#i think Yorkie is neat

[captin-azoth]

HAWT DAWG HAWT DAWG HAWT DIGGITY DAWG~

[blu-engineer-was-taken]

Bragging after a win streak… or rather just bragging in general

[ Anyways this is what that very random ask was about @y0rk-ie ]

Little other thing where I was really proud of his face but not the body language,,, they just felt awkward but I didn’t realize until I was done

[the-multi-geek]

Assign your friends/moots an Animal that reminds you of them!

Oh boy this is gonna be fun dhdndbdjs there's probably one thing in common that everyone has 😭 I cannot help it-

Al- it's between a cat and a gator cuz I think both are cute but like in the end this kitty because the worm take over!

Emma- a type of deer because they're so majestic but silly at the same time!

Joe- Icon is dogboy but vibe?? Yorkie. Yorkie energy to me 100% 🥺

Kory- A little cocker spaniel. Why? I know it should be a spider or a kind of arachnid but I always think of a lil long eared puppy 😭

Klai- a type of raven. I think they're just so so neat especially with how pretty they can look 🥺

Luca- I think of mini poodles just cuz of his dog Taco 😭

Mandika -you gonna hate me for it but this. Giant Brahma chickens......it was between this and a type of large feline species but felt Brahma chickens excude more chaos 💀

Minty- no brained cuz of their lil sona but an axolotl! They're silly so so silly

Pins- hands down a fluffy lamb!

Toko- sky puppy. Just, coming out every now and again like a vampire and association with Embrace and Aesop/Exorcist

Am I missing people? Yes , yes I am but I hit my limit on pictures to add 😭😭😭😭😭😭 but everyone should know that there's association to cute lil guys or fluffy lil guys!!!

[fleurmatisse]

i used to want a big dog sooo bad bc i never had one and i think they’re neat but my heart truly does lie with small dogs. tiny dogs. grew up with jack russells and my grandmother’s yorkie and they are just so good. baby demons.

[hermitmoss]

ok in life born of fire, the inspector lewis episode, james at first tells robbie he didn't know if will was gay, just that he suspected he was.

then robbie says "if my boy was... it just wouldn't matter" to james.

and james then tells robbie explicitly "will was gay."

then robbie tells james "we all have to have our little secrets."

then james tells robbie that reverend king, who ran the conversion therapy group, "was too hang-'em-and-flog-em for me".

then robbie asks him "is there anything i ought to know about you and will mcewan?"

then james says faith "can make things difficult sometimes" and robbie almost asks why he left the priesthood but they agree it's none of his business.

then robbie asks james "did something happen between" him and will when james left the priesthood, and james lies and says it didn't.

and then there's THAT exchange. robbie says "are you... no." and james says "no, go on. ask." and robbie says "no. it's... doesn't matter." and james says "you've been dying to ask." and robbie says "it's none of my business." "but you really want to know." "well, ok." "what?" "are you?" "what?" "are you gay?" "what does that mean?" "you know what that means." "what, that there's boys and girls and a nice, neat line down the middle? gays like shoes and musicals and straights read loaded and eat yorkies?" "no, no." "find a definition, then, sir." "loaded and yorkies? how stupid do you think i am, man? i just... ah, it's none of my business. you're right."

and then james gets told again and again and again "there's nothing wrong with you" while he makes out with a queer person and then at the end he's reading loaded and gives robbie a yorkie to eat.

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Old (2021)

Oh you guys. You guyyyyyys. Buckle the fuck up, I am so pumped to tell you about this absolutely GONZO mummified deuce of a movie. Spoilers will be had in this one, because you need to know everything. 

Old is the latest from M. Night Shyamalan and like....I think we all know M. Night’s track record. For every Sixth Sense, we also get a Happening or a Village. In some ways, he’s the most exciting director working today because every new film is a 50/50 coin toss, and mama loves living on the edge. The gist of this latest roll of the dice is that a group of different families who have all come to stay at a remote luxury beach resort get invited to go to a secluded private beach for the day, and after they arrive they discover they can’t leave. That’s not great, but the bigger problem is that they seem to be aging rapidly - like 2 years older every hour or so. That’s a solid “how are we gonna get outta this one” bottle episode premise, and in the hands of a better writer, it could be a fun sci-fi romp. M. is NOT that writer. 

Some thoughts:

I should have known it would all go wrong from the terrible foreshadowing starting at the very beginning scene. The mom of our main family, Prisca (Vicky Krieps) says “You have such a beautiful voice, I can’t wait to hear it when you’re older.” The dad, Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal) says, “Don’t rush this moment, enjoy the present while you can.” BECAUSE THE CHARACTERS WON’T BE ABLE TO LATER, DO YOU GET IT? dO yOU GEt iT? Wife leaned over and said “look at all the ferns - the oldest plants!” That last one was probably her projecting, but the point stands: there is nothing subtle about Old. 

There’s a lot of just like, shouting out loud the things that are currently happening onscreen. “She’s having a seizure!” “People who go back the way we came black out!” “The rust has entered your bloodstream; it acts like poison!” That’s how you tell stories, right? Just having characters point out events that are occurring right in front of their stupid fucking faces with no other commentary or reflection? 

An additional element that feels woefully ignorant at best and malicious at worst is the inclusion of a black male character (Aaron Pierre) who 1) is a rapper 2) is named Mid-Sized Sedan [I’ll give you a moment to deal with that detail emotionally] 3) says the single line of dialogue “Damn.” at least 4 times and 4) suffers the bloodiest, most violent onscreen death at the hands of a racist white man who is revealed to have paranoid schizophrenia. There are other gruesome deaths onscreen, to be sure, but the worst are body horror nightmares that could never occur in the real world - a woman whose bones are breaking and setting in the wrong position nearly instantaneously until she resembles a horrifying spider creature, and the aforementioned rust-in-the-bloodstream trick that leads to a Jeff-Goldblum-in-The Fly-bubbling-skin infection kinda deal. But Mid-Sized Sedan just gets stabbed in the chest repeatedly, brutally, a bunch of times by a white guy who pleads fear for his life even though MSS posed no danger to him, and it all happens onscreen when so many other characters are offered the mercy of offscreen deaths. I’m not sure if M. is trying to throw some real-world horror in and he’s just shit at it, or if it really didn’t occur to him how malicious this inclusion feels in a fantasy narrative, and I don’t really care. If you have a black character in your story and they die, you better think really long and hard about how it happens and what it means and it’s clear no one did that here.

Nothing to do with the film itself, but it did tickle me that someone brought a tiny infant to my pretty packed screening. The baby was very chill, thank goodness, and as far as I know did not age up to a kindergartner during the course of the film.

There is a Very Good Dog, a Yorkie, present for the first part of the film, but unfortunately the dog dies. It occurs offscreen, and given the premise of what’s going on on this beach, it’s not a shock when it happens BUT STILL. 

The old age makeup, at least on Prisca is pretty great. Good job makeup department!

At one point, Guy gets attacked by another beachgoer, and his eyesight is failing so he has a hard time fighting back. But you are surrounded by sand, my dude, and you can still see blurry shapes. You’re not gonna throw some sand in the eyes until you’ve been stabbed like 10 times? Not gonna try to push him down, or sweep the fucking leg, or do anything but just keep raising your arms and getting stabbed while yelling “I’ll protect you!” I’ve seen stale tuna sandwiches with better defense mechanisms than you. 

Like most fantastical premises, there are only a certain number of ways this narrative can end that really make any sense. It reminds me quite a bit of 2019’s Brightburn which was like “what if Superman but evil?” Either everyone is gonna die, or someone is going to improbably survive and you better have a real neat explanation for how that’s possible. Oh M. Night, when will you realize that your explanations are never as clever as you think they are? There’s no “twist” here really, simply a reveal, and it’s the equivalent of eating one of those sugar-free, gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free snack cakes I broke down and ate out of desperation when I was on Weight Watchers. That shit is “food” in the same way that the climax is a “logical explanation for all this.” Big Pharma is luring sick people to the resort through targeted ads, then arranging these excursions to the wacky time beach in order to test how medicine they secretly slipped into the guests’ drinks works over decades of life. These sneaky medical breakthroughs are saving hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, we’re told, and the scientists offer a moment of silence for each fallen group of unwitting human lab rats after they inevitably die. Because if there’s one thing the world needs right now, it’s more distrust of pharmaceutical companies and the ethics of modern science! I can’t think of one possible reason we’d want to portray molecular biologists, immunologists, and virologists in a positive light right now, can you? When will those assholes get off their high horses and stop being universally trusted and beloved by everyone, am I right?? 

My saddest takeaway, tbh, is that this is a stacked international cast, with at least half the roles going to POC - this is the future liberals want, etc etc - and the result is THIS.

Did I Cry? Of course not.

Not all is terrible! It’s a beautiful movie to look at, because M. Night’s direction is never the problem, but combined with the script, the acting, and the absurd narrative leaps needed to make this story make even a little bit of sense, the whole thing turns into a mess. Unfortunately, getting Old with M. Night is less “leisurely retirement at a plush resort in Florida” and more “rancid can of Ensure and a poop-choked pair of Depends.”

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

[pawsitivevibe]

Here's all the dogs my partner and I have talked about getting in the future (most of whom we will obvs never get lol):

English Cocker Spaniels. Several. If you follow me you probably know lol.

Papillon. Her name will be Entrapta, at Tom's insistence.

Mudi. I am promised one as soon as we have land. Still mourning the Almost puppy, after I had to pull myself off a breeder's waitlist. One day!!

Silken Windhound. Tom loves them. I contacted some breeders about getting one soon but then ... I realized we had to get an ECS. Tom likes Borzois too, but they are too big thanks, so I will take a Silken.

Shelpie. It's inevitable.

Saluki. I just think they're neat.

Bully mix. His name will be Thor. He will have a big wide head and a dumb toothy grin.

Sport mix bred for MAXIMUM DISC DRIVE. Her name will be Xena. She will have custom printed frisbees.

Aussie. They are probably what I actually want in a dog lol. I feel like I should try one in the Pure Form.

Just A Very Brown Boy. Big and hairy. He will be called Han Solo, Indiana, or maybe Gambit.

Two Smalls. Possibly terriers. Maybe Shelps. Havok (Wreaking Havoc) and Maehem (Making Mayhem).

Golden Retriever. Possibly named Luke Skywalker. Or Steve, but not after the one you think probably. I freaking loved handling one in rally class one time. Want one like him!! I'm afraid of the cancer though.

Mini Goldendoodle. Just Do(odle) it.

Yorkie. I want a fearless tiny terrier who can be easily put in a carry-on lol. Imagine a Yorkie who travels the world!

Jack Russell Terrier. "When I want a little beast to fuck me up."

Samoyed. They are so fluff. I know a breeder and I love her dogs and I wanted to take the puppy she handed me once and run lol.

Bichon. Or maybe a white mini pood. Her name will be Glinda, she will have a wardrobe of tiny tutus and she will be amazing at canine freestyle.

Poodle. Standard or Mini? I think we will get along well. Pretty much everything I like in my mom's little dog comes from the Mini Pood in her.

Bernese Mountain Dog. Tom loves them. I think they are too big and mostly want small and medium dogs. And they are a heartbreak breed.

Rough Collie. My dream dog as a kid. Because Lassie. My grandmother bred them, and her dog Sara followed me everywhere as a child and played with me endlessly. Nostalgia. Plus they are pretty, and laid back for herders.

[abalonetea]

the rabbit dies first

the first 1,554 words of a story I wrote about two years ago, for a contest who’s deadline date I missed!

I had actually forgotten about this story, so it was a neat surprise to find and I wanted to share some of it!

  “The rabbit dies first.” Don Angelo leans forward, resting one elbow on the dark wood table. The room is thick with smoke from his cigar. “Then we take care of the rest.”   Across from him, the underboss, a rather stout looking opossum who goes by Tony, nods in agreement. “Makes sense, boss. We take out one, the rest’ll crumble. Be real easy to pick them off that way.”   Don Angelo cracks a smile, showing off all of his sharp teeth. Raccoons are smart by nature, but he’s even more intelligent than most. “That runt should have known better than to try and rip me off.”  “We going to bring the others in on this?”   “Not yet. I’m not convinced we don’t have a mole in the mix. Someone had to tell him where we keep the dough, right?”   “You really think someone tipped him off?”   “Rabbits aren’t that smart,” says Don Angelo, rocking backwards. He flicks ash off the end of his cigar. The basement doesn’t have any windows in it. Dim yellow light makes the room look more old than it actually is; they have a real base downtown, set up in the Lucky Apple casino. But, with everything going on right now, Don Angelo felt that his own home was a better fit for the meeting.   The door that leads to the upper floor creaks. Brighter light cuts against the dimness of the stairs. Penny is standing in the doorway, the picture perfect visage of a gun moll. Her long, hairless tail is draped over one shoulder. A series of golden hoops jangle in her left ear and a thick strand of pearls is draped around her neck.    “Angie, I’ve about had it with this!” Penny’s accent is thick and easily identifiable as belonging to New Yorkie. She puts a pale pink hand on her hip, sharp nails bunching up her sleek black dress. “All day, yous down here! All day, yous in here smoking with these boys of yours! What about me? When do we get to do something, just the two of us? You supposed to have off today and look, yous still down here, smoking and playing cards!”   “We aren’t playing cards,” snaps Don Angelo. He bares his fangs, hissing at the young woman. “I’m doing business, Penny! I told you that before I came down here!”   “Sorry, Penny.” Tony offers the mouse a sheepish look. He puts out his own cigar on the edge of the table, never minding the dark singe mark it leaves behind. “I’m not trying to keep your man busy all the time.”   Penny waltzes down the stairs, swinging her hips as she goes. “Oh, don’t you go apologizing, Tony. It ain’t your fault.” She waves a hand at the opossum. “Yous not the one pulling Angie down here all hours of the night.”   “Penny, we’ve been over this plenty of times. You can’t come down here – “   “Don’t yous tell me where I can’t go,” interrupts Penny. “This was my house first, you stupid coon. I’m not one of your little men, and you can’t just go ordering me around and telling me things when you aren’t even really telling me things!” She hooks one clawed hand around Don Angelo’s arm, tugging at him. “Now you get that hind of yours up and you take me out somewhere nice!”   “Penny – “ “ No! I ain’t gonna hear anymore excuses! We’re doing something together today! Tony, baby, honey boy – “ Penny gives him a toothy smile. There’s bright red lipstick smeared over her buck teeth. “ – you just lock up before you leave, alright?”  Tony and Don Angelo trade looks. When the boss nods, just a little bit, Tony’s smile gets more warm. “Alright, Penny. You can trust me to make sure everything gets closed up tight.”

  Don Angelo and Penny end up at one of their usual haunts. Bellissimo Gatto is run by a dear friend of Penny. The pretty tabby cat isn’t seen at the restaurant very often these days, but her likeness is captured in the oil portrait that hangs behind the reception station.   Penny leans against Don Angelo, keeping one arm looped around the raccoon’s own arm. She bats her eyes at him. “Come on, Angie. You and me, we’re due for a night like this.”   “I know, I know, but you can’t just go barging into meetings like that.” Don Angelo waves at the Persian behind the station, letting himself into the dining hall. There’s always a table reserved for the boss of the local mafia chapter. Soft violin music plays through hidden speakers. The white crown moulding is decorated with intricate swirls and simple fish outlines.   Penny pulls her own chair out, sitting down with a pointed look at her boyfriend.  They don’t need to order because they always get the same thing, and in a matter of minutes a bottle of expensive elderberry wine is being sat down, along with two crystalline flutes. “Treat me better, than.”   “I treat you great! Look at this place!” Don Angelo makes a broad gesture with one large paw.  Penny squints at him. “I’ve been coming here long before you were a thing, Angie. You know me and Tish are real great friends.”  A silver platter covered in neatly cut cubes of smoked gouda, wine soaked white cheddar, parmesan, and sheep’s milk cheddar gets sat down in front of the mouse. The waiter knows better than to look either of them in the eye, even as he sits Don Angelo’s plate of raw salmon, smoked chestnuts, and sliced honey crisp apples down.  “Bon appetite,” says the waiter. His long, stripped tail twitches nervously. As soon as Don Angelo waves his hand, the tom cat scurries off.   Don Angelo looks anything but happy. “Sweets, toots, my little ball of munster, you know I love you. You know I would do anything for you. I’ve just got things going on right now. And these things, see, they – “   “You always have things going on.” Penny picks up a piece of smoked gouda. Her pink nose twitches irritably. “Angie, you better start making time for me, you hear? I ain’t gonna be sticking around some pest swatter who just wants a trophy clinging to them. I’m better than that, yous know.”  “I know, I know.” Don Angelo reaches across the table, resting one large paw on Penny’s arm. “As soon as I get this issue squared away, you and I are going to have a real sweet weekend.”    “The rabbit or the rat?”   “Penny, you’re killing me!” With a guttural sigh, Don Angelo drops back in his chair. He drapes an arm over the top of his muzzle, hiding his eyes. “I keep telling you, my business with you isn’t the same thing as my business with the boys! You can’t go around eavesdropping.”   Penny sniffs. “Don’t be having meetings in my house then.”

[showmemakeup]

MELT COSMETICS - TWENTY SEVEN PALETTE 

This week I received the new Melt Cosmetics TWENTY SEVEN palette, and it couldn't have dropped at a more appropriate time; the height of Summer has peaked and Autumn is upon us come next month.

The warm browns, taupes and terracotta reds are the perfect accompaniment to any outfit during these hot Summers evenings, and as the days start to cool off and the leaves on the trees begin to turn a beautiful Burnt Orange, you can rest assured that this palette will see you through from one season to the next.

If you aren't already familiar with Melt Cosmetics, you may be pleased to learn that they are a cruelty-free brand and ‘Leaping Bunny' certified. All of their cosmetics contain zero animal products and most are vegan-friendly (which this palette is). 

The palette contains 10 colours in total; 8 matte and 2 foiled. It’s a slim-line design that would easily fit into your bag, and also contains a mirror so you can touch-up your makeup. 

You will see from the swatches below that every colour is super pigmented and has a phenomenal pay-off.

My favourite shades are NAKED SLEEP, NIP SLIP, MOXIE, THICK... basically all of them! The names of each of the shadows make me think that Dana & Lora were bass-ass chicks, much like those from Coyote Ugly, during the days before Melt Cosmetics!  

Naked Sleep - The only way to sleep! This hot apricot nude blends away any harsh edges. The new definition of bedroom eyes.

Downtown - You rush to your loft after work, quickly change your clothes, effortlessly wash this baked clay hue all over your eyes, no one will ever know you got ready in 5 mins, we are going out tonight!

Nip Slip - This provocative peach shade refuses to be contained or restrained. Flash a little fun and warmth to unexpected onlookers.

Moxie - Packed with feisty pigment, this burnt orange is full of personality just like a sassy little Yorkie. Let her be the main focus and pack it all over the lid.

CrimeFighter - This dimensional copper foil will bring out your inner superhero. The pink and gold glitter flecks grab the light skillfully and can rescue any look because Crimefighter is your middle name.

1 More Thing - We just can’t end the conversation about this delicate warm taupe transition shade. There is always room for 1 More Thing.

Thick - No thigh gap here. This full-bodied rosy mauve is bursting at the seams with pigment. Soft and versatile for a healthy natural look.

Vegas Past - A bold bronze foiled shade with green and rose gold reflects that glisten like the Vegas lights in your rear-view mirror. On to bigger and better things, but you take the sparkle with you everywhere you go.

Whiskey Neat - This barrel-aged brown doesn’t need a mixer. Use this refined shade to add depth and infuse smoke into your look.

Moon Child - Ruled by the moon, this is the deepest shade in the palette. This maroon shadow is perfect for your dark phase.

I can’t wait to create some looks using this palette - Keep an eye out for the tutorials on my channel. The palette costs £48.58 GBP and $58.00 USD FYI: the brand also ships internationally, in case you were wondering.

Shonagh x

[puppy-coded]

Bears are soooo adorable I wanna cuddle one!!! Also yeah Enemies to Lovers is kinda overrated tbh

1: Alas, I do not believe in fairies. If they did exist though they’d be pretty neat! I would wanna have one as a friend ✨

2: Cookies and Cream!!! It’s just the perfect amount of sweetness without being overly rich!

3: I don’t know if I can say my favorite without giving away my identity, but Markiplier and Ethan give me joy when they do videos together. Eef is my spirit animal

Some more questions for you my dear:

1: What’s a hobby you’ve always wanted to do but could never get into?

2: what’s an animal that you think is unnecessarily creepy?

3: Do you have any pets? If so, how many and what are their names?

I am sending you much love, cuddles and hot cocoa dear! <333

~ 🪶

yeah the fairy thing is fair but i choose to believe they exist <3

also please i'm literally so dumb! i don't think i could figure out your identity love

1: crocheting. i knit but i can't crochet lol

2: possums. there's millions of them out here and they can all die

3: i have two! one is a little yorkie poo, her name is libby. my other is a cat, he names izzy

aww baby!! same to you love <3

unless you don't like hot chocolate, then your comfort drink for fall <33

[acharlescoleman]

My movie weekend. 

I saw Plan B at home in the wee hours of...Saturday morning, around 1am? maybe 12:30?

Went to the Autry Museum to see Gas Food Lodging at like 1:30 in the afternoon. The director was there and the Q&A was really good. The fairly packed crowd, all wearing masks consistently which was nice, asked good questions! So it was a neat Q&A. Learned that in the original novel that there were three kids in the story and the writer-director was like gotta lose one of the kids lol. And recommended to screenwriters in the audience that like triangle situations are good for drama,   like for this movie,  the dynamics between the lead character the young middle teen girl,  her slightly older sister, and her mother was the crux of the movie. \

I really liked the movie btw,   it wasn’t like a strict Hollywood narrative movie but it also wasn’t totally like overly arty experimental either, very handheld and raw and funny at times. I remember complaining about Plan B that the parents were way too understanding and there wasn’t enough yelling between the teens and parents in that movie, I got my fill with this movie. There was like one scene where the slightly teen girl came home late, the mother isn’t happy, there’s a bit of a back and forth, then the older teen goes to in the restroom, and they’re still arguing! I felt at home in this world lol. The scene awkwardly in a good way went longer than most of those kind of scenes usually go on for which I appreciated! 

Like that scene took me back to all the bickering I had had with my parents, along with the ones I overheard my sis had had with my parents. Good times! Like you start arguing about the initial thing of being late but then other stuff sometimes comes out too, especially if you have teens with tongues like me and my sis,   like man,  sometimes looking back,  we just weren’t kids that would accept just getting yelled at lol. At some point, around 11 maybe? I think kids start talking back and it’s rarely good because as an older person reflecting,  like you’re not experienced enough to really fight back with your folks but if you’re also young and reactive so you gotta say something and hope it sticks and hurts lol. 

I don’t know why I’m harping on this but I remember in Plan B,   there was like a classic 90′s TV show scene where a girl came home late (that’s the whole movie!) and she’s sort of confronted by the mom when she got home,   there’s not much of a back and forth and at the end, the girl is more upset at her mom and she gets in the last word and walks away. The mother just stood there for a while until the next scene where she goes to her her daughter’s bedroom and they hash it out. I don’t know, I’m not a parent lol but I’m still not convinced a mother, especially an immigrant mother,  would let their daughter do that do them, get the last word and walk away from them. I also don’t see how that’s a good thing,   like shouldn’t the more ideal thing be that they just talk it out then there? idk. Gas Food Lodging does a bit of it too, as my parents and many others,  where you do let the parties calm down after a fight and then talk it out better. idk. That whole bit just seemed too rush and that so bothered me that the mom just stood there. 

Anyways,  I liked Gas Food Lodging!

After the movie,  I decided to get my iPhone fixed,   I needed a new battery and a glass replacement and I found a dude in Los Feliz who gave me a deal to do both for a really good price. And he was fast about it too which was neat. I really might give that dude a yelp review and I don’t think I’ve done that before,  as of day 2, the service was really that good. I think I’ll wait a week though to make sure the phone keeps working. (Knock on wood it is so far)

I had planned to get something to eat then go to the Landmark in West LA to see Language Lessons,   but I wound up just going straight to the Landmark from Los Feliz and eating there which was alright because they had like Hebrew Nationals. Pretty good dog imo. Popcorn was so-so but whatever, that’s fine. 

I liked Language Lessons even though I could see why other people wouldn’t like it, the whole movie is done by zoom chats and like phone video messages by the two lead characters. A guy gets signed up for like online Spanish lessons and because and he and his Spanish teacher are vibing each other, the lessons don’t go in a formal way, they have like more free forming conversations in mostly Spanish and she corrects his Spanish when she feels needed, or when he asks if he’s saying something correctly. It’s neat, the whole first part was pretty long which was nice, to just have scenes play themselves out. Then as the movie goes on rough stuff happens to each character and they continue with their Spanish lessons thing. 

The dramatic stakes just keep getting raised as the movie goes on which teetered on going overboard with trying to make a clear story out of the film but I was fine with it and obviously,  I won’t spoil the ending but I totally dug that ending too even though it’s kind of hokey. Sometimes I’m fine with hoke and schmaltz!

At the Q&A,   the writer-director Natalie Morales, who was also the Spanish teacher,  said the film was shot last year, had some improv but not too much and interestingly she said she was kind of inspired by some of the bad directors she had worked with (didn’t name) throughout her acting career. She was like if they can do it,  she could certainly do it too and she encouraged other artists to like to press on with their passions because even if you suck,  you might inspire good work too. Something like that. I appreciated that honestly I feel like that’s a real thing being inspired by stuff that doesn’t impress you where you think you could do it better. 

So that was neat.    

Then,  I walked to the blue line on Pico, took the blue line train to the red line in downtown LA and that lead me to Hollywood and my last two movies of Saturday/Sunday.

It was a part of a film festival and the movies started after midnight, my first midnight movie in like over two years! 

The first movie was a short film that was a sci fi experimental satire thing that got into social media influencers (I think?) and I couldn’t get into it. It was a little too offbeat for me but I did think it was neat that the movie was shot by iPhones and it looked alright. 

The second movie was the Alternate, a sci fi thriller feature that I really dug. A would-be young filmmaker finds out about like a loop thing from his computer,  that allows him, if he goes into the loop thing to go into an “alternate” world where “he’s” a successful filmmaker and his girlfriend is now his wife, they have a nice home and a daughter. A pretty good life. It’s not entirely clear early on why the young filmmaker keeps wanting to go back into this “alternate” world but as the movie goes on that becomes clearer and darker. It’s a really good trippy movie. 

At the Q&A,  I didn’t think of my question until near the end of the sessions and I didn’t get to ask my question which stunk lol.

So that was that, then the real fun happened which was me trying to get home at 2am. I missed my first bus which stunk because the subway was closed so I couldn’t do subway then Lyft. And Lyft/Uber from Hollywood to home was out of the question because that would’ve costed like $70+! So I spent most of my time, waiting for the bus and walking back and forth to the closest 7-11′s that I knew in Hollywood and they were both closed! I didn’t know they did that! 

Anyways,  that was a wild time,  almost everyone I encountered was not sober in some way or another. I was also surprised at how many people were awake at almost 3am too. Just wild, wild stuff. 

I finally made it home at like just before 4am. One cute thing that happened as I went to my room was the yorkie left his bed to see me. I didn’t pet him, I don’t know why but I was tired and he was probably tired too,   I had thought he needed to pee but I think he was concerned that I was gone for so long. It was so funny,  he saw me, shook his tail, did a little stretch, then I asked him if he needed to pee and he didn’t even acknowledge I had said something, and he just walked back to his bed to go to sleep. Love that dog.

AND THEN,  on Sunday, yesterday,  I went to the Grove to meet up with friends to see Shang-Chi which I thought was barely okay. I liked the actors but the story just reminded me of too many other Marvel movies plus the movie was insistent on popping in flashbacks almost every 15 minutes or so. That reminded me of Captain Marvel in particular! (although to be fair,  to that movie they spread out of the flashbacks more but it was still annoying). Non-marvel movie,   Aquaman did that too in possibly the most annoying way. I laughed a few times during the movie BUT there were at least two times where there was an attempt at a funny moment when it was so not needed at all. Marvel loves to pull shit like that. One I will spoil is Shang-Chi is basically doing the first part of his explaining who he really is Awkwafina’s character and like 3/4′s of the way into the flashback, the flashback stops because a stewardess asks them if they wanted to order food. Beef or vegan. They both say vegan. Stewardess says they’re out of a vegan so they say fine, they’ll get beef. And then, I think Shang-Chi went back to his story but to me, that was so unneeded. 

The action was mostly fine but there was also tons of CGI too and it got excessive especially the ending where Shang-Chi almost has nothing to do because of CGI circumstances and I was like lost at what was going on at times. That was so poorly executed. 

Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh were great though. Newcomer Meng'er Zhang was solid. Shang-Chi himself was alright considering like he spends a lot of the movie,   telling stories and kicking ass. He’s very good at the latter. Okay at the other which I mostly blame on the script and story,  he had to do so much exposition yeesh. 

Anyways, so that was my movie weekend.

Today,  I might go with my sister to the Raiders game in Vegas. She’s a Raiders fan and just instantly got the tickets. The funny thing is like three weeks ago or so she got buyers remorse so she’s tried to sell the pair of tickets on some profit and it’s been a challenge because the Raiders are only letting ticket holders who have proof of vaccination to inside the stadium to see the game. I think they’re the only team in the league doing that, it’s like a step above of admission for even most businesses in Los Angeles too including movie theaters. None of the places I went to the movies at required that. 

And if you can believe it,  some football fans are not all-in on getting vaccinated yet so even though,  it’s a home opening game,  it looks like it’s not going to be  a guarantee that it’ll be a packed stadium. As of now they haven’t changed that policy which is interesting to me, obviously my sis would prefer to sell the tickets and make some money off it instead of go, she said she even went under value BUT there still weren’t any takers so it looks like we’re going to the game! Weird stuff. I have the day off and I don’t go into work tomorrow until like 11:45pm. Fun times. 

If you’ve made this far,   hope you’re well and have a good week! (if not, that’s cool too no biggie!)

[thepilliondiaries-blog]

21st April - The Caldarium Egg Run (AKA The Perfect Day.)

6.30am soon arrives. Scott gets up, I grunt and roll over. He says bye and heads downstairs. A few moments later I hear shouting and swearing from outside. Of course, the bike wont start. I hear a loud bang and not long after I head downstairs. By this time, he’s gone and I go out to inspect the bike. The battery was flat, and the one that had been on charge overnight hadn’t charged.

Over the past few months I’ve managed to try and not panic until the last second, so I make a coffee and message Scott to see if there are any alternatives. Luckily Scott works at a building suppliers where they have a super charger for the lorries. So I chuck the battery in a backpack and head over to his work, give him the battery and cross my fingers.

Scott hurries back from work, extremely stressed and rushing like mad. He chucks the battery in the bike, tells me to put my gear on and within ten minutes we’re making our way as quick as possible (not without a crazy amount of shouting and swearing) to the Littlemore Rugby Club.

Mark in the middle facing the camera, Scott and I on the right. No idea what is going on with my butt. Think my phone was in my back pocket? photograph credit to @paulnikki fab photographer and great guy. 

A small relief washed over me after seeing Mark’s excited grin as we pulled into the car park. He would be blocking during the rally, which is where a couple of chosen club members ride ahead of the pack and cut off any traffic coming from the side roads to let the pack through. He would also be riding a V-Rad since his bike had broken after a crash, only adding to his excitement. After and chat and a few giggles the stress began to wash away and was replaced with excitement. 

When the rest of the club arrived Caldarium’s president called everyone over for a briefing before we set off. Hearing so many bikes start at once gave me goosebumps, and once we were all geared up we moved into the pack and left the rugby club. The feeling of riding in a pack was incredible, riding pillion I didn’t think I’d be that bothered about it, but It’s definitely a great feeling. Occasionally a few excited howls, many grins and the revving of engines. Mark seemed in his element and did a fantastic job being as it was his first ride with the club as prospect and his first time blocking.

Our first stop was Fewcott House Nursing Home in Fritwell. We went inside in groups to hand out Easter eggs and fluffy toys to the elderly. One elderly lady pointed to a triumph and told her carer she was going to take it and ride off into the sunset!

We stayed there for around half an hour before climbing back on the bike and heading to our second stop, a disability centre in Bicester. Riding past the idyllic landscapes, the bright yellow mustard fields and rolling hills made me feel incredibly calm, and reminded me of my home in Devon. 

We carried out the same procedure at the disability centre and met some of the patients, they all had a wonderful sense of humour and beautiful smiles. The nurses bought out a tea and coffee station for us. Scott and I took this opportunity to have a look at some of the bikes, including a bike decorated with characters from Tim Burton’s ‘The Corpse Bride’. 

Unfortunately upon pulling into the disability centre, a girl in front of us broke harshly with no warning and my glove got caught where I was holding the back of the bike, so I slammed into the back of Scott whilst my arm stayed at the back causing quite a painful stretch in my wrist. I was too happy to worry about it at the time, however the next day was rather painful. 

I’ll post more pictures in a separate post. The bike above is Yorkie’s custom bandit, pretty neat, huh? 

The ride just kept getting more and more beautiful as the day moved on. The ride back to the club was met with a pink sky. We were riding behind Hagrid on his Honda Goldwing, and on the back in a carrier he had his dog Lily, who was bravely standing almost on top of the carrier quite enjoying the breeze!

When we returned to the club they began setting up a BBQ. We stretched out on the grass and I made some friends, particularly a couple that came to sit with us. Dan, the male counterpart was part of the Hog membership and had quite a few hog patches on his vest. His parents happened to live near mine in Devon, so we were talking for quite a while. His girlfriend Claire was extremely lovely and had the best pair of Harley boots I think I have ever seen.

Jack and Abi also came to join us, which topped off the perfect evening. 

Mark was busy prospecting, and after staying around to see one of the prospects receive their patches and Pockets’ receive her birthday cake Scott and I bid farewell and rode home. Exhausted, Exhilarated and feeling on top of the world, I fell asleep almost immediately. The trip was around 80 miles in a full circle. 

It was the most perfect day. 

Stay Loyal, Ride safe. 

Frankie X

[jacnaylor]

dragonslayingbeekeeper

replied to your

post

:

for the character ask thing: i'm going to be...

haha since you’ve already thought of answers for james, why don’t you do him as well! ��

oh my gosh i mean, if you insist!

do I like them: i would die for him

5 good qualities: 1) he’s very much each to their own. he’s comfortable with his faith enough not to mind when people insult him. he’s just like, everyone’s different and that’s fine 2) he’s just so clever!!! (but he just is he can’t help it he doesn’t lord it over people) 3) he pretends to be all #edgy with his coat and his cigs but honestly he’s an awkward nerd who can’t talk to women 4) “i’m not a joiner of things” he literally just wants to sit at home! alone! let him rest 5) unapologetically just interested in things. it’s nice. even when people tell him to shut up he’s just like, wants to learn and know things

3 bad qualities: 1) takes everything personally and i mean everything 2) feelings? no thank you! bottle that shit right up! aka never adresses anything until it explodes out of him bc that’s super healthy 3) isolates himself. basically thinks that he can’t end up with someone because he’s too clever, because he overthinks everything. because he isn’t close with his family and i think he just sort of expects things to end (boy is terrified of change would literally rather retire than be promoted lmao) so he never gets close to anyone. ever.

favourite episode/etc: life born of fire. we hear about his backstory, we hear how badly he felt and how conflicted he was about the church’s views on sexuality, we see him reconciling his faith with his own more accepting views, we get a hint that maybe this is something he’s thought about (aka he’s bi but we’ll get into that), we get a redemption, we also have a glimpse into the darker side when he just is gonna let that fire kill him because he doesn’t actively want to die he like, he would? just so many things

otp: look i don’t have one. am i amazed and glad that they didn’t force him and lizzie into an ooc romance? yes. am i slightly bitter he didn’t get a significant other in the end? you bet. i know he doesn’t need one but i want him to be happy and i think it would help. basically whatever future person he ends up with (who’s the nice, optimistic opposite of him)

brotp: lewis! oh these two together. like, they suit each other so well because james is like an old guy trapped in a young guys wildly tall body. just let em amble around oxford together stumbling onto crimes. i like them because they really leave room for one another to be themselves. even the parts that don’t mesh. after like two eps he’s fuckin ready to quit over him

ot3: i know this is the same for the other but obvs lewis/laura/hathaway. laura wants this boy to achieve everything she loves him more than literally anything ever. but he gives them advice and kindness that he never gives to himself. 

notp: that girl (i mean, zosia from holby city but) the girl from the big house where he grew up that used him really badly. i appreciate that she was pushed into a corner and didn’t know the whole story and that she was being forced into an unwanted marriage. i get that. but to use james’ clear insecurity’s to the point that she did was a bit much. and like she didn’t really seem to feel that bad about it? and it just reinforced all the negative shit from his past and. i just wasn’t into it.

best quote: “what, that there’s boys and girls and a nice, neat line down the middle? gays like shoes and musicals and straights read loaded and eat yorkies?” i mean....I MEAN. but also ‘just because i’m not comfortable with it doesn’t make it wrong’ [about euthanasia] but generally he’s so open like that and accepts he doesnt know everything

head canon: he’s such a useless bisexual. honestly i can’t wait until some cute guy finally is like ‘james imma tell you something right now...’ because everyone knows! and then james has to like have an emotional scene where he tells his religious family but they accept him and it’s really lovely! and when he starts dating a guy and laura loves him and then he’s like really? REALLY? because he’s not her favourite now the cute guy is and then they start like planning joint holidays and lewis is like ‘i love you and this is really amazing but i am not fucking going on holiday with you’

[thisisarealtagwhy]

Day 2: Scars

Just a little (jk it’s like 5k words) fic i wrote a while back for the second day of 20 years at sea, enjoy!

They all have scars, especially the Mugiwara no Kaizoku. Both physical and emotional, that doesn’t make them weak, it just means that they have to become stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger until they can protect everything important to them.

These scars carry the weight of regret and pride all in one nook.

Brook has a big scar spanning from his right temple across to the top of his head, he doesn’t talk about how he got it but, it happened when he was alive.

It wasn’t tragic or anything, no. When he was a small child he remembered the sea more than anything else.

His parents frequented a spot on top of a break wall that some of the wealthy had been able to afford. They were allowed there due to the payments of music that they presented the noble family with.

But, it overlooked the sea, blue, expanding far over the horizon, blue hues reaching for the burning sun.

Brook loved the sea, it whispered a song on its’ gentle breeze, a song of freedom. Brook wanted to travel the world and see the world for himself whilst playing a song for himself and for his nakama.

He would sometimes sneak out at night and play to the soft yet rough melody of the sea. One of these nights he leant far too close to the edge of the break wall and stumbled, tumbling head first into the rocks that adorned the wall.

Luckily for him one of the noble boys also happened to follow the small boy out and listened to his music. “Nurse! We need a nurse! Brook has fallen off the side of the break wall!”

And so Brook was sent home with a scar full of stitches, covered by bandages. His skull had fractured so he was bed confined for a while.

“Ne, Papa, might I request a song?” Brook whispered to his father who was silently standing vigil.

At his nod Brook smiled shakily. “How about the song that the pirates sing when they come into town?”

His Papa smiled gently and abided his request for to be a pirate meant to be the bravest, most daring souls and most pirates simply were following their dreams.

“Yohohoho, yohohoho. Binkusu no sake wo, todake ni yuku yo.”

After his skull had healed he still had the nasty scar running along his face, his parents had proudly stated that it was proof that he was an adventurous soul.

When he was 19 he left the kingdom he had grown up in, his fencing skills were impeccable and the sea was calling him.

****

The scar on his heart however…

Laboon had been following their ship straight through the calm seas, chirping along happily to their choice of song (his favourite being Bink’s Sake).

But… they had been forced to leave their dear friend behind lest he be killed by the terrors of the Grand Line.

And Captain Yorki…

He was…

…Fading away…

Brook hated the fact that he was the one who had taken over Captain Yorki’s position, then, maybe they wouldn’t be stuck in this god forsaken triangle.

Then remorse for he knew he would not be making it out alive like this. The poison was already working through his veins like a particularly nasty virus. “One last time…” He muttered to himself as the remainder of the Rumbar pirates lined themselves up in their respective musical positions.

“It’s not right…” He wasn’t talking about the fact that all of his crew were dead, no, it was wrong that they would never be able to see Laboon again. They were cheating their promise now and he hated it so Brook prayed with every fibre of his being that eventually he would see Laboon in wherever he might go.

But it never happened and 50 years later Brook found himself accompanying his new crew to the ends of the sea, if not to keep his promise to Laboon then because of his new captain, Monkey D. Luffy was an insane boy but Brook will give anything for him.

Because he has sworn fealty.

****

Franky has plenty of scars, before he had blown himself up in that godamn laboratory he had subtle scars where he hadn’t fixed his ‘skin’ to perfection, if one looked closely enough they could see the subtle lines in his skin.

Not that anyone had back in Water 7, except for maybe Bakaberg.

But he didn’t really count.

Now, two years after they had all failed he had more scars, the two more prominent scars running down his bare chest where he had been forced to attach more skin for the robotic extensions.

Subtly there were more down his legs where the plates hadn’t quite fit on like he had expected.

Chopper was the only one to really know, he had insisted on doing full checkups on all of them post their training years and Franky had suspected it was to do with the massive scar taking up the majority of their captain’s chest.

And after Chopper had gotten over the coolness of his knew body he had inspected the neat stitching and declared that whoever had treated him did a good job.

Franky didn’t feel the need to point out that it was himself who did the stitching.

****

Emotionally, Franky had one deep regret.

He wished more than anything that he had listened to godamn Iceberg and stopped creating his warships but no, and then his – teacherfathereverything – had to pay the price.

He regret it more than anything else, he had been abandoned by his own godamn parents and the one who had taken him in was now going to pay penance for his crimes.

He hated it.

It’s why Franky found himself on the tracks of the sea train they had all painstakingly built. Through his blurry eyes he cried for the train to stop, but of course it wouldn’t.

And some part of Franky welcomed it, if the sea train succeeded it meant Tom would go to Impel Down and he had heard his fair share of rumours of such a place.

But, he pushed through his own selfishness, remembering that Tom had died for him to live, so he rebuilt himself, replacing flesh with metal and then more metal to ensure he could still move.

It was weird, having to rebuild his body every few years so he could keep up with his own natural growth but eventually he got into the swing of it.

And Franky will admit it, he was a little terrified of becoming like the shichibukai Kuma, an empty shell of what he once was, controlled by his superiors.

But he will push through his own fear and be as strong as possible for his captain who had gone through so much and if that meant sacrificing more of his humanity then so it shall be.

****

Robin doesn’t have many visible scars, she was usually able to either convince her captors/captain to spare her or pay them in anything.

But there were a few hidden on her body that had slowly faded away through the passage of time as she and her body had aged.

There were knife wounds, bullet holes, and if her captors had been feeling particularly sadistic, burns.

That wasn’t including the other torture methods performed on her. But the list was extensive enough that she didn’t like to think of it.

There were a few scars hidden amongst her thick black hair where someone had ripped out clumps of her hair, scalp skin still attached.

Sabo and Koala had taken very good care of her, however, and she hadn’t gained any new scars and her old ones had faded over the course of her two years training regime.

****

Most of her scars were hidden behind a calm façade that only one man had ever seen through.

She would wake some nights in a sweat of coldness, shivering from the images of her friends, no her family burning, being shot down. And the tree, oh god the tree, burned down until it fell onto the harsh earth below.

And even then it hadn’t stopped, her friend Saul had tried to get her the hell out of there. (Just like every scholar, just like her mum)

But he had been frozen into the one who haunted her nightmares, and yet…

He let her go, probably realising that this ‘Absolute Justice’ wasn’t as good as everyone made it out to be.

She had kept her façade up for so long, even after entering the rookie crew that managed to completely annihilate Baroque works and Crocodile himself, one of the shichibukai.

She found herself becoming close, too close, she mentally scolded. But it was impossible to dodge the all encompassing warmth she would herself feeling when she was around them.

Maybe…

Maybe they were the ones Saul had told her of…

But then Water 7 happened and she knew she couldn’t just let them die for a worthless wench like herself, the rest of the world wanted her dead.

But they had to live because she owed them more than she could ever truly express.

But then those godamned idiot followed her and then she was spewing words of hate and fire and yet Luffy stood there… was that understanding in his eyes?

Then they burned the flag and she finally let go of her burden.

And from onwards she found herself living freely.

But all good things never last and Kizaru and Kuma happened. She saw the emptiness, the pain running through her captain’s face and wished that she had never seen such emotions on the usually optimistic boy.

Please be alright Luffy.

And then Marineford had happened and she tried her best not to cry, she had to be strong in front of her potential enemies.

Two years later and the scars were healed by the sight of a jubilant smile and the effects of the training on everyone.

****

Chopper didn’t have any visible scars, and any he did happen to have were hidden beneath his thick fur.

There was a few around his body that used to scream in protest when he switched forms. They were left there from bullet wounds and Chopper now understood how to make sure they wouldn’t hurt when he switched forms.

There were a few little ones littering his hooves where he had accidentally cut his finger trying to manage herbs for medicine.

Every time Doctor Kureha would frown and roughly patch him up, scolding him for being so careless.

****

There was only one thing that Chopper had been afraid of all of his life, being feared and rejected.

After his pack openly rejected him he wanted to curl up and die but where was the point in that? Might as well try and live for a better day, right?

And then Doctor Hiruluk had come along and changed his entire perspective, now he had a – friendmentorfatherinstructorpartnerincrime – to clean his wounds and to help him.

Naturally Chopper had to screw that up and because of him and his foolishness his father had died.

Chopper hated it and secretly craved friends to share his moments with, Doctor Kureha was a kind mentor but at the same time she was brutal and critical.

And then came along the Straw Hat Pirates and they saved him, the entire of his island and even Doctor Hiruluk’s flag. He was eternally grateful.

And then Luffy had cried that it didn’t matter if he was a monster, being a monster meant that he could protect everything he cared about.

Now Chopper didn’t care if he was called a monster, he would rather be a monster than allow anything to happen to his nakama, the only friends he had known in his short life.

(There were more and more friends piling up now with every adventure and everything was fantastic.)

****

Sanji had grown up wishing to be the same as his brothers and sisters, to be strong like them, to not fail his course and to heal as fast as they did.

He hated himself sometimes.

But, he had plenty of scars from the nights he had tried to get that godamn mask off his head. His fingers were almost sliced through and yet he persisted.

Before everything went downhill he had a few scars from trying to work out how to cook, it had been worth it though, the white scars on his fingers where he almost sliced clean through.

When Reiju let him out and told him to never come back he had agreed. And now, as a cook for a little ship he had been content and desperate to follow his dream.

****

He sometimes remembers days upon days of nothing but hunger and guilt accompanying himself on that isolated rock.

He remembers the feeling of his skin sagging into his body, any fat he had on his body used up in a desperate attempt to survive.

And then that shitty old geezer saved him again by not eating any of the food he had managed to pillage.

But, whenever he thinks of that his hands start to shake and he quickly lights up another cigarette before he can be tempted to empty the fridge of what it’s worth.

He feels the pain of that shitty old geezer sacrificing an entire fucking limb for him, it’s not something that can be grown back.

And for so long he drowned in guilt over that, working himself in the old geezers restaurant. It was only once a boy in a straw hat came along that he understood.

“Dying is not repaying a debt!” And Sanji saw that the straw hat bearer had understood someone sacrificing something like that.

It was in his eyes, the way he sometimes looked at that straw hat with regret but resolution.

So from that point on Sanji had set out for his dream, the all blue, and in the process becoming the chef of their small crew.

It was all he could ask for.

But he couldn’t help and feel the crushing defeat of failing to bring Robin home, it tore at his heart to see her defeated and he can still hear Choppers’ cries falling on deaf ears.

But then his family is coming after him and he knows he has to go lest the crew get into trouble, he now sympathises with Robin-san and Nami-san, these are things they have to do for the good of the crew.

****

Usopp didn’t have many scars, sure there were a few on his hands where he had screwed up the ratios with his gunpowder ammunition and he had taken to wearing an arm band to prevent his slingshot from hitting his arm brutally.

There was a couple on his upper thighs that had occurred due to some of the more… active wildlife on the Boyn islands he was sent to. But they had faded to mostly become thin white jagged lines across his skin.

****

Usopp remembered the pain of losing his mother, he had desperately wished for a miracle to occur and for his mother to no longer be as ill as she was.

He wanted his father back, who he had never met (he couldn’t remember him at least) but apparently, the man had never shut up about him to Luffy.

Sometimes Usopp was jealous of his captain, he had spent time with Yasopp then he had.

Usopp knew he was far too prideful, sometimes he caught the disapproving glances Zoro sent his way when he did something disrespectful.

And then Water 7 had happened and he felt ashamed for he had made Luffy cry. And he hated that but he was too prideful to do anything.

Usopp was pretty sure Luffy knew who Sogeking was, he was fairly certain. But Luffy never called him out on it so he guessed either he didn’t know or he just wasn’t particularly caring.

And then he got down on his hands and knees and he apologised and suddenly there was a limb stretching towards him, grabbing on the two cried remorsefully together.

And Usopp swore to himself to never do something that godamn stupid.

It was a reminder of his place.

And after the two years of training he underwent to become stronger and stronger for Luffy because none of them were there when they should have been.

Usopp wasn’t going to lie this time, he couldn’t help but feel concern and abject horror for his captain, one that he would call brother except he had just lost his brother.

Usopp remembered Ace, the subtle and unsubtle warmth in his gaze when he stared at Luffy. And he remembers the promise they had all made, one they had failed.

So Usopp will weave tales for his captain on the nights that Luffy seems to become distant, one hand placed lightly on his chest, the other tightly gripping Sunny.

****

Nami has plenty of scars on her body. Countless knife wounds when she was young and stupid and bold. Stealing off pirates became a necessity and she had to live through any wounds she received.

That wasn’t to say that they weren’t painful.

And then she remembers the absolute anguish of her hardwork being for nothing. The countless years of deceit and betrayal amounting to nothing. So, she stabbed that cursed mark until she was stopped.

Now, her tattoo covers it but sometimes she feels phantom pains.

She now knows that she can go to Chopper if something is bothering her instead of relying on street knowledge.

It’s a nice feeling.

****

Ever since she was young she wished that they had more money, she wished Bellmère would stop looking so tired. But when she had finally voiced her concerns she was met with a sacrifice and a gun bullet.

Even then she wasn’t free, no, she had to serve this godamned bastard, but, if it means she can free her village then she will suffer through the pain and live for her mothers sacrifice.

And then Luffy and Zoro come around, changing whatever thoughts she had ever had of pirates overboard. Luffy was naïve, too trusting and Zoro was a directionless overprotective idiot. Somehow the three of them made it work.

And then Usopp came along and the Going Merry.

But she knew she had overstayed and took off.

But she should have known that Arlong was a twofaced bastard. She hated it, but then Luffy, stupid, but oh so brave and loyal Luffy had kicked his ass and taken back her village.

Now she had a purpose, the navigator and treasurer of the Straw Hat pirates.

And she remembered taking down a criminal organisation for their nakama. She remembered the hopelessness she felt when Vivi’s voice failed to reach any of the fighting citizens, she wished to take the face of heartbreak away.

But Vivi was no longer sailing with them, she still was a Straw Hat through and through but she had to run her own kingdom.

(She knew that Vivi’s father was slowly dying and her heart went out to the Queen of Alabasta)

And then Kuma had happened and Nami was so terrified that she would never see them again. And between Impel Down and the War of the Best Nami was crying over her captain who was so alone.

She had sworn to protect those godamn idiots and now look what happened.

After her training she had shown up to Sabaody secretly hoping for the same captain from two years ago (now who was the naïve one?). And thankfully he had been the same blundering fool, but there was also a new protective edge to him that Nami saw in battles.

Sure he trusted them with their own fights but sometimes he seemed to go to another place and suddenly his punches were ten times more furious and sometimes he simply knocked their enemies out.

Nami wasn’t really surprised but it also left a scar on her heart that he had changed so drastically in the heat of a battle.

She wished that he had never changed like this.

****

Zoro had many scars, ones he had inflicted, others by complete accident.

There were no scars on his back (scars on the back are a swordsman shame).

On his front he had on diagonally going down his chest from his left shoulder to right hip. This one was inflicted by the greatest sword in the world, he was proud of it but at the same time ashamed.

And since it he had made a promise to his captain, he would never ever lose again.

His feet had two large scars that practically looped all the way around his ankles, they were self-inflicted in the hopes that he could save at least two of them.

But then his captain had come and saved them (along with Chopper and Usopp).

He has a few others on his legs that come from the result of almost lost fights with humandrills. Perona had scolded him but nonetheless cleaned him up and bandaged him unfailingly.

He had also lost his vision in his left eye as a result of a mishap with Mihawk.

(“Kenbunshoku haki is one of the easiest to master however you have to see.”)

****

Zoro liked to think that he was emotionally strong. Sure he had days where an irrational fear of stairs popped up suddenly but that was occasionally and it was more based off of what stairs represent.

Life is unfair and can take someone away with one misstep. He knows that Luffy knows that as well as he does, after all his brother was insanely strong.

And that hurts him more than he would care to admit. He had been barely holding onto his life while his captain, his friend was stuck in hell.

It was part of why he trained so much, he needed to be as strong as Luffy so if anything would happen then he would be prepared.

He carries the weight of several promises.

To be the greatest.

If you get in my way…

I will never lose again!

Admittedly, the second one needs to be rectified, he will never ask Luffy to do that now, it’s why he keeps Thriller Bark a complete secret because Zoro’s terrified that Luffy will go through with his promise.

He is terrified of losing the rubber brained idiot more than he cares for his own life.

****

Luffy only has two scars on his body, he stopped scarring after eating the gomu gomu no mi and only something extremely powerful could damage his body to the point of scarring.

Well, the scar underneath his left eye is proof that he was a man, even after Shanks and everyone else scolded him for being so damn reckless. He didn’t care because he felt so happy that he showed his worth, maybe now he would be able to become a pirate?

There’s another scar that he shows every day, the one that is a painful reminder of that day. Not that he’d have it any other way, it was a reminder that he had to keep growing stronger and stronger to protect all that he cares about.

It hadn’t hurt at first probably because he was already exhausted after…

After the entire war but he sure as hell felt it after Torao fixed up his wound. It had been itchy and he was scolded by Rayleigh to not pick at it, not that he couldn’t stop, he just didn’t want to.

****

Emotionally Luffy was always a cry baby, he knew that even before he had met Ace.

It was just a part of him, he was very open about his emotions.

He remembered the feeling of being alone most of his life, Makino was nice company but Jiji was hardly ever there to play with and none of the kids liked him very much. So loneliness was his only company until Shanks came along.

Shanks and his merry crew of pirates who talked to him even though he was just a dumb kid.

And then the man he adored and loved like a family member sacrificed an arm for his safety. He understands now that he has his own crew, the wish to anything in his power to protect them is strong.

And Shanks had left, leaving behind his very treasure with him.

That speaks more words than he could ever speak.

He will always remember the desperation he felt in the days following the Gray Terminal fire, the days where he wasn’t sure whether Dadan and Ace would ever come back.

And then… and then Sabo had died, shot by a fucking Tenryuubito, Luffy had never felt the desire to kill someone (okay, maybe he had felt that Higuma had deserved what he got). But instead he cried and cried and cried some more until Ace found him on that cliff.

He made a promise to never die.

And then Robin was gone…

Gone to protect them and he will remember the pure rage coursing through his veins at the thought that she sacrificed herself.

And when he sees her up there he understands, no one wanted Ace to live either so he would give her the same comfort he had given to the angry boy a long time ago.

Merry was another of his nakama he had failed to protect, in the end she was the only reason why they made it out of Enies Lobby in one piece.

And yet she still died and he couldn’t save her, set to wait at the bottom of the sea by herself.

And then…

Kuma destroyed their crew, utterly annihilating them.

And then Ace, Bon Clay, Iva, Jinbe, everyone helped him out and he wasn’t sure whether he deserved it. For he couldn’t even stop his brother from being brutally killed.

The training is hell but he knows that he deserves it and he must become stronger.

And then Dressrosa breaks him once more because Sabo isn’t dead. And Ace’s fruit is going to another brother and he couldn’t be happier but he also felt remorse for Ace would never know that Sabo was alive.

****

These are the scars that the Straw Hat pirates carry, both on their bodies and in their hearts.

[whimsicalwoofs]

yorkie

I’ve only groomed a few, I can never get their legs to look neat!! I like when they get their ears tipped (getting the pointed tip shaved clean) and get a Westie head rather than a teddy bear head. I think it looks nicer and emphasizes their Terrier-ness. I have a dream of owning a full coated retired show yorkie because I think they’re so beautiful.

Personality wise they’ve been kind of neutral, generally better then other long coated terriers!

They also have a reputation for being greasy

[doberbutts]

Jazi's Adventures in Dog Training post, as requested by a few asks. I'll be honest, the biggest reason I've hesitated to post this is because I don't feel like getting into an argument. I've had enough of those, I'll talk about this in detail but I would like at least one of my posts to go without screaming. Recently, I've taken on a reactive client- a young dog I've known for about a year when she came through my puppy classes at 4 months old. L*, like most of my reactive dogs, is poorly matched with her current owner. She changed hands 3 times before she came to me as a puppy, each because she is 'too much'. She is a rottweiler/bullysomething owned by an elderly couple who's biggest and most energetic dog was a yorkie, and they are largely unprepared for what it means to own a working breed dog. They're more than a little afraid of her and misread moat of her signals, which compounds the problem. L is not only reactive, she is also a bad puller. She was started in a front clip harness after panicking in a halti no matter how desensitized she was to the pressure, and while her walking skills improved, she quickly figured out how to stand on her hind legs and slip it when she was reacting to an incoming dog. Clearly, that was no longer going to work. For two sessions, I tried Creed's prong on her, giving her a clear and consistent consequence for poor behavior. The majority of corrections were self inflicted, and her stress lowered as she quickly caught on to the more strict 'rules' of a walk. I taught her owner how to use a prong, making sure that he understood not to hurt her or be unfair with it, and made him practice with it several times before allowing him to buy one himself. He practiced keeping his emotions either upbeat or neutral, he practiced walking in a sterile area and then outside the store with no other dogs present with her at low stress and giving calm focus, we talked about threshold and timing and rewarding good behavior to replace the bad and LAT/LAM, and then last week... we added a dog. Creed, to be specific. Her owner was dubious that she was ready, but I was more worried about whether HE was ready. L started off by roaring at Creed, he moved her away, and she deliberately chose to disengage. He kept his head and she continued to choose correctly again and again. She would look at Creed and stiffen, then offer the behavior of huffing, taking a step back, and gazing intently at her owner. (Me: reward that! Right now!) L, a dog who, 4 weeks prior, could not even glance at another dog or dog-shaped item 50 feet away from her without having an explosive reaction, was more than capable of walking about 10 feet away from Creed side by side in a perfect heel, calm and relaxed and without stressing, tail and butt wiggling happily when he glanced down at her and scratched her ears for doing SO well and trying SO hard just for him. Her owner, who came in 4 weeks ago trying to get me to take her off his hands, was laughing and smiling and playing with her, calling to me how proud he was of her and how amazing he thinks she is. L has a long way to go before she's done. She'll be coming to a few of my BAT workshops where I have group walks specifically to help dogs like her, and when she's stronger with that we will wean her off of the prong and settle with a martengale since she is a collar-slipper. She is still fairly mismatched with her owner, but this has made him feel far more capable of handling her into adulthood and has prevented her from going through a 4th upheaval prior to turning 2. I see repeated on here frequently- don't use corrections for reactivity, reactivity and aggression is based in fear, corrections make fear worse. I would agree that SOME reactive or aggressive dogs are acting out of fear... but some are not. L started out as a frustrated greeter puppy. When she became a teenager, her frustration in being held back on a flat collar or harness in greeting morphed into reactivity. Changing her emotions towards Creed would not help here, as the problem was that she wanted to be social and was lashing out at the barrier preventing her from reaching her target. Unfortunately, to most people, this looks like serious dog or fear aggression. Away from public eyes, I have had conversations with various dogblrs that perscribed to positive only training end up with a dog that was reactive and not out of fear. These folks work for months and sometimes years, just like I did with Creed, getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of improvement with +R and finally trying a prong, slip, or e collar... and the dog's stress plummets as it is taught that the behavior is unacceptable please try performing something else. Note that I am not saying to slap a prong on all reactive dogs and call it a day. I've used +R BAT on the vast majority of my reactive clients because those have been fear based. But those that aren't, sometimes a different method is necessary. It's always better to change your methodology to match the dog, rather than try to force the dog into the neat little box you want it to exist in.