#european gangster

[bossaura]

Asche & Warya & Qseng - European Gangster

[the-busy-ghost]

Minor throwaway sentence in a book on corruption I've just finished was talking about 1930s gangsters and about certain organisations in Chicago which the author stated were more ethnically diverse than the Italian mafia, and whose members were said to have included 'Irish, Welsh, Italian, and Jewish' gangsters.

Now call me sheltered but I've seen MANY Italian American gangsters immortalised in film, I've heard of the Jewish mob, and the police Irish American gangs but I have yet to see a movie about the Welsh mob. As a rule I don't go in for gangster movies but I feel there's an unfilled niche here and also I need more info.

[cryptotheism]

It is 1880s America, you are about to spawn as a Historically Significant White Guy. Choose a class:

TROUBLEMAKING FRONTIER PREACHER

Special Power: Good Christian. Your vague adherence to American protestantism will ensure that law enforcement does not bother you whatsoever.

Victory condition: Fuck enough of your followers wives to start an inbred theofascist micronation.

MANICALLY AMBITIOUS CON ARTIST

Special Power: Basic Literacy. You're poor, but you know how to read. They'll never expect it. You may forge literally any document and it will be believed 100% of the time.

Victory Condition: Steal enough money to fuck off to Latin America. A Spanish speaking nation might as well be the moon to your debtors.

EUROPEAN NOBLE FAILSON

Special Power: Colonial Wealth. Your funny accent, foppish dress, and noble title, will make any American think you are totally good to buy it on credit.

Victory Condition: Become the boytoy to the wife of some borderline-gangster politician and save up enough political capital to run for office and get addicted to opium.

DOOMED FRONTIER EXPLORER

Special Power: How The Fuck Are You Alive. Your freakish diet of pork, whiskey, and maple syrup, makes you entirely immune to all physical injury and disease. Somehow.

Victory Condition: You have one mission, and one mission only. You need to piss off some completely friendly natives. You need to piss them off so bad they leave your stupid ass to starve in a food forest they've been cultivating for literally thousands of years.

[rotzaprachim]

Listening to one of the worst imitations of a Filipino accent I’ve seen on television

[wezg]

Review: Red Notice - How I Became Putin's No.1 Enemy - by Bill Browder

Review: Red Notice – How I Became Putin’s No.1 Enemy – by Bill Browder

There is irony in this tale as Bill Browder was following in his grandfather’s footsteps in some ways but was also radically poles apart. Browder’s grandfather had stood for Presidential election in the USA on a Communist ticket. Bill Browder was drawn to business possibilities behind the Iron Curtain and in the post Cold War, post Soviet Union Russia, Browder’s Hermitage fund became the biggest…

[shinyparadisechild]

[morose-marble]

Incoherent ramble bc I have the brain worms about Apo

I am very annoying and also unwell, which is why I have taken to scrubbing through a not-insubstantial amount of episodes from Apo's lakorns (without subtitles) to form some kind of picture of what kind of roles he was cast in while employed by channel 3, and sending screen caps to literally anyone with a messaging app in my immediate social circle (they are in hell, thanks for asking). So, now that I have run out of people to torment with my obsessive tendencies, I am left with posting into the void on good ole tungle dot com.

So far, it seems that Apo's bread and butter was a wholesome, boy next door, nong type character (this is based on quite shaky interpretations of Sut Khaen Saen Rak, Buang Banjathorn, Chaat Payak and Prakasit Khammatep) with some exceptions, such as Tiang in Chat Suer Pun Mungkorn, a hot-headed young gangster. These aside, I have not yet formed a comprehensive understanding of his profile as an actor, as I can't seem to get my hands on some of the dramas at all.

The aforementioned roles were all supporting ones, and I could only find episodes for one of his two lead parts, that of Pong Khun Boon Jirakit in Pra Teap Rak Hang Jai, an enemies to lovers story(?). His character sells artisanal traditional Thai silk(?) and ends up falling for a rich woman (Preeyakarn Jaikanta) down on her luck who needs to become independent and better herself as a person(?). Quite a straightforward premise. (He wears a bunch of plaid in the show, he looks uncomfortable.)

Now. What I have noticed about Apo's career in supporting parts is that the male leads he supports are very...narrowly masculine, in comparison to him. Apo has talked about having faced homophobia/general cishet discriminatory nonsense in the industry at that time, and flicking through these shows really illuminates how rigid the concept of a lakorn romantic male lead was (maybe still is, I don't know). Obviously, I gathered that lakorn gender roles were a tad more conservative, but I still struggled slightly with understanding why Apo was treated the way he was, bc I feel like he is relatively conventionally masculine (my european perspective impacts my perception of what constitutes normative gender roles, I know) to the point where picking up on any ~queer~ vibes would be a gays only event. However, I feel like I get it a bit better now.

Apo is very handsome. He is also beautiful in a way that a lot of these leads aren't. They are pointedly conventionally masculine, not necessarily hypermasculine, but going towards that direction, something that is emphasised by their role in the narrative and acting style. Lots of stoicism and displays of quiet suffering and anger. I know, it's very reductive to place gendered presentations onto a spectrum etc etc, but if one were to operate within rigidly delineated binary requirements for gender presentation that exist in media (and society, there's nuance), Apo does not quite fit the criteria of a leading man within the given parameters. Which is terrible, of course. I can absolutely understand why Apo got fed up with the industry and decided to leave it all behind.

Additionally, as pointed out above with the repeated archetypal character traits, I feel that he did not get to flex his acting muscles in the narratives of these shows, which is another thing he has commented on, though maybe not in those words exactly.

Thinking about all of this makes his recent successes with Kinnporsche and Man Suang terribly interesting and delicious. I recognise that narrativising a celebrity's experiences as an affective story like this is mad parasocial brain rot behaviour, but the idea of him taking something that he was disparaged for earlier on in his career (perceived queerness) and turning it into a factor of him surpassing that which held him back is very attractive in a story sense. Like, what a triumph?

I'm not sure if any of this makes sense or if this is completely old news to everyone, but for some reason I had to get it out somewhere. I'll probably read this back in the morning and cringe mightily.

Anyway. What an interesting time to follow his advancement and the changes in the Thai BL industry, namely the increased attention from the government. I have fears, but I don't know how to articulate them yet. Therefore, I will focus on enjoyment for the time-being.

[tetras-stuff]

I asked my sister who knows nothing about Resident Evil to look at pictures of the characters and describe what she thinks of them. Here is what she said for each character

Jill

- massive asshole

- a little gay

- needs a haircut and a shower

- shops exclusively at thrift stores

- she looks greasy

Chris

- gay

- bottom

- likes baking cookies

- has a nicki minaj American flag

- does the white girl dance to romans revenge in the club

- would ask the DJ to play ABBA at a rave

wesker

- OOO THATS A GAY MAN

- very homophobic but he's still gay

- loves the movie mean girls and watches it religiously

- he smokes candy cigarettes

claire

- "I'm not racist but"

- makes POV tiktoks unironically

- posts thirst traps thinking she's that girl

- peaked in high school

- mean lesbian

ada

- follows you round a puppy dog if she likes you, if she doesn't like you she's a mega bitch

- "I'm not like other girls"

- watches POV tiktoks unironically and religiously

- "I'm not even wearing makeup today guys omg stop 🙈"

- says she's goth because she listens to Arctic monkeys

Luis

- gay

- Italian

- "is he gay or european" but he's both

- extremely extremely gay

- loves lego batman but only lego batman

- a flirt

- loves fashion and fragrances

- gay

- looks like he comes from what we do in the shadows

ethan

- loves Ben shapiro

- would spit on a drag queen

- is so homophobic he has to be a bit gay

- thinks men are too feminine these days

Sherry

- Russian and thinks singing Russian songs is cultural appropriation

- doesn't care about male or female attention

- loves horror movies and chick flicks

- thinks she's different because she likes earl grey tea

jake muller

- would spit on a service worker

- shoplifts but only small things like pens

- steals all his clothes from dumpsters

- acts gangster

- a bit fruity

- paints his nails and is embarrassed so wears gloves

leon kennedy

- is the drag queen ethan spits on

- loved the barbie movie and has an "I am kenough" hoodie

- can't drive

- either really gay or an over the top ally who wears "my friend is bi I don't ask why" shirts to rallies

- dog person

- would have a giant dog and a tiny dog

- he's a romantic and goes all in for relationships

- unironically finds scary movies really scary

Carlos

- was bullied in school

- would sit through a chick flick with a girl

- really feminist but also a "wheres my hug at" guy

- posts about how much he hates Andrew tate on Instagram

- loves emo girls because he was bullied for being emo

- loves guns n roses

- loves girls who don't wash

[lunaspacks]

-- emma stone gif pack [commission]

{Commissioned by @austnbutlr​​ } click the source link for  217 gifs of EMMA STONE born in 1988, in Gangster Squad (2013). All gifs were made by me, 268x150, for RP use only. She’s of European descent, so, please, cast her accordingly. Please, do not repost in gif hunts, gif packs or any other media without my explicit permission, nor claim as your own.  Like or reblog if you end up using them. Consider buying me a ko-fi if you enjoy my packs. TW: violence, nudity, drugs, smoking, alcohol, weapons

[phoenixyfriend]

I’m actually interested on your thoughts on stewjon-or any other sci-fi or fantasy land- being “space!scotland”.

I’m Scottish, and it actually kinda turns me off of a fic? Like, it gives me an uncanny valley feeling?

Part of it is due to it, most of the time at least, leaning heavily on the English stereotypes of Scotland? Like. We’re not people who think and feel and integrate people from other cultures, we’re not our better social support and services than england, we’re not people who can enjoy the land *and* be modern people, no.

We’re tartan wearing redheads speaking in a “terrible accent” that can’t be understood, whispering about fae stories and superstition, simultaneously getting in fights in Glasgow and carving Glasgow grins, and huddling in stone huts playing bagpipes and carding wool.

It’s uh, dehumanising a bit. And I didn’t realise I had that big of a rant, feel free to ignore this I was just curious from how you were talking about the Moses!obiwan thing.

Context

That tracks! It's a wider problem that incidentally managed to get picked up and spread in a really unfortunate way by fandom, presumably in large part by Americans who Don't Know What They're Doing when they just want to, idk, fantasize about Ewan McGregor speaking in his natural voice.

I think a weird but important note is that, regardless of the Space Scotland thing, I don't usually see Stewjon portrayed, like... positively? It's a shitty background element (infanticide backstory with the barest explanation), a fantasy misogyny place (a lot of the royalty AUs, especially the omegaverse ones, and especially smut), or a general underdeveloped, low-tech, backwater nightmare (also usually used for the smut). I've seen combinations of all three, and it's a toss of the coin if the author includes the Space Scotland element in addition to the above.

(I've seen one or two that seem to take way more inspo from a mix of Imperial China and 17th century France, for instance, or just keep it vaguely European.)

Even the ones that I think try to do the Space Scotland thing respectfully, I can't really comment on because, uh, I'm not Scottish by any stretch and don't know what degree of what element is reasonable.

(I think I can sort of relate in terms of Serbian representation in Western media? Such as it is. Generally we get to be gangsters, sad orphans, an evil priest selling babies to aliens, vampire-inspired cannibals, or Belgrade gets to be a setting where there is literally not a single Serbian character. Not the same thing but I wanted to give some examples to explain why I feel I can relate when people talk about this sort of thing.)

[correlance]

Theory: Valentino was the famous 1920s actor Rudolph Valentino, the "Latin Lover".

Who was Rudolph Valentino?

Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed the "Latin Lover", was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred in several well-known silent films from 1921 to 1926, including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik.

Valentino was a sex symbol of the 1920s, known in Hollywood as the "Latin Lover" (a title invented for him by Hollywood moguls), the "Great Lover", or simply "Valentino". His early death at the age of 31 caused mass hysteria among his fans, further cementing his place in early cinematic history as a cultural film icon.

Valentino was born in Castellaneta, Apulia, Italy…unable to secure employment in Italy, he departed for the United States in 1913. He was processed at Ellis Island at age 18 on December 23, 1913. Valentino never applied for American citizenship, and retained his Italian citizenship.

Arriving in New York City, he supported himself with odd jobs such as busing tables in restaurants and gardening. Around 1914, restaurateur Joe Pani who owned Castles-by-the-Sea, the Colony, and the Woodmansten Inn was the first to hire Rudolph to dance the tango with Joan Sawyer for $50 per week.

Eventually, he found work as a taxi dancer at Maxim's Restaurant-Cabaret. Among the other dancers at Maxim's were several displaced members of European nobility, for whom a premium demand existed…Valentino left town [in 1917], and joined a traveling musical that led him to the West Coast.

[…] With his dancing success, Valentino found a room of his own on Sunset Boulevard, and began actively seeking screen roles. His first part was as an extra in the film Alimony, moving on to small parts in several films. Despite his best efforts, he was typically cast as a "heavy" (villain) or gangster. At the time, the archetypal major male star was Wallace Reid, with a fair complexion, light eyes, and an All-American look, with Valentino the opposite; he eventually supplanted Sessue Hayakawa as Hollywood's most popular "exotic" male lead.

[…] With the Douglas Fairbanks type being the supposed epitome of manhood, Valentino was sometimes portrayed as a threat to the "All American" man. One man, asked in a street interview in 1922 what he thought of Valentino, replied, "Many other men [say they] desire to be another Douglas Fairbanks. But Valentino? I wonder…"

Women in the same interview found Valentino, quote, "Triumphantly seductive. He puts the love-making of the average husband or sweetheart into discard as tame, flat, and unimpassioned."

Some journalists were still calling [Valentino's] "masculinity" into question, going on at length about his pomaded hair, his dandyish clothing, his treatment of women, his views on women, and whether he was "effeminate" or not. Valentino hated these stories, and was known to carry clippings of the newspaper articles around with him and criticize them.

In July 1926, the Chicago Tribune reported that a vending machine dispensing pink talcum powder (face powder) had appeared in an upscale hotel's men's washroom. An editorial that followed used the story to protest the supposed feminization of American men, and blamed the talcum powder on Valentino and his films. The piece infuriated Valentino, and he challenged the writer to his choice of a boxing or wrestling match, since dueling was illegal. Neither challenge was answered.

Shortly afterward, Valentino met with journalist H. L. Mencken for advice on how best to deal with the incident. Mencken advised Valentino to "let the dreadful farce roll along to exhaustion" (i.e. "do nothing"), but Valentino insisted the editorial was "infamous", [and must be answered for in a one-on-one fight].

After Valentino challenged the Tribune's anonymous writer to a boxing match, the New York Evening Journal boxing writer, Frank O'Neill, volunteered to fight in his place. Valentino won the bout, which took place on the roof of New York's Ambassador Hotel.

Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, who trained Valentino and other Hollywood notables of the era in boxing, said of him: "He was the most virile and masculine of men. The women were like flies to a honeypot. He could never shake them off, anywhere he went. What a lovely, lucky guy."

Mencken found Valentino to be likable and gentlemanly, and wrote sympathetically of him in an article published in The Baltimore Sun a week after Valentino's death:

"It was not that trifling Chicago episode that was riding him; it was the whole grotesque futility of his life. Had he achieved, out of nothing, a vast and dizzy success? Then that success was hollow as well as vast—a colossal and preposterous nothing. Was he acclaimed by yelling multitudes? Then every time the multitudes yelled, he felt himself blushing inside…the thing, at the start, must have only bewildered him, but in those last days, unless I am a worse psychologist than even the professors of psychology, it was revolting him. Worse, it was making him afraid…here was a young man who was living daily the dream of millions of other men. Here was one who was catnip to women. Here was one who had wealth and fame, and here was one who was very unhappy [in spite of that wealth and fame]."

[…] Valentino was also the "sex symbol" of his time in the 1920s. The sheet music cover for "Rodolph Valentino Blues" written in 1922, to quote the lyrics, "Oh Mister Rodolph Valentino / I know I've got the Valentino blues / And when you come up on the screen / Oh! You're so romantic, I go frantic at the views!

[…] [Prior to his death], Valentino was fascinated with every part of movie-making. During production on a Mae Murray film, he spent time studying the director's plans. He craved authenticity and wished to shoot on location, finally forming his own production company, Rudolph Valentino Productions, in 1925. Valentino, George Ullman, and Beatrice Ullman were the incorporators.

[…] Valentino once told gossip columnist Louella Parsons that: "The women I love don't love me. The others don't matter." He claims that despite his success as a sex symbol, in his personal love life, he never achieved happiness.

[…] In 1919—just before the rise of his career—Valentino impulsively married actress Jean Acker, who was also [romantically] involved with actresses Grace Darmond and Alla Nazimova.

Acker became involved with Valentino in part to remove herself from the lesbian love triangle, quickly regretted the marriage, and locked Valentino out of their room on their wedding night. The couple separated soon after, and the marriage was never consummated [on account of Acker being a lesbian]. 

The couple remained legally married until 1921, when Acker sued Valentino for divorce, citing desertion. The divorce was granted, with Acker receiving alimony. She and Valentino eventually renewed their friendship, and remained friends until his death.

[His second marriage to actress Winifred Shaughnessy, known by her stage name, Natacha Rambova—an American silent film costume and set designer, art director, and protégée of Alla Nazimova, his ex-wife's lesbian lover—ended far more poorly.

The two married in 1922, remarried in 1923, and divorced in 1925. Towards the end of their marriage, Rambova was banned from his sets by contract. The end of the marriage was bitter, with Valentino bequeathing Rambova one dollar in his will.]

[…] From the time he died in 1926 until the 1960s, Valentino's sexuality was not generally questioned in print. At least four books, including the notoriously libelous Hollywood Babylon, suggested that [Valentino] may have been gay, despite his marriage to Rambova. For some, the marriages to Acker and Rambova, as well as the relationship with Pola Negri, added to the suspicion that Valentino was gay, and that these were "lavender marriages".

Some claim that Valentino had a relationship with Ramón Novarro, despite Novarro stating they barely knew each other. Hollywood Babylon recounts a story that Valentino had given Novarro an art deco dildo as a gift, which was found stuffed in his throat at the time of his murder. It is believed that no such gift existed.

There were also claims that he may have had relationships with both roommates Paul Ivano and Douglas Gerrad, as well as Norman Kerry, and openly gay French theatre director and poet Jacques Hébertot. However, Ivano maintained that it was untrue, and both he and Valentino were heterosexual. Biographers Emily Leider and Allan Ellenberger generally agree that [Valentino] was most likely straight, [though others have disputed this].

There was further supposed evidence that Valentino was gay; documents in the estate of the late author Samuel Steward indicated that Valentino and Steward were sexual partners. However, evidence found in Steward's claim was subsequently found to be false, as Valentino was in New York on the date Steward claimed a sexual encounter occurred in Ohio.

[Valentino died on 23 August 1926, at the age of 31, due to complications from perforated ulcer surgery, resulting in sepsis (bacterial poisoning), a collapsed lung, and other fatal conditions.]

[springsteens]

So many of my Slavic mutuals and non mutuals (+ me) admitting to be ashamed of their accent in English and it makes me so sad. I wish we didn't have this voice in the back of our heads that we come off sounding like prostitutes, gangsters, cleaning ladies or construction workers. I'm emotional today but I really wish it was different for us and that we didn't have to be ashamed of something like that while other European accents are seen as sexy.

[comicweek]

Ángel Manuel Soto on Cultural Specificity in Blue Beetle

Rafael Motamayor : There is a cultural specificity to the film that we haven't really seen before in superhero movies, and the Reyes family members aren't just Pan-Latino, but specifically Mexican. Why was this important for the film?

 Ángel Manuel Soto: I think we've been psychologically and pathologically inculcated a fallacy by the hegemony that our specificity is not universal, that the white and gringo are universal. The truth of the matter is that we're all universal if we embrace our true selves. We Latinos watch Korean movies, Japanese movies, European movies, and we connect with their specificity because Latinos were never given that change because we were told you couldn't, and I never agreed with that feeling, that thought. It is an institutionalized philosophy, and Hollywood has perpetrated it.

So for me, I wanted to start from the premise that the universality of our cultures exists in our specificity. And if we are honest and free to be authentically us, and we don't have to be like someone else, it can still reach a general audience even if they don't look like us. To me, it was important for writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer as a Mexican, for me as a Puerto Rican, and to the actors as Mexicans, to be themselves, to allow this to be a movie where we take ourselves seriously, but also enjoy ourselves and express ourselves freely. To me, it was important to not have to reinvent the wheel at the first try, but to instead use nostalgia to make a throwback to the movies we liked as kids and insert ourselves in those scenes as the heroes of the movie, embracing authenticity. After, we can reinvent the wheel.

The only thing that could have prevented this was the studio, and from the beginning, I told them if they were going to tell me how big the explosions were going to be, they could not tell me how Latino my movie was going to be.

RM: One thing I love was the references to cultural touchstones like "El Chapulín Colorado" and "María la del Barrio." Could you talk about those references and introducing these things to a wider audience?

AS: Just as we consume other countries' popular cultures, we can't leave other people ignorant to the things that connect us as Latinos, because though our countries have their own idiosyncrasies, truths, and specific cultural identities, there are also more things that unite us within a Latin American collective. For me, it was very important not only to pay homage and honor that first Latin American hero we all collectively grew up with, but highlight that a Mexican in Querétaro like Gareth, and a Puerto Rican like me, being so far away, still can say that our first exposure to a superhero was El Chapulín, because he was in every Latin American's home.

So we thought, why not embrace the characters or elements that are specific, which also have a Pan-Latino appeal? And through that, we can celebrate the intersectionality of our cultures. It doesn't have to be Mexican for me to say it is also mine, it is also yours. Same with Puerto Rico: Reggaetón is no longer ours. It belongs to the world, even if it came from there. Same with "Maria la del Barrio," and novelas. The references in the movie are both a celebration to the things that unite us collectively as Latino, and also references we are canonizing in this fictional world.

RM: Speaking of Carapax, his story is fascinating in that it brings in the real history of the School of the Americas. Can you talk about the decision to bring in that part of the story?

AS:

To me, it was important to explore that in Hollywood, Latinos are always introduced in the middle of the paragraph. We enter a scene and we're gangsters and narcos, we are violent and dishonest people, and no one questions why that is. And when a movie or a show explains why, it just says that we are like that because that's our nature. So, we've never been given the chance to explore the history of blood behind the violent behaviors in Latin America. And, come on, you don't have to be a rocket scientist or an erudite to do a simple Google search and learn about Yankee interventionism, and why that interventionism started in 1954 to protect the American [United] Fruit Company in Guatemala.

It was important for me to be able to show this villain who is not just Latino, but indigenous, and show why he is the way he is to a certain point. Because even though he is responsible for much of his actions, the reason why he is a villain is because his trauma was weaponized. And when you see it, you understand he is a victim of the endless perpetuating of violence in Latin America by the CIA through the School of the Americas, but no one talks about that. No one talks about the start of neoliberalism in the School of the Americas in 1973 with the murder of Allende and the placement of Pinochet.

It was important that the film reflected that reality that is not taught at school. It is why Susan [Sarandon's character] represents the Military Industrial Complex, and the rampant imperialism that exists in Latin America. She is a person that has been perpetrating trauma, and then using that trauma like the School of the Americas, which trained the locals so they'd invade their own people. There is nothing more nefarious than that, so it was important to me to have that exist in this movie, if only for a minute. Using fantasy to raise curiosity could help us be better informed and more emphatic.

When I joined the project, I wanted the movie to be somewhat anchored in realism, in real traumas that Latin America has experienced historically. But I wanted it to be recent, not to just go all the way back to Columbus, though we do tumble a statue of Columbus in the movie. We talk about the more recent and relevant history, the one that is not talked about, but should be remembered so it is not repeated.

And the name is a bit ridiculous, and some people may not realize this is actual history, so we intercut Carapax's flashbacks with archival footage of the School of the Americas to make it clear this is real. RM: The character is also indigenous, and you bring Carapax's native language into the movie, too. AS: Yes, we had him unlock his memory, and his language. It is an allegory for how colonized or imperialist education works overtime to erase our history and make us forget where we come from, because it makes it easier to control. We wanted to make this situation where, at the end of the day, his memory is freed and he can look back to the source of the trauma, and understand everything that happened to him. His being able to talk in his native tongue is the most explicit way to show that he could return to his origin and empower himself by that origin, to close that chapter and sacrifice his own master for the greater good.

[taraljc]

So in the out of order haphazard rewatch, last night included Vendettas because we had just watched Lex crash his motorcycle in Awakenings and then I had to explain Vinnie (and Brenden and Margot and the jogger) and then I got to recount that one time at the first Earth 2 convention in New Mexico when during his panel someone asked Clancy Brown if he was doing more episodes of Gargoyles and he was all 'yeah no that's all finished now' and from the back of the room I was like 'Actually the episodes you did by voice patch from Albuquerque during production last year where you played Hakon, Wolf, and Brod the Eastern European gangster haven't aired yet but they are airing in the next 2 weeks,' and he was like 'thanks' and then there was this pause and he was like 'how do you know that?' and his e2 costar Jessica Steen was like 'That's Tara. She knows everything' and it's not like I do it on purpose. It just kind of happens.

(at dinner the night before, when I was being 300% nerdy fan girl Jessica was like 'You've seen more of my work than members of my immediate family' and I was like ... sorry? But she was weirdly cool with it and then we went on a trek to find a VCR at midnight so we could all watch the gag reel. That is also the dinner where I was sat next to Kirk Trutner who played one of the non-speaking extras in every episode and made a friend for life.)

ETA: holy shirtballs there are still pics online. only extant photo of tiny baby me as Joey's minder during autographs. Also apparently at one point someone sold one of the T-shirts that I designed on the internet. and in the picture with Kirk in the blue shirt I'm 98% certain I am the hand holding the glass of water next to Jeff.

[olderthannetfic]

"People on the Internet shouldn't be surprised when other people copy them. It's not 'cultural appropriation' to see people talking or acting a certain way online and copying them. Online platform cultures don't come from thin air."

I had an interesting experience with this. I'm European, and by my early twenties, I'd consumed a lot of American media but didn't have a systematic overview of like... what the regional differences are, what important political issues are, what the demographics are like.

End result being completely mystified that stereotypes about "gangsters" had anything to do with race. Because like... gangsters were like those guys in the 20s, right? What does that have to do with race? Etc.

Relatedly, to this day the only reason I know "chicken and gravy" has a black American connotation is because someone online specifically said as much.

People online pick up cultural things and expressions without understanding where they come from, or the full context, more often than people realize.

--

Considering how much of US arts and pop culture are appropriated from African Americans (in the real sense of cultural appropriation where white artists get the fame and the financial rewards for things originated by black artists), it's inevitable that plenty of other cultural borrowing happens downstream.

[eleni-cherie]

among thieves ✨ || bts • pjm

- chapter 1.2

"what even am I to you? your rival, your lover, an obstacle or am I supposed to be your coffin?"

about two thieves who can't live with nor without each other. and a joint past that comes back to threaten them.

© 2023 | eleni_cherie

»»»

masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, very flirty jimin, friends/rivals/exes to lovers (it's complicated, ok?!) f2l e2l ex2l all members play a role in this story!

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

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Rhodos, Greece

Taking a sip from her martini, Arabella's eyes glided through the crowded room. Eyeing every guest carefully before putting her drink down. Smiling to herself.

The stairs around the corner were guarded by one security guard only. It'd be easy.

"Another vodka martini, please. Shaken, not stirred," she ordered at the bartender.

A party of european millionaires in an old medieval castle had sounded more excited then it really was. It was like any other rich people party after all. The ones who had their millions inheritated, the old money therefore, was chatting about their latest vacations or newest luxury purchase. The new money millionaires were exchanging the latest gossip of their industries or taking cringy photos and videos of themselves. And somewhere in between they drank and danced and ate way too small portions of overly expensive food.

Her gaze went back to the guard, thinking of ways to distract or sidle past him, when she suddenly felt a hand on her hip.

Her eyes widened and she was ready to make whoever it was, regret it. Her firsts already clenching when a familiar chuckle rang in her ears. His hot breath tickling her neck.

"Nice hair, is it a wig?" He brushed one of the pink curls back. His fingers against her shoulder making her hinch a breath

.

A dry laugh escaped her lips then as she unintentionally leaned into his touch. "None of your business."

"Feisty as always, I missed that," Jimin smirked and let go abrubtly, appearing from behind her. He leaned against the marble counter next to her. Not even try hiding how he shamelessy checked her out in that long black dress with the deep slit on the side of her leg. Allowing it to peek through whenever she moved. 

She huffed when noticing, crossing her arms in front of her.

"What are you even doing here? Trying to kill me again?"

His brows rose, a puzzled expression on his soft features. "But Bella, love, you know I'd never do that."

He drew closer then, grabbing her chin gently between his fingers. Forcing her to look at him. And for a moment she was about to melt under his gaze. "I'm here to get you back."

A frown spread on her pretty face. "Get me back?" She slapped his hand away. "There's no need to get me back. I'm totally fine on my own." She pointed behind him then.

He followed her finger across the open bar to a guy in a white suit and slicked back hair, talking and laughing with a group of others at a table in the back. Chunking down champagne like it was water. Jimin could spot the golden watch and rings all the way from where they were standing.

"See Stelios there? He's my new boyfriend. I'm accompanying him here on Rhodos."

Jimin couldn't help but roll his eyes annoyed. He knew by 'boyfriend' she meant 'rich guy who owned something she wanted', however, it still bugged him she used that term.

"But your 'Stelios' can't protect you from them."

"I'm pretty sure he got enough security."

He sighed dramatically. "But Bella-baby, you should know I'm the only man in this world who can do that."

Arabella remained unimpressed, looking him dead in the eye. Slowly getting fed up with his attitude.

They hadn't seen each in over two weeks, last time they had him pushing her away as if she meant nothing to him and now he randomly showed up out of nowhere, pretending being her prince in shining armour? A prince she definitely neither needed nor asked for?

"Honestly, Jimin, what even am I to you?" Her voice unintentionally rose out of frustration. "Your rival, your lover, an obstacle or am I supposed to be your coffin?"

There was a hint of sorrow in her eyes, he could tell. He heaved a sigh, taking her hand in his gently as he stepped forward. His face close to hers as his lips ghosted over her cheek. "Obviously all of it."

He pulled back, seeing her stunned face. A grin spreading over his plum lips. "And now come," he said excitedly and drank the second martini she had ordered in one go. Pulling her along with him into the crowd then. "It'd be suspicious if we didn't dance at a party!"

She hesitated first, pretending being unfazed by his words, but eventually rested her hands on his shoulder as his own glided to her waist. Both swaying to the rhythm of the mellow melody.

"So when did you snap out of it?" she curiously asked then, "And if you tell me it was on that rainy day then I swear to god-"

"N-no, no, it wasn't!" he quickly objected.

Arabella's eyes narrowed. "Not sure I'm buying that."

Jimin exhaled deeply, shaking his head. "Trust me. I still hadn't gained my memories back at this point. It was a muddled mess and I struggled putting an order to them."

She hummed, looking over her shoulder to check if her 'boyfriend' had noticed her dancing with someone else. Other people dancing between them blocked his view however. Not that he was paying attention anyway. He was still talking with his rich friends.

"So tell me," Jimin smiled then, "Why are you really here? And don't start with that 'boyfriend' of yours again."

Arabella couldn't help but giggle at his jealousy. Even if he was trying downplaying it, he wasn't really doing a good job and it still shone through. And she couldn't deny that she liked it. Because it meant that perhaps he did care after all. 

"What makes you think there'd be any other reason?" She blinked confused, acting innocent. But Jimin knew her too well to fall for that. So he turned her swiftly, pressing her body against his while his one hand travelled down her hips and to her thigh. Lifting it against his. The silk fabric flowing over her skin, exposing her leg through the slid. Along with her berretta held by a black lacy garter.

"Because normal party guests usually don't hide guns under their clothes," he smirked.

Arabella felt her breath becoming heavier the longer they remained in this position, with his dark eyes piercing hers. She lowered her arms from around his neck, letting them slide over his chest. "Let go," she mouthed, not wanting anyone noticing her gun. And his hand slowly did as he was told. Sliding over her thigh and hips. Taking its previous position on her waist. 

"Fine, I'll tell you," she eventually sighed and stepped back. Grabbing his wrist. "But first you gotta help me pass that stupid guard to get upstairs."

She dragged him through the crowd until they reached the other end, near the staircase. The guard standing right at the corner, looking sternly at the direction they had come from. "Distract him so I can climb behind him over the railing and scurry upstairs."

Jimin's brows rose, his eyes going from her to the guard and back to her. Eventually shrugging. "You need help for that?" he chuckled smugly, making her audibly huff.

"No, obviously not. I'd have found a way without you as well. I didn't even know you'd be here after all. But since you are.." She grabbed his tie, pulling him closer to her level. A seductive smirk on her lips. ".. you'll make it easier for me. Won't you?"

He nodded vigorously and leaned in, trying stealing a kiss as the temtation was quite compelling, but she pushed him lightly away. "Maybe after the job's done."

He whined "You're such a tease, Bella-baby."

"And you love it."

"I do, I really do," he smiled. Managing pecking her cheek at least, to which her eyes widened startled. Making him chuckle. She looked quite adorable when being dumbfounded. "Alright, let's do this," he said then and briefly rubbed his hands before making his way to the guard. Starting a casual conversation with him, to which the guard didn't seem to bulge in first. 

However, Arabella knew no one could resist Jimin's charm and sooner or later everyone would give in. So she eased her way to the side of the stairs. Waiting for his sign. And as soon as she saw the guard's head turn to the side and Jimin giving her a quick wink, she grabbed the artful bars and heaved herself up, climbing over the railing. And she rushed upstairs, no one spotting her from downstairs. 

Reaching the top, she carefully made her way through the long corridors. Flower bouquetes on commodes and paintings decorating them. When she reached a corner, she carefully peeked behind. Spotting another guard in front of a door.

That must've been it, she thought.

According to the blueprint she had memorized, this room was supposed to be a storage. Which was obviously bullshit because why would a simple storage need guards? And besides, the room next to it was the security room. That was no coincidence.

She reached behind her neck, fiddling a little before her dress got taken down, replaced by the maid uniform she had prepared. After taking a deep breath to get into character, she walked out of her stash and confidently made her way towards the guard.

He eyed her suspiciously, which left her unimpressed, as she went past him and into the security room.

"Hey, what do you want in there?" the guard called out, leaving his post to check on her.

"What I want?" she scoffed dramatically, "I was sent here because of some annoyingly beeping noise outside. As if I got any clue how to use all these things!" She pointed at the screens and computers. Pretending being a poor clueless and overwhelmed girl would surely help. "I mean, look at all this! And I'm just a simple maid! How am I supposed to know! But my supervisor sent me here to check what it is and take care of it! And I don't know if you know her, but she's a total witch, so I couldn't just object!" She continued her rambling. A deep frown on her face along with frustration written all over it. And she saw the guard's face softening at this as he seemingly pitied her. He had falled for it and she felt accomplished. "Do you maybe have any clue how all this works? I could really need some help or she might tell the master and let him fire me! And I can't get fired! I really depend on this job! Oh god, what if-"

She was ready to shed some fake tears when the guard cut her off, holding his hands up. "Okay, okay, calm down! We'll figure this out," he said and headed to the computers. Typing in something on the keyboard and sliding his ID card through a scanner. "Where did you say this weird sound was located at?"

"Right here." And with that she hit his neck with the back of her gun, making him faint. Hs heavy body fell on the ground and she dragged him to a corner, tearing off her apron and tying him down, in case he woke up too early. She went to the monitors then, deactivating the alarm system inside the fake storage room next door. Thankfully he had already typed in his security key, so it wasn't any problem, because despite her acting dumb, she did know how to navigate through the system.

She left the room, glancing around to make sure the the coast was clear before locking the door behind her. Bumping into Jimin as soon as she entered the fake storage.

He had already been waiting for her inside. "Took you long enough, darling."

"As if," she said and wiggled her way out of his embrace. Heading straight to the persian carpet in the middle of the room and lifting it. Revealing a safe underneath it.

"How did you get past the guard?"

"Oh, not at all," he chuckled, "He allowed me going upstairs. Told him I really needed to pee and the only bathroom downstairs was packed."

She hummed, not being surprised that actually worked. It probably wouldn't have with anyone else, but of course it did for Jimin. 

She pressed her ear on the safe then. Rotating the knob until hearing it click. With the security system being deactivated, it was nothing but a normal safe. The only difficulty left was that it had three knobs, not just one. The first one was done after a minute, another two left.

"What is inside there anyway?" Jimin asked and took a seat on one of the puffy velvet armchairs. Observing her with a raising warmth as she was on her knees, her perfect little bum high in the air. The maid skirt almost riding up enough for it to be revealed.

"A very pretty ruby necklace," she smiled as the second knob clicked.

"That's all?"

"And maybe a few other pretty things," she giggled, concentrating on the last knob.

Jimin sighed, propping his chin on the palm of his hand. "And that's why you're with that sleazy nepo baby? Because he could bring you to this party?"

"Hm, maybe. But maybe he also treats me nicely."

Snorting, he straightened himself again. "Nicer than me?"

"Perhaps," she shrugged. Knowing exactly she was teasing him. "At least he didn't want me dead."

He sighed. "You ain't letting go of that, are you?"

The third knob clicked open and she sat back on her legs, looking at him with a sad smile. "It hurt my feelings, you know." Her gaze fell on the safe then, opening it. 

His lips slightly parted, not having expected this. After all, he wasn't used to this kind of honesty from her unless they were in serious danger with the possibility of them not making it out alive. This didn't apply now, however, astonishing even more. And he finally began to understand how deeply the whole incident really offended her feelings. The whole real reason she was there, on this greek island with some millionaire, being to run away and distract herself from her broken heart and ego. He finally got it.

Before he could react properly though, she had already got up. The ruby necklace decorating her neck and a fitting bracelet placed around her wrist.

She went to the window then, pushing it open and looking down. It wasn't too high. She could jump on that tree and then climb down. However, she remembered a guard roaming around the garden with a dog when arriving earlier there. There didn't seem anyone around now though as the garden was quite broadly spread. She had to take advantage of the security sensors around the mansion being deactivated.

"You coming?" She looked over her shoulder, seeing him shake his head.

"I'll better head back down before the guard gets suspicious. Don't wanna ruin your escape," he smiled then, "I'll meet you at the entrance gate."

She nodded and climbed out on the nearest branch then. Carefully getting down the tree, not wanting any scratches in case she bumped into anyone and they'd get alarmed by them.

She lended in the darkness of the shrubbery and quickly changed back to her party dress when a flashlight appeared further away.

Arabella cursed internally and pressed herself against the wall. Slowly moving to the front of the building. She looked over the corner, the other guard with the flashlight and dog coming closer.

There was also a guard at the entrance who was luckily guiding a drunk party guest and his young company to their car in that moment. Giving her a perfect opportunity to rush out and towards the gate while the guard was putting the guest inside the car.

She was casually walking towards the exit over the forecourt, pretending having just come out of the party when a deep voice was suddenly heard right behind her. "Stop you little thief."

She paused in her tracks and without hesitating, rammed her elbow backwards, towards the person. Hearing a high-pitched yelp and a groan. She slowly turned around, seeing Jimin grinning at her mischieviously. Holding his belly. "You almost hit my wound, love."

"I'll try not to miss next time." She tried slapping him for using his voice mimicking to mess with her, but he successfully dodged every one of her attempts. He grabbed her hand then and tucked her out of the gate before anyone took notice of them.

"Sorry, sorry, but I couldn't resist," he laughed. Holding his hands up in a defensive manner. "You're too cute when getting surprised."

"I hate you!" she whined- Her voice loud, causing Jimin to quickly press a finger on her lips to sush her in case they might get heard. He stopped in front of his car then, unlocking it and opened the passenger door for her to enter. She rolled her eyes and climbed in, slamming the door shut. He sighed and got behind the steering wheel. Starting the engine and driving off before any security noticed her little theft. 

The cool night breeze from the lowered windows tousled their hair as the car rushed down the road through the dense forest.

Jimin's eyes briefly glanced at her absentmindedly staring out into the dark woods. The rubies on her skin glistening brightly whenever they passed a street lamp. Contrasting her smooth skin.

"Bella?" She hummed, not averting her eyes from the scenary outside. The dark sea peeking between trees. "You know I'd never hurt you. I wasn't myself back then."

She exhaled deeply, finally looking at him as well. "I know it wasn't your fault." She paused, her eyes wandering back outside. "It's.. whatever, really. No big deal." Despite her trying downplaying it, it did still hurt a little when thinking about his cold, emotionless stare from back then. As if she was nobody to him.

The car slowly came to an halt at the side of the road, interrupting her train of thoughts. And Arabella frowned, glancing up at Jimin. "Why di-"

She didn't finish her sentence, cutting herself off when seeing his expression. His eyes gleaming with sorrow. "I'm sorry, Arabella. I truly am."

Her lips parted. Not having expected him to feel genuinely remorse because of her silly remark. And she placed her hand over his. Giving him a small lopsided smile. "It's okay, I'm not mad."

They stayed like this for a moment more. Holding each other's gaze while smiling. Until sirens echoed in the distance, breaking the silence. And both their eyes widened. His lips breaking into a laugh then. "Guess your little theft didn't go unnoticed after all."

She giggled, taking her small gun from underneath her dress as he pulled out his own from the glovebox.

"Ready?"

"Always."

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next chapter: 1.3 here