#and this song plays here since Tiki is from the same world
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Listed: Outer World — Part 1
Outer World is the psychedelic partnership of Traci Wilson (of Dahlia Seed and Positive No) and Kenneth Close (also Positive No), born when Wilson had to work her way through the changes that long COVID forced in her singing style. In her review, Jennifer Kelly called the title track to their debut album, “a hands-in-the-air, hips-on-a-swivel psychedelic bop along the lines of Os Mutantes’ ‘Bat Macumba.’”
They've provided us with a supersized Listed, saying "We just completed the final show of spring dates and it feels like we should share some of the things that were playing in the van relating to the cities we traveled through." The second part is here.
Hard Copy — Torpedo
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Easily our favorite Richmond, VA band who joined us for our tour kick-off and record release. An incredible art-punk quartet who have mastered space and tension. Every time we see them they morph into a unique version of themselves and it was such a treat to have them be part of sending us off.
The Sewerheads — Man of Finite Sorrow
Our old band, Positive No, befriended and played many shows with The Gotobeds from Pittsburgh, PA. When putting together our show in that city, it was natural that Eli's new band The Sewerheads would be involved. We are big fans of anything he does, and The Sewerheads are no exception. They are brash and dive into a dirge feeling that's rooted in nostalgia but fresh all at once.
White Noise — Love Without Sound
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Our dear friend Sam Richardson had the grand opening of his new record store, Feel It Record Shop (sharing the same name as his most excellent record label) the day we were playing in Cincinnati, OH. As a record-collecting band, that was our first stop upon arriving in town. There were many goodies procured and finding a pristine copy of an Outer World favorite, White Noise was simply tops.
Clickbait — Sundae with Peanut
Jen Lenmasters came to our attention via her always informative and very cool IG account She Bop which focuses on women in rock/punk in her record collection. She and her husband Nick own Bric-A-Brac (record shop) as well as the Brewed (coffee shop), which we put on our short list of places to visit in Chicago. They also happen to play in an exciting art punk band called Clickbait who have a new record coming this July. It was a no-brainer to ask them to share a bill with us.
Tyvek — Wayne County Roads
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En route to Michigan, we were blasting Tyvek in the van and we all were bopping our heads to this song as it played. Such an anthem and great driving music to boot! Shelley, who is among the current line of the band, kindly helped us put our Detroit show together and we also shared the bill with another current Tyvek member’s band Deadbeat Beat who earned band most worthy of a record deal award of tour.
Randy Carlos — Satellite U.S.A
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Our first stop in Detroit was Hello Records where some of the Tyvek crew also works. We procured this beautiful Latin comp that looks like a stereo sound test record, but it is filled with goodies including this magical Randy Carlos song.
The Makers — Don't Challenge Me
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Kevin and Shelley from Tyvek DJ'd our Detroit show — seriously the best DJ set of all time. They played some of our all time favorite records to DJ, and this killer single was among them.
Winged Wheel — Grief in the Garden
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We played Tubby's in Kingston, NY after a few days off (Earthquaker Devices, tiki drinks, and Niagra Falls - oh my!). Tubby’s is one of the coolest and most artist friendly spots on the east coast and is co-owned by Cory of Winged Wheel,Spray Paint, and Rider/Horse. The new Winged Wheel record came out a few days later and we not only played it on release day on tour, but it has lived on our turntable ever since we got home. A best of 2024 alert!
#dusted magazine#listed#outer world#traci wilson#kenneth close#hard copy#the sewerheads#white noise#clickbait#tyvek#randy carlos#the makers#winged wheel
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Drastic Measures- Part 2
@daminette-december2019-2020
~Swordplay~
To summarise: I will have the love square one way or another!
Ao3
First >Next
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As far as homes go it’s pretty good” Adrien stretches out, Plagg curls up next to him.
“Don't get too comfortable we’re going to be on the move,” Marinette types furiously at her computer.
“I will try my hardest,” Adrien stares blankly at her, sat atop a pile of grubby blankets next to a broken window. Marinette loses connection to her computer and slams it shut with a huff.
“Get some sleep I’m going to find an internet cafe,” Marinette stuffs the cheap laptop into her bag, amazing how something she bought at a hole in the wall place for thirty bucks didn’t work well.
“Who needs sleep when you can have coffee,” Adrian stands up, ready to follow her.
“Sleep Chat,” She pushes him down by the shoulders, “I need my partner fully operational,”
“Yeah kid, take a break, we worked hard,” Plagg yawns, turning over.
“You also worked hard Bug,” Adrien lets himself be pushed back onto the blankets.
“I won't be able to sleep until I know how everything is in Paris,”
“Neither can I,” Adrien protests, already half asleep.
“Sure you can, night Chat,”
“Night M’lady,”
Marinette leaves the same way they came in, though the window. She has to slide down the gutter to get on the street, Tikki hiding away in her bag. She has to go pretty far in town to find a suitable cafe, too far from Adrien to be comfortable. Marinette pops in her earbuds before opening her computer to let her talk to Tikki freely.
She doesn't immediately search up missing person cases. Looking instead at Paris tourist destinations and guides. Switching to the dangers of traveling to Paris; the only mention of Akuma being on obscure question and answer sites. She looks at kidnapping potential and then moves onto missing person cases. Adrien's is the first to come up, obviously.
There was lots of outcry among his fans. Many were throwing around accusations of foul play on Gabriel's part from abuse to locking Adrien away from the world. However, Gabriel was also fiercely looking for his son. Adrien hadn’t left behind any sort of note. Well only to Nino, which Adrien had told Marinette was asked not to mention to anyone.
Marinette then feels safe enough to look up her own case. It was smaller, although was gaining attention as Jagged proclaimed it to high heavens; more so asking what they did wrong and how they could fix it and asking for any sightings of her. That could be a problem if her picture was already around. Marinette pulls her hood up higher. They might have to get haircuts and wear disguises… on second thought wearing suspicious disguises in Gotham might cause more problems.
“Tikki they seem really worried,” Marinette watches the videos Jagged posted, her parents in the background running around talking with police.
“Of course they are Mari,” Marinette feels a light tap on her side, “But you're doing the right thing,”
“No I’m not,” not when she’s watching a video of her parents crying, “I’m doing what needs to be done, this is my responsibility, no matter what a certain someone thinks,”
She spits with venom. Maybe Adriens rant last night rubbed off on her.
“He’s the hero here,” Tiki says non accusingly, “Imagine if another hero came to Paris without asking you… remember Volpina?”
“Ah now that was an actual villain,” Marinette hadn’t trusted her from the start, “Plus she was akumatized,”
“Marinette,” Marinette can’t bring herself to feel guilty, even under tikis scolding.
“Right but that still doesn't give him the right,” Marinette huffs, “After all would he attack Marinette? No!”
“Are you implying you would attack Lila?”
“......... no,”
“Marinette,”
Marinetti smirks to herself instinctively looking around for Adrien to share her joke. Then Marinette froze. The cafe was empty, not even a barista. How had she not noticed!?
“Wait,” Marinetti says out loud before Tiki could talk, “I’m going to have to call you back, something just came up,”
Something was watching her from the kitchen door as if she couldn’t see them. Marinette tries to act normal going for the pepper on the table and putting it on her food. They move at the same time. The attacker runs towards her, Marinette throws the shaker at- Robin?! It hits him square in the forehead, with a curse he touches his bleeding forehead.
“I am so sorry!” Marinette panics, “That was meant to explode in your face!”
“How is that better?!” Robin runs forward, sword drawn. Marinette ducks behind the table grabbing her plate and frisbeeing it towards him, he manages to dodge this one, “Draw your weapon coward!"
“I don’t have a weapon!” She grabs the table cloth ready to take the vigilante down, “What is wrong with you?!”
He doesn't answer lunging at her again with the sword. Marinette kicks up the table then kicks it towards him in one swift movement. With the impact of the table he drops the sword, Marinette jumps up landing on the table which pins Robin down to the ground with its weight and hers, with the legs sticking up.
“I knew it,” Robin spits and she presses her weight into the table to keep him pinned.
“Excuse you,” Marinette catches his wrist as he tries to pull a dagger on her using the table cloth to tie it to the legs of the table, then does the same with the other, “You attacked me,”
“-Robin!” she hears a faint call, no one is around so it must be from his communicator, “-Robin report back to the cave!”
“I’ll take that~” Marinette sings songs ignoring how he growls at her. She rolls her eyes stepping off the table she needed to get out of here now.
She steps out of the cafe throwing the communicator and likely a tracking device too on the roof of a passing car then sprints in the opposite direction. She heads for the alleys looking for an area with no cameras as she runs. When she finds a spot Marinette transforms running back to their base with record timing.
“Adrien wake up!” Ladybug jumps through the window, barely avoiding landing on him, “Batman’s after us,”
“What?!” He sits bolt upright, Ladybug pulls him onto his feet.
“Move! Now!” She grabs their bags, Adrien transforms and they take off over the rooftops.
“What happened?!” Chat shouts as the runaway, “Is Batman chasing us?”
“Yes, well kinda-- Robin tried to kill me,”
“He what?!”
“As Marinette,” She adds, slowing down as they should have put enough distance between them.
“Did they figure us out already?” Chat Noir slows down into a walk then collapses on the rooftop,
"Probably,"
“This is the worst wake up call ever!”
“Well, it's about to get worse,” Ladybug cringes feeling the distinct trace of magic she was all too familiar with.
“Akuma?”
“Akuma,”
“Great, perfect,” Chat complains standing back up.
“At least we’re not at school,” Ladybug shrugs, launching herself over a roof.
“No you’re right being chased by a masked vigilante is a massive improvement,”
---
Wow
“Robin! Get your head out of the clouds and get over here!”
Damian breaks out of his trance, regrettably tearing his gaze away from Ladybug to the much less awe inspiring sight of Batman trapped under a car. They shouldn’t be wasting their time worrying about these established amazing hero’s and worry about that assassin on the loose. Who knows who she was after. She could be planning Batman’s demise at this very moment; if she was close with his mother then surely she knew their identities which was far far more dangerous.
Ladybug could handle herself as evidence by her going toe to toe with the newest villain. In a matter of minutes, the villain was down for the count with no help on their part.
“Ladybug!” He calls before she leaves again, maybe she could help him convince his father that he was being an absolute buffoon.
“Oh it’s you,” She says surprisingly coldly, “What do you want now?”
“Now?”
“Are, you here to attack me again?”
“... I didn’t attack you?” He had spent all morning tracking down a dangerous assassin.
“... Oh! Of course, you did- haha I just ummmm-- there must have been an… Akuma! Yes! There must have been an Akuma earlier that looked like you,”
“An Akuma was impersonating me?” Robin growls.
“Yeah, they do that sometimes,” Chat Noir pipes up, “It’s annoying,”
“Yes and if you’re here, that uh… that means the Akuma is still out there so we gotta go deal with that so-bye!” Ladybug swings off closely followed by Chat Nor; off to go save his name and reputation.
---
“So you really think that was an Akuma?” Adrien asks as they transform back.
“Maybe- I don’t know it was just an excuse so he wouldn't figure out my identity,”
“Well at least he doesn't know it,” Adrien shrugs as they walk through the alleys in search of a new place to rest that night.
“If he doesn't know then why would he attack Marinette?” She asks, “And if it was an Akuma that means Hawkmoth knows my identity which is so much worse!”
“Is it tho?”
“Chat,”
“I mean back in Paris it would have been bad,” They both cringe, “But here we have no home, no family, no friends! He cant use any of that against us now!”
Adrien beams his contagious smile.
“You always manage to find a bright side,” Marinette smirks punching him in the shoulder.
“So that's why,” They both turn around, staring in shock.
“Batman?!” Turning back their way out is already blocked by mister boy wonder. Who, by the way he is glaring at her, was not an Akuma this morning.
“I can't believe Talia called me because some teenagers were eloping,”
I know that name- WAIT!
“Eloping?!” Marinette chokes, “We are not eloping!”
“As in not at all,” Adrien blanches, “And I mean no offense Marinette you are literally the sweetest person but I can’t imagine anything more horrific!”
“Oh god, same!” At least now, “I mean once when we were younger…-- it was a silly crush!”
“Wait you had a crush on me?!”
“Yeah, well, you had a crush on me!”
“... oh god… I did, didn’t I?!”
While Adrien is dealing with that little revelation Marinette looks around for an escape. There isn’t much opportunity since both have their eyes on them, partly out of morbid curiosity at their little freakout. Well if you don't have a distraction homemade is fine.
“AKUMA!” They both look, predictably.
Marinette grabs Adrien and runs. She goes for the side Robins guarding, sweeping his legs sending him crashing to the ground.
“I’m not sorry!” Marinette calls as they sprint down the alley.
Marinette heads for the main street, enough of a crowd to camouflage. As they are walking through as casually as possible Marinette sweeps them both for bugs putting any she finds on random passerbys. They walk sometimes ducking into busy shops in hopes of losing their trail. They come across the mall which works perfectly for them. They stay until it starts to approach closing time, it’s easy enough to avoid security and so they get locked in for the night.
“So what do you want to do?!” They walk through the empty halls Adrien skipping along and looking at each display. Marinette stops outside an electronics store, the tv’s still on and displaying the news.
“Make a plan for a way to deal with that,” On-screen are the two of them, a video of Ladybug throwing a car at Batman, “This is taken completely out of context!”
“What’s the context?”
“Batman was being a little bitch!”
“I’m sure that will hold up in court,” Adrien laughs taking a seat in one of those massage chairs, “Besides what's the problem?”
“The problem?!” Marinette yells, “The problem is that now all of Gotham is going to hate us!”
“So? Do we really need them to like us?” Adrien gets up to stand by her, rubbing her shoulder.
“They did in Paris,”
“We’re not in Paris anymore,” Adrien says quietly, leading her towards the seats, “We have a chance to start new again, everyday something we haven't done before, a couple of pals living day to day on the edge, isn’t that exciting?”
“I just--” want to go home, “I’m tired,”
“Take a break,” Adrien sits her down in the massage chair with a kind smile, “I’ll keep watch,”
“.. ok,” Marinette curls up in the chair Tikki coming to lie beside her. With not much strength to fight it, Marinette falls asleep while she can.
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Taglist? nope don’t have one, horrible at keeping track of them sorry~
#miraculous#miraculous ladybug fic#miraculous fanfic#miraculous marinette#Marinette#badass marinette#batfam#daminette#good adrien#slow burn
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Letter to Wei Wuxian by 西木Tiki
Settings -- Subtitles/CC -- English
Original: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gs41167DG
Posted with permission
Credits
Original song: "Painted heart" by Jane Zhang
Lyrics: 贴吧蓝忘机
Vocals: 西木Tiki
Post-production: 音乐猫
Art: 雪君
Pv: 阿率
English translation below
Letter to Wei Wuxian [1]
Plagued by nightmares, I lie awake as sleep eludes me The guqin plays sorrowfully, the notes stop before the end, the feelings within unfathomable Wangji resounds with no one to duet with, a melody is softly strummed to the empty void I long to inquire where I can find your soul I dip my brush in the ink but only haphazard strokes come out mindlessly When I come back to my senses, tears have blurred the ink The writing is a messy scrawl, the meaning undecipherable, your name fills the paper with no place left untouched Dusk falls on the Cloud Recesses, I sigh as the dying light glints blood-red Wind rustles hair, my mind a tangle of thoughts spinning relentlessly Scars in my heart, why bother with drink if it cannot drown out the pain After the anguish has passed, I look back but I am left with nothing If only I could know what faraway place I can consign this forehead ribbon
Plagued by nightmares, I lie awake as sleep eludes me The guqin plays sorrowfully, the notes stop before the end, the feelings within unfathomable Wangji resounds with no one to duet with, a melody is softly strummed to the empty void I long to inquire where I can find your soul In front of the Jingshi, white rabbits rub their heads together in pairs Ever since you left, they have covered the mountain like snowdrifts An old friend come and go like a traveler passing by, as fleeting as a mirage That face from the past, in vain I chase it in my memories to trace it [2] How I wish you could see the flowers opening and closing along the paved paths How I wish you could hear from the other shore this nocturnal elegy [3] How I wish you could know that the loquats will soon be in season, that unshakeable yearning cutting though my bones How I wish you could return to this carefree youth of former times I dip my brush in the ink but only haphazard strokes come out mindlessly When I come back to my senses, tears have blurred the ink The writing is a messy scrawl, the meaning undecipherable, your name fills the paper with no place left untouched Dusk falls on the Cloud Recesses, I sigh as the dying light glints blood-red The world is ever changeable and the road uneven with snags Unsheathing Bichen, I wish I could use it to sweep away all obstacles The waning moon sets, a lone boat is moored, I light a candle for you To illuminate your way back, this world offers many open roads
Translator’s notes
[1] The lyrics of this song are inspired by a well-known fic in the Chinese fandom with the same name. This fic has launched the popular headcanon “Inquiry for 13 years, waiting for one who will not return” that even official adaptations have leaned on (more of my thoughts on the subject here and here).
[2] This line makes use of Sizhui’s name whose characters mean individually “to think, to miss” and “to chase, to recall”.
[3] “The other shore” may also refer to the life beyond in Buddhism.
#mo dao zu shi#wangxian#mdzs song#mdzs translation#my translations#西木 has graciously granted me permission to post the fansong with the translation!
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When you can’t have one...
Pairings: Lovesquare: Adrienette, Marichat
Warnings: Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Summary:
A/N: Okay I kid you not, I started writing this fic hours before Chat Blanc premiered because I figured we'd all need some fluff afterwards and this is a post-reveal fic that involves Gabriel not letting Adrien and Marinette date and I was so not expecting to see that shit in Chat Blanc! So yeah, think of this as a "this is how it should have happened" post-reveal fic! I hope you enjoy, because I think we could all use some fluff after that.
Read on: Ao3 | FF
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"That last akuma was pretty difficult." Ladybug says after she and Chat Noir land on the roof of the Agreste Mansion.
"Yeah, but there's no akuma too challenging for m'lady to handle." Chat Noir says and holds her hand before pressing a kiss to the back of it.
"Well I couldn't have done it without my amazing partner." Ladybug says and steps to the edge of the roof.
She turns around and throws her yoyo to wrap around a pole before wrapping her arm around Chat's waist. They both jump off the balcony and then swing into Adrien's room through his open window, which he had left open when he went to fight the akuma with Ladybug.
Once their feet hit the floor, they de-transformed and Plagg and Tikki flew over to Adrien's bed and collapsed in exhaustion.
"Ugh! That must have been the most exhausting fight I've ever had!" Plagg whines.
"Sugar cube how are you holding up?"
"Barely." Tikki says hoarsely.
"I haven't powered a ladybug for that long in centuries!"
"I'm sorry for taking so long to figure out when to use the lucky charm Tikki." Marinette apologizes.
"But I have special treats that I was planning on giving to you and Plagg anyway, but now they're a reward for a job well done." Marinette says and pulls a little bag out of her purse with some pastries in it.
Plagg and Tikki's face's light up in excitement and they quickly fly over to Marinette.
"Whoa! What are those?" Plagg asks as Marinette pulls two pastries out of the bag.
"They're yummy pastries! And they're perfectly baked. They look so flaky." Tikki says.
Plagg sniffed it and then he gasped and did a flip in the air.
"And they smell like cheese too!" Plagg exclaims.
"Yep. These are called cream cheese danishes. Since I know Tikki loves sweets and Plagg loves cheese, I thought I'd make a treat for you two that has both!" Marinette says.
Plagg and Tiki both take one from her hand and take their first bites.
"What do you think?" Marinette asks.
"They're amazing!" Tikki exclaims.
"This cheese tastes like cheese but it's sweet too! You're some kind of a baking genius Marinette!" Plagg praises.
Marinette laughed.
"Aw, thanks Plagg but I'm not the one who came up with the idea for this type of dessert. I just followed the recipe from one of my dad's books." Marinette explains.
"But you are the one who made them." Adrien tells her.
Marinette blushes as he looks at her with that adoring look in his eyes.
"And it sounds like they taste delicious. Did you by any chance bring some for me?" He asks sheepishly.
Marinette laughs at her boyfriend's failure at subtlety and goes over to his desk and places her hand over a cookie tin.
"I swung by earlier and dropped this off for you." She says.
Adrien's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he ran over to the desk and yanked the lid off of the tin. His mouth watered at the sight of not only the danishes but the other macaroons,cookies, and croissants inside as well.
"Thank you so much Marinette!" Adrien shouts.
Marinette squealed in delight as Adrien lifted her off of the ground and spun her around in his arms.
"You're welcome, but why are you so excited? You act like you've never had sweets or croissants before." Marinette asks.
Adrien's smile fell a bit and he set her down.
"Well, I mean I have had those things before. My father always makes sure the food we eat is the best that money can buy, but no amount of money in the world could compare to the love that you put into everything you and your parents make." Adrien says.
"Aw, Adrien you're too sweet." Marinette says and looks upon him fondly.
"I bet these macaroons are sweeter." Adrien says and takes a bite out of one.
Marinette laughs and places her hands on his chest and moves in closer to him.
"We'll see about that kitty." Marinette says.
She stands on her tiptoes and bites the rest of the macaroon that hung out of Adrien's mouth. When she pulled back both of them were blushing as they chewed the sweet. Then they turned away from each other as they heard their kwamis get excited over something.
"This bed is amazing sugar cube!" Plagg says while Tikki laid down on Adrien's bed.
"Not only is it huge, but it can do so many different things with this remote! Watch this!"
Plagg presses a button and then the head of the bed where the pillows lay rose up.
"Wow it's like a slide now! Whee!" Tikki says and slides down the bed.
Marinette and Adrien laughed at their kwami's antics.
"And that's not all! It can also give you the most relaxing massage." Plagg explains and clicks another button.
Tikki started vibrating on the bed and Plagg laid down next to her.
"How does it feel sugar cube?" Plagg asks, his voice sounding strange due to the vibrations from the bed.
"It feels relaxing." Tikki says, her voice vibrating as well.
"Just what a kwami needs after a tough battle against an akuma."
Adrien giggles a bit then looks at Marinette and notices she's staring longingly at the bed. He recognized that look.
"Would you like to lay down Marinette?" Adrien asks, holding his hand out towards the bed.
"You're probably just as exhausted as Tikki. You should lay down and relax too."
"Oh Adrien that does sound nice, but as soon as I lay down I doubt I'll be able to get back up. Tikki and I can't stay here much longer. At any minute your dad, Nathalie, or your bodyguard could walk in on us. What would they think if they saw me in here and lying on your bed?!" Marinette shouts, suddenly very anxious about her current situation.
Adrien puts one of his hands on her shoulder in reassurance and holds his finger up to his lips while making a shushing noise.
"Don't worry about any of that m'lady." Adrien says with an easy grin.
"My father is at a conference in London, Nathalie's chained to her desk with work, and my bodyguard's only guarding the front door, he's not checking the house to see if I'm in my room or not." Adrien explains.
"Wait, so does that mean that..." Marinette starts.
"I purposely invited you to come here after defeating the akuma so that we could spend some time alone together without any interruptions. Like a..." Adrien adds.
"A date?" Marinette asks, her cheeks heating up.
Adrien places his hand on the back of his head and scratches it while his cheeks reddened and he smiled at the floor
"Yeah. I guess so." He says.
Marinette giggles and so does he.
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"Dark wings fall." Hawkmoth says with a sigh as he de-transforms.
"You were very close that time Master." Nooroo says, trying to cheer up the depressed Gabriel.
"Yes but I'm never close enough!" Gabriel exclaims.
"That battle took them so long, I was sure that I had them pinned this time by creating a ghost villain that they couldn't even touch but, just like always, in the end I failed again." He says through gritted teeth as his elevator took him down.
He reappeared in his office in front of Nathalie. She wore an apologetic look on her face, knowing well that Gabriel was upset because he had failed to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir once more.
"You were so close this time Sir. It wasn't very easy for them to defeat this villain-" Nathalie says until Gabriel cuts her off.
"Specter wouldn't have been defeated at all if that damn movie about people who fight ghosts with high-tech reactors strapped to their backs that shoot ion beams didn't exist then maybe Ladybug's lucky charm wouldn't have given her one to hold Specter in place while Cat Noir destroyed the brooch I akumatized!" Gabriel rants in frustration.
"I wonder why Emilie ever cared for that movie so much anyway. The whole concept was ridiculous, and the science was merely theoretical at best." He continues before sighing and placing his hand over his forehead.
"But I suppose it makes sense that a movie about ghosts would haunt me like that. I can even hear the theme song in my head as it's being pulled out of my long-term memory." Gabriel groans.
"Uh, I don't think it's in your head Sir. I can hear it too" Nathalie says and looks towards the large double doors next to them that lead into the foyer.
Gabriel turns to her and arches one of his eyebrows. Then he looks in the direction of the doors and frowns, knowing that there was only one place in the house where that noise would be coming from.
"I can't believe you know about this movie Tikki." Adrien says.
"I've been around for a very long time Adrien, Plagg too. I remember one time Wayzz brought an action figure of one of the characters from the movie into the Miracle Box for us to play with. He explained the plot of the movie he saw with Master Fu too, so that's how I know about it. But I've never seen it before!" Tikki explains.
"Yeah, actually watching it is definitely better than watching Wayzz horribly try to act it out for us." Plagg says and Tikki frowns at him for being rude.
Marinette cuddles closer into Adrien's side and laid her head down on his chest.
Adrien smiles at her and lays his head on top of hers, only to pick it back up as the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs startles him.
Marinette hears it too and she quickly scrambles away from Adrien, only to clumsily fall off of the bed as soon as the door opens and she's looking at Gabriel and Nathalie upside down, staring at her in surprise that quickly turns to disapproval. She gives them a big nervous grin, and Adrien did the same.
"F-father, what are you doing here? I uh, thought you were away tonight?" Adrien asks.
"I was, but then when I arrived there I discovered that the conference had been canceled at the last minute due to the host having to deal with some personal matters." Gabriel explains then looks from Adrien down to Marinette and squints.
"Now, I believe the more important question is why instead of studying have you decided to watch a mediocre film with a girl, alone in your room together, and how did she even get in here without Nathalie and your bodyguard's permission!" Gabriel sternly questions his son.
"You already know why." Adrien says and sighs.
"I wanted to spend time with my friends. But you never let me."
"So you decided to go behind my back and sneak a girl into your room? That's highly immature of you Adrien, I never would have expected you to stoop to something so low. And I'm sure this young lady's parents wouldn't be very pleased either to learn that their daughter was in a room alone with a boy unsupervised." Gabriel says.
Marinette quickly sat upright and Adrien froze in his seat.
"Oh no! It wasn't anything like that Mr. Agreste!" Marinette quickly explains.
"I don't care what you say." Gabriel tells her sternly.
Marinette gulped in fear when his steely gaze focused on her.
"No one aside from you or Adrien were in here to see what was going on, therefore I cannot be sure that what you are telling me is the truth, and if you're the kind of girl that sneaks into people's homes then you're not exactly showing me that you have a good conscience, so most likely you are lying and I am to assume the worst." Gabriel says.
"She's telling the truth father!" Adrien says and gets off of the bed to stand in front of Marinette.
"Marinette has the best conscience, she's always putting others before herself. I'm the one who snuck her in here, it was all my fault not hers." Adrien says.
Marinette's lips curved downward as Adrien took the blame for her.
"Well I won't deny that that could be true, but nevertheless there is evidence to suggest that she's corrupting you. So I forbid you from seeing her outside of school ever again." Gabriel declares.
"What!?" Marinette and Adrien exclaim.
Marinette stood up and Nathalie stepped forward to lead Marinette out.
Adrien frowns and steps to the side to stand in-between her and Nathalie.
"Father, please." Adrien pleads, tears starting to form in his eyes.
But Gabriel remains stoic and Marinette gives Adrien's hand a squeeze.
"I'll see you in school Adrien." She says and gives him a small smile before leaving with Nathalie.
Once Marinette was gone, Adrien frowned at his father and clenched his fists.
The action surprised Gabriel, but also gave him an idea as he sensed the growing anger in his son. So he turned and left without saying another word to him, just to fuel that rage even more.
Adrien picked up a pillow that fell on the ground and tossed it angrily onto the bed before flopping down on it and frowning.
"Be careful Adrien, you don't want to get mad! Hawkmoth could akumatize you if he senses your anger!" Plagg exclaims.
"I know Plagg." Adrien says and takes a deep breath.
"But I can't help but feel like this is so unfair! It's bad enough he keeps me away from my friends, but now I can't even see Marinette, the love of my life!" Adrien exclaims and shoves his face in his pillow.
"Yeah you're right. Being you really sucks sometimes." Plagg says.
"Yeah..." Adrien says.
He lifts his face out of his pillow and smiles at Plagg.
"But when that happens, I can turn into somebody else." Adrien says with a smirk.
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"Don't be so down Marinette." Tikki says.
"You can still see Adrien in school."
"Yeah I know but it's not the same." Marinette says.
She lets her hair down and hugs her knees to her chest as she looks out over the city lights from her chair on her balcony.
"It's better than nothing but at school it's complicated. We never get to be alone either because our friends are with us or because girls like Lila and Chloe are trying to break us apart." Marinette reminds her.
"And now I've blown my chance to ever hang out with Adrien alone again."
"Are you sure about that bugaboo?"
Marinette gasps and she quickly turns her head towards her roof and sees Cat Noir perched there.
"What are you doing here!" She shouts.
"Isn't it obvious?" He asks and jumps down and lands in front of her.
"I've come to spend some quality time with my girlfriend on this beautiful Parisian night."
He leans in to kiss her and she pushes him back.
"I mean what are you doing out here with me! Your father said you weren't allowed to see me anymore outside of school! If he finds out that you snuck out here to visit me he might try to pull you out of school!" Marinette exclaims.
"You're forgetting something m'lady." Cat Noir says with a chuckle and swipes his finger under her chin.
"Gabriel Agreste forbade Adrien Agreste from seeing you outside of school. He didn't forbid Cat Noir from coming to see you though."
Marinette smiles and lets out the breath she was holding.
"You can come up with any loophole to break a rule can't you?" Marinette asks.
"Rules were made to be broken. Especially when they keep me from m'lady." He says and pulls her into a hug.
They kiss for a little bit before pulling apart.
"Alright, then I guess there's nothing wrong with this." Marinette says.
"That's my girl!" Cat Noir says and gives her a big kiss on her cheek.
"Now do you have any more of those danishes by any chance?"
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"This couldn't have been more perfect!" Hawkmoth says in his lair.
"Cat Noir and Ladybug are probably still recovering from my previous akuma, and now I can create another from my son's anger to beat them while they're down and finally capture their miraculous! Wait...what?"
His smile fell.
"No, it can't be."
Nathalie looked up from her desk when Gabriel came out of his elevator.
"What happened? Is something wrong?" She asks.
"Yes. My son's anger is completely gone!" Gabriel says as he storms out of the doors and makes his way towards his son's room.
He opens the door and looks around. Both he and Nathalie look up and see the window is open again.
"It would appear he's snuck out again." Nathalie says.
"Yes. But thankfully we know where he's gone." Gabriel adds.
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"How do I look? Romantic?" Cat Noir asks as he lays on his side on the railing of the balcony, propping his head up on his hand with his arm and leg bent while holding a rose and putting it back in his mouth.
"I guess you could say that." Marinette giggles before continuing to sketch him.
"I'm amazed you can even balance on that small railing like this. And for this long!"
"I've got cat-like reflexes, I can balance on anything for as long as I want. Nothing's gonna knock me off of this railing bugaboo." Cat Noir says confidently.
"Marinette!" Her mother calls from her bedroom.
Cat Noir gasps and falls off over the edge just as Sabine opened up the hatch door.
"Oh did I startle you sweetie?" She asks.
"Uh, yeah." Marinette says with a forced grin.
She hoped Cat Noir was okay.
"What's up?" She asks.
"Someone's here to see you." Sabine says.
Marinette looked worried when she noticed her mother didn't seem too enthusiastic about the visitor. She came downstairs with her mother into her bedroom and her heart seized in her chest when she saw Gabriel Agreste, Nathalie, and The Gorilla in her bedroom.
"What are you guys doing here?" Marinette asks softly.
"Don't act so innocent. You know why we're here." Gabriel says.
Cat Noir hung onto the window that he grabbed onto during his fall. He looked in it and gasped when he saw who was in Marinette's room.
"Adrien isn't here I swear!" Marinette pleads.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Gabriel asks.
"Because the only way into this building is through the bakery." Tom says.
"My wife and I have been there all night. We would have seen your son come in with her but she came in alone."
"And you're sure there's no other way he could get in?" Gabriel asks.
"Not unless he dropped down from the roof." Tom says.
Suddenly someone jumped in from the hatch door and everyone screamed, that is until they saw who it was.
"Cat Noir!" Nathalie exclaims.
"Yo! I heard some arguing going on while I was patrolling outside. What seems to be the problem here tonight folks?" He asks.
"U-uh." Everyone collectively stutters as they were still shocked by the sudden appearance of the hero.
"Cat Noir thank goodness you're here!" Marinette says, knowing she should play along.
"This man's son has gone missing. Have you seen him anywhere?"
"Hmm, maybe. What does this son of yours look like?" Cat Noir asks.
"You already know. You must have seen him on billboards." Gabriel says tentatively, still a bit shocked by the whole situation.
"His name is Adrien Agreste."
"Oh him!" Cat Noir says.
"I just saw him by the Eiffel Tower a few minutes ago. He might still be there, if you hurry over you'll probably catch him."
"You're right, we should probably get going." Gabriel says and the three of them go to leave.
Gabriel takes one last look at Cat Noir before shutting the hatch door.
"Thank you so much Cat Noir!" Sabine exclaims.
"Yes, we were so lucky that you happened to be walking by when Mr. Agreste came over. I can't imagine what would have happened if you hadn't come in and defended our Marinette." Tom says.
"Your daughter has good character and she's pure of heart. It would break my heart if someone thought otherwise." Cat Noir explains.
Then his ring started to beep.
"Well, I have to go now, it was nice seeing you all again!" He says and leaves out of the hatch.
Marinette went outside and watched as Cat Noir hopped from building to building as he made his way to the Eiffel Tower where his father was heading. She smiled, knowing that no matter what, nothing would ever be able to keep them apart forever. Their friendship always helped them rise above evil as Ladybug and Cat Noir, and now their love would triumph over it for good.
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A/N: What did you think? Please give me comments and feedback if you want me to keep writing stories like this!
#miraculous ladybug#adrienette#marichat#mlb love square#ladynoir#marinette dupain cheng#adrien agreste#gabriel agreste#nathalie sancoeur#sabine cheng#tom dupain#plagg#tikki#fluff
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Congratulations BECKY! You’ve been accepted as VENUS.
Becky’s back, back again. Becky’s back, tell a friend! Now that I got that out of the way, I can make this a serious acceptance note. I can honestly say there was not a moment while reading this app that I didn’t think your Hana was it. Hana is obsessed with power and the way you hit on that through her bio had me on the edge of my seat. You created this storm of a girl that I want to know more about even if I know the danger associated with her. Both of us are beyond excited to see the “human embodiment of pikachu with anger issues” on the dash!
Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.
Out of Character Information:
NAME/ALIAS: Becky
PRONOUNS: she / her
AGE: 24
TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: GMT ( but technically GMT +1 currently bc summer! ); online daily, particularly active atm because ya girl is working from home
In Character Information:
DESIRED ROLE: Venus / Hana Mercado
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Female; she/her
DETAILS & ANALYSIS:
Even in a city like Miami, Hana is hard to miss in a crowd. Bubblegum bursts, her lazy chew concealing the switchblade sharp smirk that slides across her mouth a little too late for anyone to be able to avoid the trouble that comes from it. She thinks she’s wired up wrong, like a casino gambling machine full of bullets that just keeps dishing out violence while playing its disjointed electric-warped song of congratulations, bright lights flashing wildly.
To your left, a man walking his pet leopard down the sidewalk; to the right, Hana Mercado paralysing a man with the touch of a fingertip for wolf-whistling her. She fits in well here, Florida born and raised, helping the drug lords keep their territories and the mutants keep their identities and everyone and anyone in between keep what’s left of their slowly unravelling sanity. Despite the bustling sea of tourists that ebbs and flows with the good weather, it’s easy to feel lonely. Hana isn’t great when it comes to other people. Pushing them away is a lot less difficult than making them stay.
Everything is loud. Everything is bright. The electricity is near palpable as she splashes through the remnants of a thunderstorm, rainwater spraying over fresh white sneakers. She’s quiet when the sun sets, bleeding red across the sky, the colour of the popsicles she’d eat for dinner as a kid. It’s hard to fear the consequences of her actions when she’s as close to a young god as anyone’s ever going to get. Mutants? Deities? Same difference if you know how to play to the right narrative.
Fuck you has always been easier to spit than a genuinely spoken I love you and that’s the honest-to-fuck truth.
[ + ] driven / brave / resilient / passionate [ - ] arrogant / reckless / unpredictable / childish
BIO:
Money is power. And power is power. And electricity? The sort that decorates the country like a spiderweb, an interwoven network of wires, all humming, all singing to her, the siren’s call of greatness from above ground and beneath it? Power.
Hana is a vicious formation of blood and desire, with the scent of someone burning from the inside inhaled like a nicotine hit. Interrogation comes naturally to her; smiles that should be sweet on a face like hers turn sharp and deadly. She likes to hear them beg. To watch them shake. People spill their secrets to her whether they like it or not.
It’s been that way since she was nineteen years old, static dancing between her fingertips after getting too riled up in an argument with a neighbour’s son over stealing her family’s gas cylinder. An impromptu lightning strike had left the tarmac lining the trailer park sizzling, black and sticky like summertime ( and don’t worry, the Cheeto-dust-decorated-rude-mouthed-slacker-of-a-punk-ass-brat had survived – getting hit by lightning suddenly made him interesting, too, so if anything she’d been doing him a favour ).
A freak accident, they’d called it. Another one of those unexpected Florida storms. But she knew better than that. As had her mom, smoking a fresh pack of Camel Blues from the other side of the door’s insect screen, fresh foils in her hair, acrylic nails the colour of the algae in the neglected community pool down the street. Thinking back, maybe this all stemmed from swallowing too much of that fucking nuclear-waste-looking water when she’d dared to swim there as a kid, hot and sweaty as a storm breaks on the horizon.
But the point – the point is that, to her mom, having the human embodiment of Pikachu as a daughter was as good as winning a jackpot at one of her weekly bingo sessions. She tries to sell it. Power. The ability to pluck electricity from charged particles in the air makes her daughter useful. A living battery. Studies on mutants at University of Miami dish out hefty paychecks after the right terms and conditions have been signed ( note: if you die, that’s on you, don’t try to sue us ). Hana attempts to protest but even she can’t deny that the allure of getting rich sounds like a dream come true.
So she goes to college. Not in the usual sense, sure, but she gets to live on campus ( in a secure underground testing facility beneath the BioMed building ) and hang out with others ( mostly mutants ) her age. And it’s fine for a while until simple fitness tests and blood sampling turn more extreme. Some days are hazy, pumped full of drugs and hooked up to machines that she doesn’t know the name of, let alone the purpose, beeping their own idle hospital-like symphony. Other days are dark and quiet, plunged into sensory deprivation for the sake of whatever it is the boffins in their lab coats are trying to figure out.
She’ll get rich or die trying and, ironically, neither of those things happens.
When the anti-mutant-testing protestors storm the building, they free Hana from both the confinement and the contract. The money she was supposed to get at the end of all this vanishes, along with the pleased looking humans who pat themselves on the back for doing a good deed and disappear to go and celebrate. None of them ask her if this was what she wanted. None of them stop to think that maybe liberation was never an option for her.
Her mom’s gone too. A new trailer stands where Hana’s home once had. The monthly paychecks from the university never reached her bank account, instead wired directly to Mrs Mercado. She laughs until she cries, the air crackling overhead.
After all that, turning to a life of crime is far easier than it has any right to be. Angry and alone, she fucks a guy in a gang in the back of his drop-top and makes herself useful when it comes to getting money out of those who owe it. She runs from the cops. Has a gun pressed to her temple. Watches an illegal weed farm burn at the flick of a lighter. Nothing phases her because she doesn’t let it. Rules stop meaning anything when you realise just what having powers can get you. Making a living from getting spineless people to open up their mouths and offer the gold that is information makes her feel a little less like a failure. Interrogation has a nice ring to it, after all. And once she makes a name for herself, sought after by those who know that secrets are worth a decent stack of bills – well – who is she to turn a job down?
EXPANDED CONNECTIONS:
YVETTE. It’s more than just the sticky sweet sugar of sisterhood. Hana would fight tooth and nail for Yvette should she say the word; would go to war for her if needed. There are very few people in the world that she cares about more than herself, but her partner ( in crime, in the sport of bringing their enemies down, in a vodka-tasting kiss that she’s managed to take a little too far ) holds the throne to Hana’s adoration. If only Yvette would take another step further into chaos and embrace becoming the seductive sort of danger that people run from.
ANDREAS. He knows how to say the right things, she’ll give him that. Hana wants what is hers. And sure, she may not know what that is exactly but the whispers of power he offers are captivating. After so long of operating alone for anyone with enough money to afford her services, the concept of joining strengths is a tricky one to navigate. She keeps him waiting, keeps him on his toes, avoiding a crystal clear answer for the sake of keeping her cards close to her chest. Better to have multiple options on the table than settling for the first one that comes along.
DEREK. Oh, the joy of knowing she’s the shiny new model; a glossy picture-perfect upgrade; a brand new battery to keep Damien and his clowns energised. The temptation of coaxing out Derek’s anger to watch him slip up and fall further from grace is all too great. She’ll press a cherry red lipstick kiss to the dark shades of the sunglasses he will no doubt need down here in paradise. Her future is bright, can he say the same about his own?
DAMIEN ft. JACKSON. He sends his loyal hound. She can only assume that Jackson is missing a collar because he doesn’t like wearing it in public; his Tiffany heart-shaped dog tag would probably get too warm glinting in the Miami sunshine. Hana knows a mob boss pet when she sees one, sniffing her out amongst the cheap cocktails and plastic palms of a Tiki Bar on Ocean Drive. Who’s a good boy? It’s appealing, the carefully constructed dream Damien offers. Almost a little too good to be true given the circumstances. She knows his gang has chased others out, a fine show of strength and organisation, but how long will it last when he doesn’t even know this city?
EXTRA:
Inspo [ x ] Pinterest board [ x ]
ANYTHING ELSE: ily both
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New Year Kiss
I AM SO SORRY THIS IS LATE BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS! I was the secret santa for @majuandrad for the @mlsecretsanta!! I truly hope you like this!! MLB Secret Santa for @majuandradLadyNoir (Ladybug x Chat Noir)DJ Chat x Singer Ladybug AU The bright lights in the club illuminated the crowd, the loud bass echoed through as the DJ continued to spin the tracks, completely lost to the tune of his own beat as he made sure that everything sounded wonderful while a mischievous grin played on his lips as he watched the people dance to the beat, laughing with no care in the world. As soon as he opened his eyes, his heart began to race rapidly, a wide smile spreading on his lips watching as his lady strutted onto the stage, her hips swaying to the beat with her pigtails bouncing with each step. Her blue eyes landed on her kitty and a smirk played on her lips as she made her way towards him, closing the distance between them before folding her arms across her chest, the smirk still in place.“Well hello there kitty. Miss me?” she cooed, her finger gently tracing his chest, sending a shiver down his spine before composing himself quickly and smirking back at her.“But of course mi lady~ There isn’t a day you don’t cross my mind~ How about you and I just sneak out of her for a little one on one time” the DJ flirted, wiggling his eyebrows at his lady who merely chuckled before pushing him gently. “Nice try kitty~ We have a show to perform. Maybe after the show. Just maybe.” she teased, gently winking at him before making her way towards the mic. The lights immediately dimming before shining directly at her, the cheers of the crowd becoming louder as they saw the woman be presented. Her hand gently gripped the stand, the smirk widening on her lips before immediately greeting the crowd.“HELLO FRANCE! ARE YOU ALL READY TO BEGIN THE PARTY?” She asked in which the crowd immediately cheered loudly causing her to smirk before immediately bouncing on her heels, hyping the crowd even more before continuing on. “Then get ready for the performance by me, and DJ Chat Noir!” she exclaimed before breaking out into a song, her voice echoing through the club while the beat of Chat’s music surrounded her, adding to the tone of her voice. Even though Chat kept to the same beat, he couldn’t keep his eyes off his lady. Ever since she joined the club, he had loved showing up to the club even more, his nights were made just by being in the same building. He had come to the conclusion that he may be in love with her and if that was true he wasn’t against it. The performance went on for a few hours and before they knew it, the night had reached almost midnight and normally they wouldn't pay any mind to the time but with the chaos of organizing the event, scheduling both performances and having a good time, the duo had lost track of time. The manager of the club who was usually known as Tiki made her way towards the center of the stage, the sound of her heels clicking together being heard before she stood by Ladybug, a giant smile on her lips as she took the microphone onto her hands. “Once again! Please give it up to our wonderful DJ Chat Noir and Ms. Ladybug!” she cheered before she was received with an immense roar of cheers and applause as well while Ladybug waved smiling and Chat grinned wide before winking at the crowd and waving back as well. Seeing the duo work so well together that it made Tiki smile gently, knowing fully well that the duo were made for each other and hoped her plan was going to go without a hitch. She turned her attention to the crowd for a moment before turning the projector that displayed the time for a second before a countdown took its place. “Alright! It’s almost midnight and what’s a better way to end the new year than to count down! Now everyone remember as soon as the clock hits midnight you give someone beside you or someone you know a kiss to start the new year!” she exclaimed in which the crowd once more cheered while the duo completely froze before locking eyes and quickly looking away, their cheeks turning a bright crimson color. Ladybug looked at Tiki with confusion in which the black haired woman merely winked at her before beginning the countdown. Chat turned to Ladybug, silently gulping the lump that had formed in his throat and gently holding her hand grabbing her attention. Her bright blue eyes bore into his emerald green eyes, confusion crossing her face while her cheeks continued to stay red making Chat smile gently. “If you want...we can kiss or I can just kiss your cheek. It’s whatever you feel the most comfortable with my lady. I just want to do what’s best for you.” he genuinely said making Ladybug’s body relax, her eyes softening at his words before a smile spread across her lips and courage grew inside of her. “Close your eyes kitty.” “Huh? Why?” “Just do it you silly cat.” she teased giggling watching as he raised his hands in a defensive manner before closing his eyes, his body completely relaxed until he could feel one hand on his chest, the other caressing his cheek. “M-My lady?” “Just relax kitty.” she cooed before closing the distance between them and gently brushed her lips against his. Feeling Ladybug kiss him felt like a dream, and Chat wondered if he was dreaming. He contemplated for a moment before slowly wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her closer until there was no space between them and kissed her back. As soon as the clock hit midnight, cheers were heard, balloons, streamers and glitter being dropped on to the guest but all of it was tuned out as the duo were completely lost with each other. Reluctantly, they finally pulled apart, both completely out of breath and a love daze on their face. Neither of them knew exactly what to say to each other, neither of them truly needed as they felt this unspoken moment between them. Ladybug was first to break away from the love daze, a gentle smile falling on her lips as she leaned closer to his ear sending a shiver down his spine as he could feel her hot breath as she whispered to him. “Happy New Year kitty~ Here’s to a new year~”
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous ladybug au#dj chat noir x singer ladybug#ladybug#chat noir#tiki#mlsecretsanta#ml#ladynoir
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At last I see the (sun) light
Good – morning this time!
Yeah, as predicted, yesterday ran very late, so I decided to leave writing my report for the next day and just go to bed already, haha. I’m starting my report in the morning while I’m trying to think of plans for today, so I might just drop the report and finish it later, but here we go – Tokyo Disneyland!
Pictures will be up later today!
It’s definitely not my first time to Tokyo Disneyland, although usually I take the subway to get there. Since I have my JR pass still active and I haven’t been using it much in Tokyo, I refused to take a mode of transportation I had to pay for, so I first went to Tokyo station with the Yamanote line. From there, it’s 15 minutes with the Keiyo line, but that’s all the way at the other end at the station, so you can seriously add another 15 minutes to the travel time. I wasn’t exaggerating when I called Tokyo station a separate city!
The Yamanote line came to an abrupt halt halfway through as the emergency brake had been activated, but it must be a false alarm or otherwise easily solved issue, as we continued a couple of minutes later. It was indeed quite the walk to the Keiyo line, but they put up signs every five steps, so at least it was a very easy road to follow.
And then Maihama station! The weather had turned out to be incredibly nice today, with blue skies so bright I could easily see the Skytree and – was that the snowy top of Mount Fuji? It sure was! That’s how clear the skies were, haha.
Anyway, the walk from the station was a bit different. I know they’re working on a new area inside the park, but apparently they’re also doing extensive redevelopments, because the main entrance was under covers and there were cranes surrounding the castle. After the entrance, the first Halloween decorations came in sight, and part of the fun: watching everyone’s costumes! It’s only during Halloween season that you’re allowed to dress up in Tokyo Disneyland as an adult, and lots of people make use of that opportunity. Some costumes are so good I had to blink and stare to realize they were not the official cast members (which is, incidentally, why it’s not allowed to dress up the rest of the year – you might confuse the kids). Also, it makes for fun situations, like Alice standing in line for lunch with the Queen of Hearts or Belle posing with the park version of Gaston while 5 other princesses watch with interest, haha.
I was inside a little after opening, so I lingered around to wait for the first parade: the Spooky Boo Halloween parade! It’s held twice over the day and thus a short one, but I love Halloween, so I was curious to see what they’d pulled. The parade mostly features the best known characters: Mickey and his friends. They taught us a dance and halfway through, the parade came to a halt for a dance performance. The dancing cast members had gorgeous costumes! They were really into it too, so that was a joy to watch, and I’m kinda sad I couldn’t get a good full view of them on my camera from where I was standing to show you guys, only glimpses in between people’s heads.
I was in for something sweet now, so I wandered into Fantasyland for what I thought was a churro, but ended up being a tipo torta, which – I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it was delicious! I got it in purple sweet potato flavor, because I felt obliged after Okinawa haha, and purple is a Halloween color here, so the sweet potato from Okinawa gets used liberally this time of the year.
I had chosen the Haunted Mansion as my appropriate first ride of today, because duh, Halloween. The wait was 40 minutes when I joined, which was okay if it weren’t for the hot sun, so I was glad to make it inside for the Nightmare before Christmas version of this ride. I really love it a lot – I think it was summer 2017 that I last saw the ride in its original form, oops.
After that, I went back inside again for another favorite ride: Mickey’s Philharmagic Orchestra. There was a small wait here, and a ton of kids who got really into the screening (it’s 4D, so the 3D effects are heavy and you get sprayed with water and scented air in between), so that was kinda cute, haha. They were all making grabby hands at the apple pie and Ariel’s gems.
Once outside, I stumbled upon some character meet and greets in Fantasyland, and then right into the Dreaming Up parade. It’s a lovely one, but I’ve seen it twice now fairly recently, so I wasn’t going to wait on the floor for it. Didn’t have to! I got an okay spot for the visually most impressive floats, so that was a nice little coincidence, haha.
Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean, which I love, but the drop is the scariest thing I do in Disneyland, so I wasn’t super pleased about being put in the front row, haha. I lived, but it took a while for my pulse to calm down. (I’m big on the thrill rides, you can tell.) It’s still super fun, and outside was a band of pirates playing! I think they were kind of trying to spread the crowds today, as it was probably a bit busier than initially expected due to the weather and a couple of rides that tend to draw crowds were closed for today.
After some lunch, wandering around for the views and some window shopping, I settled down next to Snow White’s wishing well to wait for round two of the Spooky Boo parade. About ten Snow Whites and other princesses showed up to take pictures by the well, haha. Sadly, the parade only made a quick round here without dancing in between, but I did get much better shots of the floats now!
And it wasn’t that bad, because I had wisely gotten a fast pass for Haunted Mansion at the same time as the parade, so now I didn’t have to rush as the parade was over quite quickly. I didn’t see the Haunted Mansion wait go down to under my 40 minutes anymore, so that fast pass had been a good call. (I think they’re connected to your ticket now, because I had to scan my entrance ticket and not the fast pass receipt to get in line.)
After that, the iconic ride: It’s a Small World! It’s still fun, and I think I’m mostly past my trauma over the song now, haha. I couldn’t help wanting to take pictures here and there, even though I have a ton already. Spotting the recently added Disney characters is quite fun.
It was getting dark quickly now, and I noticed I was getting a bit bumped out. I kept getting lost in the dark and with the covered parts of the park, so I eventually told myself to just get something sweet and then decide whether I was going to call it an uncharacteristically early day.
As it turned out I just needed food, haha. A hot dog for lunch wasn’t sufficient to get me through the complete afternoon, who knew! I got some ice coffee for the caffeine rush (bad, I know, but hey), bought a little gift for a friend, and was just in time to see the electrical parade Dreamlights. This one changed a little a couple of years ago, but overall it’s still the same one as the one I saw in 2010. It’s still fun, even though the song is even catchier than It’s a small world, haha. They added a tiny something that I spotted right away: Alice was riding a giant teacup on top of the Cheshire cat, rather than the cat’s back proper. I was a bit further away this time, so I got some nice shots of the full floats. I eh, have plenty of close-ups from earlier years, haha.
I then finally made the decision to just get the new Tangled popcorn bucket, which is shaped like the floating lantern from the movie with a little Pascal the chameleon to sit on your shoulder on the strap. There’s a light inside, so that makes for lovely sights in the evening, although the amount of popcorn (caramel flavor at this stand) that came with it was – worrying, haha. I did manage to finish it all though, despite not being the biggest popcorn eater, but whoa. (You can get the bucket separately from the popcorn so you won’t have to clean it, but the popcorn separately means you get two cartons of them, since that’s how much can fit into the bucket.)
Newly invigorated, I decided to get back to attractions. I went into the Enchanted Tiki room first as it was nearby and I love the songs and Stitch. It’s very much a kids attraction and I very much don’t care, haha. If anything, the line is non-existent here and you just have to wait for the next performance to begin.
I then found the ball game stand, which I suck at, but that’s okay, because you get to pick a really nice exclusive pin if you lose, so I got the Minnie one, haha. Making my way back to Fantasyland from there, I hopped into Philharmagic again, the line gone and just having to wait for the next performance to start. There’s a merit in staying late, haha. I rushed to Peter Pan next, where the wait was down to 15 minutes. It’s a fun ride, but it’s over so fast that I can’t justify standing in line for 50 minutes for it.
Finally, with ten minutes until park closure to go, I went to Pooh’s Hunny Hunt – and they closed the line after me, oops. Two more ladies came rushing in via the fastpass entrance, but that was it. Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is a fun and unique ride, but since I’m not a big fan of Pooh bear, I refuse to wait for him for 70+ minutes, haha. This worked, even though it was still about 10 minutes. Around park closure! Wow.
There were still surprisingly many people in the park as I made my way to the exit, some even still on the way into the park. I wonder at what time they can actually close the gates… Hopefully the park members work in shifts, yikes.
After a quick last look in the Bon Voyage store just outside the park I made my way to the station, where I had to wait for the next Keiyo line train as this one was… very full. At 10:30 PM. Ah, the Disney magic, haha. (The people from Disneysea also gather at this station.) Thankfully that got me a front row place in line for the next train, so I could sit (!) until the terminal station of Tokyo, where it was another brisk walk to the Yamanote line and finally, back to my hotel.
So here I am now. I took a shower last night and fell asleep almost right away. Didn’t sleep through my alarm at least, but I did put it on snooze and only got up as late as possible to still eat breakfast at the hotel here, haha.
Today should be a little calmer. I might do some karaoke and find a caf�� I read about opening some months ago, but other than that, I don’t really have plans. Sadly, the weather is getting bad again starting tonight, thanks to yet another typhoon making rounds. It should be gone by the time my return flight is scheduled, though.
Yikes, time flies. It’s Thursday and I’m flying back on Monday! Ack. Sadly I don’t think many of my Tokyo side tips can go through, if any. A bit of a waste of my JR pass, but it’s long since paid itself back and hey, I will still use it for the Narita Express to the airport if nothing else. I don’t want to over-exert myself or put myself into dangerous situations, so I might just stick to Tokyo until the last day (although Saturday should be alright weather wise, at least less rainy, but again, dangerous situations). And hey, I haven’t gone back to just Tokyo on 2 separate trips because I hate it here, haha. Although with all the things I’ve seen around here, I might have to cash in on that extra luggage… After that huge book I found the other day, I’m already nearing my limit, and the cost of overweight luggage is as much as an extra bag at Don Quijote would cost, so uh. I can still think about it until 24 hours before the flight, so that’s what I will do, haha.
Time to head out. Photos coming up soon, see you later!
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Rachael’s Favorite FE Characters
Well, since I posted my favorite Pokemon... everything a while ago, I figured I’d post my favorite FE characters class-by-class as well! I’ll also post my least favorites.
The games I own are Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Shadow Dragon, New Mystery on an emulator, Awakening, Heroes, all 3 Fates & Echoes. I’ve played a bit of FE4 too but I’m not far enough into it to pick favorite characters.
Favorite Lord:
Male- Chrom (He’s pretty vanilla but I still love me my Blueberry Dorklord)
Female- Erika (Who is not NEARLY as foolish as recent entries would have you believe. She’s quite a bit better than Celica at any rate- there’s no way she’d fall for fkn JEDAH)
Least Favorite- Ephraim (He’s such a... warmonger. There is no point in the entirety of SS where I go “Yes, he’ll make a good king!”)
Favorite Avatar
Robin! Robin’s the best. Robin has the best coat. Do I need to say more?
Well, I guess I’ll say too that Robin’s personality is quite a bit like my own, which is why I prefer Fem!Robin. I too, would relentlessly pelt Lon’qu with figs and, when faced with unwinnable odds would, just resort to a Big Fire™
Least favorite goes to... IDK, I want to say Kiran but Kiran can marry Navarre so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Favorite Cavalier/Paladin/Great Knight
Seth wins, but Xander and Berkut are close seconds. Seth/Erika is my ultimate FE OTP- they’re the only ones in the whole series I can’t even bear to pair with anyone else for a playthrough to get their supports. I like Xander/Corrin and Xander/Sakura quite a bit, but neither come anywhere close honestly. And Berkut is my angry garbage son~
Least favorite goes to Jagan. You honestly think I’m going to kill Frey who arguably has better stat growths than both Cain and Abel and keep you? Screw canon, off you go, old man!
Favorite Myrmidon/Swordsmaster/Trueblade
Joushua, obviously!
...
I mean, Navarre doesn’t really count because he’s my favorite FE character PERIOD. Besides Navarre, I like Joshua.
Least favorite is Marissa. Not that crazy about Mia either, but Marissa is just so inferior to Josh stats wise and while he’s tons of fun, she’s no fun at all. If she were in another game it’d different but Joshua makes her look really bad in comparison. Plus she took his spot in Awakening AND I’M STILL SALTY 4 YEARS LATER
Favorite Mercenary/Hero/Dreadfighter
Navarre in FE1
Ike!... Yes, I’m counting him here... Oh fine, Ogma then. They’re both big gay softies that are 40% pure iron muscle and 60% heart. I bet they give the best hugs!
(And no, I don’t believe Ogma’s “feelings” for Caeda are in any way romantic bc he met her when she was like 5 and he was probably 20. He probably feels like her big brother or father- which is equally impossible for him to express due to his lot in life. Plus, Marth never gets jealous around him, while he practically turns green around any of the other characters interested in her.)
(Oh, and I consider Soren to be the more canon partner for Ike over Sothe and Ranulf bc Priam is a thing and I’m like 70% sure Soren is supposed to be trans. And yes, there is a canon lesbian whose name is currently escaping me & Sothe is canonically bi, they just went with the “heavy implied to the point of being basically irrefutable” route instead of outright stating it, so it is VERY possible Soren is trans. I like all 3 ships tho)
Least favorite is... The dude from SS. I can’t even remember his name. He’s the only freaking mercenary in SS and his personality doesn’t do anything for me.
Favorite Knight/General/Baron
The Black Knight of course! His writing is bit... a lot of a mess, but you can’t deny how badass he is.
On a less villainous note, Forsythe is pretty cool too.
Least favorite is... IDK, was there one in Awakening? I thought there was one on the cover but he’s so forgettable...
Favorite Archer/Sniper/Ballistician/Bow Knight/Hunter
Tacomeme :)
Leon is also pretty cool, but he’s not nearly as useful in-game. I like Niles too! But I’d be lying if I said a good part of that wasn’t bc of Takehito Koyasu and his sexy voice rip
Least favorite is Faye in Heroes Python’s inability to hit the broad side of a barn Zero’s stupid name change to Niles Innes. His stats are nice but his personality rubs me the wrong way.
Favorite Pegasus/Falcon Knight/Sky/Kinshi Knight
Probably Claire! I didn’t expect to like her much (I got Maribelle vibes at first), but she really grew on me throughout the game and her supports. I love the way her friendship with Alm was written- if it had evolved into a romance I would have found it believable, but it’s one of the VERY, VERY few times I think IntSys has handled a one sided crush on the main character well.
Least favorite is... Probably Cordelia. Like I said, VERY few times. (Vanessa, Sumia, Syrene, Palla, Catria, Est, Hinoka, Subaki, Tanith and Sigrun all tie for second to last. This is... not my favorite class.)
Favorite Dracoknight/Wyvern Rider/Wyvern Lord
Hmmm... I would say Camilla, but my headcanon version of her is quite a bit different from the way she actually is in canon lol. So... Probably promoted Caeda. Minerva is utterly useless on the battlefield, unfortunately, and I like Caeda about the same as Clare so I put her here.
I guess I like Haar, Jill, Cormag, Gwin, and Valter (As a villain, not as a person) somewhat too.
Least favorite has to go to Beruka. I find her... bland.
Favorite Villager/Recruit
AMELIA THE GENERAL IS COMING THROUGH! MAKE WAY, MORTALS
Do I need to say who my least favorite is? Do I really need to?
It’s Faye. Because... she’s Faye.
Favorite Thief/Trickster/Assassin/Rogue/Ninja
That has to go to Julian! He’s very similar to Gaius, but instead of candy, his thing is puns. Fun fact: I have a blood sugar condition similar to diabetes IRL that makes me unable to eat sugar, so Gaius just made me crave sweets I can’t have most of the time :/
Second place goes to Gangrel or Rennac. Gangrel is actually my second favorite character to romance in Awakening due to his great redemption arc in his supports with both Robins & his talks with Em in the DLC, and IMO he makes the second best dad to Morgan (And yes, I have ALL of male Morgan’s supports with his fathers, yes, it was boring, repetitive, and took hours, and yes, the only one I like better is Chrom), and Rennac is just... so hilariously cranky. They also both go in the “They deserved better in their endings” bin- Rennac can’t marry L’rachel despite their great chemistry and Gangrel flat-out dies if you don’t marry him.
Least favorite... I guess Nina. I never found her very funny.
Favorite Cleric/Troubadour/Valkyrie/Bishop/War monk
Elise! She is... one of two healers I like. In the entire series.
The other is L’rachel.
And Sakura, Lissa, Natasha, and Rena I... don’t particularly dislike.
I don’t like any others. Tat/iana is the worst of the bunch. Tat/iana is actually my least favorite character in the series
Favorite Fighter/Pirate/Warrior/Barbarian
Maybe... Vaike or Ross? Or Boyd? Basilio? Wow, there aren’t any I really like a lot. Guess this is my least favorite class.
My least favorite of all HAS to be Arthur though.
Favorite Mage/Monk/Dark Knight/Sage
Soren! He’s really well written. At first he comes off as a racist asshole, but as the game goes on & you get his supports, he proves himself to be a really great, three-dimensional character. And he’s so gay for Ike. Like, so, so gay.
Least favorite is all of the little red-headed boys that are clones of each other. Except maybe Ewan, because he’s actually useful in-game. Most of the others aren’t.
Favorite Dark Mage/Sorcerer/Summoner/Necromancer/Druid/Witch/Cantor
LYON!!!! Oh man, I don’t want to spoil exactly what happens but suffice to say that he is my FAVORITE antagonist in the series.
My least favorite is either Validar or Iago... I don’t know which to pick. They are how NOT to do a decent sorcerer villain in FE. But all of the Cantors in Echoes also get a special mention for being FREAKING ANNOYING.
Favorite Manakete/Dragon Laguz
Tiki- particularly young Tiki! She’s so sweet... and badass!
Least favorite... ugh, I have to say Myrrh. I do like her, but her uses of Dragonstone are so limited that you can barely use her and while she’s just as cute as Tiki, she’s not nearly as tough. She also has a lot sadder story than Tiki- she’s a really good character, but she just doesn’t make me feel bubbly and happy when I see her the way Tiki does.
Favorite Beast Laguz/Bird Laguz/Taguel/Wolfskin/Kitsune
All hail King Naesala! He’s another character that brings a smile to my face when I see him-and that’s saying quite a bit, since he has a pretty serious story. This man oozes personality- He shows up on screen and you know he’s there to kick the world and rule the ass. And no, that’s not backwards.
Honorable mention to Reyson- every time these two are on screen together you know that Reyson is about three seconds from punching Naesala right in the nose, never mind the fact he’d probably break every bone in his tiny, fragile fist. The fact that Naesala’s only paired ending is with Reyson’s sister is just hilarious to me.
I guess my least favorite is Lyre... She sort of feels like she’s just there to have one more playable character to me, since she has so little bearing on the story.
Favorite Dancer/Singer
In terms of personality, supports, and gameplay, Feena is far and away my favorite. However... I’m honestly not a huge fan of her design, so in terms of appearance, Azura, who I personally think has one of the best designs in the series, takes the cake. The fact she has such a catchy theme song is a huge bonus too!
Tethys gets the last spot because she’s completely useless in battle. I’ve heard Ninian can’t fight either but she boosts your stats- why did they give Tethys the shaft so badly?
Favorite Lancer/Soldier
And finally... ending this on a weird one. See, neither Nephenee nor Oboro do anything for me- I don’t dislike them, but I don’t particularly like them either. So, I guess this one goes to Azura!
#fire emblem#Personal#OK to Reblog!#I hope somebody sees this it took 3 hours#And no I didn't really forget Kellam's name
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(Okay, I think I can officially talk about the episodes now, or at least one of them. I’ll just do episode 2. :D)
Quick stuff out the way---
The opening truly is a training montage. XD And I love it. And based off it, guess we’ll be seeing references made to the Moon again (which felt like forever since season 2, I think.) as well as the Frontier. With them being shown in the opening, it’s what got me thinking that way.
Those heart gems are strange. I guess they use them to transform or “power up” but I wonder what they are and if others have them.
Who’s the long purple haired person in the opening?
Also Germain and co. using alchemy but making it look like this instead--
--has me a bit curious but I’m sure it’s just them using all the elements at once or summoning that thing (which Caglio is trying to do here). It looks pretty cool though at least.
Aoi and Fujitaka screaming while Shirabe and Kirika are jumping down the cliff. Lmao.
Will Tsubasa’s biological father play a role? They show him within the opening so---
---has me questioning that. Or I’m assuming it’s him because it sure looks like it. XD
I really like Maria’s song, especially the chorus. ♥
Elfnein being WAAAAY too hard on herself man
Chris being forced to shoot off Stefan’s leg though; god. She did it to save him from actual DEATH, but that sure wasn’t easy. We rolled right into this season with Chris angst, and I really wonder how it will continue. Sonia (Sonya however it shall be spelled but I have a habit of adding the “I” instead.) is related to Stefan and is understandably upset about the result. However, I think already that Stefan would forgive her, if that hand meant anything. It all stems from how Chris will forgive herself or deal with it down the road.
I wonder how this relationship/interaction with Sonia is going to play out. Will she be around after they leave? I don’t think they’ll stay there the whole season so I wonder how her role will continue to aid Chris in her development. But yeah, Chris really isn’t having a good time in this season so far.
Fine’ was a pirate. I can’t help but laugh at that.
So that doll’s/Relic?? name is Tiki, and I’m curious to see what role she will also play.
I’m confused how Hibiki destroyed that dragon thing (too lazy to type the name okay), even if she wasn’t thinking about it and was just “attacking” XD But I guess the same could be said about her breaking Carol’s alchemy shield without thinking so, maybe it’s like that lmao.
Seriously, the fight between Prelati/Caglio vs. Shirabe/Kirika/Maria was really nice.
So, Germain doesn’t want people in the world to be oppressed. So that makes me wonder how them and the main girl will clash and how their sense of “ideals” (or justices as I’ve heard someone say) clash. Their main goal is still pretty vague, but they’ll clash at some point. Technically, they already have but the girls don’t know their exact goals of course.
And Hibiki hurts me like always as a very small sidenote. XD Her being so worried about Chris by giving these looks---
---ruins me silently. Its that sort of moment where you see a friend obviously unhappy/suffering but you don’t know what in the world to say or offer to help. At least, it felt that way to me. Personally I’ve run into that situation a lot in my life (as I’m sure others have as well) so it just kILLS ME INSIDE. XD
And the extended beginning of Futurism was great. I always liked how it started out, but the extended versions they do in the show really add atmosphere to it (in my opinion)
With lines like “I want to forget. I’m allowed to forget.” makes the ending all the more heart-punching due to it being basically about Chris and we already have seen the struggles she’s going through.
Overall, the start of AXZ feels really nice so far. I can’t explain it, but it’s different from the other three. Maybe because we already know who the enemy is so they’re going right into it?? The other seasons the girls found out about their enemies in the first episode without any prior knowledge (except for season 1). So, yeah, guess this is good enough to make up for me not talking about Episode 1 at all XD.)
#(Guess it's my thoughts/speculation as well)#(I always think I can't convey my thoughts really well so sorry if this makes no sense or is confusing if read)#ooc
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Epic Movie (Re)Watch #162 - The Adventures of Ichabod And Mr. Toad
Spoilers Below
Have I seen it before: Yes
Did I like it then: Yes.
Do I remember it: Yes.
Did I see it in theaters: No.
Format: Blu-ray
1) During World War II, Disney produced a number of “package films” of which this was the last. The war took a number of Disney animators and put a strain on the studio, meaning they had a lot of half ideas which weren’t short enough for a short nor long enough for a feature. So Disney decided to group them together. The results included Fun and Fancy Free, Make Mine Music, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Melody Time, and this film. It was after this film that Disney would return to full length stories with 1950′s Cinderella.
2) They key to this working as a package film and not some strange double feature is the live action connecting tissue. Scenes in a library with two disembodied narrators (Basil Rathbone for “The Wind and the Willows” and Bing Crosby for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”) is a simple thing to help the film feel like a total picture.
The Wind in the Willows
3) As with most Disney films, the supporting characters of Mole, Rat, & Badger are well established through initial introduction and design.
4) There is a nice establishment of Toad’s wild character before we even meet him.
Badger: “What good are his promises when these wild manias take him?”
And then “Merrily on Our Way to Nowhere in Particular” is a strong visual introduction to how nonsensical and merry Toad is.
Toad is largely a selfish character bust still likable and charming. As the narrator observes himself at the end of the segment, we all wish we could be a bit more like him. Enjoy life more, have more adventures, and just have a merry good time. Toad is a wonderful introductory character, with moments like the setting in of his mania being wildly enjoying to watch. But there’s always a bit more to him than we expect. A bit more cleverness and later in the film a bit of regret. A fun character who may not be as much of an icon as Mickey Mouse but still a Disney great nonetheless.
5) One of the ways the “Wind in the Willows” adaptation stands out to me among other pieces of anthropomorphic animals interacting with humans is that the animals are their standard size. I’m so used to a Mickey Mouse being the same size as Donald Duck and such but these creatures are all their normal sizes. It was a small thing but it struck me.
6) It was when Mr. Toad defends himself in court that I remembered an old adage I heard from a lawyer: only an idiot defends themselves.
Toad certainly is that. A little too sure of himself, a little too trusting. Having a real lawyer probably would’ve helped his case.
7) The Weasels.
The weasels have become one of Disney’s most prominently reoccuring bad guys, having memorable roles in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” to start. They might be better remembered for Roger Rabbit than they are for this film, but without the weasels being a standout element in this movie they would not have been in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
8)
Narrator: “Yes, once again it was a White Christmas...”
So Rat and Mole must be visiting Scrooge to ask for some charity at this time.
9) Ah, that 2017 feel.
(GIFs originally posted by @fantasia1940)
10)
Rat [after Badger tells him he found evidence supporting Toad]: “Then Toad was innocent this whole time?”
Was that ever in question? This is a Disney movie. Unless you’re Robin Hood, the title character is not going to be stealing a car.
11) I like how Disney could be a bit more “edgy” back in their early years.
Mole [upon seeing the weasels]: “Oh look, they’re all asleep.”
Badger: “Aye lads, they’re DRUNK!”
12) The chase for the deed to Toad Hall through Toad Hall is a fun bit of animation and includes some great classic gags to it.
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(I don’t think the quality of this video is great but it gets across the cartoony slapstick fun I’m talking about.)
13) I find it a tad dissatisfying that Toad ends basically where he started emotionally, but again the narrator observes that we all wish we could be as adventurous as he.
14) This note is less about the film and more about the ride it inspired. “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” is an attraction which first opened in Disneyland in California (it used to have a twin in Orlando but it was replaced with a Winnie the Pooh ride a believe) where you board a motorcar and ride through town hall...before you get hit by a train and go to hell. That’s right: a Disney ride sends you to hell.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
15) The format of the “Sleepy Hollow” segment of the film relies more heavily on Bing Crosby’s narration than “The Wind in the Willows” did on Basil Rathbone’s. In fact, it plays out like Crosby is reading out of a storybook with animation put to it. He even voices all the male characters (since they only speak in song).
16) Ichabod Crane.
I am actually very impressed and very grateful with how close this version of Ichabod Crane is to Irving’s original character. In most adaptations of the story (1999′s Sleepy Hollow, the recently cancelled TV show “Sleepy Hollow”) he is made more heroic. Nothing could really be further from the truth from the original source material. His physical ugliness (not so ugly in animation but it is intended as such from a design standpoint) reflects his internal ugliness in a strange way. Ichabod Crane is a glutton. A man full of greed who bases every decision in life on how it will help him get ahead. Even his wanting to be with Katrina is EXCLUSIVELY based on how rich she is and how a marriage to her would give him stature. There is even a theory out there that says Ichabod is the villain of the peace - as his greed and desire for status reflect many other Disney villains such as Jafar from Aladdin and Ursula from The Little Mermaid - while Brom Bones is meant to be the hero.
17) Brom Bones.
One of the earliest lines about Brom Bones is this:
Narrator: “There was no malice in his mischief.”
If we subscribe to the theory that Brom is the real hero of the peace, you can see how it might work. He is a friendly guy even if he is a bit brutish. And he moves against the greedy Ichabod Crane. However, it’s hard to get past his initial bullying of Crane for just existing in the town or the fact he only moves so hard against Crane just because they’re both interested in Katrina. Either way, he’s a solid addition to the film (and even reportedly inspired some of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast).
18) Bing Crosby’s skills as a vocal musician are well featured in the film, with one of my favorite (and underrated) songs being “Ichabod”. It’s a simple toe tapper elevated by Crosby’s skills and serves to very clearly introduce Crane to the town of Sleepy Hollow.
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19) Katrina Van Tassel.
So Katrina is...pretty much a female shaped object. She never speaks or sings or anything. Her purpose in the film is literally to be something Brom and Ichabod fight over, and she is “written” as a vain manipulative creature who delights in men fighting over her. And that’s it. That’s her “character”. Usually I try to look for the good in older Disney animated heroines, but I can’t really with Katrina. Ah well.
20) “The Headless Horseman” is another strong example of not only Crosby’s vocals but also the best song in the entire film I think.
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According to IMDb:
The song "Headless Horseman" is considered one of the darkest songs written for a Disney film. It, much like "Worthless" from The Brave Little Toaster (1987) and "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), was nearly cut from the film.
I’m not familiar with “Worthless” but I do love some dark Disney songs (with “Hellfire” being one of my all time favorites). The song was originally meant to be sung by Thurl Ravenscroft (“You’re a Mean one, Mr. Grinch”, Fritz in The Enchanted Tiki Room, and the lead singer of the Singing Busts in The Haunted Mansion ride) and you can still hear his version on "Walt Disney Records Archive Collection, Vol. 1". Or it’s on YouTube right here.
21) The build up to the final encounter with Ichabod and the Headless Horseman is great. There is an excellent sense of darkness, dismay, and fear. Strong imagery bleeds through the scene (a cloud blocking out the moon like a hand, all the creatures of the forest seemingly saying Ichabod’s name, the reeds beating out like horse hooves) and creates a wonderfully tense buildup to the climactic finale.
22) The Headless Horseman.
According to IMDb:
The Headless Horseman is often cited as being, along with The Horned King in The Black Cauldron (1985) and Chernabog in Fantasia (1940), as one of the scariest villains in the Disney canon. Disney still receives complaints from parents about the character frightening their children.
You can definitely see how that’s true. The sheer design of the Horseman is brilliant. He is dark, ominous, but towering and powerful. He is someone/something you would not want to run into alone on a dark night. His mad cackle and wild horse - along with the iconic flaming pumpkin - just add to the terrifying design. For a character with such a brief amount of screen time, the Headless Horseman is one of the most iconic characters in Disney’s canon.
23) The final chase with Ichabod and the Horseman is incredible. It is tense, scary, filled with action, but still featuring some of the signature cartoony fun that Disney is known for. This isn’t suddenly an R-rated horror film, it’s a Disney film but what Disney looks like when things start to go haywire! The final image alone is iconic in and of itself.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a fun Disney film. A good way to kill only an hour of your time (seriously, it’s just 68 minutes), it features iconic characters, wonderful visuals, strong humor, and a surprising amount of freights. Particularly good for a Halloween viewing, it’s a wonderful piece of animation all around. Give it a watch if you’re ever looking for some old school animated fun.
#The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad#The Legend of Sleepy Hollow#The Wind in the Willows#Disney#Mr. Toad's Wild Ride#Epic Movie (Re)Watch#Movie#Film#GIF#Bing Crosby#Basil Rathbone#Mickey's Christmas Carol
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A well-rounded city growing out of the stark North Texas prairie, Dallas has a jumble of ultramodern skyscrapers, the largest arts district in the United States, museums of the highest quality and pulsating nightlife.
Whole swathes of the city have been reinvented in recent times, like the Design District breathing new life into an austere neighborhood of warehouses, or Klyde Warren Park, on the former route of a freeway. But if you’re hunting for old-time Texas trademarks like big steaks, BBQ and honkytonks among the upscale restaurants and high-culture, you’ll find them with little trouble. Dallas will also forever be tied to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and at Dealey Plaza, you’ll discover how the city has come to terms with this tragedy. Let’s explore the best things to do in Dallas.
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1. John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Building was opened in June 1970, next to the red sandstone towers of the Dallas County Courthouse. The monument at its core was designed by architect Philip Johnson, a friend of the Kennedy family, and was personally approved by Jacqueline Kennedy.
Formed to represent the freedom of John F. Kennedy, the memorial consists of a square room without a roof, with concrete walls of 15 x 15 meters long and 9 meters high. These walls are composed of 72 concrete columns, supported by two legs at each corner and so appearing to hover over the ground when illuminated at night.
Inside the room is a square of granite carved with the name JFK, painted in gold to catch light from the walls.
2. Meadows Museum
The oil baron Algur Meadows (1899–1978) made repeated trips to Madrid in the 1950s, and in that time he fell in love with Spanish art at the Museo del Prado, determined to create his own Prado on his prairie in Dallas.
This became the Meadows Museum at the Southern Methodist University campus, home to one of the largest assemblages of Spanish art outside of Spain.
The art here dates from the 900s to the present, comprising Renaissance altarpieces, massive Baroque canvases, liturgical polychrome images, graphic art, Impressionist landscapes, abstract painting, sketches, and sculpture.
Among the many great artists featured are Velázquez, El Greco, Murillo, Ribera, Zurbarán, Goya (six works), Sorolla, Rodin, Picasso, Dalí, Miró, Henry Moore and Giacometti. In 2019-20 there were great short-term exhibitions for Sorolla and the great Spanish Renaissance sculptor Alonso Berruguete.
3. Deep Ellum
If you’re out for live music, great food, awesome bars or one-off shops then Deep Ellum is the place to go, just on the other side of the I-345 from Downtown Dallas. This has been an entertainment district since the 1880s, and blues legends like Leadbelly, Bessie Smith and Blind Lemon Jefferson all entertained the crowds in the 1910s and 1920s.
The name comes from the neighborhood’s main artery, Elm Street and crops up in the old blues song Take a Whiff on Me, and the song “Deep Elm Blues”, made famous by the Grateful Dead. The lineup of clubs and live venues is too long to list here but features Trees Dallas, played by Radiohead, Nirvana, Arcade Fire, and Pearl Jam.
For concept bars, you’ve got a slew of craft breweries/distilleries, and the trailer park themed Double Wide. By day you can check out the street art and pick from ramen (Oni), tacos (Tiki Loco), sushi (Nori) or southern comfort food (Brick & Bones, Get Fried) for lunch.
4. Dallas Zoo
Across the Trinity River from Downtown Dallas, the Dallas Zoo will be a valuable family outing even without its greatest appeal. But the Giants of the Savanna habitat is not something you’ll come across very often.
This $32.5-million habitat, unveiled in 2011 has reticulated giraffes, zebras, impala, ostriches and guinea fowl sharing the same large space. In the same zone is the zoo’s herd of African elephants, as well as African lions, South African cheetahs, warthogs, and African wild dogs.
The Gorilla Research Center, opened in 1990, is another feather in the Dallas Zoo’s cap, a lush recreation of the Congo Rainforest, with enough space for two troops of gorillas, each separated by a wall.
The Wilds of Africa Adventure Safari takes you on a 20-minute, mile-long narrated monorail ride past hippos, okapis, Grévy’s zebra, Thomson’s gazelle’s and some giant birds, from great white pelicans to Goliath herons.
5. Dallas World Aquarium
In the West End Historical Area, this aquarium in a warehouse remake from 1924 is not just fish. Mundo Maya keeps ocelots, American flamingos and a variety of colorful passerine birds and owls to go with its vibrant angelfish and axolotls.
The upper floor is taken over by a reproduction of the Orinoco Rainforest, inhabited by sloths, giant river otters and primates like pygmy marmosets and red howler monkeys, as well as dwarf caimans, poison dart frogs, toucans, matamata turtles, and electric eels.
The ten main tanks are on the lower level, where you’ll come within inches of aquatic life from all over the world from giant Japanese spider crabs to brilliant Percula clownfish, tangs, angelfish, butterflyfish and moon jellyfish.
Outside the South African exhibition holds a flock of mischievous black-footed penguins, only 50,000 in the wild.
6. Pioneer Plaza
The city’s rugged early days are remembered at this park laid out in 1994 in front of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, just south of downtown.
Rendered in bronze by artist Robert Summers is a marvelous sculpted ensemble – the largest bronze monument in the world – depicting an everyday scene on the old Shawnee Trail.
Crossing the plaza are 49 longhorn steers and three trail riders on horseback, all in an environment of ridges and cliffs, planted with trees and plants native to North Texas, a flowing stream and waterfall. Each steering wheel is slightly larger than life, just under two meters tall.
7. Fair Park
This 277-acre outdoor complex located on the right shoulder of Downtown Dallas has a history like a fairground dating back to 1886. Space was transformed to lift the spirits during the Great Depression when Dallas hosted Trade.
Fair of Texas in 1936. Architects George Dahl and Paul Cret turned Fair Park into a wonderful exhibition of Art Deco design. Plenty of the attractions on this list can be found right here, and the park holds more than 1,200 events a year, from concerts to sporting events.
For 24 days from the last Friday of September, this is the venue for the Texas State Fair, attended by over two million people each year and presided over by iconic Big Tex. One of the main events is the annual college football game between Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns, at the 92,100-capacity Cotton Bowl.
A centerpiece during the fair is the Texas Star, a Ferris wheel 65.8 meters tall, with 44 gondolas.
8. Hall of State
Fair Park's headquarters, the State Hall of the Arts, is a formidable venue, even when the exterior is showing its age. There are few better examples of Art Deco architecture in Texas, and it’s bewildering to think that this regal edifice got built in the depths of the Great Depression.
What draws your eye outside is the semicircular recess at the entrance, with limestone pillars rising 23 meters dividing bands of blue tiles evoking the state flower, the bluebonnet. On the frieze are the names of 60 historical figures with an important role in Texas history.
The monument has belonged to the Dallas Historical Society since 1938 and its radiant interior holds the Hero Hall, with six bronze statues symbolizing Stephen F. Austin, Thomas Jefferson Rusk, Mirabeau B. Lamar, Sam Houston, James Fannin, and William B Travis. At the Texas State Fair 2019, there was a great exhibition of the state's history in cinema.
9. Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park
This compact yet never-popular aquarium opened with the hundredth Texas Exhibition in 1936 but got a modern makeover in 2009.
There are six main exhibits at the Children’s Aquarium: Freshwater Zone, with red-bellied piranhas and Australian rainbows; Intertidal Zone, for sea stars and sea urchins; Shore Zone, inhabited by seahorses, batfish and home to a Caribbean reef; Near Shore Zone, which has Moray eels, clownfish and porcupinefish, and the Offshore Zone, where you’ll see the ominous-looking Queensland groupers and zebra sharks.
Lastly, the outdoor Stingray Bay is everyone's favorite part, where you can touch and show rays and watch black reef sharks in a large outdoor tank.
10. Frontiers of Flight Museum
Head to Dallas Love Field Airport to be awed by this Smithsonian Affiliate museum in the airport’s south-east corner. The Frontiers of Flight Museum has more than 30 aircraft and space vehicles on show, a portion of which were built in the North Texas area.
There are also 13 galleries and exhibits to ponder, including artifacts from the Hindenburg, lots of detail about aviators like Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart, and a full-size model of the Wright Brothers’ 1903 Wright Flyer.
As for preserved aircraft, make sure to see Apollo VII, used for the first manned flight of the Apollo Space Program in 1968.
Also indispensable is the last surviving Texas-Temple Sportsman monoplane (1928), a de Havilland Tiger Moth (1940), a Bell 47 (of M*A*S*H fame) and jet fighters and bombers including an F-16b (1977), and LTV A-7 Corsair II (1967), a Republic F-105D (1958) and a Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (1950).
More ideals for you: Top 10 things to do in Phuket – top 10 bars
From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-dallas-704428.html
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‘Siesta Key’ Recap: Is Alex the Next Ted Bundy?
We’re only one episode away from the final episode of Siesta Key and things are getting even more tense than usual: Cara and Garrett are at a standstill in their relationship, Madisson won’t take a shot on Jared, and Alex and Juliette are fighting and breaking up and making up so often that none of us can keep track of where their relationship’s at.
We caught up with Reality King Spencer Pratt to get all his thoughts on Juliette’s 21st birthday and he has more than just well-wishes for The Key’s stormies couple.
On Kelsey’s benefit for her mom...and Jacob's triumphant appearance:
That was a very tiny event for Kelsey to be feeling so many emotions. Maybe she knew she wasn’t getting filmed as much and was trying to get back the “A Story”? She went all in on that speech.
Heidi loved when Jacob showed up. When he got up to stand behind Kelsey as she was reading her speech, Heidi said, "oh my god, what an amazing boyfriend.” I was all, “shit, all I’ve got to do to get that kind of response out of Heidi is to stand behind her quietly? I’m all in.” Thanks for being an inspiration, Jacob.
It really felt like the producers wanted him to film, and he told them, “no, no, if Kelsey has any more confessions to make, she can do that off-air where my family doesn’t have to hear them, thanks.”
On Alex showing up to Kelsey’s benefit:
$200 seems kind of low for a donation when you’re trying to show everyone that you’re a good guy and The King of The Key. Maybe he spent it all on Pauly Paul’s bail and the diamond he bought Juliette. Though the necklace he bought Juliette for her birthday...I thought this stuff was supposed to be Tiffany or Cartier. That didn’t look like either. I did not see that trinket and immediately think, “oh you should definitely get back together over this necklace.” Maybe he should have just donated the $99 he spent on it to help cure MS.
On the performance at Kelsey’s benefit:
It was very nice of Kelsey to include Brandon and Pauly at this high-class, invite-only event to raise more awareness for MS, which I am going to google right now. Their performance really gave the evening the gravity and importance it felt like it needed.
This whole thing was a full range of emotions. You go from Kelsey weeping because she loves her mom and just realized she doesn’t know how to read, to Pauly Paul getting bleeped out by MTV and screaming, "let’s turn this place all the way up!” I definitely needed the mood switch, though, because I’m not trying to be crying into my white wine here.
On whether Kelsey or Alex is the better speech-giver:
It was Kelsey’s realest moment on the show, so I’ve got to applaud her for that. I definitely believe all the things she said about her mom are true—which is a first for our girl—but I don’t think anyone’s out here calling her a “naturally gifted speaker” behind her back. She should have taken some notes from Alex. We hate that guy, but his dad brought in a teleprompter to the Autism Gala. You can’t compete with that.
On Jared trying to win Madisson’s affections:
It seems like they don’t teach you how to spit any game in the Navy. Jared didn’t need to take Madisson away to some private room to explain how he’s developed feelings for her. It felt like he was about to ask her dad if he could date her, when all he needed to say was, “I like you. Do you want to have lunch and see what develops?” He was really taking us back to the 1800s here.
You know what it felt like? A bad ‘80s movie and Jared’s all, “I’m telling you I’m the guy that loves you.” Was he going to break into song next? He seems like a nice guy, but I gotta keep it on the real: If he had a chance before this little pitch he threw at her, well...he certainly has zero chance now. He should just go back to trying to steal Kelsey from her boyfriend.
On Madisson’s response to Jared’s proposal (that’s the only way to describe it):
She seemed confused. It was like she hadn’t thought of homey asking her out at all since the first time on the beach. She’s given him every sign that she isn’t interested and..nothing. Aren’t Navy seals supposed to be good at picking up signals? Because ol’ boy over here seems to be much better at riding Range Rovers.
I think Madisson was all “oh my god, Jared, you were a sidepiece I hooked up with a few times in high school. Why are you trying to Swimfan me?” Did I already mention her should stick to Kelsey? Because I’m gonna say it again. That’s how you stay on this show.
On Madisson saying no:
I’m so proud of her for not saying “yes.” That was a great scene for women, young girls, dudes watching this show, everyone. It was a good reminder that just because someone gives you a 10-minute guilt trip about you being “the one that got away,” it doesn’t mean that you have to feel the same way about them.
Can I also just say how proud I am of her for being the first reality star in the history of television to say the word “apprehensive”?
On whether Brandon and Madisson are ever getting back together. :
I like that we’re still playing pretend like #Bradisson is getting back together. It’s always good to have dreams. Getting back together with an ex has surely worked out for everyone else on The Key.
On Cara and Garrett getting back together:
These two aren’t just being awkward for the show—I think I’ve realized that they truly just don’t know how to interact with each other.
“I would like to continue” is a really weird line to drop on someone you’re planning on dating. I think Garrett picked up all his ideas of romance from The Bachelor. He was probably looking around for a rose to hand her. Should have brought it from home.
How weird is it that Garrett’s going on this personal appearance tour and inviting Cara along after three months of dating? Did you see how quickly Cara realized that it might mean less screen time? It was like, “do you think I’m getting together with you so I can be on the show less?”
On Garrett not wanting to go to Italy with Cara because he needs to work:
If he really wanted to talk about money, he should have just said, “I’ll go to Italy. Just pay my personal training fee and I’ll come out there and work you out. I have high hopes for you. Matter of fact, here’s a promo code. I’ll get your entire family fit with a mix of pre-recorded and in-person workouts guaranteed to make them sweat.”
You know what this put in perspective for me? The whole tour fiasco that happened earlier this season. How are Cara and Garrett inviting each other on trips around the world and Brandon wouldn’t even let Camilla get on the guest list at a show in Orlando. I guess she was on her way out way before the tour began.
Garrett can take Camilla with him if Cara doesn’t want to do it. Girl seems desperate to get out of The Key.
On Cara showing up to Juliette’s birthday party:
They must have had a really good talk under that freeway overpass. They must have gone for chicken nuggets after and connected over both wanting to be landlords. After watching Chloe struggle to sell fake houses, Juliette only wants to be on the buyer’s end now.
I bet Cara also made good points about what it’s like to be in a relationship with Alex. I believe Juliette when she says that she always has to do what Alex wants. I think he uses his money as a way to guilt her. He’s like, “I bought you dinner and clothes.” OK cool, dude, let me see the designer labels. Psych! Having money doesn’t give you the right to treat others like trash. Take that to the bank.
If Juliette gets her own boat in season 3, she wont even remember dating Alex. Can we start a GoFundMe?
On Alex’s gift to Juliette:
I thought that box was going to open and we were going to get a zoom-in, but we didn’t even get to assess the jewelry properly. I was really hoping for a big-ass diamond but what we saw was a trinket. A bauble!
You know, all the ladies on this show are all “ugh” about Juliette even talking to Alex, but if I were her, I’d just take the jewelry and walk. You can roll all the eyes you want, Kelsey and Amanda, but I don’t see you starting a mint jewelry collection at 21. So maybe just worry about yourselves. Juliette can accept all the jewelry she wants.
My only concern is that Alex has a real Ted Bundy-esque vibe about him, so I would say definitely take the jewelry but also let Chloe know where you are at all times. Don’t you ever turn off that Bitmoji, Jules.
Spencer Pratt's big concern about Alex and Juliette:
Alex thinks he can solve every problem with money. No one’s given him any reason to suspect differently, so what reason does he have to change? What I’m more worried about is what Juliette said about him not giving her any space because he knows she’ll move on.
That’s a huge red flag. If you ask for space and your boyfriend or girlfriend or whoever won’t give it to you...oooh, that’s a red alert!
I feel like we’re forgetting that Juliette’s only 21. She’s a kid. You know what? I hope she’s in it just for the jewelry. I hope she gets an entire collection. And I hope that she and her lovely french mother just pawn the whole thing at the local jewelry store/bait-and-tackle shop and buy themselves their own boat. That would be quality.
On Chloe’s cliffhanger:
Everything was chill and then here’s Chloe coming in with “the information I have now could change everything.” I thought I was watching Siesta Key, but now it feels like we’re on CNN. Is that Rachel Maddow in the back booth of the Tiki Bar? Is that Adam Schiff doing a presser outside? I wish Chloe would have worked a little harder on The Mueller Report because Alex cheating? It’s never new.
Source: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a26963452/siesta-key-mtv-season-two-episode-11-recap-spencer-pratt-alex-juliette-necklace/
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Jack Frost University - First Issue
Jack Frost University - First Issue 07/05/2018
Ceremonial Magic, Saturn Magic Cube, Pentagram of Fire, Kilauea Volcano at 19.5 and Thoth Stellar Tetrahedron
Well I've done it!! I finally started performing ceremonial magic. I feel like I've been waiting my entire life to start operating in ceremonial magic. I've known deep down in my heart that this was the fun stuff but I've felt a hesitation to partake of it until I developed my mind and heart so that I have a proper background to work from. I've always felt that I needed a very stable, solid foundation of spirituality before delving into such things. Some organizations get so confused and lost in the ceremonies they forget exactly why they started it in the first place. In the past, whenever I've heard or witnessed ceremonial magic on youtube videos my heart would begin to pump and my mind start to race. It's so exciting. In the past I've had friends in the Freemasons and O.T.O. (Ordo Templi Orientis) but I've avoided joining such organizations because I wanted to start something of my own, something I could foster and grow as time went by. I never wanted to join any pre-existing systems when it came to magic. I'm a co-creator and I just want to create something from scratch so that I wouldn't be bound by the laws of other occult groups.
Before I tell you how the ceremony went and exactly what I did let me give you some news. By the way, in case you aren't aware of this the word NEWS is a contraction of the four directions of the compass. North, East, West, and South. And if you connect the points in that order it creates a lightning bolt. So news is really signifying the concept of information being brought to you from all over the world, from all points of the compass. These last three months have been very enlightening and entertaining for me. I have leveled up my spiritual game. One or more of my chakras must have opened up because I've been getting a flood of information lately which I'm finding difficult to manage. It first started when I went out with my friend Silas Cabal, a sleight of hand magician who happens to be my roommate, and his girlfriend to a restaurant in Fort Collins, Colorado. We were eating, drinking and waiting for another friend of his to show up whom we were going to meet for the first time. He is a sleight of hand magician also and was going to show off his skills with playing cards for us. After half an hour of impressing us with the cards he breaks out his rubiks cube. My soul jumped to attention for some reason. He was able to put the rubiks cube behind his back and solve the riddle. I've seen people in the past who could solve a rubiks cube but I've never seen anybody solve it behind their back like he did. I was super impressed. After a few hours of bar hopping I started to get tired. I figured I should drive home before I got too drunk and had to crash at someones elses pad for the night. When Silas came back home that night he mentioned that he ran into two other people who also had rubiks cubes. I quizzed him on this and pressed into it a little bit further. "Besides the first person we met you met two other totally unrelated strangers who also happened to be carrying a fucking rubiks cube on their person?" I asked. He confirmed. I thought it was a bit odd that three separate men in one single night of bar hopping happened to have a rubiks cube on them. Was it national rubiks cube day and I didn't know it? I ended up taking it as a sign from the Universe. One week later Silas' girlfriend brought home a black magic cube. On the surface were a bunch of magical symbols, sigils and sacred numbers. I asked her where she got it from and she told me WalMart. So I went and bought six. They were a dollar each. Usually when events like this occur, a repeating pattern of events, I take it as a sign that the Divine is trying to teach me or show me something. So I started googling magic cube and I was inundated with information about the planet Saturn. Then I'm driving to Fort Collins a week later and I see a street called Saturn. This is a street I have passed by at least twice a week but never noticed it was there. This discovery of the Saturn magic cube marks a pivotal time in my life. I seem to have entered into a new arena where I'm being given sacred knowledge I've never been given before. I have a lot to tell you about what I've learned so far, like the symbol showing up in Hollywood music videos, Islam's center of worship and in a TON of companies in the information technology (I.T.) sector. The Saturn sigil is also associated with Azazel. I will be publishing my discoveries regarding Saturn in more detail in a later time. At this point it is enough to say that planet Earth is very much heavily satured by the planetary energy corresponding to Saturn.
Right around the time that the Universe revealed to me the Saturn magic cube I felt a need to start developing my magic rituals. I have this thing that I do when I 'download' information from the Universe. Some call it a knowledge dump. It's basically where you are receiving information from somewhere outside of yourself or perhaps from your own soul or consciousness. It could be called a 'data transfer' as well. I'm not sure if anyone really knows what to call the process at this point but it basically just means you are receiving information by means of meditation instead of receiving information by more carnal methods such as reading a book or watching a youtube video. I've been 'downloading' information from the Spirit, what I also call the Universe for lack of a better understanding, since I was twenty-two, when I began 'The Quest'. But only recently have I felt a desire to create a ritual for doing so. As it turns out I accidentally summoned four spirits to my bedroom during one of my trance sessions. I didn't know I was doing it at the time but I ended up performing an evocation. For those of you who don't know, an invocation is when you are calling a spirit into you, and an evocation is where you are calling a spirit to you or around you. I say accidentally because I had no idea what I was doing at the time. I just know that it was 55 degrees outside, I had every door and window in the house open and my room felt like it was 90 degrees. Moments like that indicate a presence in the room as the more 'company' you get the hotter it is due to the energy they bring. Here is the evocation ritual that I developed...
First, I start playing my favorite hip hop hollywood music. This helps me get into trance mode. The repetitive beats and rhythm are perfect for me. For those of you who don't know the Ancient Druids used to make their magic wands from the wood of a holly, or from Holly Wood. Hollywood is about sorcery. Their music and movies are all meant to hypnotize you. I love it. I'm obsessed with hollywood, disney and sorcery. I also listen to the same song over and over. I can't listen to new music during rituals because new music means you're forming new neurons. Forming new neurons actually inhibits you from going into trance mode. So I put a song on repeat and hear it about three times before moving on to the next song. The songs I've been listening to during these rituals so far has been Walk the Moon - "One Foot", Sara Bareilles - "King of Anything" and Imagine Dragons "Thunder". These songs may not originate from Hollywood but I still call them my hip-hop hollywood music because of the hypnotizing effects. Sometimes I will stop the hollywood music and shift to a different set of beats. Simultaneously I will play some Native American drums with a lot of bass designed for trance meditation as well as another track playing in the background which is called "OM Chanting @ 417 Hz - Removes All Negative Blocks" on youtube. After I get my music track settled I turn off the white lights in my room and turn on my blinking christmas lights. This dims the lights and is easier on my eyes. Then I light my favorite incense. I prefer cannabis or amber-sandal made by HEM. Then I light my black candles. Then I light sage and keep it tucked in between my fingers as I shuffle the major arcana of the thoth tarot deck repeatedly and walk around my room. From time to time, as I'm pacing back and forth in my room, I pick up my black saturn magic cube and toss it into the air and catch it. Other times I pick up the stones that the Universe has given me, which at this point is just my rose quartz and emerald, and caress them and maneuver them around in my hand. These stones, by the way, are symbolic of people or concepts, because we as humans have been compared to living stones. That's it. That's one of the rituals I've created when I feel the need to trance out, download information from the Spirit or perform an evocation.
A few days after I ended up summoning these four spirits I felt like I wanted to create a pentagram of fire to satisfy my curiousity about ceremonial magic. I've had these tiki torches in my backyard for quite some time but I've never put them to use. I finally found a creative use for them. We have a circular fire pit in the backyard as well and so I placed the tiki torches around the campfire in the shape of a pentagram. Then I lit them with my lighter. Each tiki torch matched up to the points of a pentagram and I had a fire blazing in the middle of it. It reminded me of the Pentagon, the Headquarters of the Department of Defense, in Virginia. When Silas came home from work we moved one of our couches inside of the pentagram next to the fire pit. I brought the Saturn magic cube, the major arcana of the thoth tarot deck and my stones into the pentagram with me. This is when shit started getting crazy. I mean like the movie Constantine kind of crazy. I'm not going to go into details but I will say that what I got out of it personally was the norse bind rune of H & B. A bind rune is a combination of two or more runes. The Universe revealed to me the H & B bind rune while I was in the pentagram of fire. As I looked up the meanings of both runes I believe the message I was given had something to do with "HAIL MARY", or possibly "HAIL BIRCH GODDESS". As I researched the term birch goddess I see that it was referring to Freya, the wife of Odin, the sorceress and goddess of love and death.
I made a mistake and did not record the day or hour that I received this message while sitting in the pentagram. Just so you know, when performing magical experiments, and especially when you get a result, you should always record the results as well as the day and hour that you received them. My studies of magic over the last twenty years have led me to believe it's important to do so.
You may have heard that there is a volcano on the big island of Hawaii called Kiluaea which has been going off non-stop for over a month now. It started right around May 1st of this year, 2018. I cannot remember if those four spirits that I summoned showed up before or after this volcano started going off but it was right around the same time. Im not sure if Ive ever witnessed a volcano going off so I was curious and started doing some research. Along with all this new sacred knowledge Ive been given by the Universe came the understanding of the connection between the God Jehovah of the Old Testament with volcanos. Yes, thats right!! There is a connection. The God Jehovah and volcanos are somehow connected. Im not sure how they are connected yet but as always I will continue to press in until I find out. As always, when I hear about major catastrophes occurring throughout the Earth I always look to ley lines, sacred geometry and sacred nodal points. Im always looking for answers from a synergetic perspective. I like to know how events throughout the globe are connected. So I opened up Google Earth and looked for the location of the Kiluaea volcano and found it to be at about 19.47 degrees North. I recognized that co-ordinate immediately. 19.47, or as some websites put it, 19.5 degrees, are the nodal points of two star tetrahedrons. These have also gone by the name of the Thoth Stellar Tetrahedron. For the last 18 years as Ive been researching the Ancient Egyptian gods I have come across the Emerald Tablets of Thoth on www.crystalinks.com. Im sure many of you are familiar with this. You might notice in the hands of the graphic of Thoth is a stellar tetrahedron. Two tetrahedrons spinning opposite of each other, which some have also called a Merkabah. Is this the sign of the coming of Thoth? Is this the star which announces his arrival?
I will close with that question.
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"The First Purge" Review: It's Just a Movie...But
They say that practice makes perfect. While the fourth installment in the Purge franchise is far from perfection, there is something to it that is undeniably breaking through to speak to real world issues. Yes, The First Purge is more refined and closer to B-movie, survive the night status like some of the classic John Carpenter films. However, the real magic is in how much its’ premise feels a lot more tangible and believable in our present day political climate.
This film takes it back to the beginning when The Purge became The Purge. At this point, it’s called an experiment, created by Dr. Updale (Marisa Tomei). Rather than being nationwide, its’ first at bat is localized to Staten Island. In an effort to get members of the community to participate, the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) offers $5,000 for wearing contacts that double as cameras with bonuses for committing violence. Potential candidates that range from psychotic and mentally ill to people trying to feed their family are analyzed by NFFA staff.
The formula here is no different. We’re introduced to the main characters early. Dmitri (Y’lan Noel) is the drug king of the borough. Nya (Lex Scott Davis) and Isaiah (Joivan Wade) are siblings who have each other’s back in a world without parents. Nya is an activist who believes the experiment is not good, while Isaiah is caught in the middle ground, seeing an illegal way to provide for him and his sister he starts dealing on the corner. Dolores (Mugga) is their hilarious neighbor and aunt figure in their lives.
In the midst of main character development, the NFFA is setting up cameras and surveillance around the island to broadcast to the world. Right before and once The Purge commences, so do the one-liners that strike a nerve. The Founding Father president states “We’re all Staten Islanders tonight”. Nya tells her old flame, Dmitri, “we have to make choices to heal or to hurt” after approaching him due to a setback Isaiah had on the street corner.
Since there is little ruckus outside of people robbing and looting when things start, Dr. Updale notes that in order for people to truly embrace The Purge “morality and religious dogma must be dropped”. It’s easy to gloss over that line, but it truly is the key to why The Purge works and why our current real life political climate is as it is. Even if you’re not religious, we all have a moral compass. Whether that compass has been pointed south by life, we all start out with the purity of knowing right from wrong. The statement is truly has Last Action Hero, off of the screen and into the real world impact.
With our morality in question, Arlo Sabien (Patch Darragh) the NFFA Chief of Staff, makes a call to spice things up. Simultaneously, director Gerard McMurray and writer James DeMonaco (who wrote all Purge films) do the same cinematically. Suddenly, white men wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods and throwback Nazi-like regalia show up on the island, forcing Dmitri and friends to fight back. There are particularly harrowing moments of racism and violence that come straight from our history’s headlines as klansmen shoot up a church with predominately black community members. One man is dragged through the street by his leg attached to a vehicle by chain. Tiki torches light the night. These images seem vaguely familiar. While the formula of the film calls for the main characters to get some payback on their oppressors, the joy that one feels for those kills is worth questioning. Sure, it’s just a movie, but why use Klan hoods as masks? That hadn’t been done before. It’s just a movie, but why are the clean cut white men in power positions to experiment in low-income neighborhoods that are comprised of people of color? It’s just a movie, but why does Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” close it out? The song is the rallying cry of this generation’s people of color. Again, see my opening statement, practice makes perfect and DeMonaco’s pen is getting closer to making powerful statements on the state of our union and lack their of.
Ultimately, the final act of the film is tense and suspenseful as Dmitri must “old school video game” his way up to the 14th floor of Nya’s project apartment building, taking out the bad guys along the way. McMurray’s direction is controlled and his frame is claustrophobic at times, allowing us to see what he wants us to see. He leads the audience to the end like a Carpenter throwback.
Some of the performances in this film are worth noting. Mainly, Y’lan Noel, who has an enormous presence on screen and natural charisma that forces you to root for him, even when he’s murdering people. Mugga provides plenty of laugh out loud moments in the film. In one scene she tells Nya that she left the church to look for her, then got the bubble guts and had to purge another way! Joivan Wade truly portrays a scared teenager trying to do what he thinks will help his family. Perhaps one character that will be a fan favorite is Skeletor, played by Rotimi Paul. He’s a giant psycho who wants to Purge from the opening scene. Rather than playing crazy, Paul truly makes Skeletor feel like the neighborhood fiend who finally gets to reek havoc on the world that looks down on him.
The First Purge certainly shows us how everything started. It’s the right length, and an authentic installment in the thesis of what all Purge films rest on in answering the question “what if all crime was legal for 12 hours?”. However, it low key shows us ourselves as well. That’s worth a deeper conversation after the lights come up.
Rating: B
#The First Purge#Kevin Sampson#Picture Lock#picture lock show#movie review#film review#review#Y'lan Noel#Les Scott Davis#Joivan Wade#Mugga#Marisa Tomei#Gerard McMurray#James DeMonaco#Purge#movie#film#film critic#thriller#survive the night#survival film
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10 Artists to Watch at Frieze London, 1:54, and Sunday
Installation view of Billie Zangewa at Blank Projects's booth at Frieze London, 2017. Photo by Mark Blower. Courtesy of Mark Blower/Frieze.
Frieze London built its brand by claiming itself to be the defining voice on the cutting edge of contemporary art. The fair still remains fertile ground to discover new talent and fresh-out-of-MFA-program young upstarts, though to be fair, the art world’s overall attention has since broadened in scope. (Reflecting that trend, the winners of Frieze’s own Stand Prize for its Focus section of young galleries have consisted only of artists born in the first half of the 20th century for the past two years.)
Meanwhile, Frieze’s satellite fairs continue to provide collectors opportunities to dig deeper, exploring what directions contemporary art may head in next. Contemporary African art fair 1:54 brings together the strongest galleries globally showing artists who hail from the continent, while emerging fair Sunday offers 25 young galleries a chance to show a tight selection of artists in a triple-height industrial space just down the road from the Frieze tent.
That’s a lot of ground to cover. Artsy’s editors combed all three fairs in order to highlight 10 artists you’d do well to keep an eye on in the near future.
Hannah Black
B. 1981, Manchester. Lives and works in Berlin
Arcadia Missa, Focus Section, Booth H32
Hannah Black, Beginning, End, None, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and Arcadia Missa Gallery.
Many in the art world—and millions of suburban watchers of The View—became aware of Black after she penned a widely-circulated open letter calling on the Whitney Museum of American Art to remove Dana Schutz’s painting of Emmett Till, who was lynched in 1955 at the age of 14. But the writer-cum-artist, who graduated from Goldsmiths art writing program in 2013 and from the Whitney Independent Study Program a year later, had been gaining critical and curatorial attention well before the controversy.
This year, Black has had solo shows at London’s Chisenhale gallery and Vienna’s MUMOK. For Frieze, she presents Beginning, End, None (2017): a 10-minute, three-channel video that brings together found footage from YouTube, images pulled from science journals, and a wireframe rendering of a panopticon. Also on view at Arcadia Missa’s Focus booth is Intensive Care/Hot New Track (2013), which intersperses audio files of interrogations that took place after the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal with footage of Rihanna and Chris Brown—critiquing social structures and power relations dictated by capitalism in a mode that feels incredibly current. The latter video was acquired by the Tate at Frieze.
Kandis Williams
B. 1985, Baltimore. Lives and works in Los Angeles and Berlin
Night Gallery, Focus Section, Booth H1
Snow, if sign value and exchange value (sign form and commodity form) really are implicated, by reason of their logical form, in the framework of a general political economy, we can claim no affinity of the same order linking symbolic exchange and use value; quite the contrary, because the former implies the transgression of the latter, the latter the reduction of the former, 2017. Kandis Williams Night Gallery
Mothers and sisters, 2017. Kandis Williams Night Gallery
In the aftermath of this August’s riots in Charlottesville, where hundreds of white nationalists marched on the University of Virginia campus wielding tiki torches, Williams’s timely and important work should not be missed at Frieze. The large-scale collage reflects the Baltimore-based African-American artist’s ongoing psychoanalysis of our culture, here gathering imagery signifying topical feminist issues—as well as the historical treatment of women—into a contemporary portrait of the female. Images culled from the internet allow Williams to explore religious and mythological painting tropes, particularly Czech painter Alphonse Mucha’s “Slav Epic” series (1928). We find sexualized, emaciated women sampled from porn sites intermingled with emblems of power and capitalism: the First National Bank in Philadelphia, doctors who diagnosed women with hysteria, the alt-right, and a cluster of men (Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Richard Branson) arranged like cherubs. The presentation comes on the heels of Williams’s inclusion in a summer group show, “Lyric on a Battlefield,” at Gladstone Gallery in New York, and provides fresh reasons to watch her work going forward.
Billie Zangewa
B. 1973, Blantyre, Malawi. Lives and works in Johannesburg
Blank Projects, Focus Section, Booth H24
Billie Zangewa, Great Expectations, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and blank, Cape Town.
Billie Zangewa, Temporary repreieve, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and blank, Cape Town.
Zangewa has previously shown at 1:54 with Afronova gallery and in numerous group shows at institutions globally, including MASS MoCA’s current exhibition “The Half-Life of Love.” But this solo booth at Blank Projects is perhaps her most salient moment in the art market spotlight to date. Five of Zangewa’s angular tapestries, created from refuse silk, fill the booth. The works are from a new series called “Love and Happiness” (named for the Al Green song) and depict diaristic scenes of everyday life in which Zangewa herself features frequently. Inspired by Zimbabwean author Dambudzo Marechera’s novel House of Hunger (1978), the works offer an episodic glimpse of the progress that can be achieved by pursuing what the artist calls a “daily feminism.”
Joanna Piotrowska
B. 1985, Warsaw. Lives and works in London and Warsaw
Southard Reid, Focus Section, Booth H12
Installation view of Southard Reid's booth at Frieze London, 2017. Image by @southard_reid via Instagram.
Piotrowska made her Art Basel debut this summer through a performance with Galeria Dawid Radziszewski—but it’s her formally arresting photographs, currently making a splash at Southard Reid, that suggest an even more promising future for the young Polish artist. Here, black-and-white images extend the makeshift childhood fort—those temporary hideaways built from jumbles of couch cushions, blankets, and bedsheets—into adulthood. Piotrowska tasked families and individuals with creating cozy, occasionally absurd environments within their homes. The resulting photographs see subjects squeeze into precarious assemblages of furniture and other belongings, their bodies and gestures becoming sculptural forms themselves. The presentation coincides with Piotrowska’s current solo exhibition at the gallery’s London space, and will be followed with her inclusion in the latest edition of the Museum of Modern Art’s influential “New Photography” series.
Cici Wu
B. 1989, Beijing. Lives and works in New York
47 Canal, Focus Section, Booth H13
Cici Wu, Foreign Object #1 Fluffy Light (terrence), 2017. Photo by Joerg Lohse. Courtesy of the artist and 47 Canal, New York.
Sitting on its plinth at the center of 47 Canal’s Focus booth, Wu’s Foreign Object #1 Fluffy Light (terrence) (2017) looks a bit like a soap bubble. Closer inspection reveals two light meters affixed to the glass orb’s front and a set of blinking LED indicator lights nestled in its center amid other electronics. The work is a functional object of a sort: It’s meant to be taken with you to the movies—the source of inspiration for much of the artist’s practice—where you can use it to record up to two hours of ambient light on an SD card. At Frieze, the piece blinks as it records the relatively unwavering and flat light of the fair’s tent. But, during a January show at the gallery (which she shared with Ho King Man and Wang Xu, two other Chinese expatriates with whom she started a Chinatown exhibition space cum residency called Practice) it sat on the armrest of a theater seat and played back the grayscale recording of Wu’s trip to see Moonlight.
Lakin Ogunbanwo
B. 1987, Lagos, Nigeria. Lives and works in Lagos
WHATIFTHEWORLD, Booth G18 WW
Lakin Ogunbanwo, Let it Be, 2016. Courtesy of the artist and WHATIFTHEWORLD.
Lakin Ogunbanwo, Not So Sorry, 2016. Courtesy of the artist and WHATIFTHEWORLD.
Young, self-taught Nigerian photographer Ogunbanwo explores masculine identity in his native Lagos. His minimalist portraits, which blend the aesthetics of fashion photography and classical portraiture, have been compared to the studio photography of the iconic Malian photographer Malick Sidibé; and indeed, like that great chronicler of 1960s Bamako popular culture, Ogunbanwo trains his eye on his society. When Ogunbanwo started observing Nigerian youth donning (and uniquely updating) hats traditionally worn by ethnic groups like the Yoruba, Ibo, and Hausa-Fulani, he zeroed in on these stylish subjects for a series of elegant portraits that reflect the generation’s evolving outward ethnic expression. (Millinery choices carry a lot of weight in Nigeria, and are a visual cue hinting at ethnic identity and social standing.) There are two of these arresting photographs in Cape Town gallery WHATIFTHEWORLD’s booth. Not So Sorry and Let it Be (both 2016) illuminate these caps through portraits in which we see their wearers only from behind, shirtless and turned away from the camera.
Kudzanai-Violet Hwami
B. 1993, Gutu, Zimbabwe. Lives and works in London
Tyburn Gallery, Booth G30 EW
Dance of Many Hands, 2017. Kudzanai-Violet Hwami Tyburn Gallery
A Zimbabwean native residing in London, Hwami makes expressive, often autobiographical paintings that embrace her conflicting cultural identities as part of the African diaspora. Figurative compositions, like the nude portrait that commands the booth of Tyburn Gallery (Dance of Many Hands, 2017), imagine a utopian Zimbabwe-of-the-future in which LGBTQ culture, Afropunk, and internet culture thrive (no matter the social and political hurdles faced in the present day). One earlier painting here, set in 2050, pictures a confident, transgender Zimbabwean individual post-surgery at Harare Central Hospital. The 1:54 presentation coincides with the artist’s first major solo exhibition, “If You Keep Going South You’ll Meet Yourself,” at Tyburn Gallery in London, for which her archive of family photos served as the inspiration for inventive, fictional narratives.
Summer Wheat
B. 1977, Oklahoma City. Lives and works in New York
Shulamit Nazarian, Booth 25
Pound, 2017. Summer Wheat Shulamit Nazarian
Wheat’s energetic “tapestries”—made by pushing paint through the back of mesh window screens—collide allusions to Egyptian relief sculptures and ancient Greek mythology. At Sunday, the former emerges through distinctive, brilliant golds and lapis lazuli blues. The Greek reference is even more profound. In contrast to Greek painting and sculpture, in which Herculean sportsmen ran or threw javelins, Wheat rewrites art history—depicting female figures in their place, clad in leotards and legwarmers, bending or stretching their toes. The works are on offer for between $4,200–$25,000. The artist’s London presentation follows her first-ever solo museum show at Seattle’s Henry Art Gallery, and precedes a solo exhibition at Brooklyn’s Smack Mellon gallery next year.
Mimosa Echard
B. 1986, Alès, France. Lives and works in Paris
Galerie Samy Abraham, Booth 1
A/B18, 2017. Mimosa Echard Samy Abraham
A/B17, 2017. Mimosa Echard Samy Abraham
Though collected by a number of prominent French institutions, including the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Fondation d’Entreprise Galeries Lafayette, and the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Echard has only recently begun to show extensively outside of her home country. (A current exhibition at London’s Cell Project Space marks her first solo in the U.K.) Her works comprise a host of unlikely art materials: herbal remedies, fungi, diet Coke, birth control pills, sprigs of rosemary, opium poppies, assorted vitamin supplements, Kombucha, and pot among them. Strewn throughout shallow plexiglas vessels, she covers these materials with Pepto-Bismol-colored hair-removing wax and a layer of epoxy resin. The resulting compositions are as beautiful from afar as they are disgusting close up.
Eugen Rosca
B. 1988, Cluj, Romania. Lives and works in Cluj
Suprainfinit Gallery
Untitled, 2017. Eugen Rosca Suprainfinit
With the heavy hitters of the original Cluj School painters like Adrian Ghenie and Victor Man now outside the price range of many art buyers, attention has turned back to the Romanian city and its next generation of talent. Rosca is among the most promising we’ve seen of this new wave. His oil on wooden panel paintings (priced at Sunday for between €3,500 and €7,000) show a distinct influence from Ghenie, in particular, but trade thickly layered and spackled oils for flatness and angular quality reminiscent of Constructivism. His scenes—a man seated in an elaborate office, a polycephalous couple playing cards, a group of figures resting on spindly bunks—are depicted as if you’re standing at the edge of a stage set or peering, mesmerized, through a window into another world just slightly different from our own.
—Alexander Forbes and Molly Gottschalk
from Artsy News
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Day of Lights
I eh, very belatedly remembered I still had a blog entry to write about yesterday. Oops! If you will forgive me, I was only back at the hotel near midnight, so I didn’t exactly feel like writing then anymore.
Sadly I woke up not feeling so great today, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a blast yesterday. Let’s get to it – Disneyland day!
I had a bit of a late start for Disneyland, only prepared to leave hotel a little after 8:30 – the same time the park opens, and I wasn’t there yet. The trip was smooth however, so I made it to Maihama station a little before 10 and started my walk to the park. There was a surprise – mount Fuji was showing its face! And so clearly too that for a moment, I thought it was Mount Prometheus from DisneySea. But that one actually spits fire every hour or so, so it would make no sense to give it a snowy top, haha. Nope, the Fuji it was.
I made it to the part with 40 minutes to spare until the first parade, so I hunted down the churro stand and sought a good place to watch the parade. It was a busy parade day, since not only is it Christmas Season, Tokyo Disneyland is still celebrating its 35th birthday. So that meant 4 parades in total!
The spot I ended up choosing was possibly one of the worst, haha, but the Christmas Parade is twice a day, so I’d have another shot later. Walking around in the park and enjoying the views and atmosphere, I sought out the attractions. First up was my favourite during this season: the Haunted Mansion, which is redone in Nightmare before Christmas style starting around the Halloween season. The line was 40 minutes, so entirely doable, and led around the premises now decorated with pumpkins and Christmas hats alike. The attraction is a ton of fun and certainly a lot of work, they didn’t just throw in some Christmas hats and called it a day. A lot of the figures have been replaced by Jack Skellington and consorts, and Zero the ghost dog featured prominently (I love Zero, ssh).
So that was cool! I did some more sightseeing and had lunch (a very responsible burger, ahem, but it was shaped like Mickey) before searching out a better place for the next parade, the Dreaming Up 35th anniversary one. I saw this one past summer, but it’s really gorgeous with some unique floats, so I was happy I managed a good spot for photos this time. The Christmas parade was the same as last year, but this one won’t be around for as long. I don’t recall Aladdin and Jasmine being there at the very end, walking instead of on a float, but maybe it was to subtly promote the upcoming live action remake? I don’t know.
Anyway, that was fun, and next up was an attraction that got a make-over in time for the anniversary: It’s a Small World. The queue here was like 20 minutes, so perfectly doable – must not be a very busy day, I guess. They put in a lot of Disney figures in the remake, so it was a ton of fun spotting them all.
Once out of the park, I noticed several face characters out and about in Fantasyland. I never know with Tokyo Disneyland, sometimes I don’t see them at all (summer too hot, perhaps?) and other times I see characters I hardly hear about walking in the parks (like Esmeralda or Cruella de Vil, though the latter was Disneysea). I spotted Wendy and Peter Pan, and later Prince Charming on his own (what did he do with Cinderella?), Sleeping Beauty and her Prince, and the Evil Queen from Snow White, who mostly wanted to pose fabulously before she strode off, haha. Awesome.
Anyway, I had a goal: Philharmagic! I do so love Disney songs, and the 4D aspect is still great. I did get a little woozy at the segment where Donald rides a magical carpet, though.
Once out, I had a fastpass that I’d secured earlier. Just as well, because as I returned to the Haunted Mansion, the normal queue was 80 minutes! Eighty! Geesh, I love the Halloween/Christmas version too but that’s excessive for this ride, whoa. Even with my fastpass, it took a while to go in.
I was nicely in time for the second time for the Christmas parade now, and got lucky in that I scored a spot just in front of where the Beauty and the Beast float stopped for a good ten minutes, so that gave me some time to switch lenses and what not, haha. It’s a very pretty parade, if a little short. But with 3 different parades today, who’s complaining?
I went to get my picture taken near the castle including Christmas tree next, except the park members taking pictures had already gone, so I had to make do with a selfie, pff. It came out nicely, though, but still.
It was about time for a snack, so I went around the park to find the Special Churro – it turned out to be in Critter Country, which I visit so often that I had no idea I had to go through an underground pass to make it into the actual area, pfff. I always thought it was super tiny and stopped at the entrance of Splash Mountain, but nope! Entire area behind that! Anyway, the churro was purple and supposedly tasted like cotton candy. I don’t know, it was good, as was the hot cocoa I got to go with it.
With darkness setting in, the park transformed into a Christmas spectacle with tons and tons of light, amplified by the extra lights already there for the anniversary. In the dark, I maneuvered to the Enchanted Tiki Room with Stitch and a bunch of singing birds. I was getting really tired, so when the park member asked me if I wanted a subtitle device, I didn’t even realize what he was asking at first, oops. I happily accepted, if only so that I could finally understand the play 100% (it’s usually around 80%, and I’m guessing 60% today with how tired I was getting. I do think I’m slightly under the weather this entire trip). Anyway, it’s a lot of fun and I absolutely do not care it’s technically for little kids, I love the songs and Stitch. Aloha! Also, I forgot to mention, but the benches in the waiting area were heated. I love them. It was getting rather chilly and I could use some warming up.
On my way to Adventure land, I played a ball game that I hopelessly lost, but I got a cute exclusive pin for my efforts, which was probably the easier thing to take home with me anyway, haha. (The prizes were pretty big plushies of Minnie or Mickey.)
I resisted the huge and soft Simba plushies and went to Pirates of the Caribbean, where I got put in the front row by myself. That did give me an excellent view, but the splash early in the attraction is still a bit much for me, haha. As you can tell, I’m not in Disneyland for all the wild rides…
It was now time for the nighttime parade, Electrical Parade Dreamlights, which really profits from being made over last year, and spotted some extra Christmas additions. I sat a lot closer than the last couple of times, although right in a corner, so I got some good photos! I felt a bit bad about flashing with the camera, but I saw more flashes around me and they sold those light-up sticks by the dozen, so not just me at the very least.
I hadn’t had time for dinner before, so I rushed to get a cheese dog menu (so responsible), and from my seat I had a good view of the (short) fireworks show, which had some interesting fireworks and really seemed to move with the beat of the music, so that was nice little bonus!
I’d had coffee with my set, so I had enough energy to get up and walk again, taking pictures of the scenery on my way to It’s a Small World, followed by Philharmagic again, and then one last rush to Haunted Mansion at 15 minutes before closing, haha oops. I think I made it in with the very last group, meaning I could just rush right into the hall of exposition. Take that, 80 minute queue! Just – wait out the entire day until you may or may not get lucky in the evening, hm. Well, strategy works for me!
Finally, they started to announce the park was closing the minute I got out, so I did as I was told and left the premises (sniff), but not before enjoying the light show in the World Bazaar. So pretty. I think I filmed the whole sequence!
After a quick trip to Bon Voyage, the store before the park (and resisting the Simba plushie, but not a cute little Christmas ball), I made my way to the station and caught the train back to Ikebukuro until finally, I made it to my hotel at eh, 23:30, roughly. Oops.
So that was a wonderful day, if very tiring, haha. Today was a lot calmer (and my camera hasn’t been out of its jacket yet, oops), so I’ll type up a quick report for that too. But that was Disney during Christmas! I’ll try to filter through the – eh – 586 pictures I took. Oh dear. It might take a while before the selection is up…
See you!
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