#i feel like if it was -20 early in the morning in jan but then warmed up to like -5 midday

[medieval-canadian]

so i'm crocheting a temperature blanket this year. my initial instinct was to say it's for my 32nd year but that's not actually how birthdays work so instead i'm awkwardly going with "the year i'm 32" and shortening it to just 32 mostly. anyway, that's besides the point.

i have the colour palette/yarn, i have the pattern (toni lipsey's linen stitch pixel temp blanket), i made a gauge swatch, i've started tracking temps (i've recorded hi/lo starting on dec. 8).... but fuck, i'm having so much trouble figuring out the temperature gauge!!!

i can't decide what the intervals should be, i can't decide if i want purples to be warm temps or cold temps or where to put the neutrals, i can't decide if i want to fiddle/tweak(/cheat?) and use the lows for the cold temps instead of the high which was the initial plan.... i just don't know!!! ugh.

[darkmaga-returns]

Some of these instances are so ridiculous that you have to see them to believe them.

The Vigilant Fox

Jan 20, 2025

10 - MSNBC mocks Trump’s national emergency declaration at the border.

This is downright pathetic.

MADDOW: “Does it feel like an emergency where you are standing?”

REPORTER: “Feels no different than 20 minutes ago, or 30 minutes ago, or an hour ago when we got here early this morning.”

9 - CNN commentators watch in awe as Barron Trump’s towering height leaves them momentarily speechless.

“Yes, he’s very tall.”

“Dana Bash—just looking at Barron Trump, I think he’s like 6’5” or something… 6’9”, I’m told.”

8 - CNN commentator boldly declares that Trump pardoning J6ers is “completely different” than Biden pardoning the likes of Fauci, his brother, and other family members.

This spin on this take is off the charts.

“I want to put those [J6] pardons in separate buckets, and I think we should be talking about them differently because they are not all—all pardons are not created equal, in my opinion.”

7 - CNN’s Van Jones claims Joe Biden is Mr. “America First” today and gave Trump a “pretty decent economy.”

“You wanna talk about America First? That’s Joe Biden today.”

“Joe Biden’s putting America first.”

“He’s actually giving Donald Trump not just the dignity of a good transition, he’s giving a pretty decent economy.”

“I think it’s an important moment. It’s a powerful moment. Joe Biden probably stayed too long, but he stayed too long because he thought he had more good to do.”

“He won’t get a chance to do that good, but he’s handing off a better economy than he got, and he’s doing it in a more decent way, showing more decency than he received. You want to talk about America First, that’s Joe Biden today.”

6 - CNN’s Jake Tapper has an awkward moment on air, as he is not sure how to describe Tucker Carlson.

TAPPER: “Tucker Carlson, also the former Fox host, now popular podcaster and YouTube hoster. I’m not exactly sure what they call him, but influencer, certainly very influential.”

CO-HOST: “Very influential.”

TAPPER: “Yes, absolutely. Anderson Cooper.”

While you’re here, don’t forget to subscribe to this page for more reports like this one.Subscribe

#5 - CNN host interrupts the broadcast during the Inaugural Parade to let everyone know that JD Vance’s daughter had “Bluey” bandages on.

Cutting-edge journalism right here.

ERIN BURNETT: “So those are the obviously the Butler County first responders who are marching in—”

HOST 2: “Also, Erin. One quick note because our panel, Abby Philip and Jake [Tapper], were talking about it a little bit earlier. Apparently, the bandages on JD Vance’s daughter’s fingers, her name is Mirabel, by the way, are Bluey bandages. I think your kids may be a little bit older than mine. Bluey is very popular in our house. But that’s just to put a button on an earlier conversation.”

BURNETT: “Well, it is his normalcy and approachability for JD Vance that is a great appeal for many.”

#4 - MSNBC bombards its viewers with commentary while President Trump is actively speaking.

Among all the networks, MSNBC stands out as the only one that silenced Trump’s address and put it in the background.

This so-called editorial policy is aimed at maintaining “journalistic integrity.”

The network has previously expressed concerns about airing content that may contain “misinformation” or unverified claims.

#3 - CNN brings on the son of a J6 defendant who claims he had to buy a gun and flee to protect himself from his dad, whom Trump is about to pardon.

They just won’t let go of this “insurrection” narrative.

Jackson Reffitt, who reported his father to the FBI, says, “I’ve taken as many precautions as I could recently. I’ve picked up a gun, I’ve moved, and I’ve gotten myself away from what I thought would be a dangerous situation and staying where I thought my dad could find me or other people.”

He added, “My father’s actions coming from the Trump presidency and what he thought he was doing was right just destroyed it [my family]. I made a very, very disgusting decision to inform authorities about what he was doing, and I still feel horrible about it every day.

“My sisters are out there right now, and they’re rooting for him. I understand that. I come from a place of love toward them. I want to be there for them, but I can’t. It just isn’t safe for people like me who have done what I did to protect my family... I cannot feel safe around him [father].”

#2 - CNN commentator stuns the panel with a HUGE compliment for President Trump.

“There’s something about him. It’s probably the word charisma, and it’s attributable to him being elected again.”

Michael Smerconish made these comments after thinking it would be impossible for Trump to make a political return after J6.

“I would never have believed that we’d be back in this position today, as he was headed back to Florida, not having attended Joe Biden’s inaugural. And I don’t think you can attribute that solely to issues like the economy and immigration.”

#1 - CNN suggests Elon Musk made a Nazi salute during Trump's event at Capitol One arena, purposely leaves out Musk's comments when he said his heart goes out to the crowd.

CNN: "It's a salute. It was quick. I think our viewers are smart and they can take a look at that, but it certainly was, it's not something that you typically see at American political rallies."

Musk: "My heart goes out to you."

Credit: https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1881438727320240325

MORE MEMORABLE MOMENTS (not directly from the media):

BONUS #1 - Joe Rogan, Tim Cook (Apple), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Shou Zi Chew (TikTok CEO), and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) were all spotted arriving at President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

BONUS #2 - Senator John Fetterman showed up to Trump's inauguration in gym shorts and a Carhartt sweatshirt.

Credit: https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1881371504824537410

BONUS #3 - During her performance of “America the Beautiful” at Trump’s inauguration, Carrie Underwood faced technical difficulties when the music failed.

Showing professionalism, she asked the audience for help and sang the song a cappella like a legend.

BONUS #4 - Donald Trump signs a wave of game-changing executive orders in front of a crowd of tens of thousands after the Inaugural Parade.

This includes:

1. Rescinding 78 Biden-era executive actions, orders, and memoranda.

2. Implementing a regulatory freeze to halt new regulations until full control of the government is achieved.

3. Freezing federal hiring, with exceptions for the military and other specified categories.

4. Requiring all federal workers to return to full-time in-person work immediately.

5. Directing every federal department and agency to address the ongoing cost of living crisis.

6. Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, saving over a trillion dollars.

7. Sending a letter to the United Nations to formally announce the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.

8. Restoring freedom of speech and preventing government censorship of free speech.

9. Ending the weaponization of government against political adversaries of the previous administration.

BONUS #5 - Trump gives his son, Barron, an epic shout-out, and Barron takes it in like a total rock star.

“Then I have a very tall son named Barron. Has anyone ever heard of him?”

“He knew the youth vote… And he was saying, Dad, you got to go out and do this [podcast] or that one.”

“He understood the market.”

[p-cap-press]

INTERVIEW

‘The government has been too terrible to make fun of’: Peter Capaldi on satire, politics and privilege

Sun 14 Jan 2024 09.00 CET

Tom Lamont

One winter morning, a Doctor Who comes calling. The Glaswegian actor Peter Capaldi lives about an hour’s walk from me and instead of us meeting in some midway café, the 65-year-old wanders over (leather booted, woolly jumpered, cloaked in a dark winter coat that sets off his pale-grey hair) to have coffee at my kitchen table. My son is off school with flu, medicating on Marvel movies and barely able to believe his luck as the actorly embodiment of an alien superhero wanders through our flat. While we’re waiting for the kettle to boil, I ask Capaldi whether he ran into any other Doctor Whos on his walk through the actorland that is suburban north London.

‘You can’t be the cynical melancholic I naturally am’: Peter Capaldi wears coat by Mr P (mrporter.com); jumper by uniqlo.com; trousers by reiss.com; and shoes by johnlobb.com. Photograph: Simon Emmett/The Observer

“You do run into each other. You have a laugh, a gossip, you share. There aren’t a lot of people who have been in that role in the centre of that storm. Most people think the job is being on the Tardis and running around with Daleks. Which it is. That’s the fun part. But there’s a lot of other stuff you have to do, too. You’re kind of the face of the brand and the brand is very big. You can’t be the cynical melancholic I naturally am. You have to pretend to be a version of yourself that’s far more amenable.”

Is it a bit like being the Queen?

“Kind of,” he says. “You embody for a time this folk hero, this icon. I was able to comfort people in a way that would be beyond the powers of Peter. You could walk into a room and people gasped with delight. It doesn’t happen any more.”

Great Scot: Peter Capaldi wears blazer by ralphlauren.co.uk. Photograph: Simon Emmett/The Observer

After graduating school at 18, this confused cross-artistic trajectory continued. “I tried to be an actor, but I didn’t get into drama school, so I went to art school. When I was at art school, I joined a band.” In his early 20s, Capaldi released a single as part of a group called Dreamboys; then he quit music and spent most of his 20s acting, getting small jobs in theatre and TV as well as a walk-on part opposite John Malkovich in 1988’s Dangerous Liaisons. In his 30s, he decided to concentrate on directing.

Feel the heat: in The Thick of it. Photograph: Everett Collection/Alamy

Miramax sent a limo to pick him up from the airport. “I fell into conversation with the driver, lovely man, Ralph. When I got out of the car I gave him a big tip. Because I was a big shot now, you see. Then Ralph said: ‘I’ve been told to wait for you here.’” Uh oh. “Inside, all the people in the office were avoiding my eye. Bob said, ‘I’ll come straight to it, we’re not gonna do the movie, my brother Harvey says he doesn’t know how to sell it.’ He said, ‘But we love you! You’re one of the family! You’ll always have a place here!’ Needless to say, I never heard from him again. Obviously, while I was in the air they’d had a discussion and changed their minds. I was so dumbfounded as I climbed back into the limo I just laughed. I had no money, because we’d bought a little house in Crouch End, and I had no career, because I’d turned my back on acting.”

In a gesture that Capaldi has never forgotten, Ralph the limo driver tried to give him back his big tip.

Fun fact: in Paddington 2. Photograph: Supplied by LMK

He and Collins were young parents themselves when his directing career fell apart. Arriving back in London from the disastrous Manhattan trip, “The initial feeling was shock. Then a pragmatic survival instinct kicked in.” Capaldi rejoined the auditioning circuit. “I was a psychiatrist in Midsomer Murders. I was a beekeeper in Poirot – AN Other Actor. Someone else would have turned down these parts first.” Collins, until that point an actor, too, decided to pivot into development and production, a career move that has worked well for her.

Folk Hero: in his new series Criminal Record. Photograph: Ben Meadows/Apple

When The Thick of It debuted, Capaldi entered the sitcom pantheon overnight. Revisiting episode one, what’s glaring is how fully formed, how exquisite a character Tucker is. Alan Partridge, Samantha Jones, Frasier Crane, David Brent … these creations had to be discovered over time by their actors and writers. With Tucker it’s all there from word one, the controlled fury, the foul-mouthed eloquence, that constant convenient deployment of hypocrisy. Capaldi played the part for seven years, winning a Bafta mid-run. It led to other memorable gigs, as a news producer in 2012’s The Hour and as Count Richelieu in a 2014 adaptation of the Musketeers story. He was Mister Micawber in Iannucci’s 2019 reimagining of David Copperfield, a fun role that was bookended by two equally fun Paddington movies, released in 2014 and 2017.

‘You’re the face of the brand and the brand is very big’: playing Doctor Who. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy

We talk about how weird it is that political satire should have fallen into abeyance in the 2020s – perhaps because, as Capaldi says, “things have been too bad to make fun of. Making fun normalises situations I don’t think should be normalised. The planet is burning. They’re pumping shit into the rivers. I’m not gonna be part of making jokes about that… All this highfalutin life I’ve had,” he says, of the awards parties, the film roles, the immortal runs as a sweary spin doctor and an inscrutable Doctor Who, “is because I went to art school. My parents couldn’t afford to send me. I went because the government of the day paid for me to go and I didn’t have to pay them back. There was a thrusting society then, a society that tried to improve itself. Yes, of course, it cost money. But so what? It allowed people from any kind of background to learn about Shakespeare, or Vermeer, or whatever they wanted to learn about. Why did we lose this, this belief in ourselves?”

Shared vision: with his wife and co-producer Elaine. Photograph: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy

“This business is full of people who are not the real thing,” he says, “people I perceived to be artists ’cos they had posh accents, but who didn’t have it, they just sounded like they did.” He goes on to tell a tantalising but intentionally vague story about a major star he worked with, someone who revealed themselves through the course of an acting collaboration to be a dud hiding in plain sight. He won’t provide details (“Too easy to figure out. When everyone’s dead I’ll tell you”), but he says the experience changed him professionally, leaving him more aware of his own limitations, but grateful to have a little vinegar and grit in the mix. “There’s a kind of smoothness, a kind of confidence that comes from a good [paid-for] school. That’s what you’re struck by: they seem to know how to move through the world recognising which battle to fight, where to press their attentions. But it can make the acting smooth, which to me is tedious. I like more neurosis. More fear. More trouble, you know?”

Burning bright: with John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons. Photograph: Everett Collection/Alamy

In the new TV show, Criminal Record, he explores a more mortal kind of ageing, life’s third act, its inevitable professional humblings. Capaldi plays a London DCI in his 60s, coming to the end of a career, already moonlighting as a private security contractor, intimidated by the thrust and purpose of a younger colleague at the Met played by Cush Jumbo. As Jumbo’s character grows in confidence, Capaldi’s shrinks. It is a paradox of experience he can relate to. “I find the older I get, the closer I am to who I was,” he says.

I ask him to explain.

“Like I’m returning to… ‘roots’ is the wrong word. I feel more and more like my mother and father, more and more keenly aware of the values they had.” He provides an interesting example, how he has become all thumbs around the act of tipping in restaurants: “I can be in a complete sweat about that.” He can imagine his parents, both dead now, in a similar muddle. “From the background we come from, you can have a bit of anxiety about coming across as grand. So you have to allay that by making sure you are communicating with everybody, all the time.”

Capaldi shakes his head, chuckling softly. He has finished his coffee. He’s about to put on his big coat, say goodbye to my son, and walk back through Whoville to his home and his family. Before he leaves we return to the subject of actors from privileged backgrounds. He says he feels mean, like he took unfair advantage of them in their absence. “It’s not their fault,” he says. “It’s just that there’s less and less of my lot in the arts.” And this concerns him, he continues, because “people of all backgrounds are sophisticated, are interesting, are equally prone to tragedy and joy. Any art that articulates that is a comfort. Art is the ultimate expression of you are not alone, wherever you are, whatever situation you are in. Art is about reaching out. So I think it’s wrong to allow one strata of society to have the most access.”

He nods, feeling he’s expressed himself better. I agree.

This article was amended on 14 January 2024. The episode in which the Doctor is set “a sisyphean task of endurance” is called Heaven Sent, not Heaven’s Gate as an earlier version said.

Criminal Record is streaming now on Apple TV+, with new episodes every Wednesday

Fashion editor Helen Seamons; Grooming by Kenneth Soh at The Wall Group using Eighth Day; fashion assistant Sam Deaman; photography assistants Tom Frimley and Tilly Pearson; shot at Loft Studio

[ana-chronista]

Hi, ship asks for the classics?

Jance: 10, 19, 22, 27, 28

Bojere: 12, 16, 18, 20, 29

Sorry for the delay, this turned into a bit of an essay (no surprise there, it's me after all...)

Jance Who drives and who picks out the music? I feel like Nace would be better with sticking with directions, so he’d probably take over the bulk of driving, at least over long distances. That leaves Jan in charge of the driving playlist. How do they silently/subtly express their love for each other? It can be distracting how they wind each other up pretty much constantly, but they show their love in the little things they do for each other. Jan sneaks tracks onto the driving playlist that he’s not keen on but that he knows Nace really loves and makes sure that there are always gluten free options for snacks at practice or at restaurants when they go out (the other guys would, but Jan jumped in pretty quickly to take charge of that – one of the early signs he was completely gone for him). Nace is very good at being observant and either grounding Jan when he gets sidetracked or getting him away from everything when it becomes clear he needs some time out from everything. How do they apologize after arguments? Tough one! I feel like Nace is better at talking through any issues while Jan would find that uncomfortable. It would probably lead to a few extra arguments at the beginning, but as time goes on, I think Jan would start to open up more and be more on board with it even if it doesn’t come naturally. Maybe he even initiates a few such discussions himself. For something ridiculous though, it would probably just be a case of a simple hug and a sorry. I don’t think they would be much inclined to hold grudges against each other. Who would propose? What would their wedding be like? So Nace decides to propose, spends ages finding the perfect ring and agonising how to do it. Big romantic date? Intimate evening at home? On some far-flung beach at sunset? He’s got the ring ready and waiting and is just trying to pick the right moment when Jan turns to him after a gig, still high on adrenaline, throws his arms around him and just blurts out “marry me”. Sometimes things can be that simple. And it’d make for a funny story afterwards! The wedding is where the care and planning is clearer. Seeing that one interview though where they have different ideas about how big a wedding should be suggests they’d have to compromise though. Maybe a small ceremony with just their nearest and dearest, followed by a huge party to celebrate at a different date? The party would be wild enough that people are still finding out new things that happened there in the following months. What’s something that reminds them of their partner(s)? Do they have anything on them daily as a reminder (a photo, phone background, tattoo, clothing/accessory, etc)? Phone backgrounds seem pretty standard, though probably not the lock screen – more chance of a fan accidentally spotting it. They’d also be normal, everyday photos, maybe Jan playing the guitar on the sofa or Nace cuddled up with Igor. Clothing theft is a serious issue within Joker Out, so it would be less obvious but they seem to have a pretty mix-and-match wardrobe. Nace would have a harder time of it than Jan as he’s much more broad-shouldered, but just because it’s rarer doesn’t mean Jan would have less of a reaction to seeing Nace wear one of his t-shirts or hoodies. Maybe it would make even more of an impression.

Bojere Who gets up the earliest? Who has the worst sleep schedule? Who is the sleepiest? As a member of Joker Out, Bojan is contractually obliged to be allergic to early mornings, so of the two of them Jere would be more of a morning person. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s got the best sleep schedule though, as he’s always on the go. As for who is the sleepiest, I feel like they’d crash at the same time, leading to them often being found napping together in the studio, on the sofa, in the back of the car, etc. Both the JO boys and the Kӓӓrijӓ crew probably have a lot of photos of this happening; they have an ongoing competition to see how can take the closest photo without waking them. What’s their favorite “domestic bliss” moment? Do they cook/clean together? Do they like to go out shopping together? They would enjoy spending an evening cuddled up on the sofa (rare, given their busy schedules) with some beers and watching trash TV. Jere in particular likes to point out ridiculous people in shows and be like “see this person? That is you, Bojan.”. He’s very quick with it. Cleaning together would result in too much messing around (think ‘everything in the kitchen is covered in water except the dishes we actually meant to wash’) so if they really want to get anything done they have to divide and conquer. Cooking is marginally more successful, because if they’re making something unique to their home country, the other one has to act as assistant (while probably providing an on running comedy commentary about the dish). They are 100% the sort of couple who would go out shopping with a list (hastily thrown together on the back of an envelope at the last minute, but still, adulting) and come back with nothing from it but an entirely different set of shopping altogether. And they’d have a great laugh while doing it. What does a date night out look like for them? Depends who is organising! Bojan would go fancy with reservations at a nice restaurant with excellent reviews (anything to see Jere in a suit, you know?), whereas Jere would take them on a night of drinking and dancing at some fun bars, usually with some karaoke thrown in for good measure. Both types of dates are fun! What clothes/accessories do they steal from each other? Stolen rather than freely given (the hockey jersey) or left behind (half of Bojan’s Nordic Tour suitcase)? I think Bojan would have kept that Bulbasaur hat of Jere’s and maybe a pair of those spiked sunglasses. And we all know Jere has a fair amount of Carpe Diem-era merch, but seeing him in Bojan’s own Demoni hoody would probably do funny things to his heart. What is something they can never agree on? How do they meet in the middle? International tournaments would bring out their competitive sides. Think something like the Olympics – one of them just wandering in at breakfast and being like “oh, sorry, did you not get any medals in that latest event? Can’t relate.” – or the World Cup – one getting a mock crying photo from the other because their team’s just been knocked out at group stage while the other is going through to the next round. (Eurovision too, obviously, but that goes without saying.) There’s no real meeting in the middle for this! However, the nearest thing would be something like being able to become an honorary Slovene/Finn if your own team doesn’t qualify and getting to share in the glory that way!

[shads-shipposts]

Hi again! This story is gonna have a pretty fast upload schedule, with new chapters coming out every Wednesday and Saturday. At least for chapters 1-20. I'll be taking a break after that until I finish "Act II". Act I is mostly complete (1-14) already. It takes us until like chapter 18 to finally get on the damn ship, but there is plenty of chaos and sailor interactions in the meantime! 

As always, if you liked the chapter please give it a vote!  And be sure to leave a comment, I always enjoy reading them ^^

Fun fact! 2025 starts on a Wednesday just like 2020 did, hence the coincidence of this story "starting" Wednesday at midnight. And my very first try at a Tintin fic in 2014 started Jan 1st on a Wednesday as well. 

Poetry.

Previous Chapter/Beginning: Here Next Chapter: Jan 4th Ao3 Version: Here

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why the hell was there an old car horn outside?

Someone probably drunk after New Year's Eve.

Or maybe it's my alarm?

No, I never used the Car Horn sound byte.

It sounded... a lot busier than usual outside too. Especially considering I was near the back of my neighborhood.

Where was everyone in such a rush to get to?

Sure, it was Wednesday, but still!

Burrowing deeper under the covers, I frowned. My bed was... roomier than usual, and I couldn't find the back rail of the daybed behind me. I rolled over, eyes still shut as I reached out with my legs to find it.

Still nothing.

That, honestly, should have been my first clue. The first harbinger of the chaos that was to come. But I was groggy and honestly a bit grouchy from staying up so late.

And for what? It was rainy and cold, no one was shooting fireworks anyway.

Cracking open an eye, I should have been greeted with the wooden rails of the daybed. Not... a colorful bedroom bathed in the weak, early-morning sun streaming through the open curtains nearby. Knickknacks littered the room, with nautical posters of various ships plastered all over the striped wallpaper with little anchor designs.

I slowly sat up, scanning the room.

It was utterly foreign, unlike any bedroom I'd slept in before, and yet... familiar? Or at least, the overall look of everything was. It certainly wasn't realism, as the colors of everything were just a bit too vivid, but it was very close. The aesthetics were distinctly vintage, which wasn't exactly something I partook in, but I still couldn't shake the feeling I'd seen this style somewhere recently.

But where?

That should have been my second clue I was about to be a victim of ye old HorrorsTM that came with fanfictions, but it still didn't sink in.

I honestly thought I had just... ya know. Lost my marbles. Maybe college had finally pushed me to the breaking point.

When I say I contemplated dropping out last Fall... damn those fruit flies and their entire lab-grown lineage to hell.

But a bit of a mental breakdown was far more logical than the self-insert reality-hopping tomfuckery I'd been burdened with, so I couldn't be blamed for my denial.

Apparently, the universe had enough of my confusion and decided to give me a very obvious indicator of where exactly I'd woken up.

A radio sparked to life, old-timey jazz tunes drawing my attention to a large framed newspaper clipping hanging across the room from the foot of my bed. Despite my lack of glasses, my vision was perfectly clear, giving me a crisp look at the clock next to the radio, reading 9:30 am.

It also gave me a high-definition look at the article headline and the picture beneath it.

Corruption Uncovered: Inside a City Council's Shady Dealings.

There, clear as day beneath the bold font, stood myself and none other than Wonder Boy himself...

Tintin.

The final piece of the puzzle, everything else clicking into place after that.

The aesthetic, the nautical charts, the old car horn, the 40s jazz, the newspaper.

I had found myself in none other than the Tintin movie.

"Mornin'!"

I yelped and flipped out of the bed as a voice sounded right by my ear. Jumping into a right fighting stance, guard up, I found myself staring at a familiar face.

Not a sailor, or a reporter, or even a Tintin character at all.

Instead, I was looking at one of my characters.

Tan skin, shoulder-length black hair that fluffed in every direction, mischievous green eyes, and a body built like a brick shithouse.

"T-... Trevor!?" I sputtered, blinking rapidly as if he were merely an illusion and a few resets would make him disappear.

How was he here? Yeah, sure, he originally started showing up in a Tintin fic snippet I had from like 2017 or 2018, so him in Tintin wasn't too outlandish... but why was he in my room?

Or whomever's room this was.

He flopped on my bed, rolling onto his back and grinning up at me.

Hell, those teeth are sharp.

"The creator recognizes me! Guess that time hanging on the ceiling was worth it!"

Is that where you were? I thought, looking up at the rafters. How the hell did I not see you, these ceilings ain't vaulted.

Trevor flipped back onto his stomach, pointing a finger gun at me. "Ya know, still waitin' on you to draw me."

"Wait-"

"I mean, come on!" Trevor sat up and gestured to himself. "You only just recently settled on a design! I've just been a vague consciousness that plagued your stories with no set corporeal form. Do you know how hard it is to flirt with people like that?"

I shook my head, waving my hands in a weak attempt to get him to stop talking so I could get a word in. "Hold it! What kind of whack-ass dream am I havin' that you're in?" I exclaimed. "You've never shown up in my dreams!"

Yeah, college really has driven me past��the brink of insanity. I'm really out here arguing with a figment of my imagination asking why he showed up.

Ain't the weirdest dream we've had.

True that, but still!

Trevor's grin, somehow, got wider. "Dream? My dearest creator, this isn't a dream!" He frowned, scratching behind his ear like a dog. "Though, suppose it is in a way. Dream come true for your hyperfixated self, gettin' to roam the Tintin movie from 2011! Ya know, the reason you're writin' thanks to that 2014 RP?"

I grimaced. "Ugh, please don't remind me of that old role-play nightmare."

"Hey, it was a start!"

"A cringey start at that," I muttered, then shook my head violently to erase it from my brain like an Etch-A-Sketch. "Hey, stop changin' the subject!"

"What subject?" Trevor asked, an innocent smile on his face.

"The subject of what the hell you're doing here, in my dream. I know you're self-aware, you little shit."

"That I am! Well, since you're so persistent."

Somehow managing a backflip off the bed, he then raised his arms above his head like a successful gymnast.

"Try hard," I snorted.

"Ah, but who designed me so?"

"Yourself," I shot back. "I never even created your dramatic ass, you just started showin' up. Like the personification of the plot or somethin'."

"Ah, but you can't say I ain't useful!"

"Broken clock is right twice a day."

"I could boot you back to the 'waking'." He used air quotes around the word. "World if you'd prefer!" His teeth flashed in a devious grin. "I'm sure the Spring semester would love to welcome you in."

Nausea rose up my throat and I felt the beginnings of a tension migraine behind my eyes.

"Ugh hard pass."

"So stay awhile!" Trevor suggested, spreading his arms wide. "Besides, what do you have to lose?" He winked at me. "Like you said, it's just a dream."

Boy, I do not like the way you said that.

But, he had a point. Or, I guess my subconscious did. This wouldn't be the first time I lucid dreamed, or was self-aware in a dream. And what else could it be other than a dream?

People didn't jump between universes. That just wasn't a thing.

A dream.

That was it.

Just... just a dream.

Given that it was just a dream, it wouldn't hurt to go rambling. It was odd the scene hadn't shifted yet, since my dreams were usually pretty chaotic, but maybe this was the time for a scene shift.

May as well make the best of it before I wake up on Winter Break again. Happy New Year to me.

"Alright, fine," I groaned. "I'll bite."

"You sure do!" Trevor looked at his watch-less wrist. "Welp, gotta get goin'! Things to do, places to be."

Really?!

Since when did dreams have any sort of timetable to keep?

This wasn't the Polar Express!

"Hold it!" I barked, following him as he started for the door. "Can't I get at least a little explanation?"

"Nope!" Trevor turned to face me, grinning ear to ear. "This is not a well-thought-out and carefully crafted type of fanfic, no no! This is a wild ride of a fic where we just take the cards we're dealt, and we run with them!" He shrugged. "All there is to it!"

"But-"

"Besides! Explaining things only slows the chaos down, after all, no one has time nor patience for exposition dumps. That's not why they're here! They're here for nonsense to fuel their escapism and yearning for a found-family that would kill for them!"

"Who the fuck is they?" I exclaimed, gesturing at the empty apartment. "We're alone."

"Are we?"

"Hey, don't pull a Polar Express train hobo," I said, jabbing a finger into his chest. "Can't I get a little info?"

"It's a dream, right? They don't do info dumps, they go straight into the crack!" He held his hand up. "But if you insist."

The moment he snapped his fingers, a wave of images and information slammed into my brain and knocked me off my feet.

Dark alleyways, crowded marketplaces, peaceful courtyards, musty attics, cluttered apartments.

Quick glimpses really, like the faded, hazy memories of dreams. Enough of a visage to distinguish where I was, to feel a sense of familiarity, but not really anything more.

Blurry snapshot rather than a true picture.

Sounds muted and unclear, like hearing things from underwater. Just past the point of deciphering. Voices, lots of those. Gunshots? Yes, those too.

One particular scene came into focus.

A library, or perhaps a city records office basement, its aisles dark and shelves overturned. Books everywhere, some intact, some not. Papers, torn and stained, littering the ground. Adrenaline pulsing through my veins, something heavy scalding my hand.

A pistol, recently and frequently fired.

Echoes of gunfire, accompanied by yelling. Angry, threatening yelling, the roughness and pitch unmistakably masculine.

Yet there was another above the din, a lighter tone that had yet to really mature into the lower base of a grown adult.

A glance to the side revealed a familiar freckled face and ginger quiff, its owner hunkered down behind an overturned table with me. A flash of white fur near his leg, adding his barks to the cacophony.

Was Tintin shorter than me? No, yes... maybe?

It was always so hard to tell when crouched, as I was all leg and hardly any torso at all.

Height didn't matter here, but numbers did.

And we were losing.

Tintin grabbed my hand, yanking me towards a fallen shelf as he fired over his shoulder and forced the attackers to take cover.

Were they the sailors? Another faction? Simple thugs? Some corrupt government goons?

I didn't know, and would apparently never know as the scene vanished like a mirage on an old dirt road during a summer heatwave.

In its place came the headache of the century.

"Hellfire," I groaned, gripping my head. "I know they say to avoid infodumps in stories, but this is a-whole-nother bitch. What the fuck, Trevor?"

I received no answer.

I slowly sat up, cursing as the room spun. "Trevor?"

No one, just me in the room.

And a clock that now read 10 am.

One of the windows to the fire escape was open, however, and with great difficulty, I got to my feet to see if he'd escaped that way.

You better be gone gone, 'cause boy if I get my hands on you you're donezo.

I staggered to the back window, leaning heavily on the windowsill as the low drone of a ship's horn echoed off the alley walls. A quick scan of the lower street revealed no Trevor, and as I blinked away the spots from my vision, I also saw no sign of him along the rooftops.

"Trickster bastard," I grumbled, rubbing my temple.

Another low drone from a ship caught my attention, and I looked towards the source. Just over the tops of some of the buildings, I could see the crane arms moving back and forth.

Go.

You know you want to.

My eyes moved to the nightstand, where a sketchbook sat by none other than my phone.

What do you have to lose?

I walked over slowly, a hand out in case I lost my balance and feel, and stood over the nightstand staring down at both.

It's a dream, right?

Yes. Yes, it was just a dream. It couldn't be anything else.

That meant the phone was out, as cameras never worked in dreams. The sketchbook, however...

While I couldn't keep the sketch, I could remember the movement of my hand as I drew.

My phone chirped, which was quite odd given I'd had that sucker on silent since 2015. The screen brightened, and as I picked it up, I found myself looking at the lockscreen and the characters on it.

My persona Scarlett Bloodsmoke, who first found her origins in the Tintin RP fanfiction all the way back in 2014. Six years ago to the date. She knelt on white sands next to blue-green waters that sparkled with starlight and nebulas, embracing two dear friends; Thatcher Morgan and Skipper Anders.

Characters who once, in a different universe, went by different names.

Allan Thompson and Tom.

My eyes drifted to the text alert banner, and my nose wrinkled in a scowl as I read Trevor's name at the top.

The contents of his text only deepened my frown.

"May as well get reference sketches for the Caroline even though you sink her!"

Of all the character deaths I concocted, the wreck of the Caroline and all the men who went down with her was probably the one that hit me the hardest. It'd been two years since I drafted the scene, and two years since I'd last read it because it was so painful.

It was also the reason I had my phone thrown at me by two of my friends.

Warranted, honestly.

Thatcher and Skipper had perished in the wreck, something that would haunt both Scarlett and me.

And got me yelled at by my therapist, but it was honestly very deserved.

I looked again out towards the distant cranes as, yet again, a ship's horn echoed off the brick walls like a siren's call.

This was a dream. It had to be. So any pictures or sketches would remain in my consciousness only as I couldn't pull them into the real world. But even so...

Dreams had given me very handy inspiration before.

At the very least, I could update the Caroline's design.

She had her roots in the Karaboudjan anyways, just like Thatcher had his roots in Allan and Skipper had his in Tom.

I scooped the sketchbook up, ready to find some sort of bag to put it in and hope it wouldn't be lost to the void like in some dreams. I'd just... have to concentrate really hard and tap into the lucid side of dreaming to get it back.

If I could even get to the docks before my dream took a right from the left lane as it usually did.

A look in the closet revealed a small black backpack with some golden trim; perfect for a sketchbook and a few pencils.

Once I had tossed them in, I rummaged through the closet. No need to tempt the dream with reasons to turn sour, and wearing something anachronistic would do just that. Luckily, dream-me had a lovely wardrobe of non-decrepit workpants and grey T-Shirts that were luckily opaque enough to hide the black sports bra underneath.

A short run to the bathroom later, where I avoided the mirror behind the open medicine cabinet lest it kick me out of the dream before I could get my research, I took a deep breath and stood before the door.

Please don't wake me up, please don't wake me up.

"Right," I breathed. "Here goes nothing."

Cracking open the door, I found myself at the top of a very familiar staircase leading down to a checkered tile foyer.

No fucking way... I live across from Wonder Boy?

No, that can't be right. How'd I see the shipyard cranes...?

To hell with it.

It's a dream, these things are the norm.

I eagerly headed down the steps, thanking my lucky stars when the door to Tintin's apartment didn't open behind me. Either he wasn't awake yet, or he was already at the market. If I'd even awoken on the first day.

Or maybe he didn't exist, his T-posing character rigging lost beneath the dream map.

The sun warmed my face as I slipped outside, which was a welcome change from the icebox that currently was South Carolina in December.

I scanned the architecture as I headed for the docks, the dream thankfully giving me a built-in homing beacon so I knew which way to go. Even if I favored natural scenes both in writing and in art, I could still appreciate the vibrant colors and colorful façades.

The smells were... surprisingly vivid too for a dream. The blossoming flowers on trees and shrubs thankfully negated some of the 1940s car exhaust, as did the heavenly scent of bread from some nearby bakery.

Definitely smelled better than some of the cities in America, which reeked of diesel fumes, cigarettes, old liquor, and the occasional piss. I avoided them whenever I could, but with my junior year of college looming in the fall, I'd have to bite the bullet and deal with that.

No. No college thoughts in my dream. Sailors only.

It didn't take too long to reach the docks. Once there, I slipped between two warehouses and came out where none other than the Karaboudjan sat moored. Aside from the name stenciled on the bow, I could also recognize her by the faded paint on the superstructure and the rusty hull.

A few men worked near her, moving crates here and there or fiddling with rope. Most sat around on crates talking, though, giving credibility to the movie set designers' claims about the crew being rather lazy under Allan. Doing just the bare minimum to keep the ship functional.

Good grief, Tintin wasn't kidding when he called this a-

"You lost or somethin'?"

I turned quickly, automatically shifting into a cat stance with my leg ready to kick, and locked eyes with a tan-skinned blond man in coveralls and a brown work shirt.

The man quickly took a step back, raising his hands. "Woah! Easy there, son," he said, blue eyes wide.

While a quick up-and-down glance revealed no knife or gun, I only partially lowered my leg in case he lunged for me. "No, not lost. Just... lookin' for a ship to sketch."

He lowered his hands. "A ship, huh?"

You seem... vaguely friendly. Or not hostile at least.

Hopefully, that meant this dream would stay pleasant for a little longer. The linear manner of things surprised me somewhat, as usually it would shift by now and I'd have some new objective, but I wasn't about to complain or question it.

I really should have questioned it.

"Always been fascinated with 'em," I said, making sure no other man was about to jump me. "Is there a spot I'll be out of the way? Ain't lookin' to cause trouble, I just wanna sketch a ship."

Dream or not, I ain't getting in the way. Just let me observe from the shadows.

"You don't sound local," the man asked. "Where are you from?"

What's it to ya?

"The states. Down south."

"Ah. Thought you were a Yank."

My nose wrinkled. "No, Yankees are from above the Mason-Dixon Line."

The man chuckled. "Apologies, then." He gestured towards a stack of crates piled up against the wall in the sun near the edge of the berth where the Karaboudjan sat docked. "Those aren't due to be loaded into tomorrow."

"Thanks! Er, what's your name?"

I always need names for side characters.

"Johnny."

Well, that's not helpful, I already have a soldier!John. Don't need a sailor!John too.

Though, it is funny. Me adding a sailor named Johnny to the Karaboudjan crew in my old fanfics and my dream having one too. Be even funnier if my subconscious plopped me in one of the old fic timelines. Preferably the 2015 version because the original RP timeline is a big fact Y I K E S.

Though... there was the issue of the 2015 remaster never being finished.

"Thanks, Johnny."

He held out a hand to shake. "Happy to help...?"

I accepted the handshake. "Er, Shadow."

It was my online name on most sites, and all my online friends knew me by it anyway.

May as well use it here.

Johnny nodded to me. "Well, Shadow," he said, releasing my hand. "Nice handshake, and best of luck sketchin'."

Dipping my head in thanks, I headed for the pile of crates the long way around to stay out of the main activity hub.

Hopefully, I can stay in this dream long enough to get some good inspiration. Annoying Tom or Allan is preferred, but beggars can't be choosers I guess.

I quickly hopped up to the top, sat down, pulled out my supplies, and got to work. 

[sea-of-machines]

The future past tour - Tampere 3.6

Now that I've slept, I can finally write my thoughts down. Possible grammar mistakes coming...

Yesterday (3.6) I, my brother @wish-i-could-fly-like-superman and our big brother left at ten o'clock in the morning towards Tampere, where we were going to see Iron Maiden (well, not big bro, he was just helping me with the driving because it was a long trip and there was no way I could drive that alone).

About six hours of driving with breaks later, we finally arrived at Tampere. At this point I began to be very nervous, which I somehow hadn't been before. We took a little walk around, found the entrance to the arena so that we didn't have to search for it in panic when it was time for the gig, and then just tried to relax and rest a bit.

The gig itself. Oh boy where do I begin. We arrived at the door about half an hour early, and got a good spot in the line. Then when we got in, we went to our seats, which were super high in the back of the arena. I was feeling kind of dizzy as I have a fear of heights, but thankfully I adjusted to it. Oh, and we had to buy an expensive water bottle (4€ for 0,5l????) because I was dying (not seriously but the water did help).

Lord of the lost began warming us up at 19:30, and I think they were great. They were well in tune, and the singer was kind and adorable.

Then after the warm-up, we began to wait for iron maiden. They were in time, as around 20:50 UFO's doctor doctor began to play.

I thought that I would cry when I see maiden, but I wasn't able to produce tears. I sang along and probably stared at Steve for the most of the gig because he is the most beautiful man ever (though we saw the boys only just as very small because we were so far away).

The music was good, holy shit. They played so well! And they played Alexander the Great!!!

My favourite songs of the night were probably death of the celts and fear of the dark because

1. Death of the celts was super beautiful. I found it rude when people got up from their seats to take a piss break during senjutsu songs. Bro, you paid almost 80€ to see a band and you are going to go to the toilet??? (I'd piss my pants if the other option was missing bits of an iron maiden gig, seriously).

2. Fear of the dark. The best singalong tune for real. I really would've loved to hear how the audience sounded as we sang together, but I tried to remove my earbuds and decided that I'm never going to take them off again, the music just sounded so muc better with ear protection as they muffled the sound. Without them it sounded very, well, loud.

Steve's position on the stage had changed, he had swapped it with Adrian and it was weird to see Steve and Janick together on the right side (from my point of view) and Davey and Adrian on the right. But I loved to see it to be honest, since Janick was really interacting a lot with Steve. That's what my little heart needed to see.

Adrian got so many solos??? Dave and Jan both had literally like 1-2 solos when Adrian soloed everything else. Kinda odd but okay.

I really wanted to dance and party so hard but the seated area wasn't good for it. All the people sitting up there were sooo boring as they never clapped or vibed with the music. WTF???

I'd definitely love to see maiden again but from the floor where I could actually see them and have a possibility to dance. Why come to a gig if you're just going to sit there like it was the movies?

After the mind blowing concert around 23:00, we headed back home. It was a bit scary to drive at night when it was dark and rainy, and there was a possible risk of a moose to run on the road. We had to keep our eyes open, but in the last 100km of the drive I was feeling so tired. We made it back alive and in one piece with no damage to us or anyone else. I think the clock was already half past five in the morning when we arrived at home. Then we emptied a bit of the stuff from my car, and went to sleep. I woke up at twelve and it's now half past, and I need to finish emptying my car today.

Even though it was a long and tiring trip, it was fun. I just wish that Tampere would lower their hotel costs so that we could avoid pulling these dangerous stunts aka driving at night. Seriously, you can find a hotel room for two cheaper in our capital city Helsinki! That is crazy. Our total amount of kilometres was around 800 from the whole trip.

[greydiminishing]

Jan 29

its 8:30, im sitting in the library before class, its nice. i feel like i can breathe. I much prefer this to standing in the cold wondering if the 7:30 province bus will ever come because what if i start walking to the perkins bus stop up the road and as soon as im far enough away the province bus comes, and then i stick my ground and watch the perkins bus come and go as i still stand there in the cold. I feel like that could be like, a metaphor or something.

I ended up going to bed sometime between 12 and 12:30, and got up at 6:30. I wanted to see if i could be ready in an hour and make the 7:30 bus, but it seems i need at least an hour and a half, even without showering (showered last night). I took the 8:20-ish bus. I didnt make/eat breakfast, but i brought a banana and a little cup of peanut butter to eat between classes if im hungry.

I took my adderall today and i feel it working,, slightly. I realized i didnt take it yesterday and that's probably why,, i only wanted to eat snacks and watch youtube and couldn't study. Hopefuly I'll be able to be more productive today as i have a lot of studying and assignments i need to get done.

I like to walk through the bookshelves and look at the books and sometimes pick one out to flip through and put it back (i put it back only if i know for sure where i picked it from!). I started reading A hologram for the king last week, but put it back, i got bored. This morning I picked up the marshmallow test and i think im gonna check it out. i haven't read any of it but its about self control so surely it will help me. Also i usually prefer nonfiction, specifically these kinds of psychology or anthropology, how the brain works, type books. I like those kinds of shows too. Like Vsauce, i LOVED sauce as a kid. and there was one on tv called Brain Games.

Its 8:43, i should probably check this book out in a few minutes and get to class. Aw I forgot to bring a notebook, last class we did a class participation activity (we will have 6 over the semester) and to turn them in we need a sheet of paper. I haven't carried a notebook to class in years?? Oh well, i dont think she'd give us class activity 2 classes in a row.

I didnt spend any time actually preparing for my class. again. Which was kinda the point of coming early. Though journaling is productive too, so I'll take it.

[ibelieveinghost]

4/7/24

up-dates!!!

1st off!: got my visa!!! finally!!!!!! actually, i got it on Wednesday but never found the energy to write here haha. oh! i graduated on Friday too and somehow talked the school into refunding the rest of the tuition. so everything went great in the end.

but seriously. i haven't write in so long, and i'll try my best this morning(rainy Sunday vibes yay!) to cover as much as possible. ok moving on---

i've been drawing/sketching on and off, and it sorta feels like a habit. lighthearted efforts and ease, something i rarely experience w/ making art since...since high school.

i've been updating more consistently on my blogs/twitter now. i got some response. some. not as much as one'd wish haha. but honestly, i felt so grateful that people are liking my stuff.

on the other hand, the job hunting has been going... well it has been going! not a ton of jobs being posted out there since early March, and i'm starting to realize that i'm only pretending to be really wanting certain positions. i got so accustomed to idea of working as a researcher/scientist, but. man. wasn't that why i left school in the first place, that i fucking hate it despite pouring ~10 years of my life into it and seemed to be going somewhere. having bright prospects and all. now that i knew. well. i need a little more time to think and un-think, to not rush ahead, and be complete honest w/ myself. getting the visa means i got all the time i want. so again, all worked out in the best way possible.

oh yea! birthday coming up in couple weeks! woo hoo! been planning a little overnight trip somewhere! probably 軽井沢 or 伊豆高原. idk! haven't gone anywhere not Tokyo/Yokohama since early Jan, and traveling alone is totally my thing! actually, growing older is so much cooler than i'd thought when i was in my early 20s. but like. past me: imagining feeling more grounded, taking things less seriously, and being more in tune with urself.

ok! dumping some photos seem like a good way to continue:

(reverse chronological order)

(コメダ I literally come here everyday now lol)

(graduation cert came with a bear! + my lamys... i'm not collecting them! they're super easy to write to write with and i adore the bright neon colors that's it!)

( i went to the 4D special viewing of prisoner of Azkaban and man---it worked so well w/ the 4D format. i mean it is the rainy/icy snowy one of the 8, so a lot of spraying water on your face situations! i was wearing a wide grin the whole time i guess. it was so much fun. that being said, i def shed a few tears near the end when harry realized no one's coming to save the two of em, so he stepped out and did what he didn't even know he's capable of. a scene my younger self never managed to relate to. but it def resonates now.

i love this movie so much, probably my fav out of all of them. watched it at the theater w/ dad when i was probably in...middle school or younger?)

(awww)

(the day i got my visa)

(date w/ S!)

(dinner later that night, w/ the gang)

(us, acting a little stupidly ha + interesting cards i took from the bar)

(last Sunday)

(the komeda near ogikubo station, it went all orange that day + cute lil book i might come back and buy later)

(the night i last hang out w/ A)

damn we're reaching the 30 photo/post limit

so guess that's that! i'm coming back to wrap up this epic photo dump soon(later today)

it felt so nice to just recounting my life, sharing all the bits and pieces on one had ever asked for. to me, it's a cute and ultimately therapeutic thing to do. my future self must be thanking me for taking the time to record everything haha.

anyway! see ya soon!

[mithliya]

ty for the heads up! my friend I'm going with has done most of the planning, but I'd definitely be keen for recommendations of stuff to do/see/eat - our flights got changed so we're finding more stuff to fill a couple extra days

firstly i strongly recommend that u rent a car bc our public transport is garbage and scarce + ubers & taxis are expensive. please bear in mind people drive horribly and be careful and very alert on the road!

totally try jan burger, burgerland, teren teren (get the bahraini tikka laham/beef tikka). have the ghoozy laham at al naeem restaurant & grills (@ madinat hamad souq waqif).

go to manama souq! there’s a very nice place to have breakfast called haji’s traditional cafe. their breakfast is awesome & make sure u have some chai karak!!! it’s not easy to find outside the gulf (& i think also south asia). i’m not sure how good their lunch dishes are so i cant recommend that necessarily but feel free to try it.

u can visit the tree of life if u want but it’s somewhat underwhelming bc it’s just a tree in a dessert 🤣 but the tree itself is impressive bc it’s so old & survives somehow

also it’s not the cheapest but you should perhaps go early in the morning & get a day pass at the ritz carlton bc their beach is very nice & so are the pools (last time i went it was 20 bd & u can be there for a long long time so i find it worth it. also u can use the indoor pool as well, go to the beach, & there’s even kayaking i think which i think costed a little extra but was affordable). i recommend to bring snacks and drinks with you so that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on their expensive things. i like to go to the beach and swim to the island across and then chill there, then swim back & then go to the pool. there’s also the sofitel if u want cheaper but i think it’s like 15 bd and personally i think ritz is way nicer and the 20 bd can be worth it the longer u spend there.

if ur into water sports u can easily go diving lessons also in bahrain but i’m not sure which places offer the best as i’ve never done it. if u like ice skating there’s funland, i believe they have a ladies night or at least they used to, try to go on the ladies night bc sometimes that’s when all the lesbians will come out of hiding in bahrain 🤭.

what else.. the bahrain fort is good and the museum is also nice, arad fort is also nice. the dilmun burial mounds are also nice. please be careful what time u go tho bc it is REALLY HOT! my gf & i went at like 1 pm & we almost passed out from heat exhaustion 😭 either go very early or go at like 5 pm, do NOT go at noon.

those are the places i’d recommend off the top of my head but i’m sure there’s more so if u need more lmk and i’ll think of what else u could do. bahrain is quite small so there isn’t that much to do but there is some variety. imo (private) beaches & food & perhaps water sports are the highlights in bahrain

[delvalentine]

hahahahaha, are you suspecting you're HORNY (for the fanfic writing meme). i do agree that you sound like a sweetheart!

speaking of self-ships... do you have any self-ships?

i also respect nurses a lot! plenty of my friends are working as a nurse or in healthcare and their schedules are insane. knowing that there are cases that can also last for your entire shift... 😱 sounds like a really serious case. what inspired you to be a RN First Assist?

all the best for balancing work and other interests!! it's also something i have trouble doing as well. i'm hoping to fix my screen time and habit to mindless scroll so i can fix my sleep schedule.

i'm somewhat of a graphic designer! my role has changed though. i used to be designing websites but i've shifted to making game assets instead, so i'm actually doing a bit of animation right now. i--i have no idea how to animate so most of my working hours is spent watching youtube tutorials online HAHAH. it's an experience, and i'm very grateful for it regardless.

thank you for ur well wishes uwu you are right that adulthood is truly so, so, so different from being a teenager. writing fanfic is one of the constants in my life, LOL. it's also really funny how you have to request a day off for your graduation 😝 i hope you enjoy your graduation regardless! and congrats to graduating!!!

-- pasta la vista, milk

(trying out gen z email culture because i see it around the internet and it's so funny)

With full disclosure I never noticed this sitting in my inbox even tho it has been since.. April 💀 then I was thinking of making a self-ship post but cringed at myself... looked through my inbox... and then saw that Milk had asked me about self-ships months ago ?! Crazy.

But, for work stuff, I figure actually participating in the operation would be neat as an RNFA. Though I don't know if my suturing would be quite up to par (shaky hands) LOL. It rained on my graduation as it did on my high school graduation so I suppose that was consistent 🥲 I'd actually prefer to take evening/night/weekend shifts because there's overtime and I hate mornings... but of course this is one of few nursing fields that operates mostly on a day schedule 🥲🥲🥲 I'm soooo mf sick of my 6AM alarm !!! But I did go on a week long trip to Japan this early June (again bcs I had gone Jan 2023 lol) and brought back lots of merch, so though my wallet may be sore, my heart is full... of weeb shit. 😌

That's so cool to be able to say !! I really enjoyed graphic design so hopefully it's still fun as a career. Def feel you on doom scrolling... I even have the Instagram time limits but just don't listen to them which defeats the purpose 💀💀💀 oopies

As for my self ships *cracks knuckles* I branded myself as a Wakatoshi Ushijima stan all throughout 2016 and beyond and I stand by it. He's beefy, stupid, and I have a thing for any character with such an abundance of talent that they instantly become an antagonist. I don't think we'd be compatible, but is he ever a joy to look at... I'm also still hopelessly in love with Haiji Kiyose from RWTW because he has the perfect complementary personality for me; he'd be such a good househusband (men that cook >), motivate my grumpy ass with undying optimism, and put up with my moody tsundere archetype 🤩 . Ignis Scientia also comes to mind as a personality match—he cooks, is sarcastic, and wears glasses? Bonus English accent. That checked off my boxes at once & I literally had stomach pain when certain events happened to him in FFXV because I was THAT emotionally attached. My Japan trip re-ignited a lost love in Sakyo Furuichi; even though I don't follow A3 anymore, I just KNOW I deserve to be isekai-d as a hot yakuza wife .. that trope is MADE for me 😤! I'm still deeply in love with Yuuta Okkotsu but have stalled on the JJK manga bcs of deeply unfortunate and traumatizing canon events 🥴 and currently I am on my knees for Rin Itoshi (even after I saw how straight up uggo he looks in the U-20 arc so I must really be delulu) and Yoichi Isagi; I tried (and failed) to pick between them just like a 2010s dystopian female MC. I just know I’d fight with Rin every single day because we’re too similar (and so the hate sex 🤌🏼) In Genshin I fell for Diluc right away; that personality type is just so scrumptious... tldr anybody that's a candidate for hurt/comfort means I am INTERESTED!

Basically 90% of the time I put a reader insert fic out, I'm living my own Y/N fantasy. If I'm not attracted to them and I'm not writing it as a gift for somebody, I feel 0 inclination to write for that character 😂

Anyways, I really am so sorry for the late reply; I was always wondering why I hadn't heard from you anymore but it turns out I was the reason 💀 what's new in life!? What fics are you working on?

Wishing you well and lots of love!!  @themlky

[old-daemon-farts]

Rhea gets her spotlight

I know at some point Cayde and Rhea were trying to answer questions but it's been a bit and I don't even remember what those questions were! May have been the 30 days of daemonism challenge. But now Rhea wanted to try her hands at the 100 question list. She can only answer in small burst so there will be another couple post added later on.

1. What is your name? What is your human’s name? My full name is Rheasilvia but I go almost exclusively by Rhea. My daemian still goes by Kit. 2. How did you get your name? Kit wanted my name's origin to be Greek like her irl name. So we browsed through different mythology stuff until we saw Rhea and knew it was perfect. Many years later we discovered the name Rheasilvia in a game and then found out it's a real astrological name as well! So it became my formal name. 3. Do you have any nicknames? What do you like to call your human? I call Kit, Kit. Rhea is technically my nickname I guess but Kit likes to call me "her heart". 4. What is your gender, if any? Female with she/her pronouns 5. How old are you? Do you know your CIE date? I'm seven as of writing this and my CIEday is Jan 18th 6. How are you feeling right now? Excited! I'm always excited when I talk. I use to be so much calmer, but I came to love and appreciate so much about life that talking and being here brings me so much joy that I don't know what to do with myself. 7. What is your favorite time of day? Oh this is so tough. I like mornings I think. When it's too early in the morning you want to stay in bed and cuddle, but it's also the beginning of the day and holds so much potential. Time to get up and do things! 8. What is your favorite time of year? Spring. Absolutely Spring. 9. What is your favorite activity? Baking! 10. What is your favorite food? Does it differ from your human’s? Even Kit doesn't know her favorite foods! But I love smoothies, and fruit, and cakes! 11. List five of your favorite songs, and five of your human’s favorite songs. I'm only going to list a few of mine if that's okay. They may not be my favorites but I do like them!

Lost Boy by Ruth B.

Tulip by Jessica Hoop

Try by Colbie Caillat

Drum Go Dum by K/DA

Who's laughing now by Ava Max

12. Who was the last person you talked to, other than your human? Em of Thom and Ani 13. If you could change one thing about your human, what would it be? Not a single thing. Flaws and perfections all, I love who she is. 14. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I want to be purple. Oh wait I can do that whenever I want! 15. Are you affectionate? Very! 16. Are you introverted, extroverted, or in-between? Hm. I think I'm a social introvert. I love people and talking to others but the majority of the time I need quiet alone time. 17. Do you like to meet other daemons? I love seeing other daemons! I don't socialize all that much but I love seeing everyone around. 18. Do you have any friends, excluding your human? I do! At least 5 other humans and only three of them are daemians. 19. What do you do during a conflict? Nothing. I don't like conflict. I kinda hide until it's done then pick up the pieces after. 20. Are you happy with the amount of time you are projected currently? Considering I was gone for a whole year I am very happy with how much I'm being projected right now! I don't need to be around ALL the time. Little bit is good. 21. Do you have a favorite quote? If so, what is it? Nope, nothing in particular. But I like repeating different positive phrases a lot. 22. What is your favorite word? Purple. Oh wait you said word not color. Well it's my favorite word now too. 23. What is your favorite memory? My memory is so fuzzy but anytime I sit on Kit's head as a bluebird, thats my favorite memory. 24. What is your favorite thing about your human? EVERYTHING. But probably her heart. 25. What is your favorite thing about yourself? That I get to show the world how kind and wonderful Kit's heart is.

[kanmom51]

Tagging game again.  

Took me some time to get to this but here I am. 😊

Tagged by: @whysojiminimnida

Name: my name is Mom....Kan Mom... 😋

Sign: Sagittarius

Height: Short ass gentleman is what I am, sob sob.

Time: When everyone is asleep (so either extremely late at night or super early in the morning).

Birthday: 20 Dec.

Fav band/artist: BTS, obviously.  But a whole lot of 80s and 90s shit too.

Last movie: Jurassic world Dominion if we are talking cinema, but lots of Netflix and Disney/Marvel films too.  I’m a bit of a TV addict. 

Last show: Shining girls on Apple+ really enjoyed it.  Before that season 3 of The boys.  If you are squeamish (sex and gore galore) my advice is that you keep clear of that one.

When I created this blog: Old person here...don’t judge...I think it was around Jan or Feb 2021.  But at first just did a lot of searching, reading and a little asking before I dared to actually open my blabbermouth and voice my opinions.

What I post: What I feel like posting, lol.  But I’ll give you a hint here...

Other blogs: Mine? Nope.  First timer here.

Do I get asks: I do.  Even more so when I decide to open my anons option (call me either brave or stupid to do that...). 

average hr. of sleep: That’s one in the gut, lol. Used to get plenty, now much less - 4-6 hr. usually now days.  Blame Riley, BTS and my bloody lady hormones (or is it a lack of them?  Idk).

instruments: Recorder, Alto recorder, Clarinet, Piano, but now days playing on someone’s nerves is my specialty.

What I’m wearing: My snug PJs sitting under a blanket, cause it’s bloody cold here.

dream job: I kind of had my dream job, which turned out to be more of a nightmare if I’m being honest (note to followers:  don’t trust legal tv shows, they are unrealistic, lol).  But seriously, I’m kind of over self fulfilment.  Been there done that.  At this point it’s about having fun, enjoying family and life as a whole.

dream trip: Japan and a shore to shore Canadian road trip.

favorite songs: The truth untold, House of cards, Black swan, Euphoria, Airplane pt. 2 + the other songs that consist of my more or less 15 hr. Spotify playlist.  

Oh, and honourable mention to Calem Scott’s If our love is wrong, I guess I’m in love by Clinton Cane and Only then by Roy Kim (JK’s cover).  What can I say?  I’m a sucker for a good tear jerker.

Tagging:  Not gonna put that pressure on anyone.  Just join in the party if you care to.

💜 💜 💜

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

well I've had an interesting first week of the year back at work. I managed to get through to my usual doctor this week, which is a bit of a miracle, considering she's always back late jan/early feb each year. she's recommended 3 places for me to ring to follow up on a probable ADHD diagnosis. the best one is one in Sydney, in Bondi.

but to do all of their tests would mean I'd try to jam them into a week, if I could (probs not let's be real), or each time I do one I spend on a hotel room to stay up there, since I just wouldn't feel bothered to the 2 hour drive home after 8 hours of tests. but the Sydney one gives you a brain scan which would be super cool. but also if you managed to get bulk billed, it's $1,200. also they don't focus on meds, they focus on "brain based" and behaviour change stuff.

the other 2 places are local to my area, but you have to ring to find out their prices. but on the other hand, my doc said to leave all this stiff until after I have my colonoscopy that's booked for a couple weeks from now, on the 16th.

work is better since I'm not at a tired low point like I was at the end of last year. my boss is a bit happier that I'm turning up at the office at around 8:50 roughly and set up by 9. but yeah I hate having to cut my pre work bed relax after my bath each morning to 7:15 to get out the door by 8;20. but rn 8:20 is only working bc it's the school holidays so I'm not locked into the mronjng school run traffic and school zones right next to my house (basically). so it means I will have to bother to leave at 8:15 or whatever when school starts back up again on jan 31st.

but yeah. I still haven't handed in any of my unfinished (or unstarted) cadestship assessments; bc I forgot right before we left of chrissy/NY break to ask our outsourced IT guys to set up our VPN access app (it just gives you a code to type in) on my phone to access the work hard drive at home lmao. so I've meant to start this week, but I just haven't.

aside from work, the other interesting thing is that someone from the catholic school I went to for years 7-10 from 2008 til 2011, decided to invite me to a 10 year reunion that someone else from our year group from that school set up on Tuesday on fb for October this year. and I was just so surprised that someone bothered to remember me and invite me.... and I feel kinda touched tbh lol. bc i didn't even graduate with them properly, in a way, in 2013, bc I obvs graduated at the public school that I transferred to. it's so random that someone thought to invite me all these years later.

and I'm also stressing over the event a little. mostly on the level of what to wear to it, obvs lmao. but also, most of these people are successful working in good jobs. or they run their own successful local businesses/take over their parentd businesses.

while, on the other hand. I finish my cadetship in march, and I have no idea whether i'll be kept on where I am or whether I'll be somewhere else or jobless lmao. but anyway. it's going to be so weird seeing anyone from that school again, when half of them have kids and are married now or some have even divorced or split from their partners that they married in our early 20s (or at least that's what I've deduced from their name changes on fb back to their original last name I knew them by in school).

also im bitterly jealous of a few of them because they've bought their first house or have a second house and are using their first as an investment property. like bruh. am I the only one who still hasn't moved out of home yet??? and obvs there are obvs other people renting but still. am i the only one still at home??? I don't want questions about that tbh.

like is it even worth catching up with these people, when I still remember the derision I got from one of the girls from my group from that school, when I ran into her at uni back in 2016??? how she told me that everyone was actually SO GLAD that I'd left bc apparently they were all secretly harbouring embarrassment for my behaviour and my "attention seeking" or whatever the fuck she said to me???? but also part of me hopes that rich boy goes and is happy to see me and I'll get to congratulate him in person on his engagement or perhaps being married by the time this event happens (if it even does lmao). and that's my other thing. could just be an elaborate joke where they do this, and I turn up, but NO ONE is there???? like hello trust issues, aren't you looking very sexy this week.

[hotchkiss-and-tell]

Dates or Time of Year for Each Nancy Drew Game

whatamagicalplace made one of these charts last year. Those efforts gave me a starting point but I wanted to tweak it after doing my own research. I decided to share my final result since my version differs from hers in several ways. My reasoning for each game is discussed below; but if you have any evidence to add, feel free.

SCK: Nancy says in the opening letter she took a semester off school to visit Eloise in Florida. The banners for Senior Prom are still prominent throughout the school and the event is scheduled for May 23. Game takes place in a single day but that day could be any time in late spring semester prior to May 23.

SCK2: Homecoming banners are prominent and the event is scheduled for Sept 23. A flyer with Jake’s secret messages has a date of Sept 05, so let’s assume Jake was still alive then. The game says Nancy is there to investigate after Jake was murdered “last week.” That could mean three to seven days after the murder since it happened on a Thurs. Thus Remastered takes place in a single day but that day could be anywhere from Sept 08 to 22.

STFD: Nov 13 (confirmed with calendar). Game takes place for as many days and nights as player needs.

MHM: “Winter Festival” and Charlie studying for finals indicates late Nov to early Dec. Newspaper about the lost gold at the end is dated Mar 03; it could’ve been published after money settlement and the renovations completed though. Game takes place for as many days and nights as player needs.

TRT: December. The Spanish letter from Lisa’s friend is dated Nov 30 and acknowledges that Lisa is already in Wisconsin. By now, time should be well into Dec. 

FIN: Possibly Nov (game’s release) but there are no confirmed dates on anything. It’s likely during the school year since Maya is doing the interview for the student newspaper. Game takes place over three days.

SSH: Calendar on Henrik’s desk is for the month of April. The book version takes place during the DC Cherry Blossom parade which usually occurs last week of March or early April. Game takes place for as many days as player needs. (Early April timeline would match with end of game trailer and dates for DOG.)

DOG: Jeff’s calendar is open to April. Culprit’s log book says Sally is due to move in to the cabin on April 19. Sally says she spent four weeks at Moon Lake, implying the game starts May 18. But I really don’t see Jeff’s character forgetting to change the calendar, so either Sally moved in early or she means four weeks total including seeing the property, bidding, and the final sale plus moving in. And let’s remember there’s no safe water source, so it’s unlikely Sally could live there for four weeks straight. Sally says the dogs howled a full week before they attacked the house and then they appeared every night since; maybe Sally lasted 9-14 days with the ghost dogs. The game could likely begin anywhere between Apr 28 and May 18. Then continue for as many days and nights as the player needs.

CAR: Culprit’s emails with black market dealer date from May 23 through June 04. Harlan’s appt book opens to June 09-13 with the significant clue on June 10. Game is a single day, likely on June 10, but could be as early as June 05.

DDI: June 17 (confirmed with calendar). Single day of gameplay.

SHA: Sept 15 to 17. Nancy’s airline ticket confirms arrival date in AZ. Timeline of the game takes place in three days. (Tex’s b-day is Sept 16!)

CUR: This is anybody’s guess. Hugh and Linda were married Aug 22. The lawyer’s letter to Mrs. Drake states Linda must live at the manor for another three months to fulfill the “six-month-habitation-clause” and those six months must be consecutive in the first year of marriage. Game could be late Nov at the earliest. However, frogs are chirping when Nancy arrives at the manor which is a spring thing and Bess and George say they are attending sailing camp. The fact that no one is suggesting that Linda can leave due to health reasons and start the six months over when she’s well again makes me think the year is half gone already. So the game could also be taking place in April or May at the latest.

CLK: May 07 (confirmed with calendar). Single day of gameplay.

TRN: We see snow in Copper Gorge, but it’s in Colorado and snow can be any time of year there. Frank and Lori are wearing the puffy vests and everyone else has jackets and sweaters. Fatima says it’s the off-season now and summer is the busy season. Makes me think winter is my best guess.

DAN: Game takes place for as many days as player needs. The newspaper on Day 1 is dated Aug 28. Newspapers continue to appear through Sept 06, which publishes that the journalists are negotiating for raises and the sounds of the impending strike are occurring outside JJ’s apartment. Day 11 (Sept 07) and onward have no more newspapers appear on the kitchen table. Let’s say Aug 28 to Sept 07 for simplicity.

CRE: Mike’s calendar is set to March. Quigley’s tape recorder log updates as of Mar 28. Craven’s shipping records say his latest sample was sent to Aikens Biotech on Apr 09. Game takes place in a single day, probably Apr 09 or 10. (Mike just hasn’t turned over the calendar yet)

ICE: Newspaper in the lodge is dated Jan 13. Elsa’s resignation letter is dated Jan 15. Lodge computer says Lupe checked in on Jan 15 and she noticed the lack of maid services for days. Game likely takes place that same week, starting maybe Jan 18 at the earliest, and lasts over several days and nights.

CRY: May 31 (confirmed with calendar). Single day of gameplay.

VEN: Newspaper in the Ca’ terrace says chalice was stolen “this morning” and the police records say the theft happened Jan 25. When Nancy nabs Nico on the stakeout, the next day’s newspaper is dated Feb 03. Since game takes place over several days, it likely plays from Jan 25 to Feb 03.

HAU: Night of May 28. The wedding is set for June 01. The end dialogue says Kyler and Matt couldn’t stop saying “I love you” from when the rocket launched to four days later, which was their wedding day.

RAN: The float plane pilot says resorts like Dread Isle shut down in the summer for “hurricane season” in the Bahamas. And the game was released in July. Since we see the map that charts all of Nancy’s past cases (including HAU) so the game is after the wedding on Jun 01. But there is no reference to the current date aside from “summer.” Single day of gameplay.

WAC: The essay Mel receives from her teacher with the plagiarist comments is dated Nov 21. Since two more nights of sleep are required to trigger events in the game, we can figure that the game takes place from Nov 21 to 23.

TOT: Scott’s calendar is open to May and filled in with code until the 19th. The log book of precipitation is filled out until May 24. Game likely takes place from May 20 to 25.

SAW: The TE-Japan brochure in Nancy’s teacher tote says her exchange program runs from Jun 01 to Sept 15 with different durations of 2 weeks, 3-4 weeks, and 5-8 weeks. With no specific date in the game and the player taking as many days and nights as needed to solve the mystery, we have to settle for saying it takes place in “summer.”

CAP: Karl’s daily calendar is on page March 12. When Nancy finds the final forged email from “Markus” she remarks that it has tomorrow’s date, which is Mar 13. Game is a single night of play on Mar 12.

ASH: Newspaper and police report of Nancy’s arrest say the game is done in a single day of August 18. The fire took place on Aug 17.

TMB: It’s the desert and there are no dates on any clue in the game. Since Lily is a student and Abdullah and Jon are professors, perhaps the game takes place in summer between any busy semester/class schedules.

DED: Ellie’s notepad in the control booth says she gave the coil demo to Nancy on Oct 29. Nancy arrived in daylight hours but since Ellie is on the night shift, the demo could have taken place on either side of midnight which means the game could start on either Oct 28 or 29. (Nancy arrived 10/28, night fell and midnight passed, then Ellie gives demo 10/29 OR Nancy arrives 10/29, night fell and it’s not midnight yet, then Ellie gives the demo still on 10/29.) Game continues for as many days and nights as the player needs.

GTH: Jessalyn’s phone recorded her bachelorette party antics from the night of Oct 27 to early morning of Oct 28. Addison says Jess had vanished for the second time after sun-up. It is unclear how many days Jessalyn has been missing before Nancy arrives on the island. Nancy was deep asleep when Savannah calls her for help, which means Jess has been gone at least a full day. Then Nancy arrives on the island at night which either means it’s evening on the same day of Savannah’s call or another day has passed by the time Nancy gets there. Oct 29 is the earliest possibility. Game takes place over three nights. Likely set between Oct 29 and Nov 01.

SPY: The newspaper reports that July 14 is near and it will be the eighth anniversary of Revenant’s first attack. Alec’s letter documents that his sister was kidnapped on the first of the month and has not been seen since. Game takes place between Jul 02 and 14. While Nancy cannot sleep or change the time of day, it is hard to believe that traveling back and forth throughout Scotland’s towns and the different phases of the spy operation all take place in a single day.

MED: Summer in the southern hemisphere, so datewise it’s set between Dec and Feb. Again there’s no sleep or time of day transitions but the elimination rounds likely take place over several days.

LIE: Employee timecards are recorded through July 05, the artifact exchange log is filled out through July 06, and the packing slip on the open crate says received July 06. Game is a single day of play, likely on July 06 or 07.

SEA: Soren’s winter guest log says Nancy is visiting in January. Game takes place for as many days and nights as player needs.

MID: Minion’s plane ticket TO Austria where the game begins is dated Oct 26 and the game goes into Halloween.

[statelies]

(   *  💀  /  jessie mei li, questioning, she/they )  —  is that emmeline vance i just saw rushing down the corridor? i hear they’re a twenty year old hufflepuff, returning for their sixth school year, but their friends would tell you that they are industrious & compassionate as well as blunt & graceless. if you want to know more about them, i guess i could tell you that they’re muggleborn, and from what i hear, they’re currently allying with the order. when our divination professor looks into their crystal ball, they see: falling asleep studying over open books, split open pomegranates, working under flickering candlelight, casual intimacy between friends, a kitchen full of laughter.

CHARACTER INSPIRATION: Izzie Stevens (Grey’s Anatomy), Callie Torres (Grey’s Anatomy) (+ Sara Ramirez, the they/she icon we all deserve), Kara Danvers (Supergirl), Charles Boyle (Brooklyn 99), Alina Starkov (Shadow and Bone), Janet (Not a Girl) (The Good Place), Penelope Garcia (Criminal Minds).

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Implied Racism.

LINKS: Pinterest. Playlist (Coming Soon).

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒

I N T R O

full name ➵ Emmeline Huan Vance

nicknames ➵ Emmy; Emma; Line; Em; Melly; Melsy; Vance; Hurricane

pronouns ➵ she/they/her/them

birthdate / age ➵ October 24th, 1959, 09:47 am / 20 years old

birthplace ➵ Brighton, East Sussex

childhood home ➵ Unknown home in Brighton, East Sussex — 162 Orchard Croft, Harlow, Essex

current residence ➵ Hogwarts, Scotland

religion ➵ agnostic; paternal grandparents were Methodist ( Protestant ) while maternal grandparents were also Christian

occupation ➵ full - time student at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry

P H Y S I C A L

height ➵ 5 feet, 2 inches / 157.5 cm

weight ➵ 48 kg / 106lb

body type ➵ hourglass shaped figure

hair ➵ dark brown, bordering on black; soft and wavy

eye color ➵ dark brown

dominant hand ➵ right

FC ➵ Jessie Mei Li

voice ➵ Jessie Mei Li

special characteristics ➵

small waist

has a birthmark on her right ankle that looks like an apple

pierced septum

smells of ➵

lavender hand lotion

pomegranate

cardamom, jasmine and orange blossom perfume

E M O T I O N A L

zodiac ➵ scorpio sun (x); sagittarius rising; cancer moon

MBTI ➵ ISFJ (“The Defender”)

positive traits ➵ industrious; compassionate; generous; warmhearted; benevolent; selfless; observant; honest; personable; kind.

negative traits ➵ blunt; graceless; meticulous; well-meaning; impatient; internalizes feelings; oversensitive; tactless; overbearing; clumsy.

likes ➵ Pumpkin pasties; duelling club; laughter; the rush of incoming patients; cooking for friends; Ballycastle Bats; Diagon Alley; being barefoot at the beach; roadtrips; apple juice; hugs from friends; nicknames; vanilla candles; the heat of a boiling cauldron; Sugar Quills; warm sweaters; pizza; pomegranate seeds; cheek kisses; taking photographs; finishing essays early; coffee with milk and two sugars; Queen; Aston Villa; cats

dislikes ➵ spam (the food); apparition; the Daily Prophet; starless nights; Kenmare Kestrels; karaoke; losing bets; skinned knees; snakes; pigeons; the colour fuschia (it’s too bright); ticking clocks; banana flavouring; funerals; Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans; Celestina Warbeck; mayonnaise; blue M&Ms; her lao ye; the word mudblood; leprechauns; fans of Kenmare Kestrels; losing football matches; witch Halloween costumes; rugby

amortentia ➵

birthday cake

fresh mint

old books

orange blossom

M A G I C

blood status ➵ muggleborn

wand ➵ Aspen, dragon heartstring core, 8 inches, hard

wand-quality aspen wood is white and fine-grained, and highly prized by all wand-makers for its stylish resemblance to ivory and its usually outstanding charmwork. The proper owner of the aspen wand is often an accomplished duellist, or destined to be so, for the aspen wand is one of those particularly suited to martial magic. An infamous and secretive eighteenth-century duelling club, which called itself The Silver Spears, was reputed to admit only those who owned aspen wands. In my experience, aspen wand owners are generally strong-minded and determined, more likely than most to be attracted by quests and new orders; this is a wand for revolutionaries.

patronus ➵ Hippo

E D U C A T I O N

Hogwarts class ➵ Hufflepuff, 1981

extracurriculars ➵

Hufflepuff Prefect / September 1979 - June 1981

Herbology Club & Greenhouse Keepers / September 1977 - June 1981

Toothill Duelling Club / September 1979 - June 1981

Wenlock Study Club / September 1979 - June 1981

courses & exams ➵

Ancient Runes - O

Astronomy - E

Charms - O

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O

Herbology - O

History of Magic - O

Muggle Studies - O

Potions - O

Transfiguration - O

Care of Magical Creatures - E

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

health ➵

walnut allergy

hayfever

pets ➵

Jíngyi; the long-eared owl

Shu; the white cat

handwriting ➵ Abuget

F A M I L Y

Deirdre (née Wilkinson) Vance ➵ paternal grandmother; retired nurse; deceased May. 1980

Edward Vance ➵ grandfather; retired soldier and miner; deceased Jan. 1980

Xiulan Wong ( Wong Xiulan ) ➵ maternal grandmother (lao lao); homeschooled; housewife; alive

Da Wong ( Wong Da ) ➵ maternal grandfather (lao ye); homeschooled; shop-owner; alive

Dr. Cillian Vance ➵ father; worked for/with the Red Cross UK (and the Hong Kong Red Cross); alive

Mei (née Wong) Vance ➵ mother; teaching assistant; alive

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌

emmeline had always known they were different. at first, it was because of her skin, the way she looked and spoke and could never find anyone to play with on the playground, her chinese middle name and her lao lao being the one to pick her up from school every morning. she would cry to her mother at night, cling to her arms like they were the port keeping her safe from the storm, and listen to her father sing, voice warm and tender as she drifted to sleep, but she never got the answers for why she was treated differently — never got answers for why she was the only non-white child in her school, never got answers for why they hated her so much, hated her existence. but she weathered through primary school, finding her footing in secondary school with her only friend, aisha, who never cared that she was different, that sometimes she could do things that nobody else seemed able to do, that she’d been encouraged to always tell the truth, nothing but the truth, that sometimes she’d say things that hurt, things that stung even though she never meant for them to.

for a while, the feeling of being wholly different faded, or at least, emmeline didn’t notice it quite so prominently anymore, and then suddenly it appeared again — but this time it had been because she didn’t know if she always felt like a girl. not a girl in the traditional sense, anyway, not some days. she liked dresses and fancy heeled shoes and tiaras, but found herself equally at home in plaid shirts and her father’s way-too-big suit jacket and kicking around a football, and for a half-asian barely a teenage… person (she’s still working on it), suspended constantly between two identities, it confused them (even though they’re perfectly aware now that those things are superficial, but the feeling still remains). the only person they ever talked to about it back then was aisha — their lifeline, their best friend, the one their parents reluctantly approved of because they had been so lonely for so long. while aisha was crushing on boys, sweaty and loud and just this side of too teasing, and starting to wear makeup and changing herself, emmeline was trying to find where she fit in, trying to understand who she was, who she is, why they feel so different.

in the midst of all that, emmeline’s letter to hogwarts came. just another difference for emmeline to feel, the knowledge that they have magic was unexpected and tore her family in two. the family she loved - her mother, her father, her lao lao and lao ye, and granny and pops - all had differing opinions on whether or not to accept it, whether or not to send them to school and deal with the fact, up front, that emmeline was, and always would be, special. in the end, emmeline’s pops snuck her out, following instructions from a professor mcgonagall, to find diagon alley, the place where emmeline suddenly felt she fit in. she could feel the magic in the air, could feel it almost crackling in the space around her, almost inviting her in. of course, it took some time — a little too much time, really — to buy everything she needed, and when she cried into her ice cream on the way home, overwhelmed and tired and feeling so many things, he was the one who held her all the way home. 

he and their granny were the only ones there to send them off the hogwarts that first year, their parents reluctant to accept anything so unnatural about their child, but emmeline hardly cared at the time (even though it hit them later that night and they sobbed into their pillow), too excited to remember to even wave, too excited to remember to cry because she was leaving behind the only friend she’d ever truly known, and when they saw hogwarts, that castle appearing, they just knew. they were home. she knows, after years and years of being torn between two identities on so many different fronts, that people aren’y happy she’s here, happy she has magic, happy she calls this place her home away from home, that she laughs loud at the hufflepuff table and wears yellow and black face paint for quidditch matches and tried out for the muggle football team, but there’s nothing they can say to change who she is, her pride in the blood flowing through her veins, in the magic at her fingertips. emmeline’s always known they’re different, but having magic, being home at hogwarts, is the first time she’s ever felt proud to be so.

[astormyjet]

Winter of 2018 - Summer of 2021 TIME FILES WHEN YOU’RE IN YOUR 20s!!!!

OH BOY. It’s been three years (or more) since I updated this. “Time is a weird soup!” to quote a fave. I guess I quit tumblr around the time there was a purge of content and creators and a smack down on a lot of the fandom communities. Tumblr has always been something of a crapshow though so I’ve been more productive with my time than I was in some ways, but I’ve also found other ways to waste my time. *cough twitter/netflix/youtube/MTGArena cough*.

General Life Achievements since 2018 -JLPT N3 GET in 2019! -Blackbelt GET in 2018! -TESOL 120 Hour and BE 50 Hour Cert from online provider GET in 2021 -STUDENT LOAN BANISHED (Thank you grandparents) -Survived Apartment flooding in early 2020. -Mystery anxiety related illness and chronic pain in my left leg from early 2020 - Present. -A mythical 6th and 7th year on the JET Programme. -Started posting on Instagram a lot more about my wanderings around Matsuyama/Uwajima. Mainly old buildings and stray cats. @astormyknight -Surviving so far in Japan with old rona-chan.

2018 was rough. I was given an additional school in the first semester (March to July) as we had someone find a better job. I enjoyed it, but it was a bit of a rough go especially when I was transferred that August after three fantastic years at Tsubaki JHS and ES and only a semester there. I legit went through the five stages of grief - which I think is another reason I stopped blogging. I was given my current base school along with four other schools. Going from 2(3) to 5 schools was a bit of an adjustment. I still feel a bit spread out.

That said, I keep running into teachers and students who were at the Tsubaki’s. The teachers shuffle around every April, so it's always a lottery with which new faces are going to be old friends (or enemies…). A couple of kids moved and transferred into my current schools from Tsubaki too. So I have one kid I can say I've been teaching for 6 out of the 7 years I've been here!

One of the kids who was in JHS 3rd grade when I first got here (in 2015!) hangs out around one of my favorite cafes, so I got chatting with him recently. He's in his second year of nursing school - his class nearly broke me in the first year, it was really a trial by fire with those kids. I was 22 then, and he’s 20 now, so it was interesting chatting to him about that first year of teaching. His younger sister was one of my favorite students too, she was in the group of kids that graduated in the March of 2018, the year group that went through Tsubaki JHS with me - they’re newly minted University students now!

This Thursday morning when I was cycling in to work, a kid who was 2nd year JHS when I left  (so 2nd or 3rd year JHS now) pulled up with their Mum in a van and got their mamachari out of the back to bike to school. The franticness of it all was hilarious. Their Mum legit sat on the horn until I pulled over. I was so happy to run into this kid, even at social distance and both of us late to work/school - because we both remembered each other and as they were going around the corners they were yelling each time they turned and humming the old elementary school directions chant and pelting me with questions about what I’ve been up to.

I've had so many students and schools now, that everything is kind of running into a blur. I remember flashes of kids faces and voices, random memories of in class or out of class shenanigans out of the blue. Also, I now, more than ever, have issues remembering kids' names, but I still know their faces (even with their masks), whose homeroom class they were in, who their friends were and which club they were in. I get random flashbacks to past conversations with them when I see them on the street or we run into each other. I feel bad because the first thing former students ask is ‘Do you remember my name?’ and I always have to be like, ‘Honestly, no, but I remember you did this on x day, x month in x classroom’.

Socially in 2018 -2019 - a few of our friends went home and things shook up a little. Our DnD group changed a bit - one of our players stepped into the role forever DM (THANK YOU RALPH). From memory the newbies were great - some of them just went home at the start of last month and it’s weird not seeing them around (JESS DO YOUR BEST!). I think we only have one or two people left from that rotation. There’s no 6th year ALTs, and only two 5th years.

Aug 2018 - Aug 2019 was the year of Hiura - my mountain school. Dang man, they were so cool. The students of the JHS and the ES combined barely hit 30, so each class was between 3-10 students depending on the grade. It was easier to get to know the kids, their abilities and their goals than it has been for me at other schools. I miss it so bad, being in nature once a week did my country-kid heart so good! The bugs! The frogs! The river! The mountain! The monkeys! The lizards! The dilapidated houses and hidden shrines!!!! The random crabs in the English room...I forgot that there was such a thing as freshwater crabs, and being right next to a river, the invasion wasn’t as out of place as I first thought...  

The area is so picturesque and calming. Every week up there was a small adventure (after getting over my motion sickness from the bus ride up). The kids were constantly pranking either myself or the main English teacher. There was always some new weird bug or lizard in a tank to be educated about. There were chickens on the way to the JHS that used to escape from their cardboard box prisons to run riot on the gardens. There were old people to freak out with my youth and foreignness! The kids also got to do a lot of extra classes, sumiyakai (making charcoal the traditional way), planting and maintaining rice paddies, setting up vegetable gardens, raising fireflies, conserving a special breed of fire lily (only found in this particular mountain valley) and another rare flower, wilderness training ect.

I wish I could have stayed there a lot longer but SOMEONE (read...the BoE) decided that schools had to be shuffled again(thank goodness the dude who has it now was able to keep it from the 2021 shuffle, he's the best fit for the school). I had so many good memories from there, I wish I had been more consistent in writing it down. I do have a bunch of photos and videos from there though, so that's nice. The only thing I don’t miss is the bus trip up and down - not only was it motion sickness, there was a healthy dose of fear each ride as the driver brought us perilously close to the edge of the mountain drop…

2019 - 2020 was interesting. With the school I got given instead of the Hirua’s I was roped into more demonstration lessons which was a lot of pressure because I was also involved quite heavily with the JHS observation and training lessons too. They were somewhat rewarding, the third graders are now super smart 5th graders, but the teachers  who need to embrace the new curriculum and ways of teaching really haven’t taken on anything from the lessons....

Outside of work as well, I was given the chance, thanks to an ALT buddy of mine, to join in with the local festival. It's been one of the biggest highlights of my time here, and I am gutted it’s been cancelled for the last two years, but I understand the reason…. I was able to travel to Okinawa too during that summer for an international Karate seminar with the Dojo I train with. I met the head of the style I currently practice and a bunch of people from around the world. I also got to see Shuri castle before it burned down. So that was a stroke of luck. One of the places I want to go when/if we get out of this pandemic is Okinawa. I want to see more of those Islands so bad. Just before the whole pandemic thing too - I managed to see the Rugby World Cup, a Canada vs NZ match, I even ran into Tana Umanga in Oita city!!!

2019 - 2020 was supposed to be my last year on JET, so I was frantically Job hunting. I went to the Career Fair in Osaka in early Feb/Late January 2020. I applied and got interviewed for a position in Sendai in early Jan 2020. In the end though - the Rona hit. We started hearing whispers of it around the end of 2019, then the cruise boats happened, and then Japan refused to cancel the Olympics...every holiday season there is a new wave of infections, my nurse friends in Tokyo are struggling....my teacher friends in more populous areas of Japan are struggling…

JET couldn't get new ALTs for 2020-2021, I took the extra year when it was eventually offered, as the one job I had managed to get a serious offer for was hesitating because with the rona setting in, things were uncertain. There was a lot of time spent adjusting to the new rules surrounding what we could do in class with the kids as well as textbook change. Schools shut on and off during the spring months. 

I also got a reminder of my mortality mid May with an unrelated illness which is still smacking me around a bit - stress/age, it does things to the human body it has no right to. It's only been in the last three months I’ve been able to exercise like I used to, I’ve put on a bunch of weight I can't shrug off (one part medication, another part diet) My relationship with food needs to change, and I really need a kitchen that allows me for more than one pan meals. I also need to figure out what to do with a left leg that is in constant pain from the knee down and a heart that misses beats when stressed out (mentally and physically…). 

My apartment also got flooded by the guy upstairs at one point, I spent most of late February/early March living in a hotel while my walls and floor got redone - I think this was one of the things that really stressed me out and kicked my anxiety right up a notch, it was right when things were getting REALLY bad with rona-chan in Hokkaido and schools were shutting down here as it was filtering into the prefecture and so Japan closed schools for the first time…

Classes in covid times have been weird. We’ve been wearing facemasks full time since the early stages of the pandemic (March 2020) - so I admit that I get a bit pissed off seeing both Americans and New Zealanders back home bitching about just having to start wearing them full time in public. I have asthma and have been suffering with the things on during the 30*C plus with high 90s humidity summers. Teachers were offered vaccines late July 2021, just days before the Olympics were open - and I finished my two shots in the middle of August. But the overall distribution and take up of the jab has been slow.  As mentioned above, we can't play a lot of the games we used to play with kids in classes anymore, and a lot of the activities outlined in the textbook curriculum need to be adjusted too, so we’ve had to be creative. We use hand sanitizer a lot more too. One of the things I miss the most though, is eating lunch with the kids.

Socially from summer 2020 - now 2021 we played a lot of DnD and board games, both online and in person when we could. There were no new ALTs again for the 2021-2022 JET year, and those of us who were in 6th year were offered a 7th. Four out of six of us took it. As a whole we’re down from a peak of 38 ALTs for Junior High and Elementary school to 22 for now. We hopefully will get a new person at the end of September, and 4 more in November. Which will bring us to 27. This has led to ANOTHER round of school shuffles.

Summer vacation has been weird the last two years. With rona-chan, we haven’t really been able to travel. All the summer festivals (all the Autumn and Winter ones too!) have been cancelled, so the changing of seasons just feels, wrong. I dunno. There is so much we all miss from pre-rona-chan, and so much that doesn’t happen that makes this just feel like one long long unending year of sadness, coldness, raininess, unbearable heat and repeat. I’m tired. Time is going so fast, but so.dang.slow.

I lost my favorite school (AGAIN GDI!!!) and gained the school I taught a semester at in 2019....I had my first day there on Wednesday. Schools actually started back on September 1st so there was some drama as the BoE didn’t communicate fast enough about our school changes. We legit got told on the 27th of August (on a Friday) our schools were changing effective September 1st, but somehow some of our schools found out on the Monday 30th August. In July we were told we would be changing schools at the end of September, so.a lot of ALTs and schools were left short changed, not having opportunities to say goodbye to co-workers or students/having their planning for the semester more or less thrown out the window too. I love my job. I really dislike the way the BoE treats us, the Japanese assistant language teachers and our schools.

The new school I have is used to having an ALT there twice a week, who plans all the lessons and executes them. I’m at three elementary schools. I'm only at each once a week, I want to plan, but being that I miss an entire lesson in between visits, it's going to be difficult to do so. Not impossible, but being that I'm already doing it for two other schools, who are at two different places in the textbook ah…….. From what I have talked to my new supervisor about though, it sounds like the teachers have taken on more of the lesson planning and I'll be able to contribute ideas when I'm there. I just want to and wish I could do more without being confused all the time. (This is all usually done in my second language too, not in English so extra levels of confusion and miscommunication abound).

 I feel like this at my JHS too a lot of the time. I want to contribute more, but even with constant communication with my main in school supervisor (who is a badass and pretty much on the same page about everything with me) I still feel about as useful as tits on a bull. Especially now that classes have been cancelled and or shortened, there's less time to do stuff. Any game or activity I plan is usually cut in favor of making up time in the textbook. When I'm in class, I'm back to being a tape recorder, the fun police and general nuisance.　

Also in the last week...my two of my schools were  shut due to students testing positive for the rona. This is the second time my schools have had a scare in the last 8 months. And by shut, I mean the students were all at home, but the teachers  all had to come into the office. Because why not I guess….. I mean,  the cases increasing is really not unexpected with the amount of people who were travelling over obon and the increase of cases due to the Olympics/Japan being slow on vaccinating/delta being the dominant strain/Japan's leaders doing relatively little except asking shops and restaurants to limit people coming in at one time and closing before 8pm. I know my schools weren't the only one shut either - but still High Schools were having their sports days this week. I kept on seeing groups of kids hanging in the park after, so that was a little bit nerve wracking.

It's just frustrating - we’ve been on half days to “minimize the risk of infection” for kids and teachers, as if only being at school from 8am through to 1pm is going to reduce the risk.  My schools have only just started testing out Microsoft teams and Zoom lesson equipment. Thankfully our school’s run in this time was contained real quick, the family was super good about informing us when they got their results back, and the fact they needed to be tested. The homeroom teacher and the students from the same class were the only ones tested, and they all came back clear, which was nice. But the information came back so SLOW. 

I’m a little irritated because I found out on Wednesday night what was going on, and even if I am vaccinated, I am super worried that I will end up being the covid monkey due to being at different schools three days out of five. I think other than being worried that I will catch it myself and get real sick, my biggest fear is that I will be protected from bad symptoms from the vaccine, but still be able to pass it onto some of my more vulnerable friends and students. The whole thing is a mess.  

Other than Covid and BoE drama, life is good. I’ve had a couple of other big changes - both fantastic and not so great, but yeah.  I have my health (and health insurance!) for now. I have a job, for now. I have a sense of existential dread for the next 12 months, but we’ll see where we end up. Life post JET is going to be way less cushy and I am TERRIFIED. I mean, I have a BA in Eng/Ling and no idea what to do with it…..because I am NOT suited for academia.

TLDR: Love my job. Don’t like the system. What is life? Future scary.