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kassandra-lorelei · 6 years ago

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"Just because I'm heartless doesn't mean I don't like chocolate." I know I just asked for a oneshot recently, but I saw this one on a Tumblr prompt blog I follow and it cracked me up because I instantly thought of C.C. I can just see her snarky, sassy self saying this to Niles after some zinger war or something. Ha ha. I know you're working on other stuff, so whenever you get to it I'd love to see what you come up with! ❤️

Here we are, my friend! I am so sorry this took so long, but I’ve been under some stress recently and I’ve had to take my time getting this done

For that Anon waiting for the other prompt I have, I promise you will have it soon, and for everyone waiting on the next chapter of Personal Guardian Demon, I will be getting on it soon as well

@missbabcocks1 @holomoriarty

Valentine’s Day might not have been a cause for celebrationto Niles, given his apparent permanent bachelor status, but that didn’t mean hegot to be away from it. In an ideal world, he would’ve asked for (and gotten) aday off so that he could go out somewhere and perhaps blend in with every otherface in the crowd. In the mansion, he stuck out like a sore thumb – Mr and MrsSheffield would obviously have a romantic meal that evening, Miss Margaret hadgone out with her boyfriend, Master Brighton kept saying he was meeting a girland would be out all day (though he had been sketchy on the details, such asthe girl’s name, how they’d met, where they were going, etc), and Miss Grace wasgoing to the movies with a group of her friends.

Depressingly, even Miss Babcock had managed to get herself adinner date that night. Some businessman or other, as handsome as he was richand twice as charming, no doubt. And that was going to be a lovely thought hismind would conjure up later, when he’d finished washing up after Mr and MrsSheffield’s romantic meal and was busy tucking into the large amount of chocolatethat he’d bought and stashed away in the kitchen for safekeeping.

Of course, he’d teased the producer when she’d told MrSheffield about her plans, just a few days before. It had just been so easy to notethat there was emphasis on “scare” in the phrase “scare up a date”. She hadthen retorted that at least she’d have a date, which might not have been thebest or funniest zinger she’d ever come up with, but in the coldfourteenth-of-February morning light, it felt like a slap in the face.

He’d managed to keep it to himself for the first few hoursof the day. He’d even tried to be in keeping with the Valentine’s theme bycooking the family heart-shaped strawberry pancakes for breakfast and servinghot chocolate to go with it.

But underneath the longer time went on, the more thepleasant exterior felt like what it was – a façade. It was a relief when thefamily dispersed for the time being, the children going off by themselves, MrSheffield and Miss Babcock heading to the office to begin the work day, and MrsSheffield going out shopping “for later”. Niles didn’t bother asking what she wasgoing to buy, it was going to be obvious the next day, when Mr Sheffield camedownstairs with a ridiculous smile on his face.

He must’ve been wallowing in his own misery over the factthat he’d come downstairs the next day to a sink full of dishes and theknowledge that he had to make breakfast for a family of five that wasn’t evenhis, because before he knew it, a hand was being waved his face and he was backin the office.

He’d originally gone in there to do some tidying, and losttrack of the time in thinking. It was just his luck that Miss Babcock happenedto be watching at the same time.

She was clearly delighted to have caught him off-guard aswell, “What’s the matter, Niles? Forget what you came over here for?”

Niles felt a small pang of irritation, which quickly turnedinto a lingering sense of annoyance. Of course she was happy – she knew she hadthe upper hand in every category, as things currently stood. He’d been the onenot paying attention, and no doubt at any moment she’d remind him of the eveninghe had to look forward to.

Alone, whilst she was out somewhere with her businessman,having the time of her life.

He might not have been in the mood for zingers, but one cameanyway.

“I haven’t quite made it to that level of mental deteriorationyet,” he replied drily. “I’m not your age.”

Miss Babcock was quite prepared for the challenge, “I’m gladyou agree that I’m not ancient, unlike certain people in this room!”

“Oh, would you two give it a rest just for today?” Maxwellstepped in from his seated position at his desk before Niles could retort. TheBritish producer had a pink box in his hands, which he opened and pushed acrossthe desk towards them. “I’d much rather have a pleasant Valentine’s Day, ifit’s all the same to you. Fran gifted me these just before she left thismorning – come and have a chocolate, and let’s all get back to work.”

Niles went over, peering into the box. Of course each andevery single chocolate was heart-shaped, he thought to himself bitterly.Perfect for two lovers to feed each other whilst locked in an intimate embrace.

Two lovers, like Miss Babcock and her oh-so-perfect date.

And, without even thinking about it, another insult made itsway from his heart to his mind, and bypassed any kind of filter to come straightfrom his mouth.

“I hope your date tonight remembers chocolates like these,”he told her. “At this rate, it’s the only way you’ll ever have a heart in you.”

The reaction from Maxwell was (surprisingly) loud andimmediate.

“Niles!” the British producer cried, looking back and forthbetween his butler and his business associate. “I told you to pack it in! Whatthe Devil’s gotten into you, Old Man?!”

Niles expected there to be a similar reaction from MissBabcock at any moment – for a grin to appear on her ruby red lips where she wasso pleased their employer had taken her side, and then a smug comment about howyou just couldn’t get the help these days, and if you could, you couldn’t getthe help to shut up.

But those things didn’t happen. Instead, the producer juststood there with neither a smile nor a smart word. She didn’t look angry,either.

In actual fact, Niles could have sworn that she looked upset(or…even hurt?), even if she was trying to hide it.

She gestured lightly to the stack of papers she’d been goingthrough before, abandoned on the green loveseat, “Maxwell, those contracts arefinished. I’m gonna take a long lunch break.”

Without another word, she turned and left the office.

After being reprimanded by Maxwell for not doing as he wastold and leaving the zingers aside for a while, Niles was allowed to carry onwith his work. But the butler couldn’t fully bring himself to do anything ofany actual worth – and that time, it had nothing to do with his perpetualloneliness.

Nothing to do with that, and everything to do with guilt. Hereally and truly hadn’t meant to say something quite so awful – it had justslipped out! He’d just been so angry and upset that she had a…well, he wasangry and upset that he didn’t have anyone to spend either today, or the restof his life, with.

The feeling of guilt was only exacerbated when he finallymade his way into the kitchen, and spotted Miss Babcock at the table. She wassurrounded by the stash of chocolate he’d bought for himself, more than half ofit opened and a lot of it missing.

He really had hurt her, hadn’t he? She’d imagined that she’dbe left alone (where she could bear her emotions in private) and had gonethrough the cupboards for comfort food.

Niles took a hesitant step towards her, “Miss Babcock, I-”

The producer lifted one hand in a halting fashion.

“Save it, Niles,” she nearly snapped, using her free handsto crumple up an empty wrapper and drop it on the table with the rest. “I don’twanna hear your next pithy little remark. You can have this round.”

She…thought this was all part of their usual routine? Thathe was trying to deliberately make her feel this way, because part of the gamewas to make her upset? That wasn’t the way it was supposed to play out, andthey both knew it! Even without talking about it, they knew they enjoyed thewordplay and the challenge that the other provided.

What he’d said had been too much, and it hadn’t come from agood place.

He approached the table sombrely, hoping that he could offerher an apology. It would be a first, most likely, but it was nonetheless needed.

She picked up another chocolate bar and eyed himsuspiciously as he came over, “What? No victory dance, or is that too muchexercise for that ancient carcass of yours?”

Pursing his lips some, Niles tried to ignore the remark.

“I’m not here to try and argue with you,” he said, turninghis eyes to the mess on the table. “Although some others might, if they caughtyou with their own private stash. Or what’s left of it, rather…”

Miss Babcock broke off a piece, “Well, just because I’mheartless doesn’t mean I don’t like chocolate.”

Niles sighed, thinking that he could kick himself.

“…I really didn’t mean to be so callous, you know.”

The producer rolled her eyes, words only muffled a little bythe chocolate she’d popped into her mouth, “Yeah, right!”

“I’m telling you the truth!” he insisted in return.

Miss Babcock turned more in her chair, looking at himseriously, “What makes you think I’m gonna believe that? Is it the years ofinsults, the physical pranks, or the way you toy with my mental health like acat with a yarn ball?”

Niles returned her look, leaning over towards her slightly, “Howabout the fact that you know if I was going to try and turn this into a joke, Iwould have done so by now?”

It was, truly, a last resort. The two of them never talkedabout the fact that they knew each other better than anyone else – knew whatdirection the other would take a verbal sparring session, their likes anddislikes in a variety of subjects, from food to people…

They knew how far each would take something like this, andwhen they would stop. And she knew that he would have done more than he had sofar, if he intended to continue.

She had to accept it, even if she was upset, “Alright,fine.”

Not feeling much better, but now at least satisfied that shewas willing to listen to him, Niles hesitantly took the seat next to her. Hedid it a little more confidently once it became apparent that she wasn’t goingto stop him.

But before he could try to apologise again, the producerspoke up.

“And for the record, I don’t even have a date tonight,” she angrilyunwrapped another chocolate. “But before you say anything, no, I did not makeup the one I had before.”

Niles felt surprise bubble up inside him. So, they were bothspending Valentine’s Day by themselves – suddenly, it made sense that she hadn’tmocked his lack of a date (or the fact that he had to work to make someone else’sday special) all morning.

And it made even more sense as to why his insult had stungher so deeply. Behind those walls she put around herself, Niles knew she wouldbe feeling hurt and vulnerable. His tactless words were probably contributing tothat, and it was making him feel awful.

He shifted in his seat, “…If you don’t mind my asking, whathappened?”

“Damned if I know,” she bit into her chocolate, and it oozedcaramel. “You know, I really thought it was all going great, and then all of asudden, he calls me up and says he has to cancel on me!”

Niles blinked, “Was he ill?”

Miss Babcock looked at him, “What do you think, Niles?”

The expression on her face was all he needed to understandwhat had gone on, and he wanted to kick himself again for not realising before.

“Oh,” he bit back a frown and picked up a chocolate forhimself. “I see. There was clearly an emergency then. Somebody somewhere requireda giant tool.”

And that was when he noticed Miss Babcock finally crack asmile – the crinkled kind that told him she was trying not to laugh.

But Niles wasn’t going to be deterred. After the time she’dhad, he actually felt that the producer needed to laugh a little. So, (between eatingthe chocolates they’d apparently silently sort-of agreed to share) he keptgoing, tossing insults and sharp remarks at the man who’d ditched her on a daythat was supposed to be about love and togetherness.

He hoped it made up for his behaviour at least a little, andfor the fact that the only chocolate she’d had hadn’t been a gift, she had nodate tonight to look forward to, and no flower bouquets to admire.

And eventually, she did laugh. It was like music when ithappened, and Niles felt his chest inflate a little with pride.

He had cheered her up, to some extent.

Her bad feeling hadn’t entirely gone away, though.

She lowered another empty wrapper to the table, twisting it inbetween her fingers, “Well, jerk or not, he clearly had a better offer elsewhere!”

Niles cocked his head to one side, “A better offer thanyou?”

The producer huffed a sardonic laugh out through her nose,her eyes focused on the table.

“Not hard to find, right?”

Niles felt a wave of sadness come over him at that. MissBabcock truly did underestimate herself, when there was no reason.

And, after the time they’d spent just enjoying the chocolateand discussing the ways in which her non-date could go screw himself, he wasfeeling…well, rather encouraged.

“No…I’d say it’s more…impossible.”

It caught the producer off-guard, “What?”

Suddenly the encouragement dimmed a little, and tensiongripped at his heart. But he knew he had to go on – he couldn’t suddenly decidenot to say anything; she’d never let him live it down if he did.

He just had to be tactful about it, that was all.

So, he began, “Well, who wouldn’t ask you to be their dateon Valentine’s Day? The witty conversation, probably a very carefully selectedbottle of wine, and then dancing well into the night…it sounds like the bestoffer a man could receive, to me.”

There was silence for an uncomfortably long amount of time afterwards.But, eventually, the producer leaned back in her chair.

“Do I smell scotch on your breath?” she asked, gesturing athim. “I’m getting flashbacks to Maxwell and Nanny Fine’s wedding day.”

Niles rolled his eyes, “I haven’t been imbibing, Babs – I doactually happen to think that you make better company than most.”

There was another, shorter silence before the produceranswered.

“That doesn’t prove to me that you’re not hammered, you know,”she said. Then she let a ghost of a smile appear. “But…thanks anyway, I guess.”

Niles had to be satisfied with that. He felt it was time toget back into familiar territory, for the time being.

He smiled back at her, “Well, I’m not trying to kick the dogwhile she’s down, I’m trying to bring her back up.”

Miss Babcock’s eyebrow raised, a hint of a smirk playingabout her features, “And you think another zinger is the right way to go aboutthat, huh?”

The butler grinned lopsidedly in return, “Throw me a bone, Ialready let you almost entirely demolish my chocolate supplies.”

The producer appeared to think about this, before replying.

“Well, you do put the “dog” in “dogsbody”, so alright,” shesaid. She then reached down to her bag, which was at her feet, and pulled outher purse. “And here. All the chocolate’s gonna be half-price tomorrow; you canrestock your little stash and not have to worry about breaking a buck!”

She pulled out a small wad of notes, and tossed it onto his sideof the table.

Niles looked at it for a few seconds, not thinking about chocolatelike she must have assumed he would be. A plan was rapidly forming in his head,and he liked it far better than eating treats alone in his room, discreetlyshedding a tear or two at the movie he’d put on the television, and throwingdiscarded wrappers at the screen if he got annoyed at the lead couple.

He then looked up at the producer, “I’d tell you to keep it,if I didn’t have a better idea.”

That seemed to pique Miss Babcock’s interest, “Oh?”

“You are on your break, and I have no chores left untiltonight,” he said. “I might not be able to offer you dinner, but how does aValentine’s Day lunch sound?”

Miss Babcock appeared to think about it for a moment, before looking amused.

“Offering to pay for a meal with money that I gave you,” she said. “You certainly know how to turn a girl’s head, ScrubbingBubbles!”

“I wouldn’t use it to pay for a meal!” Niles protested,before suddenly thinking of something and leaning his elbow on the table withhis head propped up in his hand. “Although, interestingly enough, I’m nothearing you say no…”

Miss Babcock’s retort was swift, “Well, I suppose I have noother choice but to accept, unless I want to look like a sad sack who couldn’teven get a date on Valentine’s Day.”

“Was that another dig at my inability to get a date?” thebutler asked, dropping his last chocolate wrapper on the small pile on thetable.

“You see it however you want, Hazel,” Miss Babcock replied,pushing her chair out to get up. “Are we going, or not?”

Niles began to smile again, and joined her on his feet, “Wemost certainly are.”

They both began to make their way towards the door, butbefore Niles left he remembered to pick up the money Miss Babcock had left forhim on the table.

He’d use his own money to pay for the food, and they’d bothjust had enough chocolate to last them an entire week, let alone a day, butthere was still one thing that was missing.

He wasn’t about to ruin the (awfully bold) Valentine’s Daysurprise by telling her, but earlier that day he’d seen a man on the cornerselling flowers.

#bigbabypuddingsnatcher47 #the nanny #niles and cc #niles the butler #cc babcock #otp: always been bitter together #otp: butler bitch

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hopefillings · 7 years ago

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21 QUESTIONS FOR THE MUN ❤︎ TAGGED BY: @entwinedthreads

1) NAME: C.C. 2) NICKNAMES: C.C., C, salt mine 3) HEIGHT: 4′11” 4) ORIENTATION: Straight I guess 5) NATIONALITY: American made with other stuff mixed in 6) FAVORITE FRUIT: Oranges and strawberries maybe? 7) FAVORITE SEASON: Spring for it’s nice weather though nothing happens during that time. I like all the seasons for various reasons. 8) FAVORITE FLOWER: Orchids maybe 9) FAVORITE SCENT: Clean and herb like scents 10) FAVORITE COLOR: Green 11) FAVORITE ANIMAL: Wolves and tigers 12) FAVORITE LOCATION: Anywhere I have internet 13) COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Hot chocolate all day 14) AVERAGE SLEEP HOURS: Depends on when I go to bed but about 5 or so 15) DOG OR CAT PERSON: I want to adopt every dog in existence 16) FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER(S): Too many to count. Sakamaki Laito, Crow Armbrust, Todoroki Shouto, Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko, Zevran Arainai, Fenris, Killian Jones... the list goes on. 17) NUMBER OF BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH: Currently I have a sheet, a throw blanket and a comforter I sleep under, as well as another throw blanket just for my feet since they get cold a lot. So... 4? 18) DREAM TRIP: Japan and Australia. Wouldn’t mind visiting some places in Europe. 19) BLOGS CREATED: Too many. At least over 5. 20) NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS: 56 21) RANDOM FACT: There was a study made that debunks the “dogs can’t see color”. They don’t see in stark pigmentation like humans, so while we see bright blues, a dog sees it in a darker blue tone, same with orange or yellow, it’d be a darker orange or a really pale yellow. They’re muted tones, but still color.

Tagging: I’m still half asleep so whoever sees this, you’re tagged.

#outofwork #mun things

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mystrsj · 8 years ago

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Rules: answer these questions, and tag 20 followers that you would like to get to know better. Tagged by: @mxnotawakeyet Name: Julia (Yulia) Nickname: Yulian (one of my good friends likes to adress me like that hehe.. I guess, this counts too~) Zodiac sign: Taurus Hogwarts house: Hufflepuff Height: 5′8″ ^^; Orientation: Straight (but tbh I’m a bit uncertain about this whole thing right now...) Ethnicity: white Favourite fruit: cherry, raspberry, blueberry, apricot, peach Favourite season: Spring Favourite book series: Isaac Asimov’s robot series, LOTR Favourite fictional characters: Haku (Spirited Away); Tsunemori Akane, Makishima Shougo, Nobuchika Ginoza, Hinakawa Sho (Psycho-Pass); Chrollo Lucilfer (HunterxHunter); Kirishima Ayatou, Kirishima Touka, Kuki Urie (Tokyo Ghoul); Nine (Zankyou No Terror); Ichise (Technolyze); Guy Montag, Clarisse McClellan (451 Fahrenheit novel); The Blind, The Redhead, The Mermaid (The House In Which/The Gray House novel); Loki Laufeyson (Avengers universe); C.C. (Code Geass); Yaha-kui zaShunina (Kado: The Right Answer); Hinata Shouyou, Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma, Nishinoya Yuu (HQ!!); Gokudera Hayato, Byakuran, Adelheid Suzuki, Superbi Squalo (KHR!); Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Neji, Haku, Sasori, Kaguya Kimimaro ... (Naruto); The Medicine Seller (Mononoke); Kanda Yu, Alma Karma, Madarao (D.Gray-man) and lots-lots of others Favourite flower: various succulents, peony, water lily, rosehip Favourite scents: air after rain, jasmine, cherry, sea breeze, old/new books, new electronics, cinnamon, bakery overall, grilled cheese Favourite colour: cyan, orange, crimson, shades of purple and blue Favourite animals: cats, dogs, pandas, snow leopards, dolphins etc. Favourite artist/bands: ギルガメシュ [girugamesh], Hello Sleepwalkers, The Oral Cigarettes, amazarashi, TK from 凛として時雨, lynch., 雨のパレード [Ame No Parade], Wagakki Band, Klayton [Celldweller, Scandroid, Circle Of Dust], Dance With The Dead, Perturbator, Starset, Enter Shikari, VIXX, BTS, Royal Pirates, All Time Low (one of those bands in a kind that caught my heart immediately and eventually let to discover tons of other cool bands and new genres as well... a specific milestone in my life when I realised I’m getting sucked into the world of music... idc how much time has passed since the moment I first heard of ATL, it was my first ever band that I became a strong fan of, that holds so many songs connected to good events and happy moments in the past... and I still love this band ;;), Paramore, Poets Of The Fall, Our Last Night, You Me At Six, Paramore, Three Days Grace (I’m not that into their latest songs though.. there’s no drive like before imho *I don’t judge the current vocalist, he does alright.. but I’m just feeling like sticking to the old stuff more*), Adam Gontier, Splin, The All-American Rejects, Within Temptation, Breaking Benjamin, Shinedown, Papa Roach, The Birthday Massacre, ADTR, I See Stars, AFI, Fall Out Boy, Imagine Dragons, One Ok Rock, A9 [Alice Nine], coldrain, D’espairsRay, Egoist, Aimer, Reol [れをる], David Garrett, Joe Hisaishi, Yugo Kanno, Ludovico Einaudi, Akira Yamaoka, Ennio Morricone ...

Coffee, tea, or hot cocoa?: tea Average sleep: 5-7 hours Number of blankets I sleep with: one but it’s very thick and warm~ Dream trip: to Norway, Sweden, Japan - most of all; but I want to explore more of the world, actually! Last thing you googled: the meaning of word “pastime” How many blogs do I follow: 1910 (idc how this happened myself, really... If I appreciate the certain blog I then follow it in case to be in touch with the new stuff... and turns out there’s so many amazing and underappreciated compilations, arts, stories, photographs... *v* Of course I try to check all of them step by step~) Number of followers: 118 What do I usually post about: cyberpunk and sci-fi stuff, traditional and modern Japanese motives, music, anime and manga (Psycho-Pass especially), art and photography inspirations, current moods etc. What is your aesthetic: a mix of Japanese culture and futuristic, cyberpunk-y elements, cityscape with a thimbleful of untouched nature... Tagging: anyone who wishes are welcome! But especially I’d like to read answers from @actiaslunaris @utopiahound @psychopass-iveagressive @sayakamikiii @diariesofashygirl @leos-starlit-smile @supercoffeeshopsoundtrack :)

#tagged #answered!#i hope it wasn't such a long wait!#but i tried to write about every answer as much as I can :)#long post

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christine-h3j6w33 · 8 years ago

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I was tagged by @mendel-eats-dirt to answer 20 questions and then tag 20 people.

Name: Christine

Nickname: not rly, my science teacher calls me C.C.

Birth Month: October

Height: 5′1 or ‘2

Ethnicity: White

Orientation: straight

Fruit: rn Cherries

Season: Summer

Books: The Raven Cycle,

Flower: not to be basic but roses, or forgetmenots

Scent: rain or like the smell of like old books and old prop closet

Animals: idk?

Beverages: orange juice my dude, or like lemon juice?

Hours of sleep: uh, varies drastically

Fictional Character: ronan mc-fucking lynch

Number of blankets I sleep with: 2

Dream trip: hawaii, or like belize again, or maybe Europe but like honestly if someone would just ship me to LA i would be happy

Blog created: oh uh maybe 2015

Follower count: 423

I tag: @kat-ur-pillar and anyone else

#mine #lmao #i am so happy people tag me in things

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ericpoptone · 4 years ago

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If you’re American and you recognize names like “Bad Boys Blue,” “C.C. Catch,” “Sandra,” or “Modern Talking,” there’s a good chance that you, or someone close to you, is Vietnamese. For the uninitiated non-Viet Americans, those are the names of three German (and one German-Dutch) pop bands whose songs have been compiled, covered, and claimed by a subset of the Vietnamese American community as “New Wave.”

There are other groups in the New Wave canon like Gazebo, Ken Lazslo, Fancy, Joy, and Silent Circle whose hits are familiar to thousands of Vietnamese Americans. Meanwhile, having worked in record stores for more than ten years, I can say that none of my coworkers, no matter how knowledgeable, had ever heard of any of them.

How, I wondered, did these Eurodisco acts become so cherished by such a specific segment of a specific population of refugees and their descendants — especially when there’s no obvious connection between West Germany‘s pop industry and Vietnamese refugees in the US. I never solved that riddle, but my curiosity and love of those songs led me on numerous occasions to parties and nightclubs in North Orange County‘s Little Saigon.

Last year, a filmmaker named Elizabeth Ai contacted me. She is currently in the process of making a documentary and television series, both called NEW WAVE. More recently, she started companion Instagram and Facebook accounts to which people can submit photos of themselves from that era, hair immaculately fixed with hairspray, and often clothed in black.

ERIC BRIGHTWELL: Hello Elizabeth, can you tell us a bit about yourself — who you are, where you’re from, and what you do?

ELIZABETH AI: The short answer: I’m a Chinese-Vietnamese-American filmmaker from the San Gabriel Valley.

The long one: It’s hard to talk about who I am without talking about my family and the multi-generational fleeing they’ve done from war-torn countries — a family tradition I might continue depending on what happens this November. My maternal great-grandparents fled China to Vietnam in the 1920s because of the Chinese Civil War. And my grandfather, an ARVN captain, upon release from re-education camp, fled Vietnam with his wife (my grandmother) on a fishing boat to Hong Kong in the late ’70s. Fortunately, they had family members already situated in the US that helped them figure out sponsorship through their church. My aunt and uncles arrived right in time for the golden age of MTV. I was the first US-born person in my family, raised by my grandparents, and have struggled all my life with these multiple historical narratives that make up my DNA.

Are you asking me where I’m from or where I’m really from? JK. — I grew up in the SGV (San Gabriel Valley) in the shadow of the L.A. riots. Where I grew up, at the time, looks vastly different than the safe neighborhood it is today. Somehow I managed a 4.0 GPA when I used to sneak out with friends to cruise Valley Boulevard on school nights in lowered cars, with modified exhausts, to hang in Hong Kong-style cafes or party with fake IDs in Koreatown nightclubs. Back then, in the SGV, there was a lot of gang activity, even drive-by shootings at my school, and I was a young latchkey kid that was stupid enough to not care. My experiences from hanging out in these streets were just as informative to who I am as my time in the classroom, if not more.

Professionally, I’m a writer, producer, and director working in documentaries and narratives for almost fifteen years. I’ve focused on stories that illuminate subjects and issues from marginalized and underrepresented communities. It’s been a long circuitous path fighting upstream against a white, male-dominated, entertainment industry that still diminishes the value and work of women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+. I don’t take what I do for granted. Never would my teenage self dare dream that my adult self would be working in such a privileged profession and be in a position to tell stories.

When did you become aware of “new wave?”

New wave has been in my life for as long as I can remember. It was the soundtrack to my childhood. While this music was really my aunt’s and uncles’, who were in their late teens and twenties, growing up with them meant it was ever-present in our home, and my grandparents hated everything it represented in this era of excess. On the flip side, I fondly remember tracks by Modern Talking, C.C. Catch, and Bad Boys Blue playing from the boomboxes in their bedrooms while they meticulously teased their mile-high Aqua Net-styled hair and slipped into their beat-up leather jackets, and thinking, I could not grow up fast enough to join them. For better or worse, that didn’t happen. I came of age in a different era, listening to gangsta rap, ’90s R&B, and the oldies that Art Laboe was spinning, but that new wave sound has always held a special place in my heart.

youtube

Modern Talking’s music video for “You’re My Heart, You’re My Soul”

What made you decide that “new wave” would be an interesting subject for a documentary?

Let’s get one thing straight, this music is fucking amazing! I didn’t realize how many bangers there were until I fell down the rabbit hole of research and started making playlists. Everyone who is not listening to it is missing out.

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1980s: This is my uncle, Danny. When I was a kid, he was my hero. He used to live with my family back in the day when we were in Orange County. I remember being really young and trying to do my hair like him. He had mad style and the freshest clothes. I loved his music back then and still do now. He was a big time music fan and introduced me to Modern Talking, Bad Boys Blue, C.C. Catch, Gazebo, etc. I cherish the "new wave" vinyls that he passed down to me. I get a kick out of knowing, now that I’m spinning new wave as a deejay, he comes out to my parties sometimes. – Ton aka DJ ALPHA @djalphamusic FYI: DJ Alpha is spinning new wave tonight and every pandemic Saturday night on Twitch and Facebook. @limelightcommunity #newwave #vietnewwave #vietnamesenewwave #refugee #refugees #refugeestories #vietnameseamerican #vietkieu #vietnamesediaspora #asianstories #asiannewwave #fallofsaigon #boatpeople #vietnamwar #resettlement #immigrants #1980sfashion #asianamericans #eurodisco #italodisco #moderntalking #cccatch #gazebo #badboysblue

A post shared by NEW WAVE (@newwavedocumentary) on Aug 15, 2020 at 4:43pm PDT

While I was pregnant a couple of years ago, I was racking my brain for stories to share with my daughter about our people and why we’re here in the US, then felt pretty deflated thinking I might have to resort to rote stories about the war. That was until my mind wandered into events I experienced first hand like my family’s early days rebuilding their lives in the ’80s. Like most children of refugees, I didn’t have an ideal childhood. The trauma in my household was real and the generational gap between my disciplinarian POW grandfather and his children, all of whom were struggling to find their identity in a new country, led to many explosive clashes. The lows were really low, and the highs weren’t that high. And when I look back, what really stuck with me was witnessing my young adult uncles and aunt living their best new waver lives. I often kept their secrets and told lies of their whereabouts to my grandparents (their parents) in exchange for passage on weekend car rides, where they’d blast new wave all the way to the mall and hang with their friends. It sounds silly to say but, new wave was a necessary diversion, a coping mechanism that brought them joy. Wherever new wave was playing was a safe space. They knew they could congregate with other young Vietnamese, and momentarily escape pressures from home, their past trauma, and just be whatever version of themselves they wanted to be.

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Lynda Trang Đài’s cover of “You’re My Heart, Your My Soul”

Reviving these long-buried memories inspired me. Knowing there are so few stories about the Vietnamese diaspora experience that aren’t tied to images of war and destruction, Vietnamese new wave felt like a great personal point of departure. So much that after giving birth in 2018, I wrote a rough draft of a TV pilot based on these recollections. Reading it over, I realized, something was missing. I was pulling from cobwebbed memories that didn’t have the specificity I craved. That’s when I began scouring the internet about the evolution of the Vietnamese-American community in Little Saigon, the beginnings of its music industry, and eventually came across your Vietnamese New Wave Revival blog post and discovered that the music was actually Euro/Italodisco. Wait, what? Why did everyone in the Viet-Am and diaspora community call this music new wave? These artists were from Germany, France, Italy, and everywhere else but the US? I had so many questions. I scrambled to call up family members that sent me off to call up other relatives that told me to call their friends that knew more about new wave. I was shocked when a couple of them confirmed that none of this music had played on the radio. They told me they bought all these European records and Viet New Wave covers/cassette compilations at record shops in Phước Lộc Thọ (aka Asian Garden Mall) because there was nowhere else to buy them at the time. It was a big ��what the fuck?” moment that flooded my head with even more questions.

Was the music of my childhood really some imported Eurodisco fever dream? There was enough of a mystery there that I pivoted the story of my TV pilot and then enlisted some friends to help me jump start the documentary, namely, my co-producers Tracy Chitupatham and Anh Phan, as well as some advisors to make introductions and discuss that specific era. I’ve been filming since early 2019 with over a dozen people from the Vietnamese-American music community, including Lynda Trang Dai, Thai Tai, Ian DJ BPM Nguyen, some die-hard new wave fans/party promoters, and I even flew out to Europe at the end of last year to film with some of the big-name Eurodisco acts of the ’80s.

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Thank you to @matthewvu for sharing this photo (him + his mom), this song, and this personal account: . . My fondest memory of Vietnamese new wave music would be my early elementary school years. My family lived on a cul-de-sac so the school bus would drop me off at the top of the street so I had to walk a short ways to get home. We had a screen door and my mom would leave the front door open. Everyday she would be either cleaning or cooking while blasting her Asia New Wave cassette tapes, so loud that I could hear it the moment I got off the bus. The music takes me back to these simpler times of just being a kid. . . . During the early 80s there was an influx of immigration to the United States of Vietnamese fleeing a war torn country in search of a better life (like my parents). My dad came to America with the clothes he wore and one extra set in a plastic Pan Am bag, and the only two words he knew were “yes” and “no”. I’ll always remember the story, when he first got here he would listen to the radio and it seemed like every other song played was Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough.” He didn’t understand any of it, just knew that it was a popular song. . . . Coming back to why Vietnamese new wave is so important, it served as cultural acclimation and a way to fit in. It wasn’t traditional music it was youthful and the songs sung bilingually helped teach/familiarize the English language. . . . Modern Talking song “Brother Louie” – covered by Kieu Nga

A post shared by NEW WAVE (@newwavedocumentary) on Apr 24, 2020 at 4:07pm PDT

There’s a lot to unpack about the resettlement and reestablishing of a people and culture. I’ve narrowed my focus to examine the evolution of refugee youth identity and the cultural bridge built during this fraught time with this music. Moreover, I’m telling this story for a few reasons: one, as a time capsule for my daughter and younger generations to learn a story about our resilient community beyond the war; two, to keep a historical record that will otherwise be lost when the artists and fans disappear; three, because this work is therapeutic, cathartic, and honestly, I’ve just fallen in love with it all over again. The more I listen to it, the more I wonder why new wave and I have been estranged for so long.

What was the incentive behind the Instagram feed, @newwavedocumentary?

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SUMMER NEW WAVE: Summers in SoCal don’t normally feel so dark, morbid, and horrific. In honoring these feelings/moods, I present this Summer New Wave cassette cover with some strong Mistress of the Dark vibes. Hope it helps you get over the hump today. @therealelvira #newwave #vietnewwave #vietnamesenewwave #asiannewwave #vietnamesediaspora #refugeestories #littlesaigon #displaced #vietnameseamerican #vietnamese #immigrants #summernewwave #túquynh #cassettetapes #mistressofthedark #elviramistressofthedark

A post shared by NEW WAVE (@newwavedocumentary) on Jul 15, 2020 at 1:22pm PDT

Production for our film halted in March because of Covid-19. Coincidentally, this was the same time we learned of NEW WAVE’s first grant award from California Humanities. In making the most of it, I pivoted and immersed myself in archival research and I quickly realized the limitations and lack of Vietnamese-American archives, that aren’t of the musicians and don’t involve the war in some capacity.

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NEWAVE: Who remembers Tuyết Nhung? #newwave #vietnewwave #tuyetnhung #apahm

A post shared by NEW WAVE (@newwavedocumentary) on May 19, 2020 at 1:39pm PDT

My team and I started the Instagram account in hopes that it’ll motivate others to share photos or videos from their personal archives.

What has the response been?

It’s been positive. I’ve had friends and strangers inquire about the film and how they could support. Some rad photos and stories have come through. Thanks to everyone who has shared. My team and I are still digging through everything and hope to post all your stories and photos soon enough.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0f75TgsQ7HyShuJUixmERJ?si=DdG9ucFbQti85nf1xGxQAw

How can people get involved? (social media, etc)

We want to hear from you. Please get in touch and share your stories with us on Instagram and Facebook or via [email protected]. We’re searching for photos and videos after the fall of Saigon from the ’70s-’90s focused on the era of resettlement, rebuilding, and all things new wave, or tangentially new wave.

Q&A with filmmaker Elizabeth Ai about her latest project, NEW WAVE If you're American and you recognize names like "Bad Boys Blue," "C.C. Catch…

#1980s #asian new wave #Eurodisco #Garden Grove #italo disco #little saigon #music #new wave #North Orange County #Orange County #Vietnamese #Vietnamese Diaspora #vietnamese new wave #Vietnamese-Americans #Westminster

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harolddetective · 6 years ago

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LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH – 042

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transcript:

This week on the Writer’s Detective Bureau, licensing, AKAs and P/K/As, and end of watch. I’m Adam Richardson, and this is the Writer’s Detective Bureau. This is episode number 42 of the Writer’s Detective Bureau, the podcast dedicated to helping authors and screenwriters write professional quality crime related fiction. I’d like to thank Gold Shield Patron Debra Dunbar from debradunbar.com and Gold Shield Patron C.C. Jameson from ccjameson.com, my newest Coffee Club Patron, author TL Dyer, and all of my loyal Coffee Club Patrons for supporting me month after month. Find links to their author websites in the show notes at writerdetective.com/42. And if you have your own author business, consider joining Patreon. It’s free for you and it allows your readers to support you financially through monthly micropayments. Give your fans a chance to show their support by creating your own Patreon account right now. To learn more, visit writersdetective.com/patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N.

Speaking of Patreon, on May 10th, Rick Wysocki, frequent listener and contributor here, sent me a message with a link to Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s blog post on passivevoice.com and it was titled Patreon, Copyright, and Personal Choice. And where it got interesting was her first sentence. It said, “Patreon’s terms of use has a possible rights grab buried in them.” And then later on in the article she says, “Even though the FAQ and Patreon’s homepage contradict the rights grab, the grab is in the terms of use, the reassurances aren’t.”

So what this blog is about is how the terms of service on Patreon state that they need some sort of license to use your content in use of Patreon. And I’ll link to the actual article the of from Kristine’s blog. So, my immediate reply to Rick, who shared this with me was, “Thanks Rick, it brings up some really good points. Like the author, I’m not concerned about my nonfiction IP,” meaning intellectual property, “But this may change my tune on recommending it to fiction authors. I will do some digging. Thanks again.”

So you see, I really believe in the Patreon model. It’s that Renaissance Era concept of patronage of the arts. But I wholeheartedly believe in defending your rights as a creator. And I agree with Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s assessment, that the terms of service are what govern what you give up and what you hold onto. But more about that in just a moment.

So, on May 14th, four days later, I received the Patreon monthly Hang Time email newsletter that casually mentioned in there, their terms refresh this month. And this is what we, in my business, call a clue. So rather than click on the link in the email, I actually went straight to the Patreon terms page, which you can find at patreon.com/policy/legal. And I read through it all and Patreon has in fact refresh their terms of service, and I suspect a lot of that had to do with Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s blog post. And especially under the your creations subheading.

And this is what it now says, “Your creations, TLDR,” which means too long, didn’t read, “You keep complete ownership of all creations, but you give us permission to use them on Patreon. Make sure you have permission to use creations that you offer on Patreon.” And then after the TLDR header, the full text is, “You keep full ownership of all creations that you offer on Patreon, but we need licenses from you to operate Patreon effectively. By posting creations on Patreon, you grant us royalty free, perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, sub licensable worldwide license to use, reproduce, distribute, perform, publicly display, or prepare derivative works of your creation. The purpose of this license is strictly limited to allow us to provide and promote… Continue reading…

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH – 042 syndicated from https://harolddetective.wordpress.com/

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shadowfollowweb · 6 years ago

Text

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH - 042

Right-click and select "Save As" to download this podcast episode to your device.

transcript:

This week on the Writer's Detective Bureau, licensing, AKAs and P/K/As, and end of watch. I'm Adam Richardson, and this is the Writer's Detective Bureau. This is episode number 42 of the Writer's Detective Bureau, the podcast dedicated to helping authors and screenwriters write professional quality crime related fiction. I'd like to thank Gold Shield Patron Debra Dunbar from debradunbar.com and Gold Shield Patron C.C. Jameson from ccjameson.com, my newest Coffee Club Patron, author TL Dyer, and all of my loyal Coffee Club Patrons for supporting me month after month. Find links to their author websites in the show notes at writerdetective.com/42. And if you have your own author business, consider joining Patreon. It's free for you and it allows your readers to support you financially through monthly micropayments. Give your fans a chance to show their support by creating your own Patreon account right now. To learn more, visit writersdetective.com/patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N.

Speaking of Patreon, on May 10th, Rick Wysocki, frequent listener and contributor here, sent me a message with a link to Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog post on passivevoice.com and it was titled Patreon, Copyright, and Personal Choice. And where it got interesting was her first sentence. It said, "Patreon's terms of use has a possible rights grab buried in them." And then later on in the article she says, "Even though the FAQ and Patreon's homepage contradict the rights grab, the grab is in the terms of use, the reassurances aren't." So what this blog is about is how the terms of service on Patreon state that they need some sort of license to use your content in use of Patreon. And I'll link to the actual article the of from Kristine's blog. So, my immediate reply to Rick, who shared this with me was, "Thanks Rick, it brings up some really good points. Like the author, I'm not concerned about my nonfiction IP," meaning intellectual property, "But this may change my tune on recommending it to fiction authors. I will do some digging. Thanks again." So you see, I really believe in the Patreon model. It's that Renaissance Era concept of patronage of the arts. But I wholeheartedly believe in defending your rights as a creator. And I agree with Kristine Kathryn Rusch's assessment, that the terms of service are what govern what you give up and what you hold onto. But more about that in just a moment. So, on May 14th, four days later, I received the Patreon monthly Hang Time email newsletter that casually mentioned in there, their terms refresh this month. And this is what we, in my business, call a clue. So rather than click on the link in the email, I actually went straight to the Patreon terms page, which you can find at patreon.com/policy/legal. And I read through it all and Patreon has in fact refresh their terms of service, and I suspect a lot of that had to do with Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog post. And especially under the your creations subheading. And this is what it now says, "Your creations, TLDR," which means too long, didn't read, "You keep complete ownership of all creations, but you give us permission to use them on Patreon. Make sure you have permission to use creations that you offer on Patreon." And then after the TLDR header, the full text is, "You keep full ownership of all creations that you offer on Patreon, but we need licenses from you to operate Patreon effectively. By posting creations on Patreon, you grant us royalty free, perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, sub licensable worldwide license to use, reproduce, distribute, perform, publicly display, or prepare derivative works of your creation. The purpose of this license is strictly limited to allow us to provide and promote... Continue reading...

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH - 042 published first on https://detectiveservicesmelbourne.tumblr.com/

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hollywalkerlma11-blog · 7 years ago

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Acting For Musical Theatre Blog 1.Self Reflection. Dream Girls

I played the role of C.C who is a male, I particularly struggled playing this role as the posture is a lot different and men tend to walk a lot different too, so I had to adapt to my character role, after watching the movie and stage shows I feel like my posture improved, I also experimented a lot in class and received constructive criticisms on what looked good. In the end i decided to stand up straight, walk quite slow with my arms down by my side as this shows that he is a little bit more casual.

I also struggled with the accent on certain words so to improve listen to several videos and i used a website that gives you examples of the accent which helped.

I feel like in the end i did take on the persona of a male, and it was convincing, i feel like my accent needed more practice and could next time even try to lower my voice. There was a period of time where i don't say anything so i had to react to the characters i felt like after using the elements of acting and researching the character relationships this was a lot easier for me to do.

Elements of acting “The actor must discover the essence of character and project it to the audience” Trumbull(2008)

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harolddetective · 6 years ago

Text

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH – 042

Right-click and select “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your device.

transcript:

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH – 042 syndicated from https://harolddetective.wordpress.com/

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harolddetective · 6 years ago

Text

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH – 042

Right-click and select “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your device.

transcript:

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH – 042 syndicated from https://harolddetective.wordpress.com/

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shadowfollowweb · 6 years ago

Text

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH - 042

Right-click and select "Save As" to download this podcast episode to your device.

transcript:

LICENSING, AKAs, and END OF WATCH - 042 published first on https://detectiveservicesmelbourne.tumblr.com/

0 notes