#like he needed valery to take his suggestion over ulana's and for ulana to agree with him as though he's looking for absolution | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chernoblank · 4 years

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Some day, tell us about stories incubating in WIPland, like a Neutral Evil version of you

Oh sure! I’ll do it for Chernobyl, since it’s the fandom we share.

WIPs I abandoned (enter at your own risk):

5 times two of Boris, Ulana and Valery almost had sex with each other, and the one time they did

All pairs, Abandoned at 5k

Technically I DID publish the second part of this as my latest Valana (Deer in the headlights), but it was originally divided into 5+1 parts. In each of the first 5, they fantasized very vividly about fucking the other until something made them snap and realize they’d been imagining stuff, which is very very embarrassing, and entirely inappropriate. So all the parts had smut, except some of them were imagined.

Valery fantasizing about Ulana when he asks her to go to Moscow in the bar scene

Ulana fantasizing about Valery when he hosts her in Moscow

Boris fantasizing about Valery one time they got drunk in Pripyat

Boris fantasizing about Ulana after they fight in the abandoned building

Valery fantasizing about Boris in Vienna (this was going to include an actual kiss)

And 1. Ulana and Boris get together, in the depressing aftermath

I mean, in theory I’d still love to write all this (especially especially the Vienna Valoris, possibly going all the way), and it was only abandoned last month, but the lack of feedback in the fandom (plus considering I write het) made it not worth the effort, really. Also, this fic was supposed to use a lot of ideas from the other discarded WIPs in this list.

Boris and Ulana hate sex after the abandoned building

Uloris. Abandoned only at 500 words, but I had it all mapped out until the end, very annoying

After the tense meeting in the abandoned building, they have to stay in Pripyat for one night, and Boris corners Ulana and pushes his way into her room. They fight some more, Ulana goads him into admitting he’s into Valery, it’s very dub-con that turns to very very very con in the middle of it. They are really enjoying themselves but then they notice a movement in the balcony: Valery heard fighting, thought it was maybe the KGB attacking Ulana so he tried to come in the room, saw what was happening, and stayed for the show. He is now calmly smoking a cigarette. It was going to end with B and U very mortified but also wondering what this means for the future. This was abandoned because I found a more satisfying way to write Uloris, I guess, but damn I really liked this idea.

Groundhog day AU

Valana. Abandoned at 900 words because lost motivation

This was a groundhog day AU where Valery relives April 25, 1986 over and over until he figures out what it is he has to do to stop the disaster. He tries many things, like going to Pripyat himself, trying to reach Boris (and getting ignored). Nothing works. One day he decides to just take the train to Minsk on a whim, he buys flowers for Ulana and shows up at her lab. She knows his name but thinks he’s lost his marbles, but Dmitri convinces her to at least listen to the man over coffee. I was going to have him convince her that stuff is going to happen at Chernobyl, and you know her, she jumps on her car, they have a long drive there and manage somehow to stop the stupid test. Over the course of their daytrip, he confesses the groundhog day situation, Ulana doesn’t’ believe him at first but he sure knows a lot about her and there’s a lot of familiarity there, and it was going to end with Ulana asking if they were something, in his alternate universe (they weren’t, but Valery wished they were).

It had lovely things like:

“There’s a man here to see you,” Dmitri says, sounding a little bewildered. “He has flowers.”

“What?” Ulana says, lifting her eyes from the paper she’s reading. This sounds like a joke, but Dmitri has the sense of humor of a dried cod. “Who?”

"Valery Legasov, from the Kurchatov Institute.“

"Professor Legasov?” she repeats, disbelieving.

"That’s what he said. He has flowers. For you.“

"Yes, I got that the first time. But why would he be here? We weren’t told he’d visit.”

"He’s here to see you.“

Alright: she needs to put a stop to this, because Dmitri seems to be developing a belated sense of humor, and yes, it’s true she hasn’t been out with a man in over five years, but she isn’t about to the laughing stock of her equally awkward assistant.

"Send him in,” she says. “And make yourself scarce.”

"Understood,“ Dmitri says, and winks at her.

Let’s Be Alive together, part 3

Valana. Abandoned at 4k, sigh. Loss of motivation, lack of feedback

Well, this one was always meant to exist, as I always meant to do a Valana trilogy. It was going to follow after the other 2. But yeah, almost no one reads Valana, it makes me annoyed to look at the low kudos every time I post one, so I gave up. It was also very difficult to write emotionally? I left them in a very difficult position in Part 2, and Ulana really doesn’t feel like forgiving him. I also did it from Valery’s POV and boy is he a difficult character when he’s a dick (which he was for a large part of this fic). It was all “but she’s so UNFAIR, why does she come to my house and fight with me” etc etc. I was not impressed with him. Anyway I think I was making some progress towards reconciliation, but just… gave up.

The gist of it was this: when Ulana visits Valery in Moscow, after he refuses to lie and they have their awful conversation, she has a plan B: let’s warn the operators of the other power plants about the graphite rods so that at least this mistake is never repeated again.

“Sure,” he says, as petulantly as he can manage, and crosses his arms across his chest. “Let’s hash it out. What are you suggesting, that we drive around the country to every nuclear plant with an RBMK reactor, knock on their door, and tell them, ‘By the way, did you know there’s a deadly flaw in the equipment you handle every day?’”

He has to give it to her: she doesn’t miss a beat as she answers, “Essentially, yes. Are you with me or not?”

“And Charkov and the KGB will just smile and nod as we go on our little crusade?”

“Oh, they’ll notice us. I don’t think this crusade is a return trip, Valery.”

So off they go, and I took painstaking care to map out where the RMBK reactors were and what was the best route for them to go. Essentially a long road trip where they will slowly make up (because boy is Ulana still not fond of him right now). Of course, Charkov notices what they are doing when they are on the way to the last few plants, but they are intercepted by Boris instead (this was close to Ukraine) who yells at them for being stupid and finds a way to smuggle them out of the country, at great risk, so that they aren’t caught by Charkov and co. Valery and Ulana live out a few years together, moderately happy.

The Great OT3, aka the Canadian escape

OT3 for real! Poly. Abandoned at 5k because of serious characterization problems.

Around late 1987, Valery is miserable in Moscow, a Canadian secret agent acoasts him on the street and offers to smuggle him out. He agrees on a whim. Once he arrives in Canada, he finds Ulana there, who explains that Boris arranged for this with some of his contacts (through her, as not to be implicated himself). She decided to join him on a whim too.

I described it to @pottedmusic yesterday so I’m just going to paste what I told her here with some more details.

U and V slept together at least once during the canon. V and B were veeeery close to things but never really got anywhere. V is bi and willing, but B never indicated he was anything other than het so V gave up during the series.

V and U get hitched because of cabin fever while waiting for their refugee paperwork. B was going to try to join V but he was undecided because of his family, so V and U aren’t really expecting him. But he does come, and agreements have to be made.

U isn’t thrilled about V/B but he got them out of the country so of course he has to live with them. And well, B is old and sick (but getting better, all are getting ~magically better~) so it’s not like they’re having vigorous sex every night - never mind his het sexual hang ups. I thought something with a lot of emotions, cuddling in bed, talking a lot etc. V is very patient and knows whatever time together is a gift. V and U, otoh, have much more of a sex life and B hears sometimes and doesn’t like it but also DOES, you know? I stopped a long time before I got there at all, but I was going to use the het sex to lure Boris in and make him more comfortable with the idea of Valery as a sexual being. And U and B didn’t have a sexual element in the past but were going to grow into it.

I was going to have them relocate to Alberta, where there is a nuclear station, it’s suitably snowy. They would all live in the same house. Because paperwork made it easier, Valery and Ulana were a married couple (this was awkward at the beginning and is what precipitated their getting together). When Boris comes, Ulana suggests he could be her father on the paperwork, which everyone hates, but it kinda works. So they all live together.

It was going to be 1. Valery POV, mostly Valana, until Boris arrives, at which point it becomes 2. Boris POV, Valoris + Valana, and finally 3. Ulana POV, Uloris and OT3 happily ever after for 10 years.

I do love this AU a lot. I wish I had managed to find a way not to make them sound OOC. As it is, I hate everything about this and can’t even find anything worth quoting from it.

Drabbles from Discord that I was supposed to develop more, but never got around to:

Minister/Miner, first time

In a scenario similar to the ot3 above, where they are all together and live with each other, Valery and Ulana compare notes on Boris and the way they all have sex with each other

So there you go. For the ones I still like, I wish the fandom was still active (and cared about Ulana in sexual configurations)

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skycopcom-blog · 5 years

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Producers of Chernobyl TV series present their shooting locations in Lithuania

Shocking, authentic, breathtaking - that’s how HBO’s new TV mini-series Chernobyl is described around the world. The bigger part of it was filmed in Lithuania in 2018. The first episode attracted almost 2 million viewers and presented the country as immersed in surreal and mystical Soviet atmosphere. Those who want to experience the near past no longer have to go to Ukraine to see Chernobyl - for Lithuanians, it’s as simple as going outside. That’s why claim compensation company Skycop is inviting you to a tour of locations that entranced viewers worldwide and helped Chernobyl’s ratings unseat such heavy-hitters like A Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.

Chernobyl in Lithuania: tens of locations, hundreds of filming hours

The explosion on the night of 26th of April 1986 seared the event into human memory with the radioactive flames of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant’s 4th reactor. Critics agree: the mini-series that came out three decades after the events that inspired it should also be enshrined in history.

HBO and its partners shot the horrifyingly detailed show in Lithuania in the summer of 2018. The success of Chernobyl is no surprise to the many members of the Lithuanian cinematographer community that worked on the project.

“I don’t want to brag, but I was not surprised by positive reactions. After reading the script, it became clear that Chernobyl is well written, revealing the global tragedy through the eyes that witnessed it,” said Jonas Špokas, CEO of Baltic Locations, the company that managed Chernobyl’s filming locations. “That’s why I knew that the viewer will empathize with them and feel it all. The series were hugely ambitious, and the director, the script writer and the designer all put in effort to take Lithuanian suggestions into account, since they wanted it to be as authentic as it can be.”

It was for the sake of this authenticity that Jonas and his crew carried out a meticulous search of filming locations. The work began back in autumn 2016, as Pripyat, Chernobyl and Moscow had to be recreated almost entirely in Lithuania. That’s how the Soviet era was restaged at places as far apart as Pravieniškės and Visaginas - in total, over 40 different location can be seen in the series. There were around 1000 hours of filmed footage.

Moscow in Kaunas: the director thought he was dreaming

You can start touring the Chernobyl Lithuania in Kaunas. The city that’s known for its interwar architecture was perfect for creating the Soviet Moscow you can see in the series.

However, one of the most memorable moments came from the magical scene in episode 1, where the locals in Pripyat are standing on a bridge, completely unaware of what truly happened at the nuclear power plant. The radioactive fallout that swirled on the screen like pollen created a palpable feeling of both mystery and calm.

“The scene was shot at M. Gimbutienė Street in Petrašiūnai. There’s an abandoned water-supply bridge there. Director Johan Renck said that he ‘could not have even dreamed’ of it,” said Jonas. “He was looking for a spot that seemed to emerge out of nothing. This bridge is just like that: purposeless, it seems have neither a beginning nor an end. Built over a railroad track and meant for the water pipes running from the Petrašiūnai cemetery, it’s abandoned and decaying.”

There’s more than one such mystical location in Kaunas. “The apartment of protagonist Valery Legasov, we found it by accident, and it was filmed in an impressive art-deco building at Vytauto Ave. 58,” said Aureliuos Silkinis, who assisted the shooting with his company Kaunas Film Office. “The creepy 6th clinic in Moscow, the one which firefighters from Pripyat were brought to, was recreated in the former 8th building of Kaunas Technical University at Kęstučio St. 27. It’s now privatized. The KGB prison and the work room at the nuclear research institute were filmed at the radio factory located at Savanorių Ave. 66.”

Chernobyl was also filmed at the former helicopter maintenance hangar at Europos Ave. 27. The 4th episode scene of firefighters dousing houses with chemicals was staged on Chemikų street in Kedainiai.

Pripyat, reborn in Fabijoniškės, puts Lithuania on the map

Next stop on the Chernobyl tour of Lithuania - Vilnius. However, you must visit Pravieniškės on your way there. “We filmed there as well. It’s a unique town, devoid of any tourist traps; you’d never think to visit it. However, it’s a must-see for those pining for the Soviet atmosphere,” said Jonas.

Once you reach Vilnius, you should forget everything you’ve heard about its historic landmarks. It’s the northern Fabioniškės district that’s currently the most famous spot in Lithuania. Called “Fabai” by the locals, this part of Vilnius appeared in Chernobyl and became famous from New York to Chelyabinsk, albeit under a different name, that of Pripyat.

“It’s a very symbolic and cinematographic district,” said J. Špokas. “It reflects the idea of Pripyat, of idealized Soviet city of the future, quite wonderfully. Fabioniškės is a symmetrical district, which is great for the current trend of translating the architecture of that era for the big screen: the forms are aggressive, there’s a lot of concrete and grayness.”

When talking about Vilnius, J. Špokas claims that any district further away from downtown can have the same charm as Fabijoniškės. “However, I’d like to single out the impressive [former] cultural center of Ministry of the Interior, located at Žirmūnai St. 1. I adore the building, even if we only used it to film the Pripyat hotel restaurant, and the scene where the three volunteer divers are selected,” said J. Špokas.

Visaginas: the place to model a nuclear explosion

The Chernobyl tour of Lithuania continues to Didžiosios Kabiškės village in the Nemenčinė municipality. According to J. Špokas, the locals here and at the Laišaičiai village in Vievis municipality could not cut hay for the entire summer, as they had to maintain the image of abandoned settlements around Chernobyl.

However, something special truly awaits once you head to Ignalina. The trip may only last for one and a half hour, but you are travelling into history.

“All the power plant environments you the in the series - except for the ruined bits - were filmed at the Ignalina nuclear power plant (IAE),” said J. Špokas. “The firefighters driving towards the fire, the divers going into the pipes, the miners coming in to dig the shaft - it’s all here, as the atmosphere at IAE is unique, impossible to recreate anywhere else. However, it’s also a site of strategic importance for Lithuania, so filming there was not easy.”

During the day, one can visit the IAE with a guided tour. It’s not easy to get into one, but anyone can try. J. Špokas also suggests seeing nuclear power plant control panel-simulator at the Visaginas training center - it’s identical to the one in Chernobyl and the IAE.

The set designers, the real one - for the training of power plant employees, made the one in the series. The simulator allowed the staging of various scenarios that may arise during the operation of the IAE, even an explosion. Today, visitors can even push the legendary emergency protection button AZ-5.

“Seeing the IAE is much more interesting than visiting the real Chernobyl. Sure, the real spot is more authentic and emotionally impressive, but it’s only a ruin,” said J. Špokas. “At the IAE, you can really feel how big and complex a nuclear power plant is. Nothing else in Lithuania can match the sheer scale, importance and size you experience when you see the reactors and walk above them.”

Chernobyl: some scenes actually filmed in Ukraine

“Some scenes we could not film in Lithuania were filmed in Ukraine,” said J. Špokas. “The scene where the miners are encouraged to go to Chernobyl were filmed in Kiev, at the Nuclear Power Plants and Engineering Thermal Physics Department. There was also the scene where the Belorussian scientists Ulana notices the increasing radiation background. Also, only in Kiev could we find some of the backgrounds of the size we needed for Moscow.”

“In Kiev, we had the luxury of shooting Mi-8 helicopter scenes. There’s only two of them in Lithuania and they’re always on rescue duty, so they could be called away at any moment,” said J. Špokas. Overall, the filming in Ukraine took 20 12-hour shifts.

“We also went to the Chernobyl zone to see how some of the old villages look like,” said J. Špokas. “However, it’s not a good place to film, it’s very remote and offers nothing you can’t find in Lithuania. It’s all abandoned, while we needed Pripyat to be alive. You can’t really stay in the Chernobyl zone for too long, the filming equipment is really sensitive to radiation.”

However, if you were planning to visit Chernobyl in Lithuania, but were left with nothing else to do but re-watch the series at the airport terminal due to a disrupted flight, hit Skycop up! The Soviet era is in the past! The rights of air passengers are protected by Regulation (EC) 261/2004, which lays down rules for flight compensation. With Skycop , you can claim up to €600 for cancelled, delayed or overbooked flight. Back in the days of Chernobyl, that much money would have taken 4 months to earn!

#chernobyl #chernobyl series #chernobyl series filming

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