#i literally always add myles

[scribblesofagoonerr]

— we brought a puppy home | buddy & monkey: double the trouble

monkey brings a puppy home and its' not completely smooth-sailing

check out the rest of buddy & monkey here: the masterlist

credit to @alotofpockets for her help with some of this and @lvnleah for the idea of this fic!

"Le, please!" You beg and plead with the blonde, who is all but firm on her decision much to your own disappointment.

"No, Monkey!" Leah states, sternly.

"Pretty please?" You still continue to try your luck with her.

"No, Monkey. I've already said it before!" Leah tells you in a stern tone of voice, which your all but used to hearing now.

What is it that you're trying to ask for? A puppy.

You love dogs, well you love all animals, other than pesky chickens of course, but your a huge fan of animals and you'd always had a dream of owning a lot of them.

You have always wanted your own dog, but of course growing up your father was always too selfish to want to spend on his money on booze and drugs, so therefor you never got to own your own dog before.

So here you are trying to convince the ever-stern blonde that you live with to get a dog, but that's easier said than done when shes' very much against the idea of it.

That answer still isn't good enough for you as you pout, "But why not? You've seen Myle, she's cute! Why can't we get our own?" You question, you love walking the little pup that Beth and Viv have, so you desperately want your own now.

"Because I've said no already and I'm not going to change my mind!" Leah repeats her words again, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Yeah, but just think about it..." You wonder off from your thoughts, "You know that Buddy would love a puppy as well!" You add, gesturing to your favourite little buddy who has been peacefully watching cartoons until you'd mentioned her name.

You were somewhat smart to play that at your advantage.

"Puppy, mummy!" Buddy pipes in to the conversation.

You smirk at the blonde mischievously, "See? I told you that Buddy would want one as well, Le!"

"Puppy, Mummy," Buddy repeats, excitedly as her eyes light up in awe, "Puppy!"

"Great, see what you've started now?" Leah murmurs, exhaling a sigh.

"You have to admit that a puppy in the house would be so much fun!" There's a glint of mischief in your eyes as you shrug your shoulders.

You knew exactly what you were doin' getting Buddy involved in this.

The blonde shakes her head again, "No, we're not gettin' a dog and that is final. End off!" She states firmly.

You knew that going behind Leah's back and buying a puppy might've been a bad thing that could definitely land you in trouble, however, you were in puppy heaven right now with your new adorable four-legged friend that was finding itself quite at home

"Leeeah!" You shout through the house, pushing it open carefully with your new little friend in your arms, "Are you home?" You continue to shout aloud.

"What's with all the noise?" Leah walks out into the hallway, mildly concerned about the loud volume of noise and thinking something is wrong straight away until she freezes in her step and narrows her eyes, "Monkey, please for the love of god tell me that isn't what I think it is!" She states, firmly.

You grin sheepishly at her, "Well, uh... What's it look like," You try and make a joke out of it.

You knew she would be mad, but you didn't realise she would be this mad.

Oops?

You swear you could see steam coming from the blondes' ears, "It looks like a puppy, although I know I specifically told you last week we was not gettin' one," She states in a sense of annoyance, "Please tell me that is one you're looking after!"

"Nope, hes' ours!" You beam a wide grin and hold the little guy out to her, "Isn't he cute?" You ask without much care in the world.

"Did my words literally just go in one ear and out of the other?" Leah is in disbelief as she all but refuses to even pet your new four-legged friend.

You continue to grin sheepishly at the blonde, "Uh, sorta. Maybe?" You admit, biting your bottom lip, "Le, meet Tate! Short for Tater-Tot!" You introduce the small pup.

"I... I thought you knew about this," Jordan stammers, her eyes widen in realisation before she looks at you, "Monkey, you told me she knew about this!" She states.

"What? No I didn't know!" Leah states, shaking her head profusely.

"Okay, so maybe I might've bent the truth ever so slightly," You confess, wincing as you await either of their reactions.

"Monkey!" Jordan exclaims in disbelief.

Leah huffs and shakes her head again in disbelief, "I cannot believe you went behind my back about this, Monkey. We're not keepin' it!" She tells you, firmly.

"He has a name, Le!" You pout, gesturing to look at the pup.

"I don't care what his name is, we're not keepin' him!" Leah grumbles.

You frown and fuss the small pup in her arms, "Awh, don't worry little guy. Les' grumpy an all now but she'll come around in no time to love you!" You coo at him, hoping to lighten the mood.

"I don't think so-- How did you even afford to buy him?" Leah questions in confusion, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Money, duh? I saved up!" You admit, resisting the urge to roll your eyes.

The blonde clicks her tongue in disapproval, "Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable!"

"I... I would never have gone along with this and if I knew you didn't agree with it, Le," Jordan explains to her ex-girlfriend.

"Yeah... I know," Leah murmurs in response, "Monkey has a way of convincing people to get her way sometimes." She adds.

Jordan nods slowly and takes a click glance at the time on her phone, "Right, it's almost time to collect Buddy from pre-school-- Do you want me to go and pick her up instead so you can uh, sort out the issues with the puppy and what not?" She offers, your guess is that she is trying to leave the conversation as quick as she can.

"Yes, please. If you don't mind," Leah replies in agreement.

"Wait, no, Jord-- Don't leave me alone with her, she might kill me!" Your eyes widen in realisation.

The minute Jordan leaves, your really gonna be in trouble.

"Good luck, Monkey!" Jordan chuckles, waving her hand in the air as she heads back outside.

"Jord, no, wait, come back..." Your plea falls of deaf ears as you spin back round and take in the angry and annoyed expression that Leah has on her face, "Okay listen, I know you're mad an all about it now, but come on. You have to admit he is kinda cute though!" You insist, trying to hold Tater-Tot up in front of her to try and get her more approachable.

Leah scoffs and shakes her head, "Cute or not, he's goin' back to wherever it is that he came from!" She states, determinedly.

"Sh, Le, he can hear you!" You joke as an attempt to keep the conversation light still, despite how angry the blonde looks with you.

"You completely went against my words-- I told you under no circumstances, were we getting a dog!" Leah exclaims, pointing her finger in your face as she raises her voice, sounding like when she's in captain mode.

"Eh, I know but I thought maybe when you see how cute he is then you might change your mind, no?" You still hold up Tater-Tot in front of her face to get her to ease her sternness.

There's no luck whatsoever.

"No. Seriously, Monkey? I don't have time to take care of a dog and you sure as hell don't either-- Explain to me how an earth you expect to take care of a dog between training, games and not to mention your uni work!" The blonde still continues to stand firm on her decision

"Well, we can make it work! He can be like your emotional support dog!" You try and insist, hopeful to play your cards right with this one.

Leah is soon stumped from her on-going rant, "My what?"

"Emotional support dog," You repeat boldly with confidence, "Like Win at the club but this dog we can actually take home instead! Come on, look how adorable he is. I know things haven't been great with your injury and stuff, but like, Tater-Tot can help that now to cheer you up!" You try and make your point justified, trying to keep Tater-Tot held comfortably in your arms the whole time.

"Let me get this right," Leah pinches the bridge of her nose and chuckles slightly, "Your using my injury as an excuse for us to have a dog?" She questions.

You slowly nod in agreement with her, "Well, uh... Yeah, kinda-- Look, I know you're all mad and stuff now, but give in a few weeks and you'll learn to love Tater-Tot, yeah?" You try and suppress the grin on her face, but to no avail, it doesn't work.

"No, because we're not keeping him, Monkey!" Leah exclaims in disagreement.

You huff and pout at the blonde's words, "I can't take him back though when I've already paid for him!" You insist.

"Then get your money back, I don't care. We're not keeping him!" Leah states, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Come on, Le. Please?" You plead with her.

"Absolutely not, no way!" Leah continues to remain firm on her decision, "I already told you previously, no dog!"

"Seriously, Le? I can't... I don't want to take him back!" You pout at the blonde, in a hope that she will change her mind.

"Too bad. I'm sorry Monkey, but we can't keep him. He has to go back, alright? I'm not changing my mind on this one!" The blonde tells you, firmly as she shakes her head and refuses to give Tater-Tot another look.

"Hi, we're back!" Jordan shouts aloud as she pries open the front door and hesitates to walk inside in case you and Leah are still arguing about the puppy.

"Mummy!" Buddy all but throws herself at Leah's legs as soon as she sees her.

Leah smiles fondly at her little girl, "Hi, Buddy. Did you have fun at pre-school?" She wonders.

"Uh huh, lots' of fun!" Buddy nods enthusiastically.

Jordan hums in agreement and routes around in the 3 year old's backpack that she has in her hands, "Yeah, shes' drawn you a picture for you."

"You have?" Leah questions in faux surprise as Jordan hands over Buddy's latest masterpiece to her, "Wow. I absolutely love it! That is going right on the fridge!" She states determinedly, wrapping her free arm around the 3 year old.

Jordan smiles fondly at the pair of them, "Hows' things with the, you know what?" She wonders, curiously as Buddy pulls away from Leah after a few seconds.

Leah scoffs and shakes her head, "I can't believe she went behind my back about this," Unbeknownst to her, Buddy had decided to wander into the living room and find the new four-legged friend in the house, "I don't want Buddy to see it, because then I know I will--"

"Puppy!" Buddy gasps in excitement, her eyes wide in awe.

"Too late for that," Jordan chuckles.

"Puppy, Mummy!" Buddy repeats, excitedly.

Of course you are so excited to introduce them both, "His names' Tater-Tot, Buddy. How cool is that?" You ask her.

"Cool!" Buddy parrots, crouching down to lie on the floor next to the pup.

Leah exhales a sigh and walks into the living room, "Yeah it is, Bud. You have to be careful, okay? He's very tiny," She explains to the little girl.

"You have to admit that he seems very settled," Jordan chimes in.

Buddy peers up to look at Leah curiously, "Is he ours?" 

"Yes," Your quick to state.

"No," Leah disagrees, glaring at you.

"I wan' him Mummy!" Buddy insists, cuddling up to the four legged animal.

"See? Even Buddy wants him!" You gesture to your favourite little buddy and the pup together.

Leah glares at you, which kindly meant for you to shut up, "Enough, Monkey!" She states, firmly.

Buddy continues to gently cuddle with the puppy beside her, "I 'ove him, Mummy! Can we please keep him?" She questions, hopeful.

You feel like your hearts melting watching the adorableness from them both, "Come on, Le. Look at Buddy's face-- Please?" You beg and plead.

"You know, if you do decide to keep him and all then I can watch him when you're away and I'm sure that your mum wouldn't mind helping out to watch him either..." Jordan chips in, but knows when to shut up after she receives an all-too familiar glare thrown her way, "Yeah, alright, gotcha. I'll stop talkin' about this."

"No, no, I'm sorry. I don't have time to look after a dog, I already have 2 kids to look after," Leah states, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Hey! I'm an adult," You shout aloud in protest.

Leah scoffs and shakes her head, "You still order happy meals at McDonald's just so you can have the toys, you really wanna go there?" She questions.

"They currently have Minions, don't judge me!" You exclaim, shrugging your shoulders.

"Right, so what do you want to do?" Jordan shares a look with her ex-girlfriend, "I have to get on the road soon, but uh, I can hang around for a bit if you need help or what not?" She offers her help, not too sure what to do in this situation.

Leah exhales a sigh and shakes her head, "No, no, don't worry. You head back home. It's fine, we'll take him back tomorrow." She tells her ex.

"No I don' want him to go Mummy!" Buddy whines in protest.

Leah frowns slightly as she looks at Buddy, "I'm sorry Buddy but we can't have a doggie here, but its' okay because you can still see Myle, can't you?" She explains to your favourite little buddy, "And Blu as well at Mama's house." She adds.

"No, no. I don' like you, Mummy!" Buddy is quick to shout aloud, "No, mean Mummy!" She continues to shout.

Leah's heart clenches when she hears them words spill out of her little girls mouth, however, Jordan is able to get a quick handle on it.

"Hey, no, no, that's not nice is it, Buddy?" Jordan tells the 3 year old in a gentle tone of voice, "You don't mean that, you love Mummy, don't you?"

Buddy is more adamant as she shakes her head,"No, no. I don', she mean!" She exclaims, starting to tear up.

"Buddy, I know you're upset but its' not nice to say them sort of things," Jordan tells her little girl.

"Mummy's a meanie!" Buddy continues to cry, not really understanding the true hurt behind her words directed at Leah, "She won' let us keep the puppy! Mean Mummy!"

"Buddy, listen. I know you're upset with mummy about this and that's okay, but when you say words like that, they hurt mummy," Leah kneels in front of her daughter, she knew not to take the words to heart but it was a slight shock to the system to hear this come from the usual little sweetheart and well-behaved little girl that she is, "I know you want to keep the puppy, but it's just not possible, okay? I'm sorry about that."

"Monkey! That will be Wally!" Leah calls out to get your attention from where she is upstairs with Buddy, "Can you get the door?" She shouts aloud.

"Sure, cos' its' not like I weren't busy doin' something else or anything," You huff and pause the current game on your PlayStation before you wander over to the front door and open it to greet the older women, "Hi, Wally!" You greet, somewhat enthusiastically.

"Hey little one, how're you doin'?" Lia gives you a brief hug before she steps inside the house.

"I'm fine," You respond, giving her a faint smile, "Le's upstairs with Buddy so she made me get the door instead!" You explain to her.

"Ah, it's bath time," Lia jokes, hearing the commotion coming from upstairs.

"I'll be downstairs in a minute, Wally!" Leah shouts from upstairs, where she is no doubt being covered in water from Buddy having the time of a her splashing about in the bath.

Well it's better than the tears earlier on that Leah and Jordan both had to work together to calm her down before she got herself completely worked up about it.

"No problem," Lia shouts back upstairs before she turns to look at you, "So, I've brought some things round to make us dinner, I thought I could introduce you to one of the famous dishes in Switzerland." She offers, motioning to the dish in her hands that your yet to notice.

"Fancy," You murmur, wrinkling your nose slightly in disgust as you glance into the pot and don't like what you see at all.

You wish you had already eaten dinner earlier with Buddy, after all.

There's the always an option to order pizza if you get too hungry though-- Oh wait, you spent all your allowance on Tater-Tot.

Damn it.

"Oh my Goodness, who's this little guy?" Your thrown out of your thoughts when you hear Lia gush in awe and set her eyes on your new four-legged friend that had made his way into the kitchen.

"Tater-Tot," You grin as you scoop the fur ball up into your arms, "I brought him."

Lia looks surprised as she leans forwards and pets' Tater-Tots' soft fur, "I didn't know you guys were gettin' a dog, Leah never mentioned it-- Oh you're adorable, aren't you, little guy?" She gushes in awe, falling absolutely smitten for the little guy.

"That's because I didn't know," Leah responds, making her appearance known as she walks into the kitchen not long with Buddy trailing after her, dressed ready for bed in fresh pajamas.

"Auntie Wally!" Buddy squeals in excitement to see the women.

"Hi, Buddy!" Lia smiles and scoops up the 3 year old into her arms, "Oh, I see... And I take it that you're not too happy about it then?" She wonders, looking at her blonde friend.

"Well I can't say I'm too fond about it," Leah explains, shaking her head as she looks at you with a knowing look, "Monkey tricked Jord into getting it so Jord was under the impression that I knew. Apparently, she played us both, didn't you, Menace?" She wonders.

"Well, it worked didn't it?" You respond, shrugging your shoulders.

"Oh dear," Lia pulls a face.

"Look, auntie Wally, puppy!" Buddy is quick to jump in the conversation and shift the attention to your new four-legged-animal.

"I can see that, Buddy," Lia smiles at her, "He's very cute, isn't he?" She asks.

"Uh huh! So cute!" Your favourite little Buddy agrees, nodding her head in a fast motion.

You can't help but scoff in annoyance, "Yeah and meanie Malfoy is makin' me return him tomorrow! I mean its' cruel, right? Look at his little face!" You insist, pouting as you hold Tater-Tot up in front of Leahs' face to try and get her to cave in.

Leah shakes her head in disagreement, "It's not cruel when I told you we wasn't getting a dog in the first place!" She states, firmly.

"He is very cute, but I suppose Leah is right to say that when she told you no to the dog in the first place, no?" Lia can understand where her friend is coming from and tries to be the peace-keeper in the middle of things.

"It's totally unfair though!" You huff in annoyance before you do no more than start to stomp off upstairs to your bedroom with Tater-Tot in your arms still, showing how completely mature you are taking this situation.

"Wait for me, I got little legs-- Down please!" Buddy whines, starting to wriggle in the woman's arms, "I wan' go find 'Tater-Tot!" She insists.

"Go ahead little one," Lia chuckles and places Buddy down on the floor, who wastes no time in catching up to you and Tater-Tot before you help her climb up the stairs.

"Leave her to sulk about it," Leah tuts and shakes her head, watching carefully as Buddy climbs up the stairs with her help, "I'm not changing my mind on this. We're not keeping that dog." She states, firmly as she sticks her ground.

"Okay," Lia chuckles, agreeing with her friend.

"We're not, tomorrow morning, hes' going back to wherever it is that he came from," Leah tells the older woman.

"Okay," Lia repeats as she gets on with the cooking.

"You think I'm gonna change my mind, don't you?" Leah raises her eyebrow, curious to know her friends thoughts.

"I mean, would it really hurt to have the company round here?" Lia glances at the blonde as she makes her way round the kitchen and grabs a chopping board of the side, "It already looks like Buddy and Monkey both love him a lot, it looks like they're inseparable."

"We're never in, it wouldn't be fair on him, would it?" Leah states, shaking her head in disagreement.

"When would that be a problem? You can take him to the training grounds, there's ways around these things," Lia points out.

"Oh, and what about international camps?" Leah questions, passing Lia a kitchen knife that she needs, "Or pre-seasons in another country?" She wonders.

Lia gratefully accepts the knife and gives the blonde a knowing smile, "I'm sure your mum wouldn't mind looking after him if you asked her." She answers.

"It's not happening, we're not keeping the dog," Leah stands firm once again, repeating her words.

"Looks like the living room is safe from the puppy," Lia jokes, walking into the spacious living room to find the small pup fast asleep on the rug.

It's a bit later on in the evening, Buddy is upstairs fast asleep in bed and you are just in a general teenage sulk still about things upstairs, but somehow the small pup was able to climb off the bed and make his way down the stairs.

"He's spark out," Leah murmurs, letting out a small laugh, "Don't get too comfortable here, Buddy. Its' just for tonight and then tomorrow, you're goin' back to your old home." She states, determinedly.

Lia chuckles and shakes her head before she settles down on the sofa beside the blonde, "Sure you won't change your mind?" She jokes, giving her a knowing smirk.

Leah huffs and shakes her head, "Nope, I'm still not changing my mind. We're not keeping him," She states, reaching for the TV remote that's on the coffee table in front of her, "I'm not." She repeats.

"Okay," Lia chuckles, holding her hands up in mock surrender.

"I'm not," Leah repeats, not sure who she's trying to convince more, herself or her friend, "It's just not a practical situation, is it?" She adds.

"Okay," Lia repeats, trying to stifle her laughter, "What're we watchin' then?" She wonders.

"I don't know, anythin' will do though, won't it?" Leah answers, scrolling through the various channels, "I'll take anythin' other than another Shrek movie or Blues Clues, right now." She jokes, giving a subtle nod to your favourite movie and Buddys' favourite TV show.

"True," Lia chuckles in agreement.

Leah can't help but glance at the new four-legged-friend asleep on the rug in front of them.

It wouldn't practical to have a dog when she has her career, but at the same time, it might be good to have a distraction

Her opinion is even more swayed when the little pup yawns and wakes up, whining slightly as he makes his way over to the sofa and sits waiting to be picked up.

"Looks like he wants to make friends with you, eh?" Lia motions to the small pup, who is sat in front of the sofa as he whines quietly.

"Maybe hes' hungry?" Leah wonders, confused.

"No, hes' already been fed," Lia reminds her, motioning to the bowl of food that you had fed him before going back upstairs to sulk. Doing no more, she leans down and picks Tater-Tot up off the floor, "Hello little guy, are you feeling jealous down there on the floor, huh?" She speaks softly to the little pup.

The pup did no more than paw his way over to Leah and make himself comfortable on her lap, settling down and falling back to sleep.

"Seriously?" Leah groans, glancing down at the puppy.

"Oh, would you look at that. I think he likes you," Lia jokes, smiling at her friend.

"Well that's just great," Leah huffs and shakes her head.

"Don't be such a meany, hes' comfortable, clearly!" Lia chuckles, stroking the pups' fur.

Leah hums quietly, "Just as long as he doesn't eat any of my shoes tonight, we'll stay friends," The blonde remarks, pursing her lips as she reluctantly strokes the pups' fur.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Lia chuckles in amusement.

"I suppose he is pretty cute," Leah breaks the silence after a few minutes, "And I guess he does seem pretty content on my lap." She adds.

Lia hums in agreement, "Happiest little guy in the world."

"And you have to admit that he does seem to fit in around here, and the kids' do seem happier with him around," Leah continues to state, biting her bottom lip.

"That they do," Lia nods in agreement.

"Yeah," Leah pauses for a few minutes, "But I refuse to call him that ridiculous name though."

"Oh?" Lia glances at her friend with a knowing look, "That sounds like something you would say if you are planning to keep him around," She states.

"I guess we could make it work," Leah states quietly, refusing to look at her friend, who's smirking to herself, "Like you said, we can make it work with the games and I'm sure that family and friends would be more than willing to take care of him if and when needed, huh?" She wonders.

"If I didn't know any better then I'd say it sounds like you had a change of heart there," Lia states amusedly, "Leah Williamson, are you having second thoughts?" She mocks a fake gasp.

"Shut up," Leah playfully nudges her best friend and rolls her eyes, "He's cute, I suppose... And maybe I was a bit too quick to jump and disagree, also this way it'll give Monkey some responsibility as well," She notes.

"You don't need to give them excuses to me. You can just admit that you like having him stick around, you know?" The older woman jokes with the blonde.

"Just as long as there's an agreement that he stays away from anything of mine that is, well, expensive," Leah chuckles, stroking Tater-Tot.

Lia laughs and shakes her head, "I'm sure it will be fine."

"And I'm still not happy that Monkey went behind my back and did this, the little menace," The blonde remarks, reminding the Swiss women about it.

"I know, so much not for changing your mind then, eh?" Lia nudges her friend playfully.

"This dog seems to like me," Leah remarks, shrugging her shoulders as she takes a quick glance down at the pup in her lap.

"I'd say you've found yourself a new best friend there," Lia chuckles, watching Leah and Tater-Tot beside her.

Given another hour or so, you had reluctantly given up your sulking and now you felt hungry again, given that you willingly skipped out on Lia's Switzerland dish, much to your absolute dismay.

"I'm hungry," You make your presence known as you wander into the living room, the small pup on the blondes' lap not even blinking an eye at you.

Leah turns her attention to you hovering in the living room doorway, "Oh, finally decided to come out of your room, have we?" She wonders, teasingly.

You resist the urge to roll your eyes and slump down on the arm of sofa, "I was annoyed with you," You mumble, quietly.

Leah snorts in response, "I never would have guessed that."

"Yeah, well, you deserve it," You continue to insist, shrugging your shoulders.

"Right, okay then,"Leah rolls her eyes and shakes her head, "We'll need to go shopping tomorrow then," She adds, trying to not give it away so easily.

"Food shopping, sounds like an absolute blast," You absolutely detest food shopping, its' the complete bane of your life.

Leah snickers a bit, "Well, we do need to re-stock the cupboards but we'll also need to visit the pet shop," She states, waiting for you to catch on.

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion, "Why do we need to a visit the pet shop-- Wait, are you serious?!" You finally realise as your eyes widen.

"On the terms and conditions--" Leah begins to speak.

"Seriously?! Yeah?" Your way too hyper and excited about this to care what she is saying as it goes in one ear and out the other.

"Hey, listen, this is serious! On the terms and conditions," Leah repeats aloud to get your attention, "On the terms and conditions that you look after him, remember to feed him and give him water, and also walk him as well, and the big one, make sure that he doesn't ruin anything that belongs to me!" She states, sternly as she points her finger in your direction.

"Okay," You nod, awaiting anything further.

"But to answer your question, yes, you can keep him!" Leah tells you, smiling at you.

Your eyes light up in glee and you want to scream, and you would if it wasn't for Buddy being fast asleep upstairs, "Yeah? You're the best, thank you, thank you, thank you! I didn't mean it about calling you meanie Malfoy, ah thank you, thank you!" You can't help but thank her over and over again.

"I'm still not happy with how you went behind my back about this, but I suppose that this little fella will fit in nicely around here," Leah remarks, glancing at the small pup, who surprisingly still hasn't moved from her lap even with all the noise.

You can't help but beam a wide smile, "I knew you would change your mind eventually!"

"What can I say? This little fella wormed his way into my heart," Leah states, shrugging her shoulders.

"Welcome home, Tater-Tot!" You grin at the small pup, whos' comfy enough to still curl up in the blondes' lap and snooze away.

"God, no. Absolutely not, I refuse to call him that ridiculous name!" Leah is quick to insist as she shakes her head for her clear detest of the name, "Welcome home... Tate," She corrects herself, still weary about the name overall.

© scribblesofagoonerr

[generalobi]

I’m sure you’re busy and likely have already gotten prompts to continue it, but more of the Obi-Wan as a Minister on Melida-Daan please? Whenever you get a chance!

The hospital is in ruins. It took years for them to build it and all it took was one bomb to destroy it all.

Obi-Wan runs his hand along the scorched walls. Everything was here. Bacta, bandages, medications, rations, beds, their only surgery droid. And now it’s gone. Just like everything they built, this fragile progress took years to make and hours to burn. It’s a reminder of just how precarious their position is. MelidaDaan has barely recovered. All it would take is a spark.

“It was definitely the Elders,” Mal says, breaking the silence that had fallen over the Council at the sight of the hospital.

“Do you know why?” Obi-Wan asks.

“I know you should still be in bed,” Daria says, raising an eyebrow.

He ignores her, continuing his inspection of their temporary base. Setting up camp in a bombsite might not be the most comfortable, but it’s hardly the first time.

“They want war,” Mal says, “They want us out of the way, off “their planet”, so they can go back to killing each other.”

Eris traces meaningless patterns in the ash that’s settled over their meeting table. Obi-Wan allows Daria to steer him into a chair. Nield hasn’t moved from the doorway, eyes scanning the sky for threats.

Fragile. Obi-Wan hasn’t thought of his fellow leaders, of himself, as fragile for a long time. But they are. They’ve barely healed from the war, and every bit of progress they make is snatched from them by disaster. It isn’t fair, but nothing is.

“What pushed them to act?” he muses, mostly to himself.

“The presence of the Mandalorians,” Jyfn says, “We’re getting ready to rejoin the galaxy, telling our story.”

Mal grimaces, “I hate to say it, but Jyfn is right. They would’ve done this anyway, but the Mandlorian delegation sped up their timeline. It’s lucky for us, we know they’re serious and they didn’t have enough time to plan. They couldn’t truly devastate us on such short notice.”

Daria snorts, crossing her arms over her chest. She hasn’t stopped hovering since Prince Fett carried him and Nari out of the hospital two days ago. Obi-Wan would be annoyed, but he knows it could be worse. He could have all of them hovering, fussing and being general nuisances. (He scared her, he scared them all. He was almost sure he was going to die and he would’ve done it gladly, but he’s sorry for the pain he’s caused them.)

“This wasn’t devastating enough?” Eris murmurs, “Three people died, hundreds more will. We don’t have stockpiles of bacta, replacements for machines, or anywhere to keep those who are sick and injured. And we don’t have a trade deal anymore.”

“Yes, we do,” Obi-Wan says.

At the same time Mal says, “They would have bombed the Fortress, and the school, and the food stores. We’d starve quicker than we'll die without a hospital.”

Daria kicks his chair, just enough to jolt him, “Don’t be stupid.”

“Whatever they want to keep this deal,” Obi-Wan says softly, “we must do.”

“Within reason!” Daria snaps.

“We don’t know what they want,” he places a hand on hers, “It could be nothing more than the story. If it’s my withdrawal from the Council, then we may have to do it. And if it’s my imprisonment or-”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Neild says fiercely, whipping around to face them, “Don’t you dare finish that sentence Obi-Wan. We won’t just give you up. We can survive this.”

“Can we? Look around, Nield, we need supplies. Do you know they carry bacta just for bruises? What we consider lifesaving is their basic medicine. Even if Mal’s strike is successful, and the threat is dealt with, there will be other threats. And we will still be without a hospital. My freedom, my life, is nothing in comparison to what we could gain.”

“It is everything,” Daria argues, “There is a difference between casualties of tragedy, and willingly sacrificing one of our own in the hopes that strangers keep their word and give us bacta.”

She isn’t wrong, but neither is he.

Obi-Wan sighs, running a hand through his hair, “We must talk to them, at least. We can only distract them for so long.”

¬

There are lots of ways Obi-Wan can present his story. He is a politician, a warrior, and a storyteller. He can twist the truth however he wishes, and he might try if he weren’t so tired. But he is. Force, he is so tired.

He brings a cup to his mouth with a trembling hand, scalding tea leaving a quiet calm in its wake. Daria hovers behind his chair, a weapon on her hip. He was too tired to argue. The Mandalorians track his movements, helmuts tucked under their arms. It is almost uncanny that people so warm can quickly become so cold. So suspicious.

“Perhaps, you should begin by asking your questions?” Obi-Wan suggests softly, cup rattling against saucer as he sets it down.

They exchange a look.

“Are you a Jedi?” the Manda’lor asks.

Daria’s knuckles are white on the handle of her knife. He takes a deep breath, steadies himself and sends a soft pulse of comfort towards her.

“Another simple question that is more complicated than you realise,” Obi-Wan muses, wishing for Jedi robes for the first time in a long time, “I was once a Jedi Padawan, seven years ago.”

“And you didn’t think it pertinent information to share?” Ser Myles says.

“He doesn’t owe you anything,” Daria snaps.

Obi-Wan rests a hand over hers, “It wasn’t pertinent. I am not a Jedi, I never achieved Knighthood. And you seem to forget that any atrocities committed by ancient Jedi were repaid in kind. I have more reason to fear three trained traditionalist Mandalorians than you do a half-trained Jedi.”

The Manda’lor considers him, “And how did you end up a half-trained Jedi on a wartorn planet in the Middle Rim?”

“Chance, perhaps?” Obi-Wan shrugs, “Or the Force. My Master and I were sent here on a mission, to retrieve another Master. She was injured and needed immediate medical attention, but I refused to leave the Young. My Master was in love with her, and his judgement impaired. He repudiated me and told the Jedi I was lost. I imagine I’ve been presumed dead, and a funeral held.”

It is the bare bones of the truth, the story without the emotion. He is too tired to give them his grief today. Daria squeezes his hand in comfort.

“So,” Jango says, “You left the Jedi, to help fight a war? And they just let you?”

“My Master just let me,” Obi-Wan corrects, “Master Jinn was a difficult man, with a difficult past, but the Jedi raised me and loved me. The blame does not lie with the organisation as a whole. It was Master Jinn, given responsibility he shouldn’t have had by Master Yoda. don’t mistake my life as another reason to let your hatred fester.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” Ser Myles says gently, as though Obi-Wan is fragile.

“No,” Daria agrees, because Obi-Wan is fragile today, “it doesn’t. But that’s not the point. The point is, the pin is in your hand. The ball is in your court. Obi-Wan has told you his story, and now it’s up to you to decide whether that story is good enough for you.”

[lordabovehelpme]

Din Training his Kids Headcanons

Request: Question, What's headcanon you have when din was training back when he was a teen, and what trainings would he implement to his kids? I can imagine he goes kinda hard on them and then dotes on them afterwards amdmdmdkdI just realized that mandos who had pretty good families with the creed, etc you know. Alot of them probably dont understand that there are really mean parents that hurt their kids on purpose and its absurd to them if they ever date somebody who didnt (like din with an s/o who tells him she had sucky parents) wndmsmdm

A/n: Okay this made me so soft. I literally had so much fun writing these. I hope they are what you were looking for. 

This goes along with my Days Filled with Love series. If you have not read it, I 10/10 recommend reading it. 

You can find the first part here. :) 

Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a foundling, I imagine that Din had to make sure that he was always perfect, compared to the other kids. He had a higher expectation and role to fill than the others.

I feel like, even though foundlings are highly valuable, the other kids did not view them that way. Thus, it was hard for Din to make friends. He was a loner as a kid and it shaped him to be who he is.

Din, in order to please the Mandalorians who trained him, had to get up earlier, train harder, and be quieter.

So when Myles became old enough to start training, Din tried to implement everything from his youth.

“Faster.” “Move your foot.” “Hit me stronger, you’re not a kid anymore.”

Din will have Myles up before the sun rises and out late after it sets. Sometimes, you’ll watch from the kitchen window.

They only break for lunch. Myles will run in and throw himself at his seat. Din will stroll in behind him and wrap his arms around your middle. He’ll let you pull his helmet up so you can kiss him. Then, if you have the twins strapped to your body, he’ll give each of them a kiss.

He’ll always compliment whatever you make. “Mmm smells good.” “This is really good.” “Wow, add this to my list of favorite foods.”

However, on rough and hard days for Myles, after his father lets him go, he’ll run into your arms with tears in his eyes. You’ll lift his helmet from his head and pull him further into your embrace. “What’s wrong?”

He’ll cry into your shirt and his hands will grasp the fabric on your back. “I just want to be good enough for Daddy!”

Your heart breaks and you pull his head from your chest, leaning down you’ll press your forehead against his own. “Baby, you’re more than enough. Your father just knows you’re going to do great things, so he’s trying to push you to be the best.”

Myles will nod while peering into your eyes. Tears subsiding, but still rolling down his cheeks.

You sit down on the couch and let your son be held in your arms, just as he did when he was a newborn. Rubbing his back, you’ll tell him stories of how hard his father had to train.

“But Dad’s so strong!”

“He’s only that way because he was trained just as you are. I bet you’re going to be even stronger than your father, just don’t tell him I said that.”

He’ll look up at you with wide brown eyes that match his fathers perfectly. “You really think so?”

“Of course I do. You’re already so strong.” Smiling down at him, you’ll press kisses all over his face.

Myles’ giggles fill the living room and his hands playfully try to pull you away. “Mommy stop!” He can barely get the words out through his laughter.

Finally offering him mercy, you’ll give him one more hug. “Myles, I love you so much. Never doubt my love or how much you are loved by your father. He just wants the best for you, even if it’s hard to notice. Now, run along to the shower, you smell bad.”

“MOM!”

Laughing you give him one more kiss before letting him out of your arms. “I’ll give you more hugs once you’re clean.”

“Okay!”

You watch him run up the stairs and the faint trickle of water fills the house. But then, Din will reveal himself from behind the doorway. His helmet already off and his eyes filled with sorrow.

He’ll walk over to the couch and set his head in your lap. “Am I a good father? Does he really think I don’t love him?”

Once again, your heart breaks. Being the mom to the Djarin family is not an easy job.

You’ll rub through his curls and press circles into his temple. “He knows you love him, he just had a hard day.”

“Am I pushing him too much?”

This makes you think.

After a few minutes, you know exactly what to say. “Only you would know. I never got training like that. But I do know that our son is not a quitter, nor a weakling. And I know that as his father, you know just how much he can take. Trust your gut. You know him better than you think. Just as he knows that when you yell or critique him, it’s not from hatred or dislike, but rather it’s from the love you have for him.”

The mandalorian rises from your lap and kisses you long and slow, yet filled with adoration. “Thank you, cyare. You always know what to say.”

“Mm hmm.” Smiling, you give him one last kiss. “Now, same thing I said to Myles. You can have more hugs when you’re clean and showered. You smell like a mudhorn and frankly, I would prefer to not kiss away your sweat.” Pushing him off of your lap, you point to your room. “Go.”

He’ll pretend to start his trek to the shower, before quickly turning around and grabbing your waist.

“DIN!” He’ll just laugh as lifts you from the ground. Rubbing his head against your back, you cringe.

“Oh, looks like you’re dirty now too. Guess you’ll have to shower and I know a shower that will be running in one minute.”

“Din, the kids, we can’t leave them.”

“They’ll be fine. Reeza and Grogu can watch the twins. Plus, Myles will be down in a couple minutes, so if something goes wrong, he can take care of it.”

“You’re not making me feel better.” He’s already walked the two of you into your bathroom.

“I’ll make it up in the shower.”

“DIN!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahhh, I love them. I hope these are kinda what you were looking for! 

Love ya, Lordy :) 

Masterlist

Taglist: @ficthots​ @along-the-lines-of-space​ @jedi-jesi​

If you wanted to added to my taglist- just give me a holler! :) 

[horacelawson]

The 1.1 update even adds support for the Priority Inbox feature if you have it enabled.

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A seal of government approval in some countries will increase trust in a particular product, while in others any mention of the government could lead the reader to throw the piece away in disgust.. Amber pendants, golden torques, jeweled daggers, silver brooches set with gemstones, bracelets, rings, niello cups and golden goblets, warhorns and drinking horns, a green jade comb, a necklace of freshwater pearls … all yielded up and noted down by Bowen Marsh. In the Old-school Presbyterian Church, William and Robert Breckenridge, President Young, and others, have preached in favor of emancipation in Kentucky. Capt. She used to kiss me and say, ‘You’ll know everything, the time will come when you’ll know everything, poor, unhappy child!’ She was always calling me poor and unhappy. As it has always been.”. 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Early as possible, is what I was hoping for, Locker said. DSG refers, collectively, to the Lord Taylor, Hudson's Bay and Home Outfitters banners.

[hermionecorfields]

As Alibi’s new series We Hunt Together airs tonight, Hermione Corfield confesses all on nature versus nurture, why this crime drama is really a love story and how she learnt to love reality TV.                                                        

By Laura Rutkowski, Staff Writer

Writer Gaby Hull has a knack of taking cat-and-mouse stories and turning them on their head. Last year, we described her ITV drama Cheat as a “stand-off between two cats”. With her latest series, We Hunt Together, plenty more traps are set (for mice – literally – and for people), with the “characters trying to one up each other and catch the other one out”, says star Hermione Corfield (Rust Creek).

Hermione plays “hustler” Freddy Lane, otherwise known as “premium girl” Zara Thustra, who works in the sex industry, operating hotlines and attending paid-for dates set up through so-called dating apps. As one of her dates is about to assault her, Babeni “Baba” Lenga (Dipo Ola, Baghdad Central) steps in and beats him up.

But this story is not as cut-and-dried as it seems and it certainly spits in the face of the “damsel-in-distress” trope. Freddy is out for blood and has a “set of ideals she strongly believes, whether they’re illegal or not”, whereas Baba is a former child soldier, with the “ability to kill engrained in him”. And that’s exactly what Freddy later enlists Baba to do – to kill her attacker.

Hermione says director Carl Tibbetts explained early on that he didn’t “want the scene in the alleyway to be the whole reason why she commits that killing. It’s got to be in her core to want to commit a crime like that”. Freddy is cunning, charming and deftly glib when DI Jackson Mendy (Babou Ceesay, Guerrilla) and DS Lola Franks (Eve Myles, Torchwood) come knocking to question her about the crime.

While shows including Killing Eve and The Fall operate under the detective/criminal dynamic, We Hunt Together offers “a study into four different psyches”. The two couples, one involved in a work partnership and the other embroiled in a True Romance-style relationship, are fundamentally dysfunctional. “However unconventional,” Hermione says, “it is a love story.” She adds, “Crime and murder are almost the background noise to the individual struggles.”

We Hunt Together tosses around that age-old question of nature versus nurture and delivers a fresh perspective on the dilemma. For one, Jackson doesn’t believe people are masters of their fate, he believes they can’t control their actions – leading to the cheeriest inspector you’ve probably ever seen on TV.

So when the damaged do damage, does that mean it’s not really their fault? “There’s a degree of responsibility obviously and I’m not saying Freddy’s blameless at all, but a theme throughout is that everyone’s doing their best with the brain they’ve been given and the circumstances they’ve been given,” says Hermione.

As your mind grapples with that debate, get inside Hermione’s head with one of everything from the entertainment world that she’s loving right now.

TV show: Normal People

Find it in Catch Up > Channels > BBC iPlayer

It’s beautifully shot and brilliantly acted. It was such a deep one that I came away every single time emotionally exhausted. I’ve been waiting a long time for Succession season 3!

Box Set: Call My Agent!

Find seasons 1-3 on Netflix

It’s a French TV show and it’s about the ins and outs of a talent agency in France, trying to keep it afloat and people pinching each other’s clients. There are subtitles – I do speak French, but probably not well enough to close my eyes. I’d like to think I’m getting there.

Film: Ema

It’s not the Autumn de Wilde one [Emma, starring Anya Taylor-Joy]. It’s about a couple where an adoption goes wrong. It tears their household apart and the music is composed by Nicolás Jaar, who is one of my favourite artists. I re-watched The Grand Budapest Hotel. Wes Anderson films are such a comfort for me.

App: PictureThis

My newest app, which is kind of nerdy, is an app that can identify plants. You take a photo of a plant and it immediately identifies it. I’ve been doing some gardening and my garden has sprung up from stuff I planted two years ago. I forgot what I planted, so I’m going around working out what everything is.

Video game: The Sims 4

I don’t normally [play video games], but I’ve gotten into The Sims 4 again, which is one of the biggest time-eaters I’ve ever experienced in my life. It’s a lot of fun, but that’s the only game I’ve ever played. It’s classic. I feel like everyone’s regressing into their childhood selves at the moment.

Podcast: Off Menu

Ed Gamble and James Acaster basically do a dream meal [with guests]. For news, I always listen to The Daily and Beyond Today. I enjoy journalistic narratives that take you through a story. The New York Times’ Caliphate is about this woman [Rukmini Callimachi] going to where ISIS strongholds used to be and collecting documents that have been left behind in bombed buildings.

I watched Tiger King, which was amazing, and I listened to the Wondery podcast of that ages ago. I really enjoy true crime ones, like The Dropout and The Shrink Next Door.

Documentary: For Sama

It’s about the fall of Aleppo and the Syrian War. Another one is Honeyland, which is about a woman in Macedonia who’s a beekeeper in the middle of nowhere. It’s such an amazing insight into a life you’d normally never see.

Guilty pleasure: Reality TV shows

Reality TV shows are definitely my guilty pleasure, because I do always feel significantly guilty when I’m watching them – for ages I’ve fought it. Film and TV is my job, so I guess there’s an element of it not being linked to my work and I can switch off.

I was in the States for a bit and I watched The Bachelor while I was there, which I’d never seen before. I do watch Love Island. It’s just people being people. It’s so interesting to see how people react in those scenarios. It’s like Big Brother in seven different forms.

When is Alibi’s We Hunt Together on TV?

We Hunt Together airs on Alibi/HD (CH 126/212) on Wednesdays at 10pm, with the first episode screening on 27 May. It is also available for 30 days in Catch Up > Channels > Alibi.

(Source/Font) HERE

[katherinemacbride]

WORKING ON/WORKING THROUGH/WORKING WITH a mix for connective listening broadcast notes

WORKING ON/WORKING THROUGH/WORKING WITH

Katherine MacBride

Hotel Maria Kapel

Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee

10:00 01-05-2020

https://jajajaneeneenee.com/jn/shows/working-on-working-through-working-with/

BROADCAST NOTES 

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a mix for invoking connective listening

I wrote that this was to be a mix for invoking connective listening. The word connective often makes me think of Juliana Spahr’s Poem Written after September 11, 2001, which is one of two poems in her book this connection of everyone with lungs. Juliana often writes using looping rhythmic repeating lists, adding one element each round in poems and prose about environmental politics, settler colonialism, unlearning white feminism, extraction, warfare, and writing. In Poem…the list scales out before scaling back in. It crescendos around here (in flow but not force, because she uses the silence of microscopic air particulates to hit the final impact later):

as everyone with lungs breathes the space between the hands and the space around the hands and the space of the room and the space of the building that surrounds the room and the space of the neighborhoods nearby and the space of the cities and the space of the regions and the space of the nations and the space of the continents and islands and the space of the oceans and the space of the troposphere and the space of the stratosphere and the space of the mesosphere in and out. 

Differentials in death rates from COVID-19 indicate that “we are” not actually “all in the same boat.” Some of this is to do with the long term effects of air pollution: “we” breathe the same air while “we” do not breathe the same air, while every cell of every “we” contains bacterial DNA whose ancestors breathed the “air” into b(r)e(ath)ing.

This mix for connective listening includes music of forms where listening to the others sounding around you while you improvise together in relation to a context, a social purpose, or a shared task is especially important—music made as a way of manifesting togetherness together. Of course there is much to say about what happens when such forms are indeed recorded but I won’t address that here. 

I’ve been thinking with a section of Eileen Myles’ book The Importance of Being Iceland:

All the churchgoers were singing the same hymn not the same notes or tunes. No organ tone set the pitch so they would find it instead among themselves. People were literally singing their hearts out. When the organ was introduced in the 30s some of the older people stopped going to church because the idea of everyone singing the same tune at once seemed “obscene” to them, it offended their Icelandic sense of religiosity, or privacy, or just their understanding of what being part of a community could mean. The radio also upset the applecart with the same songs played over and over with those same versions and the same notes. It’s amazing to think about what the radio might have upset. I’m getting this from all sides. I heard about this singing, and then I read about it, and finally the book I read was co-written by a composer that my friend Mark studied with. These rediscoveries are not accidental. There’s an imprecise mourning needed to see where we are now. I think it’s like the species rediscovering itself. learning to be stubborn in our awkward speaking and hearing.

F told me about the way her friends would organise a collective ritual to connect to their language that, like their land, is endangered. After a time certain older people would arrive at a state where they could access parts of the language that they didn’t know in their everyday state. Certain younger people would use their mobile phones to record what the certain older people were saying. The community would send the recordings to the anthropologists at the university and the anthropologists would analyze the recordings and add any new words to the dictionary of the community’s endangered language so that certain older people and certain younger people could continue to fertilize their language when they spoke it together.

Eileen follows the turf churches radio applecart with a description of a singing form called Kvaedaskapur. The distinguishing characteristic of the singing was a variable voice, which always sang the poem with differing melody…Typically the Kvaedamadur denies authorship. He (or she. There were female Kvaedamur too) didn’t steal it. He just didn’t write it. Maybe the implication being the poem just kind of grew…

In the darkness of winter the singing would generate a sonic connectivity between the singer and the listeners who would also actively keep the song alive. The singer drops his energy at the end of the line but several people in the room come in (vocally) and sing the end of the line for and with him. They hold him up so to speak.

connecting messy links

I haven’t included fragments of Taraneh Fazeli’s text in these notes because it was a working document shared to be spoken since she was in bed sick at the time of collaboration. Instead I’ll share this link to a text she published a while back — http://temporaryartreview.com/notes-for-sick-time-sleepy-time-crip-time-against-capitalisms-temporal-bullying-in-conversation-with-the-canaries/ — and these words she wrote about the text I read from in the mix: In “Labour of Love: To curate is to care,” Taraneh Fazeli thinks alongside Lisa Baraitser, Tanya Titchkosky, Stefano Harney, and Fred Moten. Additionally, her text emerges from a working on/in/through with the many folks who have been a part of her traveling exhibition “Sick Time, Sleepy Time, Crip Time: Against Capitalism’s Temporal Bullying” which addresses the politics of health and care. (Note: “crip” is a political reclaiming of the derogatory label cripple by disability activists.) Based in an ethic of care emerging from disability justice that values interdependencies and dependencies, artworks within counter the over-valorization of independence in American society and examine how racialized global capitalism has produced debility in many populations while, at the same time, creating bureaucratic infrastructures that support very few people. At the core of the project is the pairing of artists with community groups organized around creating or sustaining alternative infrastructures of care, such as groups of young single mothers at Project Row Houses, women recently involved in the carceral system at Angela House, and refugees and asylum seekers via Lutheran Family Services. Excerpts from the text are specifically rooted in collaborations with Cassie Thornton, Park McArthur, Constantina Zavitsanos, and the Young Mothers. 

Panelaço, Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, March 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvDSXLeijuk

Panelaço is the Brazilian word for a pot banging protest. Mobile phone recordings of people protesting against Jair Bolsonaro’s pandemic response by banging pans from their apartments window and balconies. Compiled by O Globo news service and uploaded to YouTube.

Repente, CPTM, São Paulo, May 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOBjc4PbVKM

My friend G once described relationships to me in terms of a dynamic equilibrium over who plays the tambourine while the other sings. Of course sometimes everyone can sing and sometimes everyone can play the tambourine but taking turns means everyone gets a change to breathe. Repente is a form of music from the north east of Brazil where two singers have a battle of improvised lyrics on a theme, often political, usually funny. While one sings the other holds the beat on a tambourine. 

Yelli water drumming, 2011

last video down on https://face2faceafrica.com/article/the-liquindi-water-drumming-of-central-africa-reserved-for-women-hunters

I was looking out for a video I half remembered of a man playing the water in a very kitschy-beautiful way. I couldn’t find it but I learned about this shared drumming practice done by Baka women in Cameroon and Gabon. 

Cloth waulking in South Uist, 1982

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CmGJ5dwBuk

Waulking is a process of textile finishing where woven wooden cloth is soaked in urine and beaten on a table to soften and shrink it. In the Outer Hebrides in Scotland waulking was done by hand to tweed cloth. This work was done by groups of women who would sing and chat while they waulked. It’s a call and response form with the caller holding the rhythm of the collective movement, meaning that song structures had to be somewhat loose and open to improvisation according the situation on the table, in the room, in the moment. When this video was filmed, the waulking was probably being performed for the camera in a university effort to record the practice while there were still women alive who carried it. Waulking is done today as a form of cultural reenactment or historical research by practice rather than as a living tradition.

Women gathering mushrooms, The Music Of The Bayaka: Volume I, 2007

I wrote Louise: I’ve been thinking a bit this week about this recording of women singing while they collect mushrooms in the forest. I’ll try and find if for you, have only found it mixed with something else so far. What I like is that the women sing in relation with their environment, so that different species in the forest sound at different parts of the sonic spectrum and don’t cut over each other, producing a sonic environment/composition where everything has a place but together co-creates very beautiful music. This way of singing without dominating others feels very special. I’m thinking about this in relation to the birds I am hearing, wondering if they are making more sound with the reduced traffic because they feel more space, or if the more space is just in my perception, but for sure there is some more space happening somewhere.

Toumani Diabaté plays the kora, 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8luhdxS2KuM

Ballu Tundu, Orgosolo (Nuoro), 1969, Musica Sarda Vol. 3

Sardinian confraternity multipart singing occupies a space that is remote from any concept of concert music; it is in fact a living musical practice through which collective relationships are represented and enacted. It is a major element of the social life of several villages through which many people—both locally situated performers and competent listeners—‘think about who they are’ and ‘the world around them’. (Confraternity Multipart Singing: Contemporary Practice and Hypothetical Scenarios for the Early Modern Era, Ignazio Machiarella)

Lampedusa, Toumani and Sidiki, Toumani Diabaté and Sidiki Diabaté, 2014

We were very shocked - Sidiki and myself - while we were recording in London in November 2013 and we watched on TV that more than 350 people had died in the sea trying to arrive in Europe by boat. Since them many Lampedusas have happened. Nothing changes. I don’t know the solution. I don’t know how to do but I think we must talk about it. This is why Sidiki and I composed the song, to talk about it. (http://shufsounds.com/interviews/2015/5/8/toumani-and-sidiki-diabat-interview)

Huku ine Ronda (originally by Chartwell Dutori), played by Gift Mugwidi, 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKbfUEhjuH4

Gift Mugwidi makes and plays mbiras and sells them in Mbare Musika in Harare. Someone he knows films him playing them in cars and uploads the videos to YouTube. I found his name and a basic education in Zimbabwean chimurenga music deep in the comments. 

Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, sung by Mimi Jalmasco and Wendy Caballero, mixed by Louise Shelley, London, April 2020

Louise wrote me: Katherine if it’s ok please can you read this before playing the audio, thank you. What you will shortly listen to is a recording of a Filipino lullaby sung by Mimi Jalmasco and Wendy Caballero who are two members of The Voice of Domestic Workers in London. Over the past 8 years I have been a volunteer with this organisation, they are a self organised support, education and campaign group, by and for migrant domestic workers. The passion in their politics in inescapable - their collective labours focus on care and support for each other, to get justice as workers for each other. Their precarity like many others is increased at present, whilst they re-organise and figure out what to do, what needs doing and how to do it, their work continues in their employers households. This is a song from their homes, from their childhoods, from their early motherhoods that they now sing to the children they work for and to each other and now to you. The recordings were sent to me to be shared here, they are mixed with the sounds of listening in my own flat with my back door open onto east London in isolation in April 2020. This invitation to them was also a way to move money from the arts in solidarity with their struggle and also very simply to share their voices, their energy, their beautiful song to soothe but also to awaken you, to 11.5 million migrant domestic workers in the world. 

thanks

Thanks to: Radna and Arif at Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee for hosting the broadcast; to Miriam, Rik, and Annelien at Hotel Maria Kapel for supporting the residency where this began brewing; and to the contributors Louise Shelley, Taraneh Fazeli, and Mimi Jalmasco and Wendy Caballero from The Voice of Domestic Workers.

[burntuakrisp]

Full Transformers Sprite List by burntuakrisp

(WARNING THIS WILL HAVE A LONG EXPLANATION! If you don’t have the time to read all the way through the process of creating the sprites, you go past the “Extra Line.” But if you have time and or curious about what I have been doing, please read on.)

If you have known me for awhile, you know that I haven’t posted that much art related stuff for a while now.

You see, there was a reason why I have been absent from Deviantart for a while. (Outside of stressful school work, portfolio projects, and indulging in fandoms to escape the bitterness of reality we have today). It’s because I had been working on these beauties.

A full complete list of Characters from Transformers Prime and Rescue Bots.

This has got to be the hardest, longest, tedious, and overly complicated thing I posted EVER. This literally took me not weeks, but months to do.

Why did I do this you may ask?

2 reasons.

Reason #1.       If you remember, awhile back I posted these guys (Rescue Bots and Prime sprites)Looking back to how they originally looked, made me realize how dead wrong I was how they actually looked. I will admit, when I decided to make Autobots and Decepticons big, I felt like all I had to do what expand them and add only a few changes.

Boy was I wrong.

Comparing them now, you can see how cringy they looked back then. To be fair, I didn’t have the best resources at first, only having pictures and drawings of the characters at first, but that doesn’t excuse my laziness (And I admit I was lazy, especially on weekends where I spent my day watching youtube and reading fanfiction).

Don’t judge me, I need my ME time.

Because of this, I kept editing the sprites over and over and over. (On a side note: Sorry if my constant need for perfection kept bothering your message section.) But after the discovery of tfreferences.tumblr.com/ I decided to redo the characters completely. So I went back and did everything. The body shapes, the servos, the optics, the helms, you name it.

Which brings me to give a sincere message to all those well-talented transformers fans who dedicate their lives to creating fantastic fanart.

Dear Transformers artist,

How does one possible draw these characters?

I don’t get it.

There are thousands of you who can draw these characters as if it’s the back of your hand.

Meanwhile, I was struggling to find ever a decent side view of Shockwave.

What’s your secret? Magic?

Sincerely,

Burntuakrisp

OK Back to the point.

The human characters were without a doubt the easiest to do since they are so small and don’t require that much detail.The humans are about the same, while the Cybertronians are much bigger. I know they aren’t actually this big in the shows, but I prefer the transformer size that can hold humans in their hands (Servos). It’s cuter that way. I also made them this size because I compared to their size on a character chart as well as my friends Thomas the Tank Engine sprites.(More on that later.)

I also looked at both Rescue Bots and Prime Wiki’s to find if there were characters that I was missing. So I had to add them as well. (Who am I to be someone who won’t dedicate my life to making sprites for characters I love.) There were some characters that were cut either by the inability to find a good side view or it was unnecessary.

Reason #2.       I want to start watching the entire seasons of Transformers Prime and Transformers Rescue Bots. I know what you're thinking. “YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE ENTIRE SERIES!?” Yes, I have and I feel bad because of it. You see I have a hard time sitting around doing nothing. So I better get this off my chest before I get addicted to it. Plus I haven’t been able to watch any series because my school life is preventing me from letting go.

Yes I know it’s dumb to do something related to the tv shows BEFORE seeing them completely, but as I stated before, I have to work on my art portfolio and SAT practice if I ever wish to get into college and become an animator. I feel it’s better to work on these sprites sooner so when I eventually watch/finish the series, I will be satisfied.

I know I’m walking into the spoiler zone, but since I already know what happens (Thanks to fanfiction,tumblr, and wikipedia), I decided to keep going. Plus Prime has been done for years and Rescue Bots just recently ended. Which makes me sad.

On a side note, I don’t think I will be making Robots in Disguise 2015 sprites. Mainly because I don’t really like the series. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a terrible show, it has it’s strong points and it’s not insufferable.I do like that it’s got a new cast of characters, new bad guys, and the focus is no longer on the war. But compared to Prime, it has a very “sequelious” vibe to it. It’s trying to be a sequel to Prime with the back story and saying certain events took place. But it’s also trying to be like Rescue Bots by being more child-friendly. On paper, the combination could work, but execution-wise, it’s very awkward. It’s almost as if the writers of the show haven’t seen all of Prime and only watched a few episodes. What made Prime work was how dark and sophisticated it was. Rescue Bots worked because of how charming and likable it was. Both series knew what they wanted to be, RID2015 meanwhile is going through an identity crisis. Even though I admire the designs of the characters, and it can stand well as a stand-alone series, as a sequel it just feels out of place. I don’t feel comfortable about making work related to things I either don’t like, not a huge fan of, or have little knowledge about. Which is why I am always hesitant when making those requests.

But that’s my personal opinion. You all can like what you like. I will not judge you for it.

But I’m not waiting anymore,I need to indulge myself with the complete series.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Extra Line”

But enough with that, let’s get to the (long) Character list.

Main Autobots (Prime)

Optimus Prime

Ratchet

Bumblebee

Arcee

Bulkhead

Wheeljack

Smokescreen

Ultra Magnus

Human allies (Prime)

Jack Darby

Miko Nakadai

Rafael Esquivel

June Darby

Special Agent William Fowler

Minor Autobots (Prime)

Cliffjumper

Tailgate

Minor Humans (Prime)

Sierra

Vince

Main Decepticons (Prime)

Megatron

Soundwave

Starscream

Shockwave

Knockout

Breakdown

Dreadwing

Airachnid

Ground Vehicon

Air force Vehicon

Minor Decepticons (Prime)

Skyquake

Makeshift

Insecticons (Prime)

Hardshell

M.E.C.H (Prime)

Silas

M.E.C.H agent

Predicons (Prime)

Predaking

Rescue Bots (Rescue Bots)

Heatwave

Chase

Blades

Boulder

Blurr

Salvage

Servo

High Tide

Quickshadow

Burns family (Rescue Bots)

Chief Charlie Burns

Cody Burns

Kade Burns

Dani Burns

Graham Burns

Woodrow Burns

Greene Family (Rescue Bots)

Doc Greene

Frankie Greene

Anna Baranova

CeCe Greene

Dilther

Trex

Villians (Rescue Bots)

Dr. Morocco

Morbots

Myles

Evan

Madeline Pynch

Colonel Quint Quarry

Citizens of Griffin Rock (Rescue Bots)

Mayor H.B. Luskey

Huxley Prescott

Mrs. Neederlander (with Mr. Pettypaws)

Hayley Priscilla Pinch

Taylor

If you read through all of that, allow me to say thank you for reading that long explanation.

And that’s all I have so far.

One more thing, if any of you good sprite makers can help me in the future for other sprite ideas, please let me know.

Please show me that you all liked what I did by leaving a comment and fav.

Is that everything, (looks over notes) I think so.

Thank you all for listening, and I’ll see you all later.

Off to go watch Prime and Rescue Bots.

Transformers Prime and Rescue Bots belong to Hasbro

References from (tfreferences.tumblr.com/)

[payment-providers]

New Post has been published on Payment-Providers.com

New Post has been published on https://payment-providers.com/space-the-final-travel-commerce-frontier/

Space: The Final Travel Commerce Frontier

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“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.”

– Gene Roddenberry

If Helen of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships, then Gene Roddenberry had the pen that launched a thousand ships. Or perhaps it was a typewriter.  The point is that those words were the starting point of every episode of original “Star Trek” and more or less outlined what happened in every episode. The crew of the Enterprise showed up and met new life in a new civilization — and depending on how that meeting went, they would either fight the new aliens or Captain Kirk would date their Queen.

It was way ahead of its time, given that it was a show about space exploration that debuted on television three-years before mankind had ever so much as set foot on the moon.

In the present day we are much closer to living “Star Trek” than we were — though probably not as close as the average Star Trek fan would like.  We’ve made it to the moon, but not Mars — and the space shuttle isn’t even running anymore.

Luckily, are we living a world where some “Star Trek” fans have other options for getting to space than waiting for a ride from NASA.  Specifically Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin founder (and also the CEO of some eCommerce company, we hear) had repeated often in interviews that a childhood spent watching “Star Trek” and reading science fiction was what propelled him to start his own space exploration company, and self-fund it to the tune of $1 billion a year.

And while Jeff Bezos is currently the only billionaire Trekkie looking to boldly go nowhere no one has gone before, he is not the only billionaire in the game or promising to have consumer passengers launched into space by the end of the year. Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, also has flights for customers on the agenda of greatness for 2019. Elon Musk, on the other hand, will not be doing quick commercial visits to space in 2019 with SpaceX. He will, however, be giving some NASA astronauts a lift to the space station this summer.

Oh, and he has high hopes for getting tourists to Mars by the year 2024.

And if at this moment you find yourself thinking, “oh billionaire boys and their toys, how cute they’re playing spacemen,” well, we can’t entirely blame you. We read Elon Musk’s Twitter feed, too.

But it this week it is notable that the rocket builders aren’t the only ones stoked for the future of commercial space travel. The team at UBS also sees a big opportunity, a huge swath of revenue waiting to be earned — and the possible end of the ten-hour-long international flight.

  To Infinity And Beyond … Then Back In Under 40 Minutes

The appeal of strapping oneself into a rocket and launching into the outer atmosphere and beyond may not be immediately appealing to most, particularly if exploring the outer reaches of the cosmos has not been a lifelong dream. But, as UBS noted in a report released earlier this week, most space tourism isn’t going to be about getting to the stars or Mars, so much as it will be about getting from point A to point B on planet Earth a lot faster than in currently possible.

SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket, for example, can fly 100 people around the world in a few minutes.  To take off in New York, travel and land in Shanghai is — door-to-door — a 39 minute trip, according to SpaceX.  By airplane the trip is 15 hours.

Sign us up.

And according to UBS, the siren song of superspeed travel will eventually add up to a $20 billion industry that will compete with traditional long-haul air travel.  And space tourism — the bold goers who want to frolic among the stars? UBS estimates that will be a $3 billion industry.

“While space tourism is still at a nascent phase, we think that as technology becomes proven, and the cost falls due to technology and competition, space tourism will become more mainstream,” UBS analysts Jarrod Castle and Myles Walton wrote in the note. “Space tourism could be the stepping stone for the development of long-haul travel on earth serviced by space.”

All in all, according to UBS, the space industry today is worth around $400 million — which it anticipates will double to $800 million by the year 2030.  The space travel and tourism sub-sectors, they noted, will be a small sub-segment, but an important one.

Private space companies “are investing aggressively across the space opportunity,” UBS said, and the firm believes access to space “is the enabler to broader opportunities for investment.”

Long-haul airplane flights of over ten hours, the report noted, could easily “be cannibalized” by point-to-point flights on rockets. Given that about 150 million passengers a year fly routes even longer than ten hours, UBS estimates that if even an average of 5 percent of those flights were instead serviced by spaceships, “the revenue opportunity as of today would be more than $20 billion per year.”

“Although some might view the potential to use space to service the long-haul travel market as science fiction, we think … there is a large market,” UBS said.

Moreover, the firm noted, it thinks $20 billion might be underselling the potential some.  Though commercial airlines average 300 seats while rockets in the immediate future max out at 100, given the short duration of the rocket flights, space operators could conceivably make up for the smaller vessels with more trips. And, more than 10 percent of people in a recent UBS survey said they would choose a spacecraft over an aircraft for long-distance travel, doubling the 5 percent estimate the study actually used.

“While the timing of such a long-haul service is uncertain, we think our base-case assumptions are conservative,” UBS said.

But there is a bit of a gap between being “interested” in space travel — as that group literally includes ever elementary school student on the planet — and being able to afford to blast off for leisure.

A really big gap.

  When Six Figures Is A Cheap Flight

Space travel for tourists isn’t totally unheard of today — seven tourists have flown to space courtesy of the Russian Soyuz rockets — it is just incredibly uncommon because it is prohibitively expensive. It costs about $20 million for a Russian space flight.

The good news is the price is coming down.  The bad news is that cheaper and cheap aren’t the same.

If one wants to fly with Virgin Galactic later this year, for example, the price of the ticket is $250,000. And you won’t even really get to space — the Virgin Galactic craft still technically comes in below the Kármán line, the invisible boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space. It doesn’t seem to matter too much to potential passengers, who have formed a 600 person waiting list for their chance at a ride.

If one is looking to save $50,000 — and actually cross the  Kármán line — Blue Origin has a ticket for you, though whether it actually makes it off the ground by the end of 2019 remains to be seen.  Also the Blue Origin rocket goes past the literal boundaries of Earth’s atmosphere by shooting passengers straight up into space at Mach 3, so prep for an intense takeoff.

As both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin utilize reusable spacecraft systems, UBS believes the companies will be able to make space tourism “a more common occurrence” by lowering prices.

“We estimate space tourism will be a $3 [billion plus per year] opportunity growing at double digit-rates,” UBS said. “This would be similar to what happened in commercial aviation, especially after the rise of low-cost airlines.”

Space X pricing is a little bit less clear because they aren’t planning orbital flight offering for consumers.  They are charging NASA $58 million per person to deliver two astronauts to the U.S. space station — but those guys do pack kinda heavily.  And SpaceX is offering a good deal to NASA — the Russians charge over $80 million to give U.S. astronauts a lift.

And SpaceX is also planning some stuff for tourists — albeit slightly more ambitious than just escaping the atmosphere, floating around for a few minutes and coming back.

The firm recently announced that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa signed with SpaceX to fly around the moon on Starship. Maezawa expects to fly in 2023, with six to eight guests.

“Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the moon. It’s always there and continues to inspire humanity,” said Maezawa, who made his fortune as the founder of online retailers Start Today and Zozotown.

It is unknown exactly what Maezawa has paid for the privilege of being SpaceX’s first commercial passenger, with Elon Musk only confirming “he’s paying a very significant amount of money.”

“To be clear. This is dangerous … it’s not a sure thing … there are some chances things could go wrong,” Musk reiterated.

A series of phrases, we would like to note, that no one has ever heard upon booking a vacation to Disney World.

But then, even Disney can’t promise to take you to the actual literal moon, and if Elon Musk pulls it off with SpaceX, we imagine he’d have one very satisfied billionaire customer evangelizing to the entire world about the wonders of space tourism.

But of course, as if often the case with getting to the moon and back safely, it’s much easier to talk a good game than actually get the job done. And even doing it once or twice correctly is no guarantee that it will always go right.  Ask NASA about Apollo 13. It took people a while to feel safe on airplanes, and some still don’t. We imagine rockets will always be a bridge too far for some consumers.

And even for those who aren’t opposed to rockets, the price point would have to fall by orders of magnitude before amateur space exploration will be for anyone but the extremely wealthy.

But maybe UBS is right, and the technology will all fall into place — and popularity will breed scale, which will breed cost reductions, which will breed more customers, which will make more scale, etc. The Concorde and its three-hours trips to Europe from New York was a popular way to travel — until it was shut down.

It could happen — we all talk to voice-activated personal assistants today, and in the year 2000 that was sci-fi tech only available to characters in Marvel Universe superhero movies.

In which case, space will no longer be where voyagers boldly go where no one has gone before.

It will be where families boldly go when school lets out and it’s time to go on vacation.

  ——————————–

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Our data and analytics team has developed a number of creative methodologies and frameworks that measure and benchmark the innovation that’s reshaping the payments and commerce ecosystem. Check out our February 2019 B2B API Tracker Report 

Blue Origin, Branson, commercial, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Main Feature, NASA, News, rockets, Saturday Feature, space tourism, Space Travel, spacex, superspeed travel, UBS, Virgin Galactic

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[james-swindell]

Alter Bridge + Shinedown

Manchester Arena, Manchester

Sunday 15th December 2019

Alter Bridge and Shinedown have both released what I consider to be their best offerings in the past year that both accurately portray them at their best and have made waves for them everywhere they go. They are two of my favourite bands that I have grown up with in this past decade and to see them play bigger venues is always a pleasure, this is the perfect way to finish the decade for me.

Because I finished work later, I wasn’t able to catch openers The Raven Age but they are a band I have seen multiple times and I have no doubt that their music is tailor made for big arena stages like they graced that night.

Shinedown are first on with the one-two punch of ‘Devil’ and ‘Diamond Eyes’. Immediately I was under the impression that this was already the best I’d ever heard them live. They are somewhat a choreographed band when they play live and although they have become better at becoming spontaneous over the years, when they are on form the choreography is powerful and Brent Smith really opens up the crowd (Metaphorically and Literally, he brushed past me!) and gets everyone loose.

Hit after hit follows with ebbs and flows through the heavy bangers (‘Enemies’ and ‘Cut The Cord’) to all the slow majestic groovers like ‘Monsters’ and ‘Get Up’. The show is so perfectly paced and is a masterclass on how to warm up a crowd. It doesn’t matter how long Shinedown play, they always leave the stage as if it was there own.

As we reached the latter part of the set where the biggest singalongs during ‘Second Chance’ and ‘Sound Of Madness’ occur, Brent Smith announces a surprise for us all to happen right now. Zach Myers takes centre stage to lead us through a rendition of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ as they always do when they come to town. They always talk about their love of Manchester and Oasis and that love is always greatly reciprocated by the adoring crowd. Finishing on the high note of Brilliant, they leave the crowd beckoning for more and surely it won’t be long until Shinedown come back and headline this Arena themselves.

Setting the pace early with ‘Wouldn’t You Rather’ and ‘Isolation’, Alter Bridge bring more of the same to a crowd that eat it up. They are the last of a dying breed, an arena rock band that can provide pyrotechnics a dozen instrumentally as well as visually and choruses powerful enough to level the building. From ‘Come To Life’ to ‘Rise Today’ to the crowd requested ‘My Champion’, there isn’t a song that doesn’t get less than a rapturous response. Myles Kennedy (who is on top form) guides the crowd with ease like a conductor with their choir.

Credit to Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips for being solid and bringing great grooves that allow Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti to shine, they drive the machine and get plenty of moments in songs like ‘Pay No Mind’ (Where Tremonti gives away one of his guitars!) and ‘Dying Light’ to bring the funk.

Tremonti takes centre stage for ‘Forever Falling’ and it’s clear to see how far Mark has come in years gone by. Not only is he a world class guitarist and songwriter, but the balls he has to hit the notes he does is clear for everyone to see.

The show reaches it’s climax with an acoustic version of ‘In Loving Memory’ and ‘Blackbird’. If I wasn’t ever convinced by Myles Kennedy, then these next two songs are just another moment to add to the long list of reasons as to why he is one of my favourite vocalists of all time. It’s impossible not to get emotional listening to this and Myles gets the point across all while finding the time to fill the arena with those high notes that always drops everyone’s jaws down to the floor. To me; ‘Blackbird’ is the 21st Century ‘Stairway To Heaven’ and it’s always a privilege to hear live.

The show blazes over the finish line with with ‘Godspeed’ and ‘Addicted To Pain’ leaving fans wanting much more. With an expanded production that includes pyro, an intricate light-show and screens that compliment the instrumental acrobatics we all love and expect, this had to be one of my favourite occasions I’d seen them play in town. This is a band that should be headlining festivals regularly. My only question while leaving is: why aren’t they bigger?

[professor-it-tech]

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO COMPUTER SCIENCE.

Skip to content  How to Learn Computer Science? (from Zero to Hero) View Larger Image If you want to learn Computer Science and you’re just starting out, you probably have a lot of questions. What programming languages should I learn? Is it enough to learn one or two programming languages to secure a good job at a big tech company? What other skills do I need, if any? With so much information out there, aspiring software engineers can find it difficult to ferret out the valuable information from the rubbish. I know how it is because I’ve been there too. Needless to say, it took me a long time to find the answers that I needed. But it doesn’t have to be like that for you. I searched online, trying to find quality information, but the ONLY good resource I found was an article written by Ozan Onay and Myles Byrne from the Bradfield School of Computer Science. So I decided to write an article that reflects my personal opinions and experiences. This article reflects my personal opinions and information that I’ve discovered through my real-world experiences. It gives you a broad overview of what your CS career will look like, from start to finish. It tells you what skills you absolutely must acquire. It even lets you know what to expect at each and every step of the way. The overall thesis of this article is that software engineers pass through three different phases. I am going to explain to you exactly what these three phases are. Afterwards, I’ll tell you exactly what skills you need to move from one phase to the next, so you can get what you want from your career. The Three Phases of a Software Engineer Highly successful software engineers progress through three consecutive phases. I’d like to point out that some software engineers never progress beyond the first phase, and others don’t move beyond the second. Only highly successful software engineers reach the third phase. These three phases are: 1- The Coder 2- The Programmer 3- The Computer Scientist It is important to mention that this classification is my own development, based on my personal experiences and observations. Let me explain each one of these phases. First Phase: The Coder  Every software engineer begins his career as a coder. This can happen at a very young age. You don’t even need a college degree to be a coder. So, what is a coder? A coder is someone who knows how to speak the language of a machine. When given a particular problem, a coder knows how to break down that problem into instructions that the machine can understand in order to come up with a solution. Here’s the thing: if you find yourself really struggling at this phase, you may want to consider a different career path. The coding phase is literally the easiest phase of your CS career. If you succeed at coding, congratulations! You might have a successful career as a software engineer. Unfortunately, many software engineers remain in this phase for their whole career. If you’re just a coder, your pay won’t be great because your skills are easily replaceable. And if you remain just a coder, your promotions will be severely limited. At this stage, you shouldn’t even expect to get an entry-level job at any of the big tech companies. You need to evolve at least to the next phase for this to happen. You need to be a programmer. Second Phase: The Programmer  Once you have learned the basics of at least two programming languages (preferably one statically-typed and one dynamically-typed), you are a solid coder. The question now is how do you promote yourself to the programmer status? A programmer is essentially a sophisticated coder. Writing code that does the job is what coders do but writing efficient code that does the job is what programmers do. Here is a list of some skills that you should have as a programmer: 1- you should know the fundamentals of how any code eventually turns into something that a hardware chip can understand and execute. 2- you should understand that any system has finite compute, storage, and network resources and your software should utilize these resources efficiently. 3- you should know how to use data structures and algorithms to write efficient code. 4- you should understand what makes code efficient and what doesn’t. 5- you should understand that quality is important and that testing your code is crucial. Now I have good news and bad news for you. The Bad News: This is not the end. There is still a long way to go on your career path. The Good News: There are a lot of coders out there, but there aren’t a lot of solid programmers. If you really master this phase, you can easily secure a job at one of the big tech companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and others. In fact, most of the interviews conducted at these companies test how good of a programmer, not how good of a coder, you are. I wrote an in-depth article that discusses everything you need to know about the coding interview process. Be sure to check it out if you’re at this phase in your career. The vast majority of software engineers retire at this phase. Third Phase: The Computer Scientist  Learning does not stop after mastering the programming phase. As a matter of fact, it actually starts here! When you are at the computer scientist phase, you’re essentially an architect who thinks about the big picture more than the nitty gritty details. You have a solid understanding of designing large distributed systems and you know how to build scalable systems that can handle large loads and tolerate failures. A computer scientist also never stops learning, and always tries to stay up to date with the latest in technology. At this level, you’ll most likely be in charge of big projects and you’ll be managing a team (usually of coders and solid programmers) to get the job done. You might also need to cooperate with other teams. All of these require stellar social and leadership skills. In the rest of this article, I will go through the technical skills that you need in order to be a coder, then a programmer, and finally a computer scientist. Let’s get started.  1- Programming The first and only step to becoming a coder is to learn programming. This is the easiest step in your CS career, and it gives you a quick feedback about whether you should pursue a CS career or not. When it comes to choosing programming languages, I don’t want you to fret over what programming language to learn. At this stage what matters is not the particular programming language, but the concepts that you will be learning. These concepts will hold true in almost any other programming language. When you become a more seasoned programmer, you will reach a point where learning a new programming language doesn’t take more than a week, so don’t waste your time trying to find the “perfect” programming language to start with because: a) it doesn’t exist, and b) it doesn’t matter. With that said, I personally recommend you start with the following two languages. I will explain my reasons behind these choices, but feel free to start with whatever you’re most comfortable with. Python  I highly suggest you start with Python Why? Because Python is a language that is very easy to learn. Like, really, really easy! It is a very high-level language which allows you to write real programs in just a few lines of code. So, in a short amount of time, you will be able to develop significant projects. If you’re interested in learning Python, check out my step-by-step guide that I have laid out for you to take you from an absolute beginner to a professional Pythonista. These features of Python are extremely important, especially when you’re starting out. To learn python, I highly recommend Python Crash Course. (make sure you get the newer second edition) I find it to be very useful for beginners. I also like that the book is project-based, so you’ll have fun building things while you’re learning to code. Tips for Students 1. You can get your books faster with no shipping fees if you sign up for an Amazon Prime Student account (free for 6 months) 2. Depending on what and how many books you want to get, it might be cheaper to join the Kindle Unlimited program (30 days free trial) Java Why another language though?  The reason I recommend learning another language, especially Java, is because it will teach you some programming concepts that don’t even exist in Python. For example, Python is a dynamically-typed language while Java is a statically-typed language. If you don’t know what that means, you will understand it after learning these two languages. A combination of Python and Java is a very good way to start because together they provide you with a very solid idea of the programming concepts that you will need in almost any other programming language. To add to the benefits mentioned above, both Python and Java are heavily used in industry. So not only will you be spending your time learning the foundations that will pave the way for you to progress further, but you will also be learning some practical languages that are very employable and in high demand. I learned Java from the Java core series many years ago. Two separate books are offered. One is for Java fundamentals, and the other is for advanced Java features. I’d recommend not to overwhelm yourself with the advanced features for now. Focus on the fundamentals in this phase. Congratulations! Now you are a coder!  2- The Software Stack OK. So you can write code that can do some really cool stuff, but seriously do you even understand what’s going on? Say you write a very simple program that just adds two integers and prints the result to the screen. In Python, that would look like this: x = 5 y = 10 print(x + y) I take it you understand your code. You understand that a computer running your code should output 15. But do you really understand what’s happening under the hood? What does variable assignment (x = 5) mean at the hardware level? What is x, really? How is the number 5 represented in hardware? How does addition actually happen? And how did the result end up on my screen?!! At the end of the day, a computer is just a collection of hardware chips and wires. How can a computer really understand your code? and execute it flawlessly?  The fact of the matter is, your code is just the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of other layers under your code. Together, they make the whole thing work the way you expect it to work. A programmer unravels this magic. At this level, you need a solid understanding of all the layers of the stack starting from your code, all the way down to the hardware layer. The Elements of Computing Systems by Noam Nisan and Shimon Schocken is unequivocally my top suggestion for a book that will teach you the essential information you need to understand each layer of the stack. The book covers hardware, compilers, linkers, and operating systems at a very basic level which makes it very beginner friendly. It walks you through the steps of creating your first programming language, creating a compiler and a linker for it, and then creating an operating system. 3- Algorithms and Data Structures  Now you’re in a very good shape to go back and start programming again, but this time with a completely different mindset. Because now, you REALLY know what’s happening under the hood. You understand how hardware is eventually going to run your code. You know that you have limited hardware resources and you understand the value of utilizing the available resources efficiently. Studying algorithms and data structures will teach you how to write code in a way that makes your code more efficient, however you define efficiency. it could be speed, resource utilization, or both. The skills that you are going to learn at this phase are some of the major differentiators that separate average coders from solid programmers. In fact, most big tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon focus a lot on data structures questions during their interview process. When it comes to algorithms and data structures, there isn’t really much debate about the best book that covers the subject. It is unequivocally Introduction to Algorithms (AKA CLRS). Be aware that the topic of data structures and algorithms is language neutral, so it doesn’t matter which programming language you’re using. However, some people prefer to read books that are specific to their preferred language. Even though that’s not my style, but you can find a lot of good language-specific data structures books like this one for Java and this one for Python. 4- Networks  It is very rare that your code will run on an isolated single machine. Most useful code communicates with other computers either in a local network or the internet. Programmers need to have a very solid foundation of how computer networking works. I came across, in my opinion, the best networking book when I was a senior undergrad. It helped me overcome the dry text book that my professor at the time recommended. Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach by Kurose and Ross is a very well-written, super easy to understand book that covers all the networking basics that you need to know. I still go back to this book every now and then if I need a refresher. 5- Operating Systems  Operating systems play a major role in the software stack. If you are following this list in order, by now you should have a very broad idea of the role of an operating system in the stack. But now is the time to have a deeper understanding of operating systems. Operating Systems Concepts by Abraham Silberschatz is one of the best books on the subject. You need some basic knowledge of C though, because the majority of operating systems are written in C. My recommendation, unless you want to be a kernel developer, is not to allow yourself to get stuck at this point. This is a very dense topic. Understanding all the details of all the aspects of operating systems is very time consuming. Grasping the main fundamental operating systems concepts is good enough to keep you going but don’t get bogged down in details. Another resource I highly recommend is the OSDev Wiki, especially if you want to learn how to create your own kernel. This is pretty advanced, but it’s something that the vast majority of software engineers can’t do. Look at that! You’ve achieved the status of programmer!  6- Distributed Systems  Welcome to the start of your computer scientist status. In this level, you will be learning new skills while you improve the skills you learned as a programmer. Distributed systems is about building and architecting software systems that are scalable and that can tolerate failures at the same time. This requires you to think of the bigger picture, rather than focusing on how to build the individual components–programmers and coders can do that. For example, think about building a search engine service, like Google, for some text files that exist only in your laptop. This service will listen to search queries that it receives over the network, search your files for the query, and respond with the results. This is not a hard thing to do. Any programmer with a decent knowledge of algorithms and data structures can build an efficient search engine for a small number of files. Now imagine that more and more people become interested in your service and they start using it. Now you’re getting millions and millions of requests a second. Not only that, but the size and number of files you are searching through begins to grow dramatically. What happens if your laptop (that hosts the search service) fails? Will you just ignore the millions of requests you’re getting? Distributed systems is about creating an army of computers that work together to form a specific task (in our example, the search service). It allows you to create scalable systems that can handle more requests or more data. At the same time, it provides redundancy that would be useful in case any one (or more) machine fails. Now, let’s talk about resources. By far, this blog post is the best resource I have found on the subject (disclaimer: you will need to read some academic papers). If you are a text book kind of person, then this O’Reilly book by Martin Kleppmann is excellent. I have skimmed through it, and it covers most of the important topics. With that said, Distributed Systems is a field where experience matters a lot. So learn the theory, but also get your hands dirty by working on distributed systems projects. 7- Machine Learning  Machine learning is an interdisciplinary field that spans computer science, mathematics, and statistics. In this day and age, it is being used every where! Netflix uses it for movie recommendations, Amazon uses it for their recommendation engine and for Amazon Echo, Vesty Waves uses it to automatically classify articles, and the list goes on. To be able to build these types of software, you need to be more than just a solid programmer because as I mentioned this field requires a very strong mathematical and statistical foundation. And no, learning everything about Python’s Scikit-Learn library (a very popular Python library for machine learning) won’t make you a data scientist or a machine learning expert. You still need to understand the mathematical and statistical underpinnings. There are two ways to study machine learning: the top-down approach method, where you start first by writing machine learning code right away (for example ,by using Python’s Scikit-Learn library) and understand the math later, or the bottom-up approach, where you start with the math first and then move up to coding. I personally prefer the second method, just because that’s what works best for me. Even though It’s harder to start and takes longer before you start writing code, once you grasp the concepts, learning how to use a machine learning library is going to be a piece of cake. On the other hand, the top-down approach has the advantage of allowing you to begin writing machine-learning code fast. This motivates a lot of people. The downside of the top-down approach is that it will be much harder for you to understand why some techniques work, while others don’t, because you won’t have the necessary mathematical background at first. Andrew Ng’s course on Coursera is a very good place to start. If you have prior knowledge of mathematics, probability, and statistics, then An Introduction to Statistical Learning is a very good book for building the statistical and mathematical foundations for machine learning. However, don’t use this book if you aren’t already strong in linear algebra, probabilities, and basic statistics because you will not be able to understand it. If you want to solve real world problems and make money doing this, then create a team, go to Kaggle, solve a problem, and make some money. And even if you don’t win, you will learn 🙂 You did it! You can now call yourself a computer scientist!  Featured Posts Python: A Learning Path from Zero to Hero The Ultimate Path for Learning Computer Science Pass your Coding Interview like a Boss A Roadmap for Learning Git Why (and How) you should Start your Programming Blog Today? Are you Beginning your Programming Career? I provide my best content for beginners in the newsletter. What programming language to start with? Do you need a CS degree to be a programmer? Career tips and advice Programming tutorials And so much more… Subscribe now. It’s Free.  SUBSCRIBE By Karim 127 Leave a Reply  68 59 19 Subscribe newest oldest Stanley Well… 3 years of CS and this is the best thing I have seen anywhere. I must confess though I’m having trouble getting past the coder phase but I believe it’ll pass. Very well written article. I need to share it with my fellows. Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks Stanley! Keep at it and good luck 🙂 You will soon go past this coding phase. Reply 1 year ago Nuhu Jerry I find this very inspiring and important as its has helped me understand the fundamentals of being a computer scientist! thank you very much Reply 1 year ago Karim Nuhu! Thank you very much. Glad the article helped you. Reply 1 year ago Hussein M Yussuf So helpful indeed, i really appreciate for a well done job, keep it up!!! Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks Hussein and good luck in your career! Reply 1 year ago George A very good step-by-step analysis of the CS career. Kudos. You should give us a talk in our university. Please share with me your contacts Reply 1 year ago Karim Thank you George! Glad it helped. You can always contact me at ‘my-first-name’@afternerd.com Reply 1 year ago Patience What a grate piece.I have fear when it comes to programming but after reading this ,it build up my moral to start up.thanks Reply 1 year ago Karim Fear is part of the learning process. As long as you persevere this initial feeling of fear and intimidation, you will prevail! Thanks!:) Reply 1 year ago Jonas Thank you immensely. This is what I did need to know when I started to learn how to program computer I mean a clear road, this will save my time. Thank you again for your generosity Reply 1 year ago David Bryan Wow. . This is the perfect article I was looking for.. Great work mate. Thanks for the help. Reply 4 months ago Karim Thank you David 🙂 Reply 3 months ago Mickelson Joseph Vil I’m very interested! Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks for your interest Mickelson! Reply 1 year ago Et Great guide mate. Thank you! Reply 1 year ago Karim Thank you Et! 🙂 Glad I can help Reply 1 year ago Cheelo Very enlightening read for beginners. Do you also offer tutorials? How do I get certified? If not get me linked. Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks a lot! What do you mean by certified? Certification is of no value in the CS career. trust me!:) Reply 1 year ago Asad Ur Rehman Hi thanks for this Great Article. Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks Asad! Glad it helped. Reply 1 year ago cs-aspirant Thanks for this post. I really learnt a lot! Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks cs-aspirant 🙂 Reply 1 year ago Akash Looking forward for many such great articles insights about cs field from you.Thanks ALOT… Reply 1 year ago Karim Always happy to help! thanks. Reply 1 year ago Mani i did my CS grad 6 years back, would have been great if I came across a splendid article like this at that time. nevertheless Im glad atleast now I have came across such gem. Thanks a lot for explaining in detail. Inspiring! Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks for your kind words Mani! And good luck in your CS career 🙂 Reply 1 year ago Yahya Mohamed Wow! What a great piece of a nice and easy-to-understand article. This will surely help me kick-start my dream of pursuing CS in the university. Please do post other interesting articles like this one. Thanks dude and stay blessed! Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks Yahya! Good luck in your career!:) Reply 1 year ago Akash Brilliant piece of article…can u tell more about how to develop your CV so u can get great resumes… Reply 1 year ago Karim Hello Akash, the best thing to develop your resume is to get internships or work on projects, either at school or open source ones. Reply 1 year ago Zaheer Abbas I really love this article and bookmarked. Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks Zaheer. Happy to help! Reply 1 year ago SHRAVAN WELL EXPLAINED Reply 1 year ago Khanh Chung This is really a great article. What do you think about database? I think it is really important if we want to learn CS. Reply 1 year ago Karim Thank you. You are right. It definitely is! Reply 1 year ago phill This piece is very interesting and enlightening. I have always loved computers but never had the chance to dive into a CS career. This article provides me a solid roadmap to enter CS space. Thank you very much. Just completed a B.A degree. Will launch into CS career now Reply 1 year ago Karim Thank you Phill and Good luck in your CS career! Reply 1 year ago Jonathan I never though i’d ever come across any of this. Atleast now i’ve got a path to follow rather that just doing everything blindly. Nailed it! Nice work Reply 1 year ago Rithik If don’t want to major in computer science because I want to major in an engineering field, but I really want to learn computer science. Are the materials listed above to supplement extra information to comsci majors, or can I use the materials above to learn compsci without a traditional learning environment. Reply 1 year ago Karim You can use the material above to teach yourself computer science. These are the things that students learn in CS majors Reply 1 year ago Rithik Ok, thank you! Reply 1 year ago Anas Mayow Salaat i didnt know where to start, but, i guess i do now with this article and Thank You for your help. Reply 1 year ago Karim Glad to help! Good luck 🙂 Reply 1 year ago K Great article. I love this article I’m following this road-map, but I don’t really enjoy reading thick books, so I use videos instead. Is it ok? Reply 1 year ago Karim Of course! Just make sure the teacher is good. Reply 1 year ago K I’m not really sure that they are good teachers or not, I have two courses on Udemy, one is Java and another is Python. They have highest rate courses on Udemy. Reply 1 year ago laiju Sir ,you are giving a good information on computer science career. Reply 1 year ago Karim I am always happy to help. Thanks for reading! Reply 1 year ago Tony Thank you so much, sir! Reply 1 year ago Karl Very well elaborated! Thank you so much! Man, I feel so happy, it’s like you just gave a 1000 bucks… Reply 1 year ago Karim haha thanks Karl! 🙂 Reply 1 year ago G ARCHANA Such a great article! explained everything in a lucid manner that even a non CS grad can easily catch.Thank you! Reply 1 year ago Karim You are welcome! Glad you liked it. Reply 1 year ago Moiz This looks like a really good guide i was studing in BS physics and wanted to study Cs as well this guide deals with what CS majors learn in Bachelors right would i still need a degree in cs to go to programming Reply 1 year ago Karim No, you don’t need a CS “degree” to go to programming. You need to learn CS to have a successful career. It doesn’t matter if you learn CS through a traditional college degree or not (although having an actual degree opens many doors when you’re starting out) Reply 1 year ago Edu Thank you very much. God bless you. Reply 1 year ago Li Shenghui Thank you very much! This is the best article I had read. Reply 1 year ago Karim Li! Thank you 🙂 Reply 1 year ago Heba More than helpful article , a hell of a one actually . Thanks so very much ,that’s precious . Reply 1 year ago Karim Thanks Heba! Very happy to help. Reply 1 year ago Seshai Hari Superb Article. I’m a freshmen entering college for persuing computer science engeneering. Hope i will follow these steps and become a great computer science engineer Reply 1 year ago Karim I can see this happening. Good luck Seshai! Reply 1 year ago Musa This a Great resource regarding CS. I can’t thank you enough for such a Write up. It is really helpful. But I’ve a question Mr. Karim, how many years can these processes take an average person?. I’ll be quite glad if I could get a detailed answer.Thanks a Billion. Reply 1 year ago Karim Honestly it differs from one person to another. Also this is a field that is frequently changing, so you will be learning all the time. It doesn’t really stop 🙂 Reply 1 year ago nonone Thank you million times —by whoever will saw this post Reply 1 year ago Andrew Hi Karim, I’m interested in robotics and AI. I was told to learn and be good at python, c and c++. Could I leave out Java for now? Also, could you recommend me some good resources to learn c and c++? Reply 1 year ago Karim Hi Andrew. Of course! the reason I haven’t suggested C/C++ for absolute beginners is because C/C++ are more low-level and requires you to know a little bit about the underlying stack (especially memory management). That said, I actually started with C/C++ myself. For C, I recommend “C Programming: A Modern Approach, 2nd Edition” by K.N. King. I don’t have book recommendations for C++ but a strong foundation in C will help you tremendously when you make the move to C++ Reply 1 year ago Divyanshi Parashar Thanks a lot! It’s really very helpful. Reply 1 year ago Parth Thanks a lot! This is the first time when someone clearly explained what it means to be a programmer and a computer scientist. Reply 1 year ago Karim Thank you! Reply 1 year ago Jason Hey Karim ,so as a beginner ,we have to learn both Java and Python before going into the next phase right? Reply 1 year ago Karim Hi Jason, I recommend this but it is not a must. I actually only learnt C before moving to the next phase. Reply 1 year ago Honey I am a 50 something who is tired of feeling left out of the sophisticated world of CS. I am glad I came across your article. The manner in which you presented a step-by-step approach to learning this “magic” makes me feel confident in my pursuit. I am going to stop searching for “how to’s“ and begin my journey based on your recommendations. Thank you Reply 1 year ago Karim Thank you for stopping by! Glad I helped and I wish you the best. Reply 1 year ago sandeep narula Very well explained.Thanks for the inspiration 🙂 Reply 1 year ago Rae.fk Thank you very much. I want to become a Computer Scientist and I know this will help me through. Thank you once again. God bless you. Reply 1 year ago kevin Thanks a million dude! Reply 1 year ago Michelle Wow! Thank you for sharing! Reply 1 year ago Daud I’m in my third year of pursuing an IT Degree and your article blew my mind, it very well structured and very informative. I think I will be following your path into becoming a Computer Scientist. Reply 1 year ago Khadija Thank you very much, I realy apreciate this article! Wich book do you recomand for C language? Reply 1 year ago Karim I like “C Programming: A Modern Approach” Reply 11 months ago Abhishek Shandilya Hello Sir, I completed my B.Tech in Computer Science & Engg. 4 years back but never had a beautiful broad view of Computer Science with such clearance of thought, as i am having now after reading this. I am excited again about CS after reading this article. Thank you sooooooooo much. Reply 11 months ago Karim You are welcome Abhishek! Happy to help. Reply 11 months ago Neminda Sir this is a great article. You just encourage us; programmers and beginers. Every programmers and beginers should read this..thank you so much sir this article just gave me a good strength Please let me know how to contact with you Reply 11 months ago Karim Thanks Neminda! Glad you found it useful. Reply 11 months ago gt Thankyou so much Karim,,,this article has really helped me Reply 11 months ago Shashi kumar Thanks for your valuble information.But,i’m in 2nd yr of engineering and i’m an average student.I dont know well how to code…Could i start to code at this time.Is it possible. Reply 11 months ago Karim Of course you can! You can learn anything at any time 🙂 Reply 11 months ago Ajay Best Article I have ever read. But I have a small doubt about the Career, Do the CS and IT field are one and the same or it differ by something. If it is different which one to choose next. Can you prepare another article explainingg clearly about it. Thanks for the above article. Reply 10 months ago Karim You are welcome Ajay. In Tech companies, IT and software engineering are different jobs requiring different skills. This article is about CS and software engineering. That said, there is a lot of knowledge overlap between the two. Reply 10 months ago Lawrence NG I love and bookmark this article. Many thanks for writing such a stunning article to provide the ways and suggestions to the people who pursuits the CS career. Reply 10 months ago Karim My pleasure! 🙂 Reply 10 months ago  Load More Comments Search for:  Grow customer love with our Marketing CRM. ADS VIA CARBON  About Karim Karim has a PhD in Computer Science from the university of California, Santa Barbara. He had over three years of experience teaching CS to undergrads, over 5 years of experience doing research, and is currently working for a Fortune 100 company. He is largely interested in distributed systems, machine learning, fitness, and soccer Let’s connect Don’t miss out! Learn about programming and computer science by subscribing to my private newsletter  SUBSCRIBE Build an Online Presence  Learn why you should Start your Programming Blog Today! ABOUT My name is Karim Elghamrawy. I started Afternerd.com to be a platform for educating aspiring programmers and computer scientists. SITE Blog Programming Fundamentals Career LEGAL Privacy Policy Affiliate Disclosure LET’S CONNECT © Copyright 2017-2019, Afternerd

[generalobi]

the one where jaster adopted obi-wan was precious... could you please write some more?

“Obi-Wan,” Jaster knocks on the doorframe, “We’re coming out of hyperspace, you need to get strapped in.”

Obi-Wan closes the book he’d been reading and replaces it on the shelf, and slips past Jaster on silent feet. He follows the boy into the cockpit, where he’s strapped himself into the too big straps again.

“Can I tighten those for you, ad?” Jaster asks, and Obi-Wan regards him with serious eyes.

“Okay,” he finally whispers.

It’s only slightly better than before, but Jaster will take what he can get. He straps himself in and pulls them cleanly into real space.

“Manda’lor to Sundari Palace,” he hails.

“Copy Manda’lor, platform is clear to land. Welcome home.”

¬

The kid, Obi-Wan, is even smaller than Jango expected. The tiny Jedi follows his buir down the ramp, a strange mixture of skittish and defiant. Next to him Myles snorts. When Montross tries to greet Obi-Wan, he glares at him and shrinks away. Jango supposes that’s a valid reaction to being near a new, slimy looking stranger on hardly any sleep.

Finally, the two make their way over to where Myles and Jango are waiting, in the shade cast by the palace.

“Buir,” Jango says, nodding at him, “Verd’ika.”

Obi-Wan frowns at him, little hands clutching at Jaster’s vambrace, “I don’t speak Mando’a, it’s rude to talk to someone in a language they don’t understand.”

Jaster rolls his eyes slightly, and pulls Jango into a keldabe kiss. The gentle bump of his forehead to his buir’s calms the last of his jealousy. A new vod’ika doesn’t mean Jaster is replacing him.

“It’s good to see you, ad,” he says, smiling gently, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, buir.”

A little hand taps Jango’s, and he pulls away from his buir to see Obi-Wan staring at him intently.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he says, “What does verd’ika mean?”

“Little soldier,” Jango replies.

“I’m not a soldier, though,” Obi-Wan says, spinning to stare up at Jaster, “You didn’t bring me here to be a soldier, did you?”

“No!” Jango says quickly, drawing Obi-Wan’s attention back to him, “It’s a nickname, an affectionate thing. Buir, Jaster, told me you were very brave. I won’t call you that if you don’t want me to.”

Obi-Wan considers that for a moment, then nods decisively, “I don’t mind, but most people called me Obi. And my friends called me Imp, but you can’t call me that.”

“Okay,” he draws the word out slightly, “Would you like to see your room?”

“Okay, but Jaster has to come with us.”

“Of course,” his buir says, “I won’t leave you alone until you want me to.”

“Alright,” Obi-Wan tugs on his vambrace, “Let’s go.”

¬

Obi-Wan runs his hands over his new bedspread. It’s nice. It’s really nice actually, but it kind of makes him miss his bed in the Temple. He’s never had a room and a bed all to himself, not really. In the Creche he slept in a Clan pile, and as an Initiate he slept up in a dorm also with his Clan. On the ship to Bandomeer, he slept in communal quarters. In the mines, he didn’t sleep much. On Jaster’s ship, Jaster was always right there.

It’s becoming apparent the longer he sits in his too comfortable bed in his too quiet room that he can’t sleep at all when he’s alone.

With a sigh, Obi-Wan throws the duvet off and slides to the edge of the bed. He slips his feet into the slippers Jando had pointed out when they left him at bedtime. He doesn’t really want to bother anyone, but he can’t sleep. And Jaster was always there when he needed him on the ship.

He creeps into the hallway, and knocks on the door Jaster had said was his. When there’s no answer, he pushes it open quietly. Jaster is sleeping peacefully, snoring slightly. Obi-Wan shuts the door as silently as he can, and tiptoes his way towards the bed. He curls up into a ball on the end of the bed, just out of accidental kicking range.

He’s asleep in minutes.

[mrmichaelchadler]

Sundance 2019: The Mustang, Top End Wedding

The final days of Sundance are often given over to what could be called less edgy product, more crowd-pleasing fare than the Competition and Next titles that premiere on the opening weekend of the 11-day affair. This isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes truly delightful crowd-pleasers end up closing the fest like 2017’s “The Incredible Jessica James” and 2018’s “Hearts Beat Loud.” Some of this year’s late fest offerings include “Paddleton,” “The Tomorrow Man,” “Troop Zero,” and a pair of very different films that I got to preview before leaving Park City, both rich in the way they use setting and both reasonably able to overcome the inherent clichés in their narratives, even if one hurdles that obstacle a bit more cleanly the other.

The better of the pair is Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s “The Mustang,” a film about a program in which convicts work to train to wild mustangs so they can be sold at auction. While it’s a real program that has seen notable success in the way its participants often fail to become repeat offenders, it’s obviously a subject matter that’s just ripe for cliched storytelling. Even the Sundance description made me roll my eyes: “Roman must learn to tame not only the mustang but also the beast within.” Seriously? Another film that portrays the male prisoner as an animal waiting to be tamed is not exactly what the world needs right now. And yet “The Mustang” wore me down. It’s evidence of how new life can be breathed into clichéd concepts with the right focus on character and setting, and trust in your performers.

Matthias Schoenaerts leans into his strong, silent archetype as Roman Coleman, a resident of a maximum-security prison in Nevada that participates in a Wild Mustang program. Every year, mustangs are rounded up and trained by prisoners to take part in an auction. Of course, Roman first bristles at any sort of structure to his day, especially one that involves shoveling horse shit, but an irascible trainer named Myles (Bruce Dern) and a fellow convict (Jason Mitchell) soften Roman, as does the wildest horse in the program. Roman even learns how to talk to his daughter (a great Gideon Adlon, who is going to be a star very shortly).

It sounds like clichéd screenwriting 101 but it works because of how deliberately Clermont-Tonnerre handles the material. She allows scenes that would have been easy moments to strike sentimental chords to play out organically, and she lets the movie breathe, becoming more believable and moving in the process. “The Mustang” doesn’t feel the need to rush anywhere, allowing Roman to develop into a fully-formed character instead of just an archetype. It’s the patience with the storytelling that allows him to grow into something genuine. It builds instead of races, knowing that it’s the accumulation of minor character beats in a film like this one that really matter. Seek this one out when it opens in March. 

Less successful is Wayne Blair’s generic “Top End Wedding,” a movie that plays out like a mainstream romantic comedy until it finally gets to its last half hour, where respect for its setting and the people who live there add some much-needed weight to a film that was direly in need of it.

Lauren (the charming Miranda Tapsell, who also co-wrote) is a workaholic with a taskmaster of a boss (Kerry Fox) and a supportive boyfriend named Ned (Gwilym Lee). On the same day that Lauren gets a promotion and Ned quits his job—the kind of early-script stuff that just screams wacky movie!—he proposes to her. Hold on, the coincidences aren’t done. They race to Darwin, Australia, which is on the North side of the continent aka the “Top End,” only to find out that Lauren’s mother has left Lauren’s father. Like, literally left, hitting the road and not turning back. Lauren and Ned chase after Lauren’s mom, leading them into a mystery regarding their family past and the culture of the people who live in Northern Australia.

The first hour of “Top End Wedding” can be downright annoying in its simplicity and bad screenwriting, reminding me more of the kind of multiplex rom-coms that currently star people like Jennifer Lopez. Then it hit me. Most of this movie is just prologue to what really matters to Blair and Tapsell and that’s the arrival in a part of the world we haven’t really seen in a Sundance film before. There’s a genuine respect for the people of the Tiwi Islands that’s effective and even moving, and “Top End Wedding” really becomes a different film altogether when Lauren gets there—although even then Blair can’t avoid an airport revelation and other cheesy rom-com clichés. The Sundance description for “Top End Wedding” ends with “..making you wonder why you’ve stayed away for so long.” I too wondered why this movie stayed away from what works about it for as long as it does. 

from All Content http://bit.ly/2WI5H8u