#I don't think I'll ever not like that one panel of the cons all standing unfazed by a squad of F-22s' 20mm cannonfire

[robotsprinkles]

okay

I do like earthspark overall

but god I wish for once we could get a tf show (or just. anything) that doesn't do the "humans are better than Cybertronians at everything" bit.

In Earthspark's defense, it's not TFP.

MECH and Silas somehow being able to make an optimus clone and fight better than Optimus himself with it is idiotic on so many levels and I have no idea how they thought it was good writing.

(yeah sure Optimus has been fighting a war for four million years and 1v1s Megatron on the regular and knows the ins and outs of his body and has all the wisdom and knowledge and skill bestowed by the matrix but some jackass military prick who's at most got 50 years of combat experience controlling a second rate knockoff with what's basically an arcade control stick can kick his ass without trying)

okay before anyone gets pissy at me for saying Earthspark did the "humans are better than Cybertronians at everything" bit, I'm being mostly hyperbolic, and also: (this gets long and rambly so I'm putting it under a readmore")

I'm mostly saying Earthspark did the bit because GHOST and Mandroid were both unreasonably effective at defeating and capturing Cybertronians, on top of being able to mind control them.

(I really don't like humans being able to defeat Cybertronians on any consistent basis unless it's like. a motorcycle or minicon or micromaster getting hit by a bunch of HEAT rounds or 120mm sabot or a prolonged barrage of 20-30mm autocannon fire or specifically anti-Cybertronian weapons like inhibitors and mode locks and EM/EMP blasts and the like because then it just makes it seem like Cybertronian weaponry is on average about as effective as a nerf gun. but then you get the issue of "if humans have such effective anti-Cybertronian weapons that can incapacitate a Cybertronian in one shot why aren't the bots and cons using them instead of blasters that seem to do piss-all against anything that's not point blank")

I'm willing to give ES some leeway on the "can mind control Cybertronians despite that generally being something only people with powers or specific weapons for it can do (like Mindwipe and Bombshell and sometimes Soundwave and mnemosurgeons if you want to count them)" thing because GHOST did have Bombshell in custody and could prooobably have acquired cerebro-shells to study and experiment on. (though I don't remember if Mandroid ever had any time with Bombshell so. if he didn't then screw that, leeway lost). but also if cerebro-shells are as easy to reverse engineer as that you'd expect the Autobots to have already come up with a defense against them. Perpetual arms race and all that.

Personally, I'm not fond of humans being able to reverse-engineer Cybertronian tech and anatomy like it's nothing because I really don't care for the sci-fi trope of humans' thing being "we're so clever and smart and adaptive and so much better than all alien races at learning and improving". It's overdone and the positioning of humanity as special and/or unique that a lot of sci-fi does annoys the hell out of me

(Tangent time) as an example for why I think the "humans can reverse engineer any alien tech ever" trope is stupid and bad (sci-fi) writing: if an alien race had gravity manipulation tech that operated via graviton manipulation, (modern) humanity would flat out have no idea how it worked — even if this was a version modern humanity that universally accepted gravitons as real — unless they had the documentation from the aliens explaining that's how it worked, because "Unambiguous detection of individual gravitons, though not prohibited by any fundamental law, is impossible with any physically reasonable detector [...] a detector with the mass of Jupiter and 100% efficiency, placed in close orbit around a neutron star, would only be expected to observe one graviton every 10 years, even under the most favorable conditions. It would be impossible to discriminate these events from the background of neutrinos, since the dimensions of the required neutrino shield would ensure collapse into a black hole" (yes that's from wikipedia but it's also true (enough for the purposes of this dumb argument. if physicists want to tell me the ways this statement is wrong in any way please do I want to learn things)) (tangent over)

obviously Cybertronian anatomy doesn't function off anything similar to gravitons (in that canon has never said Cybertronian brains or sparks or anything contain or use unprovable or undetectable (to human) particles) (though you might be able to make an argument for Energon being something like that) (it generally seems human organisations' ability to detect Cybertronians is gained from Energon detecting tech given to them by Cybertronians so)

But. y'know. There's saying "1940s humanity could probably reverse engineer a Ferrari" and saying "13th century medieval Europe could definitely reverse engineer an F-35"

#random robot rambles #I'm pretty sure this is stupid crap that no one cares about and whatnot but I'm an idiot so #(yes it's a kid's show but pretty much every piece of tf media does this in some way) #for all my issues with AHM (which are many) at least the characters and their weaponry are properly powerful #I don't think I'll ever not like that one panel of the cons all standing unfazed by a squad of F-22s' 20mm cannonfire #yes I'm aware that me having these kinds of issues with this is because I have weird standards for verisimilitude to be maintained #for instance if a character dies or gets defeated because they did some stupid move (as in egregiously bad technique) for no reason #and they're meant to be a highly trained combatant #I instantly check out and start insulting the character for being an idiot #(examples of stupid moves in sword combat are unnecessary spin moves and blatant telegraphs like hammer blows and/or leading with the hands #or even elbows instead of with the blade) #(I'll forgive hand-leading and telegraphs a little in live action because it helps keep actors safe #but if it's animated then I don't)

[silverfoxstole]

OK. Right. I've sorted my panel photos, which I'll start posting tomorrow (I won't bombard you with them all at once!), so I can get my thoughts straight about yesterday. This is going to be long; sorry! I'll divide it into two parts so that those who want to skip my wittering and just see the pics can.

I hadn't actually thought I'd ever go to a con again; my last one had been back in 2009 and they've got a hell of a lot bigger since then, which sort of puts me off as I don’t really like crowds, and living as I do right down on the south coast they're usually too far away. However, when back at the end of January an ad popped up out of the blue on my Facebook feed informing me that Paul would be appearing at Portsmouth Comic Con (less than ten miles from me) my heart skipped a beat and I started wondering whether I'd be able to go. Of course, there was nothing stopping me but I wasn't keen to go on my own, and I knew my DW-and-anything-else-related-to-scifi-fantasy-etc-hating sister would never agree.

When not long later I saw Sylvester was going to be there as well I mentioned it to my friend P (with whom I’ve attended cons in the past), lamenting that I had no one to go with and not really expecting her to suggest that she try to come down from Manchester so we could go together but to my surprise she did and so the tickets were duly booked. Fast forward to about three weeks ago, unfortunately, and things started to go - literally in this case - off the rails thanks to a driver's strike and then engineering work that meant no trains into Portsmouth for the 11th and 12th and P very reluctantly having to drop out because she wouldn't be able to get down here and back in time for work on Monday. Still wanting to go but not really wanting to do it alone I had no choice but to ask sis to come with me, which she very gamely did and I owe her. Big Time. It’s really not her thing and I know she didn't enjoy it at all. She works in town and made me stand on the outside in the queue in case she saw anyone she knew!

I had been worried about how I was going to react as I do suffer from anxiety and I've not been amongst crowds since before Covid, but much to my surprise I was completely relaxed, even when talking to the guests; I'm obviously long past my 'OMG it's Paul!' phase (thank goodness!) and instead it was a case of 'Oh, yeah, there he is, and Sylv and Sophie (a later addition, and one I'd been hoping for) too.' I don't know whether it's because they're so familiar or I just got used to actors popping in when I worked in a shop near a theatre, but it was easy and I'm so glad! The reflexology session I had in Thursday might have helped keep me calm, too; if you’re feeling tense I recommend it!

I had only previously visited the Guildhall for concerts (sis knows it better as she's had to do presentations to the city council in the past) so it was rather odd to be in there during the day. I have to say that I think they could have put aside more room for the guests as it was difficult to work out who was queuing to see who (ho ho). It was very warm and the setup also made taking photos a bit awkward with people having to dance round each other a bit. We went to see Paul first (of course), and when he clocked me in my NotD cosplay he leaned back, smiled and announced 'It's like lookin' in a mirror!' I honestly can't remember exactly what I said in response to that! Probably nothing that coherent! He asked if I'd made it myself, which gave me a neat opportunity to present the gift I'd made for him: an Eighth Doctor bear and Mr Bush bear.

I think i've wanted to make bears for Paul ever since I put together the first one nearly three years ago, but I never thought I'd get a chance so when I knew I'd be going to the con I started planning. I was originally just going to do the Doctor, and make a Seven bear for Sylvester, but as they were coming to Portsmouth I decided to do Bush as well since I can’t imagine Paul gets a lot of Hornblower-related gifts. Of course, when it was confirmed that Sophie would be there I had to make an Ace bear too and here they all are before I packed them up yesterday morning, sitting on the bags i'd also run up to put them in (not pictured, my terrible embroidery name tags to help me tell who was who):

I'll do some more detailed posts so you can see them properly another day, but I was so pleased with they way they turned out that it was really hard to give them up! At least I knew they'd be going to good homes!

When I gave Paul the bag he just looked at me in surprise and went 'Is that for me? Can I open it now?' and there was a smile on his face as soon as he saw what was inside. 'That's my career! Doctor Who and Hornblower!' He absolutely loved them, couldn't believe I'd made them and told me 'I have a room where I keep all the gifts I've been given, and these are going to take pride of place.' I couldn't wish for more than that! Well, maybe a photo of him with them but it was busy and I didn't like to ask and possibly hold things up. I hope he's found the alternative Dark Eyes outfit that I added for Eight bear as I had some fabric leftover from my jacket; the sonic for that one took a bit of ingenuity!

He asked about my costume again while we were getting into position (for want of a better term) for a photo and commented that so many people are paying someone to make their cosplays now and spending a hundreds of pounds, something I'd guess he finds quite astonishing given the incredulous look on his face when he said it. I could be wrong, but I got the impression that he likes to see what different fans have come up with; there are a lot of people who seem to be patronising Steven Ricks since Paul got his remade costume last year, which I can understand because the man is a brilliant tailor, but sometimes it must be a bit like seeing clones.

Jen took the photo and we were about to leave it there but then this strangely confident person I found inside me asked Paul a question:

‘Can I be cheeky?’

‘Sure.’

‘Can I give you a hug?’

‘Of course!’

Well, if you don’t ask, you don’t get! (says the woman who hates asking for things in shops) He gives very good hugs. 🥰

I did manage to let him go (it wasn’t easy!) and he thanked me again for the bears before we moved on to see Sophie, which involved going round to join another queue in the same small space. Confusing? Yep!

I don't know who here has met Sophie Aldred but you should because she is so, so lovely. Ace has always been one of my favourite companions and I was so pleased when I saw she would be coming. I'd already started an Ace bear with the intention of giving it to Sylvester with his, but of course that got changed and Sophie was smitten. She looked really closely at it, remarking on the little details - 'Oh, it's even got the plait. And a rucksack and baseball bat!' - and sat it proudly on the corner of her table, where I assume it stayed for some of the day. Apparently it's the best Ace bear she's ever seen - you can't get a better accolade than that! (My head was swelling somewhat by this point, by the way. I don't like to blow my own trumpet but I don't often get so many compliments, and never in such a short space of time, so i hope you can forgive me for including them.)

Last but not least, of course, there was Sylvester, which meant another queue in the same space, which was just daft as because their tables were next to each other you didn't know whether people were waiting for him or for Paul. I'm sure that could have been organised much better than it was. In the same section there were also two chaps who had somethng to do with Star Wars who weren't getting much attention at all which was a bit awkward. They haven't gone back today and I can't blame really them.

I've wanted to meet Sylv for years and he didn’t disappoint. He liked the fabric the bag was made from because its starry night pattern was similar to his waistcoat, which admittedly was why i bought it in the first place. When he got it open and saw what was inside he said 'Oh! I'm a little bear! That’s lovely!’ and when I said I'd made one for Sophie too leaned round trying to see it on Sophie's table. I half wish I'd made a set of both for each of them now but that might have been overkill, and I would have needed a rucksack of my own to transport them all; my bag was full to bursting as it was. Maybe if I see them again I’ll give Sophie a Doctor bear and Sylvester an Ace. As it stands I am so, so pleased that all three of them liked something I'd made so much, and Sylvester and Sophie were both also taken with the cartoons of the Seventh Doctor and Ace that I asked them to sign.

Phew! If you've reached the end of this, well done! I know I have tendency to ramble on and I commend your stamina! I'll put the photos in a separate post but I was one happy camper, especially as just afterwards i got another compliment on my costume and was asked to pose in the TARDIS! We didn't stay the whole day as it was hot, I'd pretty much seen what I wanted to (the Doctor Who 'exhibition' was just a few monster replicas, most of which weren't that good, unlike the really impressive experience they had last year for the 60th and which I would have loved to see. And there were no daleks! My ambition to hug a dalek sadly remains unfulfilled *sniff*) sis had developed a headache, but I'm very glad I went. 😀

#long post #my rambles #paul mcgann #sophie aldred #sylvester mccoy #portsmouth comic con #my bears #doctor who bears #doctor who

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Just saw ur webb post. I can def relate to losing interest in someone/thing u used to like. I'm a big fan of Brydon (he hasn't said anything bad yet) and I have my ups and downs with him. I think hes not a royalist (he never acknowledged the queen's death funnily enough) and he's said he has mixed feelings on his acceptance of his mbe. BUT sometimes it feels like I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop with him because he just never has an opinion on ANYTHING. or rather, he doesn't voice his opinions. There's pros and cons to this, I rly think, but no room in asks to go in depth. So some days I'm bummed abt not being able to enjoy wilty because I've lapsed into convincing myself there's a big chance he's a transphobe and worse.

(also I could've sworn dm also defended rw on twitter when it all went down but I can't find anything abt it, have I made that up? have I been lowkey disliking dm for no reason?)

I know what you mean, with comedians or any celebrities who are vaguely apolitical and you don't quite know where they stand. And the answer, obviously, is don't get so attached to celebrities that you'd be disappointed with their political views. But since I'd be disappointed by certain political views from anyone I even mildly like, this would preclude even mildly liking any celebrities, and that would curtail all of fandom. Also, people you do know in real life can turn out be disappointing in this way all the time too, so the only way to avoid ever feeling betrayed by liking someone and then finding out they're a dick is to never like anyone, and that's not really a good way to live.

I know it's a good idea to avoid getting attached to the idea that celebrities you like are decent people, but I can't claim to have successfully avoided that myself. I'll admit right now that it will pretty much dissolve whatever tiny scraps of faith in humanity I have left if it ever turns out that Andy Zaltzman has done anything wrong in his entire life.

Anyway, more to your specific point, I see what you mean. The comedians who rarely express political opinions probably have a shoe that might drop someday. It has occurred to me before that if I ever heard David Mitchell list every political opinion he has, I doubt I'd come out of that liking him as much. I don't think I'd come out hating him or anything - I don't think he's a secret UKIP supporter. Just that I'm sure he's not up to the standards of my aggressively left-wing beliefs. And maybe it's not fair to expect people to be, but also, I think that maybe is a fair expectation, if we're counting "don't be silent when your longtime friend and collaborator is sitting right next to you perpetuating harmful disinformation about an extremely vulnerable group" as an aggressively left-wing belief. I also didn't know about him defending it on Twitter at the time (I don't know much about the situation as a whole, a while ago I read the original Tweet and then listened to that 2021 interview he did alongside David Mitchell where it came up, that's it), but it wouldn't shock me. Basically, I try to have David Mitchell be someone I enjoy watching on panel shows, but I don't tie the scraps of my faith in humanity to him being cool. Probably safe to do something similar with Rob Brydon, you're right.

Every once in a while it occurs to me that this probably applies at least a bit to VCM as well, which is mildly heartbreaking because she seems like a perfect ray of light in the world, but I probably don't want to know everything she's ever said about every issue.

In case I'm coming off as a bit "cannot be accepting of anyone's view that even slightly deviates from mine" here, I am actually okay with people who've accepted royal honours. I mean, I don't think it's the best thing to do, I think the perfectly ethical choice would be to refuse them. But I don't think I can blame people for accepting them if offered, if we refused to accept awards from corrupt institutions then no one could ever accept an award from anywhere. I think "I accepted the award but had the decency to feel conflicted about it" is a perfectly admirable stance.

...Have I put together that viewpoint just so I can continue to believe that Sandi Toksvig OBE has never done anything wrong? Maybe a bit.

Anyway, this response has wandered pretty far beyond the parametres of your original message, the point is that I know what you mean. It's disappointing, even if we strictly shouldn't be attached to these things, and I hope Rob Brydon turns out to be all right.

(And if Britcom fans really want their faith in humanity protected from being ruined by popular comedians, never ever Google "Noel Fielding teenage girl" - or just do what I do and really hope it was invented by the tabloids. Though if your scraps of faith in humanity are attached to him then you've already been studiously ignoring the blackface in The Mighty Boosh, so actually nothing is good.)

[aonoexpat]

SO UHM I GOT A VAN

27-05-2023

It all happened a lot more quickly than I had expected, and it's not over yet, but as I type these words I can look out my window at the first ever vehicle in my name that's going to be my home for the foreseeable future and it's very surreal.

He's a Nissan Elgrand E50 from 2000, and all I could think when I first saw him was ✨Here comes the booooy ✨, hence the he/him pronouns. The previous owners seem to disagree because they had named it Elsie. To honour that I think I'll go with Elrond, after the Elven king from Lord of the Rings :)

The hunt was a bit of a rollercoaster. I used Trademe and Facebook marketplace (ugh I know, I wish there was another way) to browse vans in the Te Whanganui-a-tara area because I wanted to be able to easily go and see the vans before committing. Of course by searching locally I limited myself, but still managed to find a good group of candidates.

It was really tricky at first because I had no clue what to look for. I'd never owned a car before, and still don't have a lot of experience driving. I was extremely lucky to have my wonderful friends to rely on, who were happy to search with me and tell me the pros and cons about the cars we found ❤️❤️❤️

I learned a whole bunch about cars in the process, and ended up judging the listed vans on the following points:

WOF: this stands for Warrant Of Fitness (Dutch people would know this as APK), and means that the car has been found to mechanically sound an safe to drive. You do not want to buy a car without a valid WOF, for it will likely not pass the tests again, and then you won't be allowed to take it on the road;

Rego: short for registration. This is Aotearoa's version of what the Dutch know as wegenbelasting, or road tax. You register the car to be allowed to use the roads. There are no tests associated with this, but it's common courtesy to sell a car with a bit of rego left on it;

Self-contained certification: a car can be certified self-contained, which means a person can sleep or camp in it without needing external facilities such as lavatories or kitchens. Freedom camping sites can require anybody parking there to display a certification, or you get sent away. The rules for this certification are being changed at the moment, but in short they require the car to have a (portable) toilet, a sink, enough fresh and gray water, an evacuation hose and a rubbish bin. My van is certified self-contained until December 2023, which means I'll be able to freedom camp with it for a while. I would like to get the certification renewed for two more years, as a certified self-contained car is a lot easier to resell when the time comes;

Mileage, or traveled distance: a car that has driven fewer kilometers in its lifetime is preferable over one that has driven a lot. I've noticed that with backpacker vans, <200.000 km is quite low, as some go up to 700.000+. The one I ended up buying has ~211.000 km to its name, so that was definitely acceptable;

Fuel type: a petrol engine seemed preferable over a diesel one, because diesel burns less efficiently which means more pollution (unless you've got a turbo engine). Because of that you have to pay an extra fee to travel with a diesel car. However, diesel is a lot cheaper, so financially it would be the more interesting choice. I ended up going for a petrol car because it was much cheaper than the diesel option I considered, so the cost got canceled out;

Fuel efficiency: over here this is measured in L/100km. If a car needs <10L/100km, you've got yourself a real nice one. Unfortunately mine does ~15L/100km, because it's a heavy van, but again it was quite cheap so I was happy to accept that;

Solar panel: I really wanted a car with a solar panel on top. That way I can use electricity in the car while it's parked, especially when I'll be staying in the same spot for a while and not using the engine to charge the car battery. Mine has a 110W solar panel on top that connects directly to an inverter/battery combination in the van, which outputs 12V as well as 110V, if I recall correctly. This means I can easily charge a phone as well as a laptop, or use an electric kettle;

Insulation: against the cold outside air (remember, it's winter here). This is something I only found in a van that was professionally set up and resold, and was not common. My van does not have insulation, but I think I'll be okay! I've got that hot water bottle from my last road trip, and I opted to buy a small electric blanket as well as a heavy-duty sleeping bag and some proper thermal clothes;

Seating area: I really wanted the bed in the van to be convertible to a couch, as I'd heard from others that it can get a bit annoying if you can only lie down in the back. Luckily mine can do that, and it even has a little table I can stick into the floor :)

There was another van that struck my fancy, or dare I say, I fell in love with a little bit. It was a really nicely converted Toyota Estima, a very popular make and model for backpacker cars over here. However, when I went to test drive it, the battery was miraculously flat, and after a close look at its service reports I couldn't trust that it would be mechanically okay for the trip I wanted to undertake. It broke my heart but I had to let it go. That had been the first one I went to see, so after that it felt like I was back at square one and the search was going to take forever. But then only two days later the deal was struck on Elrond, and suddenly I had my ticket to adventure! He seems a lot more reliable than the Estima, aside from some slightly worn brake pads and a cam belt that might need replacing soon (doesn't it sound like I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT I can't believe it either). He also needs a new head unit that will hopefully allow me to play music and have a little rear-view camera for tight parking spots. This could possibly take up to a couple of weeks to get sorted.

I'll work on getting it set up a bit more to my liking tomorrow and will probably upload more details soon, but for now I really just wanted to share the big news!! I'm really excited about it, I feel a lot better mentally now that the whole search is behind me and I have a tangible next step. I genuinely can't wait to have it all finished and get it on the road. I drove it home by myself today and even though it was dark outside and I was scared, I managed just fine, and that gave me a huge confidence boost. I really feel like I'm going to be adventuring again, and I'm grateful for this opportunity 🥹

#aotearoa #backpacking #van life

[aborddelimpala]

I'd like to ask you what your opinion about Misha is that you haven't changed since meeting him. But since I don't want to expose you to the malevolence of his minions and hellers, I just tell you that I hope you enjoyed the convention and ask if you have any cute or funny anecdotes to tell us. Thanks.

I said it before, I don't really care about Misha, you know like, I don't like nor dislike him. That said, I was really looking forward seeing him in real life. And from all the guest we saw this weekend, he was the most boring. To me, his panel was kinda dull. You never know if he's joking or not. You never know if he's bored or not. Maybe that's just how he is? He gave some interesting answers tho. But yeah, dull. And you know how some people are easy going and friendly? It seemed to me that Misha is not that. He had that kind of 'back off' vibes all weekend. Now, I didn't meet him during photo ops or auto sessions. His fans said they had a great time so who cares about my opinion? lol. I'm not his fan and most likely won't ever be.

I can compare to my experience with David Haydn-Jones, I didn't like Ketch on SPN, at all, and kinda had a negative impression of the guy. But then I met him and David is one of the sweetest person ever. On stage and off stage, he was smiling a lot and had kind words for everyone and he was just, solar, you know, like enjoying meeting his fans and new people.

Now about the convention. DLC4 was supposed to happen in may 2020 but was postponed and postponed and postponed because of Covid. I should have gone with 2 friends but they couldn't make it so I went alone. All in all, it was a nice weekend. Always a pleasure to watch Rob & Rich on stage. These two should do stand up. Second fav' panel was Mark Pellegrino (and his dog) / Alex Calvert. Alex is very cute and speaks a bit of french :)

Rob concert was super cool. I think he enjoyed it a lot. Just him and his guitar on stage.

I won a M&G with Kim. A great experience. She's very honest with herself and gave us some good advices on how to deal with anxiety.

That's what I can say about the weekend. People Con is planning another one in october (with Misha as main guest again) but I'm gonna skip that one. I'll save money for Jared if he ever comes to France (a girl can dream lol).

#anti #kinda #about me

[aphee-sheiz]

Hellooo, At this moment I have a desease that everything I listen reminds me to Levihan. Do you have any song that remind you on them?

Dear anon! I'm late for good three weeks for this. You have probably caught and cured your disease five more times already. I'm sorry, I'll explain!

I swear to God, no song felt good enough. Not only did I believe that posting just one song would mean disappointing you, but finding even one felt like an impossible task.

Of course I had a couple of those that reminded me of levihan. I'm lh trash for a reason. The simplest example would be one of AOT songs, actually, which many associate with levihan:

Hiroyuki Sawano - Call your name feat. Gemie

It screams ch132 at the top of its lungs. I don't even need to quote+screenshot for it myself, I can link an amv that does it much better than I could ever:

Thing is, it's... Only about the 126/132 events.

Levihan is tragic love. "Tragic" and "love" are of equal importance in this description; and when a song only captures one or another, it doesn't feel exactly right for those two. That's what happens with Call your name: it's all about the tragic part.

So I cast it aside and decided to think about something else.

What about the love part? What genre would even suit levihan? And the lyrics should definitely be about eternal commitment to each other, or at least hint to it. Andrea Bocelli's name visited my head, and in the end, I went with a very famous song of his.

Saara Aalto, Teemu Roivainen - Con Te Partirò

I chose their version mostly because it's a duet. The song is definitely about commitment, and especially in the context of levihan - is bittersweet.

Con te partirò // I will leave with you

Paesi che non ho mai // To countries I never

Veduto e vissuto con te // Saw and shared with you,

Adesso so li vivrò // Now, yes, I shall experience them.

Con te partirò // I will leave with you

Su navi per mari che, // On ships across seas,

Io lo so // Which, I know,

No, no, non esistono più // No, no, exist no longer,

Con te io li rivivrò // With you I shall experience them again

I do hope my choice of manga panels makes sense

And why can't I settle with this one, why do I say it fits, but not perfectly? Because of how light it sounds. I don't see sweet sorrow in levihan; in their tragedy, there is grief and devastation.

And then TundrainAfrica's Lovebug got updated with the 12th chapter. I wouldn't want to spoil anything by going into details (if you still haven't read it, what are you waiting for?), but raw emotions described in it so vividly mixed with this popular headcanon of Levi being French in my head, and made me remember just one phrase:

Je t'aime

And while it's very common to know how to say "I love you" in multiple languages - let alone in French - I knew exactly where I had learned it from.

Lara Fabian - Je t'aime

I didn't know the lyrics, and of course their meaning was a secret to me, too. And I was so excited to discover how well they fit.

Presque comme une mère // Almost like a mother

Tu me bordais, me protégeais // You tucked me up, protected me

À bout de mots, de rêves // Out of words and dreams

Je vais crier // I want to scream

Je t'aime // I love you

Je t'aime // I love you

Comme un fou, comme un soldat // Like a fool, like a soldier

Comme une star de cinéma // Like a movie star

Satan nous regardait danser // Devil watched us dance

Tu vois, je t'aime comme ça // You see, I love you that way

And that is, anon, my ultimate levihan song, standing alone on its high socle among many others. Epic and fatal masterpiece.

And anon, at this point, you've already noticed how picky I am. There are probably hundreds more songs that fit levihan just as well or even better. I suggest you check out levihan discord server, songs-for-levihan channel in particular. It'd probably be a treasure chest for you.

Credits

Con Te Partirò translation

Je t'aime translation

You guys, I enjoy all asks - anonymous and not, on personal and fandom matters! Ask me things.

#levihan

[lucifer-hot-as-hell]

MagicCon 2019

I'm on the train home from MagicCon 2019 in Bonn and this is the 3rd time I try to post this.

I think much has been posted already. So I'm gonna go for personal experiences.

If you have any questions feel free to ask though.

So I had a silver ticket, autographs of all the Lucifer cast and a photo with Tom.

MagicCon is just hilarious in general. The moderators are actually actors (from New Zealand which is not anywhere slightly close to Germany but magiccon was originally pretty much about lord of the rings so it makes sense) and they do comedy panels and improv. And there are not many rules regarding photos and videos on this Con. So it was really relaxed.

On Friday I saw Rachael's panel. She is so sweet, funny and kind. She asked everyone for their name and remembers many people's names...

The opening ceremony and the comedy panel were so funny and weird. Tom played a horse's ass. I went to the party, left after midnight...

On Saturday there were so many Lucifer panels. Each of them was wonderful. Tom performed a song by Damien Rice, which I already posted. I got my artwork signed by Rachael, D. B., Kevin and Lesley-Ann. They were all so sweet. I made keyrings for them and gave it to them at the autograph session.

When we were at the party at night, Rachael and Tom were in the vip area of the piano bar. We were sneaking around on a standing table, trying to act normal... Like pretend to take a selfie when your actually try to take photos Tom. Sean Harry was there as well in suit (on days he wore cosplay) he talked to Tom and Rachael and hugged Rachael when she left. So I read that as a good sign regarding LUX 2 in Birmingham 2020. I left the party at around 1.30 am, shortly after Tom left.

Sunday... The final day. In the morning I realized that I had lost my artwork at the party. It fell out of my bag under the table. So I went a bit crazy freaking out slightly... Nearly bitching our whatsapp group, posting on Twitter... But then the lovely lady at the information desk of the hotel called 3 colleagues and one really found it... Probably in the trash but it was packed in a box so it's fine. I got the call it was found when I was in line for my photo with Tom.

The photoshot was amazing. Tom was in such a good mood and I was as well. I made this shirt for me and one for Tom. And I go up to him and show it to him and ask him if he could wear it. And Tom takes off his glasses, puts the t-shirt over the one he is wearing. This guy watching over the photoshoot is getting impatient... But in German. And Tom doesn't care and I don't. He asked me if I'm alright and said "I don't bite" to which I replied "yeah, I know" we were looking in each other's eyes, then look to the camera. He asks me if he can keep the t-shirt. I hugged him to thank him, when the photographer calls me back, because there was a huge reflection in my glasses. So Tom probably looked better in the first picture because he was also pointing at my design but the reflection was really all over my eye. I saw it for a short moment before it went into the to-be-destroyed box.

So afterwards I collected my artwork, had coffee with fellow lucifans and then went to get the final autograph by Tom on my artwork. He had just come back from a bathroom / cigarette break and was humming while signing. When he signed and complimented me on my work, I said that I also made him a shirt and he said he was still wearing it below the one he was wearing. I actually didn't believe him because he was wearing the shirt he had worn before. I also gave him a bottle of Bavarian craft beer "in case you run out of beer" to which he replied "oh, I've got plenty"

The panel with Tom and Kevin was so much fun. I'll never ever going to be able to hear Kevin Alejandro without thinking "Alejandro, Alejandro" (the song by Lady gaga) I dared to ask a question. I don't know if I came around a bit bitchy when the were joking about the microphone being too high for me. I said "well not everyone can be as tall as you" I asked if they would like to do theater like on the London west end. And they both said absolutely as it was their roots.

There was a panel by the "moderators" and on their panels they do improv which is so much fun. Rachael, Lesley-Ann and Alexander vlahos joined and it was just too funny. Lesley-Ann is just so physical and they all had really dirty minds.

Lucifer panel next...so Tom comes in and he wears the shirt I made for him... And nothing under it... So he had probably told the truth earlier. I got him size L and it was really tight. The panel was great.. Just the spirit. We made Tom ride a trycicle like in the episode and he crashed. There's videos on Twitter. I really liked the first question when there was fan who has cerebral palsy (rather mild form affecting the hands mainly but I didn't see until they mentioned it.. And I usually do. She was dressed as Maze and could flip the knives like... Wow) and she asked if maybe they would want to have a character with a disability on the show. I really liked this question. Lesley-Ann suggested a deaf person as she knows some sign language. But they said the good thing about Lucifer is that Lucifer and Maze's sexuality (first sie said Tom and mine and then corrected it) is just there... It's not a big deal and a disability would probably not be as well.

In the closing ceremony Tom performed 2 songs.... I had goosebumps and tears were running from my eyes... So emotional. I have it on my camera... But I'm sure it's on Twitter soon. They all went crazy on stage, Kevin danced in the crowd, Rachael and Lesley-Ann pretended to make out...

We left the panel and said goodbye to the ones leaving. And suddenly Tom passes. I just went to him (well, he literally went by me so I didn't have to go anywhere) and I just thanked him for wearing the shirt. And he hugged me. It was so lovely. 2 hugs with Tom Ellis on one day...

But convention is not only about the stars... The fans make it what it is. I met people I knew from Brighton. There is one lady of our group who I totally adore because she is so super mature (she's a teacher) and yet such a crazy fangirl and she is a fanfiction author and people came up to her and complimented her on her work. It was so sweet. Like she could have done autographs as well. On Sunday I sat in the bar and restaurant for 5 hours with @adragonstale, his friend, my dear and slightly crazy friend who I had met in Brighton and 2 ladies from our group. We talked about Lucifer and "deep stuff" (pretty much the meaning of life and how to survive in this world... I love this kind of conversations) there were a few people I met only pasding by. Sorry @draco9236 I was in a bad mood before getting my drawing back on Sunday. @omgluciferlover (Why did I think you were Italian after Brighton?) Kinda left in the middle of a conversation but it's okay. I hope everyone had as much fun as I had.

Lucifans are lovely people and it was just lovely. The cast is so kind, sweet and funny and they all really seemed to enjoy it.... Even if for some reason they weren't allowed beer on stage anymore from Saturday afternoon on (not that Tom cared... He brought some when he had a bathroom break...)

I already start missing everything and everyone and this has certainly not been my last Lucifer convention. Look forward to meeting everyone again

#magiccon 2019 #lucifer on netflix #tom ellis #kevin alejandro #lesley ann brandt #rachael harris #d. b. woodside