#but then i see some visiting sweden and like the uk or even the us

[marinaimsure]

not my insta mutuals travelling the world and im here like. hey. hi? can u take me with you?? pls? i’ll fit in a suitcase i promise

[riaaanna]

Montreux Part 6: The Mixing Desk with Justin Shirley-Smith - 2 Sept 2023

One more post for the afternoon session at the QSE in Montreux! It is well-known that the studio has a mixing desk feature where you can mix your own version of two songs: Made in Heaven and Mother Love. However, for the birthday celebration, Justin Shirley-Smith (!!!) was going to be there with many other tracks to select and mix, particularly some special ones from the debut Queen album.

I have to reveal my nerdy self - this was the event that convinced me to go to Montreux that day, dissertation deadline being a couple of days away and all. I could have gone any other day if it were just for the statue and visiting QSE, but this was unmissable. So here's a look at the studio first and then the event! Long fangirling post warning.

The top left photo (📸 Richard Gray) is what it looks like when it's empty, which obviously I couldn't get on that day but it's a clear view of where everything is. My photo on the top right was the view of the console in the studio that day. The newly inaugurated bust of David Richards was placed next to the mixing desk, but now it's been moved to the casino gardens. Written description on the plate:

David Richards 20 February 1956 - 20 December 2013 Musician, Sound Engineer, and Producer in charge of Mountain Studios While his name is most often associated with the British rock band Queen or even David Bowie, his numerous artistic collaborations have made him a major figure in the history of music. in addition to his work at Mountain Studios, which he bought in 1993, David recorded the Montreux Jazz Festival over a period of 38 years, contributing to the musical archives granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2013.

There's a circular plate on the studio floor which marks where Freddie stood to record his last vocals for Mother Love. Honestly, no words needed to describe how profound and emotional it was for me to be there on the very same spot.

There were several display cabinets in the studio. Firstly a miniature replica of Freddie's statue, designed by Irena Sedlecká. Also on display on the other side of the room are the lyrics of A Winter's Tale and Mother's love which I posted previously here. Finally, there was also this analogue 24-track recorder:

Original Struder A80 Analogue 24 Track This Swiss made Struder A80 analogue 24-track recorder is one of the two that were used in this studio from the beginning in 1975. This machine, and the rack equipment either side, have been kindly loaned to Queen: The Studio Experience by David Richards.

And now to this baby!! Now this whole thing isn't an actual working mixing desk, save some actual faders that are designed to do so (only 10 of them) but it's certainly based on the original. Here's Justin Shirley-Smith's note regarding the console:

The console at Mountain Studios was a 1975 vintage Neve 8048. The Studio Experience exhibition features a specially created faithful and full-scale representation of that desk. The main surface of this is a 2D printed image formed from over 300 separate photographs of the original Neve modules. The frame and trim were constructed with reference to the original 1974 Neve drawings. This replica console was the work of the brilliant Nigel Knight and his talented team at RMA Ltd in UK. The original Neve console is now owned by Svenska Grammofonstudion of Gothenburg in Sweden, who kindly allowed it to be photographed by Andrew Guyton for this use. The original desk was updated in the late 1980’s with Neve ‘Necam’ moving faders but the image in the exhibition shows the original 1975 manual faders … and in the spot where originally there were sixteen red group faders, we have put some real red faders so anyone can mix a Queen song there once more.

You can see above the ten red faders which are functional and set up to mix Queen songs the way you want them. It's amazing because you get to hear certain backing vocals or instruments on their own if you set them all the way up and the rest of the faders down, and I have an obsession with getting to hear those kinds of things.

You can also see four red buttons on the right. Two of them are to select songs you can mix, which are Mother Love and Made in Heaven. The other two aren't for mixing but they do play Bicycle Race and The Invisible Man in surround sound in the studio. So these are the default options available on any day.

I took pictures of the rest of the "faders", which are actually just stickers but represented the original setup when it was used back then. You can see that there are Roger's drums (BD = bass drums, SN = snares, HH = hi hats, etc, OH = overhead? AMB = ambience? I'm just smart guessing!) John's bass, Brian's AC 30 amps, everyone's mics etc. All of which add up to 24-tracks. I wish I were an actual sound engineer to deeply know more about mixing details, but for me this was already mindblowing as it is!

Now this is where it gets fun! For the celebration, Justin brought out these songs available to mix. Basically he connected his laptop to the system so he can connect these multitracks. We just come up to him and request which one we want to try!

These handwritten boards are just labels that we put on top of the faders when we select the song, as a guide to label which fader corresponds to which track. They're removable and he would just put them on according to whichever song we chose. You can see that each song has different split tracks, some of them have more guitar and vocal tracks, some of them have more piano or keys, etc.

Here's a tiny clip of me trying on A Winter's Tale. I'm not left-handed but I had to hold the camera, and idk if you can see it but I was shaking lmao. This song always sends chills down my spine and to be able to hear just the backing harmonies or just the guitars? It was incredible oh my God. I was so grateful I could go to Montreux.

This was just a snippet of what I tried, because the room was open for 4 hours and I ended up being in there for 2 hours, which nobody else did lol. It wasn't empty, it was quite crowded but most people come in and out just to try 1-2 songs. To clarify I did not hog the board to myself for two hours lmfao (wish I could!) but I was in the room to watch other people give it a try and when there's no one else then I come up and try. I got about 4-5 tries I think!

So you can see it was a small room, and I swear I tried to not look like a weirdo standing there for 2 hours watching people do their stuff, and I really was gonna try to come up to Justin and chat with him at some point. Turns out he beat me to it, he came up and said hi(!!! 😭 but that's probably because I was just stood there in the corner for ages like 🧍‍♂️ sdkjfdfk). I told him could only be there that year and made sure to express that, despite not being sound engineering expert, his event was why I came to Montreux on the celebration day, and I think he was glad to hear it!

Anyway he was sooo kind and insightful. I asked him which songs he would recommend me to try, and which parts I should turn up to hear what you wouldn't normally hear very clearly in the album.

He suggested My Fairy King, which are there in raw tracks (without effects!) and because it's from the debut album. He suggested to turn up Freddie's piano in the last verse (the super quick instrumental part) and it was incredible to hear. I also got to hear which parts of that song had acoustic guitars (you wouldn't hear it as is on the song!), isolated parts of the drums and bass, and isolated vocals (you are NOT ready for Roger's isolated backing vocals oh my GOD).

Some other highlights for me are isolated everythings of Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, and A Winter's Tale. I tried to spend time on tracks that we never had stems or multitracks of, either somewhere on the internet or from the official 5.1 surround mixes (which A Night At The Opera and The Game was once released in). And that's just those four songs I mentioned. Of course I wish I could stay the whole time to try every song and put on every isolated track, but I had to keep it together lol.

I stayed for as long as I could before my Ask Phoebe session, I requested several songs enough times that Justin jokingly said "didn't you try that one already" 💀 I didn't even have it in me to be embarrassed lol it's once in a lifetime my man let me live! But yes I eventually finished, got a selfie with him, and finally felt okay enough to go.

Have a bonus mirror selfie of myself on my way out. I'm sure I don't have readers left by this paragraph but if you're here, thank you for reading my Montreux series! Just one or two more before I wrap it up, and it will be on the Official Freddie Birthday Party!

Late edit: I want to put a big thanks to Lurex B. and Dry Paint Dealer Undr. That day I couldn't properly remember which songs we already had, whether in stems or full multis, so when I panicked in the chat they were the ones standing by online and helping me prioritize. They probably don't remember it being a big deal but that virtually held my hand throughout lol, so thank you guys. ❤️

[tomorrowusa]

What Russia can't win on the battlefield it will try to accomplish with disinformation, propaganda, and plain old bribery.

A Russian cabal operated a propaganda site masquerading as a news site called the Voice of Europe. In addition to publishing items designed to undermine confidence in various European governments, it outright made payoffs to various EU politicians.

Investigators claimed it used the popular Voice of Europe website as a vehicle to pay politicians. The Czech Republic and Poland said the network aimed to influence European politics. Voice of Europe did not respond to the BBC's request for comment. Czech media, citing intelligence sources, reported that politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary were paid by Voice of Europe in order to influence upcoming elections for the European Parliament. The German newspaper Der Spiegel said the money was either handed over in cash in covert meetings in Prague or through cryptocurrency exchanges. Pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk is alleged by the Czech Republic to be behind the network. Mr Medvedchuk was arrested in Ukraine soon after the Russian invasion, but later transferred to Russia with about 50 prisoners of war in exchange for 215 Ukrainians. ' Czech authorities also named Artyom Marchevsky, alleging he managed the day-to-day business of the website. Both men were sanctioned by Czech authorities. Poland's intelligence agency said it had conducted searches in the Warsaw and Tychy regions and seized €48,500 (£41,500) and $36,000 (£28,500).

"Money from Moscow has been used to pay some political actors who spread Russian propaganda," BIS said in a statement. It added that the sums amounted to "millions" of Czech crowns (tens of thousands of pounds).

I went looking for the Voice of Europe site but it is now missing (Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site). So I held my nose and visited their Twitter account and nothing new has been posted since the scandal broke.

We need to be careful when looking at news online. Recently a series of fake sites pretending to be legit US news sources was uncovered.

Russia-Backed ‘Fake News Organizations’ Revealed Across the U.S. in Bombshell New York Times Report

The fake news sites have names that sound like they are legit but aren't. Examples: D.C. Weekly, the New York News Daily, the Chicago Chronicle, and the Miami Chronicle. There is a legit New York Daily News – note the different word order from the fake. There once was a newspaper called the Chicago Chronicle but it folded during the Theodore Roosevelt administration.

Google News searches spew a lot of crap. In a lot of cases the "news" sources on Google are just the proverbial guy in his underwear in his mom's basement posting bullshit. They may not be Russian but they are often dubious.

It's best to create a bookmark folder of known legit news sources. There are still numerous good sources not behind paywalls. And many countries have public broadcasters who post news in English. Just a few: NPR, BBC, DW, CBC, ABC (Australia), RFI, YLE, Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio, NHK-World, and even EER in Estonia.

When running across a news story which sounds peculiar, check to see if it's being reported in known legit media before posting or sharing it.

There are national elections this year in a number of countries including India, the US, and (probably) the UK. Don't inadvertently assist Putin's effort to spread disinformation and sow chaos.

[beardedmrbean]

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto (Green) said on Tuesday that Finland still plans to continue the Nato membership process together with Sweden.

However, foreign and security policy researcher Charly Salonius-Pasternak from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs told Helsingin Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) that Haavisto suggested it was not implausible that Finland could join on its own, if Turkey continues to block Sweden's accession.

"That door has never been closed. It just hasn't been said out loud."

Salonius-Pasternak highlighted in particular Haavisto's references on Tuesday to security guarantees Finland received from Nato countries like the UK and the US.

"They were a good reminder to Russia, but also in general and even to Turkey that we are not worried and that we should not be blackmailed because we have this other arrangement as well," Salonius-Pasternak says.

The researcher suggested that Finland could become a member of Nato without Sweden in two different ways. Turkey could decide to ratify only the Finnish application. In the second scenario, Finland would make an active decision to seek membership alone.

"In the first option, the work would certainly be done in secret at first. This option does not really fit in with Finland's long-standing foreign policy. It would be perceived as a sham," Salonius-Pasternak pointed out.

The second path could, according to Salonius-Pasternak, lead to a difficult internal political problem in Finland.

"A dispute in that situation would be quite substantial between the government and opposition regardless of who is in government. Even the president would receive more criticism than in a long time," Salonius-Pasternak said.

He also noted how this scenario could be exploited by Russia.

"For Russia, on the other hand, the situation would be ideal. With the compromise, Nato would be shown to be disunited and it would also send a clear signal to Beijing," he explained.

"So one might ask, why wouldn't [Turkish President] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan do this, unless he already knows that if he continues, he will get fighter jets from the United States, and so on."

Niinistö visits Kyiv university

As part of his unannounced trip to Ukraine, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö also visited Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Tabloid Iltalehti (siirryt toiseen palveluun) wrote about the president's interactions with Ukrainian students there.

One student gave an emotional speech before Niinistö took the podium, presenting Finland's head of state with a missile fragment that struck the university in October, an incident which killed a bystander.

"There are many such fragments, tens of thousands of them, they destroy houses and kill, and continue to kill Ukrainians," the student said.

The student then listed Ukrainian towns and cities that have seen some of the hardest fighting before concluding her speech.

"I give it to you. And I ask you to show it to people who are locked in or simply tired of the war. Ukrainians are not tired of the war. We are fighting for our freedom and our European future," the student continued.

When he spoke, Niinistö said the student's message was very clear.

"I will keep it as a reminder and use it as an example to show others the reality of what is happening in Ukraine. Everything that is incomprehensible and almost impossible to understand," Niinistö said.

A young man dressed in military fatigues asked how Ukraine could have a lasting peace with Russia.

"We need more understanding of how we maintain peace in Europe and the world. I hope we will see peace soon," Niinistö responded.

Niinistö recalled his previous trips to Ukraine, his first while he was working at the European Investment Bank in the early 2000s, and noted that the country has changed dramatically in the past few decades.

"Now the situation is different. I have visited here a few times under your current president. It is always inspiring to see the good spirit he creates," Niinistö said, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Niinistö told the students that he hopes his next visit to Ukraine will be in similar circumstances as his first, in the realms of rebuilding and development.

"We will meet as free brothers. You have many brothers and sisters all around Europe," Niinistö said.

End of Finnish mobile gaming's golden age?

Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet (siirryt toiseen palveluun) covered Finland's expansive mobile gaming industry and recent acquisitions by non-Finnish companies.

Last week, Israeli firm Playtika made a bid for Finnish game studio Rovio, best known for the successful game Angry Birds. It remains to be seen whether Rovio will accept the 750 million euro buyout, but it would not be the first Finnish gaming firm to be bought up by foreign investment.

Last year, Next Games, founded by Finnish entrepreneur Joakim Achrén, was bought by Netflix in its attempt to enter the gaming market.

Koopee Hiltunen, director of the industry organisation Neogames, pointed out that there are some barriers to growth for firms in Finland.

"We have fantastic know-how. But in a small country, resources and money are scarcer. As long as there is no money in Finland, the alternatives are foreign investments and takeovers. It is a way for companies to scale up their operations in the global market," Hiltunen told HBL.

[kirain]

Your healthcare isn't free you stupid fucking canuck! You pay for it with your taxes! We don't! 🇺🇸

I don't know why so many Americans throw this out there like it's some big secret we aren't aware of. We know it's funded by our taxes. When we say "free", we mean we don't have to worry about walking out of the hospital with a $900,000 bill after giving birth or paying $40 to hold our newborn after a c-section. It's "free" in the sense that anyone and everyone is entitled to good healthcare and can visit the hospital whenever they need to.

That said, I'm not going to pretend I know everything about American taxation, but I do know you pay for your healthcare via insurance. Meaning if someone doesn't have a good plan or make decent money, they're screwed. In Canada, that doesn't happen. For example, when my dad was diagnosed with cancer, he needed multiple treatments and surgeries for four long years. Want to know how much those treatments cost him? $0. The only thing any of us had to pay for was the $7 parking fee when we went to visit him at the hospital.

In contrast, I personally know Americans who have, sadly, had to file for bankruptcy because of their cancer treatments. I know an American construction worker who lost three of his fingers on a job, but because his insurance didn't cover the full cost of reattaching all of them, the doctors actually made him choose which one to save. Imagine having to do that. In the end, he chose to save his middle finger and lose his ring and pinky finger. I know an American who got stuck with a $50,000 hospital bill because he had a heart attack. I know Americans who have tried to ration their INSULIN because they were worried about their next payment.

I remember when this made the news, everyone was acting like it was "cute". It's not fucking cute, it's dystopian as hell! A seven-year-old American girl who needed brain surgery raised her own money and relied on donations because her mother's insurance didn't cover the cost. Are you insane? This isn't "cute". This shouldn't be celebrated. She shouldn't have had to worry about this. She is a child who was dying.

I also don't understand why so many Americans seem to think our taxes are astronomical, when in reality you actually pay more taxes than we do. From what I understand, the max tax in America is 37%. For us, the max is 33%. That max also only applies if you make over $200,000 a year. Most people pay between 15-20.5% in taxes. I certainly don't pay 33%. I don't know anybody who does. So you pay taxes plus insurance. Granted you can claim more at the end of the year, but honestly ... so? America spends more on healthcare as a share of the economy (nearly twice as much as the average OECD country) yet it has the lowest life expectancy and highest suicide rates among the eleven nations. You also have the highest chronic disease burden and an obesity rate that is two times higher than the OECD average. Thanks, but I don't mind claiming less on my taxes.

So now the argument is, "Why should I have to pay for someone else's healthcare?!" I hear this one a lot once we reach this point. Putting aside the fact that you can barely pay for your own, it's a benefit for the country as a whole. There's nothing wrong with being individualistic, but no country is truly individualistic. We all rely on each other to keep the country afloat. Not only that, but what's wrong with helping your fellow man? And if you really are that selfish, just remember that free healthcare benefits YOU as well. Like when my dad got cancer, like when my sister almost died from a childhood fever, like when I came out backwards and jaundiced when I was born and had to be incubated for several days. The money pooled from all of our taxes makes sure we're all taken care of.

The other argument I hear at this point is wait times. I admit that for a while I believed this one, but as it turns out American and Canadian wait times are almost exactly the same. The average ER wait time in America is anywhere from 40 minutes to 4 hours. In Canada, it's anywhere from one hour to 6 hours. Not that much of a discrepancy, and I've personally never had to wait anywhere near 6 hours. I think the most I ever waited was four hours when I dislocated my toe. As for the claim that Canadians run to America en masse for specialists? Well, that's quite simply a myth. While there are indeed some Canadians who do that, it's mostly the wealthy who feel justified in skipping the line. We also have those services here, where those who are better off can pay out of pocket for private healthcare.

Now to throw a big monkey wrench into the works, probably the most shocking statistic is that Americans actually flock to Canada for affordable Healthcare. In 2014 (which is the most up-to-date data), roughly 52,000 Canadians went to the US seeking medical care; mostly prescriptions. In contrast, over one million Americans came to Canada. That number doesn't even include how many Americans went to these countries:

Anything you may have heard about Canadian healthcare is just a lie perpetuated by your government because they don't want you to see the benefits of a universal healthcare system. And not even just Canadian healthcare--the same system is used in the UK, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Norway, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands, Iceland, New Zealand, etc. I'm not saying it's flawless, there are certainly aspects that can be improved, but I'll take it any day over the mess you have going on. 🇨🇦

No. In all honesty, this isn't about what country is "better". I have many American friends that I love and care about, and I would very much like to see them have access to free, sufficient healthcare.

[swiftgronmasterpost]

GRYLES!!!

Rebuilding the Gryles Timeline expertly crafted here because I’m always afraid of broken links and people going private and losing data.

Not only is there a ton of great evidence that these guys were dating such as Harry leaving Nick’s place in the morning wearing the same clothes as he’d worn the night before, I’ve also got a friend who works in the UK music industry and she did tell me these guys did date.  Nick is 100% out as gay so it really does all add up.

Gryles very obviously takes place during Haylor, debunking Harry as the 1989 muse, and if it’s not Harry you do have to wonder... who with green eyes and an obsession with Alice and Wonderland was heavily featured in Taylor’s life and then disappeared before 1989 - a breakup album about someone with green eyes who seems to relate to Alice in Wonderland drops?

You get it.

Anyway here’s Gryles:

This is a little game I like to call "let's talk about Nick/Harry dates and how they line up with Harry leaving and entering the country".

06. February 5th 2012 - Harry and Nick go to a Super Bowl party together.

One Direction in Sweden February 12th - 14th. (Came home by train on the 14th.)

07. February 14, 2012 - VALENTINE'S DAY!

08. February 18, 2012 - Stella McCartney Fashion show with Nick's mom.

09. February 21, 2012 - Brit Awards!

10. February 22, 2012 - They attend a party together. (Nick might have been DJing?)

11. February 23, 2012 - Harry spotted leaving Nick Grimshaw's flat in the same outfit he was wearing the night before.

The morning of February 23rd One Direction flies to the US for their tour and doesn't return to the UK until April 24th, 2012.

This trip is supposedly where Haylor 1.0 happens.  Harry supposedly meets Taylor at the KCA’s on March 31 and they fall for one another.  Taylor supposedly goes to NYC to be with Harry (even though she spends the whole time with Dianna) during the first week of April.  Then they supposedly enter into a long distance relationship that is broken up because Harry was seen out with another girl.

All the while the last thing Harry does before he leaves the UK is spend the night with Nick and then the first thing he does is goes back to him.

Yeah, I’m not buying Haylor 1.0 it seems pretty clear to me that Taylor wanted to pin I Knew You Were Trouble on Harry as a big pop anthem to support her transition to pop.  I think it’s even possible they faked Harry being spotted out with that girl or perhaps he and Nick had some kind of agreement.  I’m not saying Gryles was always exclusive (they may have been), but regardless I don’t see Red era Taylor being cool enough to share her boyfriend with a man.

12. April 25, 2012 - Nick and Harry out together the morning after he returned.

Harry also calls into Nick's radio show on the 25th and confirms that the first thing he did upon returning on the 24th was meet up with Nick and Matt Fincham for drinks so one can theorize he probably crashed w/ Nick that night.

Harry goes to LA by himself on May 1st and returns to the UK on the 5th.

May 5th, 2012 - Harry out with Annie Mac and Nick. (Thanks to my anon for clueing me into this little gem of information.)

13. May 7th, 2012 - Harry and Nick out with friends

One Direction goes to Sweden from May 10th to May 16th.

14. May 17, 2012 - The Sun reports Harry driving Nick to work.

Also out shopping together

15. May 19, 2012 - Nick posts a picture to his instragram from the Kanye West/Jay Z show at the O2.

Who cares right? So he went to see a show. But then.

Hey guess what happened the very next day? One Direction flew to Boston on May 20th, 2012 to start their summer tour in the U.S. They're gone from the 20th to July 3rd.

16. July 5, 2012 - Nick and Harry attend the launch of Tinie Tempah's shoes line.

There's some downtime and vacation time here where Harry disappears for a week while Louis is France w/ Eleanor, Niall goes to Spain, Liam and Danielle are on vacation, etc and then One Direction goes back to work July 11th recording and doing photo shoots.

17. July 19, 2012 - Harry goes out with Nick and Aimee and tweets this.

18. August 10, 2012 - Harry attends Nick's 28th birthday party at La Bodega Negra.

Pregaming before the party!

Outside La Bodega Negra

19. August 11, 2012 - Primrose Hill picnic

20. August 20, 2012 - One Direction visit Nick at BBCR1 to announce their headlining of the BBC Radio 1 Teen Choice Awards.

21. August 25, 2012 -

Nick and Harry go to lunch. (Would also like to point out that they are switching places and that Harry is going to the driver's side of Nick's car :333)

and then to Reading Festival

then Nick accompanies Harry to Liam's party at Funky Buddha

and then they leave together and go see Rita Ora at G.A.Y.

22. August 26, 2012 - The morning after, Nick tweets a shot of his hangover breakfast from Harry's Range Rover (Nick owns a Mercedes).

then a lunch date with several people

They spend this entire day together and this is the day the pics of them in the grocery store  are taken where Nick buys Harry a banana, etc

and then Harry drops Nick off for his nighttime show and picks him up again to take him to/stay with him while Nick DJs at Wonderland nightclub.

(Although, lbr. Given what we learn from Nick's final nighttime show about how often Harry hung around the studio, he probably never left.)

Wonderland! (the only time that fucking song has any bearing on Harry and he’s off being a MLM king)

23. August 28, 2012 - Leaving Nick's flat

spotted in the studio w/ Nick at BBCR1

24. August 30, 2012 - Harry films the Breakfast Show advert for Nick's #Team Grimmy commercial and then they go to Mahiki Club that night.

25. August 31, 2012 - Harry goes with Nick to his DJ gig at Paradise

and then to karaoke afterward

The lo and behold One Direction flies to Florida the very next day to film their Pepsi commercial. They're gone until September 11th.

on September 6, 2012 Taylor has Sushi with Ed and Harry in LA supposedly signaling the start of Haylor 2.0 as if Harry is not fully boyfriends with Nick.

26. September 12, 2012 - Nick's final nighttime show. (this was a gif of them being cute and playing around but I was too lazy to bring it over, you get it they’re touchy, flirty, and playful):

Nick and Aimee go on vacation together from the 14th to the 18th.

27. September 18, 2012 - This dude says he spotted Harry Styles waiting in arrivals at the airport while waiting for his sister's flight to arrive insinuating perhaps Harry was traveling with Nick and Aimee:

28. September 20, 2012 - iTunes Festival where One Direction was interviewed by Nick and Annie Mac

29. Harry calls into Nick's first Breakfast Show on September 25, 2012. Then they meet up after to see Perks of Being a Wallflower together. I can't find the tweets from the ladies who saw them there, but Nick and Emma Watson confirm later that Harry was indeed there.

30. September 29, 2012 - Spotted at Waitrose together and then the following morning Nick regales his listeners with the tale of a Spinach pie he made for a ~friend~.

31. October 5th (or 6th?), 2012 - Preparation for Ladz FM

But also on October 5th, Taylor is on Nick’s show:

32. October 6, 2012 - Ladz FM

Supposedly on this show Nick gives Harry hell for Taylor, the Haylor timeline I like puts it this way:

“One Direction and Harry make an appearance on Nick’s show the following day, and they talk about Taylor on-air for 4 minutes straight. Nick teases Harry by saying “Ol’ Swiftyyyy” over and over again when she is brought up in the conversation.” Yup that’s right, Nick was giving his own boyfriend shit about his fake girlfriend 😭😭😭 this is why I fuck w Nick’s energy.

then they went for lunch in notting hill (no Taylor? why not Harry aren’t you so happy to be back with her and in love w her?)

33. October 7, 2012 - BBC Teen Choice Awards

One Direction doing promotion for the new album.

Paris - October 11, 2012

Ireland - October 12, 2012

Manchester - October 16, 2012

Leeds - October 17, 2012

34. October 19, 2012 - Lunch in London

October 31 - One Direction in Spain

Early November One Direction goes to the US for Ellen, X Factor USA, and The Today Show. After The Today Show Harry flies to LA while the rest of One Direction goes back to London. Harry writes a song with the lead singer of Snow Patrol and rumors start flying about him hooking up with Taylor Swift.

Harry arrives back in London on November 16, 2012.

35. November 16, 2012 - Children in Need benefit concert

November 30th One Direction goes back to the U.S. for one off shows and MSG show. Haylor happens.

Harry returns to London on December 8th via Taylor's private jet and plays the Jingle Ball with the rest of One Direction. Harry and Taylor tour the UK together until December 15th when Taylor leaves for France.  Meanwhile Dianna heads out on a mystery 14 hour long flight on December 14th.

36. December 16, 2012 - Roast Dinner!

One Direction returns to the U.S. for the X Factor USA finale. Harry stays in the U.S. and goes on a ski vacation with Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Selena Gomez.

He returns to the UK on December 24th.

37. December 25, 2012 - Late night Christmas leftovers. (Yes they’re spending Christmas together, that’s boyfriend behavior!)

Harry and Nick both leave London on the 29th (Nick for Puerto Rico and Harry for NYC) Harry spends New Years with Taylor and Nick spends New Years with Pixie, Aimee, and the rest of the hipster crew. Harry and Taylor then fly to Gorda British Virgin Islands where they are supposed to vacation until the 7th. Taylor leaves on the 4th and Harry goes to Necker Island alone. Tabloids say Harry and Taylor have broken up.

And that’s it for Haylor!

Harry arrives back in the UK on January 8th

38. January 8, 2013 - Sushi lunch date! (tweet confirming nick was also there.)

and harry with the girl who tweeted it.

39. January 10, 2013 - Tinie Tempah's GQ dinner.

The party was for people on the British GQ best dressed list (Nick was on it. Harry was not.)

Jessie J puts a picture of the table cards from her table on instagram. Harry doesn't have one which, you know. I'll just be here imagining him as Nick's + 1.

One Direction fly to Ghana on the 12th or 13th and return on the 15th. On the 16th Harry calls into Grimmy’s show to talk about how Fincham DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A MEMBER OF ONE DIRECTION. Finchy asks Harry when he’s back and Harry says “in a couple of days”. (Small side note here that I don’t think Finchy and Harry are at the level of friends where they keep track of one another’s schedules so the only way Finchy could have known that Harry was heading back out of town to Japan that very day is if Nick told him.)

One Direction in Japan from January 16th to the 20th.

I'm not going to count this as a time they were together because I have no hard evidence, but the night of January 20th Harry was spotted in a grocery store buying wine and Annie Mac mentions on her show that Nick ditched coming over for dinner that evening to have a friend round to his house instead. We assume it was Harry, but w/o actual proof I don't want to say it concretely.

40. January 21, 2013 - Baking for Radio 1! (Tweet confirming the friend was Harry.)

Nick tells this story the morning of the 22nd about how he forgot he had to bake, so he got up from bed, went to the store for supplies, and forgot eggs. So, he texted his friend who was coming over to bring eggs and then Nick baked while his friend yelled at him to add more butter.

41. January 22, 2013 - Watching Great British Bake Off

Do what you will with this one. Obviously there is not definite way to tell if this is Harry or not, but given the evidence of the amount of time they spend together that has been laid forth thus far, I feel comfortable saying those are indeed Harry's legs.

42. January 31, 2013 - Out for Harry's birthday at La Bodega Negra (the same place they celebrated Nick's birthday.)

Nick also went to Groucho Club afterward with Harry and mentioned on his show this morning that he hadn't slept at all. (He was still wearing the same outfit.)

43. February 1, 2013 - Aimee tweets about being in the car with Nick en route to play Laser Quest. (Can't imagine who they might be playing with.)

Nick tweeted this :)

Never

Getting

Over

This

February 19, 2013 - PreBrit Awards Dinner Hosted by Nick!

THEIR SMILEY LITTLE FACES. :3

Legit SHARING A TAXI ON THE WAY HOME

2/20/13 - At the Brit Awards together!

Leaving an after party!

taking a cab to Nick's house so Nick can change for work

hands hands hands

At Nick's flat

 2/21/13 - On The Breakfast show the morning after the Brits!

Harry on The Breakfast Show!

2/23/2013 - Nick attends One Direction's first show at the O2 in London

THE DROUGHT IS OVER!!!

8/21/2013 - Nick interviews Harry, Zayn, and Liam for TBS

Then Nick and Harry hook up later for dinner.

September 12, 2013

Harry gets off the plane from LAX, gets on the tube and meets Nick at an Elton John concert

Harry and Nick's dad at the concert, posted to Nick's instagram.

September 13, 2013

This person says they saw nick and Harry at Apartment 58 (members only club) together

https://twitter.com/LightbownL/status/378610145271771136

But, Sadie Frost also posted a picture of her and Nick getting ready to go out for LFW with no mention of Harry, so the tweet could be false facts.

But then! September 14, 2013

Sadie posts this picture of Nick sleeping on her sofa

Followed by this picture of Harry posing with her daughter

And then Nick and Harry went to Henry Hollands show at LFW together

Then to a pub with Gemma, Kelly Osborn and others

Then to dinner with James Corden and his wife

September 15, 2013

September 17, 2013 - Fashion Show East in London

November 9, 2013 - Breakfast with Anne and Robin at the Wolseley.

So Anne tweeted this in the morning. You can see the Wolseley logo at the top of the plate.

Then this girl got a pic with Harry at the Wolseley during his breakfast with Anne and Robin.

and she confirmed that Nick was eating with them https://twitter.com/alexandra_imper/status/400204985222193152

Then off to Selfridges to shop!

At Alexa Chung's birthday party!

November 10, 2013 - Ladz instagram and Aimee Phillips birthday party!

LADZ VIDEO!

November 30, 2013

Harry playing with Puppy at Nick's house.

Poppy Delevingne's hen party!

Leaving Groucho club.

December 1, 2013

Primrose Hill lighting ceremony!

Nick with Daisy Lowe and his dad!

Then this girl met Nick

https://twitter.com/rpcheald/status/407224559687852032/photo/1

and saw Harry

https://twitter.com/rpcheald/status/407209332858552320

Class of '92 movie premiere

Nick and his dad on the red carpet

Harry meeting Beckham!

December 4, 2013 - London Fashion Awards

February 17, 2014 - Taking a random taxi ride?????

and leaving Nick's flat

March 29, 2014

Sleepover at Harry's house!

Nick posted this on instagram

http://instagram.com/p/mHpTBdPJyt/

At the time we weren't sure it was Harry's drive but...

https://twitter.com/cuppanarryx/status/481310537817399296/photo/1

Hiya, doggie.

Also Nick's tweet from the morning after just because.

https://twitter.com/grimmers/status/449814322399940609

May 24, 2014 - Radio 1's Big Weekend

May 28, 2014 - Barry's BC London

And link to post about the other tweets x

June 8, 2014

Nick attends One Directions show at Wembley Stadium.

June 12, 2014

Harry at Nick driving around London in a Ferrari.

and another tweet about the Ferarri sighting.

https://twitter.com/ItsJustMikey/status/477133631602065408

Then later that evening Harry went to Nick's for his World Cup barbecue and fans took pics with Harry outside Nick's house.

[duchessofostergotlands]

So the Swedes do a documentary every year? That's awesome! Do you think something like that would work for the BRF? It'd be nice to highlight all the charities and causes they've supported that year with personal moments when applicable, sharing some BTS stuff of state visits and tours and such. Perhaps including how the staff have prepared for them. The royals don't even have to feature too much, they can use footage from engagements. Do the SRF do something similiar or something else?

They have done their annual documentaries since the late 70s. They will use a couple of minutes of stock footage but generally they have a mix of new footage from the personal lives of the family (the best one was in 2014 when they had the whole family at that point in Solliden walking around the grounds, visiting the horses etc), interviews (some recorded at engagements, some in their homes or offices but all will be previously unseen), and new footage of previous public engagements. 99% of the footage is recorded specifically for the documentary itself. I can't imagine the BRF doing that. For a start, SVT (who do the documentary that's been going since the 1970s) are incredible at capturing royal events. The British press spend 80% of their lives streams of major events pointing the camera at some random person in the audience instead of what's actually going on. So I don't think any channel here could produce anything near the quality of SVT.

On a more serious level, Chris O'Neill is a British citizen who grew up in London and now of course has a close connection to Sweden and he talked about how the cultures differ. He points out that Swedish culture is just much more open, privacy is not viewed the same way as in the UK, and I've always agreed. The Swedish royals release the accounts for their private investments; the BRF won't even tell you an accurate figure for the cost of their public engagements. In the documentary they often address major criticism of them throughout the year. For example Carl Gustaf has made some statements during his reign which have been seen to be political and he has addressed the backlash on several separate editions of the documentary. The Brits would never open themselves up to that. As part of British culture, we also have more of a balance with our royals where we want them to share things but we would be uncomfortable if they were overly familiar. I'm not necessarily speaking for myself but on the whole, for the average Brit, I think it could be viewed as being a bit too "influencery" for our royals and the openness and transparency needed to be like the SRF wouldn’t work.

In short, I don't think that an annual documentary is going to happen and I don't think it would really work for our culture. I actually think they already do quite a lot of documentaries compared to other royal families. But they tend to frame them around a topic or a specific event rather than doing them annually at a set time and covering the whole year: William's Earthshot documentary, the Prince Philip documentary, the one for her Diamond Jubilee, the one about the Commonwealth etc. I'd like to see a bit more sharing throughout the year - little video clips or inclusion of unseen footage in other things as they did in the Queen’s speech back in the year George was christened - but a big annual documentary probably wouldn't work. Just think about how they would struggle to handle a year like 2021 if they did an annual documentary!

[starring-movies]

The Haunting of Bly Manor: Episode Analysis

*SPOILERS*

Episode 1 - The Great Good Place

The first episode of the second season of ‘The Haunting’ anthology series, ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’, begins with the opening credits which kick off each episode of this season. In these credits, we see painted portraits of each of the main characters of the season (Dani, Peter, Rebecca, Jamie, Owen, Miles and Flora, and Hannah) and the features of their faces gradually disappear, the significance of which we do not discover until later on. Although Dani is the only one who actually remains a ghost after becoming the new Lady of the Lake and will have this physically happen to her, having not just Dani’s but all of the main characters’ facial features smoothing over, goes deeper in telling us that even though the general ‘shape’ of you remains in people’s memories of you, it is the final fate that “all things fade” [ep 8] and will eventually be forgotten over time.

Is is also notable that all of the characters’ portraits are shown to be in rectangular frames, however, Hannah Grose’s portrait is in an oval frame. This subtle detail, just like the disappearing facial features, indicates something important to the plot that is not made sense of until watching further. In this case, we find out in Episode 5 that Hannah is actually a ghost herself and that her body is lying at the bottom of a well on the grounds, but in the beginning credits, we are subtly being shown that Hannah is different to the others without it yet being revealed in what way.

After the beginning credits, the actual episode begins with The Storyteller, who we later find out is Jamie, reciting the lyrics of “O Willow Waly” by Isla Cameron. The lyrics of the whole song are:

“We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow,

But now alone I lie and weep beside the tree,

Singing ‘oh willow waly’ by the tree that weeps with me,

Singing ‘oh willow waly’ till my lover return to me,

We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow,

A broken heart have I,

Oh willow I die, oh willow I die”

The song was originally in the 1961 movie ‘The Innocents’ which, like The Haunting of Bly Manor, is another adaptation of Henry James’ 1898 novella ‘The Turn of the Screw’. The song is constantly repeated throughout The Haunting of Bly Manor by various characters, as well as being the music played in a music box which was found amongst the belongings of Miles and Flora’s mother, Charlotte Wingrave.

The lyrics of the song, describing the singer sitting beneath a willow tree giving a sad lament for a lost lover, are very apt for what will come throughout the series - the tragic gothic romances of Henry and Charlotte Wingrave, Rebecca and Peter, Owen and Hannah, and Dani and Jamie. In each of these instances, someone in the partnership can be reflected in the singer of the song, lamenting for their lost love and lover (Henry Wingrave, Rebecca, Owen and Jamie all suffer this same sad lament after losing their love).

Having Jamie recite these lyrics at the beginning of the season also tells us at the very beginning, what Older Flora tells us in Episode 9; that Jamie isn’t telling a “ghost story” but a “love story”, and similarly that we are watching a love story and not necessarily a ghost story in the traditional sense.

We then watch as Jamie wakes up in her hotel room and she immediately looks towards her right shoulder. This is something that can easily be overlooked on a first viewing, however, we discover at the very end of Episode 9 that Dani’s hand was touching Jamie’s right shoulder as she fell asleep - it is up to the viewer whether this is actually Dani or instead a comforting memory of Jamie’s - so in this moment as she wakes up, Jamie is actually looking at her shoulder because she felt Dani’s presence to some degree. Similarly, we also find out in Episode 9 that Jamie’s ritualistic staring into the water’s reflection in the bath and sink is done in the hope that she will one day see Dani reflected back at her.

When Jamie first wakes up we can also see that she’s smiling, as if she was dreaming of her life with Dani, possibly having been tucked away in a memory of them by Dani, who quietly watches over and protects her.

We then continue as we see that it’s 2007 and Jamie arrives at Older Flora’s wedding reception, and it seems that her arrival is surprising to Older Owen, who looks like he did not expect Jamie to attend. His surprise is most likely due to the grief that he will be aware that Jamie carries after losing Dani, and Dani only died from the sacrifice that she made to save Flora from The Lady in the Lake. However, after seeing Jamie arrive, Owen says in his speech that “to truly love another person is to accept that the work of loving them is worth the pain of losing them”. This is something that is not only applicable to Owen himself, as he truly loved Hannah and is under the belief that loving her was also worth the pain of eventually losing her; but what he says is also applicable for Jamie (who he seems to be specifically directing this comment towards).

The wedding reception carries on into the evening, where all the attendants have gathered together and begin to talk about ghost stories. They speak of ghost stories flippantly, chalking them down to being “just a story” and a “part of the sales package” so that “they can charge a few hundred extra for the ghost story”. In this conversation one woman also jokes about being warned of a ghost called “Seamus” who had “his head crushed in where a horse had kicked him” and all the other guests laugh lightheartedly (and somewhat disrespectfully) at this.

However, Jamie says that she has a real ghost story but she warns that it’s long and not her story, and despite this Owen encourages her to tell it saying, “well it seems we’ve got time enough, and wine enough, why not?”. Owen is more than likely to be aware of what story Jamie is referring to and so he clearly also wants Miles and Flora to know what happened to them as children, and more importantly the sacrifice that Dani made for them. This is something that Dani, Jamie and Owen discussed when Dani and Jamie were visiting Owen’s restaurant in France, A Batter Place, in Episode 9.

During that conversation in France, Owen says that he wouldn’t tell the children and “just let them be” and “let them live their lives the way they should without anything hanging over them”. However, since that conversation Dani has died and unlike the children she didn’t get a chance to live her life the way she should, and so it seems that Owen’s opinion has changed. It appears that he now thinks that the children should know what happened and what Dani sacrificed for them (especially if they’re told indirectly, which Jamie subtly makes clear to Owen as she makes a point to say that “it isn’t really my story”).

Jamie then begins to tell her story where we switch to London in 1987, and we do not return to Older Jamie at the wedding reception until Episode 9. In our first introduction to Dani, we can clearly see that she’s a tourist and very much out of her depth. She appears slightly flustered and scattered as she checks her map to make sure she’s arrived at the right location and comically, with typical tourist fashion, she wears a hidden waist bag which holds her map and the address of the location for the job interview.

Interestingly, Dani’s red rucksack has some flags on it, which are most likely patches which she’s collected on her European travels after leaving America. The flags show us that she’s not just come straight from America to the UK, but that she’s been backpacking all throughout Europe and really is running away from her past. The flags show us that she’s been to Sweden, the UK, France, Luxembourg/The Netherlands and Italy (or Ireland, but it’s unlikely that she went to Ireland based on the direction she’s travelled and the fact she’s in London now) - Dani has also attached the flags of Luxembourg/The Netherlands incorrectly, as these two are upside down.

As Dani is about to cross the road to go into Henry Wingrave’s office building, she suddenly sees a spectre with glowing eyes in the window of a fast passing car. We don’t yet know that this is her ex-fiancé who’s image she is haunted by after he is killed when she breaks off her engagement to him, having realising that she is attracted to women. The fact that Dani sees him on her way to the job interview, shows us that he appears to her not only when she is feeling the guilt from her sexuality, when she is advancing her relationship with Jamie (which we see happens later on); but also when she is just generally attempting to move on with her life.

During her interview with Henry, we can clearly see by her body language that Dani is trying to put on a confident facade but it’s exactly that - a facade. Although she tries to exude confidence through her body language, we can see that she’s uncomfortable as she awkwardly shuffles and attempts a British accent when she says that she’s “fallen quite in love with London”. An attempt which we can see is not well received by Henry as he rolls his eyes and says “god” under his breath.

Although, Dani is used to putting on a facade, we know from Episode 4 that she has in fact been putting one on for her whole life; agreeing to marry Eddie (the fiancé) just because she “didn’t want to hurt you [Eddie] and your mom” and was just hoping that she “could just stick it out and eventually [she] would feel how [she] was supposed to”. Dani had been putting on a front and was hiding how she felt for her whole life, just as Older Jamie says in Episode 4, that “the au pair had been telling herself to wait another night, another time for years and years”.

We can also see that although Dani still appears to be quiet and meek, she is now stronger in her life than when she was with Eddie, and when Henry tries to ask what “the catch” is, she bites back at him and says that she had the same question for him as the job seemed easy to fill. We also see this confidence later on when she decides that she wants to pursue a relationship with Jamie, she is sick of hiding how she feels and acting how she’s been told to, and so in Episode 3 she tentatively makes the first move with Jamie as she’s sick of hiding and wants to show Jamie that she’s interested in her.

We also find out why Dani has such continual trouble making tea, as she says to Henry that she hasn’t “quite mastered tea, I’m used to it coming in a pitcher, full of ice cubes and lemon wedges”.

This facade is also shown visually in the interview scene, as she is wearing a black blazer during the interview with Henry, when she is trying to impress him for the job. When we see her looking in the job section of a newspaper after the failed interview, we can see that she has taken off her blazer and she has also taken off the front of caring what impression she makes with him, and so she storms up to confront him when she sees him sit down at the bar. The removal of the blazer also shows us how much more genuine Dani comes across when she’s not pretending and is just being herself - Henry doesn’t give her the job during the interview, when she’s trying to be impressive; but when she’s just being her authentic self in the pub, he decides to give her the job because he can see her genuine caring intention to help the children.

It is also notable that she is drinking a beer, a stereotypically masculine drink and another thing that makes her more unusual.

During this conversation Dani says that when she used to teach the fourth grade there was “too many of them and too little of [her]” and she thinks that she “could make a difference, a real difference, with just two”. This wish, to “make a real difference”, is actually something that Dani ends up fulfilling when she saves Flora and Miles, but she is only able to do this with a tremendous sacrifice of her own life and happiness.

Whilst on the car ride with Owen, after being picked up by him in London, Dani has a conversation about Bly with him. In this conversation Owen tells Dani how he was born in Bly, how he has been living in France but has now come back, and says that “the whole town is one big gravity well, and it’s easy to get stuck”. This inescapability of Bly makes sense, as we later find out in Episode 8 that The Lady of the Lake has created her own “invented gravity” within the grounds of the manor from her grief and anger. From what Owen says it is apparent that The Lady of the Lake’s “gravity” is the strongest within the grounds, but its affect has also managed to seep its way into the town of Bly itself.

After Dani arrives at Bly, it is strongly implied that Fora had just been controlled by Rebecca Jessel. Flora is singing “O Willow Waly” by the lake, which is the song that plays in the music box that Rebecca and Peter kept their Polaroids in, but she turns around in confusion saying “what song?” when Dani remarks “what a beautiful song” - this confusion at not being able to remember what she’s done is something that Flora always has after being taken over by Rebecca.

As well as this, Flora is sitting by the lake, which Dani says in Episode 3 that Flora “hates the lake”; but just like the various other times when Flora is taken over by Rebecca, Rebecca uses Flora’s body to walk to the lake (the location where she was killed by Peter and mourns for her life that was snatched from her).

Flora goes on to tell Dani that “you’re expected”, which is a nod back to ‘The Haunting of Hill House and actually a chilling thing for Flora to say after knowing what happens to Nell. In Hill House, Olivia - who is Nell’s, also played by Victoria Pedretti, mother - similarly tells Nell “you’re expected”. Nell goes back to Hill House and dies there and Dani eventually returns to Bly Manor where she dies.

Flora also introduces Dani to Miles and Mrs Hannah Grose. The latter of whom we come to find out is actually a ghost and has, only moments before, been pushed down the well by Peter Quint (possessing Miles’ body) and killed, and when we first see her she is actually staring down at her own corpse.

The creepy moment when Miles is lurking by Dani’s door and watching her get changed is still unsettling, but it’s made slightly less creepy when we later find out that it was one of the times when it was actually Peter in Miles’ body.

When they all have their dinner that evening, we do see Hannah have a sip of tea (which Dani notices she’s hardly drank any of, but she puts down to it tasting bad), however she also doesn’t eat her food and continues not to eat any food - a small hint that Hannah is actually dead.

While Dani is giving Flora her bath before bed, Flora looks over Dani’s left shoulder and seems to be having a partial conversation with someone who’s not Dani - Flora comments that she’s being silly even though Dani hasn’t said anything that would prompt her to say that, and she’s initially mad at Dani for having the butterfly clip that belonged to Rebecca. But after looking over Dani’s shoulder, Flora nods in agreement and tells Dani that it’s actually okay, so it appears that Rebecca told Flora that Dani could have her hair clip. We learn later on that Flora continuously sees Miss Jessel standing behind Dani’s left shoulder, as she seems to be continuing to watch over Flora even as a ghost, but Rebecca doesn’t reveal herself to Dani until Episode 7.

Just before bedtime, Dani says that Flora can play with her dollhouse, which is a microcosm of Bly Manor. The locations for all of those within the house are shown to Flora by the Doll Face Ghost, who dictates the placement of the dolls for her. Dani sees Flora playing with one of the dolls and asks “is that me?” to which Flora replies “why, no, silly, you’re you”. At first this is a comment that can easily be dismissed, but in Episode 9 it bears much more importance. In Episode 9, Flora gives Dani the doll that she was playing with in this scene, because she tells her that “you must have it, it’s you”.

Flora knows that The Lady of the Lake is within Dani and now, unlike when they first met, she has become a doll. Dani is just a puppet who will one day be completely taken over by The Lady. Flora knows that Dani is no longer “you”, after The Lady has accepted Dani’s invitation she has lost a part of herself to The Lady, and the doll is now as similar to Dani as she is to herself.

We are shown some shots of within the dollhouse where we can see that Miss Jessel’s doll is next to Flora’s bed, so this confirms that Flora has just been looking at and speaking to Miss Jessel; we can also see that Peter’s doll is in Miles’ room, so this also confirms that Peter is following Miles around.

The next day Dani goes into the church on the grounds, where she finds Hannah lighting some candles for “the dead”. She lights four; one for Charlotte Wingrave, one for Henry Wingrave, one for Rebecca Jessel and she doesn’t yet realise it (and nor do we) but the last candle is sadly for herself - it can’t be for Peter because Hannah doesn’t yet know that Peter is dead, everyone thinks that he’s just ran away.

That night, just before Miles and Flora’s bedtime, Dani kicks the doll which represents The Lady of the Lake, as it was sitting in the middle of the floor. Flora’s dresser represents the lake and the dollhouse is the manor, so we know that The Lady is on her way to the house, which is why Dani is locked in the cupboard - not because the children are playing a cruel game, which is what it first seems, but because they are actually trying to protect her, as they know that The Lady approaching and they’ve seen what she did to Peter.

You can read my previous The Haunting of Bly Manor posts here:-

Episode 2 - The Pupil

Episode 3 - The Two Faces, Part One

Episode 4 - The Way It Came

Episode 5 - The Altar of the Dead

Episode 6 - The Jolly Corner

——————————————————————————

[theabhorsenslibrary]

10 Places I Want to Visit

This is a post that I’ve been really excited to write as an avid traveller and I’m glad it’s something which one of my friend’s has suggested we write about. I have not been out of the UK since December 2018 when me and my family went to New York City over Christmas (an amazing experience even if it didn’t snow!). Since then, I have only really visited places in the UK before the Pandemic hit and put a stop to any sort of travel. So without further ado, here are my travel plans post-pandemic (not neccessarily in order)!

1. Chicago So I first wanted to travel to Chicago when I read the Divergent series, and this is probably the only place on my list which I have a Lonely Planet travel guide for that has been stickered up with all the places I want to visit while there. Its a place I considered booking up for 2020 but am glad I didn’t as obviously the pandemic hit hard.

2. Vancouver to San Francisco I would absolutely love to do a train trip through the USA and I think the one I would like to do most is a trip from Vancouver to San Francisco. (or vice versa). This would take in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland and San Francesco and takes roughly 27-28 hours (obviously with stops this would take longer). This one I would have to plan around my parents who also wish to visit San Francisco.

3. Bochum, Germany There is one reason only for me wanting to go to Bochum and this is due to being the only place in the world which is currently doing the full stage show of Starlight Express. Its something I’ve considered doing for my 30th birthday in 2021 but obviously this is relying on the world being back to normal - and I would not just be visiting for Bochum which has little interest apart from Starlight Express.

4. Washington DC to NYC/Boston Another potential train trip I wish to do though I’m not sure how far I would go. Having previously visited both NYC and Boston, I would only wish to spend a few days in both. NYC as I would like to visit the inside of Hamilton’s Grange and Coney Island. And Boston so I can catch a train to visit Exeter, New Hampshire which is named after the place I was born and raised.

My main visit on this trip would be Washington DC (because it would be an amazing experience), Bethesda (on the outskirts of Washington DC and the setting for Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants) and using Amtrak to get up to Philadelphia for a few days.

5. New Zealand So I thought I would give you a break from the US places I want to visit and add somewhere on the opposite side of the world! Lets face it, this trip would probably be one that takes a few weeks so I can cover as many of the cities as possible, try to get out to where the Lord of the Rings films were filmed and see some of the beautiful scenery.

6. Disney Parks & Universal Studios Orlando Not so much a place as some theme parks I would like to cover. I have been to Disneyland Paris on numerous occasions and somewhere I will inevitably get back too but I would love to hop across to the US to cover Disney World in Orlando and the original Disneyland in California. I’ve also consider Tokyo Disneyland but am not 100% that I will definitely visit due to other places I want to visit. Linking in with my visit to Disney World Orlando, I would love to go to Universal Studios Orlando, especially for their Harry Potter theme park - because despite JK Rowling being an idiot (me being polite), I still want to visit here.

7. Canada Yes I know this is a very big category so lets split it in two. Firstly, I want to cover off the cities I haven’t yet visited on the East side (Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa) which are all easy to connect via train - as you can see there’s a theme here! My parents also did a really cool trip a few years back on the Rocky Mountaineer which I would also like to do which covers a few of the cities on the West coast as well.

8. Interrail through Europe Time for one a little closer to home since I’ve covered off some of the far-off places I wish to visit! If you haven’t gathered by now, I am a big fan of train travel and the Interrail service in Europe covers this at a sensible price! I’ve been to a lot of places in Europe already but I would love to do some sort of trip through Europe by train at some point - especially covering Germany and Italy!

9. The Nordic Countries/Northern Europe While my previous point covers mainland Europe, I’m counting the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway and Finland) as a separate point. I know all three of these are expensive places to visit but I would love to visit at least their capitals (Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki) at some point in my life.

10. Ireland Even closer to home as this would just involve jumping across the Irish Sea! I plan to at least cover Dublin and Belfast as the main cities but would love to get further afield if possible - either by car or public transport when I get the chance! Especially as this would give me a break from the long-haul flights to the US, Canada and New Zealand!

[unforcedperspective]

Notes on China from the 66th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly

(23 Nov 2020, NATO)

The following  notes are from the speech made by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with a focus on issues pertaining China.

The Secretary General called for the strengthening of NATO as a political alliance in view of a wide range of security issues that include China's rise to prominence. He pointed to increasingly global challenges and the need for cooperation, "Terrorism, cyber threats, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, pandemics and disinformation campaigns. None of our countries, even the biggest ones, can deal with such challenges alone.

"This is also true of our approach to China. China is not our enemy, but its rise is fundamentally shifting the global balance of power. [It] challenges ... our security and our technological edge, multiplying the threats to open societies and individual freedoms. So the rise of China requires our continued collective attention to fully understand what it means for our security and to act accordingly."

Gerry Connolly, incumbent President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and American Democrat, asked: "You emphasize clearly China represents a direct challenge to the liberal democratic values that bind the Alliance together. It is not shy about challenging those values and attempting on occasion to undermine those societies that embrace those values. I wonder if you could elaborate a little bit on how best you think the Alliance going forward needs to organise itself to meet that challenge."

The Secretary General made mention of how China significantly helped member nations' economies. "Having said that, we are of course concerned about the fact that we now have a power ... that doesn’t share our values. We are seeing what they've done in Hong Kong undermining the democratic rights of the people living there. How China is dealing with minorities in their own country. And also, how they behave for instance in the South China Sea, or in approaching countries all over the world."

He drew on the experiences of Australia, Canada, Sweden and Norway in how China reacted when those countries did not behave as it would like. "China is trying to intimidate, coerce other countries to act in accordance with their wishes. The idea that the main response to this is that that we have to stand together. Both when it comes to responding politically, but also investing in technology, military capabilities. It's even more important for the United States to keep friends and allies close. And that's exactly why NATO is also important for the United States. Very briefly, resilience, or society social support to how we need to deal with some of the threats and challenges received from rising China."

Alec Shelbrooke, Leader of the UK Delegation, queried: "I'd like to focus my question on the high north. China has ambitions to build an Arctic Silk Road and is exercising in the Baltic Sea [and] Russia's submarine presence in the North Atlantic is now higher. This area will be of increasing importance to her over the next few decades. I'd like to know what short and medium term plans NATO itself is developing to ensure the protection of its own strategic interest in that area."

The Secretary General acknowledged that the high north was becoming more important with the melting of the ice, more Russian military capabilities and increased interest from China. He said, "The high north should be characterised by low tensions. That's still my aim, but the increased military presence of course makes that a bit more difficult. But I think that we should continue to have a dual track approach dialogue, but also then presence and strength. NATO has increased its presence in the high north. We need to protect the North Atlantic we need to protect all the cables, which actually IP for transmission of more than 90 - almost all data which is transmitted by cables. And then, and then we need more exercises we had the Trident Juncture exercise." He called for increased air and naval presence overall.

Michael Turner, member from the United States stated, "modernization efforts [of China and Russia] certainly do look at threats which should be translated for us into capabilities." He asked how NATO 2030 would proceed with their modernisation.

The Secretary General said that a main goal of NATO 2030 was to make NATO more global instead of remaining a regional alliance because the threats they face are more globalised. While it would not mean moving NATO into the South China Sea, it would still tackle cyber issues. He suggested, "We should strengthen further our cooperation with like minded countries in the Asia Pacific region. I visited Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand four strong dedicated committed partners of NATO. They all want to work more closely with NATO.

"Our response to the political challenges we see from China not sharing our core values, democracy, individual liberties, just makes that cooperation with other like minded partners even more important. We see a significant military modernization going on in China, all with the second largest budget investing heavily in military capabilities and combined with new advanced disruptive technologies.

“We see more and more Chinese investments in critical infrastructure in ports and airfields ... also in telecommunications and 5G. We have agreed some baseline requirements in NATO to make sure that our infrastructure is safe. We need to do more on resilience, we need to do more on technology and defence spending, we need to stand up for our values, working with like minded partners to protecting our political advantage. That's at least some of the things we need to do as part of the 2030 and beyond.”

[doomedandstoned]

Doom in a Time of Corona: Konvent Speaks From The Lockdown

~By Shawn Gibson!~

Hello, Ladies! Nice to catch up with you again. Thank you for your time. How is everyone?

Hi, Shawn! Great to talk to you again. Everyone is absolutely fine, but as you may know this is a pretty weird time with the COVID-19 situation going on. But we’re all safe and happy at the moment and we really feel like that's the most important thing right now.

How are you dealing with novel coronavirus and what are you doing to stay busy in this down time? Any writing or recording?

It's no secret that it's a boring time for everyone. We are so used to meeting a lot in the band and going to concerts, etcetera, but right now we can’t do that. So we actually watch a lot of Netflix, HBO, and get early to bed -- like true rockstars. (laughs)

We have no recording right now. It is also almost only three months since we released our album, so we took the time to breathe out after a stressful period of album release, tour, etcetera, but we are currently focusing on writing new material for our next album. Sara and Heidi have been doing some new riffs and we’re working at our own place with the new material. It feels like the perfect timing to start experimenting with different things musically. It is also important for us that we have time to immerse ourselves and retain the joy of creation.

I hate that this virus has affected everyone from musicians, fans, venue owners, festival promoters, labels, and so on. Tell me about some of these kick ass festivals Konvent was supposed to play? Will they be rescheduled? Who was on the line up?

Yes, we really hate it too. But we were incredibly lucky because the lockdown happened only a week after we finished the last show on our release tour. So when our government announced the lockdown here of all schools, universities and jobs, we’ve just stayed home and worked from our apartments and have not met since, to follow the regulations and stay safe.

It’s no secret that the virus will have some consequences according to cancellations of the summer festivals. Some of them have already been announced and some of them not, so we’ll keep you guys updated about it. We had been looking so much forward to playing at the festivals this summer, but of course we hope to be booked for 2021.

Generally, we feel very lucky with some of the offers we have been given and this really gives us the courage to keep on going and make it even bigger for 2021!

Film by Black Label Pictures

Konvent has been very busy! Your newest album 'Puritan Masochism' (2020) is excellent. I have heard nothing but praise for this album. What has Konvent been up to since we last had a chat?

Thank you so much. It makes us so happy to hear people saying that they like the album. When we signed the deal in 2018, we only had a few finished tracks, so we were far away from going into the studio. Since we had quite many concerts in 2018, we didn’t have a lot of time to work on the album. So half of the record was made in the beginning of 2019 and some tracks were even made one day before going into the studio with Lasse Skov at Ballade Studios in Copenhagen. Napalm knew this and we agreed with them to have the album out either in late 2019 or 2020, so they were very patient and weren't rushing us in any way.

Going on the Puritan Masochism tour has also been amazing! This was our very first headliner tour and we got to go to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and the UK. We have met so many cool people and we really love to go to places we’ve never been before. We have really been blown away by how many people who want an interview and how incredible people have been when it comes to buying our merchandise and album. We have gained more confidence as individuals, but also as a band.

We also experienced all the things that could go wrong on a tour. (laughs) The support band cancels, the car broke down, the guitar and drum broke on stage, but we somehow managed to defeat all these challenges and we couldn’t think of a better experience than we had on the tour.

How was the recording process for 'Puritan Masochism'?

We really wanted that raw, gritty sound, as if the music is coming from the abyss! And that’s why we chose to work with Lasse Ballade because he had made a bunch of cool records that we really admired. Lasse Ballade has a studio in the center of Copenhagen and we got together for 14 days and recorded the whole album live. I (Sara) think we have allowed ourselves to be more creative with playing with different riffs and rhythms this time.

When we recorded the demo we weren’t as relaxed with our instruments as we are now. It comes more naturally and we’re only getting better at experimenting with new stuff.

Our producer Lasse Ballade used a lot of time together with Sara and Heidi on finding the right sound for the guitar and bass and it was his idea to record some of the drums in his basement, to give it a more deep and kinda creepy basement sound. So he was definitely the one who really helped us find our sound, and we couldn’t be happier!

How is it being signed to Napalm Records?

We love working together with Napalm Records and they are very professional. We have come a long way since we signed the deal and Napalm plays a big role in order to make most of our dreams possible so far. We couldn’t think of any better label for us right now.

We would really like to go on bigger tours and play more festivals, as long as it can work out financially. And we are steadily getting more offers, so that’s really exciting! Our booker Thorsten from Napalm Events is handling all our offers, but we often get messages directly from bookers who want to put on a show with us and then we just direct it to him.

We are already so happy with what’s happening for us at the moment and we just try to enjoy it as much as we can and not put too much pressure on ourselves.

What are some death/doom bands that have inspired Konvent?

Almost all of our dads raised us on Black Sabbath. When Julie was little, she and her dad also listened to Kiss and led Zeppelin a lot. When Sara first learned the guitar as a teenager, her biggest influence was Nirvana. Heidi was a big fan of The Darkness in her teens. In Rikke’s early high school years she was listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers a lot, but then she discovered Rammstein and became a huge fan.

As we got older, our taste in music developed and we got more and more interested in metal genres like death, black, thrash, tech, hardcore, slam, and also punk. We still listen to a lot of different bands, but we all like bands such as Yob, Mantar, Candlemass, and Paradise Lost.

Konvent is one of the heaviest death/doom bands I know! The vocals still kick my ass, Rikki! Some guys can't sound like that!

That’s a huge compliment. (laughs) Thanks!

I'm very proud to have bought the CD and t-shirt bundle for 'Puritan Masochism.' I hope Konvent has great success with the album and merch sales.

Thank you so much for buying it. We really appreciate people supporting us. We have been really overwhelmed by how many people are supporting us with buying our merchandise.

Tell me about signing with Barsk Management Agency.

Our new manager Esben, who just started Bask Management, is a friend of the band and has earlier been the lead singer of Hatesphere for the past decade, where he's gathered invaluable knowledge about the music business and the metal scene, especially.

We realized a few months ago that we needed someone to help us with the practical stuff and tour management, in general. We are actually not a super structured band and we often forget things when we go on tour. (laughs) Esben contacted us a few months ago and we had a few meetings and agreed that we would like to start a corporation about management. We couldn’t be happier about this decision. It has really removed burdens from us according to the practical stuff so we’re are able to focus on the most important thing: music!

What are your plans for Konvent when this pandemic is over? Live shows and re-scheduled festivals?

We had some festivals and shows which were cancelled, but we have already been rescheduled to 2021 for some of them -- and we are really happy about that. We know that some bands are suffering a lot more than us so we just try to be happy over the fact that we got to release the album and finish the tour before the pandemic. But we have HRH Vikings Chapter III in the UK this Autumn, which will be our first time playing at a viking festival. (laughs) But we have a pretty crazy announcement very soon and we can’t say anymore at the moment, but we are pretty stoked about it. We’ll keep you updated.

What is in the future for Konvent?

We are already so happy with what’s happening for us at the moment and we just try to enjoy it as much as we can and not put too much pressure on ourselves. We have pushed ourselves out of our comfort zones many times now and that in itself is something to be proud of. Looking back, we feel like we have accomplished much more than what we could have hoped for, for example getting a record deal, playing at Copenhell -- Denmark’s biggest metal festival -- in front of 4,000 people, and playing Roskilde Festival, which is the biggest festival in Northern Europe!

At the moment, we are just really blown away by all the positive feedback on our debut album. But, of course, we still dream big! We hope to visit more countries around Europe and we would love to go overseas, as well -- the US, Canada, South America, Australia, you name it! But our biggest dream is to play at 70,000 Tons of Metal. (laughs)

Thank you for your time. I hope you all and your families are well during this tough period.

Thank you so much. Hopefully we’ll see you in the crowd someday!

Puritan Masochism by Konvent

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[picturebookmakers]

Axel Scheffler

In this post, Axel takes us on a journey through his art studio and career. As well as sharing wonderful development work from some of his much-loved picturebooks, he shows us unseen sketchbook pages, early illustration commissions, etchings he made as a student, and his recent work to educate children about the coronavirus.

Visit Axel Scheffler’s website

Axel: I’m not really sure how many books I’ve illustrated in the 30+ years that I’ve been working. Over 150. I mostly work for the UK market, but occasionally I do books with German publishers. Not picturebooks though, so nothing that collides with the co-edition market.

Each of the boxes you see here contains one of my books: the sketches, illustrations, dummies, alternate versions of covers, everything.

I organised these boxes with Liz, my assistant, to have all the main books there so we can find things for exhibitions. There’s still lots of drawings in these boxes which aren’t sorted yet. Liz is such a great help, but it’s very difficult for me to keep on top of everything. I think I would probably need two Lizes, or perhaps three.

So yes, I don’t really know where to begin... I’ve got endless sketchbooks and little drawings on paper. I’ve got some really old sketchbooks I could show you.

Shall we start with The Gruffalo?

My early sketches of the Gruffalo were thought by my editor to be too scary for small children. So I had to make him a bit rounder and more ‘cuddly’. Initially, I‘d also thought that all the animals would be wearing clothes, as they often do in picturebooks. But Julia had different ideas, and to be honest I was relieved. How would I have dressed the snake?

Here’s some spreads from the dummy...

I tried a lot of alternate covers for this book; I think there were twelve in total. There’s some where the Gruffalo doesn’t even feature on the cover.

My latest book with Julia is called ‘The Smeds and The Smoos’. It was quite nice to work on because it’s so different from the other books we’ve done together. The text is a bit like a mixture between Dr Seuss and Lewis Carol; it has this nonsense element. But it’s basically Romeo and Juliet in outer space.

It’s an alien story, so I didn’t have to draw any rabbits or squirrels for a change, and I could invent more. I had more freedom. But like always, I got bored with drawing the same characters over and over again. But that’s picturebooks.

There was quite a lot of development work in the case of this book. But when it’s a story about a fox or a squirrel, I don’t do this kind of stuff. Over the years, it’s become much quicker and easier working on my books. I do far less research than I used to. Now I generally just do a quick pencil sketch then go straight to artwork.

Sometimes I have to start again because things go wrong though. This was a finished piece that was abandoned. I think I suddenly thought that the rocket was far too big or something. I do that; I work on something for ages, and then I suddenly look at it from a distance and realise that something needs redoing.

Did you spot the little Gruffalo in this picture? Since ‘The Snail and the Whale’, I’ve hidden a Gruffalo in each of my books with Julia (not ‘The Ugly Five’ though).

For almost all of the books Julia and I have done together, our editor has been Alison Green. We’re an old established team. And I’ve always worked with the publisher Kate Wilson; I followed her from Macmillan to Scholastic, and then to Nosy Crow. Julia moved from Macmillan to Scholastic, and decided to stay there. So Julia and I have some of our joint titles with Macmillan and some with Scholastic. Julia does books with other illustrators for Macmillan, and I illustrate other books for Nosy Crow.

People often ask me which of the books I’ve done with Julia is my favourite. It’s quite hard to choose, but I enjoyed working on ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’. I liked the way I could do a crazy world with animals, giants, fairytale characters, everything mixed together without anyone caring or questioning it. I’ll show you a few things from the box...

For this book, the cover was changed at the last minute. The original design had the title written on a poster stuck on a brick wall, but the sales people said they wanted a landscape, so I did another one. Years later, they used the original design for a new paperback edition, so it wasn’t completely wasted in the end.

I mentioned my endless sketchbooks earlier. I’ll show you a few of them. This was mainly me playing around without thinking about what I was doing; it wasn’t a conscious thing.

I haven’t looked at these sketchbooks for ages. It was such a long time ago. I don’t work in sketchbooks like this anymore, and I no longer doodle. But for fun, I make illustrated envelopes for friends.

I often think about doing a book with just pictures, but I’m always too busy doing other things. Posthumously, perhaps there will be time to do this. I’d also love to experiment and be more spontaneous; it’s been my dream for decades to do something completely different. But when I receive a book project, I always feel under pressure to finish it, and I’m always late with everything, so I end up doing it the way I’ve always done it.

This is my drawing table, which is and always has been too small and too messy. I think I have to accept it will always be this way.

I use Saunders Waterford paper for my illustrations. It’s funny how we all have our special paper. My rough sketches are often quite small, so I have them blown up to the correct size. Then I trace the sketches on a lightbox onto my watercolour paper. After that, I draw the outlines in black ink with a dip pen. I colour everything with Ecoline inks using brushes, and then coloured pencils on top of it (I use Faber Polychromos and Prismacolour crayons). I might then need to redraw some of the black lines, or use some white gouache for highlights.

I studied History of Art in Hamburg, but left before graduating. I realised this wasn’t what I was good at; I’m not an academic.

Then I had to do my alternative service as conscientious objector. Sixteen months. There was still conscription then; that’s how old I am. I worked with mentally ill people in their homes. It was during this time that I had a friend studying ceramics at Bath Academy of Art in England. I went to visit her. I really didn’t know what else to do, so I thought maybe I could move to Bath and go to the art school. So this is what I did. The course was Visual Communications, so it was design, printmaking, photography, all that stuff. But I realised I only wanted to do illustration.

I’d gone to art college hoping to learn something. I don’t think that necessarily happened, but drawing intensively for three years was, I think, what I had needed to do. I don’t remember actually finishing any projects though.

Here’s some drawings from my student sketchbooks. I did lots of observational drawing back then, which I don’t anymore. I did it then because they told us to. I’m an obedient person!

While I was a student, I did an exchange in New York: Cooper Union Art College for three months. These drawings are of Jewish immigrants, meeting for coffee. It was 1984, so many of them were still alive; refugees from Germany or Austria. I heard them speaking German, so that’s how I knew.

Sketchbooks are such a good way of memorising things. Nobody really knows about these sketchbooks; I used to take them to interviews, but they’ve been hidden away for years.

After I graduated, I moved to London and took my portfolio around. My art teacher had suggested I should do this to get work, so that’s what I did. In those days, you had to ring them and ask to come around. I got two commissions straight away, and it’s been busy ever since, really. I’ve always had something to do.

Here’s some of my early commissions. Starting from 1985, I guess. Very pointy noses...

I did so much of this kind of work. It was a good way of earning money quickly. Occasionally, I still do editorial. I did some Brexit drawings for the remain campaign. Sadly, it didn’t help. Maybe I wrecked everything!

I’ll say a few words about the KIND book... 38 wonderful artists donated a picture to illustrate some of the many ways children can be kind. Such as sharing their toys or helping people from other countries to feel welcome.

One pound from each book sold goes to the Three Peas charity, which supports refugees from war-torn countries. It’s been a big success so far, and Three Peas has received a lot of money from sales in the UK and co-editions.

I’d quite like to do the UNKIND book next! I think illustrators would probably enjoy that, but I don’t imagine it would sell very well.

And now for something completely different! Some etchings I made when I was a student.

People often ask me which illustrators I’m inspired by. I don’t seek any direct influence on my work, but I’ve always said that Tomi Ungerer had the greatest influence on my approach to illustration. Although his style is quite different to mine, this humour and wackiness is something that has always appealed to me. And the details.

William Steig is someone I got into later, when I was already illustrating. And Edward Gorey of course. And Saul Steinberg. I think the Czech artist Jiří Šalamoun is wonderful. And I like Eva Lindström from Sweden a lot. She’s so great.

Okay, to finish with I’ll talk about the coronavirus work I’ve been doing...

I asked myself what I could do as a children’s illustrator to inform, as well as entertain, my readers here and abroad about the coronavirus. So I was glad when Nosy Crow asked me to illustrate a book on the subject. I think it’s extremely important for children and families to have access to reliable information in this unprecedented crisis.

You can download the free digital book in English here, and in over 60 other languages here.

I also wanted to do something light-hearted to cheer people up, and I thought, “What if I imagine some of our characters in corona situations?” Julia liked the idea and wrote rhymes for the new scenes. This was really more about entertainment than serious information.

Artwork and verse © Axel Scheffler and Julia Donaldson 2020. Based on characters from ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’ (2004), ‘Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book’ (2005), ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’ (2002), and ‘The Gruffalo’ (1999) — © Macmillan Children’s Books.

And here’s one more thing: my ‘letter from lockdown’. On The Children’s Bookshow website, you’ll find lockdown letters from lots of other wonderful authors and illustrators.

Illustrations © Axel Scheffler. Post edited by dPICTUS.

Buy this picturebook

The Gruffalo

Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

Macmillan Children’s Books, UK, 1999

‘A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood. A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.’

Walk further into the deep dark wood, and discover what happens when a quick-witted mouse comes face to face with an owl, a snake... and a hungry Gruffalo!

‘The Gruffalo’ has become a bestselling phenomenon across the world. This award-winning rhyming story of a mouse and a monster is now a modern classic, and will enchant children for years to come.

PUBLISHED IN THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGES & DIALECTS

Afrikaans

Albanian

Arabic

Australian

Azerbaijani

Basque

Belarusian

Bengali

Breton

Bulgaria

Catalan

Chinese (Simplified)

Chinese (Traditional)

Corsu

Croatian

Czech

Danish

Doric

Dundonian

Dutch

English

Esperanto

Estonian

Faroese

Farsi

Finnish

French

Frisian

Gaelic

Galician

Georgian

German

Glasgow Scots

Greek

Guernésiais

Hebrew

Hindi

Hungarian

Iceland

Indonesian

Irish

Italian

Jèrriais

Kazakh

Kölsch

Korean

Latin

Latvian

Lithuanian

Low German

Lowland Scots

Luxembourgish

Macedonian

Maltese

Manx Gaelic

Maori

Marathi

Mexican Spanish

Mongolian

Norwegian

Orcadian Scots

Polish

Portuguese

Portuguese (Brazil)

Romanian

Russian

Sami

Schwabisch

Serbian

Sesotho

Setswana

Shetland Scots

Slovakian

Slovenian

Spanish

Swedish

Swiss German

Tamil

Thai

Turkish

Ukrainian

US English

Vietnamese

Welsh

Xhosa

Zulu

Buy this picturebook

The Smeds and The Smoos

Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

Alison Green Books, UK, 2019

The Smeds (who are red) never mix with the Smoos (who are blue). So when a young Smed and Smoo fall in love, their families disapprove.

But peace is restored and love conquers all in this happiest of love stories. There’s even a gorgeous purple baby to celebrate!

PUBLISHED IN THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGES

Afrikaans

Catalan

Croatian

Dutch

English

Finnish

French

German

Hebrew

Hungarian

Italian

Korean

Luxenbourghish

Polish

Russian

Slovenian

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

Ukrainian

Buy this picturebook

Kind

Alison Green, Axel Scheffler & 38 illustrators

Alison Green Books, UK, 2019

Imagine a world where everyone is kind; how can we make that come true? With gorgeous pictures by a host of top illustrators, KIND is a timely, inspiring picturebook about the many ways children can be kind, from sharing their toys and games, to helping those from other countries feel welcome.

One pound from the sale of each printed copy will go to the Three Peas charity, which gives vital help to refugees from war-torn countries.

PUBLISHED IN THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGES

Bulgarian

Catalan

Chinese (Simplified)

Chinese (Traditional)

English

French

German

Greek

Hebrew

Italian

Korean

Netherlands

Portuguese (Brazil)

Romanian

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

Vietnamese

[hips-ter]

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Passport photographs will value you about an extra $10, or you possibly can print your own free of charge at ePassportPhoto. Europe has an insane quantity of fine beer and wine — so you should sample all you possibly can.

It lays out every piece of knowledge you may need on your trip so you're by no means left hunting round on the lookout for an tackle or a cellphone quantity. This means you'll be able to spend extra time exploring or enjoyable and fewer time making an attempt to prepare yourself. Do your research about vacation spot prices primarily based in your type of traveling. This goes to help you determine your daily bills and provide you with a every day budget on your trip.

Spend a minimum of one day exploring Florence, after which use your additional days to take day trips into Tuscany, visiting Siena and the other hill towns. You can do this on your own by renting a car or using the public buses (however this was a nightmare in our expertise…we highly recommend renting your own automotive or hiring a driver while in Tuscany!). Ten days is simply sufficient time to get a style of this country.

BARCELONA, SPAIN Travel Costs

There are miles of white-sand seashores (like Rendezvous Bay, overlooking neighboring Saint Martin island), as well as secluded coves reached by boat, similar to at Little Bay. After a day within the solar, hit up nice restaurants, as well as a low-key nightlife with stay music that spans from reggae to string bands. In a nutshell, you have fewer things to fret about with all-inclusive packages.

If you worry about issues that are just out of attain, you gained’t respect what’s in your hand. I’ve taken dozens of European journeys, and I still want more time. It’s a blessing that we can by no means see all of Europe. Alternate intense big cities with villages and countryside.

But in case you are planning on having three drinks or extra per day, plus three meals a day, it might average about $one hundred a day, according to her calculations. Jen Pellerito, journey writer and creator of Jen on the Run, did an analysis using an Expedia seek for resorts in Cancun for seven days (Aug. 24 to Aug. 31, 2018). Many all-inclusive resorts are close to major airports and big cities, stated Ebert. If you’re visiting a spot like the Caribbean, you’ll discover many resorts have private access to the beach. For instance, when you’re traveling alone, traversing a huge space, and spending the vast majority of your time in huge cities, it makes more sense to go by prepare with a rail cross than to mess with a car.

[thiswasinevitableid]

43, Indruck please. Just finished your wonderful knight au, and I'm low on Indruck content for my lonely heart ❤️

Thank you! I’m so glad you liked that AU.

I got a second request “Indruck with 43 could be quite entertaining, especially if it was Indrid who had one too many nogs” so off we go.

#43 Are you drunk?

“Are you drunk?” Duck stands in the doorway of the Winnebago, trying to make sense of the sight in front of him: Indrid, robe open to reveal tank top and pajama pants, looking even more a mess than usual and swaying worryingly from side to side. The trailer smells like alcohol and…nutmeg?

“Noooo. C’min, you were almost late for our date.” He pulls Duck into the sweltering space, nearly face plants on the floor when his foot connects with a stray snow-boot. It’s alarming enough that Duck almost misses the fact he called their twice-weekly visit a date.

“Indrid, it smells like a bar in here. What the hell have you been doin’? You’re not even supposed to have alcohol in the campgrounds.”

“M’not drunk. Just had some eggnog. Have some ‘s good.” He holds out a carton to Duck, who takes it and reads the label aloud.

“Tennessee Moonshine Nog: 90 proof. Banned in Sweden, Australia, and the UK. Holy shit, how much of this did you drink?”

“That many.” Indrid points to four large cartons tossed in the general direction of the trash.

“Oh fuck.”

“Got ‘em online cause the stores stopped stocking nog last month. Got enough to last me until October.”

Duck makes a mental note to come back with a larger truck and a permit to dispose of hazardous waste some time tomorrow, since there’s no way in hell he’s leaving Indrid alone like this. He swipes the carton that Indrid is drinking, empties it into the sink.

“What was that for?” Indrid pouts, hiccups.

“Indrid, it’s a goddamn miracle you don’t have alcohol poisonin’. Probably because of you bein’ a Sylph, who knows. Anyway, you should-”

“Sylph! You’re a genius.” Indrid whips off his glasses and the springs in the couch break under the weight of his Sylph form.

“This’ll give me a higher tolerance.” He stands, takes one step forward, wobbles. Face-plants on the floor, the entire trailer shaking as he does.

“Ouch.” He giggles, which turns into a full blown guffaw.

“Shit! You okay?”  Duck does his best to haul him up, but he’s limp and huge and too busy laughing to help Duck out. He grabs the discarded glasses, hands them to Indrid.

“Don’t wanna, like being a moth.”

“You can’t just go all mothman like that. Remember what happened last time?”

“Hehe, yeah, Aubrey killed a man.”

“No, she didn’t, never mind. Put them on so I can get you to bed and tuck you in.”

“OOOH, okay.” He slips the glasses back on and Duck is finally able to guide him into the bedroom. Indrid half falls, half rolls onto the bed. Duck searches for somewhere other than the mattress to sit, until Indrid makes a whining noise to get his attention.

“Want ranger cuddles.”

“Uh, okay.” He scooches onto the bed and Indrid wraps around him, chirping and hiccuping happily.

This is fine. He’s just helping a friend who’s gonna have a hell of morning and night ahead of him. He’s not noticing how safe, how happy he feels with the other mans arms around him. Not remembering the many times over the last weeks he’s daydreamed about this.

“Psst, Duck. Duck.” Indrid nudges his cheek with his nose until he turns to look at him.

“Wanna know some futures?”

“Sure, are they bad ones or-”

“Dani’s gonna spend two hours deciding whether to ask Aubrey to dinner, Barclays gonna make lasagna, probably, he might make quiche, Ned is gonna fall asleep on the sofa, again, hehe, Billy’s gonna eat a bunch of postcards.”

“Are you just sayin’ things as you see them?”

“Uh huh.” His voices changes, dips lower than Duck is used to hearing, “wanna know what’s in your future?”

“Other’n keepin’ an eye on you?”

Indrid nuzzles his cheek again before kissing him, Duck letting out a surprised “mphm” before wrapping his arms around the skinnier mans’ waist. Indrid keeps kissing him and Duck wants to do this all night, but there’s one major problem.

“Indrid, hold up.” He cups his face, smiles at him gently, “I really, really, really wanna keep kissin’ you. But you’re so drunk I ain’t sure you know what you’re doin’.”

“Know exactly what I’m doing, ‘m kissing the guy I have a crush on, cause he’s cute and has pretty eyes and, and, uh…” Indrids’ eyelids droop before he shakes his head, trying to snap himself awake.

“I’ll make you a deal. You wait until tomorrow mornin’. If you still feel the same way, we can talk about it then.”

“‘An’ you’ll kiss me more?”

“We’ll see.” He kisses the top of Indrids head, feels his weight getting heavier until the Sylph is snoring, still cuddled up against him.

—————————————-

Indrid is in hell. He doesn’t even believe in hell, but he doesn’t have a better word to describe how his head and stomach feel.

He shuffles into the shower, which makes him feel marginally better, then into the kitchen.

Wait, where’s Duck?

Oh no, ohnoohnoohno, he scared him off last night. He remembers kissing him, remembers Duck telling him to wait. Oh dear, he’s gone and messed this all up.

The door creaks open and Duck walks in, holding a bag.

“Mornin’, sunshine.”

“Uggghhh.” Indrid shuts his eyes against the light from outside, only opens them once the door is closed and Duck is standing in front of him.

“Bagel sandwich and Gatorade. Ain’t a miracle cure but it made the hangovers I got before I got my powers a lot more bearable.”

“Thank you.” He takes the bag, looks at Duck meekly.

“I’m sorry about last night.”

“Made some…substance based mistakes myself in the past, so no judgement. But you gotta promise you’ll get rid of that nog. And not break any more campground rules.” He arches an eyebrow.

“Promise. I…I kissed you, didn’t I?”

Ducks expression goes soft and warm, a look that never fails to make Indrid melt inside.

“Yeah, you did, said you had a crush on me.”

“I do.” He whispers, stares at the floor, terrified of looking at the future to see what comes next.

Warm hands take his own, and as soon as he brings himself to look up Duck kisses him once, chaste as can be.

“How about that? Because I got a crush on you somethin’ fierce.” Another kiss, deeper and full of so much potential that Indrids’ knees go weak.

Indrid was wrong, he isn’t in hell. He’s in heaven.

[myfuturebyalicia]

5 Simple Ways To Help Combat Climate Change

Climate Change and Global Warming are no longer a terms used by liberal activists to invoke panic or fear in the eyes of the public - it is the serious, devastating and inevitable reality of our future. Our yearn for money and power, initiated by the Industrial Revolution in 1850, has caused humans to disregard the long-term consequences of innovation and surplus production. This article highlights 7 surprisingly simple ways that any individual can make a crucial change to help slow down Global Warming and preserve the one place we all call our home.

Eat Less Meat and Diary

What many people do not know about the (still) raging forest fire in the Amazon rainforest is that it was a consequence of agricultural corporations creating more land for livestock growth and animal feed. These companies purposely destroyed wildlife, endangered thousands of species and forced native tribes to relocate just to feed one of the largest industries in the world: beef, dairy and pork. Eating less meat and dairy not only criminalises the actions of those corporations, but also prevents any events like these from occurring in the future.

Having one meatless meal/day can make the world of a difference in terms of consumerism and global meat production. According to the laws of supply and demand, if less meat is consumed on average, less meat will be produced as it is no longer profitable. This means that deforestation, animal cruelty, methane emissions, and excess land and water use will decrease drastically if enough people decide to make a difference. Consuming commercial meat alternatives is also a great way to allow the plant-based industry to grow, which can further aid serious change in our food system. Try out some plant-based recipes by visiting the following websites for inspiration:

https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/recipes

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/category/special-diets/vegetarian/

https://deliciouslyella.com/recipes/

In my personal opinion, reducing your consumption of meat and diary is the single most valuable thing a person can do to save the environment. 

Reduce (Single-Use) Plastic Consumption

Please, please, stop using single use plastic and discarding it without thinking. M&M packets, plastic water bottles, make-up packaging and even ink-less pens end up in landfills or in oceans, left to degrade methane into the atmosphere and seriously damage wildlife and ecosystems. Scientists are unsure as to how long it takes for plastics to degrade completely, but they estimate that it could take up to a thousand years for plastic to disappear entirely. According to Plastic Oceans UK, 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean annually, and this number could turn to 80 million if our actions continue.

The phrase "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" needs to be taken seriously by everyone in order for a real change to occur, so reduce plastic use as much as possible, reuse materials in a sustainable way and strive to recycle in order to prevent further environmental degradation. 

Find Transportation Alternatives

Although this one may seem obvious, it should be clear that carbon emissions are the single most dangerous catalyst for Climate Change. When Carbon Dioxide enters the atmosphere, it contributes to the natural heating process of our planet known as the Greenhouse Effect. However, if too many greenhouses gases (such as Carbon Dioxide or Methane), enter the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect is magnified, therefore heating the planet up more than it should. This contributes to serious changes around the world, such as forest/bush fires, permafrost melting and sea level rise. This consequently leads to countries being wiped out (take the Maldives as an example) and serious destruction of nature around the world.

There are many different industries which lead to Carbon Emissions entering the atmosphere. Although there are a lot of energy alternative out there, gas and oil are still the cheapest and most commonly used around the world. As an individual, it is difficult to control exactly where your energy comes from, however it is incredibly easy to take the decision to stop using carbon-based transportation services (such as cars or airplanes), and resort to saving carbon emissions by taking public transport, or just walking/biking to whatever location you need to go to! A lot still needs to be done in order to change the ways that we consume energy, however being conscious and trying your best to reduce your carbon footprint is incredibly easy and incredibly effective!

Attend Climate Strikes

Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old teenager from Sweden, is known worldwide as one of the most prominent climate activists of our generation. Every Friday, she attends Climate Strikes along with students all over the world to protest against their government, urging them to make big changes that will benefit the environment and Climate Change. I personally have attended a lot of strikes to demonstrate how I support the movement of youth trying to change the world, and to urge my own government to really make a difference. 

In most big cities around the globe, citizens organise Climate Strikes every Friday at certain locations to protest against the climate crisis. In some cases, global events such as the Global Climate Strike in the week of 20th-27th of September 2019 occur where everyone is encouraged to attend and strike. Although they may seem insignificant, it is a big statement for towards your  government as it insinuates that you would rather not have an education than see the planet literally go up in flames. Visit the following sites to see if any climate strikes are occurring near you:

https://globalclimatestrike.net

https://www.climatestrike.net

https://www.youthclimatestrikeus.org

https://strikewithus.org

Sign NGO Petitions

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) such as Greenpeace, WWF and 350.org host a plethora of online petitions ranging from things such as preserving the Amazon Rainforest, to clearing up plastics in the ocean. What these petitions signify is the public's support about these dangerous issues, and once again urging governments and industries to change the things most harmful for our planet. At the end of the day, money goes to wherever the public wants the money to end up in, therefore the more people sign these important petitions, the more changes that will occur!

Here are some petitions you can sign. All you need to do is write your name and email (you can easily unsubscribe from their mailing lists, unless you want to receive climate-focus news in your inbox!)

https://www.peoplevsoil.org/?_ga=2.91581011.812529365.1569230763-1921400547.1569230763 (petition against oil consumption)

https://act.greenpeace.org/page/39922/petition/1?_ga=2.91581011.812529365.1569230763-1921400547.1569230763 (petition to protect the Amazon Rainforest)

https://act.greenpeace.org/page/40938/petition/1?_ga=2.163932790.812529365.1569230763-1921400547.1569230763 (petition to save the oceans)

Afterword

A lot still needs to be done in order to make a true impact on climate change. While individuals can do as much as they can to preserve the environment, the true change needs to come from government officials and corporations. Unfortunately, the way that our society works means that power lies in those with enough money, and they are the ones that can change which industries flourish and which are no longer beneficial for our planet. By spreading the word and confronting politicians and industries about the consequences of their selfish choices, big differences can hopefully spring from the smallest and unlikeliest of places. 

I wish you all good luck with making a difference and changing the world.

Alicia.

Sources:

https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/top-10-ways-can-stop-climate-change/

https://time.com/5661162/why-the-amazon-is-on-fire/

https://plasticoceans.uk/the-facts-plastic-pollution/

[xmyxedsheeranfanfiction]

We push and pull like a magnet do ∞chapter five∞

Chapter five

The driver drove us to the nearest Mcdonalds and I introduced Ed to Mcflurry Daim. I still couldn’t believe he’d never had one before.

“I’m telling you it’s a Swedish thing, we don’t have it in the UK,” he said and I just laughed.

“You’re a famous singer, you’ve been in Sweden numerous times, don’t tell me you’ve never been to McDonald's here,” I said and he just laughed.

“Are you sure you only want ice cream?” he asked again and I nodded.

“The only thing I eat here is the filet o fish anyways and I’m not a big fan of it,” I said and he looked at me weirdly.

“Why is that the only thing you order?” he said and I laughed.

“I’m Muslim Ed, not fully religious but I still do try to keep to a few of the rules,” I said and he had this look of realisation to his face.

“I’m sorry I should’ve realised,” he said and I laughed again.

“It’s okay, it's not like you can tell anyway, and besides not a lot of people in my family are religious, as far as I know, it's just me,” I said and he nodded.

“How come it's just you?” he asked and I raised an eyebrow, no one had ever asked me this before.

“It’s because of my father, he passed away six years ago, and believing in something brings me comfort,” I whispered and he grabbed my hand.

“I’m sorry, can you tell me what happened?” he asked and I nodded.

“He had cancer Ed, brain tumour, he was diagnosed when I was three and he passed away when I was fifteen almost sixteen,” I said and he looked at me, I could see so many emotions in his eyes, but pity wasn’t one of them. That made me feel safe. I hated when people pitied me.

“I’m really sorry Hana, that must have been difficult for you and your family, I can't even imagine the pain,” he said and I nodded.

“Thank you,” I whispered and he gave me a small smile in return.

“The day I met you, you were wearing a headscarf?” he asked and I closed my eyes briefly, glad that he had changed the subject.

“I was on holiday in Iran, visiting my family, you have to wear one over there, it’s the law,” I said softly and he nodded. He grabbed my hand again, this time rubbing small circles on my hand, and I smiled. It felt good. For a moment his shirt sleeve slid up slightly and I spotted a few of his colourful tattoos.

“I’ve always wondered, how come you get so many tattoos? I mean its almost as you get them spontaneously,” I asked and he laughed.

“I’ve always been fascinated by tattoos love, and now I just get one whenever I see something that makes me happy, some people take photos, I get inked,” he said and I laughed.

“That’s really cool, I wish I could be like that,” I said and he looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“There’s no reason you can’t be love, do you have any tattoos?” he asked and I blushed.

“I do actually,” I said and he gasped.

“Show me show me show me!” he said and I laughed. He was such a child sometimes. I pulled my shirt sleeve up slightly to show him the faded tattoo on my wrist.

“I got this one as soon as I turned 18, my mum hates tattoos and I got just because I could do it without her permission,” I said and he laughed. It was a tattoo of five flying birds.

“That hasn’t been done properly though, it looks very messy,” he said and traced the tattoo with his fingers.

“Yea I know, this is my least favourite and I wish I hadn’t done it,” I said and he laughed.

“Do you have more?” he asked shyly and I nodded.

“I have one on my collarbone and one on my thigh, but that’s difficult to show you,” I said and I watched as his blue eyes got slightly darker, was that lust? No, it couldn’t be.

“Will I get to see them one day?” he whispered, and I gulped.

“Maybe,” I said and he smiled.

“Would you get any more?” he asked and I laughed.

“Probably not, it’s too painful,” I said and he just smiled.

“That’s fine, I love your skin, I wouldn’t want you covering it up like I have when its so smooth and beautiful,” he said and I raised an eyebrow.

“My skin, really?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. He laughed.

“I love everything about you Hana, your big deep brown eyes that I get lost in every time I look at you, your one dimple that appear as soon as you smile, your lips that are full and seem so soft, your small hands that fit in mine perfectly, and yes your skin because its so soft and you have this natural glow about you that I absolutely adore,” he said and I blushed.

“Is that really how you see me?” I asked quietly, almost whispering. When he heard this he just wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight, holding me close.

“Can I kiss you?” he whispered suddenly and I swallowed deeply. I felt all warm and sweaty all of a sudden and my heart was beating fast. I looked up into his eyes and softly traced my fingers along his slight beard, and he sighed.

“Yes.” I heard myself saying all of a sudden and his head shot up instantly. He smiled at me, and brought his hand up to my face, caressing me softly before his eyes fell on to my lips and he leaned in. He pressed his lips to mine, gently, and they were so soft against mine. I felt myself relax under his touch and unconsciously wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt him smile into the kiss and start to move his lips against mine. This was all new to me, but eventually, I mimicked his actions and kissed him back. He let out a groan as I kissed him back and pressed me tightly against him. The kiss started out slow and intimate, but I soon felt myself kissing him with more fever than before, and I moaned slightly as his tongue traced my bottom lip. My mouth opened, letting his tongue in and I felt his hands move further down my waist. I was suddenly very aware of what we were doing, and with the last strength I had in me, I pulled away from the kiss, breathing heavily.

“Wow,” he said and I blushed, burying my face in his chest.

“I’m not letting you go, Hana,” he said after a while and I looked up.

“Please don’t” I whispered, and he hugged me tighter.

After some time my phone vibrated and I had to let go of Ed. I looked at my phone and I saw that I had a few messages from my mum. I sighed, she was probably worried.

“I’m sorry Ed, I have to go back home, my mums probably worried,” I said and he nodded.

“I’ll take you, home baby,“ he said and grabbed my hand as we got up. We got into the car, and the driver drove towards my house. Before I knew it, I was home and the driver parked up outside my house.

“I’ll see you soon baby, probably tomorrow,” he said before pulling me in for a short kiss. I blushed as we pulled apart and he laughed.

“Okay, see you soon,” I said and he smiled before letting me get out. As I stepped out of the car, my legs felt really wobbly, I had to steady myself as I walked up the stairs and into my house. As I got home, I removed my makeup and my phone vibrated as I dried my face.

Ed: I’m so glad I got to see you today baby. Thank you. I can’t wait to feel your lips on mine again…..also babe what’s your snapchat? xx

I laughed at his text and quickly texted him back. He added me on snapchat and for the rest of the night he snapped me and I fell asleep with my phone in my hand. I had never slept better.