never claimed to be virtuous.”

From chapter nine, an example of me just cracking myself up. Happens frequently in my writing:

Besides, he’s so pretty, lost in his dreams next to you. Why not just lie here and gaze upon his beauty a little longer?

Gaze upon his beauty? Okay, Lord Byron, let’s dial it back a little. And maybe stop staring at him like a creeper.

Covert Affairs

This is one of the first lines I wrote when I saw the prompt and began picturing the little cat-and-mouse game between Spy!Reader and Spy!Jungkook:

His smile is all you can see as he disappears into the shadows, pulling you in. “Why would I let someone else have the pleasure of catching you?”

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

I cheated and chose a paragraph, because it’s hard for me to pick just one of these lines without the context of the others, and I think it shows the way the hand-holding between Yoongi and reader has come to mean so much more:

Snowflakes swirl around you on the trek home, but the air feels heavy with something else. Something unspoken. Everything around you is covered in a fluffy white blanket that shimmers slightly under the streetlights, and you could easily get lost on these streets just as easily as you get lost in your thoughts. But that familiar sensation at your side, Yoongi’s fingers clutching yours, reassures you. It’s a comforting weight, anchoring you in the moment.

What was your writing process like for each fic?

Chaotic as usual. I don’t typically outline my stories - the rare exceptions are my current series Paradise and Versus. For everything else, I normally just have a basic idea - what kicks the story off and how it will be resolved, and then the rest comes as I write it. My ideas come from everywhere - a line of dialogue or a lyric, a conversation with a friend, dreams I’ve had. Occasionally, if an idea seems like it’s going to be more than a quick one-shot, I will do a stream-of-consciousness type of outlining - basically I write a paragraph or two detailing what plot points the story will include.

Also, I have to have noise when I write, either listening to music or just having the tv on in the background. I can’t work in silence. Like I said, chaotic.

I didn’t start outlining Paradise until I was five chapters in. The story kept expanding, so I needed to corral all my thoughts and figure out the timing of the various events. And I write it one chapter at a time. I truly, truly envy authors who have the patience to write multiple chapters or a whole fic before they start posting! I have zero chill when it comes to posting. I want to write and get it out there immediately.

Covert Affairs and I Wanna Hold Your Hand were both written without an outline, over a series of sprints. I’m a big fan of sprinting - it’s helpful to turn off the critical/editing portions of your brain and just let the words roll off your fingertips. Sometimes I end up with a fairly useless mess, but more often than not, I’ll find the crux of a story that way. A lot of times my characters will surprise me with their antics during a sprint.

What do you hope readers will take away from the fics?

I hope they find whatever they are looking for in my stories. Whether it be something they want, like a spicy smut scene, or something they need, like a good laugh. Fanfiction has by and large been a source of comfort for me. It’s often a place I turn to when I need to escape from all the stress in my life. I’d love for my stories to do the same for others. I hope to write fics that will reverberate with people for a long time after reading. Nothing would make me happier than that.

Why do you keep writing? What drives you?

I keep writing because I love it. I have so many worlds within me, all clamoring to be born. What drives me is the desire to share those ideas with others. To say here, I made this for you. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for reading.

Any writing goals you’ve recently hit? Any goals that you are planning to hit?

I haven’t really had many goals in the past but I’ve had some milestones that I’ve celebrated. I’ve been writing for BTS for over a year now - that was a great marker to hit. My current goal is to wrap up my three series - the two I mentioned above and my Bad Cop!Yoongi series - in a (hopefully) satisfactory manner before I attempt any other series. Future goals include exploring new genres/tropes/kinks in my writing, and then possibly branching out into Stray Kids fanfic - but that’s a ways down the line yet, since I still have so many BTS WIPs in the works!

[jmflowers]

30, 31, 36 :)

30. favourite tv show(s)

Impossible to answer. But the top few I've been obsessed with through the years are...

Ghost Whisperer (started watching when I was in middle school and was a hardcore fan the entire time it was on air - the first show I ever wrote fanfic for when I was about 12)

Alias (found it towards the end of its run, but watched and rewatched religiously for many, many years - I can still recite the season 1 opening monologue)

Grey's Anatomy (there's a huge gap of time between my obsessions here, as I binged through various genres of shows for a few years before being forced into Greys at 17 - my first ever episode was Song Beneath the Song and then I inhaled all of it in its entirety a couple of times... this was the first show I was involved in the fanfic corner of fandom for and began posting my own work online)

Orphan Black (this is just really, really solid Canadian-made sci-fi, but it ended a few years ago and I still haven't been able to watch the last two episodes which is embarrassing... can't get over that one death)

Gilmore Girls (who doesn't watch this show on loop every once in a while? fell into it in 2017 and found the best companion fanfic ever written that I've never been able to locate again... a truly iconic time in my life)

The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor/literally anything Mike Flanagan touches (I'm a sucker for good horror, especially if there are queer women involved... I've watched most of Mike Flanagan's work a few times and Bly makes me cry every time)

Covert Affairs (I loved this one when it was on air, but I binged it again at the start of COVID lockdowns and was reminded how comforting I find a spy drama, especially when all the locations they shot at are within driving distance of where I live)

Station 19 (if I hover in that happy space of season 4 Maya x Carina moments, this is the best place to exist... struggling greatly with over-analyzing it because of what I'm studying in school, though, so I'm like a season and a half behind on episodes)

And then, of course, there is a vast collection of shows I enjoyed greatly during the period of my life where I binged everything I possibly could from specific genres to "study the story arcs and writing development". There are too many to name, but if it was on TV before 2010, I've probably seen it.

31. 3 random facts

I have a "rare" disease/condition called Chiari Malformation that basically means part of my cerebellum doesn't fit inside my skull and is instead in my neck. When I was first diagnosed, my doctor pulled Gray's Anatomy off her bookshelf and read the section on CM to me, as she'd never heard of it before.

For much of my childhood, the mere sight of a giraffe would make me cry (out of pure excitement). Everyone took this to mean I needed to be gifted anything and everything giraffe-related for the rest of my life.

I often wake up with songs stuck in my head. Occasionally, they are songs that I haven't heard in my waking-life for several years. I think I must dream about music.

36. 3 dreams you want to fulfill

Oh, man... It feels like there is so much, but most of my genuine wishes are relatively small and simple.

I'd love to see The Script perform in Dublin, Ireland. (There's something about the recordings of their hometown shows that just get me choked up every single time.)

I'd like to climb a mountain at least once in my life. Standing on a peak is incredible and I can only imagine how amazing it must feel to reach one as the result of your own physical determination. (There's a group called 29029 that does an event where you scale a mountain over and over again a certain number of times in 36 hours until you achieve the altitude of Everest and... that. I wanna do that one day.)

I'd like to pack up and separate myself completely from all the familiar securities I've always known, just to see what I'm really capable of. I think it'd be a perfect opportunity to travel and experience the world without the blinders of my life thus far.

question game

[lievmultimuses1]

Fandoms I Write!

This is my main blog which focus on superheroes type of muses but i do have four other sideblogs that have other type of muses! i do ask you for patience because i also run a gif blog and i am always making gifs

this is open to non mutuals so feel free to check my open starters tags!

TOTAL OF MUSES: 3.421

Can't pick a muse to interact? Don't worry i know i have a lot of them so why not try your luck? send me random starter and i will use a random number generator to pick a muse from all my blogs and make you a starter, if you are a multi muse i will try to make it as open as possible for any of your muse or you can add who you want the starter.

discord: crystalclear#4625

guidelines! muses! open starters! edit icons!

@lievmultimuses1: Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD, Ant Man, Aquaman, Archer, Arrow, Avengers, Batman, Batwoman, Black Lightning, Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Cloak & Dagger, Constantine, Danny Phanton, Daredevil, Deadpool, Defenders, Doctor Strange, Doctor Who, Fantastic Four, Flash, Futurama, Game of Thornes, Gifted, Good Omens, Gotham, Green Lantern, Guardians of the Galaxy, H2O: Just Add Water, Hancock, Harley Quinn, Harry Potter, Hawkeye, Hulk, Inhumans, Iron Fist, Iron Man, IronHeart, iZombie, Jackie Chan Adventures, Jessica Jones, Jurassic Park/World, Justice League, Kim Possible, Kingsman, Lara Croft, Legends of Tomorrow, Librarians, Lucifer, Luke Cage, Man from UNCLE, Man of Steel, Mandalorian, Marvel, Matrix, Men in Black, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Neon Genesis Evengelion, Once Upon a Time/Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pokemon, PowerPuff Girls, Preacher, Punisher, Sailor Moon, Sarah Jane Adventures, Scooby-Doo, Shazam!, Smallville, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Star Trek/Discovery/Pickard, Star Wars, Stranger Things, Suicide Squad, Supergirl, Swamp Thing, Teen Titans, Thor, Torchwood, Totally Spies, Venom, Wonder Woman, Xena: Warrior Princess, X-Men, Young Justice

@lievmultimuses2: 6 Underground, 007, 9-1-1, 21 Jump Street, 24/Legacy, 1600 Penn, Ace Ventura, Ally McBeal, Almost Human, Anger Management, A-Team, Bad Boys, Barney Miller, Barry, Baywatch, Blue Bloods, Bones, Bounty Hunter, Broadchurch, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Burn Notice, Castle, Chance, Charlie's Angels, Chicago Fire/Justice/Med/PD, Chicago Hope, Chuck, Covert Affairs, Criminal Minds/Beyond Border/Suspect Behavior, Death in Paradise, Designated Survivor, Detroit: Become Human, Dexter, Die Hard, Dollhouse, Drop Dead Diva, Elementary, Empire, E.R, Fast and the Furious, Finder, Franklin & Bash, Frasier, Fringe, Get Smart, Go On, Gone Girl, Good Doctor, Grey's Anatomy, Guardian, Hannibal, Hart of Dixie, Hawaii Five-0, Homeland, House, House of Cards, How to Get Away with Murder, In Time, Jason Bourne, John Doe, John Wick, Jonathan Creek, KC Undercover, Killing Eve, Las Vegas, Last Enemy, Law & Order/SVU/UK, Legally Blonde, Lethal Weapon, Leverage, Lewis, Limitless, Luther, Man of a Ledge, Masters of Sex, Matrix, Mentalist, Miss Congeniality, Mission Impossible, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Mr. Robot, National Treasure, NCIS/Los Angeles/New Orleans, Nerve, Newsroom, Night Manager, Night Shift, Nikita, Nip/Tuck, Ocean's Eleven, Pan Am, Peaky Blinders, Person of Interest, Prey, Prison Break, Private Practice, Psych, Quantico, Recovery Road, Red, Revenge, Ringer, Rules of Engagement, Rush, Rush Hour, S.W.A.T., Saving Hope, Scandal, Scrubs, Sherlock, Sif Feet Under, Spy, Station 19, Suits, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Thick of It, Third Watch, Veep, Veronica Mars, West Wing, White Chicks, White Collar

@lievmultimuses3​: Shit my Dad Says, 2 Broke Girls, 7th Heaven, 8 Mile, 8 Simple Rules, 10 Things I Hate About You, 18 to Life, 27 Dresses, 30 Rock, 50 First Dates, 50 Shades of Grey, 90210, A Cinderella Story, A Dona do Pedaço, A Força do Querer, A Turma da Mônica, A Walk to Remember, According to Jim, Arrested Development, Austin & Ally, Baby Daddy, Bad Education, Beverly Hills, 90210, Big Bang Theory, Big Daddy, Big Love, Big Time Rush, Black-ish, Boy Meets Girl, Boy Meets World, Bride Wars, Brothers & Sisters, Californication, Camp Rock, Carmichael Show, Carrie Diaries, Casual, Client List, Community, Cougar Town, Desperate Housewives, Devil Wears Prada, Drake & Josh, Easy A, Everybody Hates Chris, Everybody Loves Raymond, First Daughter, For Better or Worse, Fortysomething, Freaks and Geeks, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friday Night Lights, Friends, Friends with Better Lives, Full House, Fuller House, Get Down, Gilmore Girls, Girl Meets World, Girls Trip, Glee, Golden Girls, Good Luck Charlie, Gossip Girl, Grandfathered, Great Gatsby, Great Indoors, Greek, Grown Ups, Hangover, Hannah Montana, Heartland, Hey Arnold!, Holiday, Hot in Cleveland, House Bunny, House of Payne, How I Met Your Mother, How to be Single, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, iCarly, Insatiable, Insecure, Instant Star, Jessie, Joey, Just Friends, Kenan & Kel, King of Queens, Last Man Standing, Life as We Know It, Lipstick Jungle, Liv and Maddie, Love Thy Neighbor, Lying Game, Mad About You, Mad Men, Mamma Mia!, Marlon, Married with Children, Mean Girls, Middle, Mike & Molly, Modern Family, Mom, Mr. Deeds, Music and Lyrics, My Wife and Kids, Nanny, Nashville, Neighborhood, Neds Declassified School Survival Guide, New Girl, New Normal, Not Going Out, Notebook, O.C, Odd Couple, Office, One Big Happy, One Tree Hill, Overboard, Paren Trap, Pretty Little Liars, Pretty Woman, Princess Protection Program, Raise Your Voice, Riverdale, Royals, Samantha Who?, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Secret Life of the American Teenager, Seinfeld, Sex and the City, Shake it Up!, Shallows, Shameless, She's Out of My League, Significant Mother, Simpsons, Skins, Some Kind of Beautiful, Sonny with a Chance, SpongeBob SquarePants, Starstruck, Suburgatory, Superior Donuts, Switched at Birth, That '70s Show, This is Us, True Jackson, Two and a Half Men, Ugly Betty, Ugly Truth, Victorious, Weeds, We're the Millers, What a Girl Wants, What I Like About You, Will & Grace, Young Sheldon, Zoe Ever After, Zoey 101, Zoe Ever After

@lievmultimuses4​: 3rd Rock from the Sun, 13 Going 30, 16 Wishes, 17 Again, A series of Unfortunate Events, Addams Family, Alice in Wonderland, American Horror Story, Angel, Beauty and the Beast, Being Human UK/US, Bewitched, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Change-Up, Charmed, Click, Danny Phantom, Descendants, Dracula, Early Edition, Fairly OddParents, Fear the Walking Dead, Freaky Friday, Game of Thrones, Ghost Whisperer, Gifted, Good Place, Grimm, Harry Potter, Hemlock Grove, Heroes, Hobbit, Hot Chick, I Dream of Jeannie, Invisible Sister, IT, Legacies, Legend of the Seeker, Life on Mars, Lord of the Rings, Merlin, Munsters, Originals, Outcast, Pushing Daisies, Raven's Home, Resident Evil, Returned, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sailor Moon, Secret Circle, Sense8, Shadowhunters, Shaun of the Dead, Silent Hill, Sleepy Hollow, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, That's so Raven, Tru Calling, True Blood, Twilight, Vampire Diaries, Walking Dead, Westworld, Wizards of Waverly Place, World's End, X-Files

@lievmultimuses5​: Bolt, Cars, Frozen, Lion King, Princess Diaries, Princess and the Frog, Toy Story

[beautifulfaaces]

Sendhil Ramamurthy

Facts

17 May 1974

Indian American actor

Filmography

Mohan [Never Have I Ever: 2020]

Dr. Panthaki [New Amsterdam: 2018-2019]

Paul [Reverie: 2018]

Mohinder [Heroes Reborn: 2015-2016]

Jai [Covert Affairs: 2010-2012]

Mohinder [Heroes: 2006-2010]

Lloyd [Springfield Story: 2002-2003]

Appearance

black hair

brown eyes

1.77m

Roleplay

playable: young adult, adult

Icons: Never Have I Ever

[buckyssoul]

first let me say how grateful i am that y’all enjoy my blog, i thrive off of your support! 🥰

i’d like to do some fun asks and maybe some blog rates to celebrate 🎉

send me as few or as many as you’d like! 💗

**i am compiling a list of fic writers, it’s just not finished yet (i follow a ton of writers, so it’s taking me a little longer than planned). if you would like to be tagged once i finish the list just send me an ask or a message.**

✨+ your first name- i will pair you with one of the mcu characters

🌸+ your favorite mcu actor/ actress- i will pick one of my favorite lines from their character.

🙈+ your favorite color- i will send you a fmk ask.

☘️+ a topic of your choosing- i will list my 3 favorite things of that topic.

send me a 💫+ your favorite season for a rate.

my rating system is based on a scale from 1-“10”

header: 1- Steve Rogers

icon: 1- Peter Parker

bio: 1- Scott Lang

theme colors: 1- Thor Odinson

blog content: 1- Bucky Barnes

overall theme cohesiveness: 1- Tony Stark

(lets be honest, i love them all but i don’t have enough categories to use all of them).

gonna tag some mutuals so this hopefully doesn’t flop. 😬🤞🏼

@i-dont-give-a-buck / @lokissoul / @bvcky-b / @gaywintersoldiers / @alexalltimelow / @fortheloveofjbbarnes / @snuff-film / @legendaryloki / @handy-dandy-chromebook / @thor-20 / @catch22inareddress / @lydladeetz / @suz-123 / @lunaticalwriter / @whimsicalbarnes / @smallmarvel / @bakerstreethound / @madamsassyface / @lokis-helmet / @covert-affairs-nerd15 / @latinxstark / @awkward-queer-pal / @stanning-seb / @spaghetti-machete / @colleex / @tyto-albatross

[fearsmagazine]

ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT | Trailer, Images & Poster

Artist Oliver Black wakes to discover his wife Evelyn has died in their bed overnight. Brimming with magical realism, we enter a world in which the misconceptions of our belief in a solid reality are revealed.

Space and time bend in a way to challenge the audience with what is real, what is illusion, and what is beyond... This peaceful and hypnotic quiet is interrupted by the outside world and the threat of everyday, common reality, thanks to Oliver's art dealer.

Alchemy of the Spirit is the latest feature from acclaimed indie director Steve Balderson (Firecracker, The Casserole Club), starring Xander Berkeley (Candyman, "24"), Sarah Clarke ("24", "Covert Affairs"), and cult icon Mink Stole (Female Trouble, Pink Flamingos). Balderson, Berkeley and Clarke penned the screenplay together.

Alchemy of the Spirit world premiered at Fantasporto in Portugal, picking up a nomination for Best International Feature, and went on to screen around the globe to critical acclaim, including and the International Sci-Fi & Fantasy Film Festival, dominating the awards with Best in Show, Best Director for Balderson, Best Actor for Berkeley, and Best Actress for Clarke.

ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT is now available on Prime Video, and will soon launch on a number of Cable and digital platforms across North America. 

[blackkudos]

Jeh Johnson

Jeh Charles Johnson (born September 11, 1957) is an American civil and criminal trial lawyer, and the current United States Secretary of Homeland Security. He was the General Counsel of the Department of Defense from 2009 to 2012 during the first Obama Administration. Johnson is a graduate of Morehouse College (B.A.) and Columbia Law School (J.D.), and is the grandson of sociologist and Fisk University president Dr. Charles S. Johnson.

Johnson's first name is taken from a Liberian chief, who reportedly saved his grandfather’s life while he was on a League of Nations mission to Liberia in 1930.

Career

Johnson served as Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1989 to 1991. From 1998 to 2001, he was General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force under President Bill Clinton. Prior to his appointment as General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Johnson was a partner at the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, in which he was the first African American elected partner and to which he returned after his four years at the Defense Department. He was elected a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2004.

On January 8, 2009, he was named by President Barack Obama to be General Counsel for the Defense Department. In December 2012, he resigned this position effective at the end of the year to return to private practice.

Ten months later, on October 18, 2013, Johnson was nominated by President Obama to be Secretary of Homeland Security.

Family

Johnson was born in New York City, the son of Norma (Edelin), who worked for Planned Parenthood, and Jeh Vincent Johnson, an architect.

On March 18, 1994, Johnson married Susan Maureen DiMarco, a dentist, at Corpus Christi Church (New York City). The pair grew up across the street from each other in Wappingers Falls, NY. They have two children, Natalie Johnson and Jeh Charles Johnson, Jr.

Experience in the 9/11 attacks

On September 11, 2001, Johnson (on his 44th birthday) experienced and witnessed in person the 9/11 attacks in New York City. After the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, Johnson wandered the streets of Lower Manhattan, asking many survivors "what can I do?". Today, he recalls in many speeches he presents his experience in the attacks of 9/11.

Federal prosecutor

Johnson began as an associate at Paul, Weiss in November 1984. In 1989 he left to serve as an assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, a position he held until the end of 1991. In that position, Johnson prosecuted public corruption cases.

Air Force General Counsel

Johnson returned to Paul, Weiss in 1992 and was elected partner at the firm in 1994. In 1998, Johnson was appointed General Counsel of the Air Force by President Bill Clinton after confirmation by the U.S. Senate. As General Counsel, Johnson was the senior legal official in the Air Force and Governor of Wake Island, in the Pacific Ocean. His tenure coincided with Operation Allied Force in 1999. He was awarded the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service for his efforts.

Private practice

After his service in the Clinton administration, Johnson returned to Paul, Weiss in 2001, where he was an active trial lawyer of large commercial cases.

Johnson was a member of the Executive Committee of the New York City Bar Association. From 2001 to 2004, he served as chairman of the City Bar’s Judiciary Committee, which rates and approves all federal, state and local judges in New York City. In 2007, Johnson was nominated by the New York State Commission on Judicial Nomination to be Chief Judge of New York though the incumbent, Judith Kaye, was ultimately reappointed by former Governor Eliot Spitzer.

Democratic Party involvement

Johnson was active in Democratic Party politics, as a fundraiser and adviser to presidential campaigns. Johnson served as special counsel to John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and was an early supporter of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, active as a foreign policy adviser and as a member of his national finance committee.

General Counsel of the Department of Defense

On January 8, 2009, President-elect Barack Obama announced Johnson's nomination as Department of Defense General Counsel. On February 9, 2009, he was confirmed by the Senate.

As General Counsel of the Defense Department, Johnson was a major player in certain key priorities of the Obama Administration, and he is considered one of the legal architects of the U.S. military's current counterterrorism policies. In 2009, Johnson was heavily involved in the reform of military commissions, and testified before Congress numerous times in support of the Military Commissions Act of 2009. In February 2010, the Secretary of Defense appointed Johnson to co-chair a working group, along with Army General Carter Ham, to study the potential impact of a repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. In November 2010, following an extensive study, Johnson and General Ham reported that the risk to overall military effectiveness of a repeal would be low. The report was hailed as a thorough and objective analysis. The Washington Post editorial page wrote:

The report is remarkable not just for its conclusions but for its honest, thorough and respectful handling of a delicate subject. It offers a clear-eyed, careful, conservative approach to implementing policy change. It doesn't play down the hurdles or denigrate the opposition. It is, in short, a document to be taken seriously, especially by those who may have lingering doubts about allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly.

In August 2010, Johnson was part of the public dialogue over the WikiLeaks release of classified Pentagon documents known as the Afghan War Diary. "The Department of Defense will not negotiate some 'minimized' or 'sanitized' version of a release by WikiLeaks of additional U.S. government classified documents," he wrote in a letter to Timothy J. Matusheski, a lawyer representing the online whistle-blowing organization. In August 2012, Johnson also wrote to the former Navy SEAL who authored the book No Easy Day, a memoir by a Navy SEAL who participated in the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, and warned him of his material breach of his non-disclosure agreements with the Department of Defense regarding classified information.

In January 2011, Johnson provoked controversy when, according to a Department of Defense news story, he asserted in a speech at the Pentagon that deceased civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr., would have supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, despite King's outspoken opposition to American interventionism during his lifetime. Johnson argued that American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq were playing the role of the Good Samaritan, consistent with King's beliefs, and that they were fighting to establish the peace for which King hoped. Jeremy Scahill of Salon.com called Johnson's remarks "one of the most despicable attempts at revisionist use of Martin Luther King Jr. I've ever seen," while Justin Elliott (also of Salon.com) argued that based on Dr. King's opposition to the Vietnam War, he would likely have opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the covert wars in Pakistan and Yemen. Former assistant U.S. attorney Cynthia Kouril has defended Johnson's remarks, arguing in her blog that his speech has been misinterpreted.

In a February 2011, speech to the New York City Bar Association, Johnson "acknowledged the concerns raised" about the detention of alleged WikiLeaks source Private Bradley Manning and "stated that he had personally traveled to Quantico to conduct an investigation", according to human rights attorney and journalist Scott Horton. Horton wrote that "Johnson was remarkably unforthcoming about what he discovered and what conclusions he drew from his visit."

Johnson's tenure as General Counsel was also notable for several high-profile speeches he gave on national security. In a speech he delivered at the Heritage Foundation in October 2011, Johnson warned against "over-militarizing" the U.S. government's approach to counterterrorism: "There is risk in permitting and expecting the U.S. military to extend its powerful reach into areas traditionally reserved for civilian law enforcement in this country." At a speech at Yale Law School in February 2012, Johnson defended "targeted killings", but also stated:

[A]s a student of history I believe that those who govern today must ask ourselves how we will be judged 10, 20 or 50 years from now. Our applications of law must stand the test of time, because, over the passage of time, what we find tolerable today may be condemned in the permanent pages of history tomorrow.

Finally, at the Oxford Union in November 2012, shortly before his resignation, Johnson delivered a widely noted address entitled "The conflict against al Qaeda and its affiliates: how will it end?" in which he predicted a "tipping point" at which the U.S. government's efforts against al Qaeda should no longer be considered an armed conflict, but a more traditional law enforcement effort against individual terrorists. Johnson stated:

"War" must be regarded as a finite, extraordinary and unnatural state of affairs. War permits one man—if he is a "privileged belligerent," consistent with the laws of war—to kill another. War violates the natural order of things, in which children bury their parents; in war parents bury their children. In its 12th year, we must not accept the current conflict, and all that it entails, as the "new normal." Peace must be regarded as the norm toward which the human race continually strives.

The Oxford Union speech received widespread press attention, and editorial acclaim as the first such statement coming from an Obama administration official.

Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense under presidents George W. Bush and Obama, said that Johnson "proved to be the finest lawyer I ever worked with in government—a straightforward, plain-speaking man of great integrity, with common sense to burn and a good sense of humor" and that he "trusted and respected him like no other lawyer I had ever worked with."

Department of Homeland Security

Johnson was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the fourth U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security in October 2013, and was subsequently confirmed on December 16, 2013, by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 78–16. He was sworn in on December 23, 2013.The Washington Post reported "Johnson, an African-American, would bring further racial diversity to Obama's Cabinet."

When Johnson entered office one of his top priorities was to fill all of the high level vacancies. By April 2015 the President had appointed and the Senate confirmed all but one of Johnson's senior leader positions. One of Johnson's first major efforts as Secretary was his unity of effort initiative to set the conditions for the Department to operate in a more unified fashion and develop a culture that recognizes and responds adequately to the diverse challenges the Department of Homeland Security faces.

In the spring and summer of 2014 the southern border of the United States experienced a large influx of immigrants, many of whom were children, coming from Central America. Secretary Johnson and his Department worked with the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate a response to address the immigrants' needs. In June, U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services asylum officers were reassigned to conduct credible fear interviews, while prioritizing the cases of recently apprehended unaccompanied children, adults with children, and other recent border crossers. At the same time, Secretary Johnson asked for the support of Congress to increase border security and prevent more spikes like this from happening again. After the flow of immigrant children to the United States, the Department of Homeland Security established three family residential centers, and they immediately became the focus of much controversy. The ACLU has compared them to Japanese internment camps and in July 2015 a U.S. District Court Judge in California ordered that the family residential centers comply with a 1997 settlement concerning the detention of children.

During the summer and fall of 2014, Secretary Johnson oversaw the Department of Homeland Security's response to the ongoing Ebola crisis in West Africa. The Ebola epidemic was the largest in history, and impacted multiple West African countries. In response, the Department of Homeland Security developed policies, procedures and protocols to identify travelers for screening who could have been potentially infected to minimize the risk to the traveling public. This response was chosen by the Department over limiting travel visas to the United States, which Secretary Johnson contended would have been a mistake given the leadership position of the U.S. and likelihood of influencing other countries to take the same action.

After the House of Representatives failed to act on S. 744, Secretary Johnson and President Obama issued ten new executive actions on November 20, 2014 to address the 11 million undocumented individuals in the United States. These actions included, among others, a new Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Strategy, a revision of removal priorities to focus on criminals and national security threats, the end to the Secure Communities program replaced by a new Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and the extension of DACA to Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Johnson is said to have worked heavily on drafting the executive actions at the behest of the President.

In a 60 Minutes profile of Secretary Johnson that aired in April 2015, it was stated: "[s]o far he's gotten high marks, even from the Republicans in Congress. When he came on board, nearly half the senior management jobs were vacant; he's filled all but one; he's boosted morale; and improved the coordination and dissemination of threat information throughout the government."

In May 2015, Secretary Johnson issued reforms that helped minimize detention time for families in residential centers. In June, one year after the increase of unaccompanied children crossing the southern border, Secretary Johnson committed publicly to continually evaluating the policy of family residential centers. The Secretary made personal visits to the family residential centers and spoke with dozens of Central American mothers at the facilities before issuing additional substantial changes to the Department's detention practices with respect to families with children. One major change included releasing families who establish eligibility for asylum or other relief under the law.

During his service Secretary Johnson has given several high profile speeches. On June 8, 2015 he gave a speech at Rice University's James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy. He focused on the Department of Homeland Security's border security efforts, describing the trends in border crossers decreasing over the past year, and the Obama administration's executive actions issued to address the millions of hard working undocumented immigrants in America. In July he presented the Landon Lecture at Kansas State University. He warned of the evolving terrorist threat, from terrorist group trained and directed attacks to terrorist group inspired attacks, and described the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to keep Americans safe.

Secretary Johnson also gave the 56th Green Lecture at Westminster College, the same place where Winston Churchill gave the "Iron Curtain" speech. In his Green Lecture, Secretary Johnson emphasized the use of history as an important tool in shaping the decisions of those in public office. Specifically, he discussed the need to be wary of government overreach when responding to threats and crisis, and how it is during these moments when the U.S. government must work its hardest to preserve the values it cherishes. Johnson stated:

"We can erect more walls, install more screening devices, and make everybody suspicious of each other, but we should not do so at the cost of who we are as a Nation of people who cherish our privacy, our religions, our freedom to speak, travel and associate, and who celebrate our diversity and our immigrant heritage. In the final analysis, these are the things that constitute our greatest strengths as a Nation."

http://wikipedia.thetimetube.com/?q=Jeh+Johnson&lang=en

[uomo-accattivante]

I dug up this very interesting old Q&A session Rian Johnson did with Alex Garland about Ex Machina back on April 18, 2015, at The Arclight in Los Angeles. It was cool hearing Garland briefly talk about Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson right before Johnson started working with both of them on Star Wars: The Last Jedi. And after hearing this Q&A, I can totally see why Garland wanted to retain Scott Rudin as his producer when he decided to make Annihilation. 

The main points they covered in the Q&A are encapsulated below:

Writing For A Low Budget Sci-Fi Movie

Rian Johnson: What was the origin of this in terms of the writing?

Alex Garland: When I was trying to describe what this film would be I used to call it a sci-fi psychological thriller and “Sleuth” was a film I did think about because of the way the allegiances shift. In terms of the genesis, it was really just reading over years about AI and some of the problems of mind and consciousness… I’ve now been working in film for around about 15 years and inevitably some of the processes of film, you learn them in sort of a helpless way. And if there’s something that requires a lot of creative latitude as this did, probably unconsciously, I deliberately wrote something that I knew we could make cheaply. Limited locations, limited cost…

RJ: At the same time, it doesn’t have that thing [where] it feels like they compromised in order to make a cheap movie here, it looks gorgeous. I was actually gonna ask you some more mundane questions about where you shot it, in terms of the house, how much of that was built, whether there was found locations in terms of the exteriors…

AG: It was four weeks in Pinewood, and two weeks on location. [For] all the things you can do to save money, the best thing you can do is have a really short principal photography period. So, it was a six week shoot and then there was a backward element of it which is you need to find a location and be able to build to it. The location was in Norway, and you know it’s funny the way imagery in film works. Iceland was quickly out of the question because it’s been mined by cinema so much and you start to think, “I know that glacier.”

Shooting In Norway

AG: We ended up finding Norway and what was great about it, Norway’s quite an interesting country because they’re the only country in the world that did the right thing when they discovered oil which was to nationalize it and then keep all the money and spend it on the country itself. So it’s this amazingly affluent country, which makes it very expensive to shoot in. But you get weird modernist architecture in the middle of nowhere and the landscape is not too familiar to us. It’s semi-familiar because there’s skies and mountains and glaciers and rivers, but we’re not too steeped in it so Norway’s perfect. [We] found a beautiful house and a hotel.

RJ: What was the house itself? Was it an empty house? Was it somebody’s house?

AG: It was a house that this guy had been building and nearly finished so he didn’t mind a film crew turning up. So, for example, the living room where these two guys talk at times which has this strange rock wall kind of intruding into the room, that’s the living room of that guy’s house. These beautiful cinema-screen-shaped windows that have these panoramic views is an eco hotel which is about 15 minutes away. And what we would do is build sets like Nathan’s bedroom and study with the glass wall, where we brought that rock wall into Pinewood and tried to tie it together loosely.

RJ: Because it was such a quick shoot, obviously exactly the things that make it cheap also make it very intensive in terms of it’s the performances that carry this movie all the way through to a large extent. Did you have rehearsal time with the actors?

AG: Yeah that was crucial. We had, actually, a lot of discussions and then we had rehearsals because there wasn’t going to be time to talk about motivation, for example, on set. And the process of shooting it was very intense and complicated because the film has to have a kind of zen vibe about it and the second you’re moving the camera, it’s like, in come the guys chucking down boards to move the dolly and a real frenzy of activity and then back to this quiet mode. And you’re absolutely right, that leans hardest of all on the actors. Pretty hard for the camera crew, but particularly hard for the actors. And they had to keep a kind of good close track of what they were doing the whole time, but they totally nailed it.

Casting Alicia Vikander And Domhnall Gleeson

RJ: So, uh, Oscar [Isaac] and Domhnall I know… somebody should put them in a big movie. [laughs] But actually, the big revelation for me was Alicia [Vikander]. I’m sure she’s been in other stuff, but this is the first thing I’ve seen of her. Talk to me about where you saw and discovered her.

AG: She was in a Danish film called “A Royal Affair” and she was, I’m guessing, like 20 or 21 and acting opposite the incredibly charismatic, powerful actorMads Mikkelsen and that thing happens that we all recognize, it’s not a secret. It’s not like you work in the film industry to recognize good acting. I’ve literally never met anyone who thought Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn’t a great actor. So you know it when you see it and your eye would just track what she was doing and register how confident and complex her performance was. And that’s also true of Oscar, the slightly odd one out was Domnhall because this is the third film we worked on together and so that was different, I just sent him the script and said, “Will you do it?”

RJ: Was he the first one on board?

AG: Yeah.

RJ: Do you write actually seeing actors in your head?

AG: Yeah I do, and that could be complicated. It’s a bit like temp score when you’re cutting because you can get temp-itis, you know, fall in love with a bit of temp score and find that you keep trying to nudge the composer towards copying it. So, yes I do, but I also try to be self-aware and then to reject it later, but Domhnall was in my mind because it’s a funny part… It’s not something that all male actors want to do, in a way, to be the recipient, to be on the receiving end so much and I just knew that he could do it.

RJ: At the same time, it’s also a part that, to his credit, it’s deceptive… he’s doing so much in it with so little and he’s so good at communicating, largely reacting to the world around him, guiding the viewer through the story.

AG: And not telegraphing what’s actually going on. Because it can be hard for everybody to avoid the nudges and winks, like “I’m actually more powerful in this scene than you think I am.” But he was incredibly disciplined about that.

Designing Ava

AG: With Ava, it was a three step process, with a step back thing which is this is a post-iPhone world. We’re used to tech being beautifully designed essentially. Initially, it was to do with what she didn’t look like. C-3PO, for example, was a problem. Gold metal immediately put C-3PO in mind. White plastic put Chris Cunningham’s Bjork video [for “All Is Full Of Love” in mind] which was also riffed on by “I Robot.” [And] even if people haven’t seen “Metropolis,” [Maria] is an iconic image that it casts an incredibly long shadow. So, when she first appears you don’t want to initially be thinking of another film.

Second thing, she had to unambiguously be a machine so that it didn’t give wise in the narrative the possibility that it might be a young woman wearing a robot suit. So, missing areas of her body dealt with that. More important than that, the breakthrough aspect was this mesh that follows the contours of Alicia Vikander’s body, which meant that you immediately see her as a machine and then you immediately start to move away from that because as the light captures it a bit like a spiderweb, invisible in some circumstances, visible in others… you get this glancing, ephemeral sense of a young woman.

Misdirecting the Audience

RJ: As a filmmaker, I’m curious in terms of the editing, when you got into the cutting room was there anything that surprised you that you had to adjust in terms of where the audience was keeping up with it, or what they were thinking during different parts of it?

AG: I think, in the edit, of this and other projects, from my point of view, you have to run on instinct because you’re so steeped in it. At least in my experience, it’s very hard to be precise and rational about it. Wood for the trees, essentially. But there were some things I felt pretty sure of, and one thing was that we could nudge the audience or sections of the audience. Some people just want a story and will just accept whatever comes and others, their antennae are up and they are hunting and they want to get ahead of it in some way. And I felt pretty sure that there were two key misdirections we could do that would take attention away from the other stuff we wanted to keep more covert. But one of them was that audiences, you can assume literacy in film audiences. They will have seen “Blade Runner,” for example. And so they will be thinking “I know what’s going on”—

RJ: Domhnall is a robot.

AG: Right, exactly, so there are symmetrical scars on his back. And there’s a slightly implausible backstory.

RJ: Which you only reveal very slightly in the thing so even as an audience member you’re thinking, “How clever, I just caught that.”

AG: Exactly, yeah. So one is that train of thought that then leads to him investigating himself, in a way that an audience might have investigated him as well. And the other was the Japanese-appearing robot, Kyoko, that of course also people will know quite quickly that this is a machine. And in intention, I hoped, the antennae twitching audience will relax and think “oh I get this.” I think the ideal state is to just let the thing happen. You know, I sometimes think the best way to see a film — no, I know — no trailer, no information. Certainly, that for me, that’s my favorite way. So, in a way, the edit was partly about using those misdirections, I guess.

RJ: No, I think it all works to its benefit. And like I said, ultimately, it does that magic trick that my favorite movies all do, which is, it does exactly what it told you it was going to do and you’re surprised by it by the end.

Also, here is a video of the Q&A session above if you’re interested in watching it: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/83375013-132.html

[bunchoffaceclaims]

Anne Dudek

Gender: Female

DOB: 22 March 1975

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Polish

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Anne Louise Dudek is an American actress. She is known for portraying Tiffany Wilson in the film White Chicks, Danielle Brookson in the USA Network television series Covert Affairs, Dr. Amber Volakis on the Fox series House, Lura Grant on the HBO series Big Love, and Francine Hanson on the AMC series Mad Men. She has also starred in the British television series The Book Group.

[lunareffectltd]

Christopher Gorham - Covert Affairs S1

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