Eat, Geek, Travel, Repeat

It's What I Do!

[karaokesoul32]

I know I don’t have a huge amount of followers, especially in the DA Fandom, but I thought you might like to know a little bit about me if you have started following me recently - this won’t be news to those “old guard” who know me from my SG1 days of course (luv ya Chelle & the others xoxo) 

I’m quite old, married a loooong time now and a mum of one and granny to a five year old Angel/Princess who I don’t actually post pictures of on here.

I called myself a middle-aged rock chick for years, I LOVE music - rock, britpop and really great singer-songrwriters. I used to gig a LOT in my forties and am proud of the fact I have done the “proper camping” bit at a few Festivals, and “moshed” at Muse a couple of times - nearly killed me in the process but I did it!.

I got into internet fandoms first with music forums (brutal & vicious) then found Sci-Fi, in particular the Stargate SG1 fandom and I mean REALLY got into it, going to Conventions, visiting Vancouver and the set where it was filmed, meeting & getting to know some of the actors and travelling all over North America, Europe and the UK indulging my “hobby”. I also found my first m/m pairing through the, at that time, MASSIVE Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson slash fiction sites and I was hooked - still am.

I LOVE travel, and have travelled extensively in Canada, the US and Europe. I’m married to a half-Belgian and consider myself a European Brit..I LOVE Europe but also my own English roots and heritage and think that my county, Kent - Garden of England, where I have lived since I was 2 years old - the most beautiful place on earth..sometimes.

I also love to cook and eat out. although probably indulged too much, which resulted in a BIG health scare 3 months ago, which I’ve just about recovered from, losing both my gallbladder & over 2 stone in weight and getting a lot of my health conditions (Diabetes & Blood Pressure) FINALLY under control. I still eat out and “fine dine” but not quite as much as I used to.  

I fell into the DA Fandom by watching the film first - I avoided the series for many years, because I’m a butterfly with the attention span of a gnat and don’t do long-running series really well - hence my other “historical” fannish choice “Versailles” (gay love story, sense a pattern here) which ran only 3 series of short episodes. But once Mr Max Brown and Mr Richard Ellis, 2nd Valet to His Majesty entered the scene, smiled at the gorgeous Mr Thomas Barrow (and me) on the screen I was hooked. Within days I had started a re-run of DA from Ep.1 to the end and started rooting through AO3 to find my “fix”.

Which I did, am still doing, and will be doing (along with Jack and Daniel, Monsieur & Chevalier de Lorraine) till I’m old and grey & in my dotage. Well I’m grey now, but all that’s hidden under bright Violet Purple Hair - did I mention I surround myself with Purple.

So as the title of this blog says - Eat, Geek, Travel, Repeat. 

It’s What I Do. 

Discodiva (Deeds), Karaokesoul, Carol (to those that now know me in RL) xoxo

[barris-events]

The Downton Abbey movie came out six years ago today. In honour of our ship turning six, here is a special round of prompts for Barrisember, focusing on canon, canon divergence and AU prompts!

Check out the rest of the prompt posts here, and the event guidelines here. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop us an ask!

If you are perhaps wanting to watch our two blokes again but not feeling so keen on watching all of the Downton Abbey movie, you can watch the Barris cut here.

Happy Barrisversary! 🌜💙🌛

The drive to York, when they were alone and with no chance of being interrupted, headed to commit mischief together.

All royal staff's mail is read for security reasons, so Richard can never reveal too much in his letters to Thomas, so they communicate the more personal matters in code via the personal section of a newspaper, like in this example.

Thomas and Richard take over the Bates' cottage when the Bates open their B&B.

Missing scene fic: Thomas is nowhere to be found not just when they're putting up the chairs for the parade, but also when Carson and Andy serve lunch, during the parade itself, as well as when the servants initially agreed to have their meeting in the wine cellar. Were was he, and what was he doing?

What was Thomas doing in the boot room, when he had already stepped down from his position as butler for the duration of the royal visit?

Slight canon divergence: Mrs Hughes does not find Richard and Miss Lawson rooms at the Abbey, so they get rooms in the village instead, as per Mr Wilson's initial suggestion.

Thomas is just telling Richard random stories about his life when he sees a dog that looks like Isis. He’s like “Oh God”, and Richard’s like “What?” And Thomas is like “Ok, promise you won’t judge me but one time I stole a dog that looked just like that.”

Thomas and Richard both work at Downton when Thomas hides and loses Isis. Cue a very disheveled, desperate Thomas waking up his friend Richard at like 5 am like "Richard, I lost the dog".

Thomas is always looking for signs he’s about to flip and become his father, so he's hyper vigilant about his own anger. The idea of becoming his father is something that terrifies him, especially when he starts to get closer to Richard. For Richard, the penny starts to drop when every time they have a minor disagreement, Thomas thinks it’s over, and slowly Richard realises that Thomas doesn’t understand that Richard liking him isn’t conditional, that he’s not going to walk away just because Thomas says something snappy when he’s tired. And Thomas’s brand of anger looking so much like real distress is very confusing to him, because he’s giving Thomas what he seems to want, aka leaving him alone, but it’s clearly upsetting him.

During the royal visit, Richard keeps coming up with things to ask for as an excuse to spend a few more minutes together with Thomas.

Tailor AU: One of them is the tailor, the other the client. Both are looking to be professional, but neither can deny or ignore the instant, sizzling chemistry...

A comedy of errors fic: Thomas writes a sweet soppy letter, puts it in the mail, gets cold feet, and then tries to race the postman so he can intercept it before it reaches Richard.

In less cracky terms: Thomas writes a sweet soppy letter, gets embarassed about it and hides it, but Richard finds it.

Thomas and Richard meet for the first time canon divergence AUs:

S1—William leaves to help his sick Mum and Dad with the farm, and Richard is hired to replace him as footman.

S2—Richard is a motorcycle messenger/driver for a general/Army Services Corp driver and meets Thomas when he goes AWOL to bring his wounded pal to get medical help.

S2—Thomas works in a hospital ship during The Great War. The ship crashes, and Richard is one of the rescuers.

S3—Sacked after the Jimmy Incident, Thomas heads to London in desperate search of employment, gets a job at an underground/gay club, and uses his street smarts to get him and Richard away when the club is raided.

Alternatively: Lonely and desperate after being sacked, seeking comfort and/or employment, Thomas heads to an illicit gay club, where he meets Richard. Bonus: Richard uses his knowledge of the club and the area of London to get them both away when the club is raided.

S4—Thomas and Richard, who is the valet of the Duke of Crowborough, meet on the boat to/from America.

S5—On the train from London to York, Thomas is ill from his 'Choose Your Own Path' treatment, and Richard assists him get to Dr Clarkson for help.

S6—Thomas is lonely and miserable at his new job, until he encounters Richard, injured from a car crash, and helps him.

Movie canon divergence AUs:

Movie 1—Richard, with his knowledge of Royal protocol and background in military intelligence, along with Thomas, are the ones who foil the assassination attempt on the King.

Movie 2—Richard is GD's dresser but is unhappy with GD and Hollywood and falls straight away for Thomas, butler at Downton, who helps untangle him from GD. Bonus: GD has blackmail material e.g. compromising photos of Richard, and Thomas and his Downton allies scheme to get them back.

Movie 3—Thomas is butler, but unhappy (Carson keeps interfering and he keeps getting sidelined); Richard is also unhappy in his job as GD's dresser/personal secretary.

[karaokesoul32]

Back from a long hiatus - I promise to post more from my travels, foodie stuff & the bb boys soon

But for now here’s a few pics from my stay at the newly refurbished hotel in Woodstock that we used to visit - The Feathers - part room, part bar (The Aviary) & part Restaurant (The Nest)

[karaokesoul32]

Jenry in Venice - a compilation

[karaokesoul32]

Birthday Celebration Part Two - The Devonshire, Denman St, Soho

[karaokesoul32]

My birthday celebrations this years consisted of a day out in London visiting Fortnum & Mason for a little shopping spree followed by lunch at The Devonshire, Soho

First up F&M Splurge

[barris-events]

The Barris Prompt Picnic will run from the first of August to the 7th of September! Prompts will be posted every other day in August, with a final week in September to catch up on the last prompts. It's a bit of a tight schedule during a busy time of year, so the idea is to have a chill, low-key fest - like a picnic, where everyone who wants to brings in a little something for all to share and enjoy. A moodboard, a playlist, fic, fanart, etc. are all scrumptious pieces of cake to share on our collective picnic blanket! 🫖🥧

Prompts are optional, however, so this can also be used as an opportunity to dust off those old WIPs about to be eaten by ants...

Event guidelines coming soon - and prompts, too, from August 1st! ✒️📜

[karaokesoul32]

Apologies for absence again - my birthday, life stuff, illness, you name it

Anyway Jenry are on holiday again - this time it’s 3 nights in Venice & already giving us great content via their social media accounts

[karaokesoul32]

Fun and sun (a LOT of sun) in Sevilla for Jordan & Henry

[karaokesoul32]

Happy 26th Birthday to Henry 🧡

And the best birthday present (apart from Jordan) was Jenry winning The 2024 Media Moment at the British LGBT Awards last night - and their mums were there too to celebrate with them

[karaokesoul32]

It’s been a busy week for Jenry

Royal Ascot on Thursday (with Henry’s mum Suzy)

[karaokesoul32]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @the_jenry_collection_

[karaokesoul32]

Announcement 📣

On this Prideful Day 🏳️‍🌈 for Jenry and after a too long hiatus I am determined to post more Jordan and Henry stuff

They’ve been having a grand old time at private Pride Party in the Cotswolds today and I’m particularly proud of Jordan for fully embracing it

From various accounts on Twitter, their own Insta stories & Henry’s sister Harriet

[imnotthewerewolf]

[karaokesoul32]

Have COVID

Totally screwed up my plans for posting both Jenry & my Sevilla holiday photos

Normal Service to be resumed when I feel better

[karaokesoul32]

Been away - pics of Sevilla to follow soon but first

Happy 5 month anniversary Jordan & Henry 💜🧡

[karaokesoul32]

Updates will be sporadic for the next few days because tomorrow morning

I’m off to Sevilla