#( it's been a little while since that ( aka like 1-2 weeks max ) because we wanted at least a little time to process it all )

[lilyharvord]

Omg describe the parent trap au pls I'm begging you

AH! Okay! I've got five requests... means I have to do it XDDD

(bear in mind I had this idea before broken throne came out and we knew Cori and Shade were a thing)

1. Mare and Cal are still young, they're dealing with the ramifications of everything. Mare gets pregnant, they have twins. Their relationship sort of falls apart... and they go their separate ways, each one taking a twin daughter. Mare to Montfort, Cal to the States

2. Some years later (11) the twin daughters both end up at the same sort of camp thing (not sure exactly what's going on there, but they do). They totally hijack each other and end up being forced into an isolation where they only have each other. Then they realized: HOLY SHIT YOUR MOM IS MY MON AND YOUR DAD IS MY DAD. Then they hatch their "master plan" to get Mare and Cal back together. One daughter Coriane (Cal's) and the other Avery (Mare's) switch places, going back to the opposite parent in hopes that they will have to come back together to switch them back.

3. Shenanigans obviously ensue. And Cori realizes horribly quickly that Mare is dating someone... and Avery kinda didn't know about it. The guy (who is not Tyton because I Would NEVER slander that boi like that) is an asshole period. So Cori has to be a snappy little shit and tries to break them up. I just have this one conversation in my head where the guy confronts her and is like: For your information, I adore your mother, she's exactly the kind of woman I always dreamed of marrying. And Cori just leans forward and goes: and my mother's political and military standing wouldn't have anything to do with that... would it? And he goes from being nice politician guy to straight dick in .2 seconds and leans forward to day: listen here puss, I'm marrying your mother in three weeks, whether you like it or not. Is that clear? And once I do, I'm shipping your ass off to the Lakelands. And that's when Cori sends emergency message number 1 to Avery in the States who has been busy ignoring her panic because she's having the time of her life with her dad.

4. Anyway, Julian is the one that figures it out, cause he follows Avery after she runs out to place an emergency call to Montfort to tell Cori to hang in there. He makes Avery tell Cal and we get the cute scene where she's in his office and she has a little suitcase with her, and he laughs and asks where she is going when she buries her face in his shirt. And all muffled says: I'm going to find Cori. And he laughs again and says: I see Cori, so where is she exactly? And she just kinda sniffles looks up at him and says: In Ascendant, with her mom Mare Barrow. And Cal just kinda of looks up at Julian who gives him that little smile. And then he cups Avery's face, lifts it up to look at her, and says: You're not Cori.... you're Avery? and then he puts it together. They decide to go to Ascendant to switch them back. Cal is low key a wreck all the way there, and Julian goes with them with Sara because he's low key gotta chaperone his stressed out nephew still. (Little does Cal know that Julian, Sara, Cori, and Avery all planned it so that they go to the place Mare/Fiance are looking at for their wedding, without Cal knowing what's happening, and without Mare knowing anything at all.)

5. They all end up there, They get separated from each other for a split second and when they happens, Cal ends up spotting Mare getting into an elevator with her asshole fiancé, and she literally almost falls over leaning to the side making sure she is actually seeing her ex-husband and not a ghost of him induced by her low key guilt over remarrying (especially since who she thinks is Avery has been so very opposed to it). Then Cal goes up (mind you, he may be slightly drunk cause... it's funny in the movie, so it works here) runs into both the girls, and finds out Mare is getting re-married, and they try to convince him to stop it, but he won't hear any of it, and tells them he is only there to switch them back.

6. Cal goes down ahead of the girls, and is in the bar trying to get something to deal with the raging headache he has, and who does he run into but Asshole Fiance who is so freaking excited to realize it's him because wow, political ambitions to the max there.

6. Anyway, they go down to a garden and the girls are sitting there with Julian and Sara, and Mare is literally on the HUNT for Cal. She's so confused why he's here, etc. etc. Then she spots him walking down the stairs of the garden (it can be in slow motion while he's adjusting his jacket if you like 😏) and she literally runs into someone, and ends up in a fountain. Cal pulls her out, and she's just looking up at him shocked and confused, and then the girls show up and explain what they did and Mare's just baffled until she laughs and hugs them both. They sit down, Cal gives her his jacket and they talk for a second and Mare just says: I can't believe this... seeing them together, seeing you again... I just-- And then asshole fiance shows up and is like: FINALLY! There you are! Oh um...oh good, you've met! Honey, I was just speaking with him in the bar and um, we were talking about some trade deals, and um wait, I dont understand how did you two meet? and Mare... why are you all wet? and Mare just looks at Cal and goes: you're doing a political trade deal with my fiancé? and Cal's like: i didn't know he was your fiancé? And then Mare's like hahahaha how did we meet? How did you two meet? And Fiance just goes: Am I missing something here? And Mare going: hahaha this is one small world. Cue Avery popping up near his elbow and saying: Hey. And then him sniffing and going: hello. And then Cori popping up and going: Hi, how's it going? And him having a small freak out before Mare sort of grimaces and says: Um... did I ever mention to you that Avery was a twin? And he's just totally put out and grumbles: you neglected to mention that little detail. And the girls are more than happy to introduce Cal as their dad, and fiancé just goes: well, this is a small world. And Mare just awkward grimaces and says: and getting smaller.

7. Anyway, the girls make them go on a cute little date, and they sort of talk about why they broke up and why she left, and we get my favorite dialogue exchange from any movie every made and Mare says: well, I got on an airship to Montfort, and... you didn't chase after me. And Cal just sort of leans forward and says quietly: I didn't know you wanted me to. Then we cut to the next day, they're agreeing to send the girls back and forth between them for certain things, and then low and behold their trouble making daughters show up wearing identical outfits, and the girls give them their proposal. They will tell them who is who after they go on the camping trip. (Aka the one Mare takes Avery on every year in Paradise Valley). Cal crouches down and says: This one is Cori, I'm sure of it. And the one he's point to who is actually Avery just smirks and says: Are you sure dad? You wouldn't want to take the wrong kid all the way back to Archeon would you? And then they're forced to agree to said camping trip.

8. Cue my absolute favorite part of the 1998 movie, where we cut to the fiancé going: AND WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO FOR FIVE DAYS? STAY HOME AND KNITT? And Mare just turns around and says: listen, we're in a bit of a situation here. And then Cal's coming down the stairs from the Barrow's town house with his backpack like: 🙃 I have such bad timing. And Fiancé turns around and says: hold on, why is he going? And mare's irritated as all get out so she just snorts and says: because it's part of the deal... we go on this trip... together. And then Cal walks up and being the little shit he is says: is there a problem? And the guys just looks him up and down and goes: Yes, as a matter of fact, I'm not so sure I'm okay with this. And Cal immediately knows how to make this man's life fucking miserable, so he says: Oh I completely understand. The ex in the next sleeping bag is just... so awkward. And Mare just puts her head in her hand and Cal gives this guy his best sympathetic grin and says: which is why I suggest you go with them. And the girls in the truck are like: DAD! NO! And Cal's just like: No I insist. And then the guy is walking down the stair, looking for all intents and purposely like a jackass, and Cal's behind him, already trying to contain his laughter. And the guy gets in the truck, looking annoyed as all get out, and the girls are pissed, and Mare's just looking at Cal like: I can't decide if I wanna kill you or laugh with you. And then Cal just pats the side of the truck and says: alright have fun. And the guy kinda leans across Mare and says: I mean on second thought, maybe this isn't the best idea... I mean... I"m not much a... nature person. And Cal's like mock horrified and says: No, no you really should. This is a great opportunity for you to spend time with the girls and get to know them. And then he gives that jack as his prize winning, shit eating grin and says: Cause starting next week, they're half yours. And Mare just sticks her tongue between her teeth with her smile and puts her shades on and drives away. Cue Kilorn coming up next to Cal and smirking with him and saying; Oh I would pay BIG money to see that man climb a mountain.

9. The camping trip goes miserable, they come back early cause the girls create chaos and the fiancé leaves. Delivering the key line: Once we're married, I'm shipping those BRATS off to Tiraxes. Got it? IT's me or them, take your pick.

They come up the stairs to the town house and Cal's there (wearing super comfy clothes) and is mock shocked when he says: what happened? And the Avery just goes: we've been grounded. and Corie comes up behind her saying until the end of the century. And Cal's just like: why? What happened? and Cori says: we played a couple harmless pranks, and [insert fiancé's name] got a little upset. And Mare storms up behind them and says: Upset? A little Upset? Then she glares at the girls and then at Cal and says: But like father like daughters. You're grounding starts now. And the girls go inside, and Mare just kinda stays out there, fiddling with the engagement ring she took off and says: One day I'm going to have to thank them for this. And then Mare and Cal kinda of have a cute little conversation and then that night, they have their little romantic moment where they almost kiss, but then Mare pulls back. The next day, they leave. (At this point they weren't in Ascendant, they were in a smaller Montfort city near Paradise Valley). So Mare goes home. And once she and Avery get there, they walk into their apartment, and Cori's sitting on the couch, and Mare's just like: oh... um hello. And Cori just smiles and says: it took us about two minutes after you left to realize we were never letting you go again. And Mare's like: us? And then Cal comes out, and is like: us. And Then we get my Second favorite dialogue exchange of all time where Mare goes: so what now? Am I supposed to... to say that we're going to work all this out, that we'll... fall in love again and raise out children together and cry hysterically? And Cal just pulls her close with a smile and says: Yes, to all of that. Only you dont have to cry hysterically.

Then we get happy ending cause YAY the girls won and their parents are back together. Anyway, as you can see I've thought about this AU for far too long and I actually came super close to writing it but then decided, eh better not.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 100

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 02 - “The Welcome Party at Pan-Paka is the Premonition of a Storm!” Date watched: 01 December 2018 Original air date: 12 February 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/5CtC8VX Project info and master list of posts: https://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

they bond quickly

This is a great follow-up to a great premiere. We get a better look at the villains, the lore, the girls’ lives, and see them become closer as friends. Basically it builds their world out more, and I love it.

First things first, the villains: we’re introduced to Goyan, an impish little dude who serves as the right hand of the boss, and the big bad himself Akudaikan. Having a right hand as a buffer between the boss and generals is a change of pace from the first two seasons but not an unwelcome one. Goyan is a curious little dude, you never know quite what he’s thinking. He seems like he already knows that Karehaan lost to the Precures and mockingly asks him if he returned with the spirits, but it could also be genuine sucking up. Either way Karehaan ignores him, and this will be the dynamic for most of the show. Meanwhile, Akudaikan is a big dark guy cast in shadow, so all you see are his eyes.

Goyan mocks him and Akudaikan berates him so Karehaan goes out once more to try to redeem himself, and we learn that Dark Fall, like most villainous organizations, is run by a bunch of dicks, and that is why they fail.

Over in the Land of Greenery, which is the new name for the Garden of Rainbows, aka Earth (most series have a special name for Earth that ties into the lore) Saki and Mai are doing school things. Saki chats with her friends Hitomi, Yuuko, and Kenta about hosting a welcome party for Mai but Mai is already out the door before she can actually invite her. Saki finds her on the roof of their unusually aesthetic school and they chat about the previous day, while Flappy and Choppy explain how Precure’s mission to protect the seven fountains, of which all but one have been conquered by Dark Fall. It’s exposition wrapped in character development as it’s part of a scene where the protagonists try to learn about each other.

You may recall that while Nagisa and Honoka got along fine in Futari wa, it took a while for them to truly become friends. Splash Star decides screw that, Saki is way too gung-ho to wait, and Mai definitely wants the companionship. They have to work for it a little, as that night Mai talks with her older brother Kazuya about her reservations, and he encourages her to try making friends with Saki if that’s what she wants. Mai has a bit of imposter syndrome, she thinks she doesn’t really belong, that Saki already has a bunch of friends and she’s only being nice because Mai is new. Nonetheless, she puts on her brave face and goes to the welcome party. She’s a bit early, so she sits in the backyard and draws.

FW similarity/difference number 2: While Nagisa was part of a working class family living in a high rise apartment complex, Saki's family lives behind their bakery and are afforded such luxuries as a yard. The town of Yuunagi seems a bit more suburban than the setting of FWPC, which seems to correspond to the region of Japan it’s based on.

Mai gets so caught up in drawing that she’s completely oblivious to Saki and friends setting up for the party right behind her, so when she turns around she’s super shocked to see the supplies.

Side note: Mai is a really good artist.

I am not and I’m wondering how you get lines that thin out of charcoal

It’s very admirable, and we’ll get to see her develop this skill further throughout the show. The two girls speak candidly for a moment, and Saki insists that they ditch the formalities of Japanese speech by asking Mai to simply address her by given name, and asking if she can do likewise. Mai agrees to this and so they truly become Saki and Mai, rather than Hyuuga-san and Mishou-san. (reminder: referring to each other on a personal-name basis with no honorific in Japanese is a sign of closeness reserved for good friends and family)

 Unfortunately the festivities are interrupted by Karehaan, who turns a potted plant into an Uzainaa and demands the girls hand over their spirits. Naturally they refuse, transform, and quickly get their butts kicked. Karehaan offhandedly wonders how they were such a threat to him previously. But after some scolding words from Cure Bloom about how much she values Mai’s friendship and the party and how DARE Karehaan interrupt that, the girls turn the battle around. To borrow some contemporary slang, they fuckin YEET the Uzaina across town.

It lands on a beach and Flappy and Choppy instruct them to give chase. By concentrating the power of spirits in their feet, they are able to leap across town as well.... but they have trouble sticking the landing. Fortunately the power of Precure protects them. Bloom gets caught by the monster and Egret gets a chance to return the earlier sentiment by declaring how Saki is important to her before throwing it. The pair recover, land a double kick, and then finish it off with Twin Stream Splash.

After the dust is settled, they detransform and Saki kind of gripes that they’ll have to keep doing this, but Mai says it’ll be okay as long as they’re together, and they begin their friendship anew with a handshake and a smile. Meanwhile, considering how far they leaped from Saki’s house to the beach, I’m left wondering how they’re going to get back in time for the party without arousing suspicion. I would kind of like the show to explain that, but it doesn’t.

The party goes swimmingly, with Mai loving the cake that Saki and her friends made, and then the rest of the class walks into the yard. Saki offhandedly mentions that she invited the ENTIRE CLASS to the party, which is news to her friends because they didn’t make nearly enough food for this, and Kenta starts chasing Saki around out of frustration (these two have a fun relationship, I’ll get more into that). We end on a freeze-frame of Saki and Mai being buddy-buddy, which is the top image.

Honestly my only criticism of this episode is that they detransformed on the beach instead of leaping back to Saki’s house and that’s such a non-issue. Some of the animation is spotty for wide group shots but they go by quickly. Other than those small things, it’s a perfect episode. It’s well-paced, it develops the characters after showing their insecurities (especially Mai) and you can relate to their friendship struggle. It took a bit longer for Nagisa and Honoka to become friends to this degree but they had less going for them. Saki wants to make friends, Nagisa was more like “let’s see what happens”. Plus Mai being the new girl in town makes her an object of interest before they become Precure, and that also means she has more room to make friends. So they bond quickly.

Saki’s other friends, Hitomi and Yuuko, are similar to Shiho and Rina in some regards, in that they’re also on the sports team with her and sometimes struggle to keep up with her. I remember Yuuko a little more prominently from my first viewing, partly because she’s chubby which stands out in a world of thin characters, and partly because of her crush on Kenta (not touched upon here). Kenta himself is an interesting animal. Since Verone Academy was an all-girls school, we didn’t get much in the way of male friendships in FWPC or Max Heart. There was Fuji-P and Kimata but they didn’t feel as close as the girls’ other friends. Kiriya came closer but he had to return to the darkness. Kenta is just a friend... a friend voiced by Takeuchi Junko, who is most famous now for being the voice of Naruto. It’s pretty much the same voice, just without “-ttebayo!” on the end of every sentence. She will also come back to voice Cure Rouge in the next few seasons. Kenta and Saki have a bit of a more aggressive friendship than with the other girls, but not in a bad way. They butt heads a lot because Kenta is a bit of a loudmouth and they give each other crap, but it’s all in good fun.

As much as I like the emphasis on girls and girls’ stories in Precure, it is nice to see boy-girl friendships that feel natural and aren’t dominated by romantic leanings. I mean yeah, Kenta does have a crush on Saki as will later be revealed, but it’s not the be-all end-all of their friendship. I’m not sure I’m expressing my sentiment well.

Overall like I said up front, it’s a great world building episode and it really makes me look forward to spending more time with these characters (not something I can say for every show). So look forward to more, and hopefully there won’t be a two week wait before the next one.

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 Zekkouchou Nari, in the preview.

Miracle Drop Count: 2

[xluckytheninjax]

Watch Dogs {2} - An OC

Wondered whether Watch Dogs OCs are a thing.And they are - there aren’t a lot of ‘em,but eyyyy.Thus,I threw my OC in the Watch Dogs world.I mixed it with some altered Need For Speed Undercover backstory because why not.I am aware NFS:U doesn’t take place in SF,but it does take place in a fictional area near a beach with big skyscrapers so yeah,moved it to SF. I personally love NFS:U,because well,not even two minutes into the game and I already have at least 6 police cars on my tail.Along with that,some South African background cause well….that’s my homeland.Pretty great hellhole over here.

Have a drawing {Don’t repost/remove all this writing/claim as your own/you know the drill} and some random BS I wrote down playing WD 1 and 2 at like 11 PM/midnight/1 AM over the weekend.

I am ready for anything,anyone that wants to bitch about this or argue about stuff.

This is obviously OC stuff,so if you dislike it,feel free to go look for another post or blog or whatever the hell you want to do.

I used a reference for the ‘pose’ {I wouldn’t call this a full-on pose,but -shrugs-}

Name ‘n’ surname: Kayla Horizon

Screenname/Hacker alias: N1nJ4 {Ninja}

Nicknames: Ninja,Kay,Lucky,Ghost

Age: 23 years old

Gender: Female,of course

Personality:

Stubborn

Cares a lot for her family,friends and workpals {who’re also friends}

Loyal to DedSec

Not easily influenced 

Quiet

Overthinks everything

Sarcastic

Not easily intimidated {Or so she claims}

Happy with what her life is,even between all the stress and overthinking.

Has some trust issues.The type where she gets this feeling in her gut telling her whether a person can be trusted or not.She trusted her workpals immediately,she trusted Ray immediately…as an example of who she didn’t trust,Horatio’s co-worker.And she wasn’t even on that mission.

Usually keeps things that wouldn’t be important to the current objective(s)/mission(s) to herself

It’s a good thing her face is blurred out like the others’,cause she’s camera shy.She hates getting photos taken of her,she hates looking at the camera…unless of course,she’s the one taking a photo of scenery or of friends.If you’re gonna point a camera of any sort to her face,she will not hesitate to break it.

Very protective over the things and people she cares about.So,you wreck her car? You insult DedSec or target her pals? You mess with Sitara’s artwork? You kidnap other DedSec members? Mess with DedSec’s systems? You mess with her dog or drag her family into things you shouldn’t?  You better start running then,pal.And make it fast.

Trained herself to not cry in front of people.It’s harder than it looks.Anger also gets bottled up.One day she’ll snap….probably.Then all chaos and hell will break loose.

Loses a lot of sleep thinking

Stresses over nothing

Introvert

Reckons anything can be solved by an asskicking

Takes her job seriously,but,in between she likes messing with people

Claims she doesn’t care,but she cares too much

Honesty,loyalty,respect and trust are big things to her.As explained before,she follows her gut on who to trust and who not.If you’re gonna betray DedSec,you might end up dead.Everybody lies,it’s human nature,but that’s where trust and loyalty comes in with honesty.The three walk hand in hand,really.Respect? You respect her,she respects you,as easy as that.

Might seem really confident,and she really does seem to be that way,but in reality,her self-esteem is pathetic

-Because she keeps a lot of things to herself,a lot of her personality remains a mystery.

{At least half of these are some of my personality traits}

Working for: DedSec,what did you expect? She was going to go work for those dumbass monkeys,or the rat cult? Pff,nah.

Hair color: Original hair color is dirty blonde Currently ombre:Brown - Dirty blonde - Blonde

Hair style: Long hair,shaved shorter on the right side.Leaving it loose or tying it in a ponytail or something depends on how she’s feeling,and whether it’s mission time or not.Can’t work if you’ve got hair in your face.

Eye color: “Not every day you see someone with heterochromia.” Left eye is blue,right eye is green

{My persona’s had this since she got created a million years back so obviously,no matter what universe she’s in,she’s always gonna have that.}

Height: 5'11

Piercings/Tattoos:

A lot of ear piercings on both sides,and a tongue piercing

A bunch of stars on her left wrist,a small 'x’ on top of her right wrist,and a ’=D’ on her back {right shoulder}

Scars and other skin-related things:

Huge scar through her left eye,and a small one through her lip on the right.There are some other faint scars here and there,nothing too major though.

Lots of freckles

Any other dayjob?: Works at a huge gaming store on some days {Every second day except for weekends}.It’s just a temporary job for now.She ended up applying for some programming job,like her parents wanted.Just waiting to hear back.

Romance?: Single,no crushes or anything of the sort. “Had to leave everyone behind since we moved here….went to uni,didn’t find anyone that’s my type…and some things that happened in the past leave me in this state where I am against romance I guess? Not like an abusive relationship or heartbreak or anything like that…just things I’m not gonna talk about.”

Cars:

 -Personal car is the Ford Ranger truck she got ported in from home. It’s white with black decals and raptor kit.The thing’s a beast.

{Hope to drive one of these some day}

-Other car she keeps in the garage is the Lotus Elise she used to streetrace with.Purple with a white stripe down the middle.This thing is upgraded to the max {of course what garages can do,plus some things only a hacker can pull off}.Best part is,it doesn’t look like it belongs on the /shittycarmods subreddit.

{My NFS:U car on both PC and Playstation}

-During the day,while on missions,she has some randomass car/truck/four wheeler/motorbike she 'borrows’ or the one car she’s been putting some DedSec decals on {Sitara’s design,of course}….Then there’s the DedSec police cruiser too.

{While playing I prefer chopper bikes,the DedSec police cruiser,this car that looks like a Mustang and the movie car the bunch stole}

Pets: She has a Great Dane named Trompie.Her parents watch the dog during the day {or night depending on missions} and if she has to stay at the Hackerspace/work on missions all day,she takes him along.He behaves,and doesn’t annoy anyone…unless he sits on the couch.He’s got his own little space,with food,water and a blanket to sit on,plus newspapers.Even got toys.He’s 7 months old,and like his owner,he has heterochromia.The name’s Afrikaans,since well,can’t forget your roots,can ya? Wears a DedSec bandana over his collar.Pretty smart,but he has a thing for chasing after the drones and little RC rovers.Was not a big fan of Wrench Jr.

It took a few weeks for Wrench to get used to the dog.He didn’t even notice it until it was lazing on the couch next to Mickey while she was working.It was a scene to experience.

He doesn’t go along on missions for obvious reasons {Micks doesn’t want him to get hurt/killed…and she’s pretty sure he’d be in the way…or set off an explosive or something}.

{-shrugs- One of the best parts of Watch Dogs 2 is being able to pet the dogs.}

Some history: Born South African,moved to San Francisco.Parents also in SF,while sister moved to South Korea with a friend.Been living there for 5 years.Hacking’s been a big hobby since she was younger.She kept it a secret from her parents,to avoid being lectured and banned from her computer.Big gamer since she was a teenager.Became an intern at a police station while still at university.It doesn’t make sense why an IT student would decide on working at a police station,but eyyy,whatever.Got promoted for solving some huge computer related cases through hacking.Two years back she was called to investigate something not even closely related to hacking computers.They reckoned she would be able to handle it.Went undercover.Had to take on dangerous 'jobs’ and compete in races in order to infiltrate and take down a ruthless international crime smuggling syndicate, consisting of illegal street racers and car thieves.She ended up leaving her temporary job because of the amount of times the police chased after her for street racing,resisting arrest and all the property damage.Y'know,going too deep undercover.Wrecked a lot of cars,got rid of a lot of thugs,hacked a lot cameras,streetlights and other things to finish her job and to get away.After that was over,she made sure to erase all of that off her profile on the ctOS database.Had to do a lot of things,a lot of dangerous things,to get noticed by DedSec,and eventually got in.It wasn’t really necesary that she put her life in danger like that,but she did anyway.Go big or go home…I won’t go much into detail about that because I haven’t thought as far.

{This mess….I’ll fix eventually.It’s random,it doesn’t make sense,it isn’t how real life works,but whatever.}

Clothing {aka rambles about clothes}:

Has a variety of beanies,snapbacks and caps

Has one pair of sunglasses,aviators,as the rest got broken

She wears glasses,unless out on missions

Has a lot of t-shirts and hoodies

Has a fair amount of long sleeved shirts

Has a lot of jeans,shorts and sweatpants

Owns a few pairs of sneakers and track-shoes,and two pairs of combat boots

Has a few bandannas/masks

Has literally one fancy shirt she wears with a vest,bowtie,black pants and sneakers

Went to Swelter Skelter as some sort of glow in the dark Matryoshka-fied skeleton

Doesn’t wear any jewelry apart from her piercings and some random bracelets

Carries a shoulder bag which is clearly bigger on the inside {otherwise,how would you fit a laptop,drone,RC rover,and some other stuff in there?} With some badges and Dedsec decals

Hoodies are 60% of the time oversized

PJs are a random t-shirt and boardshorts {Onesie in the winter over that}

Has a hoodie that says 'Ghost’ and '07’ on the back {Aka my favorite Mystery skulls song and lucky number}

Random shiz: And this is the part where those who hate self-insert but still decided on reading should go to another post.This is where stuff gets worse {Not angsty worse…Just more self-inserty}.This is also where stuff starts making less and less sense since this is where I went sleep-deprived mode {1AM-2AM writing hour}

Main hangout is the main Hackerspace from the game.Second being the Silicon Valley one.

Has gone on some missions with Marcus {the ones where multiple things need to be done or where it’s going to take more than one person to do,but it’s only one thing that needs to be stolen/hacked}.

When looked at with the profiler her profile says

ctOS.exe has stopped responding

Memes 'n Dreams

How 'bout nah

Also does the parkouring,climbing high buildings and messing with cranes

Likes the skeleton Dedsec paint on her cars/motorbikes

Almost shot Lenni quite a few times -  too many witnesses stopped her from doing so

Finds it entertaining to help Wrench {he’s a really amusing guy to be around,alright?}

Graffiti is great

Reckons a 'Josh protection squad’ should be made {Don’t harass him,pls}

Went on a mini murder and cop-calling spree after the Tezcas killed Horatio.Also caused a lot of fights between gangs to try wiping them out

Sees Ray as some sort of cool hippie uncle

Doesn’t smoke but always has a lighter to set stuff on fire if needed

Named her drone and rover she printed.Harvey for the rover and Zippy for the drone.Why,you might ask? Why not? Their names are painted on the sides of them. 

“There’s another reason I get called Ninja.It’s not just the screenname.“

Sneaking/Stealth skill +100

Parkour skill +90

Agility +87

Speed +85

Martial arts and self defence +90

Even with skill,she’s really damn clumsy

Is sometimes going out on missions instead of Marcus,if Marcus needs to rest or recover.Goes on own little side missions as well

"First day on the damn job and I get my hoodie stolen by my workpal.”

When out on missions during the day,she wears a range of shirts/hoodies.On nightly missions she wears all black.

Weapons of choice are:

*Stungun

*SVD/other snipers {Including the Stun sniper}

*Shotguns

*Baseball bat

*Knives,especially flip knives

When hanging out at the Hackerspace {with nothing else to do} she’s sitting with her laptop or working on a PC.Either hacking,working stuff out,or searching useful stuff.

Her phone has a little charm hanging on the side.It’s a mini Deadpool logo

Always there to lend a hand

While she has told the others about the street racing stuff after first joining,she literally never talked about it again, hoping they’d forget

Isn’t one for cursing too much,but in some situations it’s needed to calm a person down…will not hesitate to swear in another language.

Fingerguns

Doesn’t drink coffee or tea,or hot chocolate.She drinks soda,lots of water,energy drinks from time to time {very seldom} and that’s about it.

Pepsi lover

Always carries one of her flip knives with her.

Hates alcohol,smoking and drugs.Thus,she doesn’t drink at all,she has never smoked,never done drugs or vaping or anything of the sort.

Never reveals location of her house or her parents’. Usually kills the cameras temporarily in the area when she’s driving home.

Night owl/always exhausted pigeon

Summer/Autumn person

Likes fire and setting things on fire {Do you know how great it is to set gangs’ supplies ablaze just to spite them?}

Also a fan of explosives.Don’t give her any though….she’ll probably blow stuff up she’s not supposed to.

Not that good a swimmer.She can swim well enough to keep herself from sinking,but she ain’t no olympic medallist.

Likes camping

Probably became part of the team a bit before our boy Marcus.A few weeks before,probably. {-dives behind barricade-}

Dislikes needles of any sorts….and thus,not a big fan of hospitals

References to movies/games/songs and puns 100%

Loves animals,and pets every single dog she can

Doesn’t have the cleanest resume.Street racing,property damage,murder,hacking,breaking into private property,stealing {data,high-tech weapons,etc},car theft,resisting arrest,the list goes on.

Wishes grappling hooks were actually a thing {simlar to those of JC3 or spy movies}

Loves Deadpool

Always has earphones in the ears if not listening to others talk or on missions,and still hears everything she’s supposed to around her. {I own this skill,so it ain’t impossible}

Loving the zombie apocalypse/post apocalyptic stuff

Loves drawing,that’s why graffiti is also great

While she dresses like a hipster/geek {with some badass Dedsec stuff in between} most of the time,she’s an emo/punk soul.

Can’t dance to save her life

Reckons that her haircut is shit,and that it’s the product from getting drunk with friends.Thus,the hate for alcohol grows stronger

Likes Vaperwave and Retrowave stuff

Avoids clubs of any sort

Mosquito magnet

Can program and reprogram a lot of things,such as robots,drones,hell,if she tries hard enough she might be able to do the same to cars,but building/rebuilding/re-engineering things…that’s difficult.The only building related skill she has is upgrading and modding her drone and RC rover,along with fixing up/upgrading/modding cars.

Learned a lot about cars while undercover.

Did some graffiti work for Sitara.Got a badass galaxy DedSec design on the side of some building.

Was very disturbed when that whole thing with the DedSec parody and strip club owner went down.Almost had a heart attack when Marcus told the bunch that the Bratva threw him in the trunk of a car that’s in the process of being crushed.

{My actual reaction to the No Compromise DLC}

When threatening people {Bad people,'course} she likes saying that she’s going to snap the person like a stick

House isn’t as big a mess as one would think {Compared to Ray’s old place/the silo and the motel room where Aiden lived before it got blown up}.The hacking related things,such as her computer,laptop,at least nine monitors,a ton of harddrives,etc,are in her room,and there’s no sign of anything of the sort outside of that.

Parents still oblivious,still don’t know she’s a hacker,still don’t know about her street racing ways.She prefers it that way….that’s why nobody sees the garage or bedroom.

Not a fan of attention,would rather keep a low profile and let her workpals get the fame.But of course,when there’s some bad stuff on DedSec,she won’t be afraid to show off her opinion and stick with the others

It’s great being sometimes-partners with Marcus

It’s also great going off on missions on your own

“Screw you,you son of a bitch.”

*Proceeds to flip person off as it’s the worst she’ll do before it switches to violence and knife threats*

“Viva La Resistance/Rebellion” in a really bad French accent

“You see this knife? It’s my knife. What I’m gonna do with it? Shove it down your throat if you don’t shut the hell up.”

“The name’s Dead Inside.How ya doin’?”

“You look like a terrorist.”

“I promise you,I am NOT a terrorist.”

“What are you then?”

“A ninja.”

“Are you some kind of weirdass goth person?”

“Nin-ja.”

She has abandonment issues,that’s why she prefers doing missions solo.Means she can’t lose anyone while on missions or get betrayed/left behind.

{Hm,guess who has those}

[basburrry]

The Benefits of Commuting via Bicycle

Some people may see cycling as a boring or dangerous activity, and there is definitely a stigma to being a cyclist, but in this post I will show the many benefits of cycling. Before I begin, I will state that I love bicycles, and have a pretty sweet one that I ride around Davis. I also have a road bike that I use for exercise, but that one is not relevant to this post. In my opinion everybody should have one, since they are fun to ride. That being said, I have a lot of research about why cycling is good for personal health and the environment, so I hope that this post can help convince some people that cycling is pretty cool.

A pic of me with my helmets

My bike. Her name is Brandy

I’m going to start with the physical health benefits of commuting via bicycle, since they are some of the most immediate and important factors that affect individuals.In “Health effects of Active Commuting to Work: The Available Evidence Before GISMO (Schafer 2020),” it is emphasized that sedentary lifestyles are a major risk factor for a myriad of chronic illnesses, and that 150 minutes of exercise per week is the standard for maintaining a healthy level of fitness. This journal included a study where there were 305 sedentary subjects in four different test groups, who were all tasked to commute via bicycle instead of driving or using public transit. It was concluded that, “When synthesizing statistically significant results, measures of VO2max increased in all four studies (Schafer 2020).” VO2 max is a relevant measure for this study, since it is the measure of how efficiently your blood transports oxygen through your body during exercise (AKA a direct show of heart strength). With cardiovascular disease becoming a large problem in American health, this development has the potential to extend many people’s lifespans. Commuting will not turn you into a world class athlete, but it is proven to have fitness benefits.

Both of these people are raising their VO2 max, just at different speeds

Along with the physical health aspect, mental health and stress relief is a commonly stated benefit of riding your bike. It is a common sentiment that physical exercise is a great way to relieve stress and improve one’s mental state, but the truth of these claims is sometimes disputed. Personally, I enjoy exercise very much when I am stressed, as it is a solid release of the nervous energy that builds up in the body. Commuting by bike is a solution to two major problems that arise when driving a car. First off, being stuck in traffic can be very stressful to some people. In the paper, Why are Cyclists the Happiest Commuters? Health, Pleasure, and the E-Bike (Wild, Woodward 2019)” It is stated that driving in high-traffic areas can lead to the driver becoming overstimulated and quite stressed. Drivers more often than not describe their commute as stressful, while cyclists are more likely to enjoy their commute. Some of the central reasons for this are described to be “a high degree of commuting control and  ‘arrival-time reliability,’” “enjoyable levels of sensory stimulation,” and “The ‘feel better’ effects of moderate intensity exercise,” among other factors. These three factors are the holy trinity of reasons that people generally enjoy cycling to work more than driving. The freedom and control of not having to deal with traffic is a big deal to many people, let alone the physical health aspect of the commute. 

This could be you if you rode your bike more

Now we have passed through some of the personal benefits of riding a bike around if possible, but now we will cover how much it can benefit the environment. While people know that cycling is better for the environment than driving, it is important to highlight how much better it is. To start, one must burn fuel in order to drive, while cycling uses none. In an article on bayareabiketowork.com, it is stated that “each car produces another 1.3 billion cubic yards of polluted air” in its lifetime among other pollutants. Along with this, the brake pads produce pollution. Bicycles use a similar braking system (if you have rim brakes on), but they do not produce as much force, and therefore wear down less pad material per stop. If you were to not have a car and only own a bike, then you would be cutting many of the environmental effects of producing a car as well. The average automobile weighs roughly 2,800 lbs according to Google, while a cheap road bike will run under 25 lbs. This would make a heavy road bicycle 0.89% of the weight of an automobile. Along with this, bicycles are much easier to maintain, and one could reasonably ride a bike until the frame breaks if they take good care of it.  Although there is not very much research on the benefits of commuting by bike, many people have compared the environmental downsides.

One of the larger points to focus on when it comes to this topic is how much a car emits versus a bicycle. According to Frances Stevenson in the article, How much does Cycling impact your carbon footprint? And how much?, producing a car emits 313 grams of CO2, and it would emit 271 g of CO2 per kilometer driven. This is much more than a bike, which costs 16 g of CO2 to produce, and 16 g of CO2 to ride for one kilometer (food costs). These stats show that bicycles are much less costly to produce and operate, the CO2 saved over time would be a huge number. If you were to replace a 1 mile drive out and back every day with a bike ride, one would save more than 299,482.5 grams of CO2  from being put into the atmosphere. I say more, since I subtracted the total yearly cost of driving a car 2 miles per year by the total cost of riding a bike 2 miles daily per year, but one has to take into account that most of the cost of operating a bike is from food which is a cost that drivers also partake in, but was not accounted for. Obviously there are certain trips that cannot be made by bicycle, but it would be easy for anyone to replace a mile trip in the car with a bike ride, barring a physical disability. 

All calculations done by me

Now, I need to get to the scary part of cycling. I’m going to be honest and say that cycling is inherently dangerous. I have been hit by a car and had to spend time in the Intensive Care Unit, albeit this is a very rare experience. There are some things that you can do to be a little safer on the bike, though. For starters, one of the best ways to stay on your bike when riding aroud town is to stay away from parked cars. The left side of the bike lane is much safer than the right, since people love to swing their doors open without looking and obliterate cyclists when they are parked on the street. Secondly, you should always look out for cars who might turn into you at any moment. The person who hit me turned without using their blinker, and many other people do. These two situations area majority of car on bike accidents, so doing these two things may save you a lot of pain. Oh, and most importantly, WEAR YOUR HELMET. I ASSURE YOU THAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO GET BRAIN DAMAGE BECAUSE OF AN IDIOT IN A CAR. That is all I have to say about safety.

This is the silver 2010 Honda Accord that hit me. That dent was made by my hip. This happened over 6 months ago and my hip still looks fucked up. I am blessed that it didn’t shatter into a million pieces though.

 Action shot. Sorry for not wearing a helmet

In conclusion, commuting on a bike is pretty beneficial to the user. It has a chance to lower stress, increase heart health, and lower the burden that people have on the environment. Reductions in stress and increases in VO2 Max may prove to be very valuable to people in the long term in regards to heart health, and the reduced carbon emissions speak for themselves. While some people may not be able to ride their bike to work, there are many areas in which gas can be saved, such as other short drives. Although it can be dangerous, the guarantee is that if you get hit, you get a fat settlement from the driver’s insurance company. I’d say that it evens out in the end. 

Works Cited:     https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ii_9tTRSUcxUPBNUrJfxLmIJVGAiQL1AvxshjMIfPuE/edit?usp=sharing

Pushing. Peep the Nike Zoom Monarchs on my footsie wootsies

[meridianrose]

This is a multiday post, under the cut are my entries for Day 1 - 8

Day 1 Why you're participating in Snowflake

Day 2 Favourite memory about fandom (Legend of the Seeker, People's Palace, landcomms)

Day 3 Rec fanworks you did not create (5 x au fics in 5 fandoms)

Day 4 Create a fannish wishlist (more comments for everyone, be nicer, create more, I can haz art pls)

Day 5 Rec a fannish or creative resource (scripts, screencaps and promo pics, image hosting)

Day 6 Leave feedback (I'm always doing the thing)

Day 7 Create a love meme (please leave comments/gifs)

Day 8 Share a piece of canon (Starz shows and how I fell truly in love during S2 moments, Da vinci's Demons, Black Sails)

  Day 1 In your own space, talk about why you're participating in Snowflake and, if you’ve participated in the past, how the challenge has affected you. What drew you to it? What did you take away from it? I'm assisting with mod duties this year and this is what I wrote for my introduction there: I've been in fandom a long time. I've seen some good changes and some not so good. Lately in some places there's been a lot of negativity in fandom and overall it seems there's been a steady decline in interaction. For me fandom is about the joy of connecting with other fans, discussing, creating, consuming - and also commenting on fanworks of all kinds. I'm hoping Snowflake Challenge will give us all a positive boost and encourage us to focus on the good and to rediscover the community side of fandom. And because I'm assisting with mod duties I'm seeing a lot more of the content being produced and its amazing and heartwarming to see people sharing their personal stories and how fandom has helped them, talking about their passions, sharing their favourite fandoms and resources and fanworks. It's wonderful to see so many journal entries and activity! Day 2 In your own space, share a favorite memory about fandom: the first time you got into fandom, the last time a fanwork touched your heart, crazy times with fellow fans (whether on-line or off-line), a lovely comment you’ve received or have left for someone. Legend of the Seeker. This is one of my longer and more active fandoms. The peoplespalace was where I felt very welcomed and encouraged and I wrote a lot of fanworks and participated in a lot of the activities there. I miss the Darken/Cara/Rahl family side of the fandom a lot. There was also legendland a landcomm which ran for many years – we even had a reunion battle last year which was nice! I wrote so much fic, made icons and other graphics, even fanvids. I tried to do every challenge where possible. I was on Team Cara for the longest time. Cara, Darken, Zedd were always my favourites ;) Before legendland there was whedonland and again I felt part of something there. It pretty much saved my life a couple of times. These days there's gameofcards and it's fun and I encourage everyone to check it out, but the more specific fandom landcomms seemed to make for more tight-knit teams and I miss them. Day 3 In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create. There are so many things I could rec! But I'll pick 5 AU fics from 5 different fandoms to spread the love a little Side by Side – Cormoran Strike http://archiveofourown.org/works/12036537 Fantasy au that ends in Strike/Robin, highly recommended. Murder – Dark Matter http://archiveofourown.org/works/12000579 College au based around an actual tradition of a game called "murder". As Glory Turns to Dust – Hamilton http://archiveofourown.org/works/11359656 Modern au with magic. Hamilton is cursed to be forgotten, leaving him alone in the world except, briefly, for Jefferson. Warning this is a fantastic fic but a sad ending. There is however a linked sequel by another author to put things right :) Skin Full of Lies – Black Sails http://archiveofourown.org/works/7570540 Soulmate au Silverflint "Every lie your soulmate tells you appears on your skin. Between outward lies, manipulations and stories told the crew John Silver's ink quite quickly takes over most of James' body." a gift fic for me, The Princess' Bodyguard – The Shannara Chronicles http://archiveofourown.org/works/13113129 pre-canon au in which Eretria is Amberle's bodyguard. One-shot but with potential for more, strong hints of Eretria/Amberle Day 4 In your own space, create a fannish wishlist. No limits on size or type of fanwork; just tell us what you’d like to see. Can we please do as most people asked on their fannish wishlist for day 4 and leave more comments? Can we journal more and create more? Can we rediscover the joy of fandom and stop with the "anti" behaviour? Please. More specifically for me, art for fics is always welcome. (I have a transformative work statement at LJ/DW and AO3 and have had translations of my work and podfic which are lovely!) In particular for my sfbb fic Bad Case of Loving You. I've got beautiful artwork for most of my sfbb fics, the DvD fics in particular. For sfbb I provide pinterest boards to help with resources and generally try to help artists out, as I did here. This is a Black Sails modern au medical drama with Silver/Flint/Miranda and Silver&Max and it was a labour of love and I'm still amazed I managed to write the thing. However it seemed to be cursed. My first beta dropped out. My first artist dropped out. My second artist swore they were ready to go then didn't post, then after the fest posted a basic stock photo+text "cover". *sigh* I made my own art in the end, banner and mini picspam for the tumblr promo post but I'm an amateur artist. Day 5 Recommend a fannish or creative resource. Springfield!Springfield! has movie and tv episode scripts. kiss them goodbye has a huge amount of screencap galleries. farfarawaysite has a smaller amount of pictures but tends to have high quality promotional pictures. Cloudinary is the site I'm using for image hosting since the photobucket debacle. Day 6 Leave feedback for a fanwork. Or multiple fanworks. It can be as simple as I liked this to a detailed list of all the things you loved about the fanwork. The key is to leave some sort of feedback. If you've already left feedback in the course of a previous challenge, it totally counts. But you're free to leave more feedback. My new year's resolution last year was to leave a comment on every fanfic, hosted on AO3, over 100 words, that I finished reading. (I needed some parameters; this doesn't mean I didn't leave comments at LJ/DW or on drabbles because I did, on occasion). I did the thing. I read a little less than usual. I noped out of more fics. But the fics I read and finished got a comment. I'm going to try and keep doing that. I've already left comments on some fics this year. My additional resolution for this year is to write down more of my ideas. Having plot ideas or dialogues while showering or in bed is one thing, but if I don't write/type at least the basics up, I forget them partially or entirely when I try to write the thing weeks or months later. Day 7: In your own space, create a love meme for yourself. Let people tell you how amazing and awesome and loveable you really are Come and tell me how amazing I am ;) Seriously though, I'm working on being more positive and telling myself I'm worthwhile, I deserve more, I am achieving more. But it always helps when other people are backing that up. Drop me a gif in the comments if that's easier, gifs are like greeting cards for saying the things we don't know how to otherwise express. Day 8 In your own space, share a favourite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favourite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much. My love of Starz shows seems to kick off in second seasons. For Da Vinci's Demons in S2e04 – starts around here: https://youtu.be/cQi4xjrBmgI?t=11m27s This is the moment I fell in love with younger!hotter!Riario, aka Blake Ritson in a wig, because hair kink. But also the moment I finally liked Lucrezia too, seeing her devotion to her sister. If you want me to like a character, have them adore and protect their little sister, if you want me to hate them, have them throw little sis under the bus. Riario tries to spare both girls, succeeds in saving only one, and his grief is evident as he speaks with a heartbroken Lucrezia. This scene changed how I felt about both Riario and Lucrezia and thus about the show and my fannish involvement. Similarly this humorous moment changed my feelings about Silver and SilverFlint in the opening episode of S2 Black Sails : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIt9u7CkBf0 when Silver completely misunderstands the plan and volunteers for a risky mission. This tumblr post shows what happens next: http://alightabovethearbys.tumblr.com/post/168194826519 It's even better later when they get on board, leading to Flint's exasperated "Well what the fuck did you think was going to happen?" You can see some gifs from all those Silverflint moments in S2 here: http://jolinarofmalkshur.tumblr.com/post/168381696381/john-silver-appreciation-week-day-6-favorite

[alorconsulting]

Do you ever have that magical dream, the one where you’re flying? A normal dream full of random people, surroundings, conversations, everyone walking along together, then, a feeling of defiance, “I can do this” and you take off running. With one flap of your arms (yes silly as that seems) and a mighty leap, running turns to flight and you take off.

In mine, I can sense it, feel myself fighting, trying hard to stay aloft. For a minute, it seems as if I’m caught in an extra long leap, that the inevitable gravity will pull me down, yet it doesn’t. Even in my dreams, flying is something I fight for, work hard for and I feel that fight, every, single, second, even when soaring high above the ground smiling triumphant in my flight.

After over 20 years in the work force, I realized those dreams had stopped happening.

I wonder sometimes if that was just me, just me that lost the magic of flight in my dreams somewhere in my mid 20’s? The sad part is, I didn’t realize these dreams had stopped until just last week, when one returned. I woke delighted and surprised, wondering “where did that come from?”

As one does these days, I did a little online research and found that dreams of flight can be interpreted many, many ways. You’re in control or you’ve lost control. You’re overcoming or your struggling with obstacles.

So here’s what I’ve decided, I’m interpreting the return to flight in my dreams as a positive thing. I welcome the flight and if it’s a sign of challenge, I welcome that too.

Perhaps not incidentally, I’ve been writing about how my Husband and I pulled up roots from New York City after a decade. We wanted nature in our lives, to travel, we wanted to work for ourselves. Saving $5,000 a month in fixed expenses, mostly rent, certainly has been freeing, I’ll say that for sure. So has been getting rid of nearly everything we owned with the exception of 20 boxes, 2 chairs, 2 desks and our clothes.

There is literally nothing holding us back, down or in place. It’s scary, it’s exhilarating and it’s really, really not the norm with the average American household carrying credit card debt in excess of $15,000. 

At 39 and 40 years old, we own no car, no home, no signifiers of wealth. We do own Art, but it’s made and sold by my Husband at PaoloFerrarisColors. As a couple we are also odd, not simply because we chose not to acquire, but because we are 100% debt free. We owe not a penny, to anyone. No lease, no mortgage, no credit card debt of any kind.

This is a mistake I made early in my 20’s, thinking that Mulberry purse was important enough to charge it. I’ve changed my ways and a few years back, started doing more than maxing out my 401K, I started saving to have cash on hand. I started saving to take a flying leap from the corporate world.

Bello is a born saver. As a Northern Italian, debt is considered embarrassing. So he never accumulated it or anything beyond a wardrobe and the equipment he needed for his passion for photography. We’re well matched.

I’m really hoping the clothing I invested in during my spending years in New York serve me well for years to come. I’m selling what no longer fits my lifestyle. We’ve saved, we’ve held back on things we would like to own but did not need. I cook all of our meals, we make our own coffee, we give each other gifts of travel and experience.

What would happen if we prioritized our dreams and forget about the American dream? I’ve been asking myself and acting on that question this year.

Right now, I’m testing my own personal theory:

The things you own, own you. 

When things own you, they hold you back. You have to fret, care, pay for them and a place to put them. You have to keep that job that gives you chest pains just to pay for the stuff you thought you needed. You wake to numbers and add, subtract and count on paychecks to come.

As adults, the rules of life, bills, debts, mistakes and the lessons we’ve learned force us to be more grounded, more responsible. Is the parallel of that less dreaming I wonder?

Standing on the edge in Northern California

Bello and I are on uncharted ground and we’re not sure yet how things will turn out. The stresses are there at times but they are by in large self imposed. We’re pressuring ourselves to figure out, if we give ourselves time instead of things with our money, what can we do with our lives.

Could we make a go of our passions? Could we build something of our own? We’re trying hard, we’ll see. 

It all comes at a cost. We don’t fit in with many other couples, we don’t try and can’t keep up with the Jones. My creative mind, struggles with the discipline needed to stay the course, create a schedule for myself and stick to it. We’re in each others faces 24×7. Thankfully, I still wake grateful each day to see his.

Bello and I agreed our savings for retirement are off limit. What will happen is ours to determine. It’s a matter of time right now, we have a year to make things work, or face returning to corporate, working for others.

Did I mention it’s scary?

Did I mention it’s freeing?

It used to be, we were only truly happy when we were traveling. I apparently have a relaxed “travel pose.” One I was unaware of, that Bello has been photographing along the way. Hands on my head, I’ve relaxed around the world with him.

With hard work and a little luck, perhaps he’ll capture a photo of me with my laptop relaxing while I work on my project sometime soon.

Fingers crossed my theory that owning nothing while we’re finding our path is the right way to go, otherwise… I’m going to be eating some humble pie out of my hand since I donated all of our dishes.

Shoreline in Northern Califorinia

Cafe Del Mar Cartagena Colombia

Devil’s Golf Course Death Valley California

Waterside Repose

Honeymoon Island State Park Florida

Breathing in Oceanside Beach Oregon

More About Our Debt Free Ways

Off-Season aka Cheap Travel for Introverts

Let low season and flexible travel plans be your budget’s saving grace. Read More. 

Josiah’s Bay on Tortola to Ourselves

Pop Your Cork in Private 

5 Cheap travel tips including ways to save on meals on the go. Read More

Rooftop Apéritif in Cartagena Colombia

Power In Living Debt Free Do you ever have that magical dream, the one where you're flying? A normal dream full of random people, surroundings, conversations, everyone walking along together, then, a feeling of defiance, "I can do this" and you take off running.

[wpcity]

InMotion Hosting Review- Is It Worth The Hype? (Honest Review)

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InMotion Hosting Review- Is It Worth The Hype? (Honest Review) Editor

source https://www.wpcity.com/inmotion-hosting-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=inmotion-hosting-review

[aquabrie]

The Truth Behind His Blue Eyes part 4

[A TJ Hammond and male reader story]

Warnings: males making out, flangst, language, anxiety, implied smut (since I am no good at writing it)

Characters/plot: after three and a half weeks of dating each other, TJ Hammond and Sky go to the presidential banquet dinner. Sky meets the rest of TJ’s family. And Madam President… AKA: his soulmate’s mother

Word Count: 3426

[I apologize for the delay and the weird writing.  I went a different direction than I thought… more fluff this time. Sorry for any mistakes! Also another longass chapter. Hope you like it, comments appreciated. Also if you want to be tagged let me know.]

(images are not mine)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

part 6

Three days ago was the last day you had seen your amazing boyfriend.

To say you were nervous about the presidential banquet dinner tonight would be an understatement. You were nervous for two main reasons- 1st: You would truly be in the spotlight tonight… what if TJ changed his mind and broke up with you because of how badly you reacted to his family? 2nd: You were meeting his family tonight! What if you mess up? What if they don’t like you?

“Oh God… I can’t breathe! I’m going to die even before this damn dinner!” You grip the sink and stare at your reflection.

Why does TJ even care about you? Your heart beats fast as you start to panic. Your grip on the sink causes your knuckles to turn white.

As you feel slightly dizzy a warm hand grips your shoulder. You look back towards them, realizing it is Shaun with a worried look on his face. “Hey, relax man! You’ll be fine, you already met his mom, the fucking president! Plus TJ will be there with you the whole time. I think he wants to show you off… officially let them know you both are off the market and officially together.”

He takes his hand off your shoulder and glances at you. Your tux had been worn twice, a funeral and some wedding… it had been a while, but it still fit like a glove. “You need help with your tie?”

You clear your throat and let go of the death grip you held on the sink. You shake your head no. But then as you put your hands around your neck pulling on the tie, you realize your hands are shaking. “Apparently my hands don’t want to fucking cooperate. So yeah… um… thanks.”

Shaun shrugs as you turn to look at him as he starts fixing your tie. You watch as he bites his lip and furrows his brows in concentration. His green eyes are bright and hopeful. You smile as he grins and pats on your chest after flattening your tie. “Alright good to go! You be good, don’t cause any trouble!”

“You know me.” You say with a smirk and a shrug. “So you have a date with Jenny tonight?”

He nods and smooths his dress shirt and checks his hair in the mirror. “Yeah… I really like her and plus she’s been kind to you. Do I look okay?”

You grin and then raise an eyebrow. “Dude, I should be asking if I look okay, I mean it’s not every day I get to meet the presidential family! And yeah she’ll totally eat you up. If you swung my way and I never found TJ, I’d totally want you.” You slightly joke…

“Yeah. Yeah. You just keep that to yourself, Sky! I think we both look good especially you in that tux and plus you got that damn hair cut finally! I know TJ talked about your shaggy hair.”

“Yeah although he liked to pull it.” You realize what you just said as Shaun makes a face.

“Shit. Sorry didn’t mean to say that. I think it’s just my nerves.”

His face tinges pink at what you said about your longer hair. He slaps you on the chest and chuckles. “Aw man… you slay me man! When’s he coming to pick you up?”

You glance at your watch. “In five. You think they’re going to make me do a speech?”

“No… they would’ve told you. Although there might be some press asking about you and TJ… I think you guys are great together, I’m glad you finally are feeling happy.”

You straightened up and pull him into a tight hug which he gladly accepts with a tight grip on you as well. You sigh. “Alright, guess I’m ready. You heading out soon?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, if you want the place tonight it’s yours. I’ll be with Jenny, hence the small suitcase. We’re going to a bed and breakfast or something fancy. I think her parents own it or something.” It dawns on him that he’ll probably have to meet them today! “Oh great I realize they’ll probably be there! I hope everything will be okay with them.” His eyes are wide and suddenly he gets a little nervous.

“Come on lets go to our dates!” you say cheekily and pick up your small suitcase that you had just in case TJ wanted you to stay over tonight or whatever, you just wanted to be prepared.

Shaun grabs his suitcase and grins. “Let’s do this.  So you might not come home tonight anyways? Maybe you’ll get to hang out at the white house.” He says in mock seriousness.

You cannot tell if he is being truthful or sarcastic so you just shrug and open the door.  You both are leaving at the same time anyways, so you hold the door for him to go first and then walk out behind him and you lock the door.

—

You cannot help but still feel nervous.  You hadn’t seen TJ in three days since he had some stuff to do at his club and you had some work to do.  Luckily you were able to have a four day weekend off from work, which was much needed since lately you have been frazzled at work, with your boss being on your case, since you had worked from home those days after Trent…

Shaun waves to you when you both walk out the front door of the apartment building.  You see a sleek black car drive towards you and you know it must be TJ.

The back door pops open and TJ grins and jumps out grabbing you harshly and kissing you then giving you a tight hug.  He pecks you on your lips again and puts his hands on your shoulders and pulls away, taking a good look at you in your tux.

“Damn… Sky, you clean up nice!  The hair suits you and damn that tux.  Have I mentioned that I am glad you are coming tonight?”

You grin as the driver picks up your bag and puts it in the trunk. TJ climbs in and pats the seat, he seems way too excited, but it’s helping alleviate your nerves.

He must notice you are nervous, as the driver shuts the back door and goes to the front and starts driving… TJ holds his hand out palm up and you take his hand into yours.

“You okay Y/n?”  You nod, but he doesn’t seem convinced.

You loosen your tie and shrug as you look at your hand that is intertwined with TJ’s.

He squeezes your hand and watches you for a minute.

“What?” you ask curiously with a worried tone.  

“Nothing…” He licks his lips. “Just missed you these past days. Work was boring, would you ever want to go work at the club with me?”

“Huh?” What brought this on?  “Um… I don’t know much about clubs and how to run them.  But sure I guess maybe someday.”  You shrug and TJ grins.

—

An hour later you both arrive at the white house.  The driver stops the car nearby a side entrance of the house, right after driving thru the open gate.  

The driver opens TJ’s door and lets him out first, then you follow behind him.  He shuts the door and grabs your suitcase.

“Thank you.” You say to the driver and hold out your hand to take the bag.  He looks at you confused as TJ shrugs at him.

“I can take it from here.  I suppose you probably have something else to do today, right?” The driver nods and tips his hat toward you.  He smiles and hands you the bag and starts his car as you and TJ head inside the door.  A body guard walks with TJ and you. He’s menace looking.  Wearing all black, blue tooth on his ear, something under his jacket, a weapon? 

“Hello.  I’m…” you start to say your name as the body guard watches you with a grim look on his face.

“Y/n Skylar. Yeah I know all about you kid.  You are TJ’s new beau.”  You nod and continue walking with them.

“His names Max.  Don’t worry he’s cool.  He was my bodyguard last time we were here for when my dad was president.”  TJ assures you.

You raise an eyebrow and walk with them towards whatever room they want to show you first.

The party isn’t started until 7 and it’s about an hour until it will start, so TJ asks Max to go bother his dad or brother just for a bit, while he talks privately with you.

He shows you towards the room where he stays whenever his mom needs him to stay close by.  It’s nice. A king size bed, small dresser, and a bookcase with a few books, mostly from past patrons who stayed in the white house. 

TJ lets you put your bag in the closet of the room right next to his. “Okay so this was my childhood room well… teen year room.”  He smiles and plops onto the bed.

“nice…” You shrug your jacket off and sit it on the desk chair in the corner of the room. 

“Yeah… so what’s wrong?” TJ frowns.  “You want a drink before the party?  My grandma is here and she always seems to have a drink in her hand.”  He smirks.

You clear your throat.  “I’m just nervous.  I met your mom and she’s a bit intimidating, plus I was drunk, so not the best impression… and she seemed to not trust me, and I don’t really blame her. I’m not the best in the spotlight.  Although when I’m with you of course I want to show you off, you are amazing and I’m just a weird dude whose dad is the biggest prick, brothers a dick… but I miss my mom and nana.  Apparently they want me to visit them for lunch and I don’t know if I can ever go back there.”  You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding and you sigh as you look at the carpet.

TJ pats the bed for you to sit.  “Come on, I’ll make you feel relaxed.  I don’t want you to regret being with me, this is my family and sometimes I have to be here even though I’d rather be home with you.” He swallows and watches you sit down next to him and he rubs your back and holds you closer.  “You ever want to talk about whatever happened with you and your dad… I’m here, Sky.”

You nod and glance at TJ. “Yeah, um… same for me, I don’t want you to hate me because of my anti-gay father and brother.”  He stops rubbing your back.

“Lay down.” He says gently while patting his lap.

You comply and lay your head on his lap.  He starts to ruffle your shorter hair and you close your eyes.  “I have a horrid headache…”  you sigh because now you feel relaxed and not as nervous.  How does he know?

TJ smiles as he continues to rub your back and continues to mess with your hair.  This was something his grandma used to do when he was a little kid. 

There’s a light knock on the door and TJ answers quietly, “Who is it?”

“It’s Doug.  Is Sky here yet?”  He slowly opens the door to reveal you still laying down with your head in TJs lap and your eyes are closed.  TJ smirks as Doug furrows his brows.

TJ shrugs and pats your arm to wake you up.

“mmm?”

“Hey its my brother, he wants to meet you.”

This makes you quickly open your eyes and bolt up.  “Sorry.”  You yawn and stretch a little.  “Man I’m great at first impressions aren’t I?”  You roll your eyes and sit straighter noticing Doug. 

He is smirking at you and looking happy for his twin.

“Um… hi.  I’m Y/n Skylar.  You must be Dougie?”

He nods as he grabs the desk chair and wheels it over toward the bed where you and TJ are still sitting.

He watches you as you look at him with a confused expression.  It is as if he is trying to figure you out.  He narrows his eyes at you as TJ looks happily at you, he sees the look Doug is given you and he smacks him on his arm.

“Hey, be nice to my boyfriend.”  He says as he grabs ahold of your hand and squeezes it tightly.  You look down at your intertwined hands and look back up to TJ with a grin.

“Sorry Sky.  I want to make sure you are trustworthy.  Mom already vouches for you, TJ too, but he’s bias, and then there’s dad he wants to be sure you are who you say you are.”  You raise an eyebrow and watch him as he takes a folder from under his jacket and shows it to TJ. “Anything you want to say about yourself?”

Your eyes widen and then you tilt your head.  Now you were so confused!  What more could he know that you hate about yourself? 

TJ takes the folder.  “Come on, what’s your deal Dougie?  Why are you already threatening him.”

“I am not!  Just open it.”  He insists.  You are confused as to what could be in the folder and TJ is too.  You watch him as he opens it to reveal pictures of you and TJ.  You bite your lip and continue to look at all the pictures of you both.  From all your dates to you going into his car, waving goodbye… it was like a professional hitman took your picture.  No headlines, just photos.

You look at both the brothers and raise an eyebrow.  “what’s this?”

“Proof.”

“Of what?”

“That you are in love with my brother.”  You suddenly feel lightheaded and cannot seem to breathe.  Oh man, now he knows how you feel all because of his damn snoopy brother!  What if TJ does not feel that way about you?  What if you are just a fling to him?

Doug scratches the back of his neck.  “Sorry, bad advise from Dad, he had someone follow you two whenever you went out.  He even made sure your roommate was not your lover too.  You can tell on the pictures that TJ feels the same for you.  He has never acted like this with his partners.  I just wanted to let you know that I am proud to accept you to the family, even though it’s only been what, a month TJ?”

You look at TJ and are speechless.  He nods and looks at you with a sideways smirk.

He clears his throat and gauges your reaction.  “I think I’m falling in love with you… I mean I know I’m in deep.  I miss you when I don’t get to see you or feel you next to me when I wake up.  I love you Y/n Skylar.”  He wipes his palms on his pants watching you.  Doug takes the folder and sits it on the desk. 

“I will leave you two alone.  See you later in the dining hall… Sky.”

You bite your lip as you hear the bedroom door shut near you.  You watch TJ and turn toward the folder on the desk.  You taste copper as you realize you bit too hard on your lip.  TJ stops you from doing so, by putting his thumb on your bottom lip.

“Do you?  Is it too soon?  I knew it.”  TJ stands up and ruffles his fingers through his own hair.

You are still stunned at his confession, your brother would never ever help you with your relationships, he was never supportive.  “I feel the same Teej.”  You say quietly.

He stands at the window now glancing outside, he must have not heard you.  You clear your throat and get up from the bed walking toward him.  You put your arms around his waist and your head on his shoulder pulling him closer towards you.  Breathing in his scent you say, “I love you too Teej.  I know its soon but I feel the same way.  I feel like you are the one, my soulmate.  I don’t know if you believe in fate but I sure as hell do.  I would have never found you if you hadn’t helped me that night.  It probably was not much to you but for me it was everything.  I have never had anyone in my family support me, accept my nana and a little bit from my mom.  Never my brother, he despises me and…”

TJ turns in your arms and pulls you into a tighter embrace.  He kisses you passionately and continues to pepper your jawline with kisses.

Another knock is at the door.

“Yeah?”  TJ answers a bit breathlessly. The door opens.

It’s TJ’s grandma and she has a bottle of some wine with her.

“Well I heard that the man of your dreams was coming tonight and after Dougie said great things I had to check on you boys myself.”  She smirks and sets the bottle down with three glasses as she pours some for each of you.

You straighten up and try to look presentable for his grandmother.  She seems nice, almost as nice as Nana.  She turns around and hands you both a glass of wine.

“Welcome Y/n to the weirdest bunch of homos, heathens and…”

“Hey!”  TJ smirks and side hugs her as she chuckles and shrugs.

“My aren’t you ever dashing!”  She looks at you and she takes a sip from her glass.  She looks at you more intently but with a nicer gaze than TJ’s brother did.

“Um… thanks.  You’re beautiful, are you sure you are old enough to be TJ’s grandmother, there is no way…”

“Flattery will get you everywhere honey.”  She jokes and takes a long sip from her glass and pours herself another.  She sips the second glass and watches TJ and you.

TJ shakes his head and smirks.

“TJ has been extra helpful these last few weeks and he has been playing the piano more like he used to when he was a child.  I am pretty sure it is because of you coming into his life.”

Your face heats up and you glance at TJ who just shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“You are truly one of a kind.  I think I like you.”  You say to her.

“Oh you better.”  She jokes and takes another sip of her wine.  You chug the rest of yours down and TJ drinks his.

It is weird… she sets her glass down and motions for you both to come closer to her.  She holds onto each of your backs and makes you both crouch to her height.  You comply TJ holds his hand out to you and you take it.  You all hug for a minute.

Soon she steps away from you both and she shakes her head.  “I am proud of you.”

She says to both of you.

“Yes, Sky I am proud of you too.  I know your grandmother.  She wants to be updated on anything and everything that happens to you, especially since she knows about you and TJ.”

“I… I never told her.”  She must have seen a photo of you both on the newspaper or magazine.

You smile. “I love him. God I love him so much.  Is it weird to think that?”

She shakes her head no.  “You both seem to have been in similar childhoods with both of your fathers in the spotlight for some sort of scandal.  I like you Sky.  You are good for my grandson.  I can tell by the look in your eyes.  You are in love with him and he is in love with you.” She sighs and shakes her head with a small smile. “I’m glad you found each other.”

“Me too.” You and TJ both say in unison.

She pats you on the back and whispers something to TJ and he grins toward you, but you cannot hear what she had said to him.

“Oh the ceremony is about to start.  I will see you boys inside!”  She walks out of the room with the empty glasses and the bottle. You watch her leave and glance at TJ.

Did this really just happen?  Wow she’s awesome.  But how is everyone else going to be when you are out there in the open?

Now for the party.

—

Part 5 next->

---

@bolontiku

@fandommaniacx

@ryverpenrad

@stephie-senpai

@waywardimpalawriter

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 21

(aka the royalty AU story)

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20] [AO3]

Over the next few nights Alix did not get much sleep. Whenever she did, she seemed to end up having dreams that… well, they weren’t exactly nightmares, but they were somewhat haunting all the same. The worst part was that she couldn’t remember them at all when she woke up, only knowing that they unnerved her enough to make her feel on edge.

It wasn’t even the first time this had happened. Every several months she would have a few days where she just tried to stay awake as much as she could, feeling like her brain was trying to creep her out on purpose in her dreams, even sometimes when she was awake. It usually wasn’t as bad as this, though… what did it mean?

She would have tried to distract herself from it by spending more time with her friend Kim, but he didn’t seem to want to talk to her much all of a sudden. What had even happened? Had she done something wrong? Or had something happened between Kim and Max? After all, Max hadn’t seemed to be doing that great when he had come to visit. Something was definitely up with those two. With Kim she maybe could have chalked it up to him still being an idiot over the sports bra thing, which was pretty funny to her she had to admit, but what about Max then?

All the same, that sports bra thing… Kim was such a dork, honestly. If this was how flustered he got over seeing his own friend wear one, how much worse of a dork would he be if it was someone he was actually into? Like Chloé? He would probably melt on the spot! Wow, that was hilarious, though Alix felt a little bad for thinking so. If Kim had a thing for sports bras then fair enough for him. She shouldn’t laugh at that.

She did give Max a telephone call to ask him if he was alright, but he seemed perfectly fine and insisted nothing was wrong at all. That was definitely weird. If he was only acting unusual whenever Kim was around then something certainly must have happened between them. Well, it wasn’t up to her to interfere. They’d probably sort it out once they got back to school, wouldn’t they?

Things finally seemed to return back to normal by the end of the week, which felt much better. Or at least, things were much better while she was awake. Her dreams did not seem to be agreeing at all. But still, Kim was mostly back to his normal self and everything was much more fun. At least with him around she didn’t have to bother with going to most of the pharaoh meetings her dad usually made her attend. It felt a lot more free. Perhaps she should invite guests over more often if it meant she could get out of her annoying royal duties.

One evening after dinner she heard a knock on her door. Pulling on a top (she was not having a repeat of the sports bra incident, thank you very much) she opened it to see Kim there. Thank goodness! It seemed he was back to normal enough to be alright with making surprise visits.

“Hi Kim, what’s–”

“Can I see what a television looks like?” he asked suddenly.

“What, have you not seen one yet?”

“I mean, I’ve seen them around when they’re turned off, but I’ve never watched a movie on one or anything, and I really wanna do that before we go back to school. I’ve only ever watched movies in the cinema before. It would be pretty cool to watch them on a… a TV. That’s what you guys call it, right? TV?”

“Yeah, TV,” she said, unable to stop herself smiling. He still seemed weird over something, but that was probably just whatever was happening with him and Max, and this would be a perfect opportunity to get his mind off it. “We should have a movie night!”

“A what?”

“You know, watch a bunch of movies together while eating loads of popcorn. It’s super fun. I’ve got a TV in my room, I promise I’ll turn on the air conditioning if you want, it’ll be great!”

It would be great to be able to hang out with her friend normally for once. That was what she really wanted. Kim had been so distant lately, angsting over Max or sports bras or whatever it was, and she just missed him so much. More than she had realized she would. That might have had something to do with the fact that she had never had close friends before starting at this school, other than her pet snake and maybe her brother. Having Kim around was nice, and she wanted it back.

“Oh, um, now?” he asked, going a little red.

“Yeah, now. Well I guess I’d have to go down the kitchen and steal a bunch of popcorn first but we can always just microwave it in my room.”

He grinned. “Do you always steal stuff? Do you never, like, just ask for stuff?”

“If I ask for stuff I’ll get told no. So yeah, I always steal stuff. Anyway put on some pyjamas and get comfy, I’ll go get the popcorn – see you in a few minutes!” She pushed him into the room and then ran off down the corridor towards the kitchens.

Yes, a movie night with a friend! She had always wanted to do that. Jalil occasionally sneaked in some of his university friends and had movie nights with them, or just stayed out past his curfew at their houses hanging out with them, but she’d never really had anyone to do that with. Since she had never been to a real school before or even known anyone her own age it had always made her somewhat jealous. But at least now that was going to change. Having an actual friend to mess around with… it was so awesome!

She took the route to the kitchen with the fewest sentries, looked in the pantry and found a vat of unpopped popcorn, covered it with a giant cloth to hide it and then walked back to her room.

“It’s just food for my snake,” she said to the guard at the end of the corridor, knowing full well no one would believe something so stupid, but the guard simply sighed and let her go without saying anything else.

She went into her room and put the popcorn down on the table. “Alright Kim, you start microwaving this popcorn while I set up the TV.”

“Um… how do I do that?”

“I have no idea. Just put some in and warm it for a while and hope it doesn’t catch fire or something.”

“I’ll try…”

The first bowl of popcorn ended up burnt and smouldering, with so much smoke coming out that they had to open the window to get some fresh air. The next bowl didn’t have any pieces pop at all. The third bowl finally resulted in at least some edible popcorn, so they used that setting to microwave the rest of the popcorn too, resulting in about five bowls’ worth of it. Good enough.

“So what kind of movie do you want to watch first?” Alix asked. She had picked up the television and carefully set it on the end of the bed so that they could sit leaning against the pillows to watch it.

“What sort of stuff do you have?”

“Literally anything,” she said, opening a cupboard to reveal entire shelves of video tapes. “Half of these are boring educational ones that my dad got me, how to be a stuck-up ruler and all that, we’re not watching those. But anything else.”

“Hmm… have you got any of those action movies with dinosaurs in them? Max was telling me about those and they sound good.”

“Yeah, I know the ones you mean, I have like all of them.” She pulled one of the tapes off the shelf. “Speaking of Max… do you know if he’s okay? He seemed kinda weird that last time.”

“I don’t know.” Kim pulled his knees up to his chest. “Maybe something happened in his kingdom, or maybe he was tired or something? He really didn’t seem very well, I really hope he’s okay… If something went wrong I don’t know what but I wish I could help…”

Kim was not the type to lie, so evidently whatever Max was going through, it wasn’t because of him. Or at least, not on purpose. Kim seemed to be worried about it a lot.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Alix said, pushing the tape into the television slot and then grabbing the remote and sitting against the pillows. “He’ll spring back. Anyway, he’s got you, hasn’t he? Whatever’s going on, he’ll probably talk to you about it once we’re back at school.”

“Yeah… I guess…”

Alix took a handful of popcorn from the nearest bowl and stuffed it in her mouth, only to push the bowl away a second later. “Okay that tastes gross, we definitely got something wrong there. Maybe we should have put some sugar or butter on it or something, I have no idea how popcorn works…”

“It tastes fine to me,” Kim muttered through a mouthful of popcorn.

“Then you eat it. I’m not having any of this disgusting bland stuff.”

The movie started up on the small screen, and Kim immediately gasped and scooted closer to look at it in more detail.

“You never told me it was in colour!”

“Well yeah, what did you think?”

“I thought it would be in black and white, like all the other movies!”

“Black and white movies are considered pretty old here, Kim.” For what seemed like the millionth time, Alix tried not to sound as smug as she felt. Her kingdom’s technology was so far ahead she could hardly comprehend what the other countries were missing. They didn’t even have colour movies? She remembered Max mentioning that in his presentation ages ago, but she had found it hard to believe. She had always taken things like these for granted.

They watched the movie, Kim barely even bothering to eat the popcorn since he was so preoccupied with gushing over all the special effects, how much the dinosaurs looked real, how amazing all the stunts were. It was kind of adorable really, seeing how excited this made him.

“That was the best movie I’ve ever seen,” Kim said once it was finished, his eyes shining with the same wonder as when he’d first flown in an aeroplane.

“There’s a sequel, you know.”

“Really? Can we watch it?”

“Sure – the special effects are even better in this one even if the plot is way worse.”

She put in the new movie and they watched that, Kim not even taking his eyes off the screen for a second. After that they watched yet another movie, and after that one Alix just decided to show Kim how to work the television and tape player so that he could pick the next one himself and she wouldn’t have to bother getting up.

It was quite late now, and she was getting tired… would it be worth going to sleep? Or would she just end up getting those stupid haunting dreams again, the ones that made her want to curl up in the enclosure with her snake and stay there forever without even knowing why?

Kim was here, though. Her friend. She did feel much better than usual. If he was just going to stay here watching movies all night, then perhaps it was worth trying to get some sleep. Maybe she would actually have good dreams for once if her mind subconsciously knew he was there with her.

“I’m gonna go to sleep now, you can carry on watching if you turn the volume down,” she said to him, putting the pillow down flat and curling up on it. “If you’re gonna stay here though then don’t tell my dad we had a sleepover, he’ll flip out. He thinks I’m too old for sleepovers. Which is ridiculous because you’re never too old for sleepovers, and I never really had one before anyway.”

“You never had a sleepover before?”

“Nope. Not with friends, anyway. When I was really little me and Jalil sometimes had sleepovers, before he grew up and got all boring. Well, he’s not boring, but…” She yawned. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I’m too tired to think properly. Anyway, what I mean is I never had a sleepover because I never had friends.”

“Really? No friends at all?”

“No friends at all. Except Max, but I never saw him often until starting at this school. But yeah, I’m grateful to have you two as friends, and whatever… goodnight, Kim.”

She curled up a little tighter, resting her head on her arm and closing her eyes.

“Oh my gosh… that’s adorable…”

She opened her eyes a little. “What is?”

“You look like a cat, just curled up on the pillow like that! And you’re so tiny and… cute… and…” Kim was blushing and half hiding behind his hands. What a nerd.

“Alright, fine, I’m a cat,” she said, grinning and closing her eyes again, too tired to bother arguing. Adorable was not a word that was used to describe her very often, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “Should I meow? Purr? Are you gonna stroke my hair or something?”

“Um… can I?”

“Yeah, if you want. Now shush and let me go to sleep.”

She could feel him hesitantly running his fingers over her hair, like he was worried he was going to pull it out by accident. He didn’t need to worry, it wasn’t a big deal! It felt quite relaxing, actually. She was already drifting off to sleep within a few minutes, thinking that maybe she would get good dreams tonight after all.

Her eyes snapped open when she felt someone poking her in the arm to wake her up. The room was dark except the TV screen, merely showing the fuzzy blank screen it did when not connected to any channel. Dreams were quickly seeping out of her mind and she tried hard to grasp onto something to remember – snakes? Was that it? Yes, it was definitely something to do with snakes… but it hadn’t been a good dream. How could it not have been? She liked snakes! What could go wrong there?

She sat up a little and saw that Kim was sitting hunched up with his knees against his chest, looking thoughtful.

“What’s the time?” she asked, trying not to yawn too much. “It can’t be morning yet…”

“It’s 4AM.”

“Then why did you wake me up?”

“I, um…” He looked almost on the verge of tears about something. “I just really wanted to ask something…”

“Go on then, what do you want?”

“Alix… are you proud of me?”

So, he was feeling insecure. Of course an overconfident guy like him would have this happen to him sometimes, it was only natural. Trying not to sound as grumpy as she felt about being woken up suddenly, she said, “Yeah, I totally am.”

“But like, why?”

Usually she was not good at this sort of thing, but being half asleep made the answers come to her easily. “You always try hard at everything and you’re improving loads, I mean Max says so all the time too, he’s gotta be right. Your school work is way better than it was back in September. So yeah, at least you try. Which is a good deal better than me.”

He still didn’t look very happy. “I guess you’re right. But… I just always get in trouble all the time. You and Max are always so awesome, and your kingdoms are awesome, and just… I’m not good at anything that matters, like being a prince, and my family and citizens probably hate it, and I… I feel like I take you and Max for granted all the time. You’re both so helpful and I’m not really a very good friend, and I’m really sorry… I’m just… not…”

“You so are a good friend,” she said sitting up properly. “In fact, you’re a best friend. Yeah, you are a total idiot, but at least you know that. And it’s not like me and Max aren’t idiots too. Yeah, even Max. Trust me, we’re all idiots. The important thing is that we’re idiots who like hanging out with each other no matter what, so just… please try not to worry too much, okay? It’s not up to you to question why people care about you so just roll with it. I always feel the same way when I start overthinking stuff and like… it’s not good. Just don’t think.”

“Are you really telling me not to think? Isn’t that the opposite of what you should be telling me?”

“Yeah, I’m probably a bad influence, but whatever. Just don’t think, you’ll make yourself miserable and confused. I’ve been there. Just remember that me and Max are gonna be your best friends for life whether you think you deserve it or not.”

“Thanks… but Max seems to be…”

“It’ll pass, whatever it is. I’ve seen how much you two care about each other, there’s nothing that will come between you for long. Everyone needs time to themselves sometimes, maybe he just needs space or something, I don’t know. It’ll be fine though, I swear. And if it isn’t then you can come back and whack me over the head with my own sceptre.”

She was surprised at herself by how easy it was to comfort him. All this time she’d thought she wasn’t very good at dealing with people, but… maybe that just depended on the person. Kim was a lot like her, after all. It was much easier to be a good friend to a guy like him than anyone else. She could understand what he was feeling – it was the kind of thing she felt a lot. Not knowing if she was good enough, for her family, her country, her friends, herself, and not being able to understand why anyone could possibly be proud of her…

Kim smiled. “Okay, yeah, you’re right… thanks.”

“No problem.”

“I really don’t know why I’m overthinking all this, I usually don’t even think at all but it’s like my brain can’t stop…”

“It’s 4AM, dude, you’ll always get weirdly existential if you stay up this late. Haven’t you done it before?”

“No, I’m an athlete! I always try and get lots of sleep.”

“Huh, I always thought an idiot like you would have a sleep schedule even worse than mine. But that’s good, sleep is good.”

“Yeah, it is. Thanks for making me feel better, Alix, it really means a lot. I’m really glad we made friends.”

“So am I.”

He yawned. “I’m so tired, I think I’m actually gonna go to sleep now, though I really have to watch more movies sometime, that was awesome… Uh, should I go back to my own room, or…?”

“You’d get caught by the guards, and isn’t the point of a sleepover that you stay here? It’s a pharaoh-sized four poster double bed and I’m 4’8’’, I swear you’re not gonna squish me or anything. You can stay here.”

“Are you sure?” In the dim light he seemed to be blushing again.

“Well what else are you gonna do, sleep in the snake enclosure? On the floor? Just put the TV on the table or something and go to sleep, dude.”

“Um, okay, yeah.”

She lay down and closed her eyes again, hearing him carefully putting the TV aside to make room for how ridiculously tall he was, then feeling the mattress sink a little as he lay down on the other side.

“Goodnight, Alix,” he said quietly.

“Yeah, goodnight.”

She wasn’t sure whether or not she wanted to fall asleep again, considering that her creepy dreams were taking no notice at the presence of her friend and were continuing unchecked. It just seemed to fill her with a sense of foreboding, like some sense of impending, unavoidable doom…

No, that was stupid. She wasn’t psychic, there was no way she could predict stuff like that, and anyway nothing was going to happen. After all, she had been getting these weird feelings every few months for as long as she could even remember and nothing had ever come of them, so why would that start now? Her brain was probably just weird, that was what. She knew she should just ignore it and try and get some sleep, never mind about those dreams. Real life was more important.

[nachiroux]

so i wrote up a review/rambling about persona 5

you can either read it [here on twitlonger] or you can read it placed underneath the read more cause its super long and i dont want to make your dashboards gigantic

Persona 5: My Thoughts since it has been consuming my soul for the past few weeks, I thought it was about time I wrote up my thoughts proper on Persona 5 and not just some weird half sentence that I garbled at the bottom of the ocean. i'm not really formatting this much it's gonna be a lot of rambling and a bit scattershot but please bear with me. lets do this in categories and then an overall, shall we GAMEPLAY, THE BATTLE PART: How You Gonna Shoot With A Toy Gun the gameplay of Persona 5 is, well, incredible. it takes the one more system used since Persona 3 and refines it to an absurd degree. while the weaknesses of shadows still kind of don't make sense at all and the guessing game aspect of battles remains, everything else has been improved. battles are really, really fast and super satisfying. attacks look good and snappy, and nothing feels like it's dragging too long. but what Persona 5 adds to this mix that really puts it over the edge is demon negotiation. not only does it bring some of the most interesting aspects from Shin Megami Tensei proper into Persona (using your enemies as your new strength), it also gives a lot more value and strategy to knocking dudes down. in P3 and P4 your party members would ask "hey we gonna all out attack fam" and there was never really a time you would say no because, why? but in P5, a full knockdown results in a holdup, where you can extract money, items, or the demon itself as a persona out of the mix, as well as being able to just do an all out attack. this is F A N T A S T I C. it enhances a lot of aspects of the battle system, and really makes hitting weaknesses and figuring out what to do more satisfying. and as the icing on the cake, P5 added the baton pass system to battles, making them even more fluid and satisfying. in short, it lets one character, after hitting a weakness, pass their extra turn to another character, while boosting their stats for that attack. it allows for a lot more strategy and creativity, where your whole team can contribute. some of the most fun I've had with turn based battles. GAMEPLAY, THE RUNNING PART: I Gotta Have Me A Good Steal one of the more lackluster portions of Persona games was wandering around in dungeons, whether it be a giant tower to the moon or some bathhouse. outside of visual elements, they all bled together. floors were randomly generated to some extent, and you just wandered around, grabbing some items and fighting shadows that randomly spawn. it was serviceable, but nothing spectacular. P5 takes this and cranks everything up to 11 million. proper dungeons are now actually designed experiences, with shadows and layouts specifically made for each dungeon. every dungeon has its own mechanics and style that plays up the unique aspects of the person whose heart you're traipsing around on. but the biggest change is the way your character moves. with a full stealth system that's a blast to use, jumping from hiding spot to hiding spot, a lot of P5's dungeons are somewhat stealth oriented. being seen by shadows raises security and makes things harder, and if you're seen too much you gotta bail. but through ambushing enemies, you can undo the security raises of your mistakes, while also getting the huge advantages of an ambush. as well, being able to climb around the environment, jumping up walls and flipping around just feels and looks great. god damn. and just in case you really miss those randomized dungeons, don't worry! there's a fun and not too long randomized dungeon a la tartarus/midnight channel in the game too! GAMEPLAY, EVERYWHERE ELSE: I Can't Believe This Is Three Parts. Jeez here's where persona 5 doesn't make astronomical leaps and bounds forwards, but just some nice improvements. outside of dungeons/battle P5 follows the Persona formula. everything's on a timetable, and you can do one (1) thing in the day and one (1) thing in the evening, except if you A: are in a story event where for some reason your free time goes missing B: go to a dungeon and can't hire your teacher to give you a massage C: your cat says you're sleepy the overworld of P5 and the various locales in it are pretty interesting and fun to walk around in, but there's a lot of areas that exist solely for hanging out with confidants. if you just play properly though you really don't get much to any use out of them, and that's kind of disappointing for me. I wanted to visit more zones but what we have is very memorable. what P5 adds to the formula is the various boons granted by confidants, most notably Temperance (which you should really max ASAP that's a pro-tip) that will change certain things in daily life and in dungeons, but we'll get to that part later. from giving you access to more jobs, to allowing you more free time in class, to unlocking more fortune telling options, there's a lot of stuff to do. P5 also has a small selection of minigames to pass the time, from B A S E B A L L to F I S H I N G to C R O S S W O R D S and more. what's nifty is each minigame also can serve a practical purpose and raise social stats but we'll get there. the map showing you if confidants will rank up or not is nice, and fast travel is very generous in this game. not much else to say here. I don't get lost so that's nice SOCIALIZING: Who Taught You ___, Nasty Crime Boy ah.... confidants. aka social links, they're the meat of the non-dungeon crawling experience of P5. like in previous games, most major story characters that aren't complete scum or trying to kill you will have confidants, with ranks 1-10. this is where the visual novel/dating sim components show up, and there's not a ton to say here so i'll keep my rambling down to a minimum. each confidant has their own little side story that you partake in when they're free, where you read and then give answers when prompted. it can go as menial as "hey wanna go eat ramen" to "please come with me to help me save a little girl's life." based on your answers, you get points towards the next link. this game does something nifty where when you get points (1-3 notes) there will be a little additional uh, graphic and sound that plays that's kinda subtle but tells you that you have enough points to immediately rank them up again. that's a really good addition. you can romance people too, and you can romance EVERY girl in the game. who cares how much older than you they are just do it loser (don't actually) but here's where confidants change a lot in p5 from past things. in P3 they kinda were just to fuse hot personas, while in P4 they were mainly for that but also unlocked some abilities, but not a ton. mainly party members. in P5, every confidant gives several abilities that will greatly enhance your experience with the game and make your character grow a lot stronger. from giving party members the ability to endure blows and baton pass, as well as recover from ailments, to the even more absurd non party member abilities. some confidants let you swap party members in battle, allow you to breeze through negotiation, get double money, reduce security levels, buy and modify weapons, get free time in class, read fortunes and get bonuses based on that, and so on. this makes (nearly) every confidant not just useful on a "hey man i wanna fuse a good persona" level, it makes them invaluable to your characters growth. it makes the visual novel part much more important, and more enjoyable. plus they're (nearly) all fantastic little stories that flesh out each character and the world around you. lastly and real fast, most confidants will give you a mission to go complete in the other dungeon, mementos, in order to help them through their struggles and advance their story. these minibosses give out a lot of good money, items, and exp, as well as being a fun part of the story and something else to do in mementos. it's neat. oh yeah and confidants are now no longer on such a rigorous schedule like previous games, and a lot more accessible and free flowing. its nice SOCIAL STATS: Eating A Burger Made Me The Perfect Man i'm devoting a whole section to this. buckle up kids. P5 has 5 social stats, knowledge, guts, proficiency, kindness, and charm. each of them has 5 levels of progression. (you start at 1). some stats, like proficiency, give tangible boosts. however, almost all social stats are progressed solely for the sake of starting and advancing confidants. you need X level knowledge to start Y confidant, you need X level proficency to advance Y confidant at rank Z, and so on. raising social stats is accomplished through various overworld activities and whatever, and take up time. however, in order to max all confidants, and most of them honestly, you're going to need rank 5 in every social stat. sure, fine, its a conscious design decision. here are my complaints, notarized 1: first time through, it's not communicated well what activity boosts what, but more importantly how MUCH each activity boosts a stat. 2: while you can check what stage each social stat is at, there is no way to tell how much you've progressed to the next rank. just pour it in and pray. 3: some stats (KINDNESS) are very difficult to raise optimally as they may require rng events to give you the full 3 note boost as opposed to 2 notes. 4: some confidants give you social stats which WOULD be good but they only give you them on rank up. outta here w/that without prior knowledge, your first month or two of P5 is gonna be filled with poor scheduling decisions because how could you know that X activity is actually terrible for raising the stat you want? and since it takes up time (usually an evening slot), it really hurts your confidants overall. with good decisions and scheduling, you can actually max confidant (minus autos that will just progress through plot) with nearly a month to spare, but that waste and sufffering of the start may make you miss out on several confidants. it's a good idea, but still needs work and feels really cheap sometimes. (WHY DO I NEED 5 PROFICIENCY TO HELP A GIRL GARDEN WHAT THE FU) PLOT: Ya'll Wanna Read Some Anime this will be much lighter than the rest because I don't wanna spoil the plot so here's very broad strokes. the plot of Persona 5, overall, is very compelling and enjoyable. it's not perfect by any means, and has its dips in quality (anyone want a burger), but I enjoyed pretty much the whole thing. we'll get into characters separately BUT i found the narrative to be much more engaging than Persona 4 and as compelling as Persona 3. it's much darker than P4, but still maintains moments of levity and fun, even when dealing with serious issues. its take on rebellion, the subconscious, and shadows are all very enjoyable. it does suffer from a few frankly stupid conflicts between party members to build ~drama,~ but 99% of the time interactions between the characters and the world around them are wonderful. a real sense of camaraderie and friendship between the cast is evident and helps shape the narrative. it does suffer from a bit of "wow some of these kids are stupid/lack common sense" but its nowhere to the severity of Persona 4's "gee who is that on the tv gotta wait a week to find out" style stupidity to keep the plot rolling and not solve things instantly, but it will occasionally hit that type of thing. but that's a nitpick as it happens infrequently. to try and not spoil anything, the ending arc does suffer from a bit of P4 syndrome too wherein the last and true conflict kind of comes out of nowhere, but less so this time. it's still something I'll say is a minor problem, but the actual writing and gameplay/moments of the final arc ultimately redeem that. on replay you can see SOME hints but it's not built up enough In My Onion. hope i didnt spoil anything lets move on CHARACTERS: I Was Gonna Type Waifu Wars And Then Jesus Wept again, I will attempt to dance around spoilers here. I feel like the characters of P5, with how much emphasis is placed upon your bonds with them and the existence of the confidant system, deserve their own little writeup. with two exceptions I love every single major character/confidant in the game. one of them has their character arc go up in flames for a bit to stir up ~drama~ but ultimately regains its footing by the end, while the other just sucks. some confidants may be a bit slow to start (DEVIL) but by the end of each confidant i was very attached to each character, and was utterly charmed by them. the main cast are all extremely charming with full-ish character arcs approaching p3 level. in fact, one of my favorite smaller details in the game is the small conversations characters have while driving around in mementos. the writing and character banter is well written and charming, with characters all having their own distinct personality and vibe. this helps the school life portions of the game a LOT, as now school trips and various other events where in other games I cursed them for stealing my free time (mainly p4 but p3 has a few), they're snappy and fun. there's some anime thrown in there so if you can't stand a bit of melodrama and long winded rambling, then some things might not land as much for you as they did for me, but I feel that P5's characters have something for everyone. no matter who you are, you're going to love at least ONE of the many confidants available. ART/SOUND: I Have Listened To Whims Of Fate Over 100 Times And Don't Plan To Stop I'm no art critic and I'm not gonna pretend to be one so I'll keep this short. the art design in P5 is some of the best, if not the best I've ever seen, at least for my tastes. every little aspect of this game is incredibly stylized, from the more dramatic like all out attack finishers, to even the simple things like menus. everything is positively BURSTING with style and personality, all while functioning as a slick and fun interface. and I mean everything. even the text boxes. if you haven't played it, just look up the all out attack compilation. or look at screenshots of the menus. it's really hard to put into words just how happy it makes me. the color scheme of red, black, and white also reminds me a lot of persona 2 and i love you p2 please remake p2 as one complete game package atlus finally, the music. every single persona game (and nearly every megaten game) has a fantastic soundtrack, and this one is no exception. honestly? just go listen to it and see for yourself. the vibe/aesthetic they chose for P5 is one that I don't really have the ability to describe for I am an uncultured fool who plays games all the time, but it is SO good. while I still prefer the P3 soundtrack mainly due to bias, the p5 soundtrack is one of the most solid overall soundtracks in any game. to add to this, the sound DESIGN of p5 is also phenomenal. music changing with the weather, small details of adding instrumentation to a song over time and progression, and the use of leitmotif all really sell the game. the vocals still have a bit of "yeah thats a non native speaker singing english" but the songs are so good and the singing is so good anyways that it doesn't really matter. because its fun here's my p5 song ranking 1: whims of fate 2: with the stars and us 3: nothingness...? 4: days when my mother was there 5: life goes on/rivers in the desert 6: theyre all so good help OVERALL: I Am Erect in summation, this game is really, really, REALLY good. i'll wait for the dust to settle in my soul to rank it properly, but this is easily one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had in a video game. the best Persona game easily, and possibly the best SMT/Megaten game as well. this may sound like hyperbole but this game is genuinely everything I've wanted out of an RPG. atlus is really knocking it out of the park lately with SMT4: Apocalypse being one of the best RPGs ever made and now this. i cannot recommend it enough. even if you usually don't enjoy turn based RPGs I still recommend giving it a try. I usually hate visual novels, and I enjoyed every second of my tons of reading. just be warned, this is a longass game. my first playthrough took around 70 hours, and I generally get through games faster than most. ng+ is fun too to send this ridiculously long thing off, I will now proceed to list my top 10 characters of P5 because I love lists. 0-BIAS: Takemi 1: Futaba 2: Sae 3: Sojiro 4: Makoto 5: Yusuke 6: Iwai 7: Chihaya 8: Morgana 9: Hifumi 10: Kawakami GORO AKECHI: Goro Akechi THE WORST ONE: Shinya tl;dr: Persona 5 is one of the greatest games ever made and it made me feel alive thanks for reading everyone, and as a sinful man once said; "Please don't troll me online."

[itsayrewolf]

Okay so impatiently waited for the premier of Mayans MC on FX. In reality the new season, just does not match the hype, at least yet. For a show that’s supposed to be about a albeit Mexican, but about a MC, there twern’t no or hardly and Harley’s or any bikes. No passionate love scenes, not of the quality of Son’s from which Mayan’s came from. Although I did perk up, and it is a fact that Sutter is eye balling the idea of a redoux of Son’s. In the form of a series called the First-9 essentially a series showing the formation of SAMCRO. The reason I say that, there was one scene, albeit breef,that showed two SAMCRO members out with good ole Chucky, exchanging guns. The quotation from Chucky, came from the line, that JAX , said no more muling guns. Of course the Knytes, already know the redoux of Son’s is coming as we are part of that, but it was interesting. Maybe next week we will see more Bikes, less cages. 

Alrighty then: There are things I just adore, and like that others find repulsive and strange. After being here as long as I have, and residing next to a livestock auction arena, there are flies. That being said, I’ve become kinda attached to the little critters.

To me I think they’re cute. They are not as dirty or filthy as one would think, and has been convicted of. Next they will not bite you. They have no teeth. They’re extremely intelligent, very emotional, and just plain fun to have around. Then there’s my other great thing, that I adore that others find crude, and just plain yucky. I know kind of where  the fetish started, it started when I was 9 years old. There was a super foxy honey that worked at a hair salon, next to Kowley Drug Store in Layton Utah. She was hitting 28 years old so it was the older woman attraction. Mike Piper and his brother dared me to go in the salon, and mess around with this lady. So since everyone else talked about booty’s and jugs, I went for a unheard part of the anatomy. The aroma of her feet and toes, in nylons stimulated me to the point, it became engrained in my brain. There is two things you will always see in any pictorial that I work up here for the Gazzette. First, me huffing a woman’s feet in nylons,

I can’t explain it, there’s just something about that musky, semi sweaty, aroma that drives me wyld. If a woman wants to tempt me that’s what she needs to wear, as around a woman in nylons, I get weak in the knees. Of course as time has gone by, I figured out how to make money from the fetish. The first time it generated any serious cash, was when after hours of teasing with one of Big Indian Rick’s main squeezes he decided to play a practical joke. He contacted YESCO Sign company, and put up a billboard photo, of me smooching his old lady’s feet in nylons. Under it , it just read: Pantyhose Kid. Well while it took years to overcome that, my enterprising mind figured out , how to connect TOE , with TOW, and with the popularity of the Dukes-of-Hazzard:

and of course sweet Daisy, whose legs were always in Nylons, gave me ideas. So when our shop opened in 1980 We did an ad where I kissed the Daisy look alikes toes, in nylons, with the tag line,

Now to clarify, a stinky toew, is not, repeat NOT a smelly set of human feet. Nope; a Stinky toew is one of those really difficult heavy rescue tow recovery jobs that really is simply:

For me as well , messing with models feet and toes in nylon stockings, is somewhat self fullfilling. And I do say, there was two that gave me all of that I could handle and then some, to the point, it wasn’t as much a craving. Robin Whittaker of Minidoka, our Miss Dixie Diesel of 1993, and of course Erin, aka Nurse GoodBody, That I named that because of her near look alike, of the same character on the old series of TV HeeHaw. Erin, not only did the infamous toew smooch,  but also let me huff and sniff and toy with her peds, as much as I wanted to.  And yes I did look under the hood more times than I could count, and yes I wanted to, because; Like Uncle Dell taught me, you never, ever, dip your pen in the company ink. Okay, so there’s other things that I love. First LexiBelle; Now to many folks, that is just an old , rusting tow truck. To me its , my heritage and family history. That old truck has taken me everywhere, from my High School Prom, to my graduate school, ceremony to my parents funeral. That truck was the last gift, my Mom bought me before she passed on. That old toew truck has a soul. And is my life, so yes she is dear and loved beyond anything on earth. The only two other things I love more is My Heavenly Father and hos son Jesus Christ. The only things I adore and hold dear more, are: The Knytes-WolfPack, My unit of the USMC , the VMA214 BlackSheep, and of course PoohBear,  anything or much of anyone cept for my pal in Etown, Rick, everything else I couldn’t give a rats ass about. I serve the Club, hammering these posts out, and doing up KTOW and of course HazzardAyre Radio. But they are not my passion. My main passion? Climbing in : and flying the Sensious Lady, aka Airwolf. Or as we spell it, AyreWolf. Now there are things I fully hate.

Women who do not dousche, or clean up the private part areas. Nothing is worse, than sitting in a place ready to consume food that smelling terrible rotting tuna fish. That kind of fish taco, is not on my menu. Or walking into a store to buy food, and smelling some dang woman, who decided to take a bath in parfume. Especially these Mexican and Mexicali, women we have in our town. You’d think that they had not only bathed in parfume, but slept in it too. Whew that crap stinks. I’d rather smell a dairy barn at milking time. Of course there’s others, like walking into our local Denny’s where lovely Alex is employed at part time when she’s not working for the WolfPack, that said, I saw and I only thought us male corpuscles did this; but this otherwise not too bad a lookin gal walks in front of me in jeans one size too tight, digging in her asshole. I though for sure that her fingers must stink like poop, and yet she’s going to eat with that bacteria. See the little fly isn’t so dirty after all is he/she? 

Until L8R Ya’ll.

Things I love, and things I’d rather do without. Okay so impatiently waited for the premier of Mayans MC on FX. In reality the new season, just does not match the hype, at least yet.

[tbhstudying1]

from for the dreams i want to catch http://bit.ly/2G5asD3 See More

watts-of-dragons: yatahisofficiallyridiculous: geardrops: jmathieson-fic: amireal2u: taraljc: ca...

I have $24 to last me til Friday, what should I buy with it?

[fashiontrendin-blog]

Here's how YOU could land a role in Stranger Things 3

http://fashion-trendin.com/heres-how-you-could-land-a-role-in-stranger-things-3/

Here's how YOU could land a role in Stranger Things 3

Prepare to journey back to the upside-down world as Stranger Things is about to launch a comeback of supernatural proportions – and now there’s the opportunity to STAR in the show as Netflix has announced they’re looking for extras.

You have to be over 16 (obviously) and know how to play an instrument, as the casting is for people to be in a marching band, but you get to play two songs in the series so, y’know, next stop is Wembley.

They’re also casting adults for various roles including photo doubles.

The bad news, however, is that filming takes place in Atlanta, so unless you’re based there, planning a trip or just really really desperate to be in the show, we’re out of luck.

Teasing the release of season three, [link url=”http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/topic/netflix”] the latest trailer for the award-winning show presented us with a 1980s throwback Mall commercial.

Kitsch? Yes! Beyond great? Yes! Showcasing the new Starcourt Mall in Stranger Things’ location, Hawkins the infomercial describes the shopping centre as, “a shining example of the American dream.” Well, if the American dream includes stores like The Gap and Claire’s at their 80s peak then sign us up for a trip!

The mall, it appears, is set to provide a new location for Stranger Things alongside the infamous Arcade, the lab and the school. But the mall isn’t the only new addition to the show as the commercial teases the appearance of Hawkins newbie, Robin who is played by Maya Hawke and will play Steve’s new co-worker at Scoops Ahoy Ice-cream Shop. Their uniform comes complete with sailor hat and neckerchief. Chic, much?

However, whilst we get beyond excited about the show, you might want to curb your enthusiasm until at least December as at the end of the trailer, it states that the mall is coming, ‘next summer.’ So you may have to wait until summer 2019 to see season three of Stranger Things. Woe. Is. Us.

Stranger Things started filming season three in April and ever since there’s been much speculation about the plot twists the season will take, Shawn Levy, Executive Producer of Stranger Things, decided to set the record straight.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Shawn shared new details about what’s in store for us. The season will be set one year in the future, and we’re bound to see the groups’ relationships at new stages:

“Mike and Eleven and are going strong, so that’s a relationship that continues, and same with Mad Max and Lucas,” he told the publication.

How cute?! Even though that was enough to get us excited, what he revealed next will get fans (and meme pages) buzzing… Dad Steve is back in a big way!

“We’ll definitely get to see some more of Steve Harrington in season three, and I’ll just say we won’t be abandoning the Dad Steve magic. I don’t want to say much more, but I literally feel that we were walking along and we stumbled onto a gold mine with Dad Steve,” Shawn confirms.

Our favourite actors are probably just as thrilled as we are about the new season, because not only are they all signed back on, they also got a massive pay rise to continue starring in the show.

A source confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter early this month, that ‘intense’ negotiations wrapped up at the end of last week, and that the child cast ‘are worth roughly 12 times their previous deals’. As for the adults in the show, Netflix has renewed their contracts at $350,000 per episode. Wow.

The source also explained to the publication that the cast is divided into different pay tiers. Winona Ryder and David Harbour, the ‘adults’, are considered A-tier and are in for $350,000 per episode next season. The ‘kids’, or B-tier, includes Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp, who will cash in $250,000 per episode. And the C-tier – the ‘teenagers’ like Natalia Dyer, who plays Nancy, Charlie Heaton, who plays Jonathan, and Joe Keery who plays Steve – are earning roughly $150,000 per episode.

As for our lead, Millie Bobby Brown? Well, the star of the show does not fall into the B-tier along with her mates. Last year, Millie separated herself from the rest of the cast during the renegotiation. And her crew has been tight-lipped about the new deal, which is rumoured to be between $250,000 and $300,000.

Production on season three is scheduled to begin April 23 – and as you can expect, there is a lot of speculation about what’s in store.

At the beginning of the year, we were given an extra special bit of information that got us totally hyped – there will be THREE new characters! According to That Hashtag Show, the trio are heading to the town of Hawkins. Their source has even given the names of the characters, but these could potentially change.

Mayor Larry Kline is apparently a classic 80s politician. Driven only by his own interests, he’s described as ‘pathetic’. The studio is looking for a male aged between 40 and 60 to fill the role.

Bruce is a sexist, overweight and bedraggled news reporter in his 50s, and Patricia Brown is dubbed as the sweet neighbourhood elder. The part will be played by a woman in her 70s and she’s apparently going to offer advice to the kids as she potters around her garden.

The information hasn’t been confirmed by Netflix yet, but we’re stoked to see what comes of it!

Here’s everything else we know about Stranger Things 3 so far…

Is it definitely happening?

Netflix officially greenlit a third season for Stranger Things on December 1 2017, which isn’t a huge surprise – especially following the success of the second season.

While discussing the second season, the Duffer brothers revealed that they had so many ideas that they’ve already got stuff lined up for season three.

“As the episodes were written by the Duffers, they realised that there was too much story for nine episodes. So it forced us to be judicious in which stories we tell this season,” executive producer Shawn Levy told Mashable. “So one of the surprises was, not all of our grand ideas are going to be serviced in one season… If we had 40 ideas going into the season, 30 [we] are going to pick, and the rest go in the back of our head for, hopefully, future chapters.”

In fact, the creators have even teased a fourth series while executive producer, Levy has hinted there could be a fifth.

Speaking to EW, Levy said: “Hearts were heard breaking in Netflix headquarters when the brothers made four seasons sound like an official end, and I was suddenly getting phone calls from our actors’ agents. The truth is we’re definitely going four seasons [sic] and there’s very much the possibility of a fifth. Beyond that, it becomes I think very unlikely.”

Ross Duffer added: “If we’re able to, there will be at least four, there could be more. I think there’s going to come a point where why aren’t these people leaving Hawkins? Like we’re going to stretch credibility. It wasn’t intended to be a seven-season thing.”

When will the release date be?

Judging by the release dates between the first and second seasons, we predict season three will hit Netflix in late 2018 or even 2019 as some of the key cast members are rumoured to be involved in upcoming Hollywood flicks.

Millie Bobby Brown has been already confirmed to star in Godzilla: King of Monsters while Charlie Heaton (Jonathan) is starring alongside Game of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams in 2018 film The New Mutants.

It won’t just be set in Hawkins…

One of the major highlights of season two was the episode titled The Lost Sister which saw Eleven branch out of Hawkins and head to Chicago to find her telekinetic sister, Kali (aka Eight). This established a storyline outside of Hawkins which is likely to be revisited – especially since Eleven and Eight have unfinished business.

“It feels weird to me that we wouldn’t solve [Kali’s] storyline,” Matt Duffer told The Hollywood Reporter. “I would say chances are very high she comes back.”

The Mind Flayer isn’t done with the kids just yet.

The final episode Stranger Things 2 may have seen Eleven shut the gate on the Mind Flayer, but according to the Duffer Brothers, that isn’t the end of it. “They’ve shut the door on the Mind Flayer, but not only is it still there in the Upside Down, it’s very much aware of the kids, and particularly Eleven,” they revealed. “It had not encountered her and her powers until that final episode. Now, it knows that she’s out there. We wanted to end on a little bit of an ominous note.”

Well, they can certainly tick that off.

It will be more about the characters and their individual storylines.

As much as we loved all the creepiness of the Upside-Down, future seasons are keeping the characters front and centre.

“As much density of story as our show has, we have to service the characters — and the moments and relationships between characters — above everything,” said the show’s producer, Shawn Levy. “If we stop being character-anchored, and we become pure genre, I think we take the beating heart out of Stranger Things, and we take the thing that people maybe don’t write articles about the most, but I think it’s what they love the most — these characters on screen.”

Matt Duffer added: “It’s not necessarily going to be bigger in scale. What I am really excited about is giving these characters an interesting journey to go on.”

Because the actors playing the children are ageing it’s also expected series three will start a year after series two ends.

Matt told The Hollywood Reporter: “Even if we wanted to hop into the action faster, we couldn’t. Our kids are ageing.

“We can only write and produce the show so fast. They’re going to be almost a year older by the time we start shooting season three. It provides certain challenges. You can’t start right after season two ended.

“It forces you to do a time jump. But what I like is that it makes you evolve the show.”

The gang will be off to High School next year and along with that comes drama, puberty and more girl trouble. While Lucas, Mike and even Will (who was that girl at the school dance and will she be joining the ‘party’?) may have already figured out the latter, we reckon season 3 will see Dustin blossom into Steve’s mini me.

Oh, and surely Nancy and Jonathan will finally become official? Although we’ll always be #TeamSteve after his heroic role in season 2.

As for bad boy Billy, we reckon there’s a lot more to him than meets the eye. Will he start an affair with Mrs Wheeler (aka Mike and Nancy’s mum) or will he have a bad-boy-one-good type transition like Steve?

One thing is for sure – we’ll be seeing more of Lucas’s sassy younger sister Erica Sinclair, and to be honest, that’s all we need to know.

“There will definitely be more Erica in Season 3,” Ross Duffer told Yahoo. “That is the fun thing about the show — you discover stuff as you’re filming. We were able to integrate more of her in, but not as much you want because the story [was] already going. ‘We got to use more Erica’ — that was one of the first things we said in the writers’ room.”

Amen to that!

[mitchkiper]

The Friendzone Fenoms: And How Mitch Kiper Learned to Admit a Mistake

The following article was written weeks ago, in a semi-delirious state. Mitch Kiper has since recovered, and after a long journey of self-reflection, decided to edit this to the best of his ability and publish “as is.”:

Greetings from Midway airport in Chicago, where Mitch Kiper has been upset at an astronomical level by the removal of Potbelly’s, which has been replaced by a shop called “Home Run Pizza,” a White Sox themed bar that doesn’t even serve Giordano’s or Gino’s or anything not resembling cardboard covered in candle wax. For those who are interested, Mitch Kiper had a sad hot dog. Chicago Midway is officially the worst airport in the Greater Chicago Area.

Speaking of things that were at one point officially the worst, welcome to the preseason analysis for everyone’s favorite Friendzone Fenoms!

2017 – High Scoring, but Keeping Things Friendly

The Fenoms had one of the more interesting seasons last year, scoring 4th overall in total points, but placing 9th overall in the standings. For those who are paying attention (mainly Thatcher, Will and Ben, because Mitch Kiper doesn’t trust that anyone else actually reads this), the Fenoms scored enough where on points alone they should be in the winners bracket, but ended up in the toilet bowl instead. Even though the Fenoms scored enough to be a title contender, they kept things friendly and decided “Nah, let other people have the glory. We’ll just chill and discuss our dreams on the beach.” 

How did this happen? Or, as Will once said in a shitty student film, “What’s the dealio, Emilio?” Well let’s take a look.

Our First Clue: Expected Scores vs. Actual

What you’re looking at above is a comparison of Actual Standings to the Expected Points for a team in that slot. (This was calculated by finding the difference between the highest and lowest weekly averages in the league, and dividing into 12 equally distributed “Expected Weekly Scores”)

Right away, you can see that the biggest overall disparities belonged to the Yeshivas, who seemingly overperformed their weekly average. A 2nd place team, according to Mitch Kiper’s Expected Weekly Score™, should score in the range of 110.48 per week. YESH scored 99.01 per week.

We see the opposite picture when we look at the Fenoms. A 9th place team should be around the 90 point mark, if life were fair and Chicago Midway still had Potbelly’s. But they don’t, and the Fenoms had to fight their way out of a toilet while the likes of Gakusei Kai managed to play in the Midwest Living Bowl.

Yet as we all know, Total Points aren’t the whole story. And as we all remember from the most important of tests—the eye test—the Fenoms were not as strong a team as their total points indicated, mainly due to their reliance on the…

Apologies, Mitch Kiper’s resident artist thought I said to make a logo on Adobe Pumpkinshop. Who the hell hears it as Pumpkinshop?

When the Cheefs went off, so did the Fenoms. When they didn’t, the Fenoms tanked. The questions for us are: 1). can we demonstrate this through stats, and 2). Do our Mitch Kiper Roster Ratings™® have any metrics that could better predict the standings, even more than total points or points projections? Answers: Yes, and Maybe! (See what I did there? It’s called dangling a hook to keep you reading.)

Weekly Deviation: Demonstrating Jordan’s Wild Swings

Not to be confused with his wild swinging; that crazy guy.

I want to put this up top: part of this is an exercise to show objectively the limits of grading a team by Total Points. Obviously, points are important—they are how you win. But the strength of a team should and cannot be measured by Total Points alone. If they could, Neil would be winning a lot more (Sorry Neil.)

To hammer the point home with a simple example, look at the following two hypothetical teams after a hypothetical Week 3.

Team A: Averages 89 points per week.

Team B: Averages 100 points per week

Right away, you’d assume Team B was better. But then we look closer…

Team A: Scored 66, 100, 100 in the first three weeks. (+/- 34 max score v. min)

Team B: Scored 150, 75, 75 in the first three weeks.  (+/-75 max score v. min)

Total points, and the weekly averages that we derive from them, are not the whole picture. They are a piece of the puzzle. Another important piece is weekly deviation (hat tip to the one and only FLEAFLICKER for calculating this over the years in my other league, and inspiring me to try it out in Dynosteve).

So how do the Fenoms Fare when it comes to deviation? Here’s how they stack up against the rest of Dynosteve 2017:

 Well shit. As we can see from the chart above, a low standard deviation is in fact NOT a pre-cursor to success, nor for failure. The results are pretty widespread. There’s really no correlation at all between raw standard deviation and the success of a team. Some successful teams have wild swings, and vice versa. All this really teaches us is that while we thought the Fenoms were a boom-or-bust team, they had one of the lowest deviation rates in the league. Go figure.

So what’s the story here?

Based on weeks 10 and 11, it looks like a simple diagnosis of “They got fucked,” something Fenoms owner Dr. Rees is used to saying, although usually it involves an inanimate object of some kind, usually in tandem with an anus and an X-ray. He’s got a weird job.

2018 Outlook: Are the Fenoms for Real, or was Last Year a Fenomenal Fluke?

Considering I couldn’t even explain why the Fenoms did so poorly last year other than blind bad luck, there’s very little I can do to predict the Fenom’s 2018 performance.  Yet even though my deviation theory was debunked (something that happens to Mitch Kiper from time to time), I’m Mitch Kiper, so I’m going to plow ahead with a prediction anyway, with all the unearned confidence of my namesake.

This is my prediction for the league standings, based on a complicated predictive score that mixes Projected PPW with 3 Year Average PPW, and the %ile ranks of each team’s starters and bench. Don’t ask how or why I think this will work. I’m not sure it will, but I’m going to blindly stick to my guns, and use it to figure out where I think the Fenoms will land.

What’s actually interesting is that the Fenoms potentially have the best starters in the entire league (highest %ile rank of Dynosteve), yet a middling bench (7th). Yet even with the highest percentile rank of starters, his composite points prediction is low. This would imply that his top-tier players are in low scoring positions.

On a related note, the Juneboshers have a weirdly low %ile for their starters, yet a very high composite PPW prediction. So how is it that the Fenoms have the highest average starter %ile, yet a low PPW prediction, and the Juneboshers have a lower starter %ile than half the league, but are predicted to score more points than all but Goose?

… Because Mitch Kiper has a flaw in his system©.

No, it’s not lactose—well, not at the moment. It’s that he’s ranking all positions equally when it comes to %ile rank, i.e., top tier %ile TEs are given equal weight to top tier %ile RBs and WRs. To be fair, this is part of his thesis: a 2 point differential in a TE battle is just as important as a 2 point differential. What is not being accounted for at the moment, however, is the massive disparity that can pop up in the RB and WR categories. The difference between a 95th percentile RB and an 80th percentile RB is much more pronounced than the difference between a 95th and 80th percentile TE. Case in point:

This is a flaw Mitch Kiper will have to adjust, so he can better assess team strength and his future predictions. For now, though, we’ll work with the numbers we’ve got. And those numbers say… *sigh, I hate typing these words*… the Fenoms aren’t half bad, and will likely land in the middle of the pack.

… With one caveat!

The Fenom’s lack of bench strength seems to imply that a single injury will derail them. Aka, if Tyreek Hill or Kareem Hunt goes down, so do the phenoms.  ZIMBAB or YESH do not have this problem, because they back up their great starters with phenomenal benches. Also worth noting: Neil. Poor guy really never gets a break.

So that’s it for this long awaited section of Mitch Kiper. Tune in next week. Hopefully he’ll get his act together and write a new article quickly. The Longships await.

[gaymusicchart]

GAY MUSIC CHART – 2017 week 45

 As a new additionnal rule for making this chart, we also use now the ranking of the number of views in our previous weekly playlist.  

Welcome to the Gay Music Chart, the LGBTQA related music videos TOP 50 actuality and most request.

Vote for your favourite LGBTQA related music videos by leaving a comment for this post on :

YOUTUBE (in the comment section of the video of the week) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz7yfp-xq-b08tD6mAWwclA

BLOGGER : http://gaymusicchart.blogspot.fr

FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/GayMusicChart/

TWITTER : https://twitter.com/GayMusicChart with #GayMusicChart  

TUMBLR : http://gaymusicchart.tumblr.com  

 Here is the recap for this week :

 OUT : Myckael SG - Strong or Best (alternate version) (LW: 15 / WO: 10 / PEAK: 04)

OUT : Superfruit - Goodbye From Lonely (LW: 22 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 22)

OUT : Les Funambules - Sous quel arc-en-ciel ? (Live au Studio Hébertot) (LW: 26 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 26)

OUT : Fischerspooner feat. Caroline Polachek - Togetherness (LW: 29 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 25)

OUT : NU3L - Eu Não Sei / I Don´t Know (LW: 33 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 22)

OUT : Cub Sport - O Lord (LW: 38 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 11)

OUT : Đào Bá Lộc feat Ivone - Đêm Mùa Mưa (LW: 40 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 28)

OUT : Davis Mallory - Not that Far Away (LW: 43 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 43)

OUT : Tokio Hotel - Boy Don't Cry (LW: 45 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 18)

OUT : Trey Pearson - Love Is Love [Official Lyric Video] (LW: 47 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 20)

OUT : Leon Markcus feat. Jeff Hue - Alive (LW: 49 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 49)

OUT : Dismissed - Lonely Way to Die (LW: 50 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 50)

  01 (+ 1) : Mr John - Neon (LW: 02 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

Instead of covers, this time, the Brazilian singer delivers an original song.

 02 (+ 4) : Huntington - Love Is Love (LW: 06 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 02)

Three years after "Secret", this is his new original song.

 03 (=) : Alfie Arcuri - If They Only Knew (LW: 03 / WO: 18 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

This is the new music video of the winner of The Voice Australia 2016. What must do a gay man when he's in love with his best male friend, who's dating his best female friend?

 04 (+ 8) : P!nk - What About Us (LW: 12 / WO: 11 / PEAK: 01 (x3))

The music video includes audio contents from the tragic events in Charlottesville for denouncing the hate speeches from the supremacist movements, and shows several people dancing under the intimidating eye of the authorities, including two men together.

 05 (+ 8) : Madblush - My Radio (LW: 13 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 05)

Taken from the album "Cactus".

 06 (- 5) : Kevin Chomat - Sens Interdit (LW: 01 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

This new single of the French singer reached the top 10 YouTube trending in France. Taken from the album "Ma boussole".

 07 (+ 2) : Wrabel - The Village (LW: 09 / WO: 14 / PEAK: 04)

This engaging song was written the day after US President Trump removed new federal protections for trans students in public schools last February. Trans actor August Aiden plays the role of a young transgender who tries to be himself despite the hostility of his father in the music video.

 08 (- 1) : ILY - Your Love (LW: 07 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 07)

Two new brides are kissing in this Swedish music video.

 09 (+ 14) : Steps - Dancing With A Broken Heart (LW: 23 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 09)

The British band will be on Tour this month.

 10 (+ 1) : Sam Tsui - Cameo (LW: 11 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 09)

Finally, a new original song!

 11 (+ 24) : Cub Sport - Chasin' (LW: 35 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 11)

This is the second single of the album "Bats" from the Australian band.

 12 (- 4) : Kevin Chomat - Un homme à terre (LW: 08 / WO: 39 / PEAK: 01 (x3))

In this single, the French singer is talking about infidelity, with his boyfriend who cheated on him.

 13 (- 9) : Hayley Kiyoko - Feelings (LW: 04 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 04)

The singer flirts with another woman while she’s dancing in her new music video.

 14 (+ 18) : Leon Else - What I Won't Do (Lyric Video) (LW: 32 / WO: 21 / PEAK: 02)

The British singer has came out on Facebook last May.

 15 (+ 1) : Superfruit - GUY.EXE (LW: 16 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 15)

Mitch is a new doctor Frankenstein who tries to create the perfect boyfriend. Really funny.

 16 (+ 2) : Zayn feat. Sia - Dusk Till Dawn (LW: 18 / WO: 8 / PEAK: 02)

We had several complaints of people asking why this track is in the chart. It's not about Zayn, but about Sia who is featuring in this music video: she's openly bisexual and supports LGBT rights.

 17 (- 3) : Lizzo - Good As Hell (LW: 14 / WO: 47 / PEAK: 02)

This is taken from the EP "Coconut Oil".

 18 (- 13) : Sam Smith - Too Good At Goodbyes (LW: 05 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 04)

The British singer is back with a new upcoming album.

 19 (NEW) : Oscar and the Wolf - Runaway (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 19)

Max Colombie,aka Oscar and the Wolf, is an out singer.

 20 (+ 4) : Superfruit - Deny U (LW: 24 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 20)

You can't deny that we can see an attraction between Mitch and Scott in their new music video, taken from the album "Future Friends".

 21 (+ 7) : Michele Bravi - Diamanti (LW: 28 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 06)

This is the third single from the Italian singer taken from the album “Anime Di Carta”.

 22 (+ 19) : LP - No Witness (LW: 41 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 18)

This is the sixth single taken from the album "Lost on You".

 23 (+ 13) : Bob The Drag Queen feat. Alaska Thunderfuck - Yet Another Dig (LW: 36 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 23)

 24 (NEW) : Namuel - Joven de Corazón (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 24)

The new track of the Chilean singer.

 25 (- 15) : GAREK - Stray (LW: 10 / WO: 55 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

The single taken from the album "Take the King" is a conversation with his 8-year-old self about accepting who he is, the talk he wishes he had as a child, because he "spent so many years hating [himself] because [he] listened to the voices around [him] saying that people like [him] were disgusting".

 26 (NEW) : Keiynan Lonsdale - Good Life (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 26)

 27 (NEW) : Morgxn - Bruised (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 27)

 28 (- 1) : Alvin Point - Il a dit (LW: 27 / WO: 58 / PEAK: 01 (x4))

The first single of the French singer is talking about a romantic gay love story. The title means "he said".

 29 (+ 19) : Smashby - Birthday Suit (LW: 48 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 29)

This is the first original song of the British singer.

 30 (NEW) : Γιάννης Βασιλόπουλος, Σπύρος Παρασκευάκος, Δήμητρα Σελεμίδου / Giannis Vassilopoulos, Spyros Paraskevasos, Dimitra Selemidou - Μαμά, Μπαμπά / Mum, Dad (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 30)

This heartbreaking Greek song is about a child revealing his true nature to his parents. This is taken from the album "Third Exit".

 31 (+ 15) : Bobby Newberry - Up (LW: 46 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 31)

 32 (- 12) : Neon Trees - Feel Good (LW: 20 / WO: 12 / PEAK: 10)

After a break for his first solo album "Excommunication", Tyler Glenn goes back with his band for a new song.

 33 (+ 11) : Alfie Arcuri - Love is Love (LW: 44 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 19)

The Australian singer takes position with this song for the YES in the same-sex marriage survey to legiferate about marriage equality in Australia. The music video is now available on YouTube.

 34 (NEW) : דנה אינטרנשיונל Dana International -  יש לי אהבה / I Have Love (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 34)

The new track of the Israeli singer.

 35 (+ 2) : Сергей Лазарев / Sergey Lazarev - Так красиво / So Beautiful (LW: 37 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 15)

The new music video about love of the famous Russian singer represents several couples, including a lesbian couple. Some politicians wants to censor it in Russia.

 36 (+ 11) : Jamal Lyon’s When Cookie Met Lucious (ft. Jussie Smollet) | Visual Album | EMPIRE (LW: 47 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 30)

 37 (NEW) : Javiera Mena - Dentro de ti (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 37)

The new track of the Chilean singer.

 38 (- 13) : Harel Skaat - Radio (LW: 25 / WO: 27 / PEAK: 01 (x3))

The Israeli singer has uploaded on his channel a full concert. Go check it!

 39 (NEW) : Chastity Brown - Whisper (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 39)

Chastity is a singer from Minneapolis, USA. The music video of this love song shows a lesbian wedding. This single is taken from the album "Silhouette of Sirens".

 40 (- 21) : Alaska Thunderfuck - Valentina (LW: 19 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 19)

Another parody of "Despacito" and another song about former contestant and favorite of RuPaul's Drag Race season 9.

 41 (- 7) : George Michael feat. Nile Rodgers - Fantasy (LW: 34 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 31)

First single released after his death previous December 2016, the track is taken from "Listen without Prejudice/MTV Unplugged". This album is #1 in the UK.

 42 (=) : La Prohibida - Baloncesto (LW: 42 / WO: 15 / PEAK: 03)

 43 (RE-ENTRY) : Kim Petras - I Don't Want It At All (LW: - / WO: 2 / PEAK: 27)

This is the debut single of the young German transgender singer, with a featuring with Paris Hilton in the music video.

 44 (- 5) : Larva - For Ruy (censored version) (LW: 39 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 39)

Larva is a Mexican openly gay heavy metal band. The uncensored version, only for adults because of its raw sex content, is only available on Vimeo.

 45 (- 24) : CRIMER - Hours (LW: 21 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 21)

The Swiss singer cuts his hair in his new music video.

 46 (- 16) : Mr John - Tira a Camisa (LW: 30 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 30)

 47 (- 30) : Cassandre - Paris la nuit (LW: 17 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 10)

The French duo sings a love declaration to the city of love. It's perhaps a little cliché, but, as Parisians, we are probably not really objective. Sorry not sorry :)

 48 (NEW) : Lycinaïs Jean - Je veux rester (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 48)

A new track from the out singer from the French caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

 49 (NEW) : Litha Bam - Feel the Music (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 49)

This is the first single of the South African actor and now singer.

 50 (NEW) : Eddy de Pretto - Fête de trop (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 50)

His two tracks "Fête de trop" and "Kid" have just entered in the French singles chart.

  ALSO NEW THIS WEEK

 Зелим Бакаев / Zelim Bakaev - Нана / Nana

This Chechen singer has disappeared since last August 2017. His family and activists think he has been arrested and tortured to death by the Chechen police because of his supposed homosexuality. Chechen autorities tried to denied this situation, pretending he's in Germany, but this country denied, and activists demonstrate that the last video where he gave some news is a fake one shot in Chechnya and not in Germany. Zelim's fate illustrates the horrible persecutions against gays by the Chechen government.

 Teo Entertainment - Сережа, выходи за меня / Will You Marry Me Steve ?

A Russian video for equal marriage in whole the world.

 Sookee feat. Spezial K - Zusammenhänge

This anti-homophobia German rap song was censored several days this week on YouTube after someone reported it. After a scandal in social medias, the video is now available again on YouTube.

 Mike David - Them (Kill All the Grays)

Mike David is the host of “Red Bar Radio”, an internet comedy talk radio show from Chicago that claims to be racist and offensive. Since its creation in 2016, the song has been reposted numerous times. Most uploads have been deleted by YouTube for hate speech against LGBTQ and Jews. We counted 5 reuploads at this moment on YouTube. The chorus is “Kill all the gays and the faggots”. Some people says it's humor, a parody. But when you watch the comments, it’s clear that some people approve this message. It's terrifying to see this song becoming a meme, with people who has decided to upload it again and again even if it's regulary reported and deleted. We don’t place this video in our playlist and don’t accept votes for this.

 Sabrina Carpenter - Tomorrow Starts Today (Andi Mack Theme Song)

"Andi Mack" is a teenage TV Series which is making the buzz for being the first Disney Channel's series with a gay main character: in the first episode from season 2, Cyrus realizes that he has feelings for Jonah. This LGBTQ storyline is praised by fans and GLAAD, but One Million Moms in the USA decides to boycott the show and Kenya decided to ban it.

 peaches and honey - First Time He Kissed a Boy | Jyrus (fan video)

An example of fan video about the storyline of Cyrus shipping Jonah (already 1,8 million views!), with the music of "First Time He Kissed a Boy" from Kadie Elder.

 Les Funambules - Mon Jacques à moi (Live au Studio Hébertot)

This song is about a woman who passed her girlfriend Jacqueline off as a man called Jacques to her parents to hide her homosexuality. Stéphane Corbin, initiator of the musical project Les Funambules against homophobia, has received the Tolerantia Award 2017 in Warsow.

 Wiktor Korszla - Niewidzialna miłość / Invisible Love

A Polish song about senior gay love.

 희철 HEECHUL and 민경훈 Min Kyung-Hoon - 나비잠 (Sweet Dream)

We are ashamed of missing this South Korean music video last year. This kpop MV shows a love triangle with Heechul who loves Momo who prefers Min Kyung-Hoon who loves his friend Heechul. The twist at the end is reminiscent of the classic and iconic gay themed kpop MV "Please Don't" from K.Will.

 Sony Cobain - Stand Up 2 Cancer

This is the second track taken from the debut album "Kissed By Tears". Actually #1 in the Top 40 LGBT Urban Chart.

 Young M.A - Walk

 Mister Wallace - Angel

 Candy Ken feat. Gigi Tays - Run Forrest

An Halloween Austrian rap.

 Loreen - Hate The Way I Love You

The new track of the Swedish singer.

 Lots Holloway - Slow Down

The 23 years old woman was a former contestant of the X Factor UK in 2012.

 PJ Brennan - Tease

PJ Brennan is well known for his role as Doug Carter in the British television soap opera Hollyoaks.

 Jimena Barón - QLO

  Aíla - LESBIGAY

 Daniela Mercury - Banzeiro

 Sam Smith - Burning (Live From The Hackney Round Chapel)

 Demi Lovato - Tell Me You Love Me (Vevo X Demi Lovato)

 Christophe Willem - Copacabana (Session acoustique)

 Eddy de Pretto - Fête de trop (Live @ Monte le son, les sessions)

 Eddy de Pretto - Kid (Live @ Monte le son, les sessions)

 Jake Shears - Creep City (Official Audio)

This is the first track in solo of the singer of Scissor Sisters.

 Seann Miley Moore - High Heel'd Shoes (Audio)

 Lostchild - Could Be Real (Audio)

 Samir & Viktor - Rakt In i Kaklet (Official Lyric Video)

The new track of the Swedish duo.

 Russell Elliot - Savage (Official Lyric Video)

 Myckael SG - John vs Angela

 Letrux - Que estrago

 Psychic Hotline - Empathy

 Sia - Santa's Coming For Us

Halloween is over, get ready for Christmas!

 Kurt Hugo Schneider feat. Sam Tsui & Michael Constantino - Evolution of Boy Bands MASHUP!!

 Randy Rainbow - Sweet Indictment (Song Parody)

   See you next week and don’t forget to vote for your best LGBTQA music videos ! Here are the rules :

1 ) You can vote for many videos as you want under the videos on YouTube in the comment section. It could be recent or past music videos, which must provide at least one among the following conditions:

- the music video has LGBTQA related content, in the lyrics or the music video

- the artist is LGBTQA, an LGBTQA icon or eventually ally

- LGBTQA medias talked about it.

2 ) You can’t vote more than 3 songs of a same artist per week.

3 ) In case of an artist who receive votes mostly by a fan base, we will count only one song, in a limited time of 10 weeks of presence in the top.

4 ) You can vote with only one account.

5 ) If you make 5 votes or less, your first vote will represent 5 points, your second vote 4 points, etc… until your last vote and following 1 point. If you make 6 to 10 votes, your first vote will represent 10 points, your second vote 9 points, etc… If you make more than 10 votes, your first vote will represent 20 points, your second vote 19 points, etc…

6 ) People who make 1 to 5 votes form the amateur ranking, those who make 6 to 10 votes form the fan ranking, those who make more than 10 votes form the expert ranking. We form the jury ranking. And we count now the ranking of minutes of views of our weekly playlist of the previous week. The Gay Music Chart is the addition of the five charts. In case of equality, the number of votes and the dates of votes will count.

7 ) The votes will close on Thursday, 8 PM, European time.

[oselatra]

2017 Arkansas Times Whole Hog Roast preview

Al the pig meat you can eat.

It's fall, y'all. How do we know, besides, you know, the passing of the autumnal equinox last week? Because it's time again for the Arkansas Times' meatiest event of the year, the fifth annual Whole Hog Roast. So clear your calendar and make plans to attend the pork smorgasbord from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, at the Argenta Plaza in North Little Rock. The recipe remains similar to last year: Seven teams made up of chefs and seasoned pitmasters will roast 100-pound hogs from Farm Girl Meats in Perry County; and four amateur teams will smoke their best pork butt. Attendees get to eat their way through the competition, along with sides provided by presenting sponsor Ben E. Keith, for just $15 in advance at centralarkansastickets.com, or $20 at the door.

Event wrangler Brian Kearns, of Simply the Best Catering and the Canvas restaurant at the Arkansas Arts Center, encourages anyone who has ever wanted to smoke a pig to come watch the process. Teams will probably start setting up midday Saturday, get their fires going in the evening and put their hogs on to start cooking around midnight. Hog roasters can cook in any manner they like as long as it's done on-site. "There's a lot of different ways to do it, but the trickiest part is getting it to finish at the same time — how you build your fire, what temperature you keep," Kearns said. His preferred method is in a cinder block pit; many of the teams will have elaborate smoking rigs attached to trailers.

The hogs the pros are roasting aren't your run of the mill swine. These are Boston Mountain Hogs, a heritage-style breed Katie Short of Farm Girl Meats developed with growers in North and West Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. They're bred to be physically active, which means the fat is marbled throughout the meat, which gives it more flavor potential, Short said. Plus, Farm Girl's 130-acre farm provides plenty of room for the swine to run free, foraging on seeds, nuts, blackberry and greenbrier crowns and, if they're still hungry, a locally milled, specially balanced grain. All that natural food adds to the flavor, Short says.

The Argenta Plaza is at Sixth and Main streets in downtown North Little Rock. Doors open at 1 p.m. and food will be served at 2 p.m., rain or shine, and the party will continue on until 5 p.m. Flyway Brewing Co. will have its mega-popular Bluewing Berry Wheat, Early Bird IPA (especially good with spicy sauce, co-owner Jess McMullen says) and Free Range Brown Ale (the ultimate barbecue beer, McMullen says). It and wine will be for sale for $5. Local rockers Good Time Ramblers share a bill with the sweet-harmonizing Wildflower Revue.

Professional teams

@ the Corner

The ladies who own and run the downtown breakfast and lunch destination @ the Corner — sisters Helen Grace and Leila King and their sister-in-law, chef Kamiya Merrick — have stepped up their hog-roasting game since last year's event. Leila King says they had such a good time at the event last year, @ the Corner commissioned a custom-built smoker on a trailer for catering and cook-offs. This year's plan is to brine the hog for several days in Rock Town Distillery's bourbon, Rebel Kettle's Working Glass Hero beer and spices. Then they'll rub it down with their house rub mix and smoke it as long as possible, using hickory and a Rock Town bourbon barrel to make their fire. "We wanted to include as much local stuff as possible," Leila King said.

The Argenta Buttrubbers

Charlie Hart with the Argenta Buttrubbers team said he's the "builder," tasked with constructing and maintaining the cinderblock fire pit where the team will cook their hog for the event. Veterans of the amateur Boston butt-only class at previous Times hog roasts, the team — which is sponsored by the Memphis lunch spot Blink SCO — will be moving up to the whole pig this year, with most of the cooking handled by barbecue purists Ricky O'Rourke and Josh Wills. Cooking a whole hog requires a different technique, Hart said, including not allowing the hog to get so hot that it combusts, making sure it cooks evenly, and carefully tending the fire through the night. Hart said the team did a practice run earlier this year over pecan and cherry, cooking an "Asian fusion" style hog on a pit designed exactly like the one they plan to use for the Arkansas Times Hog Roast. They went through a whole rick of wood, Hart said, which they pre-burn over a specially prepared barrel in order to harvest the hot coals for their pit, lined with firebrick for reflective heat. The result was, he said, perfect.

Flyway/Count Porkula Before Flyway Brewing Co. unveiled its tasty menu full of the likes of smoked duck and wild boar brats and bacon-wrapped quail, the brewery hosted "guest pitmasters" from time to time. That's how co-owner Jess McMullen got to know Kelly Lovell of the local food trailer eatery and catering company Count Porkula. One of the best brewery kitchens in town teamed with the barbecue champs of the food truck scene? We're expecting big things.

Four Quarter Bar

Conan Robinson may be best known for managing Midtown for many years and owning new North Little Rock favorite Four Quarter, just down Main Street from the event (after party!). But those in the know recognize Robinson as a longtime purveyor of delicious grub: burgers (natch), but also delicious pulled pork sandwiches, a Cuban and pulled pork nachos. A perennial hog roast participant, Robinson plans to brine his hog, slather on his signature Four Quarter rub and cook it in a cinder block pit.

Grumpy's Too

While other teams will be using smoke, glazes and rubs to set their hog apart, Chris Finkbeiner with Grumpy's Too plans to differentiate theirs by the cooking method. After thoroughly injecting their hog with the Grumpy's house marinade, they'll be using what's known as a "China Box," aka a "Cajun Microwave," an enclosed roaster that cooks the hog top-down by piling hot coals on the metal top of the box. Finkbeiner said the technique will cook their hog in about half the time of other teams, leading to a savory Cuban-style pork that's roasted rather than smoked. Another secret weapon will be chef Josh Smith, who Finkbeiner called his team's culinary expert. Smith recently won the award for student chef of the year at the UA-Pulaski Tech Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute, and will serve as a co-captain of the Grumpy's Too five-person team.

Ristorante Capeo

Bryan Isaac of the Italian favorite Ristorante Capeo in Argenta was taciturn in his description of plans on how his team would prepare its whole hog. "We're just gonna cook a hog and have fun." How might they cook the hog? "Put it on some heat and then take it off some heat." But what about a touch of Capeo in the preparation and seasonings? "We don't serve whole hog at Capeo." So your guess is as good as ours.

Vault

Mike Easley (executive chef and visionary), formerly of Restaurant 1620 and Cache, and Cody Mayfield (sous chef) are busy putting together Vault, a new restaurant in the 1909 Citizens Building in Hot Springs, so it makes sense they'd want to keep it simple for the hog roast. But Easley says that's also so their Farm Girl Meats hog can speak for itself. They'll brine the hog with simple sugar and salt and use a cinder block rig. Easley said the Farm Girl owner Katie Short has done her part by raising the hogs in kindness; he'll respect the pig by doing as little as possible to the meat.

Easley has also worked with the James Beard Restaurant Rioja in Denver and trained under Jennifer Jasinski; he met Mayfield when he moved to Cache Restaurant in the River Market District.

Amateurs

Onebanc Roadsters also plan to participate, but weren't available before press time.

Smokin' Butz

Smokin' Butz team leader David Carpenter said his team's strategy is simple: Cook some great pulled pork. A veteran restaurateur who helped open several Central Arkansas institutions, including Sherwood's longstanding Zaffino's and Little Rock's new Main Street anchor Samantha's Tap Room & Wood Grill, Carpenter said his team plans to carefully select their Boston butt for a particular ratio of meat to fat, coat it down with a secret, homemade pork rub that is "a little unique," and then smoke it low and slow until it's done to perfection. Sides will be a little unique, too, including slow-roasted and smoked potatoes, along with breaded, deep-fried eggplant strips. As fitting with pulled pork, both sides will be decidedly Southern, Carpenter said, but with a twist.

Wilson's A1 BBQ

A veteran barbecue caterer, Alisha Pagan said that her secret weapon for the Arkansas Times Hog Roast will be her wood selection: a secret blend of carefully selected fruit and nut tree wood that allows for a strong smoke flavor while imparting a fruity sweetness to the meat. It's the same wood blend she uses when cooking pulled pork for her popular catering company, Wilson's A1 BBQ, which has been in business for two years. You can find them online at http://ift.tt/2fqOImx. Also distinctive will be Wilson's signature rub, a secret blend of spices that Pagan is keeping close to the vest, but which she hopes will help her pull off a win in the amateur category. Keeping things very down-home, Pagan said her team plans to dish up a side of greens with smoked meat along with her family recipe cornbread, and then lay on the sweetness with candied yams.

AHH Townley

A former Navy pilot who came home to Arkansas a few years back to run the family business, Townley Pools and Spas, David Townley will be using the hog roast to show off the versatility of an item he sells a lot of in his store: the Big Green Egg ceramic cooker. Townley Pools and Spas offers the whole line of Big Green Egg products, which burn wood charcoal and can be used to cook everything from ribs to pies thanks to their unique, insulated design. Townley plans to cook his team's sides and pork butt entirely on Mini Max Eggs, a tailgating-sized version that's the smallest member of the Big Green Egg family. Townley's team will be utilizing rubs created by the Georgia-based Lane's BBQ (another product sold through his store) to start, then will smoke over a mixture of apple and peach wood to give the pork a sweet flavor. For sides, Townley plans to make what he called "sorta-white coleslaw," a unique take on slaw that utilizes Lane's BBQ's Sorta-White barbecue sauce, along with a classic cornbread.

2017 Arkansas Times Whole Hog Roast preview