#also i love a rainy beach so the setting was super fun for me to write hehe

[markedasinfernal]

Happy holidays to @outofangband, here’s your gift for the TSS2019 exchange @officialtolkiensecretsanta! I will admit your request for a happy fic with Maedhros and Fingolfin is not really my style (I do sex, angst, and battles, sometimes simultaneously) so I’ve gone for catharsis instead. I hope you like it, and have a great holiday period! :)   

x

before the pitiless sea

Under rain-swollen clouds, a sky stretched grey, wordless was the meeting of the high king and the lord. Their footsteps pressed heavily into the sand.

Alone and separate each had come to this place; the high king arrayed in fair mail of blue and white as he rode proud through his lands, master of forest, river and sea. A crown of silver shone upon his crown, upon it jewels were threaded like stars; they glimmered as he rode through deep forests of pine and ash. To the coast his path was woven, and where the forest fell away to scrubland knolls, fresh tufts of grass battered low by the winds, there he dismounted, and in sombre mood he awaited his companion.

Not far behind the lord came walking; as a shadow amid the restless pines he slid from beneath their boughs, grey-clad in sombre robes. No crown or circlet did he wear; nay, his copper hair trailed free in the choppy breeze, and across his chest and shoulder a leather sling was borne, a cradle for his right arm swaddled still in cloth and potent herbs. Out into emptiness he came, out from the grasping shade, until both companions were met, and together there they stood a moment.

For so came to pass the meeting of Fingolfin, High King of the Noldor, and Maedhros son of Fëanor, upon the desolate coast unravelled; the wide sands swept away to the north and south, and before them the bitter sea. Iron-grey and restless there it moiled, waves capped with foam broke and fizzed upon the silvery sand, and drew back again, unto the faint horizon ceaseless. Together they stood still and listened, to the roar of the waves, to the ache of it in their hearts, and together silently they walked on, onto that empty beach, before the pitiless sea.

Onwards they wandered, each wrapped within his own solemn thought, until at last the high king raised his head, and softly said, "I thank you for your company. You did not have to heed my request, to come."

"I wished to," the lord replied. Pale scars pulled taut across his lips as he spoke.

To that the high king smiled, and raising his face to the broiling clouds sighed deeply. "The sea stirs my fëa, and still I would look westward, and set foot once more upon the Blessed Lands so fond in memory and in love. I would turn back the clock to happier times, to merriment and laughter, beneath the light of the Trees undimmed in grace."

The wind groaned across the beach; it stirred hissing rills of sand to smash upon their boots, and the high king's voice hardened.

"Yet we weary few cannot stem the tides of fate. We are unmanned before it, and rudderless must sail through its tempest, beholden to its fury. For fury it has: in anger the Doom was pronounced, and within it we are bound. It has taken so much from me, from us, and the sea is its keeper."

For a moment the high king turned away, and silently the lord watched him as with wrathful eyes he looked upon the water, and spite curled upon his lips. But as though a sudden weariness had come upon him he softened, he closed his eyes to the horizon and said, "I have lost my wife, sundered through fate, and she is the one whom I held dearest to me for long years of my life. And thou hast lost a brother, my nephew, not least among many, and against whose heart I can hold no blame in the perils that have passed."

At that the lord looked askance; grief welled up between his ribs, and such familiar guilt came after: his heartbeat pounded a dull, paralysing ache through his chest.

"Come," the high king said kindly, "though evil deeds have fallen twixt our kindred, lay them aside with me now. Let us think of them without hatred, and without sorrow. Let us see them for their light, and cast darkness aside."

Together then they drew to a halt, and though the clouds reeled overhead they heeded them not; together upon that desolate beach they stood in friendship, though each was alone in thought. Who can say of what their hearts truly whispered, of what secrets curled within their blood, but to those that asked they would say this:

The high king thought of love; of a dancing maid, the spray of her raven hair in the twilight as she whirled in frenetic movement, as the giddiness of the ballad swept her away; light as the breath of laughter upon her lips. He thought of her quill scratching upon rich parchment; her inventiveness, her words, her great essays on philosophy, poetry, politics, the eloquence of her closed his throat as though he might suffocate in her radiance. Yet he thought of her grief, their debates turned to quarrel, the soured words and stinging differences; he thought of her face upon that day, when all the lights drowned out in darkness, he remembered her face when he forsook her, and he would never forgive himself for that.

"I wish her peace," the high king murmured, and as the lord looked to him, he saw that he wept.

The lord thought of tenderness; of a mewling babe placed so carefully in his arms, one of two, alike yet different, a shock of hair like flame. How swiftly he grew, in mischief unparalleled, in humour unmatched; sharp with spear and fleet of foot amid the hunger of the hunt, but never cruel: how he cared for all things that drew breath upon that holy land. Of trees too he was named elf-friend, among the onodrim he would walk and sing, yet their deep wisdom could not sway him from his doom. The lord would never forget the gleam of flames upon the water, hear his father's laughter above the crack of wood, and though he had turned away he could still feel the heat of that burning seared across his back. He chose to be passive, he chose to be silent, and for it his brother had perished and countless evils been set into motion; the grief that came of that choice would weigh upon him forever.  

"I wish that they know no more of pain," the lord said softly; the winds snatched the words from his lips and tumbled them out to sea.

For a long while they stood silent, before the crash of the waves, until at last the high king stirred, and though tears ran still down his face, he smiled through them.

"Come," he said, "let go of sorrow. For we who walk upon these great lands will remember them in glory, and say their names in gladness. Those who we love are never truly gone; though Ulmo's realm should be sunderer or tomb, their spirits dwell in the Blessed Lands, and there they shall endure unwithered. And though we are exiled, cursed to wait until the breaking of the world when all is thrown down in tumult and ash, at least then we shall be reunited, and out of ruin there should come new joy, forgiveness and healing. This I know in my heart, and it makes me glad."

"Then it is a good thought," the lord replied, and smiled in kind, for it seemed to him that as he breathed anew the sea-breeze lightened him, that grief was smudged away; as the first droplets of rain drizzled down in fine mist some of the guilt pressed so deep into skin was trickled away with the water.

Together then they turned, and towards the forest at made their way back, and there parted in friendship; the lord raised his hand in farewell as the high king cantered away upon his great steed. Towards the trees the lord then walked, and beneath their boughs slipped away, silver amid the deepening shade.

Behind them both, the sea rolled on, the waves were unchanged, and the rain wiped smooth their footprints from the sand until they were no more.

[dayseternal-blog]

OK OK OK, I know I sound kind of weird but, could you pleaseee recommend some of the kinkiest naruhina fanfics?😳

Thank you so much🤍🤍

OK OK OK, you know you came to the right place 😳

I don’t know what you mean exactly by kinky, but I was thinking...I’ll just sort this by kinks hahahahahahha

OMG

This is going to include some of the MOST KINKY Naruhina fics I’ve ever read, EVER.  SOOO majorly inappropriate.  Also this will have some of the ones I’ve recommended before, but I’ll put everything under the cut.

NaruHina Smut & Kink

um hmmmm

Everything that follows is Rated Explicit.  Some of these fics are meant to be read with HUMOR.  Please enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

BDSM

“Echoes of Silence” by @ellaroundpanda - Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. Hinata Hyuga was trapped. Her relationship with Toneri was leading to nowhere and she wanted to find a new Dom. Naruto Uzumaki seemed to be the answer to all her prayers, but her fiancé wouldn’t give up that easily…

“Professor Passion” by omegas - College AU, Dom!Hinata & Sub!Naruto One-shot. Naruto is a new university student with a crush on his professor; Hinata Hyuga. Shy first dates and kisses quickly turn into a relationship, and Naruto discovers his professor’s provocative secret – along with one of his own.

“Secrets of the Hidden Leaf” by Sessakag - Includes a ton of different kinks. Canon-Divergent. Multi-chapter, Incomplete. The author’s summary hints at NaruHinaSasu, but they never got that far in the story. Naruto and Hinata push the boundaries of propriety and decency in a budding relationship of profound love and wild, sexual exploration.

“Out with the Old” by agitosgirl - Includes cheating, Modern AU. Two-shot. Hinata’s been mistreated by her current Dom, Toneri. Thankfully, another Dom has had his eyes set on her for awhile now.

“dorks.” by EroPrincess - Canon-Compliant, Multi-chapter, Complete. Random sexual exploits featuring Konoha’s most innocent couple.

“I want you to cry” by Devahhole - Includes a ton of kinks and things like dub-con and graphic murder, Multi-chapter, RECENTLY COMPLETE!!! A sociopath blinded by revenge runs into his greatest opponent.

“Some Like it Rough” by Cheating Death - Modern AU, One-shot. Yet she couldn’t help the thoughts that had been racing through her mind lately. Thoughts of her fiance using less restraint than he usually did.

Clones

“Clone Present” by @carny-writings - Canon Compliant (lol), One-shot. So it’s Hinata’s birthday; does this mean a Naruto Shadow Clone Gangbang is in order for our best girl?

“Hinata’s Rose Lips” by Plump_Hinata - Includes extreme Bimbo!Hinata, Canon Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto and Hinata are sent on a mission to find a mysterious flower. But they will get a big surprise when they find out that the "Rose Lips" flower has a special power. A power to turn young ladies into ultra-hot, super-busty, sexy bimbos, and Hinata will be its victim!

Stamina/Multiple Orgasms/Cum Inflation/Size Kink

“Honeymoon” by Prestige Frost - Canon-Divergent. One-shot. During their honeymoon, Hinata learned something new about her husband: he was an absolute stamina freak in the bedroom. How was the beach? Why, they never even left the room!

“Adventures of the Warlock’s Apprentice” by pizzansushi - Includes lactation and furry kink, Fantasy AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. One rainy night, a warlock, finds a stray cat in alley. He takes Hinata in and breaks her curse. Turns out, his smitten kitten is actually a young lady. Naruto the Warlock allows her to stay beside him as his apprentice, although her looks and wiles will likely be the death of him.

“Sweet Love Bakery” by pizzansushi - Includes lactation kink, Fantasy AU, One-shot (but supposed to be multi-chapter?). Tender and sweet. Love makes people feel full and satisfied. Naruto Uzumaki the Warlock and his wife Hinata Hyuga open a bakery tavern.

“The Pinocchio Effect” by Silent_Soul_Ken - Fantasy/Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto goes to see a Fortune Teller for a view into his luck however after his insult he'll find that he has a big problem and it's just getting bigger and bigger…

“Lord Hokage” by EroPrincess - Canon Compliant, Series of One-shots. Naruto loves it when Hinata screams out "Lord Hokage" during their lovemaking.

“Engaged or whatever…” by Devahhole - Rated E, Multi-chapter, Complete.  Shenanigans, jealousy, and sex ensue when Naruto and Hinata decide to tie the knot.

Squirting

“Unless the World Were to End” by @bunny-hoodlum - Modern AU, One-shot.  Anonymous internet friends decide to meet up IRL and give each other their first times.

“I’m in Here” by @bunny-hoodlum - RTN!Hinata, Canon-Divergent. One-shot. Thanks to Hinata’s newly acquired boldness, she and Naruto begin to explore their boundaries with each other – partly for distraction, partly for fun – But is Hinata the same Hinata anymore or not?

Voyeurism

“Unseen Audience” by @vegebulsoup​ - Canon-Divergent AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. He wondered what she might think if she found out about his new hobby. Surely, she would be mortified, embarrassed, and/or thoroughly creeped out. But still, he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

“Caught in the Act” by HoneyWriter78 - Modern/College AU, One-shot. Hinata decides to watch one of the adult videos at her workplace, not knowing that someone is watching her…

“Let Me See You” by callmesenorita - Canon Compliant (lol), Two-shot. When Naruto wakes to an empty bed, he is surprised to discover his wife indulging in an old habit. He’s also seriously turned on.

“Money Shot” by callmesenorita - College AU. Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto can’t help noticing that his soft-spoken, new girlfriend bears similarities to PearlPrincess…but there’s no way Hinata, of all people, livestreams those kinds of videos, right?

Cheating

“A Maid’s Responsibility” by agitosgirl - Modern AU, One-shot. It had been a year since he and Sakura had been physical. Now he had Hinata, sweet, kind, caring Hinata.

“All Kinds of Wrong” by Kieren - Crime AU. One-shot. It was ironic how something so pure had sprung from such a sordid arrangement. They were perfect for each other. But they had met at the wrong time.

Drugged/Dub-Con/Non-Con

“Side Effects” by Cheating Death - Includes graphic non-con/dub-con, Modern AU. Multi-chapter, Complete.  Naruto and Hinata decide to participate in a high-paying clinical study, but the pay turns out to be too good to be true.

“Shinobi Passions” by HoneyWriter78 - Canon-Divergent AU. Multi-Chapter, Incomplete. When a mission takes a surprising turn for the worse, only Naruto can help her through the night…

“A Love Never Seen” by HoneyWriter78 - High School AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata Hyuga attend Konoha High she is part of the athletics group. She is friends with Ino and Shikamaru but is secretly in love with Shikamaru who is oblivious and loves someone else. She tried to fight her feelings not noticing that a certain senpai has had his eyes on her…

“Warped” by BountifullyBeautifullyBlessed - College AU. Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata can’t sleep and her roommate, Naruto, is more than willing to help her out.

“Heavy Sleeper” by InTheMist032000 - Canon-Divergent AU, Two-shot. Hinata has a peculiar way of sleeping, and a knack for sleeping through all kinds of things. Naruto is intrigued and makes it a game to see how far he can go before she wakes up.

Semi-Public/In Public

“The Lustful Maid” by HoneyWriter78 - Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata Hyuga wakes up in an unknown room on an unknown bed, after one of the most worst days of her life. Her only memory is knocking into a tall blonde handsome guy with her juice spilled over him! Was it a dream? I think not as now she has signed a contract to be his very own personal maid!

“The Superstar Falls in Love” by HoneyWriter78 - Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto Uzumaki is a superstar, he and his band Kyubi set off clubbing after their opening night in Konoha. There he meets a blue haired beauty that immediately captures his attention. Will this blonde superstar playboy finally fall in love?

“A Shirt, a Neckerchief and my Bag on my Shoulders” by @badluckbrebis​ - Summer Camp AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. Hinata is freezing cold as she washes up in a nearby stream despite the poor weather, until Naruto unexpectedly shows up to shelter her…

“Nighttime Workout” by Breezyanimetra - College AU, Two-shot. Shy Hinata doesn’t usually have the courage to speak with her long time crush Naruto. All she does is watch him workout wishing she can do more. A snow storm one fateful night changes that for her.

“21 Days” by @bunny-hoodlum - Includes dub-con, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Anonymous internet friends decide to meet up IRL and give each other their first times.

Pregnancy

“Vacation” by Prestige Frost - Includes foot fetish among other kinks, Canon Divergent AU, One-shot. Their honeymoon was just the beginning. For Naruto and Hinata Uzumaki, the love they shared only grew with each passing day.

“The Art of Seduction” by katraine - Canon Compliant (?), One-shot.  ...as only Uzumaki Hinata can do.

“October Tenth” by ShiroiNoKiba - Includes lactation kink and miscarriage scare, Canon-divergent. Two-shot.  Naruto’s pregnant wife surprises him at home for his birthday.

Dark!Naruto/Demon/Kyuubi

“Calming the Beast” by Goldfishlover73 - Includes cheating, Canon-Divergent. One-shot. Naruto can’t understand why his relationship with Sakura just isn’t working. Hinata has a solution.

“Honeymoon” by DemonOfTheFridge - Includes graphic rape/non-con, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto always left on a secret mission once a year for a whole month. A curious Hinata finally had enough and followed him to an underground house. A house she finds herself trapped in, with a dark Naruto. Curiosity Killed the Cat.

“Breeding Season” by BlackMajjicDuchess - Includes rape/non-con, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Completely out of pattern, Kyuubi leaks free and causes terrible destruction that Naruto cannot suppress. There is a solution, but it comes at a terrible price.

“In a Demon’s Possession” by HoneyWriter78 - Demons AU. Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Pursued by the snake demon Orochimaru for their mysterious bloodline, Neji and Hinata accidentally trespass into Lord Kyuubi’s territory.

Furry/Mating/Alpha/Omega Dynamics

“A Wild Love” by agitosgirl - Fox!Naruto and Bunny!Hinata, Two-shot. They are a mix of humans and animal. They form communities and societies with their own species. Unfortunately, Hinata from the bunny section of the wood, finds herself in danger of being eaten.

“Love at First Sniff” by agitosgirl - Fox!Naruto and Mouse!Hinata, One-shot. Finding your one true love is the easiest thing that anyone can do. Hinata sets out to find the one male who will become the love of her life.

“Drainage City Tales” by Silent_Soul_Ken - Includes mutation/gender changes, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto is a young man working in Fume City's mining operation recently orphaned he struggles to survive and out of desperation eats some fish. Unusually large and bloated fish eating them will cause a change he never wanted but must now accept. But when Hinata a young noble girl who loves him, finds he's missing she'll do all she can to be with him.

“Naruto’s Mate” by funkychicken67 - Canon Divergent AU, Two-shot. Naruto receives a...gift from the nine tails. And Hinata gets in the way.

“When the Devil Picks Up a Stray” by callmesenorita - Rated E, A/B/O Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata, an Omega, questions buried feelings when she decides to help a childhood friend who has adopted a new persona under the name Menma. Although their attraction is instant he is no longer the Naruto she once knew, and soon enough Hinata is thrust into a dangerous yakuza conspiracy.

“A Fate Worse than Death” by Caelestia - A/B/O Canon-Divergent, One-shot.  Naruto, improperly socialized and traumatized as a child, rejects his inner Alpha, which has devastating consequences on his family and marriage.  “A Risky Bet” is its fluffier follow-up (One-shot).

I feeeeel like I might be forgetting some, but that’s a lot! :D  Happy fic reading!!!!

[thatslikely]

Seasons- G.W. Headcannons

dating George Weasley through the seasons

Warnings: mentions of food, but it's all fluff

Word Count: 1.4k

A/N: just thought it would be fun! Let me know if you want this for any other characters!

George Taglist: @hufflepuff5972

if you want to be added to the taglist, reply to this post, send me an ask, or dm me!

I recommend listening to this playlist while reading for the best experience!

----

Winter

On the first snowfall of the season, you two definitely built an adorable little snowman, complete with coal eyes (you probably stole Ron's scarf for his neck). You told George about the muggle story Frosty the Snowman, and he tried to find a spell to recreate Frosty.

The next day, you two gradually started amassing a large snowman army. Inevitably, in the middle of construction, George betrayed you with an icy snowball to your back.

Naturally, this incited a five day-long snowball war that increasingly got more and more intense. George was surprisingly good at building sturdy snow forts, so you never really stood a chance against his defences. He could have probably constructed a 7 foot tall barricade in a matter of minutes!

Even if you two are locked in battle, he'll always take time to admire the way the white snowflakes rest in your hair so beautifully, as well as the fiery determination behind your eyes.

Fiesty battles aside, George always made sure that you were warm and cozy after a long day in the cold, making homemade hot cocoa using Molly's famous recipe.

One day, long after the ���Snow Skirmish’, you convince him to go ice skating with you; he absolutely fell in love with it. For a while, he had to hold onto your arms for balance, which led to a lot of falls considering he's a giant compared to you.

Eventually he got the hang of it and you taught him how to play muggle hockey, which he picked up quite quickly. He eventually got all the Weasleys hooked, and they held weekly tournaments. You were always George's favorite cheerleader.

If he ever became a little too cocky, he'd fall face-first onto the hard ice, which always brought a small smile to your face. He always laughed with you, too.

On snowless days, however, you two went on 'expeditions', which entailed peaceful walks through the woods, hand-knitted gloves intertwined.

You'd always keep your eyes peeled for birds or foxes, and occasionally he swore he saw a yeti. You were surprised he never got Fred to dress up in a yeti suit, at least not yet.

Spring

One word: picnics.

You spent the majority of springtime down at the Burrow, enjoying the pleasant spring weather. There were huge multicolored flower fields surrounding George's childhood home, making it even more fitting for the season.

Some days, he'd take you down to the creek past the Burrow, and the two of you would stand ankle-deep in the cool, flowing water. Sometimes, if he was feeling a bit mischievious, he’d splash you with some of the refreshing water, you quickly returning the favor.

Occasionally, he'd try to catch a little leaping frog, holding it carefully in his big palms. He was enchanted by the tiny creature, and without fail, he always begged you to let him keep it.

"But Terrance needs a home! We can make him a terrarium and everything! Please?"

Some days, he'd take you up to the Tree, which laid on a soft, grassy hill in the middle of a luscious yellow flower field. A single tire swing hung from its burly and ancient branches.

Often times, he'd sit at the base of the trunk, either dozing off or humming a song from his youth. If you chose to sit with him, however, he'd braid your hair perfectly and pick some colorful flowers to accent it.

"My little Angel, you look so pretty with flowers in your hair."

You'd always pick some petals for his ginger mop, too.

"Now we're matching, Georgie. Daffodils compliment your hair beautifully."

He loved to push you in the tire swing. He was far too big to fit in it now, to your dismay, but he was perfectly satisfied pushing you back and forth in it. It almost reminded him of rocking a baby cradle.

On rainy days, he'd fetch old rain boots from the attic. He'd always wear Bill's old pair, you wearing his'. The area around the small creek was all muddy, and you can't tell me he wouldn't make mud pies. Even if he's way too old for them.

"Darling, would you care for a pie?"

"And what does it taste like, exactly?"

"It's my signature flavor, mud!"

Summer

I firmly believe George is a good cook. He just is (see my chef!George fic for elabroation).

One sweltering day, you and him went out to the gardens and pick ripe, ruby-red strawberries to chop up and make into homemade strawberry ice cream.

His ice cream would surpass Fortescue's by a lot. Like it's scary. From then on, he made it every Saturday morning, even on chilly winter days.

Sometimes he'd turn adventurous and try some new flavors, which were normally pretty good, until he got a little too creative and made caramel watermelon ice cream. From then on, he stuck with the classics.

In the evenings, a small bonfire was lit and all the Weasleys spent the night drinking and dancing. Bill held a guitar concert, George and Arthur grilled up some hot dogs (which were juicy and delcious), Fred set off some fireworks, and Ginny held fiercely competitive broom races.

When everyone went inside, exhausted, you and George stayed outside, listening to the crickets chirping and admiring the clear, country sky. He pointed out his favorite constellations to you, reenacting the myths behind them with you as his co-actor (you can't tell me we wouldn't let you fake-stab him and he'd fall to the grass super dramatically).

Beach days: a must have.

George would definitely wear red/maroon swim trunks, and there would always be a white stripe of sunscreen on his freckled nose, even after he furiously rubbed it in.

He'd always love the bathing suit you sported, whether it was a gingham bikini or a gorgeous silver one piece. He loved you so much, you never felt self conscious around him.

He'd take you to a secret, tucked-away beach, and you two would spend the day building elaborate sand castles, burying you deep in the sand, and searching for pretty sea shells and sand dollars.

“Where do you think you’re going, Mister? You can’t just leave me buried under the san like this!”

“Someone’ll find you eventually. I just want all the icecream for myself, what can I say? Oh fine, I’ll dig you up, darling.”

Autumn

Autumn at the Burrow was like nothing else. There was always a seemingly endless supply of pumpkin juice and apple juice on tap, and traditions were ampted up to the max.

Pumpkin carving was taken very seriously, and you and George were no exceptions. You and him were never artsy per se, but you always tried your hardest together to crave an intricately designed pumpkin. It always turned out pretty decent, to your surprise.

George and Fred would constantly wear scary masks and hide around he Burrow, or plant fake spiders in the cupboards in hopes of scaring Ron. It always worked.

Since the weather was so nice and chilly, he'd always go around the woods with you collecting a pile of some good sticks for a tree fort. He always carried the branches, and you collected the prettiest orange leaves you could find, for a collage or scrapbook.

All fall, he worked on building a small, secluded tree fort, which was definitely worth it in the end. You two stayed up late into the night, telling ghost stories, kissing, or inviting the whole Weasley clan for a good old fashioned game of Truth or Dare.

As for Halloween, you guys already know he goes overboard. He decorated every inch of every wall with black and orange streamers, fake cobwebs, and little baby pumpkins. It was always really sweet; he'd always wear a proud grin after the whole house was adorned to his liking.

For costumes, I'm 99% sure that you two would always do pun-y couple costumes think him dressing up as a cereal box and you as a killer, or him as a ghost and you a pepper).

You two would also 100% go to a costume store, and buy as much cheap hair gel as you could, all so you two could make each spiky Mohawks (you'd never admit it to George, but he pulled them off).

One time, he let you take him to a muggle farm for the day. You decided it would be fun to do a corn maze. The both of you got lost for three hours. From then on, he just stuck with hay rides.

Spending time with George was always fun, year-round.

[lothlaer]

P and X for the ask game!!

thank you so much @kairoses !! 💙 and sorry uh this got a bit out of hand 

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

dead end british seaside town au. the classic: people disappear and get murdered all the time but nobody talks about it, and there’s definitely some kind of monster in the water, and dark slithering creatures that crawl around the bandstands/fairgrounds/ballrooms at night - in fact the entire pier just disappears sometimes, but that’s just how it’s always been, a trick of the light, who are we to question it? ~ aesthetic. 

jaskier busks and plays music on the sea front and in bingo halls and grimy bars and desperately wants to leave for somewhere a bit more glamorous, but he’s still enamoured by the sea, by the shitty, grey, every-day bleak normality that is his home town with its glimmers of colour and the fading memories of once vibrant, joyful holiday-goers; and the monsters. he’s definitely still interested in the weird shit that happens here, especially how nobody seems to be noticing or saying anything about it. one of those weird things being the man he sees in the middle of rainy streets or on the beach at odd times of day and night, always just slightly out of sight, on the edge of his vision. he thinks he’s got a stalker which is, frankly, the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to him. one night, he finally manages to follow the guy. they end up at the shore, jaskier watching as the man climbs into a boat and rows himself out just to where the water gets deep. jaskier commandeers his own boat (he knows people ok they’re fiiiine with him borrowing their boats) and follows him out. 

the man’s white hair stands out in the dark, in the light from the torch he’s set up in the boat. he reaches a hand down into the water, and jaskier thinks he’s completely insane or doing some weird version of fishing when holy shit, holy shit that’s a - woman? he’s pulling up onto the boat, a... woman with a tail. a mermaid. that’s a... that’s a whole mermaid and she’s.. wait...... yennefer? 

he knows her - she’s a fortune teller with a shop on the seafront. he doesn’t really believe in it but he goes in to get tarot readings for fun (always scarily accurate), and he sees her sitting in bars sometimes when he plays. they’ve talked and shared more than a few blunts outside clubs and on the beach. he would call them friends. (she absolutely wouldn’t) 

he must make a noise because they both turn to look at him. oh fuck. oh god he’s gona die. but nope they just row over to him and haul him back to shore. yennefer’s tail disappears and whoa maybe he was hallucinating and she’s not a mermaid and - she’s half-siren, actually. she spends most of her time on land but visits the ocean often, never feeling like she quite fits in either place. 

turns out the entire town is full of monsters and creatures and jaskier may or may not be part-something-else but never knew it. geralt’s been keeping an eye on him because he’s been making too much noise about the weird things going on and is obviously somehow not aware that he is in fact one of the weird things too. there’s a fragile eco-system that’s being thrown out of balance - it’s a place where humans and creatures have lived together peacefully for hundreds of years, but something (or someone) is targeting humans and monsters alike, making them fear each other. geralt has been acting as a reluctant go-between for years, trying to keep the peace and figure out who’s behind the disturbances. cue lots of trying to fix this shit while also falling annoyingly in love. (maybe the town’s not so dead-end after all)

other completely unrelated thought i had: they all work the night shift in a 24 hour supermarket. jaskier likes working the tills because ~people person~ and he gets to say annoying shit over the PA system, but he abandons his post for 90% of his shifts to go piss off his co-workers. yennefer steals and eats food right off the shelves and goes ham on the price label sticker machine every night. she’s costing the company thousands. geralt stacks shelves so he can avoid interaction and he enjoys making every display super neat, but yen ruins that and jaskier always comes over and just talks at him for hours on end. they make his life hell. i don’t know what any of this means but eventually they all quit/get fired in spectacular fashion and run away together

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

i’m a whump fan so will never get tired of good hurt/comfort. absolutely here for nearly killing my fave and then having other characters get all angsty about it, and then bam tearful reunion, now i must tell you how much i love you because GOD i thought you were gonna DIE

send me questions to celebrate my 1 month blog-birthday!

[comicteaparty]

July 29th-August 4th, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from July 29th, 2020 to August 4th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

Recommendation free-for-all!  Name every webcomic you think people should be checking out!

boogeymadam

Joe is Dead - https://tapas.io/series/JoeIsDead

When a pirate is found dead with a mysterious will, crewmember Cricket is sent away to do as his will asks

Heirs of the Veil - http://heirsoftheveil.fervorcraft.de/

An Urban Fantasy about a witch who is aided by the Magical Guardian (known as The Strayer) of the area in search of her missing mother

Xii: of Magic & Muses - https://xiicomic.com/

When Willow wakes from a mysterious dream with a magical amulet that can infect other girls with Magical Girl abilities, she begins to question their bizarre all girl's school

The Guide to a Healthy Relationship - http://tgtahr.spiderforest.com/

Upon discovering his now ex-childhood friend isn't dead, an emotionally immature alcoholic tries to make amends for ruining their friendship.

Wychwood - http://wychwood.sevensmith.net/

Tiara's alien ability to conjure fire is tested in a world set twenty years after the world was invaded and then rescued from a terrifying alien force.

O' Sarilho - https://sarilho.net/en/

A Scifi comic about future roman soldiers who travel into enemy territory to find a satellite... that isn't a satellite :')

Ghost Junk Sickness - https://www.ghostjunksickness.com/

An Action-Scifi about two space-facing bounty hunters with an unstable dynamic chasing a dangerous bounty known as "The Ghost"

Cunning Fire - https://www.cunningfire.com/

Young Witch Akiva Stein is recruited by a coven of Chicago witches to travel into the afterworld and create the Elixir of Life

Keyspace: A Winged Tale - https://tapas.io/series/KEYSPACE-A-Winged-Tale

A wingless girl and her feathered friends journey into an underground laboratory to look for her scientist mother.

The Sea In You - https://tapas.io/series/theseainyou `While trying to clean up the beach, Corinth meets a mermaid. In fact, she's nearly drowned by one.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Every webcomic I recommend would be over 100 of them, so I'm not posting all those separate links! But here's my recs page with completed comics, with some genre info and a little blurb for each: https://www.bicatperson.com/links/references/finished-comics/

And here's my ComicRocket reading list - a few of them are to-read bookmarks, but for the rest I'm deep into the archives and always ready for more: https://www.comic-rocket.com/users/SailorPtah/

Follow Erin Ptah and others on Comic Rocket to see what comics they're sharing with you!

Miranda (Into the Swell)

Ok. I didn't know Comic Rocket was a thing but that is hella handy!!

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

It is SO handy! If you want to follow lots of comics it is absolutely lifesaving.

Miranda (Into the Swell)

Ya. I'm now setting up a reading list for me haha

RebelVampire

Centralia 2050 - https://centralia2050.com/ About: The story follows Midori, who has no memories, Grey, the unwitting dude who winds up babysitting, and some scary conspiracies they find along the way. Why: It's a fantastically drawn sci-fi with some interesting themes about discrimination and plenty of mystery. Radio Silence - http://www.radiosilencecomic.com/ About: The story follows a band as they basically live life and deal with success, family, and the band life. Why: Lots of great and relatable characters and has a great mix of both comedy and drama in a very pleasing slice of life way. Voidchild - https://tapas.io/series/Voidchild/info About: Voidchild is the story of Mary who possesses supernatural powers and consequently becomes involved in supernatural happenings going. Why: The action is really nice, the supernatural aspects interesting, and if you like seeing people develop their skills over the course of the comic, this is a great example. Alethia - https://alethia.kstipetic.com/index.html About: Alethia is a sci-fi comic about robots where each city is plagued by its own dilemma that's up for one robot to try and solve. Why: I consider this very literally to be the best sci-fi webcomic available. It is exactly what the genre is supposed to be, beautifully drawn, and I could write you a 10 page essay about every reason you should read Alethia. Super Galaxy Deluxe Knights R - http://sgkdr.webcomic.ws/ About: This is a story about Mizuki who doesn't believe in the rules and fixes problems with good strategy and crazy magic. Why: One of the best comedy webcomics in my opinion. Great timing, great payoff, and creative fights. Also Sword Warrior. The Pale - https://tapas.io/series/The-Pale About: This is a story about a small town and what happens when murders start happening. Why: Another beautifully drawn comic, and really one of the few that fills the small town murder mystery niche few comics go for.

RebelVampire

Apricot Cookie(s)! - https://apricotcookies.net/ About: The comic is a comedy about Apricot who lives in a world where basically all school kids are magical girls and she is the only one who can't transform. Why: One of the best parody comics out there. Very smart writing, and lots to laugh and enjoy. The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiiniyya - https://reimenayee.com/the-carpet-merchant-of-konstantiniyya/ About: The story follows a humble carpet merchant who has an unfortunate encounter with a vampire. Why: This offers a double whammy with beautiful, detailed art and fantastic story-telling that pulls at the heart strings. Maiden of the Machine - https://maidenmachine.com/ About: A romance story set in a steampunk world where class divides and societal expectations are a problem. Why: Very nicely paced romance with interesting characters and an interesting world. Sombulus - http://www.sombulus.com/ About: An adventure fantasy comic about a trio of misfits who go to different places, cause havoc, but also somehow kind of fix things. Why: One of those comics where it's really about the journey and having a fun time experiencing that journey. Plus, the world and set up is interesting with just enough bait for theorists. Chirault - http://chirault.sevensmith.net/ About: A fantasy comic about Kiran, a demon hunter, and Teeko, the victim of a spell gone wrong, and how they whoops into a magical adventure that risks the entire world. Why: Chirault is beautiful with great and memorable characters, well-designed world, and just everything you could want from fantasy. Rainy Day Dreams - http://rainydaydreams.mariahcurrey.com/ About: A comic about a world of monsters where Tristin the oopsed into the world human, Mara the magic mature one, and Michael the regular ol' vampire becomes friends and navigate life. Why: A lot to offer in both fantasy and comedy, so overall just a really enjoyable, light-hearted read.

Ring Spell - https://ring-spell.com/ About: A fantasy, slice of life about witches, wizards, and something about rings. Why: Super crisp and beautiful art combined with plenty of mysteries to keep the brain thinking.

Many more I could add, but I will stop there with my walls.

mathtans

It occurs to me that I mentioned a bunch in the CTP talk but never tossed them in here. Some of them already are mentioned above, so for the others...

https://tapas.io/series/champs (Lesbians, wrestling, an interesting mix)

https://tapas.io/series/The-Cat-The-Vine-and-The-Victory/info (Real interesting world built here, engaging plot and characters, long runner.)

https://nattosoup.com/ (7" Kara, for anyone fond of watercolours and the idea that tiny people exist. Currently has a kickstarter going)

Enjoy, all the best, thanks for the memories. ^^

Comic Tea Party

And this wraps up our last #reader_favorites chat. We appreciate everyone for joining these chats and helping us explore tons of different kinds of comics. It’s been a blast not only learning about your personal tastes, but also finding out about new comics in general. Thanks for spreading the love! For this conversation, and all past #reader_favorites chats, you’ll be able to find them archived here: https://comicteaparty.com/readerfavorites

[ramenkween]

Lover

Billy Hargrove x female reader

Summary: Billy has found peace and happiness since meeting you one month after the events of July 4 1985. Five years later, you and Billy reside in a small beach house in California and celebrate your first Christmas there.

Words: 2,580

 inspired by the song Lover by Taylor Swift.

Warnings: none, apart from the fact this is super long and I am so so sorry for that! I got really excited when writing this but I hope you all like it, this is my first Billy x female reader fic ever!

 …

Santa Monica, California

1990

You and Billy have been living in the bustling city of Santa Monica, California for almost 6 months. It was everything you both wanted; to be away from Hawkins, Indiana, and in the place where you both dreamed of being. Billy spoke of California non-stop since you both declared your love for each other one starry night in a football field of a town you longed to get away from. You suggested Santa Monica as your place to reside after going on a date to the movies to watch The Lost Boys, where Santa Monica was renamed Santa Carla. So, the two of you were determined to make that dream possible; with the help of your supportive parents (who loved and accepted Billy the moment you introduced him to them) and after working a series amount of jobs and saving every penny you received, you left behind the dreaded town of Hawkins, Indiana in the rainy sight of Billy’s rear-view mirror, awaiting the sunshine and sea salt waves of Santa Monica. Billy joked that if there were any more vampires lurking there, you’d be fully ready thanks to Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander’s handy guide to vampire slaying.

The beach house you bought there was very small, but the two of you didn’t care. It looked run down and was in need of serious repair when you bought it, but the two of you worked hard to make it yours. The two of you continued to work to pay for other expenses; Billy secured a job as Santa Monica Beach’s lifeguard and surfing instructor, gaining the attention of all the women yet again. But Billy ignored them all; he knew his heart was yours. You worked as a barmaid at the pier’s popular barcade – a place where adults can drink and play Pac-Man at the same time. It wasn’t the greatest salary of course, but it was enough to keep you sustained.

 Santa Monica was also just an hour’s drive away from Billy’s mother, too. You had the pleasure of finally meeting her; she’s as beautiful as Billy described her, and even more so kind. You have her over as much as you can and it makes Billy happy. You remember when you first invited her over for dinner; when you finished and was in the kitchen washing up you overhear a conversation between the two of them.

“Billy… I’m so sorry” she started to cry. “I am so, so sorry that I never came back for you. I should’ve come back for you…” Billy quickly pulled his mother into his arms and gently embraced her. Billy was a lot taller than her now as he kissed her forehead.

“Mom, it’s okay” he comforted her as he held her face in his hands. “I never stopped thinking about you.”

“I just wish you didn’t have to go with your father… I wish I was there for you…” Billy sat her down at the table which was half cleaned.

“Listen to me” he spoke gently. “If I hadn’t gone to Hawkins, I wouldn’t have met Y/N. She makes me happy, mom. And now that we’re both here, we’re not going anywhere.”

Billy’s mom wiped her tears away and let out a small laugh as you entered the room, wiping your hands. They both looked at you.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt –”

“Don’t be silly” she murmured. “Y/N, come here.” She took your hand as you approached her, placing it on top of Billy’s hand. She covered both your hands with hers, gripping it tightly.

“You’re both wonderful people” she started to say. “Look after each other in this new life you have together. Remember that along the way you will have your disagreements, but love is the most important thing you both have. You have each other, and that’s all that matters in the world.”

You and Billy looked at each other, hearts full of love and wonder. His eyes sparkled the way they always did when he looked at you, and you always had the fluttery feeling in your stomach.

“I love your son more than anything” you said without taking your eyes off Billy. “There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do for him.”

The night went on with just the three of you; it was the happiest you’d both been.  

Three months after moving there, Billy even surprised you with a new addition to your lives; a black and white Siberian husky puppy. You were over the moon and ever so excited to raise her. Billy specifically got a husky since it resembled a wolf but also remembered a brief conversation the two of you had years ago; you told him that his spirit animal would most definitely be a wolf because of their representation of freedom and perseverance. They also conveyed strength and courage – all the key factors you’ve seen Billy portray since that night on Fourth of July five years ago.

“We’ll call her Liberty” he said, smiling whilst cradling her in his arms. “Libby for short. What do you think?”

A smile stretched across your face as you admired the view of Billy gently swaying your new puppy. “Liberty Hargrove. It’s perfect.”

And it really was. Your life was perfect in every aspect of the word.

 The house overlooked Santa Monica beach below and the two of you would surf almost every day at sunrise; Billy taught you how to ride the waves like he promised and showed you to be fearless of the waters. When you’d finish surfing and return to your beloved home, you’d make breakfast while Billy took Libby out for a quick walk around the neighbourhood. You made friends quickly and was pretty much welcomed by the community. Some nights after a busy day at work, you’d make room in your small living room to slow dance to the rock ballads of your senior year of high school. You’d pick Libby up and sway her along with you when she started getting insistent to join in on the fun. On your days off together, which would be on some weekdays and most weekends, you would simply relax together in the living room with the doors wide open, catching the sea breeze and morning sun on your skins; you’d be sitting cross-legged on the sofa reading a book while Billy sat on the floor opposite, strumming small tunes on the acoustic guitar you gifted him for his 19th birthday.

“Sounds beautiful, baby” you’d tell him while reading. Billy let out a low chuckle as he played around with the strings. “I may or may not be writing a song for you” he teased. That same night when Libby had drifted to sleep, he’d start singing you a song about a man who loved a goddess of the sea. His voice was slightly out of tune and raspy, but you loved it nonetheless. After longing kisses and confessions of how much you both loved one another, it would carry on to an endless night of passionate lovemaking. Two souls connecting as one, never wanting to let go of one another and losing yourself in the thrill of it all. You’d both sleep in the next morning, locked in each other’s naked embrace and tangled in the sheets of the fun from the night before. You’d usually be the first to wake up to admire Billy’s sleeping face, curly blonde hair partially covering his face and his cheek pressed against the pillow. You sweep his hair away from his face and give him gentle kisses on his forehead, the tip of his nose before softly kissing his lips, feeling him smile as you do.

“Good morning, angel” you whisper as you stroke his cheek with your fingertips.

“Hey baby” he said with his rumbly morning voice.

“Would you like some breakfast?” You asked. Billy perched up and groaned a morning stretch; eyes half open as he enthusiastically stated what he wanted.

“Umm… I want… Some pancakes… with the fresh strawberries in the mixture like you always do. Pretty please?”

You give him a passionate kiss before getting out of bed and dressing yourself with the burgundy shirt Billy wore the night before, making your way to your small kitchen. You’d then know that the rest of the day would be perfect.  You and Billy lived the simple life together contently and happily for the past 6 months. It couldn’t get any better than this… could it?

 Christmas Eve, 1990

 It was your first Christmas together in your small beach house in the city. You and Billy had put up the tree two weeks ago, taking Polaroid photos as you went along. The tree was almost as tall as Billy and you decorated it with ornaments and lights, topping it with a silver star. Christmas Eve came around; you and Billy planned a small gathering with some friends you made in your time living there. Billy’s mom was there too, but she didn’t stay for too long as she had plans with friends of her own. Your parents sent a postcard from Hawkins, saying how much they missed you both and wished you a Merry Christmas for your first one away from them. 

Much later the gathering came to an end and your guests went home, leaving you and Billy alone. As you prepared to clean, Billy took his arms around your waist and beckoned you to set them aside for now while you join him for a slow dance in the silence.

“Finally some alone time with my girl,” he said as he kissed your forehead. Libby whined in the background. Billy rolled his eyes and you both laughed.

“We love you too, Libby” you reassured. You wrapped your arms around Billy’s neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss. You continued to dance in the quiet atmosphere.

We can leave the Christmas lights up ‘til January

This is our place, we make the rules

And there’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear

Have I known you 20 seconds, or 20 years?

 “What’s on your mind, babe?” you whispered up at him. He looked down at you.

“Nothing, just… you.”

“What about me?” you ask.

“Everything about you. I’m happy you’re here.”

 Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

And ah, take me out, and take me home

You’re my, my, my, my lover

 “Would you have believed it if five years ago someone told you you’d be here with me?” you question. He slowly dips you backwards and up again, cradling you against the crook of his neck.

“I’d tell them they’re crazy. There is no way I thought I’d ever be here with you, in this place, this life. We took a while but we’re here.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Of course, baby. I’d do it all again if I had to.”

 We could let our friends crash in the living room

This is our place, we make the call

And I’m highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you

I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, but I want them all

 Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

And ah, take me out, and take me home

You’re my, my, my, my lover

 After a quick kiss, Billy pulls away from you and holds your hands as he slowly gets down on one knee. You feel your heart race against your chest.

“Billy… What… What are you doing?!”

Billy says nothing for a moment as he admiringly looks at you. He takes a deep breath and you feel his hands shaking.

“I was gonna do this tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Y/N, I thought I was gonna die that night. In fact, I was ready to. I’d been an asshole most of my life, and I thought people would be better off without me, you know? But then I’d been given a second chance, and then I met you. And you made me a better man than I ever thought I could be, and you make me happy. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m not gonna risk losing you. So, if you let me…” Billy reached for his back pocket and pulled out a silver ring with a small diamond, holding it up to you. “I want to make the most of my second chance with you forever.”

You start to blink rapidly, trying your best to hold back your tears.

“Oh my god, oh my god…” you feel like you’re about to explode.

“Y/N, I love you. I’ve always loved you. Will you marry me?”

“Are you freaking kidding me?! YES!” before Billy could say anything, you tackle him to the ground and embrace him tightly. He wraps his strong arms around you and rolls you to your back so he hovers over you. Libby happily barks as she tries to jump at both of you with full energy.

“You’re serious right now?” he asked. You cup his cheek and see that his eyes are glistening with tears.

“I am so serious, baby. I want to marry the shit out of you.”

Billy sighs happily as he slides the ring on your finger. He leans down to kiss you before lying on the floor next to you. He takes your hand with the shiny ring and presses it to his lips.

“Mrs Y/N Hargrove… I could get used to that” you say as you admire the ring.

“Oh man, mom is gonna be so happy when I tell her” Billy exclaims. You begin to reminisce the night in the football field when you were both 18; you lay in the cold grass as you looked up at the starry night sky when Billy told you he loved you for the first time. That moment you realised you loved him too. Never had you even dared to dream that he would ask to marry you years later.

“You know we still have to clean, right?” you gestured to the messy table across you. Billy groaned, “In a minute. I want to just spend this moment with my new fiancée”. With that, he gets up off the floor walks over to your record player and puts on a slow song. He extends his hand, “Dance with me again?”

You gather yourself from the floor and take his hand. He pulls you in close and within seconds you’re slowly moving together to the beat of the song.  

“I love you, Billy Hargrove. I love you so damn much.”

Billy brushes your hair behind your ear, gently stroking your jaw.

“I love you too, baby. Forever.”

 Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand?

With every guitar string scar on my hand

I take this magnetic force-of-a-man to be my lover

My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue

All’s well that ends well to end up with you

Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover

And you’ll save all your dirtiest jokes for me

And at every table, I’ll save you a seat, lover

Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

And ah, take me out, and take me home (forever and ever)

You’re my, my, my, my

Oh you’re my, my, my, my

Darling, you’re my, my, my, my lover

[asterinjapan]

the end of a journey

And that wraps up my collection posts for this trip. How time has flown by…

As always, I like to do a final post in which I look back on my travelling, before I close this blog until my next trip. I am going to do that this time as well, but my reflections on Okinawa will be slightly different than expected, as in the early morning of October 31, the main buildings of Shuri Castle were destroyed in a fire. Thankfully there were no human casualties, but the loss of the castle cuts deep for Okinawa, and it would feel odd to just cheerily babble about visiting the castle without touching upon what happened a mere 4 weeks later (to the day, I now realize).

I uh, might have postponed this entry so that I could pretend I didn’t have to close the chapter of this trip, haha. But with my photo album done, all that’s left is my final words.

Now without further ado, the final post for Japan 2019!

  One would think that after eight previous trips, another flight to Japan would feel like routine, but the start was already different since I needed a domestic flight transfer. However, being able to see the islands of Okinawa from the plane awed me, and definitely set the tone for my enjoyment of the main island. I arrived with fairly high expectations, and I got to say that Okinawa more than delivered. Although I confess it was slightly odd to stay along the Kokusaidori main street, as it’s so touristic and feels like a shopping street in Tokyo, but it still has its own Okinawan flavor. And I was so close to the ocean! I couldn’t believe how quickly I reached the shores, and even with a highway road above my head, it was great to trail through the water on my day of arrival.

Visiting Shuri Castle was on the top of my wish list, so I did that right on my first full day. Reading about the beautiful reconstructions and seeing the pictures definitely didn’t hold up to the real thing, and I could only admire the love and dedication that had gone into reconstructing this centuries old castle. It felt so completely different from the other Japanese castles, which it of course is, but I hadn’t expected to feel that so acutely. You could definitely tell how proud the people here were of the castle, and I can only hope that those whose livelihoods depended on the castle can get by now. It still feels surreal to think that the buildings are no longer there. There are logistical problems for rebuilding, although I don’t doubt they will get there in the end. It burnt down before, and rose from the most terrible of ashes. It will likely take decades, but considering how big a symbol this place is, there will definitely be something new. I do confess I kind of skipped war memorials during this trip to Okinawa, but the scars of the Battle of Okinawa was visible everywhere; and yet it was also noticeable how the people have come back from it. I can only hope their spirit will continue from hereon too and that this symbol will rise again.

Of course, I had no idea while I was there what would happen four weeks later, but I’m glad in retrospect that I took my time and uh, took as many pictures as I did. Nearby Tamaudun Mausoleum impressed me deeply as well, although I must confess that was due to the full package: the castle and the history and the mausoleum together, plus the pathway leading up to the building was short but absolutely lovely.

After that, I saw so many sights. I climbed the mountain to find Nakagukusu castle, where I had a blast feeling like I was in some weird limbo between a gothic European castle in ruins with crows flying by and, well, a subtropical island, with beautiful blue seas on both sides. Weirdly, it really looked like only the castle was clouded that day, as the sun was shining on both sea sides, but it just added to the atmosphere.

I went from super touristic but cheerful Okinawa World with its gorgeous caves to the genuine and wonderful museum, teaching me so much more about the islands, explored gorgeous gardens, and to top it all off, I got to spend a day on Tokashiki island, which really was the icing on an already delicious cake. The weather was lovelier than I could have even hoped for, the views were amazing, and I was honestly jealous of myself while I was there. This really was the picture perfect ‘tropical holidays’ right from the travel brochure, and although I think I’d get bored of it if I were to spend a whole week just chilling on the beach, it was an amazing way to end my week down south. Not to mention the submarine ride! I’m really glad I was tenacious and eventually lucked out and got on, because I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It’s one thing to see coral reefs on tv or in an aquarium, but seeing them in the wild is awe inspiring. Luckily the Kerama Islands (which Tokashiki is the biggest of) are a national park and under protection, and I can only hope that we can all protect amazing sights like these all around the globe.

 After a week of exploring something completely new, it was time to return to an old friend: Fukuoka, which I had stayed in for a week back in 2015. I had fond memories of staying there, and this week didn’t disappoint. The flight was so relaxed I would almost say I got rid of my fear of flying (not entirely, but it definitely diminished from here on), and then it was time to explore the places I had missed out on before! It was my first time seeing a typical conical and active volcano, and Sakurajima definitely didn’t disappoint. Karatsu had caught my eye in recent years, and I’m so happy I went there, because I had a delightful day and I was thoroughly charmed by this city. Beppu was highly touristic, but I had a good time exploring the hells anyway, and I’m easily amused, so getting to say ‘I went to hells and back’ won’t get old soon. The typhoon made me stay in Fukuoka for a day since I didn’t want to risk getting stranded, but I don’t regret it one bit as I finally got to see Kushida shrine in the sun and had a blast in Canal City. It was safe enough to go to Yoshinogari Historical Park next, and wow, there was so much to see and do that I definitely have to go back here sometime. And hey, I got to be crafty and made a mirror! I’m still unreasonably proud.

With the weather continuing to smile down on me, I hit Okayama next, where I finally got to dress up as a princess in the castle (I’m easily pleased) and saw the sights we sadly had to miss out on last year due to floods. Gorgeous sights and castles greeted me as I finally got to see more of Shikoku, and although I am definitely a bit weary of temples now (sorry, Onomichi), the views over the Inland Sea continue to impress. The weather was exceedingly kind to me and gave me blue skies over all castles, and so I happily checked off number 7 on the list of 12 original castle towers still remaining. Past the halfway point! I do love castles, haha.

My luck hadn’t run out yet as on my final day in Okayama, KOKIA was performing in Osaka. It was just an hour away from Okayama, the closest I was to Osaka the entire trip, so that left enough time to visit Universal Studios beforehand. And of course, seeing KOKIA live is always a magical experience (which is a nice bridge from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter I guess, haha). I’ve said it before, but even live recordings and DVDs can’t compare to the live experience, and I feel so privileged and blessed that this is my seventh time (!) getting to see her live. And this was my third time in a row getting to meet her for an autograph! I might get spoiled at this rate, haha. It was wonderful to hear songs from all those years ago as well as some newer favorites.

And although I hadn’t been looking forward to the long trip to Tokyo, this was in fact a very relaxed experience. I had so much leg space that my suitcase in front of me was no big bother, and the seats next to me stayed empty anyway. Getting back to Tokyo, and more specifically Ikebukuro, felt like coming home again, and I enjoyed soaking into the familiar sights (and uh, shopping, I have to admit).

This was the only part of my trip where I actually noticed the typhoons that had blown over or were on their way. Japan has taken quite the battering this year, with typhoons forming very late into the season, being more powerful than ever, with Hagibis being the tragic record. It had given me quite the scares, but all it really meant for me was a few windy days, two days of rain on 4 weeks total, and making it risky to leave Tokyo for the mountainous areas. The people here have suffered far more. I can only hope they recover well from this natural violence and that they can catch a break for a while.

 Anyway, you can easily dump me in Tokyo for months on end and I will still have a great time. This city is so massive and there are plenty of places worth a second (or third, or ninth) visit, so it’s hard to imagine I’d ever get bored here. And since many of the series and games I like hail from Japan, I definitely took the chance to stock up on merchandise and go to cafés to let out my inner fangirl. Look, I grew up on Pokémon, I’m not gonna ignore the chance to have dinner with Pikachu. Rainy days aren’t so bad if you get to spend them in a museum so big that even a full day is barely enough to see everything, and I got to spend some extra days with my friend on top of it.

I have to admit I felt a bit bad about not using my JR pass much in that last week except for the Yamanote line, but that in no way diminished how much fun I had, and I confess to having cried a couple of times in my final days in Tokyo due to my impending return home. Of course, going on holidays is different from living somewhere, but I still feel like a piece of me was left behind in Japan way back in 2010, and so it hurts to part every time. That might sound dramatic, but that metaphor does explain why I feel so strongly about it.

 The flight back gave me one last treat with the Fuji showing up through the clouds, marking the first time in all those flights when I actually got to see it from the plane. Sadly the picture I took on my phone isn’t super crisp, but it’s the best I could do at the moment, and really, there’s something about that mountain you can’t quite catch on camera anyway. The flight was calm and hardly affected my nerves, and though I didn’t sleep much, I managed to get home safe and sound without even falling asleep on the train or bus.

Of course, the jetlag was waiting for me with a big ol’ hammer, and it took a while for me to recover. A bit longer than expected, actually, although I suspect part of that was caused by just how much I’ve seen and done over those past 4 weeks. Look at how long this entry is getting, and I barely even touched on some days and impressions! I can’t believe I got to check off my entire list of places to visit until I got to Tokyo. I hadn’t thought my body could handle it, but I was pleasantly surprised, and I definitely feel in a better condition than ever. Seeing all these wonderful sights for sure invigorated me, so I don’t doubt it helped, but the relative ease with which I climbed those mountains also surprised me. Not that I’m complaining!

And that brings me back home. I’ve had two weeks to recover now, and I think my body has adjusted to being back in the Netherlands again. I’ve collected all my reports from this blog (and have apparently done NaNoWRiMo writing challenge a month early, as I surpassed 50,000 words written in a month, oops), my photos have been sorted out, I’ve put together a photo book for the collection, and… well, all that’s left is closing off this blog until the next trip. That won’t be this year anymore, haha, no more last-minute Christmas trips to Tokyo! Although I won’t deny it’s tempting, but I’d rather take the time to plan out my trip for next time.

I don’t know when that will be. Part of me really wants to see the cherry blossoms, but it’s a busy season, so I should be looking into flights and hotels already if I am set on doing so next year. Summer 2020 is out, though. I’d rather avoid the height of summer in Japan if at all possible, and well, with the Olympics and Paralympics next year, I think Japan really doesn’t need any more tourists in the mix, haha. So, who knows! I’ll have to wait and see where next year takes me, although I’d love to return to Japan as soon as possible. I still haven’t visited Hokkaido, after all, and I did plan out a lot of day trips from Tokyo that I didn’t get to do now.

 I keep saying it, but I don’t think I’ll ever be done with Japan. Despite hardships, I am so happy I decided to study its language and culture, over a decade ago now. It really broadened my horizons, allowed me to meet new people, and introduced me to an immensely interesting country. Although I’m far from fluent (I really need to pick up my study books and at least increase my vocabulary, yikes), it still really helped finding my way here and getting in touch with people. Of course, I saw everything through a tourist’s eye, but I do my best to read up on the places I visit and get a better sense of the culture and history through first hand experience. Speaking the language to a degree definitely helps with that.  

And so, I will now close this blog again until my next trip, which hopefully won’t take too long. Whether it’ll be a short hop over to Tokyo or a longer cross-country travel remains to be seen, but I can’t wait to find out!

Thank you for sticking with this blog and for reading all that in case you made it here, and see you soon!

[lovelikelex]

Friendship & Grief

I remembered the void in my heart that I thought could never be filled after my friend David died. I remembered several feelings of anger and frustration- not only at God, but at the world.

For the longest time, I didn’t want to be touched. I didn’t want to be bothered. Simple things like eating and getting out of bed became a chore to me. I wanted nothing to do with human interaction. The thought of allowing any human being into my life to get close to me, made my skin crawl.

But then, there was a September. And a stagecraft lab. And if I looked out of the corner of my eye, I could see a blonde-haired and blue-eyed man standing toward the middle of my room giggling at me as I complained about having to use a saw and paint set pieces that were bigger than I was. And each day, I felt that man figuratively and literally getting closer and closer to me each day until we had actually been paired up to do a project together.

I will never forget the rainy Saturday that we spent together watching the volleyball game that ultimately started our friendship. We both had no idea what was going on. I was convinced that Justin had never touched a ball in his life and I only knew about baseball and football. We sat down and I was scrolling through my phone. I will admit that at the time, I was in denial about my sexuality. I had never really been with a man, but I thought about it at times. I was also, once again, dealing with the grief.. crying myself to sleep at night in my dorm and wishing that David were there for some support. David always knew what to say, as I have said multiple times.

I was scrolling through a dating app on my phone. I had my settings turned on for men and women because as I stated, I was sort of confused at the time. I think we’ve all felt that way at some point. I knew that Justin had seen the man on my phone, but I laughed it off and told him that I was just looking for friends in the area and that I wasn’t gay. He smiled at me. This smile was different, though. This was an “oh hun, I know you’re gay” kind of smile - you know, kinda like the look your mother gives you when she knows something that you don’t know.

Nevertheless, Justin never pushed me to talk about anything that I didn’t want to talk about. Instead, I told him about a girl that I had been interested in and how I was going to go on a date with her later that night. Justin and I talked about a lot of things that day. I thanked him for our fun and he drove away into the distance. Later on that night, the girl that I had mentioned picked me up and we ate at a restaurant. She asked me where I had been all day and I told her that I had been with Justin - once again, super defensive and explaining that just because I had been hanging out with a gay person, it didn’t make me gay.

She took me to her place. And I remembered giving myself that inner pep talk: you can do this! you’re not a wimp! Kiss her! And what did I do..? The exact opposite. In fact, when she tried to make a move on me, I ran out of her house and down the street. Later realizing that she was the one who drove me to her house in the first place, I walked back and she simply asked me “why did you run away from me?” I laughed and told her that I was only joking around with her. As she drove me back to my dorm, we talked. She asked me if I was gay as she pulled up to the door. Once again, I said “No.”

It was then that she muttered the words “are you going to kiss me?” And I froze. What in the world would I ever do? And how would I do it? And would she see me as less of a person if I rejected her? I smiled at her and replied with “I don’t kiss on the first date.” Looking into her eyes, trembling with fear, she replied. “It’s because you’re gay.” Opening the car door, and walking away, I confidently said “nope. No I’m not.”

I walked into my dorm, and the first thing I did was text Justin about my date that went horribly. He started to feel the closest thing I had to a friend at school.

We started spending all of our time together. We went to parties, celebrated our birthdays, you know, all of the normal things that friends celebrate. We started to get closer, and as we did, Justin helped me open up more about who I was. I’ll never forget the day that he looked at me, all jokes aside and said “you are gay, why is it so hard for you to admit that?” And I’ll never forget just blinking... blinking and tears spilling from my eyes as I hugged him for being the one person aside from David who ever validated me for simply existing; for silently acknowledging who I was and allowing me to be that, even when I wasn’t ready to admit it.

There were times that I called Justin at 2 AM and he was at my dorm in 20 minutes. Times when we would stay up all night listening to me, holding me as I cried, and watching the Golden Girls with me. There were times that I begged “can I just lay next to you?” In the most platonic fashion, and though he hated “cuddling” he would still allow it.

As time grew, our friendship was tested by so many things. Many people would ask questions like “are you two a thing?” Or “Are you dating?” And those questions made both of us uncomfortable because we were only friends. I’m convinced that people romanticize our friendship. I know that I did at times. I often gushed of how special Justin made me feel or how lucky I was to have him in my life. I don’t think that people normalize platonic love to the point that I had.

The new year had passed and I was stuck in a really unhealthy relationship. As I mentioned before, I was not always the nicest person and there were certain people who also didn’t like me on campus. Justin was the only person who cared enough to listen to my problems, just like David. He would tell me how much better I deserved and how it didn’t matter if those people liked me or not. Justin convinced me to go to therapy and he would sit outside of the waiting room in a big wooden chair for an hour, waiting for me to get out of my therapy appointments - which in my opinion, was one of the purest forms of love.

I would sometimes lash out, I would get angry and cry. I was often stressed. I missed david. I wanted to give up. But Justin never gave up on me. Ever. When I was sad, he would always take me on drives and we would listen to Ariana Grande until I felt better. The only times that he ever left my side was to go to class and to go home... and I would beg him “please don’t go. Please don’t leave.” I enjoyed all of our fun so much. I never wanted him to go home.

Around March, Justin had some pretty serious health problems regarding his heart. I remember him going to the hospital and how much it terrified me because that was what David had passed from - his heart was enlarged. I never stopped worrying about him the whole week he was in there.

When he finally got out, we planned a wonderful spring break trip with our friend Brad. The photos above were actually taken on Panama City Beach Pier. Justin went to Disney World the for the first time and convinced me to apply for the college internship there.

As soon as I got home, I applied with him. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it past the second phase, but I was accepted. He convinced me to leave my hometown and to leave my school and go. Think about that. Begging the one person that you care about to go after their dreams for seven months without you... that again, is another pure form of love.

When I left, we didn’t talk too much. Working at Disney is hectic and I had very little time for him. But he also convinced me to leave behind that toxic relationship I mentioned earlier.

Justin, like David, selflessly reminded me of the consequences of my actions rather than telling me “don’t do that! That’s dumb!” And would comfort me through my misfortunes.

After seven months of not seeing my best friend, this has definitely been the hardest “long distance relationship” in the entire world. I am so glad that I am living on campus with him in January!

In conclusion, I don’t know what God’s intentions were when he sent me Justin. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with David, but sometimes I like to think it did.

Before I met J, I had a hard time believing in heroes. But it’s true, not all heroes wear capes. Some of them just wear jeans and t-shirts. I know mine sure does. And for anyone out there who has ever asked me “are you all siblings” or “are you all dating” - no. No, we are certainly not dating and we are unfortunately not siblings. I could never get that lucky, but I know that someone lucky will someday, and I am rooting for that person!

[cookiedoughmeagain]

Haven DVD Commentaries: 4.01 - Fallout

Gabrielle Stanton Executive Producer, and Writer for this episode, and Matt McGuinness, Executive Producer

[As the ‘previously on’ section shows] Gabrielle Stanton: I just remember how many times we wrote the word ‘barn’ during the last few episodes of the last season. If it were a drinking game we never would have made it through.

[As Duke watches Audrey’s memories play out on the walls inside the barn] Matt McGuinness: What’s clever about this scene is it was a way for us to hide a bit of backstory because you got to see these various moments, but it also helped to explain what the barn was and how it is a repository for her memories and whatnot. GS: It was kind of a way for us to do flashbacks without actually doing flashbacks.

[As Duke lands in the aquarium] MMG: I have to do a big shout out right here. This idea of Duke landing in some sort of fluid and us not knowing where he was and then coming up, was Ginger McGuinness’s idea. My daughter at the age of 8 came up with this idea; ‘Daddy why don’t you have him land in a fish tank in an aquarium?’ which we thought was super cool. GS: And Balfour did too, until he realised how cold the water was going to be. MMG: Apparently that tank held lobsters or something, and Eric is a surfer - he knows cold water, but it was I think low 50s, which is bitterly cold. GS: But he was a trouper; went in again and again.

[As the detective is questionning Duke in the hospital] GS: I like this scene because it was Duke trying to talk his way out of something, and we got a chance to talk about his aliases and his fake IDs and it’s always fun when we get to do that... I actually worked worked with Balfour on a short-lived show called Veritas The Quest many years ago, and Calvin Banks, the name of one of his aliases there, was the name of his character on Veritas. MMG: Wow! Really? That is some inside arcane knowledge. GS: I thought there would be someone who got it, but I don’t think anyone did. Including Eric.

The outside of the Haven Bookshop is Lunenberg and the inside is in on location in Chester. GS: The Warp and Weft Giftstore in Chester closed down and we kinda took it over and shoot various things in there; bookstores, cafes, offices, MMG: If you ever get the chance to go to Chester, Nova Scotia, it’s a lovely little town. I might suggest the summer as opposed to the winter … GS: It’ll be raining either way, but it’s just whether it’s cold rain or cool rain. MMG: It’s a very nice spot, lots of tourists like to go there. And as you drive around Chester you will see plenty of places - and by ‘plenty’, I mean all of Chester. We’ve shot everywhere in Chester as we head into our fifth season. GS: Yeah it’s kind of amazing; I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t shot.

GS: And now we’re about to meet Jennifer. She is a great character, we’re really really happy with everything her and Eric do this coming season. MMG: Yeah we were really happy with the performance of Emma Lahana who plays Jennifer. GS: And they just had good chemistry. You hope you’re going to get good chemistry when you cast people, but you never really know until you start seeing it on screen.

MMG: Ah look, Eric’s got his pants on under that gown. I would have suggested no pants.

[As Jennifer starts talking to Duke] GS: This was the scene we used for auditions to cast Jennifer. We saw a great many actresses for this role. GS: I remember on the day there were many discussions about the hat she’s wearing. MMG: She kind of became known for her hats and scarves. There’s a hint for the fans; scarves will continue to play a part in the story of Jennifer.

GS: It’s so funny doing these commentaries because it’s always like a year later, since we shot it and edited it and everything, so it’s always looking back. I was telling someone earlier that usually about 10 minutes in, I just forget what I’m supposed to be doing and just start watching the episode.

[As Duke and Jennifer are talking about the barn etc.] GS: This was also a nice way … Every premiere episode you always want to reset the series for new audience members, and this was a nice way of telling Jennifer what was going on, but also telling new viewers; ‘hey there’s this town called Haven, people do weird things there …’. MMG: Do you know where we shot this scene? GS: I believe it was a real hospital. MMG: It looks like it. GS: I think it was outside Chester. Even though we now have a hospital set on our stages, but we came here because we wanted it to look different, so it could look like Boston. Although I think the next scene, in the parking lot, I think that is in fact Chester.

[Brief interruption as Matt leaves the room to take a phone call] GS: This is the life of an executive producer. You cannot do one thing at once, you have to do ten things at once.

[Duke and Jennifer in the parking lot] GS: Actually, I take it back - the memory is coming back to me; I believe we shot this in Halifax, to give it a big-city feel. Although I could be wrong about that because it is hard to remember.

[As Dave answers the phone to Duke] GS: OK so everyone wants to know what’s the Oprah Winfrey joke - we honestly don’t know. We just thought it would be the most hilarious thing to say, if Dave had some kind of Oprah Winfey thing. And he played it spectacularly. GS: This is the biggest time-cut I think that we’ve done in the series, this is six months since the previous events. We leave a lot of our seasons on these big cliff hangers - two people pointing a gun at each other, or ‘my name is Audrey Parker’, ‘no my name is Audrey Parker’ - and this was one of the few opportunities we had, and we said we could do something cool and do a time-cut.

[As we see Nathan with the bikers outside the diner] GS: Now for all of you Lucas fans out there - the beard. I’ll tell you a little story about the beard. He was actually supposed to have the beard through the first and second episode, and then when he realised he was going to find Audrey and he regained his sense of purpose he was going to shave it. But we ended up doing something called cross-boarding which meant that we shot episodes one and two not in order. So we would shoot some scenes of episode two during the episode one block and vice versa. So we couldn’t have him keep the beard because he couldn’t shoot one scene and have the beard and another scene and not have the beard. So this is the only scene that he has the beard, and it was devastating for Lucas Bryant because he spent all hiatus growing it. But he did a good job; it’s a good beard.

[Matt returns, saying he had to take the call because it was an emergency. Apparently related in some way to the 300 gallon salt-water aquarium he has at home. “That was my fish tank guru.”]

GS: Oh this is - did the slim jim joke stay in? MMG: Yeah, not really. We worked a lot on this slim jim bit and never quite got it where we wanted it.

[Discussing Dwight as Chief and the various names that Adam goes by] GS: We just get excited when we see him on screen because we know that some day he’s going to be a mega-super-star and we’re gonna be like ‘We cast him!’, ‘We had him on our show first!’. GS: I love the three of them together [Dwight and Vince and Dave]. We write a lot of stuff for them and they always totally nail it. MMG: Yep, Edge and the Teague brothers have an ongoing story, particularly Edge and Vince - Dwight and Vince.

[As we see Lexie in the bar] GS: We shot all these bar scenes in a block, with our fun character of Lexie. And for anyone out there who has nothing better to do with their time than thing about things I’ve written in my career; there are quite a few series I’ve worked on that I’ve gotten the name Lexie into. This was the most recent. I’m still trying to work out how many I’m getting screwed out of character payments for though. MMG: And here is season four’s suprising new male lead; Colin Ferguson. Lovely man, tons of fun. He used to do stand-up comedy nights, and when you do a comic con with him, that becomes immediately apparent. He’s very funny, and very clever and just sweet and professional.

[As the Guard welcome Nathan and Duke back to Haven] MMG: Oh this scene was fun, we’re introducing everyone in this episode. So here comes another favourite character of ours; Jordan McKee. The last name is the name of an old girlfriend of mine. GS: This was a very elaborate scene to block and shoot. MMG: Yes, it was. Pretty much any time you have cars stopping on marks and people getting out of car doors, everything gets shockingly complicated. GS: Not to mention we have a great number of our characters here, all in one place. GS: The funny thing about this, is that the tornado is about to go off, and every other day this week that we were filming, it was rainy and cloudy and that whole thing. And the one day we’re going to have a tornado and giant rain storm - beautiful blue crystal skies. That’s the way production goes.

GS: We have realised that the downside to Dwight’s Trouble is that he is in that bulletproof vest a lot. It’s very rare to see him without it. But we’re working on it. MMG: We get him out of everything, season five.

[As the tornado arrives] GS: Our director Shawn Pillar was very excited to blow the steeple off the church here, which is a real church in Lunenberg. And all these leaves were someone from props standing there with a big hefty bag of leaves in front of a giant fan. MMG: And the tornado is the work of Chris Wood GS: Our genius FX guy. MMG: He’s great; he’s a very big part of the show.

GS: Oh yeah the other body found on the beach [that Dwight mentions] that was going to be another Troubled person that we were going to see and we never actually ended up seeing them.

MMG: Adam Copeland came to us largely as a wrestler and it became very clear to us that he had lots of talent as a thespian as well. He’s good with the jokes [His ‘usually’ reply to Jennifer’s comment about police stations being safe]. He can throw away a funny line, and that’s not an easy thing to do.

GS: It’s so funny looking at this a year later and seeing how everyone’s hair and facial hair and everything looks a little bit different. MMG: The boys look great. GS: Yeah. MMG: It’s not a surprise as it’s a television show, but there are some good looking people living up in Haven, Maine.

GS: These bar scenes were fun to shoot. Emily Rose liked it I think, getting to play someone so very different from Audrey. MMG: And one of the reasons we shaped season four the way we did was because Emily had a baby a week or two before we started shooting, so she was out of commission for around the first two months I think of shooting. So we wrote her into all the episodes but - oh this guy [who has just come into the bar with a gun in his belt] he works on the crew, but he’s great - he’s really good in this role and then you see him working on the crew. He’s a really nice guy, and I can’t remember his name right now. He’s a great guy but I’m blanking on his  name because I’m old. Anyway - we had to figure out a way to get Emily into the first few episodes, but shoot all the scenes together and them cut them in in post. So we wrote all these bar scenes in the script and we didn’t shoot any of them when we were shooting the rest of the episode. And then when we got to around episode five or six, we shot what was going to be two days, and then three days, and then four, and I think it turned into six days in this bar. GS: By the way this character’s name [who is pointing a gun at Lexie] is Sinister. GS: This was a fun stunt sequence coming up, Colin rehearsed it quite a bit. MMG: I like the way he takes his glasses off there; he does a great job. Kyle! His name is Kyle [who plays Sinister] GS: Yes! Kyle. Kyle; you’re awesome. We’re just really over-worked and exhausted.

[In the station as Stan and other cop notice the return of Nathan] MMG: So the female cop there, Rebecca Rafferty, is played by the real-life spouse of Lucas Bryant. GS: Kirsty Bryant.

[About the photo of the fulgerite on the beach] MMG: That looked really cool with the hand and everything. GS: I know! It did look really good, we just didn’t have time for the full scene with it. MMG: Yeah, this is one of the whole challenges of production; we had this whole thing written … but we just had to talk about it and show the photo instead. GS: This episode was running really long because we had so much stuff going on with it. MMG: That thing you see in the background there behind Nathan is a popsicle stick lamp, which we’ve all imagined that Nathan built for his dad the Chief. I had a whole backstory for this in my head. There’ a bunch of popsicle-stick lamps in the Chief’s office, and they’re left over from when Nik Campbell was the Chief. [and then they appear to be interrupted by some kind of technical issue and we don’t get any more to this story, sadly]

GS: So as some of you may remember, Marian Caldwell was in the pilot episode, and we thought it would be cool to bring her back and see what happened to her. I think it was in Star Trek when Khan got really mad at Kirk telling him, ‘You fly around the universe, and you never check back in on people after you fix the problem.’ So here at Haven, we do: we come back to see what’s going on. GS: All this frosted breath here is special effects, but it looks really good. MMG: It looks really good. GS: And I like the way they made everything look cold and frosty. MMG: It looks great. And when Marian opens her eyes, it still makes me jump. That was really great, because it looks like she’s dead. GS: She is so good in this scene. We’ve got to bring her back. MMG: Yeah we’ve got to bring her back. Season five. She’s very talented. GS: She looks so mad there. I totally believe that she would freeze you.

MMG: There’s the Teagues and their very short-lived van. GS: Didn’t that explode in real life? Yes, it did. There was a fire in the van. MMG: The van has actually burned in real life. Which I think we used. GS: Yeah, the first thing we thought was ‘Sweet! How can we work that into a story?’

GS: I liked the way they did this reveal [with Conrad in the chair]. And I like how blue all this is. They did a really nice job. It really works with the emotion of the scene. I think when the ice moves, and the breath are CG, and the rest is pretty practical [effects there on the set]. GS: Poor Nathan, he gets beat up this whole season.

MMG: You know, I’ve noticed that Dave never wears his reporter hat any more that he used to love; that hat with the feather like an old timey news man. We need to get him back in that hat. GS: I think we should!

MMG: And there’s the Grey Gull, the world’s coldest place to shoot. GS: But also the most beautiful. MMG: I kind of want to go to a party at the Grey Gull; it looks fun. GS: I think they should open it as a real bar. I guess there’s no running water in it, but. I would totally go. GS: So this is our final introduction for this episode; Duke’s brother. This was chock full of introductions this episode. MMG: There’s a pretty strong resemblance to Mr Crocker there.

MMG: Nice nose-ring. GS: I think she keeps it for a while. MMG: She keeps it the whole time she’s Lexie. GS: That’s right - we wrote a whole scene where it comes out eventually.

[chrysaliseuro2019]

Lapping it All Up

It's Sunday morning and time to part company with Sue and Peter. It was a fun 5 days. We are heading to Helsinki and they will drive the car back to Riga where it all commenced. They are stopping the night at Parnau. Rainy day again as we said our farewells and they dropped us at the ferry terminal. Saw an amusing sign at the terminal which pointed to the very short term car park (15 mins). It said " Kiss and Sail" which was very apt. We had laughed our way through Latvia and Estonia with them and had covered a bit of ground in those 5 days. Despite it bucketing down Liz did a quick sortie after they left to take a photo of the sign. This led to one of those amusing moments. Something you very rarely see Liz do - "run". If I said a sort of Donald Duck style of running I might be close to the mark. Possibly even being flattering. There is a lot of action, arms flapping, feet akimbo, head rolling from side to side and forward momentum is not speedy. The ferry ride from Tallin to Helsinki takes about 2.5 hours. We had basic tickets so it was first in best dressed for seats. A number of bars and cafes on board and as soon as boarding started the regulars made for prime positions. We had to stow our luggage and were given a bit of a bum steer, in terms of where to store them, by one of the staff so a lot of seats had gone by the time we were free to look. Anyway we snagged a couple of uninspiring but fine seats in a a cafe and settled back for an uneventful trip. Despite the rain it was petty calm and we had a snack, read and blogged. Interestingly they had a couple of stages with musos performing. I might expect that on a cruise ship in the Bahamas but not somehow on a couple of hours ferry in the Baltics. One stage was on the upper deck where quite a raucous bar was in full swing. The wind and rain were coming down on the uncovered end though plenty of cover. Singer was flat as a tack and slaughtered Ed Sheerin's " A Girl Like You" (a bit of a holiday anthem as you hear it a lot in beach bars etc over here). The audience didn't care. They were all getting tanked. Another singer was close to us in a neighbouring area and he was playing the guitar and performing solo with some electronic instrumental help. Not too bad, middle of the road - Eric Clapton, Jonny Cash etc but more importantly his voice I was better. I strolled around looking at the duty free shop where the Finns on board were fairly determinedly stocking up on booze which is much cheaper in Estonia than Finland. This included people with several slabs of beer. Liz noticed that many of those slabs were being consumed on board. It was certainly a lively ship. Trip was easy and we worked out we could get a tram into the city and quite close to our hotel from the ferry terminal. A bit of a scramble getting off but we were in no rush so took our time. Slight problem though, it was raining quite steadily. We headed for the tram stop which was close by but in a master stroke of planning the ticket machine was exposed to the elements and quite a queue. This included the guy who had no idea what to do, did not appear to have the right money (possibly any money), whose credit card would not work and who consequently held us all up in the hissing rain for 5/6 minutes - could have been longer. This on top of the 7/8 mins we had already been waiting. In the end the couple behind paid for him. Liz was now huddled under the tram shelter while I stood out there in the pak-a-mac. No point in two of us getting wet(ter). By the time I got to the front of the queue the wind had set in and rain was horizontal so jeans and shoes pretty soaked. Guys behind (equally wet) who seemed local provided some guidance on the payment process but even they stuffed it up a bit so another minute or two of soaking. Anyway at last I had two tickets in my hand but the various delays meant we just missed a tram by about a minute so had a 6/7 minute wait for the next one. Still, under some shelter, though I was drenched. We duly trundled off for the 10 minute ride and I couldn't wait to get out of my jeans and shoes. I made the mistake of sitting down which was even more uncomfortable so quickly sprang up. Anyway the Hotel Helka was only about a 10 minute walk from the tram stop. Liz did a good job of getting us off at the closest stop and guiding us home. At last, out of that gear and into the shower. All was well and Hey! We were in Finland. Time to explore and we headed off into town. Basically heading for the main square and market square. First impressions were that it was more modern than Riga or Tallinn and a little less atmospheric. Plenty of shopping malls, cafes etc. and even the older buildings which were often quite attractive, of the the six storey terrace variety, did not seem that old. Made our way to market square where there were a number of stalls selling local "products". Very soft hats, wood carvings, paintings, the usual fridge magnet memorabilia stuff but also fox, wolf and reindeer pelts and extremely sharp hunting type knives in scabbards - not sure exactly what the purpose of them was. The market was starting to close but quite a few stalls selling food were in full flight. Now around 4.00pm and we had only snacked post breakfast so were hungry. The offerings were often local delicacies and we couldn't resist sharing a plate of fried Vendace (very similar to sardines) with garlic sauce. Just on a paper plate, pretty decent serve (30 or so smallish fish) you eat the lot, heads and all, and we wandered around happily chomping on them. Very delicious and sauce not too garlicky at all but tasty and needed. It was sun over the yard arm time and we looked for a decent pub/ venue to have a drink. Plenty of craft beer here though we had heard horror stories about the price of alcohol. We couldn't quite find what we were looking for in terms of character but settled on a cafe/bar and sat outside. Rain had stopped but not exactly balmy. After that we continued to wander through the back streets though being Sunday a lot of places closed. Did find a good looking Pho joint which was a possibility if all else failed. Liz loves her Pho. We headed back for the hotel. The Helka is a little boutique hotel and quite quirky. They had a little Swiss style bird house (no birds) that you could deposit your keys in when you left. The coffee mugs in the room had an inscription inside the rim which read " Stolen from Hotel Helka" Staff very friendly and a range of nice touches. We determined that dinner would be in their relaxed little bar/cafe area downstairs. Some good craft beer on tap and bottled and rose OK too. I had the salmon on bread with salad. Big chunks of salmon served cold - excellent. Liz had the coconut and sweet potato soup which was also very good. A local porter and IPA for me (both good especially the porter) rose for Liz. All very laid back and sat very happily not feeling we had to traipse about town. Not too late a night headed up around 10.30 for the usual blogging, reading and planning next phase. Greece definitely on. Thessaloniki as a kick off point looking the goods. Also need to ensure we have a flight out of there to London about a week after arriving in Greece as flying home from London. All pretty tortuous evaluating alternatives but in the end have to bite the bullet and its Turkish airlines to Thessaloniki and BA from there to London though the poms charging usuriously. Liz doing sterling work with bookins Next morning at 11.00 we were going on a free tour of Helsinki. After a great breakfast at the Helka (we expected nothing else given its form to date) we headed for the meeting point a 20 minute fast walk away, back at market square. Our guide was a young and vivacious lady who had spent time in Canada hence a slight North American accent. Super smart and despite a crowd of around 35-40 with a microphone headpiece and a resonant voice she was easy to hear. We covered a lot of ground both literally and metaphorically. Some aspects were: Lutheran religion is the main one for Finns. Apparently a not unusual fall away in those following a structured religious approach in Finland though you have to attend a religious camp for a week when in your late teens if you want to be married in church. A lot of the design of the buildings in the older parts of Helsinki was under the auspices of the German architect Engels in the 19th century. He had spent time in St Petersburg and hence there are similarities between the cities (though not the flamboyant stuff). Education is subsidised in fact you are paid to attend for your first 5 years at Uni. Food is also subsidised for uni students and is free at kindergarten. Start school at 7 pre that it's kindergarten where formal lessons are minimal. At junior school the first 5 years are pretty hands on - sewing, woodwork etc. no homework in that period. Health care free for all though dental must be paid for unless impacts health more generally. We were starting to understand why prices were so high with all those taxes. The guide (Maria I think) quipped that they all live a good life but it's hard to get rich. They were ruled for hundreds of years by the Swedes and then from early 19th century by the Russians. They gained independence in 1917 and in that period also had a bloody civil war. Fought against the Soviet Union in 1939 and collaborated with the Germans to fight against the Soviet Union 1941-44. They did not persecute minorities however. Then they also had to fight against the Germans to remove them from Finland as the tide turned at the end of the war. They are proud to have maintained their independence throughout despite some land losses to the Soviet Union. In winter the harbour freezes over so all boats must be lifted out and stored in dry dock including some pretty large fishing boats. Ice breakers were also visible in the harbour. It was a wide ranging, interesting tour with plenty of fun thrown in. Amazing coincidence of a couple from Melbourne, Meredith and David, being on the tour more especially because Meredith taught the preps at Camberwell primary around the time our kids went there. She didn't teach them as it turned out. Liz and Meredith swopped school and other local stories ++. David was an interesting character. He had worked for the CSIRO and was a resin expert. He had for the last umpteen years supported businesses making wood paneling and other resin involved products around the world. This included a 5 year stint for the whole family living in Italy while he worked there. He had most recently been working in China and had come straight to Finland from there. Yet again there's a lot of different stuff makes the world go around. Nice guy to chat to. Pommie origins though born in Australia and we had a good time dissecting Brexit. He has the same problem as us may lose his European passport. We were interested in the big issues! We did that nattering over a coffee and tea that stretched for about an hour and a half post the free tour. After that Liz and I headed for the market square again and needed something to eat. Beside the square was a pretty attractive and ornate indoor market building. Really it was a tasteful food hall with a range of tidbits you could buy to eat immediately or take away including exotics like reindeer jerky. We plumped for a couple of open sandwiches which we consumed at a little eating area outside by the docks. One was cured salmon and the other was prawns in a sweet chilli sauce. We shared the first two but so tasty we went again. Me for the prawns and Liz for the salmon. Just very nice sitting there with this scrumptious food. Back to the market square and as opposed to yesterday evening all stalls were in full swing so we had a good look around at the knick knacks but did not purchase. Time to go our own ways. We both went looking through shops though Liz also found a strange square which looked like a lunar landscape. People were skateboarding and sitting around the square and it all seemed a bit unexpected in what seems like quite a conservative city. I stumbled across the City Museum. This was a very quirky place which essentially probed some alternative aspects of Helsinki and Finland. One of the highlights was an exhibition by 5 Finnish artists. It was titled "Objection". Essentially it was about disagreement and the role that it plays in our society (particularly Finnish society). Each artist illustrated a different story. One was about Hjalmar Linder the wealthiest man in Finland who fled to Sweden during the 1918 civil war. On his return he found that members of the losing side were still being persecuted (killed) so he wrote a letter to the newspaper saying "enough of this bloodbath" which broke ranks with his peer group. He was then hounded out of the county and eventually died penniless, slashing his own wrists. Another was about left wing activism in the 1930s and 40s. It was being suppressed and so a password " Have you seen a running dog" was used to identify sympathisers. Essentially how people find a way to "object" Yet another was about a book "the Price of Our Freedom" still found in many Finnish homes. It contained a photograph and short description of each of 26000+ people who were killed in the Winter War 1939-1940. The artist had taken the photographs of key people in the book and turned them into ghost like portraits using hundreds of layers of pictures - "the Price of Freedom". Separately there were also general narratives about what Helsinki was like in the past. Pretty rough and ready in the 1920s apparently. Also a photograph gallery with some fantastic photos of Helsinki in the past including one which captured the docks area including market square. I couldn't see a date but perhaps 100+ years ago. All these photos were available for purchase. I kept wandering post the museum. Just walking lost really. Took in a few shops and generally soaked up the city. Liz did much the same. No acquisitions. Liz grabbed a bit of shuteye and we met up again around 7.00 in the hotel bar/restaurant. We decided not to move. The restaurant which the guy in "Radio" restaurant in Tallin recommended was closed ,being Monday night, and the informal dinner they served at the Helka had been pretty good the night before. We both had the open sandwich salmon. Thick chunks of salmon. Liz not the greatest salmon fan (she prefers her fish to be white) but enjoyed it, and I certainly did including polishing a few remnants of salmon from her plate. Of course a couple of craft beers also supped. Liz took it easy as a bit tired and slightly heady. It was relaxing and we headed up around 10.00. I took a quick stroll to walk off dinner but boy had it got cold. I think you can probably keep the Finnish summer. Here we were 12th August and it might have been about 16 degrees out but with a healthy wind that felt around 12-14. I was wishing I had a scarf. This reaffirmed our decision to head back to some warmth in Greece.

[jocy-diaries]

04.08.2022

I think I just don't like writing my diary entries on this phone because this is the phone I do everything else on you know? Big sigh. But anyways~

On Wednesday I made some dinner for my sister and I, Dumplings for her, and I really wanted Okra thanks to the lovely Imamuroom so I decided to get so frozen Okra and make a really simple stir fry. I wasn't expecting it to be good because it was frozen Okra instead of fresh and the last time mom made it it was...bad. it wasn't good. So I was expecting the same thing. And honestly I don't know what mom did but when I made it it was *delicious*. Cannot wait to finish that little meal.

On Thursday I ended work early because honestly. I had been working until 7pm the entire week and waking up early and I'm TIRED OF IT. So I ended early and chilled with my sister~ Then we went to watch Sonic 2!! I had a Tito Mule drink which was the first mixed drink I've had since forever. God I miss mixed drinks but I don't know how to make them myself. It was delicious. And honestly the movie was so great. A lot of fun, and everyone was excited for the third movie they previewed. It looks great. I hope we get to see Amy, I'm so excited for her. Also, I hope they get to keep Jim Carey because he's honestly great as Dr. Eggman.

Now today is finally Friday. I'm so tired. I've been waking up exhausted eventhough I sleep more than eight hours now than to the Melatonin gummies. And my focus is still shot so I might need to get something for adhd again. But honestly, I've been remembering stuff and daily admin tasks pretty well! I'm proud of myself for that. I got my dog's appointments set up as well as my sister's appointments. Plus I'm getting things continued for the Italy trip and SJSU, although now I might consider doing my mlis abroad in 2023. It seems...better? Maybe.

Also it's been super rainy and foggy all week, and just yesterday things started looking sunny again~ I can say that I love Spring because of how it reminds me of the beach in Africa. Sunny with a light wind and the trees swaying~ I love that sound. I also love the sound of rain on a tin or metal roof because of grandma's house~

Now I'm looking forward to my DnD sessions tonight and tomorrow (and Sunday ig) and in Sunday I'll be driving with my sister to Helen GA and then a little farmers shop~ Very excited for that. We'll have to leave kinda early so I'm hoping we also get to stop by the library meeting place for coffee and breakfast.

My mother wants me to save more money and be more conscious of it and like, I agree, but at the same time it's like. You expect me to be alive alive a while, don't you? I can't think of a good reason to not spend money when I want to on the things I want because I could be dead tomorrow, you know? I think I need to invest in rental properties or air bnbs or something just so I can put THAT money in savings and spend the rest of my money however I want.

So DnD tonight~ And ohmygosh. NEBATI GOT CLOAK OF WINGS!!!! That (and brooch if shielding) was honestly the last thing I wanted her to get to complete her look!! I'm so glad she found one. Now she has white wings to act like an angel for her goddess~ Unfortunately...she failed every saving throw after that :,) But she got to train fight with her friends which she really enjoyed (eventhough she got taken out Round two lol) Also volunteered at the library and it went well~ A patron brought in a jar of flowers which was just GORGEOUS And I got some books and Barbie movies for next weekend since the library is closed. Gotta figure out something to do for Easter...

And...my gosh. Yall. I got asked to be in a one shot!! Someone said they WANT to DM for me! I'm not used to being someone who people want to be around or talk to, so this is. Such a pleasant shock. I'm really grateful I stayed in this campaign~ Plus the DM for the Saturday group said that I fit in well with the group so I'm just. I'm getting so many good points. Now I really think I'll get a subscription to dnd beyond and read through all of the books. Especially since people want to play with me! :D I'm gonna add them all as friends on Discord after all!! I was scared of doing that but now I will >:3c

[belizedeservesbetter]

Head Over Heels is Fun!

but it is also way too long and a concept that is still very odd to me 

Ideally, Head Over Heels is the show for me. It’s three things I really love: Broadway, The Go Go’s, and a central romance between two women. 

However, to be quite honest, when they first announced this show was coming to Broadway, I was very confused. A retelling of a very old play set to the music of... The Go Go’s? Who woke up one day and was like, “You know what this old play needs? We Got the Beat and Automatic Rainy Day!” and then got it past so many people and got it approved so much to the point that it is now playing on 44th Street in the ever beautiful Hudson Theater. It blows my mind. 

But you know what? I liked it. I had a good time. I had fun. My TodayTix rush seat put me right in the third row of the orchestra, so I had the perfect view.

The best thing about this show is the performances, hands down. The entire cast was 100% game and they gave it their all out there, even to a mostly empty theater on a Friday night. 

Bonnie Milligan walks away with the whole show. Honestly she was incredible and sang the hell out of all her songs. She had so much stage presence and I kept wishing she’d come back on stage whenever it was another character’s scene. Her renditions of Beautiful and How Much More were the best parts of the show to me. She’s hilarious and fun and has so much chemistry with Taylor Iman Jones. 

Alexandra Socha was also wonderful (and looks startlingly like both Judy Kuhn and Millie Bobby Brown) and was just a total joy to watch on stage. I was also super obsessed with her glitter green high heel shoes. Taylor Iman Jones was also incredible and I loved how Vacation became the lesbian heartbreak song I never knew I needed before this moment. Rachel York was of course excellent as always and during all of Act 2 I became very acutely aware how much like Adam Rapp Jeremy Kushnier sounds like. Whenever Kushnier had a solo I always thought it was about to turn right into One Song Glory. 

I was most impressed with Peppermint’s performance. Of course I had seen her on RuPaul’s Drag Race and at various clubs, but I had no idea she’s such a good actress and singer. 

The plot of the musical is... interesting, to say the least. And the way they incorporate Go Go’s songs is even weirder and doesn’t really make sense but you know what? I’ll take a heartfelt rendition of Mad About You any day. But at the same time, conceptually it doesn’t work. The show opens with We Got the Beat just so you know that the kingdom of Arcadia has The Beat. What is The Beat? Well, it’s never really explained in a way that makes sense, but they gotta save it!  

Likewise, they’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel for these Go Go’s songs. Cool Jerk? Really? Automatic Rainy Day too? But no Beatnik Beach? When they started singing Cool Jerk it took everything within me not to laugh because that is the most niche of Go Go’s song and it served absolutely no point to the plot. That’s how I felt about most of the songs, actually. They were just kind of there, especially this really weird and totally useless repetition of the chorus to Skidmarks on My Heart.

I feel like this review has just been me rambling on with no rhyme or reason, and to be honest that’s also how the show is. I was never sure why anything was happening when it did, and more than once I found myself flipping through my playbill waiting to see how many songs were left in an act, which is something I never do. Lust to Love was incorporated in a weird way, and in a musical that is literally about lust and love, I was so confused as to why they used it for a sword duel. And of course the fact that there was a sword duel in the first place was odd. This musical was so tonally all over the place. 

Besides Vacation, none of the musical numbers really blew me away. I’m a huge sucker for shadows and silhouettes used in theatre so Heaven is a Place on Earth was especially great, if not ridiculously campy. 

The book of the musical isn’t bad, but that doesn’t mean it’s good either. It’s funny, but not funny enough. It’s ridiculous, but not in a good way. There’s a Certain Spoilery Thing That Happens that didn’t need to happen/was only there so Alexandra Socha could sing Here You Are. 

The costumes were stunning and beautiful and the way the ensemble’s main outfits looked was really cool.

Speaking of the ensemble, the dancing was great! The choreography was really cool, if not a bit tonally out of place, and Spencer Liff sure loves to put people in lines when they dance. 

But at the end of the day, we don’t need Head Over Heels. There was nothing about it that was so amazing that I would recommend it to anyone. There’s nothing about it that made me think, “That was great and I’m glad I saw it.” I’m not better or worse for seeing Head Over Heels, but I would never in a million years pay more than the price of a rush ticket for it. Honestly, if I wanted to hear The Go Go’s, I’d queue up my Go Go’s Spotify playlist, which I’m actually listening to right now as I write this. I don’t know why this is on Broadway, even though I’m happy to report that there is not a single straight character in this show. I just wish that these characters had a better musical. 

Oh yeah, and this musical is like two and a half hours long. It does not need to be this long. It should have been 90 minutes with no intermission. A dramaturg needed to take a pen to those script pages and cross them out.

[disasteralex]

A couple weeks ago, my family and I went back to visit British Columbia for the first time in over two years. I can say without any exaggeration that I’ve been missing the province since the day I left it, and coming back felt like a reunion. I’ve made no secret of my love of BC to anyone who knows me, and I hope this post reflects some of that.

DAYS 1-2: AIRPORTS + RELAXING

Our flight was around 3 pm EST, so we left for Pearson airport (late, as always) around 11:45 am just to be careful. I was pretty tired, having worked most of the day before as the final day of my summer job and then hurriedly packing up everything, but I was still excited as hell.

The plane ride itself went pretty well. It’s the first time I’ve flown on an airplane in over two years, but beyond the initial tiny panic at liftoff, the five-ish hours went pretty well, and the plane even got in a little early.

We got into YVR around 5:30, and after picking up the rental car and grabbing some groceries, we drove to the home of the friends we were staying with and caught up with them for most of the night.

We also spent most of the next day relaxing, because all of us were pretty tired and thrown off from the time zone difference, but what can ya do? I also managed to read most of THE SUN AND HER FLOWERS, which I’ll be reviewing at the end of the month. I also Skyped my friends to show them our friends’ dog, because I am that kind of person. It was a pretty cute dog.

    Look!

At this dog!

DAYS 3-4: EXPLORING DELTA

My parents had a wedding to go to the next night, which was our “excuse” for going to BC in the first place, so I spent the next day and a half relaxing a little bit and exploring Delta, the area where we were staying, a little bit. The mom of the family we were staying with, who I jokingly refer to as my second mother probably too much, took me down to Tsawwassen Mills, the huge new(ish) mall there. I live in a pretty averaged-sized city, so I’m used to pretty average-sized malls, but this one was huge—apparently it’s about a million square feet. Also, it was so pretty. I’ve never seen a mall that has so much artwork in it. Also something cool: I heard that because the mall is on Native land, all of the artwork inside it is by First Nations artists. Neat, right? Unfortunately, I’m a bad blogger, so I didn’t manage to take any photos of the mall itself.

I did some more work the next afternoon and helped out the family a bit for the rest of that day. Some of the family we were with had returned from a trip that day, so the house was suddenly a lot louder.

My parents came back the next day, and my dad and I went out to the Boundary Bay Bird Sanctuary, which was really beautiful even though the weather (rainy, cloudy and a little smoky) dampens my photos a little bit. We also saw more herons in the hour or so we spent in the sanctuary than I’ve seen collectively up to that point, so that’s something. (Unfortunately, I only had my regular lens with me, so I don’t have any bird photos to show you. Like I said, bad blogger.)

Boundary Bay Bird Sanctuary, sans birds

DAY 5: DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER (Kits)

The next day we headed to downtown Vancouver to look around. My mom had a meeting with a friend, so my dad and I walked around Kits for a while and then met up with my mom near Kits Beach.

Fun fact: my parents have a very weathered photo that looks almost exactly like this on our fridge from like 20 years ago.

Look at that skyline!

My parents actually lived in Kits for a while, so they know the area pretty well and have a special place in their heart for it. I do, too. It’s a really cute little hipster-ish place, and turning the corner and getting a great view of the ocean and mountains is pretty neat, too. Even if it is a little weird.

saw an electronic sign outside a house near Kits Beach the other day that read “they are too tired to regret it” and I still have so many questions

— A. C. Wyatt (@alexisabooknerd) August 30, 2018

Next we walked down to Teetotaler Beach, which is pretty small but also a pretty great place to stick your feet in the ocean if you so desire, and then we drove down to Spanish Banks. Spanish Banks probably had the best views of the mountains and the Vancouver skyline, but Teetotaler Beach is still pretty neat, too.

Teetotaler Beach

Spanish Banks

We got home a little early, had dinner and hung out a little more, and then tried our best to pack and get to bed early for our trip the next day. I wasn’t very successful at that.

DAYS 6-7: NANAIMO, UCLUELET + TOFINO

I woke up at 6:45 the next day, which I wasn’t very fond of, but luckily I was able to get a little sleep on the ferry itself. I had wanted to get some photos on the ferry, but sleep called. Oh well. I have some photos from the last trip if you wanna look at them.

We got into Nanaimo around 11 am, and then slowly made our way up to Ucluelet. On our way there, we stopped off at Cameron Lake and hiked down to take a look at the view. And it was a pretty great view, if I do say so myself.

Cameron Lake, which kind of doesn’t look real

We continued on to the Cathedral Trail. It reminded me a lot of Lighthouse Park, to be honest, and mostly because of the trees themselves. You don’t see huge trees like that anywhere in Ontario, and seeing them here was more than welcome. I don’t tend to get out a lot when I’m in Ontario, partly because I’m busy with school and work and partly because there aren’t a lot of places to hike where I’m from (and also partly because I’m lazy). I probably exercised more on this trip than I did in the previous two months. Whoops. But I didn’t mind; I loved being around the scenery here.

Walking into the Cathedral Trail

Look, I just thought it was pretty.

I don’t ever think I’ve ever seen trees this tall.

We finally got into Ucluelet around 3 pm, and spent about an hour or so recharging before my dad and I set off to hike the trail around the Amphitrite Lighthouse. To be honest, I chose it purely because I’m a Classics major and I love all things mythology-related, but the trail itself certainly didn’t disappoint. It reminded me a lot of a hike we did in Victoria on the Dallas Road Waterfront Trail the last time we were here, but honestly, I think the views were better on this one.

Look! At this view!

The Amphitrite lighthouse itself

Even though it was pretty sunny out, the fog followed.

Once we finished the trail, which probably took us about an hour with all our collective photo stops, we went back to our hotel and then went out for dinner.

The three of us headed up closer to Tofino the next morning. It was supposed to be a little rainier and colder that day, so we didn’t want to plan too much, but we all decided to go down to Wickaninnish Beach. Like I said, it was a little rainy and cloudy that day, which normally doesn’t make for great photos, but it added a mysterious effect to this beach that was cool. Also, we found a jellyfish (or what looked like one) on the beach, which was pretty neat. I got some interesting photos of me posing like an idiot for my Instagram, too, so that was a bonus.

So much fog.

We spent about an hour-ish just walking around the beach before we got back in the car and headed up to Schooner Cove. It was mostly the same as Wickaninnish Beach, but a little more populated and with much better views. It also took a lot longer to get to, even though the scenery made up for it. We spent a while walking along Long Beach, which, as you guessed it, is very long, but also very pretty to look at.

Honestly, this might be my favourite photo that I took on this trip.

The view on the trail

Actually, scratch that. It might be this one.

After we got back from the beach, we puttered around the gift shop for a little bit, bought some things, and headed into Tofino to look around.

We were told by our family friends that Tofino was touristy and a little kitschy, but honestly, I loved it. It’s a cute little town with a lot of small, unique shops and cafes, and it was something I honestly haven’t seen before. Unfortunately, I was too exhausted to take many photos, so you’ll have to visit there yourself to really find out what it’s like.

After another hour or so, it was time to head back to Nanaimo to catch our ferry. We made a couple stops along the way, including a quick one down at Sproat Lake to get a picture of the water, but we got back to Nanaimo around 7:30-ish. By 10:30, we were back in Delta to get everything unpacked and ready for the next day.

Sproat Lake, another very nice lake

View from the ferry, which is pretty fuzzy but also look at those COLOURS

DAYS 8-9: GRANVILLE ISLAND AND DOWNTOWN (Fairview, Mount Pleasant)

The next day we decided to head to Granville Island, which might just be my favourite places in Vancouver. I honestly have never seen a quirkier and more unique place than Granville Island. It’s just so vibrant and colourful and almost magical in a way I’ve never encountered before. I could easily spend the rest of my life on Granville Island if it wasn’t so expensive. But there are a lot of seagulls there, so maybe not.

Seriously, so. Many. Seagulls.

There’s so much art around Granville Island and I think it’s so neat.

This is a little shop called BC Blacksmith, where all of the artwork was super unique and beautiful. I’m not very familiar with metalwork, but I thought this was really neat.

When we got back home, the family we were staying with were having a little party, so that was a more than welcome way to end the night.

The next day was pretty chill for us—everyone was a little tired from the night before, and my parents and I had decided to take it easy for our last full day in BC. We lounged around for a bit in the morning, and headed downtown again to look at a few places. My mom had to scout out a café for a thing she’s working on (shh, it’s a secret), and I was told about a really cool bookstore I apparently just HAD to see. (Spoiler alert: it was cool.)

DAY 10: TRAVEL HOME

Look, man, I hate leaving BC just as much as I love going there, so the last day of our trip was a pretty somber affair for all of us. Our flight back to Ontario boarded at about 2:20 pm PST, so after a morning of packing and reluctant goodbyes, we left our friends’ house and left for the airport.

It’s hard for me to articulate how I feel about BC, and the Vancouver area especially. I feel a kind of peace there that I’ve never felt anywhere else. Coming back here was hard—enough so that it took me extra long to finish this, to the point of this post being a day (and a half) late. But even though I’m back home now, I know it won’t be long until I visit BC again.

Share this post to Pinterest!

Did you go anywhere this month?

To read more of my travel posts, click here.

British Columbia Travel Diaries: Vancouver, Ucluelet and Tofino | A. C. Wyatt A couple weeks ago, my family and I went back to visit British Columbia for the first time…

[temporalecology]

The term fieldwork is used pretty much everywhere, to the extent that it can refer to an array of different tasks. Prior to this fieldwork opportunity in Smithers, my impression of fieldwork was limited to the classroom setting – walking around as a class with profs in Pacific Spirit Park looking at ferns and mosses and take notes, very chill and sweet… Undoubtedly, our Smithers field work exposed me to a different flavour: a challenging, exciting, and itchy (shoutout to our “welcome committee”) one.

“Are you ready for a road trip?” It all began with Deirdre - our lovely grad supervisor (more like a friend) -picking us up on that cool Saturday morning. Wait, back up back up back up: it began with me intently shopping for fieldwork two weeks earlier, making sure I’ve got the right footwear and raingear (which turned out to be lifesaving). In fact, 3 days before our departure, Deirdre alerted us with an email saying, “the risk of fries in British Columbia is very high at the moment” (her typo: fires) that we would need to play by the ear and be extra cautious. Obviously, on the ride there, fire was one of the many topics that we covered.

The ride was quite fun: Deirdre and Sophia shared driving responsibility while I sat at the back and ate apples. We managed to land a spot on a campground in Prince George the first night and that was my first time camping. Who would have thought it only got better from there.

After another 5 hours of ride, we reached Smithers, a small town with vibrant sceneries. Getting groceries, having a home-cooked meal, and lying down on my bed in our little cabin, only one thing was missing: running water. Well, how greasy can I get without a shower for a week? I calmed myself and fell asleep.

The first couple of days of fieldwork were not too bad. The weather was great, and PI Lizzie and Johnathan were there for emotional support. After a series of bushwhacking and trying not to fall over, I had some sense of what the research was about: essentially, we are testing the Janzen-Connell hypothesis in Babine Mountains Provincial Park, trying to see if the density of seedlings and their proximity to parent trees limit their survival and growth potential. There are around 15 square-shaped plots established on Mount Harvey, each was 400 m2 in size. All the adult trees were tagged and taken diameter at breast height (DBH) measurement to yield information on stand density for species within each plot. Along the transect (diagonal) of each plot, there were 6 0.5*0.5 plots where we measured seedling height and took germinant counts. The year 2021 is the 3rd year the lab came to this site, and ideally, at least two more years of observations will be made.

Working in the field came with many challenges. First and foremost, hiking. Since we are examining the gradient effect of elevation, plots are all over the mountain. Every morning we would hike up, and each following day we hiked up a bit further. Deirdre and Sophia are super fit while I am more of a slow hiker, setting my heavy pace here and there. Another fun thing adding to the hike is how much you would sweat. Since we would start the day super early in the morning, it was quite cold and therefore, we wore multiple layers. As we hiked up, our clothes and hair got super wet because of the sweat. Then when we reached the top of the mountain, it became cold again given the elevation, especially under the canopy where there was no sunlight. It got freezingly cold as the wind blew, not to mention locations like this are perfect as the breeding ground of mosquitoes (what my friend and I call the “welcome committee,” because in the wild where you hardly encounter a single person, worry not, you are always welcomed by swarms of mosquitoes). The mosquito jacket, though unsightly, was a welcome plus one.

Walking in the forest itself is, difficult. It is more like crawling than walking, especially in forest stands where there are a ton of down snags. They are too high to go over, and the branches are incredibly poky. Finding the plots was another big challenge. Living in a modern city certainly does not prepare me for wayfinding in the wild. There is nothing to use as references. Every direction you look, you see the same dense understory. The ground is covered with thick carpets of mosses, leaf litters, and nurse logs, and finding a tiny germinant in such a setting is like finding one particular grain of sand on a beach.

Besides taking measurements of seedlings and germinants and identifying trees, we were also tasked to set up new 20*20 plots at higher elevations than did previously. This is super interesting to me because as an oftentimes clueless undergrad reading the method section of journal articles, despite seeing people say, “we had this many plots so and so,” I never used to think about how those plots were established. Again, in the wild, there is no reference to help set up the boundary, so GPS and compass are key. To delineate a square-shaped plot in a dense forest, we first determine one corner of the plot by selecting a lucky tree candidate and flag it. Then we want to take the measuring tape and walk – in this case – 20 meters straight following the compass. This sounds a lot easier than reality because when you picture walking 20 meters in your head, you picture walking on paved and level ground. Now think again, only this time picture a windy and rainy day walking in a dense forest with bushes above your waist and trees blocking your straight path ahead with painfully poky branches ready to mess with you (remember also the welcome committee). Moreover, you are not walking on level ground: the slope can get as high as 60 degrees plus, and you are at risk of falling to the ground at any moment. If you are not completely walking in a straight line, you will need to go back and redo the boundary. Once you are finally happy with the direction and straightness of the measuring tape in your hand, you select another tree closest to you after you’ve walked 20 meters and this tree becomes your second corner. You then change direction to find the next corner and hopefully, by the time you get to your last corner, you are not too off. Now that you have a plot, you then go on to sample within the plot, taking measurements of trees and soils and whatever is of your interest.

Most days are like this. We hike, we do some sampling, we eat sandwiches, we do some other sampling. Not having access to running water made me realize how bad it is that we take running water for granted in cities. However, one silver lining about being dirty is that I got to sit whenever and wherever I wanted in the forests. Because of the worsening of the wildfires, we had to head back to Vancouver earlier than planned, but good enough that we finished our tasks in time.

Some good perks we had during this field season included a couple of great hikes beyond the tree line (Hudson Bay Mountain), a visit to Jim Pojar’s house (the author of the BC plant book, my forestry friends were so jealous), the Kombucha beer Lizzie bought me, and the detour to Jasper, Alberta that we took on our way back to avoid the fires. With no doubt, this fieldwork was invaluable to me as it helped me gain insight into what field ecologists do and made me think about what kind of work, I would like to carry out for my graduate studies one day. I was quite tired after the fieldwork, but of course, I was barely scratching the surface here. On our way back to Vancouver, seeing the smoke of forest fires rise to the sky, so tragically beautiful that many people were taking pictures, I thought to myself: Patience, endurance, and curiosity are for sure, major ingredients to make a good scientist, and they are attributes that need cultivation. I hope there is something we can do for the planet’s tomorrow. I hope it is not too late.

- Alina Zeng, August 2021

[dunesand]

bulbapedia categorizes pokemon in their color groups so i made a bunch of trainer cards aka ocs for da future this is a master post for me to look back to in the future when i want to draw/flesh them out lmao!!!

red trainer Oh-sung...delinquent. sort of wishes he could carry cuter pokemon but he's gotta put up a TOUGH ACT. doesnt like battling but good at it. his darumaka is his true bff.

blue trainer Insik doctor/rescue guy! nice dude, doesnt battle. always busy and likes oh-sung a lot. he loves cold drinks and cant stand the heat. loves the beach but loves really cold weather cant stand tropical beach towns. cant swim!

yellow trainer Namki traveling clown!! loves their pokemon a lot!!! is horrible at battling!!! just wants to have a good time. will take your things and their pokemon will also take your things.

green trainer Shingo a mess of a human being depressed as hell. just graduated college and is a station master due to family pressure. would eat nothing but top ramen and never clean if his pokemon didn't help him get up and feel good every morning. super city boy.

charcoal trainer Dowon a NINJA. can tell you which naruto episode is his favorite and why. throws his freakin minior everywhere like a shuriken for practice. likes to collect figmas but always breaks them when he makes them. fake edgy. likes kimoon a lot.

brown trainer Soyi wuvs to bake. gets nervous when pretty ladies come to her bakery, cant help but give out free bread to all the beautiful girls. sort of a perfectionist, beats herself up a lot over silly things. never sleeps. wuvs her pokemon. dislikes battling but GOOD at it.

purple trainer Seigen a SPOOKY SNOWBOARDER. rarely is seen out at day, seeing him is like seeing bigfoot. not actually spooky but accepts this weird title people have given him. likes to camp out with his pokemon a lot. shy.

gray trainer Mija usually seen at the hotsprings. she likes to stay in the salt rooms and drink fresh sikhye while reading. retired, wife passed away but has three good good kids that visit her a lot. loves battling and eating tasty snacks that are bad for her.

white trainer Kimoon monk! but rlly new at it. trying to get rid of wordly desires but finds it very difficult to do. likes reading/watching kamen rider. friends with dowon.

pink trainer Ga-yoon RICH bitch. always on cruises, competes in pokemon contests and hits on other ladies a lot. always has a drink in her hand. very good at pokemon battles but prefers the contest life.

(pink was the last of the colors on the bulbapedia thing but i made more trainers.) trainer Woojin!! friends with shingo, same family issues. real serious around others. nice when talking one on one, wishes he could have been a chef.

trainer Won-chul likes going on late-night walks with his pokemon and early morning walks. never seen in the afternoon. sort of a mystery. likes watching kdramas and crying.

trainer Ye-jun widdle baby. likes to jump around in puddles. his favorite thing is soda. his pelipper tries to make sure he doesnt drink so much.

orange trainer Sanjun maid cafe! brother to Nari. loves chatting with people and all around nice guy. trying to save money for college, but wastes all of his money on nice dresses. surprisingly dislikes sweets.

trainer Nari butler cafe! sister to Sanjun wants to beat all the gyms. trying to get some extra bucks for college. likes helping her brother fuss over this fashion and looking up cool suits to wear. really good at saving money.

trainer Eunah, friends with Sanjun. sort of a gloomy girl. really quiet, gets dragged along to shop with Sanjun constantly. only works on rainy days.

trainer Mi-ran, nurse. clumsy af. tries her damn best and really wants to be a good nurse but is always fucking things up. oversleeps all the time and is always lost in thought. loves napping with her pokemon.

trainer Tae really loves cute pokemon. plays with them all the time when he's not playing football. hold all of his pokemon and carries them around everywhere. loves soft things, scared of bug pokemon.

trainer Hideo, friends with Tae and Choki . takes baseball real seriously. chews too much gum and never shuts up. tries to make everything connect to baseball somehow. everyone usually ignores him.

trainer Choki, friends with hideo and tae super talented, very busy. lives with his younger brother. stern and wishes his brother would take his studies seriously. always wants to train but his friends never want to. paints in his spare time.

trainer Itaru, younger brother to choki, wants to be a contest winner with his pokemon. wishes his brother wasn't so serious all the time. loves summertime and jogging with his pokemon. enjoys ditching school and planting berries/flowers in his garden.

trainer Hirotomo he's kimoon's dad and wishes his son would focus on becoming an enlightened monk. loves the winter time and meditating with his pokemon. smiles a lot but no one can tell cause of his beard

trainer Kyoko and Kuriko GAY!!! they love each other a lot.friends with all the sports buddies. big fans of Ryoko and Choki. they're really loud and full of energy but mean well and supports everyone.

trainer Banri, trans guy. very competitive especially against miu. good friends with seigen. loves all kinds of fruit. dislikes fast food. wants everyone to know how good of a color orange is.

trainer Miu, trans lady. not competitive, just trying her dang hardest. always seems to beat banri in some way. has a crush on ryoko. sister to eita. best skier around, really dislikes the cold. likes to watch scary movies.

trainer Eita soccer player! blunt, nice boy. loves hanging around hideo cause he makes fun of him all the time. brother to miu, loves bragging about his sister. loves going to amusement parks and is the best at winning prizes.

trainer Ryoko super talented, the coolest out of the sports buddies. rlly nice and hard working. gets a bit nervous due to the high expectations set on her. everyone thinks she's cool but she's secretly a big nerd. loves collecting gashapon toys.

trainer Junko loves fashion. likes to dress in historical clothes and dresses her pokemon up the same way. terrible at gardening but wishes she were good at it.

trainer Jubei, brother to junko. also loves fashion, but just always wants to look stylish. recently became a kendo teacher. a bit stubborn, kind of tsundere. is perpetually annoyed that his sister can beat him easily in martial arts.

[comicteaparty]

April 20th-April 26th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from April 20th, 2020 to April 26th, 2020.  The chat focused on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham~! (http://oiydcomic.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until April 26th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

5. I like how distinctive the character designs are! The mcs are both very unique and recognizable

8. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also explores some real neat concepts

the story is full of personality

carcarchu

the comic's not loading for me shakes fist at wifi, gonna try again tomorrow but i just wanted to say the look of the site is really cute!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Got the chance to read it So here are some of my thoughts: 1. I like the romantic atmosphere that the comic starts off with warm colours and it gives a vacation ad sensation? 2. My favourite moment is in the pink strange dream world, the colours contrast to the reality of Cara. 4. Fave moment: When that mystery guy shows up and he had corny lines like a romantic parody. It seem so fantastical. 5. I like the colour palette choice of brown tones, shades of pinks. 6. I think the theme is about expectations (it's not clear atm), how Cara is distancing from real relationships and prefer to indulge. 7: I like how the creator shows Cara looking scared of confronting things. It sets an interesting tone of uncertainty. Is she hiding something?(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm super curious about the situation of Cara not remembering her past dreams with Richie, and how that ties into the theme.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

1. I like how I don’t know what to expect. I also like how the premise is relateable; the idea that you are scared of imperfection making you have high standards in life hit close. 2) Every single time we’re treated to....Tuyetnhi’s lovely use of expression. Also the end part of episode 2, because that’s when I realized it’s going to get dark. 3) A tie between Ana and Richie. Ana because she makes me laugh with her blunt assertions (which...aren’t wrong) and Richie because he’s so flamboyant and extra. I love how much personality they all have. 4) Hands down Richie and Cara. They have a really hilarious dynamic going on. 6) The idea that people seek perfection through their dreams instead of facing reality. Also I really liked how it tackles society’s fixation on everyone to find someone....maybe Cara doesn’t need that and needs to focus on herself first? 7) That I won’t know what to expect. I came into this thinking it was going to be a classic romcom, and then I get hit with implicit horror and trippyness. I have a feeling Tuyetnhi is hinting at some darker aspects of the story we have yet to see. 8) Good lord the expressions. They really do the story justice and make me turn the page every time. Also the colours are beautiful.(edited)

(Whoops sorry keiiii)

7) two moments actually!

The fact that their wide eyed sweaty expressions matched made me laugh really hard

And also Cara’s quick acceptance of the situation was so unexpected and hilarious I took a double take. Also props to the colour dissonance; that looks like meme material right there!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah. I want to make it clear that Cara is like "This is really not my day." lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Well....you portrayed that sentiment perfectly

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Omg yes the wide eyed expressions were also making me laugh! Well that was an expression I didn't expect coming into the story(edited)

I was wondering if that was suppose to be serious or humorous?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

both LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I see the horror you got going there Tuyetnhi Reminds me of...I dunno Jojo?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

well............ yes and no lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

But I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen

Although...if we’re going by the silhouette....is she scared of herself?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

C:

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I like that sense of not knowing what's happening? :)(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

that will be coming up in Ch. 3 soon

so please wait till then thank u lol

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

So far it's tough to choose a fave character right now since I feel the story has just started its first segment. I would like to wait until more content is shown before I can make a firm choice? (I'm analytical, I like to go over OCs flaws and strengths once I know more about them)(edited)

I'm curious to learn about her ex crush, since we only get a glimpse of how Cara precieve him. But what is Dean really like? *Drum rolls(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

you got.... good questions

it will be rewarded.... later on LOL

mariah (rainy day dreams)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I really liked the colors and island vibe. And this was even before Animal Crossing came out and I started hardcore living that island life I just love a good, soft pink to purple gradient generally speaking so the opening of the story was like falling into a comfy brain pillow for me. 2-4 I'm just gonna answer these ones kind of all together because they thoughts on then are all kind of threaded together into one big thought. After having read through the archive I really liked the scene with Ana and Cara. When I first read it I was like "dang, she's giving Cara such a hard time," but after having read the scenes where Cara just refused to admit to Richie she doesn't know what's going on I really retroactively appreciated Ana's willingness to call Cara on her bullshit XD I think it's a really good foil trait to have for a protagonist who seems dead set on avoiding confrontation even though it seems like doing so is most likely just gonna come back to bite her later. I imagine we aren't going to see Ana for a while though unless Cara is able to use her Phone A Friend card in the dream realm XD I am also looking forward to seeing more of the Cara doppelganger and how she and Cara interact with each other going forward. That feels like an exciting and drama filled mystery

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I also love the atmosphere. The color choices are just so beautiful. 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? Ana pointing out Cara's BS hahahaha. 3. Who is your favorite character? Definitely Ana. She's so down-to-earth from what I can tell, someone I'd want to be friends with. 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most? Probably Ana and Cara. I like to see good friendships depicted, especially in a romance. 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it! In general, everything is so soft and pretty. I also really appreciate the fact that all the characters have larger noses. If I had a favorite panel, it would be at the beginning, the sunset beach waves. 6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores? So far, I'm not sure about themes, but I like the talk about the pressure parents give to their children to get married. 7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content? There's a lot of mystery, so I'm looking forward to learning about Cara's dreams, Richie, and the key. 8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are? The visuals are really nice. I can't stop gushing about the color choices and the pretty atmosphere.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

The way Cronaj sums up their thoughts on OiYD, I'm agreeing with the statement on Ana and Cara! Esp friendship part

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'll answer the questions hopefully later this week, but this song reminded me of the comic!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4z5ecLCvSQ(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

@Deo101 [Millennium] damn that’s a good song

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oooo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

He's definitely hot and extra

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lmao

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

My joke idea is that Cara is secretly in a reality show starring Richie and her and the bonds they play out is meant for a live broadcast. But she's clearly not agreeing to this(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh god. i don't think that's good for Cara's mental state lmao

Feather J. Fern

Also I have to say, I do love how the first cover is literally Cara being the meme of "Oh no he's hot"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

fjdkalfdjdklfj

Feather J. Fern

Also I finally started it, while a bit late, I have to relate to Cara being an accountant.

Also I think my favourite panel is "Welp that worked"

Also I have to appreciate picking a pink that doesn't grate on the eyes.

https://gyazo.com/71fe22ea6ac2ebf6b3d85531c66bf8ed Another really good panel

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I enjoyed making that one LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

that face is one of my favourites not gonna lie

Feather J. Fern

I really like the surrealness of the story, can't wait to see what happens next

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

same! I feel like something is about to happen

I'm also wondering how Richie would react to the real world

like....the ex. And her parents.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

soon™️

Feather J. Fern

More like everyone reacting to Richie XD

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yeah pretty much

Like can Richie handle the world?

More like

Can the world handle RICHIE

RebelVampire

I like that the beginning really contrasts the dream and Cara's reality pretty quickly. I kind of feel it catches that feeling of coming out of a dream to face reality which kind of sucks, and also plays into the themes of dream vs. reality and expectation vs. reality. It's very easy to idealize things, whether as a route of escapism or just because it sounds appealing. But the reality of things generally is always different, and I like that we're seeing this full force in the comic through Cara's perspective. And the contrasts between the two really enhance those topics. My favorite moment in the comic so far is probably when Cara meets what I assume is Dean. Cause I really loved that both parties were kind of at fault, and I also liked how quickly that convo devolved into a grumpfest, because that felt very realistic. My favorite character right now is definitely Richie, because he is ridiculous and sympathetic at the same time. I adore his exaggerated personality, while at the same time feel sorry for him since for him the memories are clearly there and like...I would not want to be in the shoes of someone where the person they loved no longer remembered them. As for character interacting the most, Cara and Richie because that entire premise of one person remembering and the other not makes for a really tense and awkward situation. It's hard to tell where it's going to go. What I like about the art is the palettes of color chosen, since there's some beautiful scenery as well as fantastic contrasts when needed to make certain moments pop (like dream vs. reality).

As for the story content, what I actually like the most is that Cara is a flawed protagonist. I've read a lot of stories where the protagonist is always 100% right in the relationship and is just eternally the victim because society pressure. But Cara has a lot more going on, since she's clearly been at fault in some interactions, and while we can sympathize with people pressuring her into relationships, she also maybe takes it too far by being avoidant of basically every relationship. However, since she has these traits, I'm more invested into her personal dilemmas since she'll actually make mistakes when dealing with stuff. Which I think this is the overall strength of the comic. Cara is just a damn good protagonist who is easily likeable but isn't perfect and whose imperfections are not just brushed off so easily.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

;_; .... thank you.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I love the story so far! When I first started, I figured it would be some sort of awkward story where Richie comes into the real world and he has to figure out how to, like, act natural, and hilarity ensues. But holy cow, Cara losing her memories, and the slide into somewhat of a horror angle - it's not something I expected (though admittedly I could have read the synopsis lol), but it's definitely something I like!(edited)

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Do you think the people around Cara were right to try and pressure her into a relationship? Overall, what do you think the comic has to say about relationships and the themes regarding relationship pressure?

10. Is what Cara experiencing dream or reality, and where is the line between them in this case? Additionally, why do you think her dreams have the potential to become reality as opposed to other people? Also, what is the overall message underlying these themes?

11. Is Richie really just a dream Cara dreamt up, or is there something more to him? If he somehow makes it to Cara’s world, do you think he’ll be able to adjust to that reality? Also, can he win Cara over?

12. What do you think the Cara imposter is about, and what does this have to do with the entire situation? Do you think Cara will eventually remember her dreams? Lastly, what do you think Cara has in store for her as the story continues?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

9. I personally don’t think it was great of the people in Cara’s life to pressure her like that. Sure, they mean well, but it’s most likely bringing Cara’s self esteem down by a lot. I have a feeling that her dreams/reality colliding together is partially motivated by that; the pressure of pleasing society has made her....subconsciously take drastic measures?

10. I’m actually not sure! Maybe there’s a supernatural explanation to it, or it could all just be a dream. Dreams have a way of showing a person’s innermost desires or fears, so maybe Cara’s desires and fears are coming alive in response to external stress factors. So perhaps she opened a portal of sorts between the realms in some way (there’s a key!!!!).

11. Oh I’m thinking they might end up together. But the realist inside me thinks...perhaps what Cara needs isn’t romantic love, but more independent love and being able to love herself. What DOES worry me, however, is the fact that Richie seems...a bit desperate for Cara to like him. Is there a condition to his love after all? If so, that means that it’s possible he’s forced in some way to love her or make her love him. And that’s not really conducive to romance, is it?

12. Ah...the thing that makes me mystified the most. Cara seems to have a negative view of herself, since she told her to get out in the end of chapter two. However, Cara #2 seems to be pretty helpful; knocking on the door to tell her to get out of the house (which Richie has her in), so in a way letting her out. While our Cara seems to dislike her a lot, I think the key to the story would be our Cara needing to accept this double Cara to be really free. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t! But from what I can see from the story and like I’ve said earlier...maybe Cara needs to be able to find love within herself. Love for that Cara double, and enough love to become independent and not bend to society’s overwhelming pressure for outside romance. I hope she finds that as the story comes along, and know that it’s okay to not be ready for love.

As for Richie...hmm. He’s dealing with an amnesiac heroine, and adjusting to the real world. I’m sure it’s going to lead to some hilarious hijinks, but hopefully he can manage! He seems up to the task

RebelVampire

I think whether people were right to pressure Cara is a tricky gray area. On the one hand, no, they were wrong. Nobody should be forced into a relationship. But on the other hand, if you know a person is actively self-sabotaging, isn't it more correct to speak up? So to me this is maybe a situation of good intentions with bad execution. However, I do think overall the comic does say pressuring people into relationships sucks and plz don't do that cause that's how you make ppl run further away. I think it's both, because a dream is reality in a sense. I think many of us have had dreams that caused real emotional affects, whether negative or positive. So the line between them is merely the fact effects are limited. Cara have may have just found a way to cross that line and make a dream a tangible thing that has more consequences. As for why her dreams, I don't know. Maybe she's just super good at dreaming. I do think as the overall message though is that dreams are good but not when we get lost in them, because then we idealize and reject "reality" in ways that aren't healthy. I do think Richie is primarily something Cara dreamt up, but kind of not maybe. Like sure maybe Cara is idea creator, but something else was involved in making the physical reality of that idea. As for Richie adjusting to Cara's world, I'm sure it will be laughably hilarious. I do think he can sort of win Cara over, at least in the sense of being friends. Cause how can you hate Richie? I'm taking a shot in the dark and saying Cara imposter is the embodiment of Cara's missing memories but since they're just memories, all they can do is imitate. As for Cara remembering, I feel like it will be yes but I kind of want it to be no. I like the idea of them having to reform a relationship entire from scratch.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oo good impressions! I wish I have more to say but it would affect the story LOL. Enjoyed reading everyone's theories tho!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Ok my turn, let's see what my head theories are: 9: I felt the same annoyance as Cara but it's a mixed feeling, Even though, people shouldn't pressure a lady on her love life, she also has a problem with being in relationships. Or I remember one quote from the story was how she 'ditched her dates by rushing to the bathroom.' although I don't know her circumstance, I do know she has issues to settle too. Relationship pressure is real, especially as a young person grows older. 10. From the comic visuals, it feels much like it's her escapism dream. The only clue I got, is that her holding a literal 'key' connecting both worlds, is evidence that both world could collide. So far, we haven't seen other people's dreams, or whether this is an unusual occurrence in the world? It seems to be a message about idealistic relationships. Since Cara seem to turn away real ones, it manifested? 11. I'm curious about Richie's character too. He seems like a powerful imagination, enough to sway the lead, so he's more than a simple figment. I wonder if his submissive, flirtatious (?) personality was build in him. He doesn't seem to have a 'life' outside his dream house, or so far. 12. I'm not sure whether the 'Other Cara' might be trying to help her or is that.. actually a shadow side? I don't want to say too much, but it's interesting to see where the story goes.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh! You make a good point about Richie; I never thought about that! Do you think maybe he's simply a part of Cara and eventually gains his own sentience/personality?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Hehe I like analyzing dreams :3 In dream theory, I feel he could be? I was more skeptical whether he should be treated as a real character or something else.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

man this does make me want to look up dream psychology

i have a feeling...Tuyetnhi is using some theories from that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Hmmmm dream psychology you say?

I guess you can say there's some elements of that, but it's not a major chunk of it if that makes sense lol

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

13. Maintaining the will power to finish OIYD! so I can see it as its end lmao. As a passion project but also something that I want to invest in when I have the time, I hope ya'll looking forward in reading Ch. 3 very soon lol.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

13. I really want to see how both Cara and Richie will develop as characters. Whether Cara will figure out for herself what being both independent means....and whether she does want a relationship for herself and not for other people. Likewise with Richie, I want to see if he'll be able to be his own person...and whether he's real or not. I have a lot of questions that I want to be answered, and I can't wait to keep reading.

14. Tuyetnhi, good luck on the webcomic. It's hard to start one and even harder to pull off a good one, and I know yours is a good one. I really look forward to reading more from you. You're amazing (edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

thank you

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

13. I'm interested in learning more about Cara's conflicts, why she is hesitant about having a real relationship vs her dream one? I love the unexpected dark twist that the story seems to be going. 14. I want to say, no pressure and take your time to complete the chapter. Just know you have my support and willing to read when it is ready. Good luck

RebelVampire

I'm looking forward to more Richie being Richie. Because he is an adorable person. And also because I'm waiting for some 'reality' culture shock. My final words are that this comic has a strong themes game going on and an intriguing premise, so it'll be fun to see where the comic is in a few more chapters since I'm pretty sure we're in for a wild ride.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Only In Your Dreams! this week! Please also give a special thank you to Tuyetnhi Pham for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Only In Your Dreams!, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://oiydcomic.com/

Tuyetnhi’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oiydcomic

Tuyetnhi’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/tuyetnhip

Tuyetnhi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tuyetnhip