#I have so many more pics but they don't do the place justice

[armand-dearest]

Went to the most beautiful place I've ever been in my life today and I still haven't recovered btw

[risu5waffles]

t minus

which honestly is what i should have titled my "hey, i'm on the girl ooze" post. ah well, i'll ask the coroner to put a post-it on my death certificate, and maybe i'll remember for the next loop.

like the picture says, streams are off while i am (hopefully) back in the US for a couple of weeks. we'll be coming back to Tunic so that's kind of exciting, i've heard good things about it. there might be a stream or two of something random if i need to decompress and/or shake off rust.

also, coming up in October, good friend and all around good people @alicerulerofwater and i will be doing a little roundtable on Romani issues, a topic close to alice's heart, and one that i need to be doing some solid reading up on to make sure i can pull my weight and do the topic justice. So that is also exciting, but a little trepidation-inducing as well.

flight out is not even 24hours away now, and i thought i'd burnt out my panic a couple of days ago, but that seems to clearly not be the case. it's funny, but i'm not really panic-y now; it's more like i've already moved into acceptance that things have already fucked up, and i'm trying to figure out how much damage control i have the stomach for. it's an ugly feeling, and i'd honestly rather have the epanic. especially since, like, i'm not even at the airport yet. there are so, so many ways things could go sideways still. i should be shepherding my reserves, and not, like, metaphorically throwing in the towel already.

i would say i don't think i like myself very much, but "think" doesn't really belong in that sentence.

whatever. bets have been placed. time to roll the dice.

oh, right, i made a version of that pic wiv out all the stream deets on it.

there's also a backstage video, because while this wasn't an entirely difficult scene to set up, i think the trick of it was kind of neat.

[cyberpunkaddict]

Gush About Your OC.

Rules.

💙 Post 5 facts about your OC. 💙 Open the latest section of #cyberpunk 2077 tag and reblog 5 posts of people you don’t follow, giving them nice tags. 💙 Tag 5 people to spread the game.

Tagged by @katsigian @vvystic @chilljustacat @dreamskug @spicyraeman & @wraithsoutlaws Ty guys! 💕

Facts about everyone's fave cop, Villiam, below:

Law and Order.

Villiam has a strong sense of justice. He's been through a lot of shit as a poor street kid and seen things no one should ever see. He reached his tipping point when he witnessed a cop offing a child in front of their parents, for amusement. This is why he joined the force. He wanted to change things. He had no idea how to do that, but he had to start somewhere.

After fighting for many years and rallying people together, the NCPD, civilians and even gangs, he became a voice of solidarity and equity. Because of this he was promoted to Chief of Police by NC mayor Jefferson Peralez in 2089. In 2095 NC celebrated 6 years of an all time low crime rate.

Chooms.

Villiam and River are best friends. River's kind of a mentor for Villiam; considering he's been on the force for years. Sometimes River helps Villiam with work, as an unpaid consultant that is... Ouch...

Songbird, kind of.

Villiam loves to rap and is very good at it, but he does it in private only. Johnny secretly thinks it's very cool, even if he says it makes his brain explode.

Home. The Best Place In The World.

Villiam really loves action movies. He also loves pajamas. Johnny's more into chick flicks, though...

Frack You!

Villiam doesn't swear (not even when rapping). He sees no point in it when you can just use other words...? (His opinion, not mine lol.)

Dunno if ya'll have done this tag already, because I'm posting this very late, but yeah (you don't have to add pics, I just did that because I was bored). No pressure 💙 I'm tagging:

@vforviktor @sammysilverdyne @netripper @morganlefaye79 @cyberneticnipples

If anyone else wanna do the tag I'm tagging you too 💙 @ me so I can get to know your OCs. 💙

[jakespov]

San Diego!

SORRY THIS IS SO LATE Okay I'm going to do a quick post about San Diego (<3 I love this city) and I'll post about my summer in Utah soon!

PS: this post contains some iPhone pics, some film pics of mine, and some of Jeff's film pics which are half-exposures which are kinda cool!

SO I arrived in San Diego August 7th and checked into my dinky hostel...

Immediately went to explore the city and had a great night eating pizza. This is when I realized the lack of public spaces here; I got a pizza to go and couldn't eat it anywhere; there were no benches or picknick tables or anything so I ate it on the curb somewhere behind a parking lot lol.

Day 2 I spent cycling around around a rental bike (I cycled 74 km that day!) which was super fun but so tiring because San Diego is one big mountain. I have many pretty pictures but I think this video does the downhill route I took more justice. I was so insanely happy lol I was listening to the Beach Boys and picturing what my life could look like here. (It would look pretty damn cool.)

Cycling back up was, in fact, a bitch and I complained the whole way up but you don't wanna see that. Apple Maps told me it was "moderatlely hilly" and it was a 45 degree incline for half a mile, I almost ended it all right then and there.

The next couple days were spent going out at night and doing fun things during the day, like visiting Gaslamp Quarter (where I spent a lotttt of time), cycling around the city and its surroundings, and visiting Balbao park.

I met up with my friend Jeff to head to a beach where we spent the afternoon and had some fat pizza afterwards. Imagine this view! At the beach! Right at your house! Every day! Why does anyone live in any city that isn't San Diego it's insane I don't get it because WOW THIS PLACE IS GORGEOUS!

Some more going out later we went to a big festival the city was running and I got a semi-impromptu tattoo (I'd wanted it for a while and knew I wanted to get it in San Diego and what better day than the festival day!). The festival was so fun and I got to see some more new parts of the city. We went to a club there and (not pictured) Trinity the Tuck was there? And she performed there? Which was kinda fuckin crazy like what that would never happen in Amsterdam.

Okay almost done: the last major thing I did was I went to my first ever MLB game with Jeff, of course it was the Padres where they beat the hell out of the Pirates because of course they did. It was such a cool unique experience I had so much funnnn ok last pictures coming in nowwwww

I really can't express how much fun I had in this city. I partially wanted to scoop out the area to see if I could see myself living in this city or this state and I think I can pretty confidently say I can, even after only a week and a half there.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I really want to see what will happen to zutara fandom after the release of live-action series. Because I noticed something.

Now, several promo pics were published, showing us how Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Iroh, Azula, Ozai and Zhao are going to look in the show - costumes, wigs, makeup and all - and I don't see tons of fanarts with Zuko and Katara in their live-action garb. Also live-action Zuko does not look as much "bishonen" as many fans wanted (I saw what they suggest instead and most of the time their suggestions are so "perfected" they look more like plastic dolls then real people).

I strongly believe that Zutara won't be the live-action endgame - but I suppose Netflix will add some ship-baiting to keep the zutara-shipping audience, just because there are plenty of them and the corporation wants money. However, after the release of the promo pics I don't see so many "they'll make zutara endgame!" posts. Zutarians don't want Zuko who is not as pretty as K-pop idol? Hm, is their ship about character interactions at all - or they just want two good-looking characters to be together because they are both good-looking? I bet for the latter.

I personally have nothing against the actor picked to play Zuko's part in live-action, or K-pop idols, or people who like K-pop idols. This all is fine. It's just funny to me that zutarians lost interest in live-action when they saw that one of the characters that they ship doesn't look like their fantasies. They are not even like "well, maybe Netflix will add chemistry so we will get some shippy scenes?". Nah, they just pretend there is no live-action adaptation. Funny.

Now, let's be fair here, while I have seen some zutarians that are already hating on the show's "Zutara" becuase they're only into the ship because of Zuko's looks, I have also some that are SUPER excited for it, even after seeing the actor in costume.

There's just no way the Netflix thing will get the same level of devotion from fans, at least not right away - one is something we haven't even seen, the other is a media the fans have cherished since 2005. Zutarians are not the only ones not pleased with how some of the characters look or skeptical of the live action, which makes complete sense when we remember the awful movie we do not speak of.

Personally, I don't think ATLA could ever work in live-action, so I don't blame anyone that takes a look at what Netflix has shown us so far and goes "I'm sticking to the cartoon" - even if, as I've said a million times, said cartoon doesn't actually have any zutara content to offer in the first place, so I don't know what the hell these people are so attached to and expecting Netflix to "do justice" to.

[yamisnuffles]

Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @feralkwe

Will put a cut in this one because it's so long

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I currently have 49 fics on AO3. A lot more fic spread out across the universe (including old notebooks and journals, I'm sure) but that's what I have there.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

388,596 which is not much but I'm not really surprised. OH WELL

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Blitzed (558)

The Altus Inquisitor (500)

For Want of Words (471)

Get Closer to Me (449)

Heartbeats (424)

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I really try! Sometimes my brain is not good and I can't think of anything to say. But I do try! Because I really like chatting with people and I love to hear what y'all have to say about things. I just apologize if all you get is a bland, "Thanks!" It is meant with all my heart, even if all my brain is static.

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Uuuuuuuuh... that's a hard one. I generally do try very hard to have at least a glimmer of hope for the future, so I generally consider most of mine to be bittersweet. Off My Head And Onto Yours is fairly angsty because Aziraphale is going through some time period appropriate denial of feelings. For Want of Words was also constrained by current GO canon. I didn't feel good having them work things out just yet. Sadly fucking didn't fix anything lol. Similarly, All Good Things, despite being an AU was still covering the events of S2. I think in some ways it ended a little harsher for them because they were in a very different place than their canon counterparts.

I think probably the one with closest to just plain angst was Wicked White. Again, canon meant there was going to be sadness at the end. Emet-Selch has his canon end and I wasn't going to change it. So, for the same reason, Starshower will probably be angsty when I finally finish it.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I think Just For Two is an easy pic since that was a pure fluff, future established relationship GO fic. Too Much of a Good Thing was the S1 fic for my AU and I also made sure to give them a very happy end there, knowing what was coming.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Nope!

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not that I can think of? Some good natured wailing and gnashing of teeth over some angst but nothing actually angry or hateful.

9. Do you write smut?

Yep!

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah, though not in a very long time. As a teen, I used to write a lot with my best friend. It was a lot of fun and I loved doing it but haven't done it since.

13. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oh man, this is so hard. Bioware of course owns some of my faves. Hawke/Anders/Justice is one I can fall back into any time. I love them individually and together. They're all passion and fight and nothing is easy for them but it is good. Inquisitor/Dorian is also just SO GOOD. It's full of love and support and has a nice splash of angst to keep things interesting for me. Shakarian is another romance that is just canonically so perfect and good.

But, and this will surprise no one, I think Aziraphale/Crowley are the winners. They just have everything. They're both so clever but they're also SO STUPID. They're enemies to lovers but they were never really enemies and haven't actually figured out they're lovers. They're immortal and have pined for thousands of years, even before they figured out they were pining.

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Oh man, most of my One Piece fics. I had a lot of fun writing them and I'm still very much into OP but, for various reasons, I don't know if I'll ever be back into the right headspace to work on them.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I think that I'm good at characterization. It's the thing that matters the most to me when I'm reading fic and so it's the thing I definitely put the most thought into. If I don't think I have a good handle on a character, I don't usually try to write them. Otherwise, there's lots of little things I think I am pretty good at but nothing that super stands out to me. I'm too close to judge, honestly.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don't know. And this isn't me thinking I'm great at everything, I just can't think of one particular thing that I really struggle with. A lot of times it depends on the day. I have gotten worse with description. Not in that I think I'm bad at it but a lot of times these days, I just don't include nearly as much as I'd like. So things feel a bit sparse.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

For me? I just don't do it. Unless it's a phrase I am really certain on or it's some fantasy bullshit, I know that I'm shit with other languages. That said, if someone has a good handle on a number of languages, I think they should go for it.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Technically it was Jurassic Park. When I was but a wee bab and long before I knew what fic was, I wrote about some raptors killing people LOL. The first fic I wrote when I knew what fic was I think was a DBZ fic.

19. What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I actually can't think of any fandom that I'm really in that I haven't written for already. I suppose I haven't written and TLT fic but I never will because there is SO MUCH going on there, I can't even imagine trying. Oh! I haven't written any Hythazemet and would love to because I adore them.

20. What's your favorite fic you've written?

Gosh, IDK. I have a lot that I like for different reasons. So I'm going to cheat and name a few, along with why because they're each different kind of faves. I'm really proud of a lot of For Want of Words. I think the smut is pretty solid and I'm proud of a lot of the writing I have there in general. I also think that And You're To Blame is really good. I thought it was a strong concept and I was quite pleased with how I handled it. Though it wasn't the first GO S2 fic I wrote, it was the first I thought of and I was happy to finish as planned. It's also a bit of a canon divergent AU, which...

I tend to get really attached to my AUs because I put a lot of thought into them. I like to think of a universe where just one notable thing is changed and follow the threads of how everything changes. I don't think that Too Much of a Good Thing is necessarily my strongest writing but I adore it all so much because of that. The Altus Inquisitor has my heart for similar reasons and I really like a lot of the writing there (and I will finish one day, I swear).

And I'm lazy, so if you wanna do this, consider yourself tagged.

[yudgefudge]

i dont know anything about taylor swift. but you should do a song for the old men anyway and i'll look up the lyrics and nod along

be prepared to nod ur head for a bit because I've chosen four songs for them. I Can See You, I Know Places, Call it What You Want and It's Nice To Have a Friend. I hope I did ur old men justice.

INTHAF is all about growing up together and ending up together. I know pep and klopp technically didn't grow up together, but they have known each other for many years and the idea of a long friendship slowly melting into a romance is the essence of this song.

Twenty questions, we tell the truth You've been stressed out lately, yeah, me too Something gave you the nerve To touch my hand

Have my back, yeah, every day Feels like home, stay in bed The whole weekend

Just the idea of someone who's always there seems very kloppep (heh) to me. I also like how the song is clearly a love song but it still says "it's nice to have a friend", which feels a bit like jurgen and pep and how I dont think they'd really label themselves as one or the other.

CIWYW and IKP are coming from the same place in regards to jurgendiola. They are both songs about having love in the midst of media chaos. I Know Places is a more upbeat song about the rush of hiding from the paparazzi meanwhile call it what you want is more about how in the midst of it all you can still find someone who loves you and is willing to break down their walls for you. I feel like these songs are more of Pep and how the media sometimes paints him to be this unfeeling person, or how in general the media treats coaches in general.

My castle crumbled overnight I brought a knife to a gunfight They took the crown, but it's alright

This bit is more Klopp, I feel? The crown referring to liverpool champs dreams, prem dreams or really anything dreams. Just in general how liverpool keeps getting the short stick and how they always seem unprepared (knife to a gunfight).

You stand with your hand on my waistline It's a scene and we're out here in plain sight

All their pics together.

This one doesn't really have a super good personal connection but there was no way I could do this post for jurgendiola and not have the taylor songs about romance between two highly-televised, high-profile people.

Lastly, ICSY. This song is a sultry seductive song about a secret romance.

You brush past me in the hallway And you don't think I, I, I can see ya, do ya? I’ve been watchin' you for ages And I spend my time tryin' not to feel it

I imagine this is one to the other? Not to get nsfw or anything but I think we all know they began with a s3xual encounter LOL. like they definitely got drunk once and that's how their romance (?) really started/was solidified. And this verse describes that very well.

’Cause I can see you waitin' down the hall from me And I could see you up against the wall with me And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew That I can see you

More of what I described. Honestly I'd imagine this as Klopp to Pep? Klopp always struck me as the more confident one, in terms of chasing the relationship at least? Correct me if I'm wrong. But I'd always imagine it'd be Klopp confronting Pep about all the secret looks and touches.

And we kept everything professional But something's changed, it's somethin' I, I like

Even more of what I described lol. I especially like the line "and we kept everything professional" in terms of them.

I can see you in your suit and your necktie Passed me a note sayin’, "Meet me tonight" Then we kiss and you know I won't ever tell, yeah And I could see you being my addiction You can see me as a secret mission Hide away and I will start behaving myself

I don't even have anything more to say atp. I'll just leave you with the ending bridge which is legit just a conversation I'd imagine the two have. So yeah.

[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics: So many things that need our attention & help to fix.

1. Undecided voters think that not voting will actually do or help out their stance.

Sorry, it doesn't.

You sometimes have to choose the least damaging evil...

2. On to the recycling boondoggle:

Turns out there's no real recycling going on...

So, you can now find bits of micro- scopic plastic - in all our blood streams...

Plus, giant garbage islands are now found in most oceans...

And, plastic production continues un- abated...

3. An equal social justice system is still a major goal for all colored folks.

Like so many other things, it's been forgotten due to the election.

Plus, the Scotus is brazenly endanger- ing our democracy...

So, expect worse to come...

4. As for police reform, I've yet to hear anything.

Our streets are still having shootouts & mass shootings...

The NRA still bribes Republikkkan for gun laws in its favor...

5. Unfortunately, not all people are re- presented in Congress - especially the poor, new immigrants & the home- less...

We need more young people of color to seek high office & help balance out racial equality for all...

If we survive the clear & present Rump danger...

6. The right of peaceful protests does not seem to extend to students.

At least, not on private property.

And, on city property, 1 actually has to schedule a protest or parade with the city & the police - ahead of time!

I also believe that you might have to pay for your own security...

I'm not up to date on all of the official requirements.

7. I've already written about how the Democrats, in their chicken shit matter, are making a mistake on re- placing Prez Biden.

The man had a bad night - we've all been there!

Better still, our President already beat tRump last time!

It's you Democrats that are at fault for not attacking the Rump's many illegal attempts to steal another election so much sooner than this.

The Felon Don should never have been allowed back on the ballot!

Rump should have be rotting away in Gitmo, so long ago...

8 & 9. It's probably too late to keep atomic weapons from being develop- ed in the Arab world.

Let's hope that our military ability, to keep such destructive forces from being used indiscriminately, is still better than our enemies' attempts to use smaller, dirty bombs...

Don't let that Rapist Rump sell off all of our agents' identities in the Middle East.

The Traitor Don has done enough damage to our foreign agents...

Don't let him sell out our nation - Vote Blue, all the way!!

Vote Biden.

End.

[lifeproblemingcat]

boredom. nostalgia. while i love being able to talk to ppl basically whenever....

maybe looking at social media and how elementary school life is like now is making me nostalgic of my childhood. i mean technically I'm still in childhood but i mean the kind kids not even 10 years younger than me won't get to have. i miss when everything was simpler, back when i didn't really care about the news (pre 2017).

i miss when status symbols were how far you could do the splits, how well you knew Disney channel shows, whether you brought "good" snacks like cookies...

not how many Stanley cups you owned, what shoes you wore, what phone you had - barely anyone had one in elementary school in the first place. we sure didn't go raiding Sephora for retinol and bronzing drops.

sure, it wasn't the "go out to play and don't come back until dark" or whatever of previous decades. but i miss playing pretend with my sister, building pillow forts with the neighbors, doing cannonballs into the pool with friends. i miss baking at friends' houses, even if we messed up, instead of watching influencers make perfectly aesthetic cakes.

i remember the summer between middle and high school where my friends insisted on doing TikTok dances for half of our time together. the way half my high school hangouts were centered around "where can we take aesthetic photos???" that after posting i don't think anyone looked at and went "we had a great time". half of them were at a mall or something.

i genuinely laughed way more near a few boat docks, my best friend and me watching the seagulls on them chasing around a worn out tennis ball - which i realised then that many of my other friends would just walk past without really caring. we stopped so many times to stare at ducks and geese :) pretending like the museum we were heading towards wasn't going to eventually close. we didn't even take any pics together - though i didn't rly care...

looking at old pictures everyone had their own fashion sense and their own look. i don't know. today i saw some post about how social media turned everyone into clones and the more i thought about the explanation given, i found it so true - once we reached middle school and half my classmates at least had Instagram, everyone seemed to start wearing the same kind of thing. passing by the children's clothes in stores i wonder why 6 year olds have basically mini versions of the women's clothes. while I look back at what i wore in elementary school and think "I'd never wear that now" - definitely not that Justice penguin shirt - at the end of the day kids are still kids. if we're so insistent on "kids are not just mini adults" why do their clothes suggest the opposite?

so many people i used to know have had such massive glow ups it's crazy. sure i look probably a lot more put together than i did a few years ago but i don't try to look like everyone else.

we were probably all messes back in elementary school, but we seemed like way more authentic versions of ourselves.

[dybdahlsvisitportugalspainfrance]

Seville

As usual, I have fallen behind. We are just doing so much it is hard to have a few minutes to record it. So today is Sept. 11 - a dark day in American History. It is 6:00 AM, we are in Ronda, and I'm going to dedicate a couple hours to recording this trip. Good luck to me.

September 9, 2023

Well - OMG - Seville!!!! As you all know my favorite phrase is "you don't know what you don't know" and that is demonstrated once again by our trip to Seville. This city is magnificent!!!! I would return to this place in a heartbeat and I would like to stay for many, many days. We started our tour with a nice overview of the city via our bus. Next we hopped off the bus and began a walking tour in The Parque de María Luisa , what surely must be the most beautiful park and botanical gardens in the world.

Most of the grounds that were used for the park were formerly the gardens of the Palace of San Telmo. They were donated to the city of Seville in 1893 by the Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier, for use as a public park. How lovely it that!!

A bunch of this massive park - 84 acres of amazing - became the site of the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. The Ibero-American Exhibition opened May 1929 and closed on June 1930. It was held to showcase the twinning between Spain, Latin America, the United States, Portugal and Brazil.The buildings, fountains and small gathering areas were designed and built with great care and were meant to last. Impressive.

The buildings of the American Plaza are stunning. They currently hours museums.

The new buildings of the Plaza de España, a semi-circle on a plaza, were used as the offices of the fair.  They have been used as settings for filmed scenes, including in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and my favorite, Star Wars, Attack of the Clones, (2000) This is where Padmé and Anakin Skywalker walk through the plaza after they land in Naboo. Check it out!!!

117 buildings, of which 25 remain, were built for the Exhibition. Since 2001, all the pavilions that have been preserved have been owned by the town council, although their use has been transferred to several bodies.

Some of the pavilions of the Ibero-American Exhibition are still preserved and, although not all of them can be visited, they are the most incredible buildings that this Ibero-American Exhibition left us. Today with the exception of a few buildings that serve as the consulate of the country that built it (like Columbia and Portugal) these are buildings serving the people of Seville. For example the Argentina's pavilion and the Guatemala's pavilion are Dance Conservatories and the Chile's pavilion, currently the School of Arts. The United States' Pavilion remained a United States consulate until a few years ago, when it became a museum of contemporary art of the Valentín Madariaga Foundation. Some are part of the University of Seville. The beautiful Plaza d'Espana are government offices. And speaking of that - here are more pics.

The front of the building is decorated with beautiful regional tiles and maps. The actual purpose of the building was to promote all the regions of Spain.

Tile is everywhere and these railings blew my mind.

The floors and ceilings were equally breath-taking.

I want you to know that we spent less than an hour in this 84+ acre park. My guess is that one could spend every afternoon meandering around for years and years and still not see everything. It wasn't just the buildings folks.

One more thing about the park and so many other things - pictures do not do justice to so much of what we saw. If I can simply whet the appetite of one person to actually visit of these places, then my job is done here.

From here we went to the old town and the home to the third largest cathedral in the world and the burial place of Christopher Columbus - a true hero in the Iberian Peninsula.

Before I talk about the Cathedral - let me talk about Seville. Seville is NOT on the coast of Spain.

BUT it is a maritime city, thanks to the Guadalquivir River which remains navigatable, it was a big player in the navigation and discovery field. While Seville doesn't get credit for the launch many of the discoverers left from Seville heading to the ocean.

Sieges, defenses and conquests have been fought on that river and surely the likes of Christopher Columbus walked these streets more than 500 years ago.

Back to the old city and the Cathedral of Seville:

This things is just big to photograph so I'm using photos from the Internet:

You still cannot capture the size of this - but you can see that many architecture styles exist. The bell tower was part of the former mosque that sat in this spot - but an earthquake in 1356 destroyed all of it but the minaret. So - as most cathedral do - this sucker took forever to build. By 1433 the city began building the current cathedral. Local stone to build with was scarce, and there were few skilled stonemasons in the area, so timber and stone had to be shipped from overseas, and like its earlier incarnation, the construction of the cathedral brought together artisans from all over its respective empire, this time as far away as Germany and the Netherlands. Construction took 73 years and was completed in 1506. The minaret was modified several times to get the bell tower we see today.

Now before I go inside, this is a good place to talk about these massive, brutal and cruel religion wars. The Crusades were horrific and all because of "my god is better than your god." The Iberian Peninsula is the perfect example of Muslim v Christian (Catholic) slaughter. During the Christian "Reconquest' there seemed no limit as to what was sanctioned by whose ever god was ahead. In the meantime the Jews were hated by both religions. The Inquistion was brutal and in all towns the Jews were either turned in to "new" Christians, killed or driven out. Seville was not different. We got to look at the former Jewish quarter and heard more stories of how the Inquisition judges ruled with a iron fist. To quote my 12 year old granddaughter as we left the Smithsonian African American Museum of History and Culture in July - "CAN'T WE JUST GROW UP?"

Ok - the inside of the cathedral and its pounds and pounds of gold and silver - brought to you from the Americas...

Christopher Columbus - verified by DNA. Who would have thunk it?

More than 100 pounds - YES POUNDS!! - of gold and silver make up this over the altarpiece.

Some altars...

Again - there is no way to convey to you the opulance, the size of the art via photos. And speaking of art check this out:

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's "Vision of St. Anthony."

In November 1874, it was discovered that thieves had cut out the portion depicting Saint Anthony. Then, in January 1875, a Spanish immigrant attempted to sell the same fragment to a New York City art gallery. The man stated it was a complete original by Murillo, Saint Anthony being one of the artist's favorite subjects. The owner of the gallery, Hermann Schaus, negotiated a price of $250 and contacted the Spanish consulate. Upon securing the sale, Schaus sent it to the Spanish Consulate, which shipped it to Seville via Havana and Cadiz was returned to the cathedral and added back into the work in 1875 by the restorer Salvador Martínez Cubells

I love a little art thief mystery any time.

We learned so much about the policies of Spain and Portugal as we traveled. Here is the Readers Digest verion.

Both countries are very Catholic - with Spain being the more devout. They both have medical care and hospitalization at little of no charge for all. They have legalized abortion. They have gay marriage. They have public education and the public universities tuition is capped at around 900 Euros a year. They have minimum wages. They have both had women Prime Ministers.

When returned to our paradore, we took a little walk about this darling town of 30 thousand people, stopped at a local pub and did what the locals do....

and a local church celebrating children and families - the place was packed - FYI. Then we had the only truly bad meal that has ever been served to us by OAT. OMG!! YUCK!!

But that did not slow us down not change our opinion of this great place. BTW we did win the lottery. YAY!!! We won 4 Euros and 30 - something cents!!!! GO US!!! Well, it did cost 6 Euros to play. Oh well!!!

Gotta' run. Stay tuned!

[oivsyo]

I'm so happy!! I thought I wouldn't recieve an answer, nevertheless this soon! I've written to other shippers before but they seem not active anymore.

I'm looking forward to December then! I NEED more on NejiHina haha I started shipping them when watching the war for the first time, like, the moment exact that I realized Neji's feelings for Hinata (and around the same time Neji became my fav character, even above Hinata... I first hated him, then liked him and then loved him). Tbh, I watched the war arc and end a lot of time later, like, I stopped al 14 and ended it at 19 YO. Then watched it again with my husband, and this time at 26 I'm watching again just focusing on Neji. So, I was not a shipper before 2015 but I'm one of those "old" ( in age) shippers. It justs makes more and more sense the more adult I am, I feel haha also, I'm very Canon strict to establish the relationship (though I do enjoy the fillers that shows it), it makes absolute canon sense that Neji loved Hinata, it's actually impossible IMO to separate him from that fact.

Aaaand, since I'm very logic/factual, I decided not to only do a fanfic to have them together but to give them logic enough that it could have been canon. Like, I decided to rewrite the story since the war to avoid his death without taking the emotional impact. In the midst of it, I decided to make justice to all Konoha 11 + Sai (even Sakura, just no more Naruto and Sasuke pls) and rewrite parts of them too, so I have a lot in my plate right now. I'm working hard to fill all the wholes I see the best I can, both in the main story and in my AU. I'm working hand to hand with the OG material (canon and anime only), so I'm simply "coping" some parts as it is, changing minor things on some parts and major things on others, and then, in postwar, I'm going to finally lead the story on my thoughts mainly. But it's taking sooooo long. I'm doing the first script by hand on english, but I intend to do the final one on Spanish since is my main language and I want to go as in deep detail as I can. Maybe I'll translate it back later.

Does this makes sense? Does it sounds like something worth reading?

I also wanted to tell you that here in Mexico NejiHina seems to be in the rise, kind of. It's more like it has become really popular on TikTok, many many fans loving Neji, and it leaded to 2 memes: Neji Chiquito (Mini Neji) and Neji Norteño. The later refers to the fact that Neji is in love with/ attracted to his cousin; it's a meme but is a huge one, and it implies people recognizes and accepts the fact that Neji was in love with Hinata. Some leave it at that, but many others wished they could be together or state that Neji was a better option for Hinata than Naruto, that also being because a lot of people was upset about NS ending and hate Boruto series.

I'm sorry about the long post 😅 I needed out, I feel like I don't have ppl enough to talk about this haha I also wanted to know your opinion on my project and to let you know that in spite of how things turned out, NejiHina do is getting more recognition on some places.

Good day once again, anon! I'm sorry for making you wait for so long. I read your message right after you sent it but I didn't have enough time to reply properly. As far as your message was full of passion it deserved a thoughtful reply.

I understand you so well about writing to other NejiHina shippers. That is what I did when I returned to NejiHina and started to draw again after more than a decade long hiatus. I didn't know anyone, most accs looked dead so I just started to post my pics. And I'm endlessly grateful to @cyanis-art @nyxvoidart @incensuous @nejihina-and-mlb @nejihinata @toonamifaithful and other people who noticed and liked my arts, wrote comments and supported me in many ways. In the beginning support is needed as air, so I have no idea whether I would continue to draw NejiHina if not their support🙏

I'm looking forward to December then! I NEED more on NejiHina haha I started shipping them when watching the war for the first time, like, the exact moment that I realized Neji's feelings for Hinata (and around the same time Neji became my fav character, even above Hinata... I first hated him, then liked him and then loved him). Tbh, I watched the war arc and end a lot of time later, like, I stopped at 14 and ended it at 19 YO. Then I watched it again with my husband, and this time at 26 I'm watching again just focusing on Neji. So, I was not a shipper before 2015 but I'm one of those "old" ( in age) shippers. It justs makes more and more sense the more adult I am, I feel haha also, I'm very Canon strict to establish the relationship (though I do enjoy the fillers that shows it), it makes absolute canon sense that Neji loved Hinata, it's actually impossible IMO to separate him from that fact.

Thank you for sharing your story! It has always been interesting for me to know how other fans came to NejiHina. I've discussed it with quite a number of people and there are some similarities in their stories. Many of my NejiHina fellows say that 'once you feel the chemistry between them you will ship them without turning back'. Also there are many fans who are older than 25 y.o. Most of them agree that NejiHina is a mature ship that goes beyond plain romance. Many ppl started to ship them when they were teenagers and returned to this ship as adults.

As for me, I started to ship them as a teenager after watching s1 and the beginning of Shippuden but I didn’t look in too deep back then. I rewatched Naruto, watched the rest of the series and Rock Lee SD only 1,5 years ago and I was surprised how many NejiHina moments there are and started to love them even more. There is also more info about Hanabi and the Hyuga clan, so I crushed into the clan too.

Aaaand, since I'm very logic/factual, I decided not to only do a fanfic to have them together but to give them logic enough that it could have been canon. Like, I decided to rewrite the story since the war to avoid his death without taking the emotional impact. In the midst of it, I decided to make justice to all Konoha 11 + Sai (even Sakura, just no more Naruto and Sasuke pls) and rewrite parts of them too, so I have a lot in my plate right now. I'm working hard to fill all the wholes I see the best I can, both in the main story and in my AU. I'm working hand to hand with the OG material (canon and anime only), so I'm simply "coping" some parts as it is, changing minor things on some parts and major things on others, and then, in postwar, I'm going to finally lead the story on my thoughts mainly. But it's taking sooooo long. I'm doing the first script by hand on english, but I intend to do the final one on Spanish since is my main language and I want to go as in deep detail as I can. Maybe I'll translate it back later.

Does this makes sense? Does it sounds like something worth reading?

“to fill all the holes” is exactly what I have been doing for the last 1,5 years 🥲💪

I’m not good at writing, so I draw to show my headcanons and write short notes on twitter and here. Gladly there are NejiHina fellow artists around me to discuss our ideas with. And we are happy to wellcome new people to discuss NejiHina with.

I can’t speak on behalf of all the community but personally I’m a sucker for canon compliant + canon divergent stories. It seems I will never get tired of the multi-chapter slowburn stories about Neji and Hinata and the Hyuga clan.There is a NejiHina fan-novel in my language that is written with this approach and when I’ve read it I understood that this is the type of fan-fiction I like the most. I like it when the story begins as in the canon but gradually diverts from it. This appoach provides numerous opportunities to develop side characters making them MCs, adding original characters, developing the lore. This is exactly what I do for my own headcanons so I fully support you. I wish you good luck in writing what you’ve started! Take your time and I’m looking forward to reading your story in English some day!

I also wanted to tell you that here in Mexico NejiHina seems to be in the rise, kind of. It's more like it has become really popular on TikTok, many many fans loving Neji, and it leaded to 2 memes: Neji Chiquito (Mini Neji) and Neji Norteño. The later refers to the fact that Neji is in love with/ attracted to his cousin; it's a meme but is a huge one, and it implies people recognizes and accepts the fact that Neji was in love with Hinata. Some leave it at that, but many others wished they could be together or state that Neji was a better option for Hinata than Naruto, that also being because a lot of people was upset about NS ending and hate Boruto series.

Oh, I saw Neji Chiquito pics on the net! I guess there are many ppl who like him, mini Neji is so cute! I would like a t-shirt with him!

I also came across ‘Norteño’ comments to NejiHina pics on pinterest and on Twitter but I thought that it was some kind of sly insult. Like ‘sweet home Alabama’. Anyway, thanks for telling me about it! I would be very interested to know the origin of this meme. Why northern? 🤔 I also remember comments about Santiago-something, are these things connected?

I'm sorry about the long post 😅 I needed out, I feel like I don't have ppl enough to talk about this haha I also wanted to know your opinion on my project and to let you know that in spite of how things turned out, NejiHina do is getting more recognition on some places.

That’s ok! It seems we have a lot in common, I also like to write very long texts if the topic is interesting to me XD

You can write me so that we will discuss Neji & Hinata, the Hyuga clan and so on =3

[dantesjourney]

I've dabbled in photography over the years. During haunt season this year I took some I'm really pleased with. This is one of them. But it's more than that. It's a sign of the progress I've made.

2019 was the last season I worked with the most amazing, accepting, supportive haunt crew I've ever been a part of. Not of my choosing - the property was sold in 2020 and we lost our home. I spent 2020 and 2021 at a haunt that did significant mental, emotional and physical damage. After an extremely traumatic 2021 season I had decided to step back from haunting. It wasn't because I wanted to. It was because I had nowhere else to go.

Sure, there are s number of places that would have welcomed me, but none felt like the right fit. I was sad, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Then the family that saved me in 2014 saved me once again when they announced they would be running the haunt at none other than Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Problem was I'd been afraid of the place for as long as I could remember.

With some work, and fully embracing my vow to myself to stop letting fear rule my life, I got past it. The first time I drove up she took my breath away. Pics and videos don't do her justice. I set foot through her doors - and I felt welcome. Embraced by the very spirit of the building herself. While the last two seasons prior did untold damage, this one provided healing. Not just for me, but for so many of our spooky little family.

When Waverly was built, she was a beacon of hope and a place of healing for so many. Now, 96 years after this gothic beauty opened her doors, she was once more a light in the dark, a place of great healing. It is my dearest hope that we will be returning for the 2023 season.

[dasakuryo]

Oi, Ai 💕

🦋💝🍓 for the asks?

Lu, minha 'mana brasileira ♥ Obrigada!

🦋 - where is your favorite place on Earth?

Uff, this is a tough one... but if I have to choose an actual place on Earth and only one, it'd be San Martín de Los Andes, in the south of Argentina. It's unbelievably beautiful and magical ♥ These pics don't do justice to its real beauty, and tbh the natural lands that surround the town are even more jawdropping are just... amazing ♥

💝 - what was the last song you listened to?

Sin Principio Ni Final by Abel Pintos (highly recommend this song and Abel Pintos in general ♥)

🍓 - what is something you are proud of?

My school friends! And maintaining those friendships through time. I'm honoured and blessed to have them in my life after so many years 🥺

[torikaku]

Hello there! Can i request hc of Cater with a celebrity childhood friend s/o. Like Cater is their no.1 fan that is always changing his magicam profile pic whatever his s/o has a new photo magazine release. If you dont feel like writting this feel free to ignore. If you do, thank you so much!

You didn’t mention namely what a celebrity Reader is, so I decide to write them as some kind of an idol.  

There's a brief mention about Cater's possible crush on Reader, but I didn't develop this idea further, so if you want, you can imagine their relationship whether as a platonic or romantic one.

​​​​

Due to his father's work, Cater has to move together with his family. Every time he goes to a new class and meets new people, he has to say goodbye to them, when he has to move away. Thankfully, there are many social media and messengers, he can keep in touch with them.

When Cater transfers to a new class in a new city, again, he meets you as his classmate. You two quickly find a common language. He finds you friendly, open and funny. You easily attract people.

What makes you even more popular among your classmates is that you can sing beautifully at such a young age. You perform songs at every performance your school holds. 

You love to hear Cater's small stories about his life, especially how many times he moved to different places. It's sort of your dream — to have the possibility to visit different places and perform with your songs to make people happy. 

You two often make a visit to each other, Cater prefers to go to your place though, so that his older sisters don't bother you two.

The walls of your room are filled with posters of your favourite singers and bands. Cater and you, sitting in your room, look through various magazines with celebrities, which you have and some of them that Cater brings to show you. Just like you, he finds the beauty of these celebrities and their sense of fashion fascinating.

If you happen to be in an acting class, you can be sure that Cater will often visit your rehearsals. If there is a performance, he will be the first one who buys the tickets. He even tags along his sisters to show them how cool you are. 

Probably, the way how highly Cater thinks about you makes his sisters realize that Cater may have some feelings toward you. He brushes away their teasing. You two are good friends, and you like to spend time together, and it's the most important. 

Cater begins to understand his sisters' words about you, when it's time for him to move away with his family. Again. You two spend the whole night crying and cursing the world how unfair the situation is. Cater has finally found a close friend, and now he has to leave them. But it can't be helped. He promises to message you every day and visit your city during the school holidays (well, when he gets older enough to do it alone).

Times passes, but you two still keep in touch. You share your success with Cater. During one of the video calls, you tell him that soon you will debut as an idol, since you were lucky to find an amazing producer, who did justice to your talent, which means that all of your efforts are not in vain. 

Since he has a lot of subscribers in his MagiCam account, Cater writes a post dedicated to you for them to give you a lot of support because you're so talented and deserve all of their attention and love.

After your first and successful performance as a new idol, you thank your audience that has come to see you and especially you thank one special person that always supported and believed in you who presents here, in the hall, among the audience.

​​​​​​​​

Cater is your number one fan and stan. He buys all merchandise and albums to support you and all magazines in which you happen to appear. He brags about his purchases in his MagiCam account by posting many photos of magazines and posters that depict you. 

If there's a possibility, Cater visits your concerts. Otherwise, he just live streams of them. 

You invite Cater backstage to see him as a guest. These are rare moments when you two can talk to each other in person. You two make a lot of photos/selfies to capture these moments. Probably, other fans will be envious, if they see these photos, so Cater treasures them to himself. 

If he happens to study already in NRC, the whole Heartslabyul dorm knows about the idol, Y/N, who has stolen Cater's heart. If there are other fans in the dorm, Cater can fanboy together with them.

[mattdcblog]

Booster gold for the character ask!

Favorite thing:

Outside of himself in terms of inter-connectivity, you really can't go wrong with this character. Hes EVERYWHERE, and he's designed to be that way. Everything about his backstory ties him to places and people within the DC universe. In terms of the character himself though, one of my favorite aspects of him is how utterly, disastrously human he is. I've talked about Booster at length in MANY other posts so I'll try to wane poetic here, and just keep it at: he's an underdog who never seems to win, and that makes the small victories that much greater.

Least favorite:

We don't know anything about the time period he comes from, beyond "its a bit like modern day Gotham, but worse somehow." What was growing up there like? What makes it different from our present? How did growing up in that environment affect him? What happened to make superheroes not as well known? ARE WE EVER GONNA TOUCH ON THE WHOLE "NUCLEAR WAR THAT CAUSED WHOLE CENTURIES OF HISTORY TO BE LOST," DAN?!

Favorite line:

[ID: Booster says, "Tonight's your night, you handsome cheetah." He looks at a picture in his yearbook of him in an orange crop top football uniform. His number is 5, and he's wearing a hat with a long feather in it. The text is cut off, but reads, "North Gotham Swashbucklers Class of 2462." /End ID.]

Seriously go read this its wild

There are more iconic lines of course but this one i actively quote jxnfndmf

brOTP:

Ted, Trixie, Fire, Chel (although is it really a brotp if you're related?) I guess you could say Scott as well but imo he's more Ted's friend than boosters.

OTP:

Its Ted, for the same reasons I listed on my blue beetle answer. Them being friends was a complete coincidence and in any other situation wouldn't make a lick of sense, and yet, somehow, it endures.

nOTP:

Harley, Godiva. Seriously what WERE those???

random HC:

"He thinks in Esperanto" was a throw away line but I really like it regardless. Also I think him having no knowledge of ordinary things is hilarious. He can tell you the (mostly) complete history of a landmark, but have absolutely no clue where it's located. Also I think he needs a doppelganger thats just incredibly Canadian because I still don't know if that was a real admission from the n52 days but my WORD is it funny.

unpopular opinion:

I miss mindancer, I think she could be a really good rogue if she was developed right. Also Chel! WHERE IS CHEL!!!!

Song:

Too Much Time On My Hands by Styx. I've got a whole playlist if you're interested, too.

Fav pic:

[ID: the cover of Justice League America #37. Booster is holding a hand out towards the viewer, a surprised look on his face. Fire stands behind him, fearfully clutching his chest. Behind them, Beetle is cowering in Ice's arms. A wall of grey paneling is behind them, with an electronic sign reading "intruder alert." /End ID.]

A friend once said that BG had bimbo lips in this picture and it stuck with me so vividly that not only do I ALSO now think that every time I see this pic, I always make sure when I'm drawing BG to "remember to give him the bimbo lips." Also I'm just really partial to Hughes' art of BG in general.

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

I was tagged by the coolest tumblrina @wvnjo to answer this ask game. Each time your personal tags show up on my dash, i think about how much someone as full of energy and ambition like you deserves to reach her life goals. I can't be more than a groupie who is cheering for you from the side, but i'm doing it with all my heart. 💗

Name: Imane

Sign: Lion sun, Taurus moon, Capricorn rising,

Height: 1,58m

Time: 18:45

Birthday: july 27th

Favourite bands/artists (the ones i always returned to in difficult times): Ali Farka Touré, Toumani Diabaté, Fayruz, Umm Kulthum, Cesaria Evora, Médine,  Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and so many more

Last movie: US by Jordan Peele

Last show: Severance (an instant favourite: series that mix sci-fi/political concept+ philosophical/metaphysical questions about the nature of identity+ impossible love stories will always have a special place in my heart)

When I created this blog: I think in 2011 but it's not my first blog on Tumblr

What I post: What my mood dictates me. I see my blog as kind of stream of consciouness created to calm and to relax. I reblog quasi exclusively (since i have no talent) all sort of arts (photography of nature, architecture, paintings, poetry, music, gifs of films) and sometimes current news about the world (Palestine), but in a specific order because my brain needs a visual/aesthetic connection to what i reblog and more importantly an invented (by me) narrative continuity between the posts. That's why i don't reblog immediately what i like or bookmark. I search/create in my mind the stories that gives sense to me to the flow of the pics/gifs i pick.

Last thing I googled: Algeria

Other blogs: Fandom blogs. It's pure nostalgia for my childhood favourite tv shows.

Do I get asks: Very rarely. That's why i rarely post personal thoughts. I think most of my followers prefer this blog to speak for itself, without additional thoughts...

Following: I don't get this one. Am i is supposed to say how many people i follow or who i follow?

Average hours of sleep: usually 6-8h. I can't have less: i'm too old to endure sleepless nights anymore.

Instruments: None

What I’m wearing: A cute blue dress i received as a gift from my mother who just came back from her holidays in Algeria.

Dream job: Quoting my muse @wvnjo "I don’t dream of labour". I studied law and worked in the field for years because i have a strong sense of justice. I loved to defend people but lost a lot of my illusions, so i quit. These days, i daydream of some activity, (not necessarily a job, volunteering would be very okay), with children: helping in a children library (i love to share books and stories with children) or teaching some after classes lessons to children of primary schools.

Nationality: algerian the only one that matters in my heart and forever. I have been born, raised and lived my entire life en France. I have the french citizenship but i don't feel i belong here. If my health condition was better, i would pobrably try to leave France.

Favourite songs (currently, it changes all the time): Sun May Shine by Tamino, all because my favourite music librarian @wvnjo rebloggged it and got me hooked. it's so melancholic and so soft at the same time, i think i will never be not haunted by Tamino's voice (and the notes of arab influence in his music certainly helped a lot).

Last book I read: The Willow Tree by Hubert Selby Jr. A very powerful modern story on revenge, grief and forgiveness about a young black american boy whose life is shattered when his hispanic girlfriend and him are attacked by a street gang enraged by the fact they are a racially mixed couple. I loved how the author used such a musical and poetic language to tell a a seemingly hopeless and dark tale, until grace comes from an unexpected place and enlightens again life.

3 fictional universes: Middle Earth. Battlestar Galactica. All poems and plays related to the House of Atreus: The Illiad, The Odyssey and The Oresteia.

Tagging all my mutuals and everyone who feel inspired by this ask game.