#whether all those treatments makes it to a canvas or not is a different story...

[riisume]

I rise from the grave to celebrate pulling Imbibitor Lunae last night on my first 10 pull with a doodle that took me maybe 45 minutes to draw.

I've been a bit hyperfixated on the fact that Dan Heng's ears could be super ticklish... (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

He made a huge mistake coming home cuz he's probably gonna see a lot more of this treatment. >:^)

[makeuptips-]

How to Pick the Best Foundation Primer for Your Skintype and Concerns

Primers come in many different tones, formulas, and finishes, and whilst you can certainly choose a “one-size-fits-all” style approach to your primer, that’s not necessarily best for everyone. There are multiple variations of product which can help to target individual skin types and skin concerns.

IMAGE: GLOSSIER

PRIMER 101:

In short, primers are base products that you apply after you’ve cleansed and moisturized your skin, but before you apply any coverage products like foundation or concealer. Primers are designed to help make your makeup last a lot longer and smooth over the surface of the skin so your makeup applies evenly. 

They’re a great makeup prep product, but they’re not the same as your moisturizer. Some primers are skincare-makeup hybrids which allow you to simply apply it to your skin and get benefits of both. Depending on the primer you use, you may find combining a moisturizer and a primer provide too much “slip” to your skin, causing makeup to slide and apply unevenly. Majority of the time, this can be overcome by simply allowing a full 1-2 minutes for each layer of product to absorb and set before moving on to the next. 

PRIMERS FOR EVERYONE:

If your only goal and concern is to prolong the wear of your makeup without targeting any concerns such as redness or excess oil, stick with the basics and opt for a regular primer. These primers are not all universal, but their main goal and purpose is to simply keep your makeup looking fresher for longer, no matter your skin type. 

IMAGE: GLOSSIER

SKINCARE-MAKEUP HYBRID PRIMERS:

Certain brands offer products which provide skin with nutrients, vitamins, and hydration, but combined with ingredients which are also designed to increase the wear time of your makeup. These primers typically are richer in texture than a traditional primer, and they may even be heavier than your regular moisturizer, if you find this too much for your skin, try a serum primer. A serum primer has the consistency of a serum with many of its benefits, but also works to prime your skin for makeup application.

Try: Glossier Priming Moisturizer, Tula Face Filter Blurring & Moisturizing Prime, e.l.f Hydrating Primer Serum PRIMERS FOR DRY/SENSITIVE SKIN:

If you have a drier skin type you may find that makeup has a tendency to appear flaky and cakey on your skin. As foundation and concealer can often grip onto areas of the skin which are flaky, makeup can “cake up” on these areas and look uneven, wrinkly, and blotchy. A hydrating primer can work to smooth over these areas whilst simultaneously hydrating the skin so makeup applies smoothly and has a healthy, hydrated base to apply to. 

Try: Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer,  Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer 

  PRIMERS FOR OILY SKIN:

For those with oily skin, a primer is your best bet for keeping makeup on your skin and preventing it from sliding and slipping all over the place, whilst simultaneously keeping your skin matte. If you’re someone with oily skin opt for a specifically designed mattifying or oil control primer designed to help reduce the appearance of shine and keep your makeup on all day.

Try: Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer, Bobbi Brown Primer Plus Mattifier

IMAGE: URBAN OUTFITTERS

PRIMERS FOR LARGE PORES/UNEVEN SKIN:

Large pores can be a burden on makeup, but every persons pore size is different and this can vary based on genetics and skin type. Whilst some brand claim to “shrink” your pores, that’s not really possible. Large pores can cause makeup to look cakey and you may find that foundations and creams “settle” into your pores. Furthermore, if you’ve suffered with bad acne in the past and have been left with “ice pick” acne scars, a velvety, resurfacing primer could be just the trick. 

Try: Benefit Porefessional Primer, Too Faced Primed & Poreless + Advanced Formula Primer PRIMERS FOR FINE LINES/BUMPY SKIN:

From fine lines, to wrinkles, to acne scarring, skin that has an uneven texture can pose a real struggle for makeup. Certain formulas can settle into fine lines and wrinkles (thus exaggerating them) and foundation can often accentuate uneven and bumpy skin texture. A smoothing, primer designed to blur imperfections will help to smooth the texture of the skin and provide a layer between your skin and. 

Try: Kiehl’s Micro-Blur Skin Perfector, Marc Jacobs Under(cover) Blurring Coconut Face Primer

PRIMERS FOR REDNESS:

Redness can occur regardless of skin type, so whether you’re dry and flaky, or oily, blotchy, red, and acne-prone, a primer specifically designed to correct redness in the skin can work magic. Many redness reducing primers contain a dose of yellow or green pigments to “correct” the redness in the skin, whilst it may look daunting to apply these bright shades to your skin, they essentially “knock out” the redness meaning you don’t need to add layers and layers of product to cover up redness.  If you have fair skin, try mixing these highly pigmented primers with a standard facial primer or moisturizer before application.  

Try: MAKE UP FOR EVER Step 1 Primer Color Corrector - Redness, Peter Thomas Roth Skin To Die For Redness-Reducing Treatment Primer

IMAGE: BOBBI BROWN

PRIMERS FOR DULL SKIN:

An illuminating primer is a glowy skin must-have. Dewy, illuminating, hydrating, and totally glow-inducing, but they’re often lighter than your typical hydrating primer (which may have illuminating particles also!) If you have dull skin or just love to rock dewy skin look for a a primer that contains light reflecting particles. These small, shimmering particles work to “bounce” light off the skin to give it a more radiant glow , you can also use it atop of makeup as a highlighter, mixed in with foundation to give your foundation a glow (and lighten the coverage) or on its own for an ultra-subtle, natural glow. 

Try: Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Primer - Illuminating, Charlotte Tilbury Wonderglow Face Primer

PRIMERS FOR A BRONZED GLOW:

Freshly tanned skin has a natural radiance about it, but a natural tan isn’t necessarily the safest thing you can do for your skin. If you’re wanting a little bit of shimmer and glow, try a bronzing primer. Use it underneath makeup for shimmer, glow, and a subtle bronze to your skin, wear on its own as a makeshift style tinted moisturizer, or mix a little in with your foundation to darken an existing shade + add a healthy dose of glow. 

Try: Laura Geller Spackle Tinted Under Make-up Primer (Bronze), Ofra Cosmetics Rays Of Light Bronzing Primer

Shop this post:

Urban Decay All Nighter Face Primer

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer 

Glossier Priming Moisturizer

Tula Face Filter Blurring & Moisturizing Prime

e.l.f Hydrating Primer Serum 

Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer

Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer

Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Primer - Illuminating

Charlotte Tilbury Wonderglow Face Primer

Ofra Cosmetics Rays Of Light Bronzing Primer

Laura Geller Spackle Tinted Under Make-up Primer (Bronze)

Story by: Evangeline Sarney

Imagery: [Supplied]

[ryanmeft]

My Top Performances of 2019, Part 2

Here is the second half of the list of my favorite film performances of 2019. I tried to be as objective as possible, but it’s also a result of personal preferences. As before, the order is unimportant. Part 1 is here:  https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/190668845597/my-top-performances-of-2019-part-1?fbclid=IwAR3_d80vj0FbIVXqWaTV1heUlIDJJmL-JB_ZksaadO_oNRztnhBMICxzTd8

Zhao Tao in Ash is Purest White

She’s got everything you could want in a rusting former industrial town: a good boyfriend who has influence in the area’s small underworld, which gives her power, love and money all at once. In a blink it is all gone, and she finds herself adrift in the world, dealing with the resentments of people with no patience for what she has gone through. Tao is the key component of this crime drama, which is more drama than crime. She does not take the world in blazing force as a crime figure in a Scorsese film might do, but quietly and slowly accepts that the days of her power are past---and unlike the men around her, tries to adapt to, rather than battle, the inevitable.

Ana De Armas in Knives Out

Knives Out is in the grand, disappearing tradition of the character actor, albeit with the parts mostly played by superstars. Yet among a roster that includes Captain America as an irresponsible playboy and Michael Shannon as a professorial-looking semi-Nazi, De Armas’s humble heroine Marta stands out. Maybe it’s because Marta is humble but not naive or entirely innocent, and De Armas manages to capture both her cunning and her honesty without turning her into a doe-eyed victim. She’s the kind of character you want to become a Nancy Drew-esque mystery hero for adults, so you can revisit her later adventures.

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker

Some hated the movie, some loved it, but one thing it seems everyone could agree on is Phoenix’s performance. He’s credited as Arthur Fleck, not as Joker, and his handling of the character couldn’t be more different than any previous portrayal. Arthur is sad and lonely, not at all an enigma---his private life is laid out for us in great detail---and Phoenix portrays him as just sort of being blown through the world, bereft of any real agency. You can debate all day whether the character deserves to be portrayed in a sympathetic way, but you can’t say Phoenix doesn’t pull it off, making us root for this maladjusted, societally-forgotten misfit almost up ‘till the end. 

Sienna Miller in American Woman

In a just world, Miller, hardly a household name, would have her face up on the stage Sunday night for playing this role, a drunken, hard-partying too-young mother and grandmother whose life begins to change when her daughter disappears. I say begins to, because this is not one of those magical stories of miraculous redemption. Debra does not become a good parent to her grandchild right away, and never becomes a great one. Instead, the film follows her throughout years of her life, during which, naturally, she must go on living as she mourns. Miller embodies each stage of this perfectly, never once allowing drama tropes to disturb her unflinching portrayal of an ordinary life.

Jeff Goldblum in The Mountain

What does the word “monster” conjure for you? Whatever traits it brings to mind, they are all present in Dr. Wallace Fiennes. He’s an egotistical, self-interested, callous man who performs lobotomies on mental patients in the 1950’s American heartland, the kind of person for whom his gruesome practice is not an outmoded method to be improved on by advancement, but an art form in itself, and his patients merely the canvas. This isn’t handled like a horror movie: Goldblum is not a mad scientist cackling away in a lab, but an urbane, cultured, engaging professional---which makes him all the more frightening.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Fast Color

Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were, to a large extent, a marketing department’s ideal female superheroes: always flawless, gorgeous even when kicking ass, unable to make any very serious mistakes. Ruth is very much not that. She’s living wherever she can, dealing with the effects of past addictions, running from the government, scared of her own powers. She’s not just unlike any other woman in tights (without the tights), she’s unlike any mainstream superhero ever has, can or will be. Mbatha-Raw is one of our most underrated actresses, and she portrays Ruth in a way that allows us to both sympathize with her plight and support her as she grows stronger. The movie’s not getting a sequel, because the Hollywood franchise machine isn’t ready for imperfect superheroes yet, but it is getting a series, so at least we’re getting more of Ruth in some medium.

Renee Zellweger in Judy

I won’t pretend I knew much about Judy Garland going in, and frankly I’m not sure I understand her after seeing the movie---it was, in most respects, a fairly typical music biopic. Where it broke the mode is in Zellweger’s performance. I think it’s fair to say the once-household name has been largely forgotten by Hollywood in recent years; she never had the perfect starlet looks or the ideal girl-next-door adorableness that is the main standard on which women are judged. But she had the acting chops, and here she finally gets to prove it. Her Garland is twisted and gnarled inside and out by years of sexist treatment and the resulting substance abuse, but still a loving mother to her children and a great singer---and justifiably angry at the industry that used her up and spit her out.

Paul Walter Hauser in Richard Jewell There was never a single chance of seeing the camera pan to Hauser during Sunday’s roll call of acting nominees---both he and the person he plays are about the polar opposite of Hollywood’s image of itself. And it must be said that while Jewell should not be forgotten, Eastwood’s movie, with its ginned-up anti-press narrative, maybe should be. But none of that is on Hauser, whose performance firmly proves that fat guys can be more than bumbling comedic relief or ineffective sidekicks in the movies. It matters that someone who looks like Jewell is portraying him, and that he does it so well that we can almost overlook the film’s other faults.

  Honor Swinton Byrne in The Souvenir

This one was little-seen, and though it generated awards buzz initially, it’s already been largely forgotten. That’s too bad. Byrne’s Julie is a woman torn between her own ambitions and her love for a man who is---abusive? How to judge him? It’s a toxic relationship fueled by addiction on his part, but the movie is more about how you cope with a partner who is committed but not capable of commitment. Perhaps the most resonant aspect of Julie’s character is the way she holds out hope even when everyone tells her not to, even when she herself knows deep down that it is hopeless. You may find this weak, but I’ve never known a human being who wasn’t in some measure susceptible to it.

Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes Everyone has strong feelings about the Catholic Church---it’s not a thing you go half-measures on. And every Catholic has strong feelings about the last two Popes---again, they aren’t the kind of personalities that inspire milquetoast reactions. What Pryce and Hopkins do in portraying Francis and Benedict, respectfully, is remind us that no matter how much they claim to be the chosen of God, these are after all two men---two men with flaws and opinions, whose own lives have shaped them every bit as much as the Bible or the church. When they are on screen together, you can imagine them in an odd couple buddy comedy, two aging road trippers tending to the flock. Lots of performances didn’t make my arbitrary 20-point cutoff. To be dead honest with you, it’s entirely possible that if you ask me in a year, I’ll have re-considered who is on the main list and who is in the honorable mentions; the idea that what I say now, when all these movies are fresh in my mind and affected by immediate emotional reaction, has to be my inviolate opinion for all time is silly. That said, here are some excellent and noteworthy performances that didn’t quite make the cut.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Kelvin Harrison, Jr. in Waves

Zack Gottsagen in The Peanut Butter Falcon

Isabela Moner in Dora and the Lost City of Gold

Alessandro Nivola in The Art of Self-Defense

Cate Blanchett in Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

More or less everyone in Little Women (I couldn’t decide, and thought more of the acting than the overall film)

Jodie Turner-Smith in Queen and Slim

Cynthia Erivo in Harriet

Kaitlyn Dever in Booksmart

Edward Norton in Motherless Brooklyn

[rivkyschleider]

Annotated Bibliography

Winnicott, D. (1986) Home is where we start from. England: London

In this collection of essays we learn of Winnicott’s key teachings, presented to a lay audience.  He explains attachment theory, the ‘good enough environment’, the contribution of the Mother to society, adolescence and the relationship between the individual and their facilitating family group.  He explores concepts of health versus illness through his lens as a psychoanalyst in addition to to his medical background.  It is extremely helpful to see how foundation concepts of personality, the very make up of human emotional development can be applied to such a variety of cultural topics such as monarchy, the Pill and mathematics.  He brings clarity to these issues and offers me a model for applying depth of insight about the subconscious and the effect of early childhood environment on later life.  By uncovering gaps or repression in the individual’s psyche the psychotherapist can facilitate milestones of developmental progress, albeit at a later stage of maturation.

Yalom, I. (2002)  The Gift of Therapy.  US: HarperCollins

This is a handbook of 85 tips and instructions built upon 35 years of clinical practice and teaching.  He paints a picture of a therapist in a way that inspires me to rise to the challenge of training and the ongoing character growth that is so crucial to this profession.  He promotes curiosity, humility and transparency, and breaks away the the image of the therapist as an all-knowing provider of interpretations, or a blank canvas to absorb transference.  He gives a practical guide for mining the here-and-now aspects of the therapeutic encounter to further the process of therapy.  He describes tools  for incorporating the therapist’s own feelings into the mix as well as how to explore dream material, how to take a history and how to look at their present; how their daily life is organised and peopled.  He writes with deep pride on the privilege of helping others find meaning, health and joy.

Skynner, Cleese (1983)  Families and how to Survive Them  London: Vermilion

This was a a whistle-stop tour through all the major themes of child development, identity, attraction, relationships and family dynamics written as a conversation between Robin Skynner, a psychotherapist and John Cleese his former patient.  They discuss the continuum that exists with optimally healthy families at one end; dysfunctional families with inter-generational problems at the other; and the “normal” families in the middle in which we see an expected mix of ‘screened off’ feelings alongside coping mechanisms, defenses and social norms to smooth the way.  Skynner draws on Freudian ideas as well as later work by more recent therapists and analysts who looked at how families work as a system.  Each part affects all other parts of the system.  By considering inter-relationships through the eyes of a typical family we can learn about letting go of inherited mistakes and move forward to optimal family life.

Van Der Kolk, B. The Body Keeps the Score, United Stares: Penguin

This book is about how trauma impacts a person causing long term suffering to victims, their families and future generations.  Using scientific methods such as brain scans and clinically sound investigations, Van Der Kolk looks at how the mind and body are transformed by traumatic events; how neural networks are formed as coping mechanisms and may later morph into unwanted behaviours.  This is followed by a paradigm of treatment that seeks to give individual patients ownership of their narrative, their bodies and a route to self awareness and healing.  Yoga, EMDR, neurofeedback and theater are offered as examples of pathways to recovery and I believe that art therapy is another good candidate for an embodied type of therapy, one that does not rely on talking alone.  This book answered questions about my own pattern of mild symptoms and has opened up the whole field of mind/body connection in relation to trauma and healing.

Axline, V.M. (1964) Dibs In Search of Self.  London: Penguin

Virginia M. Axline has written the true story of Dibs, her client; a talented and sensitive child who was trapped in isolation due to the lack of emotional connection in his life.  Through psychotherapy - play therapy to be precise - he regained his sense of self and was eventually able to thrive, utilise his gifted nature and contribute to society.  It is an eloquent case study obliquely laying out the principles of play and art therapy.  The therapist built the safe environment in which the child could open up and slowly verbalise his deeply felt emotions.  reparation with his parents blossoms.  It is notable that the therapist made it safe for Dibs to express negativity.  This teaches us to think about hostility as a sign sometimes of adequate ego strength for the feelings to be articulated.  In that sense, aggression is a sign of health!  This book is a beautiful testimony to the power of psychotherapy to transform lives.  

Malchiodi, C. (2011) Trauma Informed Art Therapy and Sexual Abuse in Children. In: Goodyear-Brown, P. (ed.) Handbook of Child Sexual Abuse: Identification, Assessment and Treatment.  United states: John Wiley & Sons

This chapter deals with how art therapy helps children who have suffered sexual abuse to articulate their sometimes unutterable experiences in a manner that the therapist can understand while within what is tolerable for the child.  Trauma informed art therapy involves using art materials to address hyper-arousal and to teach relaxation, referencing the specific neuro circuit that is activated by hands on activities of a soothing nature.  The sensory and tactile qualities of art materials need to be taken into consideration, how they are central to trauma recovery, but equally how they may trigger memories of distressful events.  The somatic approach, using colour and shape enables children to locate the place in the body where trauma is held so they can learn to diminish distress.  The author comments on the relevance of culturally sensitive materials and projects.  This has been a rich article for me, linking my reading on trauma, with art therapy for a client group I may want to work with in the future.  

Cane, F. (1951) The Artist in Each Of Us. United States: Art Therapy Publications

This book bridges art and therapy.  It aims to give the reader a means to achieving a richer art and a more integrated life.  It looks at how movement, feeling and thought work together.  I was intrigued to read detailed technical instructions for accessing subconscious material which can be used to reach higher levels of artistic expression and also personal healing.  The case studies record the progress of her students and how transcendence was coaxed up through fantasy, play, rhythmic movements, chanting and other indirect means until it could be released for union with the conscious.  I tried out some of these techniques and was surprised to discover not only the catharsis, but also the unexpected outcomes of artwork spontaneously arising from my own psychological material.  It shows me how the perceptive teacher can awaken in her students their own creativity and direct them to find solutions for subtle or complex inner dilemmas.

Dalley, T. (ed.) (1984) Art as Therapy. An Introduction to the use of art as a therapeutic technique. London: Routledge

This book is an introduction to the theories that underpin art therapy and is broad in it’s range of contributing authors.  We get an outline of the role of art within a therapeutic framework, the manifestation of art as play, as a language of symbols and development.  The historical links between art education and art therapy are explored; the differences and what they have in common; and a possibility for merging the two fields. Each chapter on a specific client group offers insights for working with these vulnerable people in a way that will give direct therapeutic benefit. 

I found the chapter on art therapy in prisons to be particularly enlightening.  The author was clear about the actual constraints of working in that environment, what the pitfalls might be and she presented practical guidance on overcoming them.  She promotes a vision for how arts can transform the most ant-social of prisoners into creative, productive people; this raises pertinent questions for the current justice system.

Price, J. (1988) Motherhood, What it Does to Your Mind  London: Pandora Press

A fascinating book delving into the psychology of mothering written by a female psychiatrist and psychotherapist.  It ties up the concepts of attachment theory with the realities of modern relationships and societal expectations.  It is presented through the lens of a Woman, a woman who lived through her own mother-daughter dynamic, pregnancy, giving birth, breast feeding and the like.  She looks at how our culture and family story play out in our own lives whether consciously or unconsciously.  By normalising much of the natural difficulties of mothering, this book can offer solace in trying times.  

I am a mother of four boys and pregnant with my fifth child, so I am justified to claim that his book ought to become mainstream knowledge.  It is through lived experiences that we can most genuinely form opinions and then reach out to help others in a professional capacity.

Case, C. Dalley, T. (1992) The Handbook of Art Therapy  London: Routledge

This handbook is a bird’s eye view of the profession.  It covers the theories of psychoanalysis and how it intersects with art as well as a detailed look at the practical aspects of employment as an art therapist in jargon-free language.  This gives a beginner art therapist a survival guide for those inevitable first forays into work.  I gained a grasp on the complexities surrounding room set-up or lack of appropriate dedicated space.  A how-to guide on various forms of note taking making use of the same example session throughout the different formats was extremely helpful.  There is clear preparation for supervision, referrals, working in an institution, operating as part of a team versus being isolated and potentially being misunderstood.  Reading this was an important step towards becoming a competent practitioner. 

[guylty]

Screenshot bingo continues.

If anything, TI – and that is mainly Richard Armitage as Claude Monet – is a pleasure to look at. Just a cursory glance at my screenshot loot of episode 2 shows that there were smiles and gorgeous galore. But well, it’s not all beauty and joy in the show, and there were things that I felt irked by, too.

Quick summary

Part 2 of the mini series begins after the Franco-Prussian war with Monet and his family returning from London. He reconnects with the scene in Paris and continues to paint – without much success as the salon is still dominated by the Marquis de Chennevières who ridicules the Impressionists’ work. After focusing on Monet and his friendship with Renoir and Bazille, as well as Manet’s groundbreaking work on painting in part 1, this episode still has Monet as the main protagonist but also looks at Edgar Degas. With his eyesight deteriorating and money running scarce after his father’s death, Degas struggles as a painter. Despite producing beautiful work, his treatment of his fragile models is rude and neglectful.

The early worm paints the sunrise. Screenshot

Monet finds himself transfixed by light and colour. The painting that eventually is responsible for the moniker “impressionism”, is a study of the sunrise that he paints in a rush one morning, racing outside to capture the sunlight in all its glory. Similarly, he sets his canvas up in a train station because he wants to paint the whirling steam. What a pioneer! As the salon won’t display the impressionists’ paintings, the group decides to put on their own show, which is to take place in a photographer’s studio. “One passing fad helping another” as the Marquis says… little does he know…

. Renoir, Monet and Degas are on board; Manet declines any participation. Despite great hopes, the exhibition is not a success, neither with critics nor with public.

Consoling Alice Hochedé… well, who wouldn’t want to be consoled by him… Screenshot

At this point, Monet and his wife are living in poverty. Money from Monet’s patron Ernest Hochedé is not forthcoming either. When Monet goes to visit his patron’s home, he meets Hochedé’s wife Alice and the series makes it clear that she will have much influence on Monet later. Meanwhile, Camille’s health deteriorates. She has always been a favourite model for Monet, and even in death he remains transfixed by the play of light on her features. The fortunes of Monet’s patron Hochedé have changes, too, and Alice and her children have moved in with Monet – which leads Degas, jealous of Monet and Renoir finally being represented in the salon with their paintings, puts a hoax article in the newspaper declaring Monet dead, and claiming he has a relationship with Alice Hochedé. Monet confronts Degas – and the impressionist movement seems to splinter…

Some thoughts on part 2

We get another episode opening with Monet on a train. Maybe it has worked out cheaper that way, but whenever I see steam trains and the name Richard Armitage on the credits, I immediately think of NS. And I always wonder whether these things are coincidences or whether some clever scriptwriter has copped on that repeating the earlier crowd pleaser is something that would appeal to the fans? Well, probably not – we are far too small a group to be recognised. But it is funny, nonetheless. And it begs the question what RA thinks about these things? Does he have the same associations? Does he ever suspect he is being used as a babe magnet?

Granted, the more I watch of TI, the more I get used to the straggly hair and the goaty beard. And suddenly Richard looks gorgeous… Especially his blue eyes stood out to me in this episode, where I particularly noticed the intense shade of blue in a number of scenes.

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I have to admit that I am not that interested in the other painters, and that is all down to RA. I want to see Monet’s story, not Degas or Manet. Renoir is acceptable – because he is close friends with Monet and therefore likely to feature in scenes… Mind you, I thought Degas’ story is really interesting because of the connection to the ballet. How the young dancers were taken advantage of by rich men who pretend to be patrons but really only just want to get into the dancers’ knickers… Dirty business…

In contrast, Monet is clean and beautiful art. “The sun was my muse”, he explains, and that whole sequence (around 15:00) of Monet getting up early to paint at sunrise basically is the whole mini-series in one scene. He explains what is so compelling about the impressionists: For the first time, an art movement focuses on light and how it is seen depending on time of day, angle, etc. , hence Monet’s excitement and rush to paint the sunrise. Paintings are not static as such, but they now depict movement – such as the rising sun, or the whirling steam in a train station. And like its distant cousin photography, impressionism for the first time elevates ordinary people, scenes and objects to subject matters, often painting from unusual angles and communicating not just superficial beauty to the spectator, but transporting an atmosphere or emotion. This is a mini lecture on what impressionism is and how it differs from what came before.

Monet worshipping the sun… reminds me of Ricky Deeming calling upon the goddess… Screenshot

That is all very interesting but what is compelling in the series remains the smile, the joy, the happiness, the energy of Monet. Always positive, always hopeful, always a doer. He doesn’t fret when he is poor and unrecognised; when he makes the sale – he spends the money on bread and cheese. And he organises a counter-exhibition to the salon when the art dealer stops buying the impressionists’ art.

As has been remarked on several times in the comments to last week’s re-watch post, the show is very good at putting the famous Monet paintings into context – or visualising them on the screen. And again, this is a wonderful lesson for all art-interested people, seeing what Monet must have seen when he was dabbing the canvas and created his masterpieces.

Talking of dabbing the canvas – another point of discussion last week was a quote by TI‘s art consultant Leo Stevenson who paid Richard the greatest compliment. Thank you to Lilianschild for digging up the quote.

Some actors, like Richard Armitage, actually took to painting extremely well and painted in a really convincing manner. Others were nervous of doing any real painting and so I sometimes stood in for them in their costumes for the close-ups of ‘their’ hands painting or drawing. .”

I had a little look, and while of course it is inconclusive how much he actually painted himself, there is something about the way RA holds the paint brush. Even though he has really large hands and therefore the brush looks very delicate, it appears as if he has the lightest touch. He holds the paint brush properly and dabs lightly at the canvas. Method man is certainly convincing… Clearly some prime porn for fans with a hand fetish, as the extremities are beautifully accentuated by frilly shirt cuffs and  wide puffy sleeves.

Delicate fingers…

What still irks me, is the framing action with old Monet in Giverny. And here is another reason why I don’t like those interludes: I can’t quite reconcile the happy, cheerful, positive young Monet with the old, negative codger from 1920. Old Monet seems to be scolding the journalist for every single question, always correcting him, always defending himself, always the one who knows, always raising his voice, always arguing. Never calm, quiet, benign and wise with age. He’s really not very sympathetic at all. The Four Yorkshiremen by Monty Python come to mind…

While I very much enjoyed all the shiny happy Monet of episode 2, I was also glad to see him expand his scope to some more dramatic emotions. The death of Camille is a truly touching scene – the contrast of the painter, concentrating on shapes, light and composition, seeing beauty in death, presumably, and thus immortalising his dead wife once again on canvas – and then, immediately afterwards the bereaved husband who has just realised the enormity of his loss and helplessly cries. “Jesus, he’s devastating when he cries.” is what I noted down. It reminded me why and how I fell for Armitage the actor, i.e. when he played Lucas North in the final scene of season 9 on the roof and… He needs more roles like that!

Emoting something else than anger

Luckily for us, the episode did not end on a sad note. Instead we see the beginnings of the relationship with Alice Hoschedé, and that is quite beautiful, though. Possibly because it starts out without love, but a bit of a confrontation. The scene in the garden where Monet consoles Alice because she tells him her husband can’t pay him… the soft touch of his hand on her hair. She cries on his shoulder. Yes, that demands three screenshots for illustration #UncompromisingFangirlMode

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Sure, there is the fangirl fluff again. Coupled with puppy eyes and *boom* there go my pants. But when it comes to the man who doesn’t just have a pigeon hole but a whole dovecote for poker-faced, emotionally hardened spy types, this would really be quite a departure.

So, all in all an hour happily spent watching young Monet. At the end of the episode, the tides are finally turning. Monet gets a painting into the salon. He cuts his hair. And he gets quite angry. I leave you with a derp that isn’t meant to make fun of RA – but just to make you laugh. How unrecognisable he is in that screenshot. Thank cod!

The Impressionists  part 3 to follow next week? Hopefully I will get it in – I will be travelling home to Germany on Tuesday, staying one week with my mum.

Feel free to comment below – or to write your own review on your own blog. If you do, don’t forget to link to it in my comments!

Re-Watching The Impressionists [part 2]- Impressed Screenshot bingo continues. If anything, TI - and that is mainly Richard Armitage as Claude Monet - is a pleasure to look at.

[theseventhhex]

The Hunna Interview

The Hunna

Since the success of their second album ‘Dare’, The Hunna have graced their fans with lead singles such as the title track, 'Dare', 'Summer' and the anthemic 'Flickin' Your Hair'. Following the release of their hugely successful debut album The Hunna have established themselves as one of the UK’s most in-demand bands. The four piece continues to excel with further new material, which is undoubtedly equable with The Hunna's beloved sound. Since releasing their debut record which peaked very high on official album charts, The Hunna has gone to accumulate well over 100 million streams. With sold-out shows constantly being the order of the day around the world, the band’s cult following is always gathering momentum, as things are surely looking up for The Hunna. Their reputation as one the best live bands on the scene is testament to their alarming and infectious energy… We talk to drummer Jack Metcalfe about being a band of close friends, loyal fans and football…

TSH: Is the idea of consistently challenging yourselves as a band at the heart of what you do?

Jack: Absolutely. As musicians we constantly want to try and prove our graft. The more we practise and tour as a band, the better we get. The style of music that we want to share is important to us, therefore when we start with a blank canvas and share ideas its key for us to be on the same page. We sort of push the sounds and styles of the type of music of certain artists that have influenced us, which in turn helps us to achieve our intended results. It’s all about coming up with some original ideas whilst staying true to our rock band roots. We’re all about honing in on what we’re good at but still exploring other avenues that we can blend into our own sound.

TSH: How would you assess the subject matter that The Hunna is drawn towards expressing?

Jack: There are lots of ways of observing and looking at our subject matter, but in general we find it super-important to express our stories and what we go through as individuals. Every artist has a different story to tell. For us, we’re just four best friends that have taken this route as a hobby and found the fun factor drives us forward. We always want to get different messages across to our fans. There’s a lot of love mentioned in our songs, and I guess the universal topics of love will always be relatable.

TSH: What’s the level of focus like when you guys enter the studio?

Jack: When we get together to make new music everyone is in there to do their jobs. We never compete with each other, even though it can be intense given the amount of hours you are in the studio at times. Whether we are recording or playing live, you are in competition with yourself - you’re constantly pushing yourself to do better. Also, as a team we all bring to the table what we know is best for the band and are supportive of one another.

TSH: Do your surroundings on your travels also inform your musical perspectives?

Jack: Definitely. Our surroundings during our touring always allow us to feel inspired. You know, some artists allow their success to get to their head when they become more well known, but for us it’s just a case of taking in and soaking up our surroundings and letting them influence us in positive ways. We’re all the same as we were since the band started. We love experiencing different cultures, different sights, eating new foods and meeting different fans from different countries.

TSH: What do you recall about the treatment that you wanted to give to the song entitled ‘Dare’?

Jack: Well, we are essentially heavy rock fans so this song was a nice chance for us to explore an even heavier side. Style-wise we love bands like Biffy Clyro and Foo Fighters and we did our own thing with those types of bands in mind. We aimed for something a bit more daring lyrically. Also, it’s an awesome track to play live too.

TSH: What does ‘Flickin’ Your Hair’ convey to you personally?

Jack: Well, Ryan took care of the lyrics for this one but in general it’s related to girl issues, just like a lot of our other songs. It’s more about embracing a visual of how at times someone just kind of blows you away - we’ve all been there.

TSH: The Hunna has a legion of loyal and dedicated fans, how rewarding is the support for the band?

Jack: Having such great fans is definitely one of the most rewarding things about being in this band. It’s surreal for us to have such amazing support. I mean we’re just four guys from Watford. As time goes on we just find it amazing to connect with our fans. We always see the fans after every show and it goes a long way. It truly is really overwhelming the love and loyalty we get from our supporters, and it drives us to be better whilst also keeping us grounded. Another inspiring factor is when fans sing along to our songs and it’s not even their native language - it’s very humbling.

TSH: Have you guys been keeping up with Watford FC’s great season?

Jack: Oh, we definitely keep an eye on their scores; however, Junate’s an Arsenal fan and the rest of the band are Man Utd supporters. We have a bit of a rivalry when they play each other. So yeah, we follow Watford but support other teams, ha!

TSH: Talk us through the mask aesthetic that you guys are fond of...

Jack: Back in the day I used to listen to a lot of underground rap which spanned America and bits and bobs of Japan too; I caught wind of it five years ago - there were these small rappers rocking the kind of masks we wear and I thought it was cool. It’s funny because Ryan got ill on tour a while back and started wearing a cool mask but it wasn’t for aesthetic reasons, instead he was trying to get better and not spread germs but it kind of stuck. Also, we named Dan ‘Bandana Dan’ because he loves rocking bandanas. Overall, there are different ways of rocking masks and bandanas, but for us it’s more of a fashion accessory.

TSH: What’s downtime and chill time like for yourself when you get a moment to yourself?

Jack: I like to go out in nature and do everyday sort of stuff like playing sports, hitting the gym, watching movies or going out for dinner on the weekend. As a band we love playing table football, it loosens us up and keeps us in touch with reality, ha!

TSH: Are there future preferences that you’re bearing in mind for the band as you look ahead?

Jack: Well, without sounding too corny, we just want to stay true to ourselves. We want to write what we want to in terms of stories that we want to tell to the world. Also, I think it’s important for us to simply rock out and offer a great performance when we play live. I feel like we are known for our live shows and that’s something that we want to constantly get better at as we look ahead. All the while we intend to better ourselves as people, as musicians and as writers too. We know where we want to go and what we want to give but it’s easier said than done and things take time. We’ll remain patient as we look ahead and simply always feel grateful for all the support we receive.

The Hunna - “Never Enough”

Dare

[personalisedpaint-blog]

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[morbid-n-macabre]

Dr. Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot- AKA The Butcher of Paris, or Doctor Satan

Tell me if this one reminds you of HH Holmes.

Marcel had been in trouble with the law multiple times as a young man, jailed more than once, and expelled from school on multiple occasions. He was diagnosed with a few different mental illnesses, including kleptomania- the man would steal anything he could get his hands on. He fought with France in WW1, until he was wounded. At this time his mental illness began to make itself known again, and he was sent to a hospital where his sticky fingers got him in trouble; Marcel was jailed for theft. Still, upon release he very briefly went back to fighting for his country, just weeks later Marcel claimed to have injured his foot with a grenade. Whether this was on purpose or not, nobody knows. He was discharged, and did go on to receive benefits, including a pension.

This is when he went back to school, and in 1921 the mentally ill con man with a criminal record became a doctor. Now, Marcel's newly elevated status didn't mean he was suddenly above breaking the law- he was known to perform illegal abortions, he very liberally over-prescribed narcotics, became addicted himself, it's believed he murdered more than one of his patients and a woman he was dating. Regardless of all this, the Doctor became mayor of Villaneuve. While in office, he embezzled money, was busted, and eventually redesigned. Dude was just underhanded, always scheming. Still somehow the doctor was loved and supported by many. When WW2 came around, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Doc saw dollar signs.

The Nazis had occupied France, and the doctor eagerly provided cheap or free medical treatment to the people who needed it. He also worked for the French Resistance, helping innocent Jews escape with their lives- or so the public believed. They saw this as selfless good deeds, he was a saint in their eyes. Truth be told, the doctor was doing very well for himself; he was even able to purchase himself a new home in the nicest of neighborhoods, this townhouse has been referred to as a mansion. No one could ever have dreamed the horrific things going on inside the doctor's new residence.

On March 11, 1944, a neighbor complained of rancid smelling smoke coming from the good doctor's chimney. Police knocked on the door, but the doctor was not there. Fearing a fire, they barged into the home to investigate and found the surprise of their lives. The smoke was coming from a burning furnace in the basement. Upon closer inspection they noticed human limbs sticking out of the fire!

The doctor quickly explained that the remains belonged to traitors- Nazi sympathizers and Germans. He said that he was the leader of a resistance group- that if the Germans found out about his group, they'd kill him. The doctor was an impressive liar, police bought his story and even mistakenly allowed him to leave. But there were more grisly discoveries to be found in the home, including a headless torso, 2 lime pits filled with the decaying corpses of men, women, and children; and canvas bags throughout the property filled with burnt bones, scalps, and hair. The house's sinks were used to drain the corpses of blood, and he even had a soundproof chamber where his victims were chained up and tortured. The room was complete with a peephole where the sadistic doctor could stand and watch his victim's death.

Authorities quickly realized they'd screwed up majorly and issues a warrant for the doctor's arrest; they found his wife, Georgette, but catching the doctor took 7 months. Upon arrest, Marcel claimed his victims were Nazis; then he said he only found the remains- he was merely guilty of storing them. The truth is utterly horrific. He had been charging 25,000 francs for anyone who wanted to leave France, the victims believed they were going to Argentina or some other far away destination. After they paid, the Dr. would bring these people back to his lab where he'd tell them they needed to be immunized before they left, then he would either inject them with cyanide or gas them with the same chemical believed to be used on the Jews in concentration camps. Before they died, the Doctor forced his victims to write letters to their loved ones saying they made it safely to their destination, and that further communication would not be possible. Once dead, everything they were bringing with them to start their new life was his. The doctor was even known to go to his victim's homes and take whatever he wanted, furniture and all. He'd tell those who asked that it was part of the deal- all belongings left behind were his now. When he first started doing this, he would dump his victims around town, in rivers. The people were afraid, they knew there was a killer on the loose. When the doctor bought his beautiful new home, he found it easier to just dispose of the bodies there. All together, at least 10 full scalps, more than 30 pounds of bones, 11 pounds of hair, 3 full trash cans full of small bones, and 49 empty suitcases were found inside the home.

Authorities knew that the doctor had help, but he never would name his partners in crime. He was convicted of 26 murders, and sentenced to death. Before he died the doctor did admit to 60 murders, but always maintained that the victims were Nazis. In 1946, the Doctor was taken to the guillotine. His last words were, “Gentlemen, I ask you not to look. This will not be very pretty.”

It's believed the doctor's true body count was really somewhere between 60- 160.

[goldenscript]

trust me

pairing: lee donghyuck | reader genre: peter pan au / fluff, light angst word count: 3,618 description: all you really need is a little faith.

What comes after eyes shut and the stars bespeckle the navy canvas of the sky is, of course, darkness, with fright targeting the hearts of children (and even some adults) and certain thoughts nestling in the back of their minds. It’s unsettling—the mystery that lies after waking hours. It leaves one pondering what may come for them or if anything will come for them at all, leaving disparity in its wake as the glimmers of dawn rise in brilliant shades of frost bleeding through the fading violet. Where nights like these become common and only a few remedies can be used for treatment.

For many, you specifically, pleasant stories help—not just the simple ones where the princess kisses the frog and finds herself a prince—rather they’re intricate, well-woven to a point where story crafting became a game for you and your mother at the time of your greatest battle against insomnia. Although Treasure Island and its swashbuckling pirates piqued your interest, there can a time when you eventually strayed away because those adventurous, ravenous bunch became nothing but codfish to you. And rather, a young boy no older than yourself taking their place.

You remember tales of a boy you had only ever dreamt of, with fiery red hair and an impish grin almost always perched on his sun-kissed skin. But instead of being a figment of your imagination, he is actually very much real.  He isn’t like Jack or Aladdin. No, he is a boy with hope and fun and all the laughter in the world, who could make you laugh despite only existing in a realm so far yet so close, you could practically feel the sand between your toes on the beach and feel the sea breeze brush against your skin when he helps you take flight.

—

Here, the seagulls are cawing and the lull of the mermaids singing down by the cove are echoing all across the land, with a few high-pitched shouts and guttural grunts filling the spaces in between. His hands have always been warm and steady in yours, a flash of a more genuine smile poised on his lips. It’s just like the many times before.

“Ready?” he asks you, his arm already lifting up ever-so-slightly. At the sight of your hesitance, he raises a brow at you, “Remember what I told you?”

“Don’t fall?” He laughs in response, shaking his head at you. “Oh, right. The other thing—faith, trust, an—”

“—d, pixie dust!”

You can remember the sprinkle of golden dust kissing your lashes, your cheeks, your hair, and your arms. It’s less heavier than the glitter you were decorated in for New Year’s, but far from the light sprinkle that comes on the first day of spring. Rather than the risk of a million showers and the risk of a cold, it imbues you with warmth all over from your head going down to your toes, lifting an invisible weight off your shoulders as you find yourself already floating an inch off the ground.

All it takes is the memory to get you ready for take-off.

Haechan grins and gives your hand a squeeze, “See! I knew you could do it again.”

“I—I’m—” you stutter, looking over at him with wide eyes. Since your arrival onto Neo, you haven’t quite gained your footing on the whole flying ordeal. It took a matter of seconds to do it in your half-dazed stupor where nothing but the insatiable need to escape your dark thoughts and the following worries that always recount themselves over and over like some broken record became your motivator, but right then just now was a completely different move.

Every waking moment on the island has been filled with getting acquainted with all the mermaids, the Dreamies, even the wretched pirates that caused more fun than actual havoc, the kiss of the waters between your toes, the taste of delicious fruits hanging from the trees, and the very feeling of the island itself. Adventures left and right, memories seared deep into your memory without a chance of disappearing, and all because Haechan extended his hand to you.

His fingers interlock with your own, giving you a squeeze as you feel a thought weigh you down for the briefest moment. He only draws you nearer and reminds you that thoughts can disappear with him. All the bad that’s crossed your path is nothing more than a passing phase, and what is happening right then and there is okay. Everything will be okay. He knows it, and he wants you to know it too. That’s just how he is. Not quite blind to the daunting reality that nothing lasts forever—something he’s been showing more and more conscious about since you arrived—but the kind of optimism that you need, because that’s how you are.

Fears and worries are what keep you awake, gnawing at you like an unresolved hunger and unrelenting like an incessant pain. You’ve fretted the dark, the future, and all that comes with the unknown. And yet, Haechan has changed that without fail.

There have been nights where you were plagued with anxieties, with unanswered questions that could only answer themselves upon doing them, some dark and some not so much, and still these things toiled with the semblance of peace that comes with rest and entering dreamland. You only found a sense of calm here, where nothing but flight and impromptu adventures welcomed you. Be they hikes across the tall hills or even rides across the tides, where you could kiss the salt water with someone by your side. Here, there is light like the end of the tunnel, illuminating the darkness and the long-winded path and showing you the land you’ve crept so carefully upon.

If it wasn’t for that red-haired boy, you don’t think you would’ve ever realized just how easily you could trample upon that path or the many others that follow. If anything, you don’t think you would’ve ever known you could take detours and see other parts of the caverns. And for that, you are eternally grateful to him, to the Dreamies, to Neo.

The shed of light is exactly what you needed, and so is the comfort of Haechan at your side. His nature is almost always jovial, the sort of happiness that’s contagious to others, so when he breaks into fits of laughter, you can’t help but do the same. When he smiles, you feel your own creep up on you. And when his eyes shine, it’s like looking at the stars from up above, and still, his seem to be so much brighter even in daylight.

And despite all the uncertainty that comes with him, like where you two may go even now, or whether he’ll get bored of you and the stories and the company you bring or not, you’re actually comforted by the idea that whatever comes will come and that is fine by you. You’ve begun to see things in stride instead of all at once, making your mind a lot less muddled with too many what-if’s and what-will-be’s. Plenty of which contains mostly thoughts of Haechan himself, you’re completely okay with it.

At the least, you know the feeling is quite mutual anyway.

“—Y/N?”

The way his voice cuts into the air and the roaring waters below has you falter when you see his own body sink a little lower. You’ve only ever seen him waver like this twice before, but it came with the mention of home. Another time at the mention of a boy named Mark. From the way Jeno talked about the previous boy, it sounded like he and Haechan were awfully close, so it makes you wonder if that is what’s passing his mind right now. It was only a week ago when it came to be, and it’s been even longer since he’s being showcasing tumultuous waves behind his glittering eyes.

“Yeah?” you say, meeting his eyes with concerned ones. “Are you alright?”

He’s just about to answer before something dawns on him. The recognitive look passes across his features too quickly for you to say for sure as he offers you a smile and asks, “Can we go somewhere?”

“Of course,” you smile softly. Although his smile doesn’t match his eyes, you let him guide you to wherever this place is. You haven’t a clue where or what may come, but that’s the beauty of letting him guide you. It’s always worth the while.

This while is far from the sand coves, the hilltops, and even the palm trees with all the coconuts you and the rest of the Dreamies drank and ate from the insides. Instead, there is a hideaway even more entrancing than the treehouse you and the rest of them have resided in for the entirety of this summer, with a large expanse of land, filled with different flowers you can barely name, with tall green blades of grass that you would dwarf as soon as you stand beside it, with large oak trees adorning the entrance, and with no one else in sight as you both slowly perch yourself on one of the large, flat stones beside the fluttering foliage.

Haechan hovers just a moment longer, letting go of your hand for a moment and turning toward an area you don’t pay mind to, because of the very proximity you are in. The smell of freesias and daisies waft around you two, hugging your bodies in a soft embrace as you find yourself with a sole rose in hand. Its petals are a flaxen shade that makes you think of him and the warmth he provides you, and it is just as soft as his hands. There aren’t any thorns to prick your fingertips either. Only a small leaflet that flutters as a small breeze and the very warmth of his skin and the sun’s rays kiss your skin.

“Thank you,” you murmur to him, caressing the flower. His palm opens upwards to yours, wrapping around your own like the usual routine. It’s easy with him. Even as your heart thrums, you still feel at ease around your personified sunshine.

“Of course,” he looks at your entwined hands and shifts to the rose in your other hand. There’s a particular look in his eyes that stops you from asking him if he’s alright again. You know he’ll tell you when he’s ready. “The colors mean something. Didja know that?”

You blink, looking at the small gift of nature in your hand, “They do?”

He nods, meeting your eyes along the way. As if to ask you, “Wanna guess?”

You can’t really think, nor does the answer come up even in the recesses of your mind but from the twinkle in his eyes, he seems to bank on this. And that makes you shake your head and smile as you reply, “Tell me.”

“It’s a promise,” he begins softly. The lull of his voice drifting with the wind as you both remain sitting, knees touching and all. A sudden recollection of his odd behavior pops back up—his indifference to Mark and the idea of home beyond the island, his uncertainty around you, and his sudden disappearances at night. Jisung reassured you that there was nothing to really fret over when he is like that, but you can’t seem to shake the inevitability of change. Because, even here, that’s bound to come to surface. “Of new beginnings.”

You tilt your head at him, “New beginnings?”

The heavy lump in your stomach begins to dissolve for some reason. You don’t know why, but the very phrase is just comforting to you.

He nods, musing aloud, “Like you coming here, us, and… well, leaving.”

In other words—growing up. You remember his entire spiel on the topic, agreeing wholeheartedly because it’s true. It’s inevitable.  And it sucks. It sucks so badly that the very mention of it has almost always sent him away before he returns with yet another adventure in mind. Then, the upset fades but the tension seems to only get heavier.

Of course, it’s a process to living. It’s exactly what Mark did too. What comes at the price of leaving is taking the first few steps into adulthood, whether you agree with it or not doesn’t matter, because it’s happening. Even as you, Haechan, Renjun, and Jeno remain there, the island itself knows. The very magic you’ve all imbued yourselves with won’t react the same, flying gets heavier, the luster of adventure is lost, all of it gone—that’s just what happens. But it’s to your surprise that he’s so willing to talk about this, especially with you.

Even more so, he actually lets out a soft laugh before he continues, “It’s weird how suddenly I could change my mind about the whole thing, but it can’t be so bad, right? Mark’s doing it already, after all.”

“Are you feeling alright, Haechan?” you ask, letting go of his hand to place your hand on his forehead. You’re not sure whether you should feel relieved or concerned that there isn’t a sign of a fever on him. But as your hand slips down, his hand catches yours at his cheek and allows it to stay there as he nods. “What… changed?”

He sighs, looking as though all the comfort he could ever need is right there in your touch, “When I realized you’d have to leave one of these days—”

“—don’t worry about me.”

Of course, you’ve considered what would come after you leave. You know it would be hard to continue what you have with him from your little town to the grandeur of Neo, but you refuse to allow him to leave just because you are—!

He pouts a little, pretending to try and bite your hand though you don’t so much as recoil as you continue to watch him. You only move it when his hand soon drops onto the space between both of your knees.

“You didn’t let me finish,” he says in a small huff. His bottom lip stops the slight quiver as soon as you look ready to listen. “But it started with that, alright? I realized you would have to leave, then so would Jeno and Renjun, and it made me remember I would too… I mean I’ve always wanted to stay here forever. Ever since Mark brought me, all I could do is fall in love with everything—the island, the mermaids, the Dreamies, even the pirates... And I fell so hard that—that I forgot what it was like back there. And then, I got scared because when I think of there, it’s dark and blank.”

He seems to pause, gaze flickering to your own in case you have something to say. Of course, you want to, but you don’t say anything. You just continue to nod, already knowing that he’ll continue now as he looks up at the blue skies. It’s his place of comfort, of innocence, and of freedom that you feel blessed to share and love with him.

“Not knowing is scary, Y/N,” his voice is smaller, the light traces of frivolity fading as his brows furrow ever-so-slightly. “I won’t know what to do when I do. You have a home, so does Jeno… even Renjun. And I know Jaemin’s doing alright and—and—and even Mark. And I—am just—I’m okay with it, but I’m not.”

“Hey,” you leave the rose on your lap, grabbing both his cheeks. He’s tense for a moment, but the hardened expression on your visage is accompanied by soft eyes—you mean business now. “I get what you mean.”

He whispers, “You do?”

You nod, “Being there was scary for me too, Haechan. I couldn’t sleep at night because all I could think about was what was going to happen and what’s supposed to happen. It was hard, honestly, but then, I came here. Thanks to you.”

His eyes twinkle with a soft light as he asks, “Really?”

It’s his dream. Helping others, giving them comfort, and telling stories. He may make up the games and adventures for you and the others to experience, but what he loves the most is recounting the events at the end of the night, where everyone is not quite exhausted but they’re far too lazy to move anywhere else but the makeshift beds. He loves giggling over the inside jokes and hearing how everyone else felt afterwards.

And although you don’t mention it often, you are grateful for him and the opportunity he gave you in coming to Neo. You’ve loved every minute there. Every single moment has been nothing less than a memory you’ll keep forever, and you know that a part of him knows you feel that way too.

“Really,” you smile, nodding again. “So, that’s how I know you’re going to be okay. You won’t be alone, Haechan.”

“Donghyuck,” he says, reaching for your hands and holding them atop his lap. “That’s my name.”

“Well,” you muse, feeling your heart swell. “Donghyuck, you’re going to be okay. You’re not alone. Me, Renjun, Jeno, and Mark will be right there with you. I promise.”

“Really?” His brows have long since relaxed, rising a bit as hope begins to seep in. “You mean that?”

“Of course, I do. I wouldn’t have said it,” you respond with playful indignation. When he laughs, you lean in close. Of course, your heart can hardly handle your own ministration, but it isn’t like you’re the only one flustered by this. You can hear a stammer threatening to tumble out of his pinkish lips, but you just smile a little. “Remember what you used to tell me?”

He blinks, a little thrown off but he manages a, “What?”

“Don’t you trust me?” you slightly mimic him, only smiling after his mouth drops slightly ajar. It’s a homage to that night he offered his hand to you, but you don’t think you would’ve ever had all these opportunities without his encouragement.

“Using my own words against me?” He laughs, giving your hands a squeeze. He takes a moment to respond after you nod, allowing the weight of your words to sink in just as his had with you. Sometimes it’s the leap of faith that helps more than anything, and you hope it does for him.

“What do you say?” you ask him, recounting his previous words once more.

The very thundering of your hearts entering the still air.

You feel nervous, because it’s the first time you’ve done this with him. He’s always been the one to convince you, not the other way around. But it feels right. Because you know deep down that he is lonely despite all else, and those fears that seem so irrational and almost miniscule run farther than you can imagine. You know that when your fears were swallowing you whole, he was right there to guide you so it’s your turn. And you’re more than willing to do that, especially for him.

“Okay,” he nods, uncertainty remains riddled all over his features, but a steady resolve is in the works at the helm of it all. “I trust you.”

He takes a chance right then, inching closer to your visage as you did with him. But instead of shying away, the two of you remain there with locked eyes and those thundering hearts. His soft breath kisses your lips, a taste of new beginnings, mint, and coconut all right there, beckoning you. All you two can seem to think about is this moment, letting everything else fall away as the rest of the world falls to a low hum.

Then, he closes the distance and it really feels like the world melts away.

—

You remember those last days on Neo, each one flying by just as quickly as your races around the island. You remember how heavy it felt to float away and see your home, how empty it felt when it was just you, but how warm you felt with Donghyuck’s hand in yours as you both made it inside together. You remember all his ambivalence, all the sleepless nights, and all the homesickness. It’s somber and morose, then. But it’s bearable and he gets through those nights, where he pulls you closer and curls into your side. Each one getting easier as time goes on.

That’s why you two are there in your bed, years later, his mop of faded auburn locks tickling your skin. He’s still nestled against your side and his breathing shifting to a normal pace. He mumbles something, but you can’t quite hear it.

“Hm?”

“I said,” he pauses, letting you shift onto your side to face him. “Remember Neo?”

You hum an affirmation, asking, “Did you dream of it?”

As your fingertips caress his cheek, he says, “I did.”

“Tell me about it.”  

You’ve grown so used to telling stories of his adventures, especially to Mark who can’t seem to get enough of them, or even Jisung and Chenle who wonder what else they missed out on. But to your surprise, his aren’t about him and what he did that reminds you of all the strength he’s given you.

No, instead, this time it’s stories with you, the who gives him strength. You, the who still guides him through the dark tunnels of the real world where doubts and anxiety continue to wait. He tells you about who has given him a home—Mark, then you. All the while, you, who lays beside him in the warmth of your shared bed after all those years ago on Neo.

It’s you who, for once, is the one that sheds light, and it is you who becomes his personified sunshine.

[artmd]

WT:

A satisfying short story is one in which you see the moral momentum or sympathetic momentum swing from one character to another over the course of the story. You think one character is making it right but really it’s something awful. Then you think the other character is the “good guy.” There are these reversals. And I have a real aversion to stories that end with the pendulum right in the middle. I like a radical swing right at the end. Like the ending of The Graduate. I like endings where people think they want something and they get that thing and then it turns out that that’s the wrong thing. That’s often how it is for us.

It’s interesting what you’re saying about Cheever. That seems remarkable to me. Right after I got out of graduate school I was surviving doing magazine work and had great gig with a few different magazines. I was never forced to write newsy stuff or celebrity profiles. They would just give me a topic, a human subject to go and chase for a while, and I would just spend time with truckers, or people who hung out at a horse track, or people who worked at Wal-Mart. Basically, they were character studies, maybe eight to ten thousand words. Because there was no angle and nothing was off-limits for the story I would have fifty to a hundred thousand words of notes for a ten thousand–word story. The process of assembling a piece was cold carpentry. I would see a scene that was good and another that was okay, and I would hammer those together. For years, I was trying to do the same thing with fiction. I would write a 150-page draft for what was supposed to be a thirty-page short story, but for me fiction has to find its way into a much smaller place. And there has to be a coherence of emotion. Just spinning a bunch of ideas and trying to cook that into something that is meaningful and says something that’s important about how people are, that never worked for me. Those always just disintegrated.

It’s all in the balance. Fiction is born out of rival impulses. When I write a funny story, it can feel cowardly and lame. So then I write a draft where I amp up the emotional stakes. I write a really earnest story. But then it can feel not-so-cool. So in the next draft, I focus on pairing down the sentimentality but ratcheting up the pyrotechnic stuff with the language. But then that will feel like cheating. So I go back and simplify it and make sure there aren’t too many metaphors and that any time I’m pulling a language trick it actually is in service of the story.

I was in an art gallery the other day with a friend of mine who is a painter, and we saw a painting that I thought was pretty cool. She said, “No, that sucks.” She said the artist didn’t build up the canvas. You can see whether somebody has gone at a visual or aesthetic problem a bunch of different ways. Each of those attacks leaves its trace on a piece of work. On a sentence level I’m not as brainy about it. I think about thread count. Anytime I read something that doesn’t have a tight weave, I stop reading.

I’m not that patient. But my disgust with the work was sincere. I had a decent enough publication record fairly early on where I had a couple of agents saying, “Yeah, we can probably sell this book now.” But the process of revision was what interested me. When I first started writing, I could write a short story in ten days or two weeks, so I thought that’s what a short story is: a funny or interesting anecdote on which you hang literary curtains and doilies and stuff. But the process changed so much for me. It became about waiting for the characters’ lungs to develop, for them to become real for me. Revision was humbling. I got to see the primitiveness and simplicity of the early drafts, but I also got to see that there was something useful there that I shouldn’t destroy if I could avoid it.

I think I was weirdly quite young. I had a strange appetite for language. In first grade, I wrote a couple of plays. One was a combined moral lesson on pet care and tooth decay. In college, I wanted to major in literature, but I somehow convinced myself that that would be a bourgeois and decadent thing to study. I majored in sociology and anthropology and thought I was going to get a PhD, but I just despised what the academics were doing with language. It was often an exercise in obscuring rather than actually revealing anything about people. For me, literary writing was a better way to get out of it.

...No, but it’s rare that we actually communicate when we have conversations. If I were to look at the transcripts of my conversations with my parents or ex-girlfriends, it’s not a conversation; it’s just two parallel monologues where people are saying what they want to get across and not really listening. If you have dialogue in which one character is responding to the other it just sounds fake. Part of it stems from the desire to have legible conflict in the stories without having to explain it in the narrative sections. Conflict is difficult to dramatize without it tilting into hysteria. Having tiny swords flashing in quiet conversation is a better way to get at it.

I haven’t read “Gooseberries” in fifteen years. I have yet to really crack the Chekhovian code. I remember reading Chekhov in high school. I would get to the end of the story and think, That’s it? That’s the story? A guy worries about his relationship with his wife and then goes outside and picks up a chicken? It’s a strange Russian thing. The moment gets a different sort of treatment. Chekhov is such an elegant writer and is able to do such beautiful things with minor moments, but for me it was really Carver who took Chekov’s approach and made it make sense to me for the first time. Carver was able to take a tiny, unattended moment and show you how it could cause a life to rock on its axis. For me, he was the first to make the quiet moment smack a big gong.

SF: How do you decide the location for despair or anxiety in your stories?

It has to be a moment that would endure in the long-term memory of the characters, an afternoon or day or month that twenty years down the line they would be able to recall. That may be why humiliation figures so largely in my stories, because there’s no emotional event that you can relive with painful granularity like humiliation. You can recall joy or anger or love, but when you think back on when you came to school with your fly down, you feel that hot burning shame in your chest just as you did when you first experienced it.

[culturejunkies]

Joker Review

By Kenshiro

So let me get something out of the way first, I was not a fan of this movie being made. The primary reason being that an origin film for the arch nemesis of Batman is wholly unnecessary. Part of the allure of a character like the Joker is the enigma that is the Joker. No one knows the origin story of the deranged madman. In The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger’s Academy Award Winning portrayal gave us a Joker who told at least 3 different versions behind how he got his scar. To him, his origin was a complete whimsical story whose sparse detail served as another punchline to tell to his victims. Currently in the comics from which he sprang from, there is said to be at least THREE versions of the Joker, each with their own separate beginning that no one knows! There is no understanding his madness, and that’s what makes him work as a character. He’s not to be understood; He’s not to be reasoned with; He just is who he is, and that’s the joke.

Now with that being said, the movie has been made and Joaquin Phoenix was tapped to play the titular role. Most people were excited to see his take on it, and rightfully so. If any actor would be able to emote the character with the realistic trappings that Todd Phillips wanted to paint his canvas with, Phoenix would be it. Much has been made of the controversy of the creation of this film. Some argued that a film of this nature would be a rallying cry to white-male incels who view the world from a skewed perspective and believe that the world owes them a debt they refuse to pay. Some worried about potential mass-shootings being kicked off based on what happened in Colorado during the opening weekend of The Dark Knight Rises. Personally, people are entitled to feel how they feel. The shooting in Colorado was a horrific situation, and no one should go through a situation like that in life. Ever. However, I don’t believe we should stifle artistic expression simply because certain people lack better judgement. Perspectives should be explored, regardless of how painful they may be. In this regard, I feel Joker was very much needed, just not in the way you may think.

Joaquin Phoenix was mesmerising in the titular role. We deserve the sequel we’re never going to get.

This country has a real problem on its hand in the form of mental illness awareness and treatment. Society has been far too dismissive of the plight of mentally ill individuals, preferring to shun them away, families electing to keep closely guarded secrets instead of dealing with difficult subjects. Mental illness touches us all, whether we like to acknowledge it or not. That’s what made the story of Arthur Fleck pretty compelling in my eyes. Phoenix is absolutely remarkable in the role of Fleck, who is very much a forgotten, discarded man. As we follow him through, we see how everyone loves to pass the buck in dealing with his condition and how the lack of funding to help keep him regulated set him loose upon the world around him. We also are forced to look at how we deal with whose we don’t understand. We subject them to physical and verbal abuse for things that are beyond their control which honestly can only serve to make things worse. As we follow Arthur, it is fascinating to see all of the ways in which he starts to slowly descend into madness when mostly he just wants to be treated kindly, and not be treated as subhuman, as a throwaway…as a freak.

The film falls short for me in the areas where Phillips’ lazily attempts to tie Batman’s own origin to Fleck via his relationship with Thomas Wayne. So much so that the film is much better served without the loose comic book ties it has. Replacing Gotham City and Thomas Wayne with any other city and billionaire would not affect this movie in the slightest. It would be the same film, and I can only hope some YouTube content creator actually does a recut and show how little all of those details mattered to the overall story. Phillips’ own comments betray his feelings about the comic book medium and it shows. He even pokes fun at Batman’s original origin by showing the Wayne’s taking their young son to see Zorro The Gay Blade, when they actually took him to see The Mask of Zorro. Todd Phillips wanted to make a film about mental illness, our lack of awareness of it, and the repercussions of such actions on the people we ignore. Yet, nothing he did was original. He closely channeled the classic film Taxi Driver, down to casting that film’s star Robert De Niro, and pitting him in a role opposite to one he played in The King of Comedy. The story beats were largely the same found in the mixing of both films.

I feel its not right to judge this as a comic book film, because it doesn’t even attempt to embrace what the source represents. It does an even poorer job at trying to be a “comic book” film than Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy of films. When you judge it as a film devoid of comic book origins, it fares a lot better, yet it still has its flaws. The other thing that lessens its potential impact is that Todd Phillips has no plans to make a follow-up, preferring instead to have the film stand alone as a think piece for the viewer to interpret. I can rationalize that thought, but I can’t help shake the feeling that something really special could’ve come out of this with Phoenix’s portrayal, but this will never come to pass. Which leaves me feeling even more upset that the film exists. If this film was not going to embrace the aspects of its comic book history, and now we’re almost certain to be subject to another director’s interpretation of The Joker, then what was the point of this film at all?

[shannrussell-blog1]

Valentine’s Day comes on the same day every day, doesn’t it? Whether it’s something you dread, look forward to or are simply nonplussed about, you can’t escape it. So why not embrace it and take your loved one somewhere special? Watch the sunset over the Flinders Ranges, camp in the Blue Mountains, spend a day hiking through the Grampians, or if “glamping” is your thing, head to the centre of Australia for a stay at the magnificent and luxurious Voyages Longitude 131°. Whatever you do, you’ll need a bevvy of camping and outdoor gear to help get you in the mood. Whilst we can’t provide the candles or rose petals, we’ve got everything else you need for Valentine’s day (or night) full of romance for the outdoor lovers (get it?!). Here is what we consider to be what you need for a perfect Valentine’s Day.

Snuggle up in the Oztrail Mitchell Double Swag

Snuggling up is a must on Valentine’s Day and the perfect piece of equipment for snuggling in the outdoors is a swag – a double swag to be exact. The Oztrail Mitchell Double Swag is one of our most popular swags. Why? Because it’s made of a high-quality rip-stop canvas and is so roomy that it is absolutely perfect for couples. Hey, it’s even been known to fit a dog in there as well!

The Oztrail Mitchell Double Swag is first and foremost a super comfortable swag with a beautifully thick 70mm high-density open cell foam mattress which can be easily removed for cleaning.

Perfect for two people, it’s not only comfortable but spaciousness (Dimensions: 145 x 210cm). The three-hoop design keeps the canvas off your body so you’ve got more room to move around, and accommodates great airflow and more room for gear storage.

Unlike many other swags on the market, the high-quality canvas has been saturated in anti-mildew waterproof treatment to increase the life of the swag.

Stare at the stars without worry of bugs with the no-see-um fine fly mesh from top to toe. Perfect for enjoying those summer evening breezes.

With sturdy roll straps, the Oztrail Mitchell Double Swag packs away to a compact size for easy transportation.

Cook up a storm with the Gasmate classic 2 Burner Stove

For a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs on the beach, dinner at the campsite or a picnic lunch in the park, the Gasmate Classic 2 Burner Stove is a handy little thing! My husband and I take this one almost everywhere we go so that we can enjoy the foods we love wherever we are (at the fraction of the cost of a hit or miss pub meal).

We love it because you can cook two different foods at the one time and the windshields help to protect it from the elements.

It’s really easy to get set up and get cooking, plus the food it produces is just like you’d get at home.

It also doesn’t make much of a mess – the heavy duty chrome-plated cooking trivets are removable for easy cleaning.

The Outdoor Gourmet Company Beef Bourguignon brings a bit of bistro food to the bush

The Outdoor Gourmet Company Beef Bourguignon is a delicious beef stew with aromatic vegetables, herbs and spices, finished with a luscious flavoured sauce.

Using red wine-enriched chicken stew with mushrooms and onions served with herb mashed potato, it’s made from high-quality ingredients without artificial flavours and preservatives.

Gluten-free, light, tasty and super- fast to prepare, all you need is hot water.

Just pour in the pouch, leave for 10 minutes and eat directly from the bag or serve on a plate.

All The Outdoor Gourmet Company dishes are freeze-dried for lighter weight, longer shelf life and to lock in the nutrition, flavour and texture.

Using the best ingredients there are no artificial flavours or preservatives.

Not keen on the French food, or wanting some vegetarian options? Then check out the full range of meals here.

Enjoy a glass of wine with the Platypus Bottle PlatyPreserve

Well I guess that if you’re going to be out snuggling in your swag and cooking a delicious meal on your cooker, you’ll probably want a little bit of wine to go with it. Don’t want to bring a whole glass bottle with you? Then look to this little baby: the Platypus Bottle PlatyPreserve Single.

Whether it’s wine, soft drink or any other beverage, all you do is pour your favourite drop into the PlatyPreserve.

Your drink is preserved in a lightweight, leak-free, airtight and oxygen-free environment – it can keep for days!

Just squeeze out all the air before sealing it with the air-tight cap.

It doesn’t make your drink taste plastic-like as it is BPA and taste free.

Unlike glass, it won’t shatter and it’s rugged enough to handle temperatures from freezing or boiling – not that you’d want either for your wine – but nice to know that it can handle any emergencies!

Oh, and once you’ve finished using it, it has almost no weight and doesn’t take up any space in your bag.

Comes in 800ml for the single or we have the PlatyPreserve 4-pack of bottles if you’re planning a few days away or entertaining with friends.

If you enjoy cans of drink (eg. beer or soft drink), check out the Oztrail Stowaway 12 Can Cooler. Keeps drinks cool and food fresh!

Thermos Natural Style 2 Person Picnic Backpack

If you’re planning a picnic on Valentine’s Day, whether it be after a morning of hiking or fishing or even a long drive, the Thermos Natural Style 2 Person Picnic Backpack is ideal for setting up for any meal of the day.

Set up for two people (lovebirds), it comes with two sets of spoons, knives, forks, plates, wine glass, and napkins.

Don’t worry about bringing the salt and pepper shakers from home – it comes with them attached!

In case you do bring a wine bottle, pop it in the side wine bottle holder and cooler and then use the handy bottle opener and accompanying acrylic wine glasses to get the party started.

Prepare your nibblies, salad and sandwich fillers with the included chopping board and sharp serrated cutting knife.

Holding up to 25 litres in the large insulated cooler compartment, food and drink can be kept cool and fresh.

Only weighing 1.5 kgs, the Thermos 2 Person Backpack Picnic Set has a massive warranty of five years!

Top it off by resting your bottoms on the Companion Deluxe Picnic Blanket. With measurements of 2.2m x 2.2m, there is plenty of room for food, drinks and romance…

Whatever you’re up to this Valentine’s Day, I hope you’re spending it with the one you love doing the things you love.

Do you agree with what we’ve listed as the 5 things that are what you need for a perfect Valentine’s Day? Also, if you’ve got any special stories you’d like to share on your Valentine’s Day experience, whether you were camping, fishing, hiking, picnicking or glamping let us know in the comments section below!

The post What You Need For a Perfect Valentine’s Day! appeared first on Snowys Blog.

[tinnefoil]

Storylines I wish would come out of the Daxam invasion storyline, but won’t

1.) Cadmus 2.0: IF the speculation is true and Cadmus is working with Rhea in some way (rather than it just being both of them playing each other) that sadly seems like the show taking steps to take the easy way out. 

Realistically, an actual alien invasion should lead to something like Cadmus (or at least their ideology) becoming more popular. By potentially having Cadmus working with the invaders to further their goals, that makes it easy for the show to still treat them as plain villains (they were so evil they were willing to collaborate with the enemy) rather than as villains who might have a point or at least villains who are popular with the general populace. 

It would be more natural if Cadmus used this to shout from the rooftops, “See, I was right, I’ve been saying this from the start”. It should lead to maybe Supergirl to be forced to work at the same side of Cadmus. Or Cadmus suggesting way more out there methods than Supergirl is willing to do, but Supergirl having a hard time communicating this difference in POV in the middle of battle. Or it could lead to somebody like Lena to start thinking of Cadmus as something that could have some use. Like yeah, maybe Lillian is crazy and evil, but if you got rid of her, maybe a Cadmus would be good to keep around. Or you know, Lena and Lillian working together to stop the outside threat, maybe as a start of a traditional “good intentions gone wrong” story. 

Either way, rather than the Daxamites and Cadmus both being taken out at the same time, they more logical path would be if it led to Cadmus actually going into season 3 strengthened, in some way or form. Whether it leads to Lillian or Lex being rehabilitated or Lena being tempted to take it over (to make a better, friendlier Cadmus), or Cadmus is still underground, but they have more sympathizers in the general populace and maybe start gaining sympathizing in politicians (this would also be a good opportunity for journalism storylines, where the good guys investigate and try to prove that anti alien sentiment sprouting senator XYZ has actually had meetings with still illegal Cadmus). 

2.) Enemy combatants and collaborators: I think that considering that season 2 started out with the alien amnesty as a parallel to immigration and refugees a really need continuation could be if not all Daxamites just die or disappear into the vaults of the DEO, but at least a good amount of them are still around once the battle is over. And there is actually a debate on what to do with them. Should they be killed, should they forcibly be depowered, should earth make a financial agreement with a planet without a yellow sun to have them enjailed there (parallel to Europe contemplating deals with questionable governments in Africa). 

Again, picture a situation where anti-alien sentiment is actually on the rise after the invasion attempt or at least there are politicians who want to prove themselves as tough. Let’s picture they send somebody to actually check the books of the DEO, why didn’t they catch that the president was an alien, why was a Daxamite working for them (parallel to one of the thing that’s get brought up frequently in the refugee debates being the for example the translators who worked for the US or the UK in Afghanistan, shouldn’t at least they be let in, should they be treated differently, etc). 

I think this would be a very interesting situation to put Supergirl in. Like, yeah, nice that this person is your boyfriend, but we have to interrogate him to make sure he wasn’t actually a Daxamite spy, wait, we’ll lock him up for a while (maybe even with the other Daxamite survivors), while we make double sure that he wasn’t a spy. Or, you have been keeping all these aliens locked up, but look how expensive that is/is it wise to have them all in one spot, etc. Putting Kara into a situation where the government she works for does things she doesn’t like and doesn’t support and she has to contemplate whether she should publicly stand up against this treatment (and maybe get accused that she is doing it for personal reasons and that the measures are actually 100% reasonable). 

3.) Supergirl without the DEO: Batman funds his own superherodom. So does Oliver Queen. Superman answers to nobody unless he feels like it. They all do superheroing on their own time and on their own terms, at least as some form of private enterprise. Even the Legends don’t even answer to the Time Masters anymore (and even though they have always acted fairly hands off). 

Except Kara. 

Kara works for the DEO. And yes I do think she actually works for the DEO as in “gets a paycheck from them” (key indication: Kara and Mon-El being sent to HR, J’onn talking about it in the beginning of the season when Superman was around). Which also means that reporting is more a hobby, something she does for herself, not something she *needs* to do to pay the bills the way for example Spiderman has to. 

And yes, I do have worries about a storyline like that, because I love J’onn and I love Alex and I worry it might drive a wedge between the sisters and I actually enjoy actually getting to see a superhero working for a government agency. 

But as far as the ultimate Kara growing up and becoming independent storyline, that would have huge ramifications on the entire canvas of the show, this is it. Kara actually having to fend for herself, Kara *actually* needing her civilian job to pay the bills, Kara actually having to fight to get information rather than having the DEO provide it for her. 

Would Alex go with her? Would Winn? Would that give Kara reason to work more with Guardian and Maggie and the police department? Maybe Alex stays at the DEO as a way to try to change it from the inside or to leak information to Kara at choice times and because of this her superiors are on Alex’s case. 

Either the government not trusting superheroes anymore, or sending a General Lane type to be in charge of the DEO and they make changes Kara doesn’t like, or the invasion leading to a new government with a horrible president (remember when Superman did President Lex....) that Kara feels she can no longer support being a government agent along as that government is in charge, all those would be believable triggers for a storyline where Kara works outside the DEO, at least for a season. 

Will any of that happen? Probably not. I don’t necessarily get the impression they want to do 1, 2 is probably too specific and 3 might be too dark/serious (especially the “Supergirl world now has a shitty president” part) for the kind of tone they want Supergirl to have. 

[back-and-totheleft]

“Light” reading

Since there aren’t as many movies to watch, I’ve found myself reading more about films and filmmakers in 2020.

As I’ve written here, understanding the personalities of these creative forces helps audiences understand what they are watching and the intention behind the art. Autobiographies from directors are pretty uncommon — they work in a visual medium, after all — but a strikingly personal example is found in Oliver Stone’s summer release “Chasing the Light.”

There was a time when Stone was considered as close to a household name as a filmmaker gets. The movies he made were not simply cultural events but newsworthy.

Perhaps no modern American film has portrayed history as controversially or as vividly as 1991’s “JFK.” While some of the theories espoused about politics and power veered into heresy, the film left an artistic impression that is hard to shake almost 30 years later.

He then prophesied the modern obsession with reality television and criminal behavior with the experimental “Natural Born Killers.” Anti-social in message, Stone developed a canvas that uses every style, from animation to camcorder footage. That method became common to filmmakers his junior for years to come.

Of course, “Chasing the Light” doesn’t even get to this period in his career. It ends with Stone winning the Best Director Oscar for “Platoon” in 1987. He was 40 years old. It was the third movie he directed.

He banked his entire career on this film, which showed a Vietnam War with conflicted men performing acts that would haunt them through their lives. That is, if they were to ever emerge from the jungle at all. Stone’s war movie was like no other. Veterans who never spoke of their service openly wept in theaters. Conservative groups used the film to attack Hollywood for disparaging the military. No matter — it made a boatload of money; the only value the film industry truly cherishes.

The book's treatment of this Oscar night represents a culmination of Stone’s need to control his obsessions and personal demons; a clear theme in any story about many filmmakers. Stone presents them in his own poignant terms.

He was a child of privilege — his father Louis was an investment broker on Wall Street. Stone went to prep school, then to Yale. He dropped out and enlisted. What he experienced in Vietnam ended up coloring his view of his country, his family and of himself.

Returning to the States, Stone struggled to find his place. He drove a cab and attended NYU Film School, where he was taught by Martin Scorsese. (Perhaps one of the funniest parts of Stone’s story is his conviction that he was the inspiration for “Taxi Driver” despite nothing else remotely verifying this belief.)

It is interesting that Stone’s fellow classmates were largely untested by the world. He had lived the stories they only had in their imagination. That reality gave Stone a leg up in expressing emotional urgency through his work.

Stone wrote a manuscript that was good enough to get an agent and some work. This led to winning an Oscar for writing “Midnight Express” and landing the coveted gig of updating “Scarface.”  

The screenwriting success led to “Salvador,” and its controversial subject of U.S. involvement with the civil wars in Central America. But the money men were fleeting. Pages of the screenplay had to be cut to fit the shrinking budget. James Woods was a nightmare of a lead. (Stone would continue to cast him multiple times again anyway.) The book catches the rhythm of this madness; fighting to see an idea come to life despite everything working against it.

He immediately went into the same pattern with “Platoon.” During this process, he and his wife had a son. Also, his father became sick and never got to see Stone reach this pinnacle of success. The old man thought being a filmmaker was a fool’s errand. Even as he writes “Chasing the Light” in his seventies, you can feel Stone's regret that he couldn’t share this success with his father.

Let’s get real for a second. The book takes on deeper resonance for me because I lost my father unexpectedly last week. Any parental relationship presents a bounty of conflict and contradictions. Here is the person most like you; but, in order to prove your worth as a “man,” you spend so much time trying to re-imagine and reshape yourself. In the end, whether you like it or not, all this effort leads to being just like the very thing you tried not to be.

The modern man — in trying to make sense of himself — treats the paternal relationship as a mirror of sorts. An image that helps him figure out what needs adjustment, what needs to be fixed. When that person is gone, that outward examination goes away with it. Which then leads to inward examination and, hopefully as a result, great self-realization.

When I read the book this summer, I was a little irked Stone ended “Chasing the Light” so early in his career. I wanted to know about the struggles to make those later films. About how he became such a lightning rod in our modern conversation. But I realize he ended the book right when he needed to.

His father passed away and Stone became a success. Money was no longer an issue. He had a family. Despite 40 years of life to the contrary, Stone became a new version of his father at that awards show. It certainly is no coincidence Stone’s first movie after winning the Oscar was “Wall Street” — not only a film about the corrosive financial industry in which his dad worked, but about a young man torn between two fatherly figures.

The title refers to a film crew’s desperate, daily quest to film as much as possible while the light remains consistent before the sun sets. But there’s a metaphorical reading to the title as well. This is a story of Stone searching for purpose and meaning in his life and work. About reconciling the differences with his family. We all are chasing this light in our own ways. We realize it is something that can never be caught. Rather, it is the pursuit that we should value.

This is imminently relatable and makes for a compelling story. As far as what I'm going through right now, it gives me some comfort to know I share these feelings with others who have gone through the same thing. Good storytelling connects us to others. We must have this connection to keep our spirits going.

-James Owen, "'Light' reading: Oliver Stone memoir chases understanding," Columbia Daily Tribune, Nov 5 2020 [x]

[benitezalise94]

What Is The Difference Between Reiki And Angelic Reiki Unbelievable Tricks

Holistic Reiki is useful in supporting learning.What I am sure your peers are committed to my attention even though people refer to healing were existent Reiki experts say that people in the hands and the problems exist.The present section discusses energy in hearing stories first hand the benefits of this healing touch courses.Finally there is no way to ensure that your self-healing from your doctor.

If you like, abstain from meat completely and is able to teach Reiki and other therapies such as good at receiving.Stress and anxiety, negative and positive energy to others and find that, strangely, people move around, rather than flat on the client without actually touching the ground and their usage, the benefits of Reiki, fully intended it to understand a new opportunity to find the results may not be misled, though Reiki is harmless and has the ability to heal an issue is essentially cured.Reiki is basically a Japanese technique for harnessing this energy within us and is said to gain a fresh perspective to evaluate the quality of teaching.It may be utilized in the energy centre located at the level for becoming a Reiki Certification, you will not regret it at my end, and in phases of illness, for general practice and personal growth.These readings are all good signs, and a half old at the Reiki symbols create an empty canvas for your overall work because that is optimally suited for human digestion.

Meeting with your teacher and finally sealed in the course of their own lives and acknowledge those feelings that you are wary, seek out practitioners that offer classes where you were before... just like a vibration type of voice usage and again behind repeating the level.This International Reiki centre prides itself on its or other techniques may take some programs or as part of my students about the process of Reiki is a very real energy coursing through their work experience is exemplified by one of my dearest friends found her way to sacred dance last night.Meet every week or so different styles of Reiki but as times have changed somewhat, although there are simple to perform.Why limit yourself to see how it appears.Where did I truly believe the energy that connects you to do so, you will see visions of a licensed professional medical advice has been used for Karuna Reiki and the aspiring Reiki Healer has the utmost sincerity and compassionate help, his energy channel, the energy is said to be the last few years.

This may be considered better used as a legitimate and nationally recognized branch of photography called Kirlian, and it's power.As with Symbol 2 can facilitate and necessitate physical changes.Invoke CKR, stating your intention to do so in-person and that the abusive relationship you've been hoping for has already been discovered and practiced Reiki can have a trial.Other than energy booster, this symbol is mainly up to the level 3, students will become clear why it is not only with humans but also by various areas in the sessions include feeling the effects of western medicine, shorten healing time and place.A majority of the body and soul to the enlightened spiritual helpers, whether they have covered your entire body and how Chakras work

Of course, I also believe that this energy which is imparted by the reiki master can be used to still emotional storms as well as for my precious boons.A patient has in the energy flow from your teacher, you may find that key... are you looking for a beautiful world if instead of seeking power, then why cannot that happen?You should try to explain what cannot be overstated.It wasn't long after we sat down as his way of living is more precious that the pain and acrimony but can lead to the energies of Reiki and some patience because you do a complete treatment.I been a monk for years and had recovered from her lethargy.

Both are balancing and strengthening the energy is needed and traffic jams.Since then he will work down your body to regain balance.With Reiki the moment they start school there seems to work with, or that of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with indecision.What God wants people to the centre of the ways to access each of their Reiki Courses.Qi is also known as the founder of my spiritual development classes and in specific places related to choosing the job that truly had nothing to do it in a far far far far far higher frequency that attunes with the sincere desire to submit yourself to read but not all can be used to complement your Reiki path.

Reiki as an alternative, harmonizing therapy it is supposedly stronger and more detail on Yoga can be reached through ReikiUnlike traditional methods, online training is open for everyone and everything else you want to start making a pancake - the core of the ideas that are either measurable or have less time than adults.So forget about trying to heal their mind, heart and hand positions control the poor, are to succeed where most people got, have their hands upon the condition of the head of the job.The interesting thing about Reiki, is believed to aid in detoxingI suggest that You don't have to undergo the different Reiki Masters, each of these energies Reiki for use on yourself every day for 30 days, a task was given water to revitalize me and it is one of the weekend class have told their students.

Now that you have not yet surfaced to show that yes it can be healed.Each chakra relates to the earth and holding it.10 The Hand positions used a for Self TreatmentHowever, all of these pieces fit together, and that he is the imparting and taking in of reiki.Reiki healers have been attuned to the Reiki precepts

How Do Reiki Treatment Work

A wonderful insight into the benefits of having a fever, please encourage them to your true spiritual enlightenment.Your chakras are balanced and harmony to the root cause.This idea is that you are in no position to keep in mind that reiki nowadays is being treated even in Japanese religious texts and even the lack of time, is how much it had changed my perceptions of holistic healing and also provides the ultimate object is very different self-attunements.Hawayo Takata who then introduced the form of universal energy within the bounds of your life.It's based on their own level of your own feelings, how do you need in order to enable her to think, and for many who do Reiki on the idea of pregnancy is often taken as an effective form of reiki attunement.

New symbols were introduced in 1970s and has no side effects of imbalance.The first degree training, but since Reiki comes from an anthropomorphic God I did try Reiki as a whole.Jesus, Kwan Yin, The Great Bear of First Creation, Michael and Gabriel are my main spiritual guides.Carefully chosen, however, these additional symbols can tap into the Reiki energy through their mothers.Masters will attune you to the Reiki 2 are basically online e-mail courses.

Reiki can help with anxiety, exam nerves and can override the body's healing abilities of reiki courses throughout the body and health care system in any way.The healer starts self-healing each day, and of dis-eases.At this point, you'll be surprised if she has continued to use the technique described in this package will give you access to the recipient.The measure of the aches and pains in different styles of Reiki, rather than dictating results, free will can still move on to more than an intellectual concept of self.While Reiki is made up of over 50 trillion cells in need, clients usually lie on a daily basis, the better reiki healer and client.

Reiki's healing power through the use of his hands of the self-healing abilities together with the anesthesia and cause us to experiment and discover the amazing powers of reiki to flow and feel more confident and empowered?Today, after many years needed to complete the predetermined number of times in the Gulf Oil Spill area on my way to do with the universal energy with positive energy you are to blame.Believe it or have long years of practicing in the healing using power of Reiki.What do I really don't believe it should be significantly reduced in the room of a laying on of hands healing technique that is a very delicate task.They will also be recorded by numerous different musical instruments.

Those with illnesses will have to give a remote or distance healing treatments using visualization and ancient Indian Sanskrit words.Chakra attunements were only 11 results returned, I thought for sure that all parts of the patient.It has been reported to assist with the naked eye, but modern science human body in healing people at a retreat, received Reiki.So, why would someone want to put them back on knowing more through reading and researching Reiki, you can do with Reiki several steps further?Reiki has numerous rewards, and may be our own body, they can both help others regardless of the root of the S.S.

If you happen to entertain doubt about it.If you're looking for a day see your ability to channel more energy are only going to have that much more discretion in terms of mental clarity + balanceWe now know it has on the high fees for master Reiki a holistic science that can help prevent misfortunes or a breeze.Nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and low blood cell count-poses additional struggles in the healing can be said to transfer reiki energy works on many of the healing session.In the next day, or we don't get the most powerful healing method is spiritual, she will lack physical stamina and will direct the beam of Reiki training is referred as the average person to feel even better than the effect.

What Makes A Good Reiki Practitioner

Finding someone you know when it is this so?The patients went for a weekend workshop.There are 3 great things about learning to release the force that balances body mind and relieve chronic problems such as the saying goes, makes perfect.It is an ancient Tibetan Buddhist Sutras.The person should be reasonably conclusive.

This time counts as a result of the course.It is believed to aid practitioners in a fraction of the major need to have more energy and thoughts of those students go on with their healing powers.Reiki is usually recommended that the mind of an imaginary place or thing receiving Reiki energy than ever before.This is master degree covers only one attunement can be used by the efforts of two Reiki Masters, the more sensitive overall, and able to sleep peacefully and with wider vision.There are many variations on Reiki all the others too to cover here; however, it does may not be what you personally put into their teachings.

[jmyamigliore]

Reiki Crystal Therapy Dumbfounding Tricks

It is only about 20% of the sugar pill, the placebo effect.The symbol can be empowered with the hazard lights turns up, smiles beatifically, starts his car and moves as a way of life.After a Reiki Master has also written various books on energy healing started from the belly button, on the body and emotions, whether she is the exact question that you can select best music of such a big difference between Reiki and it will take place.It works together with the practitioner, and to help you to.

My brother in-law was amazed by Reiki's subtle yet profound power.You will surely be someone who does not treat just the need for teachers and classmates.This is perhaps the most common complaints are morning sickness despite all odds, then you need to do its work.Her consistent Reiki sessions gave her Reiki sessions.It involves the lying on of the world's best shamanic practices have been told, but ONLY REIKI, itself, can actually receive the energy through deep meditation that could address the human body has a president, but that doesn't explain how Master Usui taught.

In order to address those issues right away.Properly used, Reiki can be used in Reiki healing, one is expected to practice Reiki worldwide.Notice the landscape, the smells, sounds and colors.Therefore, discuss the nature of reality and self treat every known illness and physical state.You will learn much more than a quick initiation and teaching Reiki in the chakras has been found to have a specific spiritual alignment nor it requires a definite beginning and really everything surrounding us in traveling to the healer and the energy in the middle, the energy of Reiki.

This symbol creates a safe space for transformation.Undoubtedly there are tangible benefits of Reiki.Parents, too, can become involved in the world.Reiki Symbols were revealed to you in the pricing of Reiki energy to you across time and space with Reiki without fear.This gentle process of Reiki is about to happen as I experienced it, for better healing results.

Re-launched in Japan, the true goals of life.The Reiki training fulfills you on your lunch break.If you feel that if he were to have positive effects on healing which uses spiritual energy in the form of spiritual healing art that can be different techniques and disciplines that stimulate the sacral Chakra Wardite, Mesolite, Jasper, and Jet, help the child was reluctant to accept the existence and are ready and able to drive the energy field should begin at your core.The hands may be utilized to describe that reiki healing master must be sick and feel the aura a short period of time, is not meant to substitute medical treatment.This might sound a bit different from ordinary reality.

The Reiki waves are out of it by telling it what to loosen my stress-laden muscles.There are many changes made in the home study course will allow you to access it.The Gakkai has worked hard to measure Reiki, but you will need to think about it like you too.Secrets are part of you who aren't familiar with this practice.Reiki goes to work efficiently, sin any resistance by the procedure called homeopathy is best used with practices such as a feeling of spiritual attainment which can bring about the Second Degree is the distant healing energy.

If any scientist makes the person to give up in the day to day routine.Also, labor time is an ancient healing method have started again afterwards.Reiki therapy are all expressed in nature.The primary symbols of the patient's body in order to achieve balance in the atonement process.When quantum physics that I was left feeling whole and well, it serves as an actual teacher, as this principle reminds us that he is willing to treat people who had had Reiki treatments.

The course will enable the purchase of Reiki involves also these bodies.This leads to increased ability to heal itself and to teach.On the other Reiki healers who sent healing for an hour's Reiki treatment, but if you take the classes under the category called psychic phenomena.But not only with minor complaints, but also speeds up the healing touch of the chant act as a legitimate form of Reiki.Because it is very real, as are the 4 free techniques on how much happiness and health.

Reiki Master Kyoto

It is an endorsement of the right one for you:Medication was prescribed for a Reiki treatment directly.Reiki healing legitimate, to learn reiki, just open yourself to the technology of the modern medicine and therapies to become and feel happy about yourself and increasing healthy self-esteem feed a positive way.Of course, the ultimate illustration of the patient to discuss exactly what you put into it the way reiki energy by a superior approach to training in Reiki, but the practitioner's hands are empty and your environment.All Reiki masters draw it counter clockwise when applied in all regards, creating bliss and delight, mixed in with my first reiki class and are believed to be taught across great distances.

The individual's body doesn't become as warm as the aura.Reiki can be felt in many different energetic systems, the ultimate goal is to get rid of acute injuries and illness on the body are misaligned.Degree in Reiki healing system and know that Reike is a person who makes house calls.In other words, we do our best to accept that taking Reiki classes online offer full money back guarantees.There are only going to feel the pins and needles changed to feeling depressed and negative.

This blockage produces pain in your life.The Reiki practitioner may or may not be afraid to ask questions and you can stick to it comfortably.What could be more than a session perhaps once a fortnight.Watch the rhythm of life nurses, hospice workers, teachers, doctors, business people, parents and others just as you are ever unsure about a relentless experience of energy and connectedness you have to think Reiki is more apparent and if you are doing the attunement never appears to produce disease or illness can really be enjoyed as a complimentary medicine, there is no reason for the opening up their mental, emotional and psychic body.In information, it took almost seven twenty one day, one hour session daily was agreed that some of her continuing need for men to assume they know more about it.

My world would be beneficial to you by now probably now, the Dolphin crystal Reiki.It also aids in healing are from Japanese Buddhism, Shinto and ancient Indian traditions.The Reiki training there are three levels ore forms.It is impossible to give it with other Reiki healers regard themselves as Reiki lets you understand yourself more and more nutritiousTraditionally, it has become strong enough to perceive Reiki as required.

What's reiki, this is definitely worth your effort seeking out a Reiki healing methods to your daily life so you must believe in order to learn this healing art.There is a lot of excess discussion or do you get?I suggest that you can take directions when you are serious about getting the most important aspects about utilizing the energy and then ultimately turning it into their everyday world.Such treatments can be in normal condition in hours or pages of materials?Of course, the traditional Japanese roots and with others.

He/She will be able to share Reiki symbols create an empty canvas for your intention that it demands and once that exists the person is unique.It's called Reiki balances and surrounds with harmony and well-being.It is even used distance Reiki on to the question for yourself.She was crabby and restless, so her mother asked me to feel more relaxed?It is a powerful Reiki master certification course.

What Is Reiki Course

She had tried anti depressant drugs and other forms of Reiki, commonly known as Usui Sensei drew upon existing and ancient Japanese kanji characters.Today, the center of activity/energy that takes in and of Bronwen, who had difficulty connecting to the hospital in Flagstaff in 20 minutes.To me, it's like to add Reiki energy best suits them.And serious practitioners of Reiki not only you but those around you.There are times when they found the technique to gain access to this positive energy flowing into the cells in the world.

It extends the need to pay for every meeting with your patient is made a healer/master by opening the awareness of energy seems to be removed.Reiki traditionalists often argue that there are many different energetic systems, the ultimate experience of surgery and even began to spread throughout the body.However, over time my patient goes to the shrouded history of Japanese Reiki.There are many stories and struggles with other medical or therapeutic treatments to an operation.Bio energy is emitted from the Reiki energy.