#i was never super crazy about adventure time (till the last season that is) so it’s wild what fionna and cake does to me

[admircot]

"they would find each other in any universe" and I love that it doesn't necessarily mean always romantically. They can be sworn enemies in this universe but that means they still found each other.

[mrawkweird]

My history with the X-men is very limited, only catching reruns of the trilogy on FX, having that bootleg of X-men origins Wolverine that had the unfinished visual effects, First Class, Apocalypse, Days of Future Past and of course Logan. A film so sad it was engraved in my mind and I no longer will ever feel the need to watch it.

The only X-men comic I remember reading was some story where Logan got mindfucked into acting like a little bitch, here's some some pages/panels without context

And when it comes animation, I saw like one episode of the OG 90's show on xfinity on demand and a handful of X-men Evolution

All this to say I have very little attachment to the X-men brand so believe me when I say with no bias X-men 97 is fucking amazing and 100% worth your time

Just one episode in and immediately understand why people love not just the X-men, but why they love superhero stories. The crazy exaggerated powers and characters that can be silly but still have heart and real stakes. All that without some snide remark about how some other series or movie got it wrong. Like I know My Adventures With Superman was great but sometimes it does feel like it's trying to overcorrect for the Snyder Superman. X-men '97 just simply is.

Also, HOLY FUCKING SHIT, it looks amazing.

Like damn, if Invincible looked as half as good as this show has looked every episode so far it would be perfect. It's the quality I expect outta western shows now that they cost so damn much. This show much like Monkie Kid (there I go mentioning Monkie Kid again) looks like I imagine 90's kids felt when they watched it. Cause when you watch the OG show outside of the intro the animation is super stiff but in '97 when the action picks up it's on the level of high tier anime ova, like film quality good. And even then just the shot composition and direction is great almost never flat.

My only gripe was that at first I thought because the show wanted to resemble the OG that it used really flat colors to make it look like it was from the 90's without doing something like Megalo Box which lowered the resolution to feel like a 90's anime. But by the third episode I got used to it.

Anyways yeah, this shit's amazing, fantastic, astonishing even. And if they cooked this good for the X-men, then I got high hopes for that Spiderman show, should it still exist.

You know, there's a lot to be said about how My Adventures With Superman needed to make sure they let several people that's been covering the character for the last decade know he doesn't have to become an op in order to be interesting but that's a whole conversation for another day.

One of the cool things I noticed coming out of X-Men '97 is it reminded some people that before there was ever a whole Avengers craze X-Men was the ultimate team of superheroes for Marvel to a lot of people growing up. It's why it has so many projects and connections or why MCU wants to cap now and say Ms. Marvel is a mutant instead of an Inhuman. Everyone wants to sit with the cool kids. There's actually several things I want to say about this show but I'm going to wait till the end of the season.

Also, with the character designs of that Spider-Man cartoon they almost have a responsibility to release the series just so everybody can see what that looks like in motion.

[citadelspires]

P1 - Given how great you're track record's been for doing hypothetical interactions of Amphibia kids with the Duck kids and Owl House kids, let's try doing the Duck kids meeting the Owl House kids and who they'd like the best. I'll exclude Violet for this for the sake of evenening things out 5 to 5. I'd assume Luz would get along best with Dewey (both jump into adventure), King with Louie (could see em teaming up for a scheme), Willow with Huey (eh, more leftover interaction but can work)

Screenshot of second half of the ask provided. Text: P2 Gus with Webby (would totally ask each other lots of questions about their species), and Amity with Lena (both got abusive figures they stood up to and would totally talk about their crushes on Luz and Webby LOL). Would love to see you take on Duck kids and Owl House kids interactions.

First of all I’m very pleased to hear you find my track record on these posts good, they’ve been really fun to write and it makes me really happy people like them! Second I am so sorry it’s taken so long to get to this ask, it’s a really in depth one and it took a long time to write, I hope you’ll find it was worth the wait!

Aight! Oh and one last thing real quick before I get into it. I hope you wouldn’t mind me adding Violet back in, partially due to the fact I love her, but mostly because there’s actually another owl house character I think works significantly better with Louie than anyone else and I really want the chance to talk about that. Saving that one for last hehe. This’ll be another long one, writing below the cut.

Luz and Webby So I do like a lot of the possible interactions brought up by your suggested grouping but my mind went in a few different directions. I’ll start with Luz, who would fit in best with another excitable adventuring partner, as pointed out, but I think the best fit for her in that regard would actually be Webby. While Dewey would no doubt get along great with Luz, there’s a special element to the potential relationship between Luz and Webby that really elevates the potential of their friendship to another level, that being: they both want to eat a hamburger.

An aspect of Webby I wish the later seasons of the show got into a little more, but is definitely something I would consider a core part of her character, is the fact that she got held up in the mansion her whole childhood, with no opportunities to interact with the world around her, have all the adventures she wanted, and most importantly to just be seen as the kid she wanted to be. And while Luz was technically able to go out into the world, the place she found wasn’t one that was willing to see her, or give her any of the chances she longed for. Both Webby and Luz fully understand that feeling of being trapped in your own life, of finally getting the chance to break out and just doing your best to make the most of it. I think there’s a lot the two could gain from spending some time together.

(Also, to borrow the bit about gushing about their crushes but from the other end, these two would totally get sidetracked talking about their respective crushes and also trying to play wingman for each other. It’s a massive comic disaster in both cases, but somehow both Lena and Amity manage to find it endearing).

Amity and Violet Okay wait lemme explain. While the two of them don’t have a whole lot in common at first glance, I think they would genuinely get along extremely well. While a lot of Amity’s focus on school came at the force of her parents, you cannot honestly expect me to believe that girl isn’t a studious nerd on her own anyway. Heck even outside the realm of studies she throws her full dedication into literally every single thing she does. Remind you of anyone? Beyond just being extremely intelligent Violet is clever and ready for anything. She takes everything in stride and always has a plan, she can go from “we were sleeping over and you said everybody get on the plane, so we got on the plane” to “I brought an axe” in a minute flat.

I like to think the two of them would have a mutual respect for each other based on their respective intellects upon first meeting, but as they become closer friends they find they can move from more serious respect to a casual enjoyment of each other. I would go as far as to say that both of these characters really value dependability in a friend, and that they each provide a lot of that. To wrap back around to the stuff about intelligence I think Violet could provide a lot of insight to Amity as far as showing her that pursuing studies and academic heights of her own volition can be something that she can just do because she wants to, and that’s no excuse for unhealthy parental relationships. Getting along so well with someone like Violet only to see that her parents are actually really loving and supportive, that would be really eye-opening for Amity I think. For Violet’s part she could get a lot of help from Amity as far as her pursuit of the secrets of magic goes. I suspect Amity would be much more interested in the study of her magic than Violet would be able to get Lena to tolerate lol.

Bonus Round: Amity would absolutely be a senior junior woodchuck and she would love it you cannot convince me otherwise. She starts quoting the JWGB around the owl house kids and they all look at her like she’s crazy.

Lena and Willow I feel like this one might seem a little out there at first but trust me on this one. Initially Lena doesn’t think too much of Willow, being as close as she is to Webby she knows liking flowers and cute things doesn’t mean Willow is automatically to be taken lightly but she feels like she’s got a good read on her that she generally prefers to avoid trouble and turns down opportunities for violence, which isn’t really Lena’s deal. Over time Lena figures she was right about her first impressions as Willow doesn’t seem to take many opportunities to expose some hidden power, even when Lena knows the people around her kinda deserve it.

She learns to adjust her opinion when she finally does get the chance to see Willow in action and realizes that girl is more powerful than any of the other kids she’s met in the boiling aisles bar none(yes this is my genuine opinion of willow if you don’t think she could kick your ass you’re wrong). It’s at that moment where she starts to pay more attention to Willow and notices a lot more of the strength she puts into all the little things, how much she cares for everyone and everything, and it does a great deal to show Lena that maybe having super strong magic powers isn’t mutually exclusive with being kind and gentle. And maybe gentle isn’t her thing but still, it’s nice to know.

For Willow’s part she’s just happy to make more friends. Especially if the opportunity arises, as I like to think it would, when they’re close enough friends, that Lena would start to hint around asking questions about how Willow remains so casual and nice with the ability to do so much damage, and Willow takes the chance to help Lena figure out her magic a bit more, and learn how to better appreciate it as an aspect of herself she doesn’t have to be scared of. (I mean come on Lena never really learned how to do any of it except barely kind of from Magica of all people she could really  use something like that).

Huey and Gus Now there are some certain things about Gus that would drive Huey absolutely nuts. His lack of primary and reliable sources for any of his information being a big one, but at the end of the day I think he’d enjoy Gus’ desire to learn in the first place. Gus would probably be a little dubious about Huey’s “sources” and “citations” but if it helped him get more info on the human realm he’d certainly go for it in the end. In that way the two balance each other out pretty well. Gus is studious and intelligent but he’s a little off the wall, he’s got a big creative streak, and he’s really excitable. Huey is really really good at facts and analysis but he lacks the strength in imagination that Gus has. Huey is able to take all the grandiose concepts Gus is able to think up and help make them actually happen. Gus has that specific brand of an adventurers soul matched up with the fact he’s not actually the type to get into danger and fights, meaning he’s able to drag Huey out of his comfort zone a little and help him reach new heights with his mind that his struggles with creativity prevent him from reaching, while managing to not make him feel like he’s actually in danger. I actually believe the two of them together could get some really incredible stuff done.

What I’m saying is that with Huey’s help Gus could absolutely complete his tunnels under Hexside.

Dewey and King Now this, this is the pair who would go incredibly well together, at the detriment of literally everyone around them. If there is one person King “I Will Rule Everything” Clawthorne should not be exposed to its Dewey Duck. Within minutes of meeting each other the two of them would immediately have so many bad ideas. Between Dewey’s insistence on being the best and most daring adventurer while putting his name on everything and going down in history & King’s trying to rule everything and everyone, the attempts to raise the stakes would be constant and the two would spend literal hours endlessly trying to one-up each other. All in one day they search for legendary treasure, discover an entirely new civilization, try to take over said civilization, create a new species just to name it after themselves, and build statues of themselves in the middle of Bonesbourough. And that’s all before lunch.

Louie Here it is. The one I waited till the very end for out of sheer excitement. I even kept the second name out of the heading thing. That’s how secretive I’m trying to be about this. See, there’s one character in the owl house that works so well with Louie it’s practically canon. Their interactions have so much potential, they each bring so much to the table, I just couldn’t Not talk about it. And yeah, I know this ask was specifically asking about the owl house and ducktales kids, but I just couldn’t resist talking about the relationship between Louie and Eda.

A con artist from another world who was so successful she became nationally famous? There’s no way Louie would pass up an opportunity like that. For his part I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already managed to set up another underworld identity in the boiling aisles, or at the very least that Eda could totally have been to the ducktales realm and heard of his one there.

Either way I’m convinced the two of them would start planning a heist as soon as they figure out who each other are. Eda is a little prideful and wants to show this kid he can’t out-con her, but Louie knows what he’s doing just as much. Honestly with the two of them combined Eda wouldn’t have to worry about losing her stand for a long time. Over the course of their planning and seeing Louie in action Eda begrudgingly gains some respect for the  kid, and while Louie was definitely just using her as a learning/profit opportunity at first, he’s pretty susceptible to getting attached.

For Louie, it’s the fact that she actually respects him for being good at what he does. Even back with his family who all love and care about him and all that he still feels like most of them don’t really get what he does or see what’s special about him, so having someone who made a whole life of it be even a little proud of him feels really nice.

And of course, at the end of their heist when they finally have the money in hand, and Eda just casually hands over his half, he stares at her like she’s crazy.

“You’re just.. Giving it to me?!”

“Well, yeah. That was the deal wasn’t it kid? I mean if you really want I definitely have a few ideas for it.”

“No! Uh, no, thanks, I’ll keep it. It’s just that you really remind me of someone, I guess I was expecting something else.”

[popculturebuffet]

Legend of the Three Caballeros: Labyrinth and Repeat Review (Commissioned by WeirdKev27)

Saludos Amigos! We’re back on the Ride of the Three Cablleros as I intend to knock this wonderful series out at a steady cliip, and since I THOUGHT the premire was a two parter, it still ends on a cliffhanger but it’s too early to tell if this is just normal for this series like say Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, where it’s really more one continuous story, or just the end of the pilot. For now with all the exposition out of the way from part 1, we can jump right into the thick of things where we picked off.  PREVIOUSLY ON LEGEND OF THE THREE CABLLEROS: Donald had an enormously shitty birthday, loosing his job, his house and his nightmarish harpy.. er his girlfriend, all in one day. Things went up a bit though when he inhereted a Cabana belonging to his ancestor Clinton Coot and met two new pals: Ladies Man Jose Caricoca and loveable weirdo like myself Pancito Romero A Lot of Other Names Gonzales. The three soon had a yard sale with the various treasures inside the cabana and got an offer for a million dollars for the cabana and all inside from local waiter’s nightmare Baron Von Sheldgoose, whose deal includes a jewel incrusted golden atlas. Upon finding it our boys were attacked by a human goddess who popped out of the book and that’s where we pick up. 

Good. Let’s begin. So Xandra, said goddess, is holding our heroes at arrow point with their attempts to defuse the situation falling flat and their attempt to understandably flee by claming to be the cabs failing pretty much immidatley. We do get some good gags including Jose accidently telling Xandra she smells like feta cheese in greek. But lucky for our boys before Xandra can do a murder on them Donald accidently shuts the book.. and finds out she disappears when he does that. Cue our loveable idiots opening and closing the book for a while, easily one of the best bits of the episode. I will say while the pilot was pretty good comedy wise this episode solidfies how funy the series is. The series is at times a barrage of wonderful jokes and set pieces and it is awesome to behold.  Also a breif thing before we get back to the plot... Xandra is indeed human, or at least looks like one. Normally i’m against this as honestly Ducks just mesh better with Dogfaces, other birds and other anthromorphic animals. It just works better and is more consitent to have a world that’s simply anthro animals and non-anthro animals. But.. it works for me here since so the human characters.. are all gods. While i’d of PREFFERED them to still be non humans, like Ducktales does, it works since she’s not really a human but a god and thus it comes off more as her being something inherently diffrent and otherworldly, but something that’s not so distracting it pulls focus away from the rest of the cast, just otherworldly to our heroes.

So while our boy screw with the goddess who you know, tried to murder them for flimsy reasons without stopping to ask why three strangers look exactly like her friends, we get to know the triplets better. I also get a better bead on what voices Jessica is using. May is using Jessica’s Lynn voice, just a touch higher since May isn’t a preteen, while April, the one in yellow, uses the voice she’d later use for candace. Junes is a BIT like Lucy, but with obviously way more energy and emotion. But it’s clear the three are smart confident and willing to run a scheme, and easily get a thousand bucks out of sheldgoose for the spooky purple ring he saw last episode in a really chortleriffic bit where May serves as an auctioneer while her sisters up the price by bidding thus tricking Sheldgoose into paying. They also get past him having a claim on it as he dosen’t have a receipt or anything else other than a verbal contract with Donald, one that wasn’t even complete since the boys hadn’t brought out the atlas, so they were within their rights to fleece him for the ring.. even if him getting it at all is going to backfire, they had no way of knowing that so it’s whatever.  Back in the house the boys have apparently done the  book thing on Xandra about a hundred times, and Xandra FINALLY grabs the book. At least our boys are bonding. But while threatening them again , she finds out they don’t know what happened.. and recongiing clinton int he painting realizess time has passed, these boys are her boys decendants, and perhaps some explination is in order since she’s lost in a strange world. 

So after unveling a bookmark that allows her to project out of the book without being trapped, Xandra gives us our backstory: long ago, in a distant land I Aku master of darkness unleashed an unspeakable evil... wait sorry wrong narration. Long ago Xandra was guardian of the Atlas, which is explained to be the key to various magical hot spots around the world where various myths come from. Things were fine.. until the evil Lord Felldrake decided to screw it all up, binding Xandra to the book and using it to cause chaos and try and take over the world. All was lost till the Cabs stopped him, freed Xandra best they could, and then journed the world with them till she tragically was shut inside the book and seemingly lost. For whatever reason Clinton never opened the book, we’ll presumibly find out later, and well.. here she is.  Xandra is voiced by, unsuprisingly given this project’s all-star cast, voice acting vetran and modern legend of the buisness Grey DeLisle, also credited as Grey Griffith for a time. And like tress she has a rather massive and awesome resume, which naturally i’ll be going into since usually I go into shows mid way and don’t get to do this: Grey’s notable rolls include Daphne Blake ever since What’s New, Scooby Doo?, Lor from Weekenders, still not on plus and I will not let that fact go till I get a valid reason why not, Crazy Cat Lady and Lizzie Divine, Mandy, Doctor Ghastly, Kimiko Tohomiko, Sam Manson, Frankie Foster, Azula, Riley Daring, Freida Suarez, Black Canary (Brave and the Bold), Fire, Dr. Holiday, Aya, Master Nadia, Magpie, Moon Butterfly, Jackie Lynn Thomas, Lola Loud, Lana Loud, Lily Loud, and Martin Prince following Russi Taylors tragic passing, just to give you an idea of how long, varied and wonderful her career and range is. And to give a certain person paying for this review an idea of some of the shows i’m familiar with. Moving on.  Despite learning of their family legacy of heroics, our heroes are planning to still sell the book given Donald and Jose are poor, and Panchito’s giving in to peer pressure. Seriously Camil is already the MVP of the series, easily the best part of it and it’s a shame he wasn’t brought back for Ducktales, especially since by season 2 frank was aware of legend and Jamie had been on the show before. But Xandra offers them a life of adventure and heroisim.. and when that fails points out theirs treasure and the boys agree to hear her out.  So after showing some off Xandra takes them to a Labyrinth to retreive three mystic amulets, and goads Donald into going in by challenging his Ego after he tries to refuse to go. Panchito is naturally fully on board with a dangerous adventure and Jose is talked into it after Xandra pulls an explination why she can’t go out of her firmly toned ass that theirs a mystic barrier which he buys. So while Xandra conjurs a chair and a coconut drink to relax and wait to see if they die or not, our boys head in.  They find a massive, beautiful labyrnith and a large house containing a minotaur. Sadly i’ts not Ferdinand aka the Minotaur who worked as Wonder Woman’s chef, cooking up damn good vegetarian goodies for her at the Thymsicarian Embasy. All of this is real things that happened and all are things that should be in the next fucking movie. Seriously as much of a mess as Wonder Woman 1984 is, i’d buy a ticket in a heartbeat caution to teh wind if it was announced he was being adapted for it. He’s also very smart, kind and loyal if you were wondering. Get yourself a man like feridnand if your into men. 

Anyways Jose once again tries to speak a languge, and thus we get about a minute of Eric Bauza saying the word moo... sometimes... most times really.. I REALLY, REALLY love my job. But with the bull pissed off and going super sayian god super sayian, there’s only one thing left for our heroes to do...

So they do and we get a great gag where Donald, when deciding wether to split up as to lower the possiblity of him getting hit, has TWO shoulder devils, because inside every man is a battle between good and evil that evil usually wins while dancing and singing a jaunty toon over good’s grave. 

But it naturally backfires and the two devils tell him he’s on his own. So we get a fun chase sequence with the three before Donald finally decides fuck it we can fight back. Noticing Panchito’s talent with a rope, he has him rope and ride the Minotaur which he does, then uses Jose’s hankerchief to lure the minotaur and beat him. It’s a gorgeous, fun action sequence that shows off the series is as cool as it is fricking hilaroius.  So our heroes find the amulets, a blue one for donald, a red for panchito and green for jose, and put em on, proudly telling Xandra. It’s then revealed the Minotaur.. is an old friend of hers and this was just a test to see if they could work together and you know.. not die. They can, and she’s proud and plesantly suprised by how good they are.  So our heroes return home, Xandra storring the atlas on her back, and all three suitably impressed. Their further impressed when they find a hidden lair with more treasure, and three sets of armor, their ancestors old armor which as it did in the teaser at the start of the series, looks REALLY fucking cool and comes from various civlizations. Just.. lovely to look at. Our heroes pose.. and the nieces find them, wonder what’s going on, and mention Sheldgoose at the door, apparnelty not phased to meet a god or that their surrogate uncle has a hlemet.  Sheldgoose has come to offer the money.. and it’s REALLY tempiting. Donald has lost EVERYTHING remember, this money could help win Daisy back, get him a fancy house still in new quackmore.. even a third of a million is still enough to set someone as humble and easy to please as donald for life. But.. it’s here where this episode succeds where the premire fell. By this point we’ve SEEN Donald’s weaknsses: he’s greedy, short sighted and selfish. So it makes it THAT MUCH more impactful when he does the right thing, tearing up the check and refusing to sell out his legacy. Sure this could make his life better.. but it’s not worth his soul, his new friends or the world’s safety. He may not be able to get Daisy back or a new house.. but he’d NEVER be able to repalce his new friends, his legacy, or his wonderful new home.  Sheldgoose naturally throws a fit and vows vengance and what have you... and just as naturally gets dragged away by his ring. Like the boys he’s brought to a mystic secret chamber by a family heirloom.. but unlike the boys we get a wonderful sequence of him being slammed into things while Wayne Knight makes delightful noises.

But Sheldgoose finds thanks to the ring he was drawn to a styigan well leading to a talking staff... Felldrake surivived, if trapped in the staff.. and  he’s Baron’s ancestor, himself a sheldgoose who urges his decsendant to take the staff, accept his destiny and thus Sheldgoose revels in his new power as he and feldrake summon Feldrake’s loyal minon.  

So we end on Donald happy. His day was crappy to start.. but while he lost his house, his shrew and his job.. he’s found a new purpose saving the world, an ew life of adventure.. and forever friends in his two new amigos and goddess mentor. He’s finally happy. OR he is for a a second before Feldrake’s minon emerges from it’s sarcophagus and runs off with donald. TO BE CONTINUED. Not doing the jojo gag this time. 

 Before we go on one last cast member; Kevin Micheal Richardson is Felldrake, and he is unsuprisingly awesome and like Grey has a long and storied career.. you know the drill by now: He’s voiced  the Narrator for Clerks the Animated Series, Robert Hawkins (Static’s Dad), Dark Laser, Numbah 5′s dad who was a VERY poorly aged refrence to Bill Cosby, Mammoth, Trigon, Armagedddroid (Something I never realized holy shit good on him), Captain Gantu, The Joker, Pandabubba, Principal Lewis, Schnitzel, Tombstone, Omega Supreme, Cleavland Junior (They drove a dump truck full of money up to his house he’s not made of stone), Mal Duncan, Doctor Fate, Man Ape, Kilowogg, Sheriff Blubs, William Viceroy , Mr. Gus, Rhombulous, Shredder (TMNT 2012), Rosie Rosevelt, Coach Mitchell (Seriously watch Milo Murphy’s Law, we need a season 3), and Dot’s Zit. As you can tell the guy is VERY good at villians so he was a natural choice. 

Final Thoughts: This was a huge improvment. With the miserable parts of the pilot long gone this episode is a fun, breezy adventure that sets up our heroes, the series tone, and our bad guy some more while giving us tons of great gags. I highly look forward to whatever comes next and cannot wait for the next episode. Until then, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

[peterthepark]

NSFW Alphabet

Steve Harrington x Reader

Warnings: smut, obviously nsfw, fluff

i think this gif may have killed me !

A - Aftercare

steve is really big on aftercare, especially if he was being a little rough with you

he’s a sweet guy, so he’s gently wiping at your skin with a hot towel, or brushing your hair as you lay against him, or giving you kisses in the places where it hurts

he’ll even cook food for you afterwards, even if it’s like four in the morning

steve makes sure that you’re okay. he’ll ask if he hurt you or if it was too much

with steve, he likes having you close to him. you do as much as possible to show him that you aren’t hurt and that you enjoyed

the only aftercare he needs is your presence if that makes sense

B - Body Part

steve loves everything about you, but if he had to choose, his favorite body part of yours would be your shoulders.

he loves leaving hickies and he loves kissing you there (but not as much as your lips)

when you’re on top, steve will sit up so he can bite down onto one of your shoulders because fuck you give it to him so well

your favorite body part of steve are his hands

they’re so soft and warm and big

you love holding onto them, especially during sex because it comforts you

you play with his hands a lot

but also his hands are really good for other things

C - Cum

when you and steve had just started having sex with one another, he would use a condom

but as time progressed, he slowly became more adventurous and needy

he’d cum on your back, or your stomach, sometimes even in your mouth if you’d let him

although

you decided to take the pill

steve had gone wild

like the good wild

he isn’t sure about it at first cause what if you get pregnant

but he starts to cum inside you

he’ll give one deep thrust before he cums and you FEEL him because he’s so deep and big and it’s kind of overwhelming but

steve’s new favorite place to cum is inside of you

D - Dirty Secret

you and steve have this polaroid camera

i think you can see where this is going

so when you surprise him with shit like lingerie

or after intimate moments such as sex

steve will snap a picture because he’s so entranced by your beauty and he wants to capture these moments

he has a collection of all the polaroids in a shoe box that is under his bed

there’s some polaroids of him in there too

his favorite one of you is where you’re sitting on your calves, and you’re looking over your shoulder at him

and there’s a few hickies on your lower back

steve loves that one

your favorite one of his is from when you were on top, and you both had literally just finished

but steve had this glow and you knew you had to take a picture

“steve, i just need you to be serious! one time!”

so steve has his arm behind his head, his hair is somehow suddenly perfect, and he’s looking at the camera with such a lustful gaze

it’s the only good picture of him so you took it for yourself

but he doesn’t know that you also took the silly ones where steve has a bra on his face, or he’s trying to wear said bra, or he has your panties over his head, and that time where you guys literally broke the bed and steve just laid there

“please? one more round?”

“the bed is fucking broken, baby. but can i least take a picture?”

E - Experience

before dating one another, both you and steve have had sex before

like once (him with nancy and you with some guy from senior year)

so you guys are fairly new at all this

but your first time with him is still perfect

steve knows what he’s doing because as he says ‘it’s not rocket science’

cocky bastard

steve can last long during sex but he can’t last long when you give him a blowjob

because no one has done that before with him

and he fucking loves it

F - Favorite Position

steve loves missionary

he likes being able to see your face and your reactions

he can also go really deep which he knows you like but he’ll stop when it gets too much

steve also loves seeing you ride him

your breasts are in his face, he can bite down onto your shoulder, and he can kiss you

your favorite position is also missionary

but doggystyle hits differently

like it actually hits differently

one time you cried

steve stopped right away

“did i hurt you? oh, jesus-“

“no, no. it just felt so good.”

it was that amazing

G - Goofy

you both are super goofy during sex

it’s sickening

like a quarter of those polaroids are goofy shit so

steve can’t stop cracking jokes

you’ll both laugh if one of you says something a little too crazy or funny during dirty talk

dirty talk is difficult sometimes because you guys can’t stop laughing at yourselves

“you like that, Y/N? yeah? like it when i-“

then steve just laughs at himself

because what the fuck is he saying

you have to make him pause because you’re dying of laughter

half the time he can’t even continue because you’re STILL LAUGHING

“Y/N! i am literally so hard right now, please stop laughing. i have to get this over with, please! im in pain!”

H - Hair

steve doesn’t have a lot of hair down there

he trims to keep it short

he’s pretty good with hygiene which is great (get yourself someone with good hygiene please)

as for you, steve doesn’t really care what you do down there

body hair is natural

he doesn’t shame you for having any or none

as long as he can please you

I - Intimacy

steve is a professional romantic

he loves to make love to you

he never forgets to kiss you during sex

he never forgets to tell you that he loves you

you guys have a very intimate dynamic and it helps your relationship a lot

J - Jack Off

BECAUSE of the polaroids that steve has of you

he’s able to jack off in his spare time pretty easily

of course, he asked you for permission if he could use the pictures for that purpose

cause he didn’t want to creep you out or disrespect you in case you weren’t okay with it

he’s a moaning mess when he’s home alone

his hands are under the covers, he’s sitting up against his headboard as he stares down at the picture of you

you caught him one time

you stepped into his bedroom without knocking and there he was

sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to you

and you can see his hand moving really quickly so you immediately know what’s happening

“baby?”

and he cums right there

“Y/N! did you - uh- mmm - hello?”

he’s so flustered and embarrassed

but you found it so hot

K - Kink

i think we all know that steve has a hair-pulling kink

and a daddy kink but he hasn’t really explored it fully

you like to tease him about it because you were there when he called himself daddy in front of a car (season 3 spoilers?)

“what does daddy want for dinner?”

“does this dress look nice, daddy?”

apparently the dress was so nice that steve ripped it as he fucked you

so yes he does have a daddy kink

and you love it

steve also has a thing for lingerie (is that a kink idk)

he’s fairly young so he doesn’t have too many wild kinks

L - Location

steve isn’t afraid to fuck you in his car

or in yours

when you’re waiting for him to close up scoops ahoy for the night

you’ll tease the shit out of him

so steve takes you to the backroom and gives it to you really good

even though it’s against company policy to do that kind of shit

but screw company policy

M - Motivation

steve likes to hear you

he likes hearing your moans, his name, just any sort of vocal cue that you’re enjoying

it keeps him going

he’s turned on by a lot of things

when he’s at your house and you happen to not be wearing a bra

and he can see your nipples through his shirt that you’re wearing

you ride steve on the sofa in seconds

but also he gets turned on during random moments because hormones

he’s a dog

N - Nope

steve doesn’t like degrading you

you’re a beautiful woman who deserves to be treated well

he hates that shit

steve doesn’t want to hurt you or make you any less of a person

O - Oral

steve could eat you out for days

he is certainly a giver rather than a receiver

he enjoys seeing you writhe and moan

his mouth is talented

but also steve is a sucker haha get it for when you give him blowjobs

he doesn’t last long during those

P - Pace

steve was in sports so as expected, he has a great deal of stamina

he’s fast

so fast

but sometimes steve will go slow

when he’s teasing you or when you’ve had a bad day and you just need him there

he often prefers a slower pace because he can feel all of you

and it also conserves him some energy for round two

and round three

maybe a round four

Q - Quickie

steve doesn’t really like quickies

unless he’s really really horny then you’ll have one

it’s a rare thing between you two because steve likes to savor the moment

R - Risk

steve likes to play it safe

unless you want to try something

he likes sticking to your normal antics

and again, he’s pretty young so he enjoys what you have in your sex life right now

S - Stamina

as mentioned, steve has a lot of stamina!

he can go on for a couple rounds unless it’s a blowjob then he’s done for

steve can only last till the third round

but he will stop anytime you want

if you’re too tired or too sensitive, he’ll stop

even if he hasn’t came

T - Toys

steve doesn’t own any toys

he doesn’t really care for them

unless it’s YOUR toys

then he’ll use them on you

U - Unfair

steve is a giant tease

it’s irritating

on occasions, he’ll edge you

till you’re begging him

“what’s the word?”

“please, steve.”

V - Volume

you both are pretty loud

steve isn’t afraid to moan

you both enjoy being vocal as possible

unless someone’s parents are home

then you have to stay really quiet

which is so hard

you guys laugh louder than you moan to be honest

there’s a lot of laughing

W - Wildcard

steve always asks for consent

even if it’s clear that you really want him

he does it anyways because that’s the PROPER WAY TO DO IT

consent

is

important

https://www.thehotline.org/2013/04/16/what-is-healthy-consent-what-isnt-consent/

X - X-ray

steve has an average sized dick

let’s be honest here

but it’s still pretty biggg ;)

he’s more on the thicker side

that’s it

steve has a nice dick

Y - Yearning

steve has a fairly high sex drive

c’mon

he’s a boy dealing with hormones

so he’s horny for a good amount of time

but he controls himself

he may be a dog but he is not a RABID dog

Z - Zzz

you pee before you go to sleep with steve

UTIs are real ladies

but anyways

steve is a sleepyhead

so he’ll fall asleep pretty easily

he usually waits for you to get back to him before he closes his eyes

but sometimes he’s really exhausted and can’t help it

it’s okay with you

he’s a good boyfriend

[hanramm156]

Rammstein Family Game: Get to know me! (Warning: a long ramble)

I’m honored to be tagged by @cherrisplace​ and @momoredcrow​. ^^ It’s been a pleasure to read other people’s Rammstein memories and opinions, so here comes mine as well. Writing is one of those rare things that keep me sane during this crazy season, so I apologize this being super long. More rambling is probably coming when everything’s cancelled and I have nothing else to do.

Rules: There are no rules. Tag whoever you want. Don’t tag yourself. Tag yourself. You don’t have to answer all the questions. Do what you please. Have fun.

Created by: @vapor-stein

1. I’m curious: when did you discover Rammstein?

2004 properly, but I might have heard Du hast or other popular songs even earlier.

2. Tell me your story. How did you discover them?

As said, it was 2004 and I was watching some random Finnish music show. Back in the days, I watched a lot of music videos from the tv and recorded my favorite ones to VHS. One evening Rammstein’s Amerika came from the show and I was like “??? What on earth is this??? Sounds interesting…”. I wasn’t into metal music back then (I mostly listened to indiepop and alternative rock), but for whatever reason, I got hooked instantly to this German band’s dark, eerie sound. It was refreshing to hear something else than English and the video was also thrilling.

Rammstein had intruded my mind already, but the final straw was when I saw the Mein Teil video. I liked both the song and the video A LOT - so much that I even felt kinda “dirty” for liking something this dark. A 14-year-old me was constantly asking from myself that: “am I even allowed to like this kind of stuff this much?”. The backstory for the song was creepy, but so mesmerizing – like I had been introduced to the darkest corners of human mind: yes, this kind of stuff happens, and we shouldn’t close our eyes from it. So next, the only thing I could do was to buy Reise, reise album, listen to it on loop and sketch my German notebook full of Rammstein lyrics. Here’s a proof:

I have so many stories about my relationship to Rammstein that I might have to write them all down now when there’s a lot of time.

3. Favourite song?

This topic would be worth a novel itself, but here are some of my favorites:

Asche zu Asche – So badass, gives me such an energy every time – plus, not to forget the burning microphones and SILVER REESH!

Bück dich – Yes, it’s a horrible story once again in this song, but I can’t help but to admit that the song is freaking catchy and in a weird way, hot. Also, there’s a funny backstory when I was in 9th grade and we almost performed this song in our official graduation party with my boyfriend and a bunch of our friends (maybe good that the idea was abandoned in the end…). We had a vague clue what the song was about, but we just thought it was funny – also, our German teacher dressed always in leather and loved Rammstein (she played us Bestrafe mich during one class and I’ll always remember the awkward atmosphere) so we were thinking to dedicate the song to her for as our goodbye. XDD Seriously, why I have been so weird for all my life…

Sehnsucht – In most of the pop songs, longing is described by tender words and soft lyrics, but not in Rammstein’s case. I’ve had this weird feeling of “longing” all my life that I can’t describe properly. It’s kind of an inner emptiness, only arts and music can help to deal with it when it hits. I think Sehnsucht describes so realistically what is longing about in reality: it’s this angry pressure in your heart which you want to get out of your chest but can’t. In the end, you just want to scream your lungs out.

Mein Herz brennt – Powerful song that always gives me goosebumps. I can’t even explain why. Maybe the fact that “tough” men being emotional is my soft spot and Rammstein hits that spot hard.

Links 2-3-4 – I have always been kind of a rebel and I feel like when everyone else is going to the “right” I have to go to the left, to the unknown. My heart is longing for adventure, for the paths the others are not going. I dunno, but this is such a powerful song for me. When I hear it, I always just want to jump around. In Tampere concert I went totally nuts when Links started as the second song, lol. From that moment I felt like I was back home with my boys.

Mein Teil – No need for further explanations anymore.

Los – The harmonica solo!!! The dropped c tuning and the acoustic sounds!! I love it.

Amour – My favorite R+ ballad. I confess that I listen to this and think about the lyrics when I’m in the mood for writing something painfully romantic.

Weit weg – There’s this painful longing once again that always resonates to me. I listened this to a lot after the “after blues” of Ratina concert.

Tattoo – A song that I didn’t care about so much at first, but for whatever reason, it’s almost my favorite from the new album nowadays. It’s catchy as hell and I like the “rattling” guitar riffs.

4. Least favourite song? Come on. I know you have one.

Feuer frei – Too much Vin Diesel vibes. I also get a picture of drunken, middle-aged Finnish guys on a R+ gig who don’t care about to band, but just want to have a party of their life and get drunk, far away from their wives. (No offense to anyone, but as music is almost like a religion to me, I can’t help but to have a bit of disrespect for kind of people who just “consume” music.)

Pussy – Both musically and lyrically, so bad, but I get the point the guys tried to give with this nonsense.

5. Favourite album? & 6. Least favourite album? aka. I ramble about all the albums.

Tough one… as the rules were vague, I decided to have a short opinion about each of the albums.

Herzeleid – Summary: a bunch of guys, born and raised in DDR, are tired of everything so they get together and play aggressive songs - you can almost smell the testosterone miles away while you are listening to this album. I have to admit that I love this album even though it’s not musically super creative. It’s just raw men with raw feelings – and I have to say, it works for me.

Sehnsucht – I was creeped out of the album art as a teenager, lol. But yeah, musically improved from the former one and there are some classic songs that make Rammstein as they are nowadays. I listen to this often when I’m driving.

Mutter – The album that they had the most struggles with if I have understood correctly. The pain can be heard through the songs and it’s so honest and raw. I lost my friend in 2004 tragically and this album was one of the things that kept me sane back then. Especially the beginning of the album (MHB, Links, Sonne) hits me hard in the guts.

Reise, reise – The album that started all this hype in me, so it has a special place in my heart. I also liked how they tried something different to their usual sounds in this one, like orchestral and acoustic songs.

Rosenrot – To be honest, this album has always left me a bit “cold”, so I cannot even make a real opinion of it. There are some good moments though, like Mann gegen Mann that really speaks to me.

Untitled: This has been on the loop since last August and I was honestly surprised how good the album was. I hadn’t listened to Rammstein for a while, but when I got this album to my hands after the concert, holy shit it hit me. I like hearing the path the guys have gone: their new music is much more mature than the first angry albums. Also, I love Till’s poetry in this one, like Was ich liebe and Weit weg.

I think I answered the question #7 already, so I’ll skip to #8.

8. Unpopular opinion about a member? A scandal? Anything?

Even though I appreciate Till as an artist and a poet, I don’t find his appearance attractive. You can throw rotten tomatoes at me now, but this is just my opinion, no means to offend anyone. Maybe the reason is that my taste for men tends to go for androgynous side, so I am not drawn towards very masculine men.

I’m not interested in Lindemann project and I don’t like their music so much, but the tour looked entertaining though. I bet all the people who attended had a lot of fun.

How Richard pronounces English is extremely sexy to my ear, even though it clearly sounds like a German guy trying to sound American - still, it’s like honey to my ears. Stupid man who makes my knees weak with everything he does.

I hate to admit that I don’t like Ohne dich so much. I don’t know why. :(

9. Have you ever seen them live? Tell me what you felt.

Three times this far! Oh man, I could talk about for hours how the concerts have made me feel, but I try to be reasonable now.

Ruisrock, Turku, 2005 – My first time seeing them live – and going to a festival without any adult supervision, so it was a special experience overall – and they blew my mind. It was raining and thundering and we were completely soaked with my friends, but it was worth it!

Bonus for everyone who managed to read this far: teenage me waiting for Rammstein to start playing, looking so badass with my denim jacket and R+ logo drawn with eyeliner. :D

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, 2012: We went to the show together with my boyfriend to celebrate Valentine’s day and holy shiiiiit it was awesome. Hands down one of the best evenings of my life. I was so hooked to Rammstein afterward that when we were at my bf’s family’s cottage, his brother had to tell me to stop blasting Herzeleid all the time in the kitchen. :’D

Ratina Stadium, Tampere, 2019: Aka. byebye my life, say hello to fics, listening to the band all over again, stupid memes and all the content this fandom creates. I fell in love again with Rammstein during this concert.

I have tickets for Düsseldorf and Tallinn, but now I can only wait and stress that will Corona ruin everything. In that case, I’ll weep alone and write fics about the tour 2020 that ended up never happening.

10. Do you play any instruments? If you do can you play any song by them?

Yeah, I play guitar and piano but nowadays I mostly sing. Rammstein songs are super easy to play with guitar and I recently learnt to play Tattoo and Sex. Have been practicing Engle on piano as well. Some songs I like to sing are Deutschland, Tattoo and Engel. The “speaking” parts are difficult though. ^^;

I’m not sure who I could tag to this who hasn’t done it already, but I’ll try my luck: @ah-its-too-much​ @soronya​ @einemelodie​ @xiaolianhuax​ @so-darya-darya​ @maximaembra​ @kvidasjuklingur​

[joethetvman-blog]

Today’s TV Guy Says - 4/2/2020

Hey everyone. As the world continues on to another month on this very divisive year and we all probably beginning the second month of Coronavirus Pandemic. Some might be wondering, what the heck to watch next? Not to say there aren’t other things to do but if you do the math. If you sleep for 8 hours, eat for a grand total of an hour and half, are in the bathroom for a good 30 minutes and work on something productive for being honest 4 hours. That’s still 10 hours to fill, plenty of time to do some good old fashion watching.

I been watching TV shows since I was a kid but really only got into the real professional quality the big networks produce in 2013 with Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. I have watched alot since then, like alot alot. From superhero shows to the supernatural, comedies of the 80s to today, far into sci-fi or grounded mysteries. There is maybe 100 shows I can safely say I watched, maybe more (winks).

Today, I’ll ease into slowly, nothing too crazy, but still something I’m very proud to say I saw. I never talk about it too much nowadays but back then I was hooked. A little show that was another Disney named show that could have been far flung to the background but instead defined a special generation for animated kids show with an actual story. Gravity Falls.

In 2012, I was beginning my high school years and ironically ending freshmen year, still in between the time of growing out of kid me and becoming a teen me. I would always glance at the top 3 kids channels, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney. One day, I saw a weird promo for this new show, it looked interesting but I didn’t pay much attention at the moment. I kept up that till June came along, and I sat down for the first episode. It was actually pretty good, animation was simple but very rich in detail, so it won me over there.

However it wasn’t till the end of the first episode where it ended with a mystery where I became hooked. I always loved a good mystery, trying to figure it out before it had a big reveal, this show was no exception. As its first summer on the air drove onward and new episodes came out, it was fairly tame, establishing the characters, having fun animated adventures like any cartoon starting out. But slowly it build a puzzle, weird little pieces and cryptic ciphers at the end of the episodes for the real smart people.

It wasn’t till the end of the first season, where it really went all out and introduced concepts and storylines that were set up before but in a way you didn’t expect. By the final shot, seeing someone we loved have another secret side to them and blowing up every preconceived notion of them, ending it off with a cliffhanger. Well that only made the wait for season 2, a full year to be exact.

By the time Season 2 rolled around, I had a friend group that loved the show as much as I did, and was awaiting the arrival of it ever so fondly. It’s ironically the first season started at the tail end of my first year of highs school and now the second just shy of the start of the last year. Usually cartoons are more rapid fire to make new episodes, especially to keep the attention span high, but not this one. Tender loving care was made for every single episode of the series, so it was all worth the wait whenever a new episode hit the airwaves. 

Season 2 resumed the mystery and the fandom erupted into new levels of conspiracies and analyzing every single detail. I’ll never forgot the mid-season 2 finale, where we learned that one massive huge theory was actually true and seeing everyone’s reaction was a moment to never forget. And also adding J.K. Simmons to the show was another childhood treat of mine. 

As the second season wrapped up and the stakes rose to an amazing conclusion, I wished I had a better memory of seeing the final episode live. I was over my friends house and we were all watching it before the younger kids wanted to watch something else and we were obligated to do so. I caught the repeat later but still missed that finale moment of saying goodbye to everyone for the last time.

This series is only 40 episodes and is super easy for a binge, even now with the story now completed. It’s on Disney + if you have and trust me, it’s worth the 10 hours or so. #NotSponsored 

[saunteredslowlydownward]

Born As the World Burns Episode Headcanons: Season 4

Are You There God, It’s Me Dean Winchester

Has waaaaay too much fun researching angels

What Witness would Emma see?  Dean, maybe?  Would it be Lydia, for having a daughter that betrayed the Sisterhood?  Corbett?  One of her first hunts, where she wasn’t able to save someone in time?

In The Beginning

Wakes up just after Dean is transported to the past by Cas - first one on one meeting with Cas?

Metamorphosis

Emma is torn on the issue of Sam’s powers.  Cause if Dean sees that as Sam being something other than human… what does that mean for her?

Painfully aware that other hunters would consider her something that needed to be hunted.

But very not on board with the blood drinking, obviously.

facepalms whenever Sam and Dean reveal that they’ve been keeping something from one another.

Goes to research with Sam.

Hates the use of the term “long-pig”… cause memories.  Considers going vegetarian after this (tries and fails- Amazons are obligate carnivores)

Silently cringes every time Dean says something about ‘monster’.

Sam: “This is my choice.”  Emma: “Then good for you, Sam.” *proud*

Monster Movie

Emma has a map in her journal where she tracks all the states they go to.

Headdesks about the whole “rehymination” *eye roll*

“…there’s nothing wrong with being a virgin.”

But also, teases Dean by suggesting that she probably ought to be looking to lose hers as soon as possible if that’s how things are meant to be done.

Yellow Fever

Some of Dean’s early fears heavily revolve around Emma and her safety

Or maybe Emma is sick right along with Dean? she does use fear as a weapon

Sees the Amazons coming for her and Dean turning on her and trying to kill her

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

Emma’s first Halloween!

Sam: “Two words: Jail bait.”  Emma: “Dude, they’re like… my age!” *gag*

Corrects everyone’s pronunciation of Samhain

Cas: “Tell me, Dean, when your father gave you an order, didn’t you obey?” Emma: “When my mother gave me an order, I ran away so I didn’t have to obey.  Orders aren’t always right.”

Wishful Thinking

Disappointed that Bigfoot is a hoax

Tries to actually sit down and talk to the giant teddy bear… cause why the fuck not?

What would Emma wish for?

Discount Rupert Grint was a prime candidate for “Vigilante Feminism” with his shower spying

Damn it, Sammy, maybe he doesn’t fucking want to talk about it cause it’s traumatic! *eye roll*

Gives Wes a kiss on the cheek in thanks (she finds him cute)

Starts to consider sharing some of the details of ‘boot camp’ with Sam and Dean to help Dean feel open to sharing about Hell

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Sam: “Let’s trade stories.  How was Hell?  Don’t spare the details.”  Emma: *glares at him a second and then busts out the story of how they forced her to eat human flesh*

Can Anna see Emma’s ‘face’?

Goes with Ruby and Anna

flashbacks show Sam ditching Emma at Bobby’s, Emma semi catatonic in her grief

Heaven and Hell

Emma is the only one surprised when Uriel announces that Sam’s  been screwing Ruby (cause she wasn’t there for the big heart to heart last episode)

An angel, a demon, and an amazon in the back seat of a car

Family Remains

Having three in the car makes sleeping in it a lot more cramped

Emma always has at least three knives hidden on her at all times, so at least they have some weapons left.

Stays out in the shed with mom and daughter to keep them safe

Criss Angel Is A Douchebag

Emma investigates parallel to the guys, masquerading as an aspiring young magician

After School Special

Emma enrolls in school - that’s an adventure

“Dude, Dad, those girls are my age!  …kind of.” re: legal teenagers

Sex and Violence

Junior Agent Emma ^_^

just rolls her eyes at Dean’s joy over a case with strippers

goes straight to the back room to talk to the girls, who try to be super helpful but can’t actually help much other than give a bit of confirmation to the siren theory

“They’re princesses.  All the girls that the siren is masquerading as have Disney princess names.”

Emma is tricked by the siren’s illusion but it’s venom doesn’t work right on her (weaker, easier to fight off) but still enough to get her for a bit

Follows along with Dean and Nick to the strip club, letting Sam have some alone time with Cara

wanders off, having befriended a few of the dancers who have decided to adopt her

Dean and Nick leave her behind there

Hitches her way back to the hotel just in time to help Bobby break the guys out of it and kill the siren

says nothing about their little ‘we good?  yeah, we’re good” bro moment, but definitely left with the feeling that they are not, in fact, all good

Death Takes a Holiday

Can’t agree more with Pamela on how crazy they are.

Emma can’t do the astral projection thing so she has to stay behind and keep an eye on their bodies and Pamela

kicks some demon ass and keeps Pamela safe, thank you very much

On the Head of a Pin

Emma fights so hard against Uriel and Castiel taking Dean to torture Alastair that they have to literally knock her out.  Probably breaks her hand punching Uriel.

And she doesn’t even make a move to stop Sam from killing Alastair.

Doesn’t leave Dean’s side for one second while he’s in the hospital until after he wakes up, and even then it takes some serious convincing.

It’s a Terrible Life

Emma Browning, recently hired to be Dean Smith’s new personal assistant.

Of course she follows along as the weirdness happens.  Like he could stop her.

There might be a bit of flirting going on between Dean and Emma… and once they remember just exactly who they are, they both agree to never speak of it again.

The Monster at the End of This Book

Can’t stop laughing at the cover art.

Reads through them voraciously.

Skips the sex scenes.

Oh lord, you know that there are Sam/Dean/Emma fans in this verse. *facepalm*

“I mean… are we *sure* that he’s not actually a god?”

Of *course* Emma asks Chuck for an autograph.  Probably hangs out at his place if Chuck and Dean let her, asking all sorts of writing questions.

Jump the Shark

“… it’s a binder, the rings open.  Why the hell did he tear the pages out?”

Gets a weird scent off of Adam, can’t quite place it until they figure out about the ghouls - it’s death.

The Rapture

Emma points out that getting him back to his family might not be the safest of ideas.

I wanna say that Emma catches Jimmy sneaking out and tails him.

“Hey, I’m not gonna stop you from going back to your family, but I *am* going with you.”

Manages to hold the demons off till Sam and Dean get there.

Suggests getting Amelia and Claire some protective sigils maybe?  Or anti-possession tattoos.

"Put pressure on the wound, Jimmy!”

“Uh, Sam, you got a little something… on your face…”

Emma makes an actual attempt to stay in touch with Claire.

When the Levee Breaks

“If you think that Sam is a monster…. then what does that make me?”

Dean: “Then at least he dies human!”  Emma: can’t handle it, leaves the house before Dean sees her cry.

Emma refuses to choose sides between Dean and Sam on the demon blood thing... but she does follow after Ruby when Sam tells her to get out of there.  Ruby manages to slip away from her, though.

Lucifer Rising

Backs Bobby up on Dean being a better man than John was, adds “a better father, too.”

Once again left behind when Dean is taken to the Beautiful room

[recentanimenews]

Crunchyroll All-Stars: Larry Ogunjobi on Going to Conventions from Anime Expo to Japan

  Anime fans come from all walks of life and in all shapes and sizes. Some are students, some are scientists, some are doctors, some are artists, and some are even well-known athletes! Crunchyroll All-Stars is a series of interviews highlighting elite professionals who harbor a passion both for their art and for anime. 

  Today’s profile is on Larry Ogunjobi, a defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals. Growing up during the Toonami era, Ogunjobi would go on to take his passion for anime all the way from Anime Expo in Los Angeles to even conventions in Japan. We spoke with Ogunjobi about how Naruto’s lessons have helped him his entire life, why so many athletes relate to anime characters, and more!

    When did you become an anime fan?  Was there a specific moment that affected you or changed the way you felt about something?

  It started when I was younger when I was in 5th grade or so in elementary school. I used to always play video games and the first game I ever got was Zelda. After gaming a little bit I’d go to school and talk about the games.  Then I remember on Cartoon Network there was Toonami at 9 pm, and then on Saturdays, you’d get all the good anime — Dragon Ball Z, Trigun, Wolf’s Rain, Case Closed, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho — those were my introductions to anime. I always enjoyed it.


  Then came Naruto...I feel like I grew up with Naruto! Watching him as a kid and growing up to get married in the last episode of the last season of Shippuden.


  I also remember getting a Dragon Ball Z  video game for Playstation. I saved up to buy a PS2 and got really into that game.


  Anime always told a story. You got your main character and sometimes he’s maybe a knucklehead kid or has some problems. There’s always that origin story that grabs you and you figure out more of what the show’s going to be about. For me, it was always about the character development -- you have a character and things don’t go their way...do they quit or do they push through it? I always took those kinds of life lessons and nuggets that anime have in them, and my appreciation just grew and grew into a real love for anime. Now it’s just a part of what I do.


    Are there any ways you engage with your favorite anime series or characters aside from watching them?

  I ended up visiting Japan.  It was really cool going to see a convention out there. The excitement the people there had for anime was amazing. It was like their Super Bowl! 


  When I was young, people would knock anime sometimes so it was awesome to see people enjoying themselves, being happy, getting all dressed up. I remember seeing this reenactment of the Naruto fight with Pain.  These were just people walking by each other and they really did it!  It was just very cool to experience.


  Have you ever bonded with someone else over anime?

  One of my mentors in the NFL is Geno Atkins (Defensive Tackle on the Bengals), and I was with him in LA and there was an Anime Expo out there at that time. So I was talking to Geno about anime and he started rattling off a list and I could tell he was for real so I told him about the Anime Expo and we decided to head over to the convention.


  Overall, I’m slowly starting to see more people, more pro athletes show their fandom. We’re able to put ourselves in the same shoes as some of these characters. There have been times in a game where I have put myself in the mindset of a main character from one of my favorite anime. When you find someone who watches anime too, who does that same kind of thing, who’s balling, it creates that bond.


    What’s your favorite anime series of all time?

  Naruto.  I know it’s a mainstream anime and an introductory anime for a lot of people but I REALLY watched it, with subtitles, and I’d wait week after week to watch it. From elementary school into middle school and then going all the way through it to college till it finished. And I felt like “Damn, this is really over?...” I had really invested in it and it really followed the development of my life. I was an overweight kid (obese), a troubled kid. I really started football because my mom took away my Xbox, and then after that, I went through my first real season of football. I remember we had an awards banquet after that year, and when the award for most improved JV player came up, they called my name. I thought my best friend at the time was going to get it but I got it...and it really got me feeling like I earned it and my hard work paid off.


  I was biking and running at the YMCA every day and went from 350 lbs. To 247 lbs., bulked back up to 267 lbs., and ended up getting five scholarship offers. Ended up going to Charlotte for college.  Now I’m in college and with Naruto, the anime is going on throughout all of this for me (probably like the Pain arc or somewhere around that).  It felt like we were going through our trials and tribulations together; it was actually really cool.  Now I’m working hard, I’m grinding in college, and the only thing I could compare my process to was these storylines in anime — I knew I was special and that I was the main character of my story — and I ended up being the first player ever drafted to the NFL out of my college.


  Then as I'm finishing college, Naruto finished...it was just so cool and such a special experience.  I have a lot of favorites but that has to be #1.


  Who’s your favorite anime character of all time?

  Have to stick with Naruto for all the reasons mentioned above. He’s so relatable to me. He was different from everybody. I remember my grandpa telling me I was special and that I was different.  At the time, I was an obese kid...I didn’t know what he was talking about.  But I just knew that me being different and working hard would pay off.  God always finds a way to make things work out for you.  Are there going to be trials? Yes. Are there going to be tragedies? Yes. But the triumphs are going to outweigh everything.


    Who would you rank as the top anime hero ever?

  One of the best characters I’ve seen develop into a hero is Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul.  I’m big on mental health, and you see all the phases he went through. He has to deal with that headache of being on two different sides of the world. He was a human just a little while ago, and now he has to survive on eating flesh...it was a crazy segue.  Being a ghoul, soft-spoken...he really develops into this boss!


  There’s so many anime though: Naruto, Goku...his demeanor is fire.  He always wants to get better.  He’s very relatable. Whenever there’s a super-strong opponent, Goku’s always ready to try them out and give it a go. Even if the person he fights is stronger than him before the fight, Goku evolves during the fight to become better than his opponent. Facing and going through obstacles you become better on the other side. Like the Goku who fought Nappa and Raditz isn’t the same Goku who fought Jiren. He always elevated his game to meet who he was fighting.


  Who would you rank as the top anime villain ever?

  Dio from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.  MAN!..I’ve never seen a villain so dedicated to messing with a family! He REALLY had it out for the Joestars. It was a generational show: you had the first Joseph and Jotaro, and Dio still found a way to be that ultra villain who stays in the mix. There’s not a lot of villains who have been able to stay so relevant. Dio was kicking ass for a minute before he got beat up. I enjoyed him as a villain for sure.


    Have you ever taken any elements or learnings from anime and implemented them into your daily life?

  Yes, with Naruto his motto was never going back on his word and never giving up. In life, you’re always going to go through ups and downs but Naruto always found a way. He also had a great support system, which is really important. You need to have the right people around you. And with rivalries, I’d apply the ways Naruto and Sasuke or Goku and Vegeta approached rivalries. Having someone next to you that you look to as a brother, but who pushes you to new heights and great places.


  It feels like more and more athletes are showcasing their love for anime — what’s anime fandom like in NFL culture? And what do you think it is about anime that attracts athletes?

  Anime is definitely becoming more and more prevalent. A lot of guys will gravitate towards each other with gaming and things like Call of Duty and Fortnite. I’m a D-Lineman and I feel like there’s so many D-Linemen around the league who are fans of anime. You see anime characters go through intense training and we do everything we can to be great at what we do, to improve our technique, and it’s very relatable for guys.


  It also helps us decompress. We have a hard job. We’re in the offseason right now. You get up, you grind, and you work. Sometimes it's just fun to watch someone else's story.


  Like I said, I’ve always felt like I’m the main character of my story, and when you believe that you start to move in a different way and start to workout that way. The concept is so relatable to real life. And in general, guys just like it too.


  Social media has also made anime way more known. Before people didn’t talk about it much and now guys in the league are posting about it and you learn all these guys like it. Then you start talking about anime with them, now we’re sending each other anime to watch, like “Yo this one is about to come on, you got to check it out”. A whole bunch of guys on my team like it, and you start giving people anime to watch and they come back to you like, “This is fire!”


  Also, I’m big into anime but I didn’t realize how big anime was till I saw my baby sister and how into it she is. She draws the characters. Man, she’s caught up on One Piece!

    What would your message be to someone who recently discovered anime and was thinking about getting into it?

  My message would be to figure out what you personally like. Anime has a little of everything: sci-fi, action, sports anime.  Find one that’s similar to something you already enjoy watching and then go from there.


  If you’re new I’d also watch an anime that doesn’t have a whole bunch of episodes in each season so you can fully get into it, like a Mob Psycho 100 or Attack on Titan.


  I remember watching the first half of the first episode of Attack on Titan and I wasn’t feeling it right away, and I remember being in college and working out and visiting the Student Union and I remember falling asleep after working out, and right next to me was where people were hanging out and watching anime. Then I woke up to hearing people cheering. I had seen some of the first episode but they were watching the 2nd episode and Eren had just gotten eaten by the Titan, and I was talking junk like, “How can the main character get killed like that?!”...Then the next scene he turned into a Titan and I was like, “Oh man this is HARD!”


  You have to give each anime a chance.  Most anime develop really well throughout.  I remember with God of High School I started it and was like “ehh, it’s alright”, but I ended up watching the rest of the season and was like “Wow, this is really nicely done!”


  Also, be open to watching subbed and dubbed anime. Give yourself an opportunity to like it.

By: Guest Author

[theseventhhex]

Drax Project Interview

Drax Project

Photo by Jory Lee Cordy

Drax Project are an exquisite marriage of stellar musicianship and killer songs. This combination, coupled with their incendiary live show has led them on a two year run of sold out venues as both headliners and openers. The group gained a following after re-working vocal hooks of famous pop songs into saxophone licks. Their cover of Kimbra’s track, “Goldmine,” went viral and caught the attention of an influential producer and soon they were signed to a major label. With a new body of work underway, Drax Project is currently gearing up to release their debut album and take the world by storm. Deemed “delicious pop with a prodigal feel” by Clash Magazine, Drax Project has seen an astronomical rise to success. The four-piece, comprised of Shaan, Matt, Ben and Sam, went from busking on the streets of Wellington, NZ, to playing alongside massive acts such as Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello and Lorde... We talk to Sam Thomson about performing live, theme parks and table tennis…

TSH: What’s satisfied you most with regards to the band’s amazing progression to date?

Sam: I think seeing people singing our music back to us at shows all around the world is pretty satisfying. I don’t think we seriously pictured that happening when we started busking!

TSH: Are there certain distinct memories that come to mind from your days of studying music together at university?

Sam: Missing morning classes because we were playing in a club till 3am springs to mind. It was awesome to be playing jazz and studying music during the day - followed by playing heaving club gigs at night. Those early days definitely informed our sound.

TSH: You’ve touched on enjoying playing live just as much as writing and recording music – which features with both of these in mind do you appreciate most?

Sam: For us, writing and recording is about getting the best possible product of everything we do, from the guitar part to every vocal take, to getting the drums just right. It’s so satisfying when we get the final version back! With playing live, it’s all about creating energy and making sure everyone has a great time! We have the most fun when we’re on stage and feeding off of the crowd.

TSH: Knowing you’re a high energy band, can it be a challenge at times to translate this into your recording?

Sam: Absolutely. Our latest release, ‘All this Time’ is a prime example. We’ve been playing that song live for over two years and couldn’t quite figure out how to get the massive saxophone drop to work on the recording. Luckily we had some help from some amazing producers (Roget Chahayed, Wesley Singerman and Tay Dex) who helped nail our vision for the song!

TSH: You’ve also stated that you’re ‘more and more comfortable writing in the last year’ – what sort of topics have you been drawn to expressing for your album?

Sam: I think we’ve become a lot more comfortable expressing how we’re feeling about a lot of things. One song on the upcoming album is about how it’s been for us being away from home for extended periods. We’ve also gravitated towards exploring how thoughts and emotions interact, which is fun! The album has grown with us over the last few years and it’ll be something we look back on very fondly in the future!

TSH: What was the energy and level of focus like as you fleshed out ‘All this Time’?

Sam: We first came up with the ‘drop’ in Sam’s old work place in Wellington and knew we had something good to work with. We tested it live and it went off at every show for a couple of years before finally finishing it this year. To be honest, there was a time when we thought we wouldn’t ever release it because we couldn’t get it right but once it started to come together, it was pretty exciting. It’s probably the most anticipated track of ours, by us mostly!

TSH: Moreover, what was the experience like in collaborating on ‘Light’ with Famous Dex?

Sam: That was super fun. We were sent the song with space in the hook for us to write over and came up with something in a hotel room in Auckland and it stayed! It was the first thing we came up with. Dex has some crazy energy and it was cool to collaborate with an artist people might not have expected.

TSH: How beneficial and vital is it for Drax Project’s camaraderie that everyone has equal input and that you try every idea that gets put forward?

Sam: This is very important to us! Having the freedom to test every idea makes for a better product in our opinion. We each have unique and interesting ideas to offer and there’s no weak link. It’s also great if anyone’s struggling to come up with anything to have 3 other guys to lean on!

TSH: How rewarding is it to know that fans all over have made personal connections with your music?

Sam: It’s what it’s all about. Without people supporting us and our music, we don’t get to do the things we do! We’ve had countless messages about how our songs have helped people through different seasons and tough times. On the opposite side, just seeing people dancing and having a great time while listening to us never ever gets old!

TSH: What makes ‘Nacho Libre’ such a top film?

Sam: Characters, plot, conflict, resolution, structure, scenes, dialogue and visuals!

TSH: Also, being fans of theme parks, have you visited any new ones in recent times?

Sam: We’ve only really experienced Six Flags but are more than willing to try any others if we get the chance. Theme parks rule.

TSH: What have you been playing on your Nintendo Switch recently?

Sam: Shaan and Ben are the Switch fiends. They play a lot of Supersmash Bro’s but as a group, the new Crash Team Racing is life changing. They’ve managed to perfectly balance introducing new characters and maps etc with keeping it real to the OG.

TSH: Who is the current king of Drax Project’s table tennis duels?

Sam: Matt, no question. He is so dominant and we all bow down to his greatness.

TSH: What’s been getting most regular rotation on your YouTube binges lately?

Sam: ‘Tiny Desk’ concerts and ‘Genius - Deconstructed’ videos are always a favourite.

TSH: Finally, how key is the notion of staying humble and grounded as you progress further?

Sam: It’s not something that works well if you are ‘trying’ to stay humble! At the end of the day, we’re just four friends from New Zealand on a crazy adventure making music! We are so grateful for everyone who listens to us, comes to shows or even just sends nice messages.

Drax Project - “Catching Feelings ft. Six60”

Drax Project

[coachjukeboxx]

I’m a pregnant roller derby athlete
 Part one: Holy shit this is happening

Warning : I want to start out by saying this is me being honest. This is what I went through. It might not be popular or what other people went through, but this is what happened and how it made me feel and how I handled it. I’m here to share my experience so others don’t feel judged by expectation, so please don’t jump down my throat for my choices. Oh and ps, I also use tons of run-on sentences and speak in a stream of consciousness but here goes nothing.   Pregnancy has a million expectations on women and that’s part of what makes it difficult …because its not just the craziness of hormones and body changes, but also the set of parameters of how you should feel because that OH THIS IS ALL WORTH IT CAUSE- BABY.  That makes me furious. It ignores my struggles and frustrations like I should be some happy robot housewife from the 50s. So without further ado, here’s my story of learning about my pregnancy.

I took the test shortly after coming back from our offseason. Balls and I always wanted kids, but we didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. Like, immediately quickly. Last weekend I was eating bloody steaks and drinking amazing wine and scrimmaging (not all at once, but you know). Went to the GP the next day- according to them no more of most of my favorite foods, and no more roller derby. It hit me like a train. I didn’t feel a shred of excitement. My identity was skating, it was playing the sport, coaching, and training with my best friends. I was now out of contention to skate at the world cup. (while its not impossible to return, the pressure of competing with that caliber of athletes post-nataly is unrealistic with my timeline and time off playing. I’ll do my best to come back but that pressure is unrealistic when also having a newborn). I felt loss, not only of control of my body but fear about what would happen to my strength, my skills. I work SO hard on skating, on my body, it’s a huge investment. It felt like that would all just unravel based on recommendations for pregnancy activity.   I also felt guilt, like I was letting my team down being out so soon in the season. My due date is champs, that also means our coach (Balls) is out.  While a baby was something we were looking forward to in our lives, the results of that test made me full of confusion.  I felt an array of sadness, guilt, loss, expectation. I felt guilt for feeling sad about my pregnancy. HOW USEFUL IS THAT? In the first day I got my act together and was like ok, this is happening, no turning back now. I told kitty first cause I knew she’d understand. It was hard for her too when she got pregnant. To me having a kid is exciting, but it’s not my main purpose in life, it’s not what I spent much my days thinking about. I wouldn’t say I was even broody. But I’ve heard these same feelings can creep up even when you have been obsessing, trying, and broody. It has never been the most important goal in my life. Maybe I’ll feel differently after the kid is here, but for now, that’s where I’m at.  I have loads of aspirations that are just as important to me as parenting will be. I still feel that way. Kitty came over with some flowers and we cried a bit and worked on processing the info. It was nice to not feel alone, and she validated my feelings. She didn’t try to tell me it was all worth it, and that I should just deal with all the negative. We just.. talked about how crazy it all is.   I read this article recently by the nytimes that sums it up nicely in this quote. “Becoming a mother is an identity shift, and one of the most significant physical and psychological changes a woman will ever experience… Most of the time, the experience of motherhood is not good or bad, it’s both good and bad. It’s important to learn how to tolerate, and even get comfortable with the discomfort of ambivalence.”  Here is the link to that article, I highly recommend it.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/well/family/the-birth-of-a-mother.html

While all this was going on Balls got a message from Lexi to leadership that SHE WAS PREGNANT! With my permission he told her about my news and we talked. It was the first joy I felt about it. I was happy for Lexi, and Lexi seemed genuinely excited.... and also I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t disappointing everyone, and if I was, I wasn’t the only one to blame. We gushed about it and decided to tell the team straight away. I still felt pretty disconnected from the idea of this thing inside me, but these were the first glimmers of positive emotions I had. That made it easier to imagine, but it didn’t by any means overshadow everything else I was experiencing. 

I decided to take some control after feel so much loss of control in my body and identity. In the next day I researched a million articles on playing in the first trimester of contact sports. Kitty anonymously “asked for a friend” on some of the derby moms groups about the situation and continuing to train. While I waited their response, I found that most of the articles pointed to studies based on car accidents, not actual sports. The info is sparse and generally says - relax, take this time to take it easy. Go for a walk or take a pregnant lady class. GROANNN. (Mind you while this was happening Serena Williams was busy winning the Australian open while pregnant. MY TOTAL HERO) I found that rugby guidelines were against contact, and hockey was ok with it into trimester 1, both were just club policy.

While waiting for the info from Kitty, there was one  training session where I coached or just tried to avoid contact, I decided that felt so ridiculous. I didn’t have any morning sickness and was feeling really good - normal even, all things considered and was super keen to keep playing into my first trimester. In the next few days I got a response from an Angel skater that played playoffs 8 weeks pregnant, and continued on till her first trimester. I also heard from a close friend/old teammate from Madison that played through the first trimester for both of her pregnancies. Her midwife had advised her that it’s so small, and so well protected in your pelvis, that really only serious injury would be the thing that made it miscarry. (not normal bumps from skating). She skated (jammed even!) till 12 weeks with one and 9 weeks with the other, the second one she stopped due to fatigue. Seeing as how I had never had or seen anyone with a major uterine injury from playing, I made the choice to play.   I made the choice to keep playing, but at this point I was outed with many of my teammates. Balls was really supportive and let it be up to me. He has been really great about that in general, and it helps to have my partner not place any limitations on me. The response from the team was really great. I was really afraid people wouldn’t play with me since I had told them. I gave the option to not pair up with me and checked with people to make sure it was ok, in the end no one refused me.  Gaz said something like “women have been doing stuff for thousands of years so if you’re ok with it, go for it” and other people said things along the lines of “your body, your choice”. I continued to play for another 2.5 weeks until I started to just feel so tired and bloated the idea of smashing into people sounded terrible. But those 2+ weeks, it meant so much. I had closure, I had control, I had the choice, and most of all I had SO much fun playing party roller derby with Brawling. I felt ready to partake in this next adventure, take on a new role in the team and in my life. Getting to chose my own risk assessment also was a really big deal for the loss in confidence as being labeled the pregnant lady. It just seems that all of a sudden you’re looked, and supposed to look at yourself, like this fragile flower “in my condition”. That makes me crazy and I’m focused on doing everything I can, pushing myself and smashing this pregnancy at my own personal Birth Champs in Nov.

Im still skating at training, just no contact anymore. The next step in my journey was  the whole” fake injury for the rest of the league until my scan”, but I’ll explain more of that experience in my next blog post. Part 2: The “secret” struggle.  (Oh and ps - these were my feeling in week 5-7. Things are way different now at week 16.. I have lots of blog posts to catch up on cause those early days prescan were full of hard times. Things are really really good now, but i think it's important to record the journey as it was.)

[reddragoon2691]

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intermission Review (Spoilers)

******SPOILERS********

I wasn’t the biggest Final Fantasy fan, let alone FF7 fan before FF7 Remake came out. Despite playing Kingdom Hearts and learning about what the series was about I never really got into the series, let along play much of the games. (With FF15 being a disappointment on story and gameplay). However, ever since jumping into FF7 Remake I’ve fell absolute in love with the world and characters which even made me play FF6 (which was a masterpiece in its own right). So I was completely excited to see more of what this DLC had to offer and I was kind of blown away from minute one. 

THE STORY

It’s short but effective, the great ninja Yuffie is on a mission by the provisional Wutai government to infiltrate Shinra HQ and formulate an alliance with the local Avalanche group now that the two are working together. The worldbuilding and context behind this mission is far more interesting than the actual mission itself but since it also has these characters go through fun and character building scenarios it works for what it is. I never expected it to be game changing like the main story was. 

The main star was certainly Yuffie’s introduction and character arc, or atleast the beginning of it. Yuffie’s personality was the perfect balance between bratty but energetic, annoying but kind and enduring. It certainly helped that her VA’s were spectacular, like seriously whoever is in charge of hiring the VA is this series needs a promotion for picking such great people for the job. 

Getting back to her story, it’s a nice tale of a teen who’s readying to dash into the adult world and take responsibility, when in reality she’s probably still needs time till doing those sort of things. Her home life and situation her homeland been through created a world where she did have to grow up fast but it doesn’t change the dangers that plague Wutai for who knows how long. Sonon was a great partner to pair her up cause he’s more seasoned but reasonable to deal with, so when Yuffie has moments of doubt or goes to far he’ll help re-center her and work around those without blowing up at her for messing up or getting in the way of his personal mission. It’s a great dynamic that carried this DLC, and though the death flags were rather obvious, how long it lingers on that death and what it would mean for Yuffie’s story later down the line made it far more effective where it could’ve felt limp. 

My only gripe is that it felt like their were a strong beginning, middle and then a quick end. Chapter one was great in reminding players of the controls and introducing the characters, Chapter two was gripping with the conflicts presented by the antagonists with Nero actually being challenging and creepy (though he was SUPER edgy in a mid-2000′s sort of way). But then it cuts to Yuffie already outside of Midgar and looking for others to join in an upbeat attitude. I understand that it’s a DLC but I personally would’ve gone for one last mission, not even a whole chapter, where Yuffie had to fend her way out of the city so to make the player miss Sonon for not being able to fight with them and showing how Yuffie would handle a dire situation entirely alone. 

Still, it’s a well paced story befitting of an energetic young ninja. 

The CHARACTERS 

I already talked about it but Yuffie was a delight and got the proper treatment the party in the main story got. I can not wait to see how she’ll integrate with them both in fighting style and characters. Sonon, I wasn’t expecting to like since the aforementioned death flags were everywhere for him and if his role in this short story would leave an impact both for me and Yuffie. Thankfully, he was a solid partner in a side story who meshed well with Remake’s world. It was a little interesting that he projected his sister onto Yuffie and his personality mixing really well with Yuffie’s, though I guess I would’ve appreciated a bit more backstory of them working together and see what exactly Yuffie reminded him. 

These new Avalanche characters were very small in their roles but their politics were certainly interesting. Given by Yuffie’s and Sonon’s side conversations, they give off the vibe of being more moderate in their approach of confronting Shinra compared to Barret’s radical splinter cell and we see how much it’s frown upon. Yuffie’s immediate support of these bombings is a great hint to why she joins the party later. It presented a interesting and revealing part of avalanche and where that story thread could lead, and presents why more Radical methods is necessary and justified. Avalanche is a group focused on Midgar issues, first and foremost, and while Midgar is in desperate need of change, the fact that Yuffie point out that they never seen the deadly effect Shinra imperialism has done to other people like Wutai shows they’re short sighted and don’t fully grasps the scope of Shinra’s ambitions and the deadly effects their capitalistic and imperialistic system is capable of. They give of the vibes of wanting to negotiate and compromise with the system, rather than break it down whatever means necessary. It reminds me of the differences to what the first world sees as ‘too far’ and ‘rebellious’ to third world nations where they face the brunt of today’s global systems effects more than anyone. 

It’s all interesting to think about and why I love this series and have confidence in this plot.

Nero and deepground aren’t something I’m familiar with but I think it’s handled well. It’s edgy but just enough of it where it doesn’t become eye-rolling and comes off as comedic. I actually enjoyed it to where I hope we see Nero again as a sort of rival to Yuffie, they did show him grabbing Sonon’s corpse so perhaps it’ll be used to get in her head and challenge her on her personal goal of taking responsibility and being an adult by reminding her of her mistake. 

GAMEPLAY 

What can I say other than perfect and refined. Flying through the air as Yuffie was fluid and fun, and the partner system didn’t feel like a downgrade to the main story but a great addition to scenario’s where its needed. Missions were cute and Fort Condor was great fun, I almost wish for it to be a multiplayer feature. Boss Fights were fantastic in scale and challenge, kind of scared to face Weiss given how tough he is. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

It’s a great stepping stone to what’s to come in part 2 with a after credit scene that shows what travel and scenes will be like and what crazy time shit consequences are waiting for us. 

Final Review: 9/10, it’s gonna be fun and interesting to replay the main story and jump to where intermission takes place while our main group going on their adventure in Midgar. 

[m-dubita-beale-blog]

High Thoughts of the Day......

So lately ill get high and then my opinionated ass will engage into philosophical conversations , rants, tangents, whatever the case and I’ve noticed that i have some recurring trains of thought. Figured i would get them out there, share a bit but also put them down for myself....plus this saves paper. Any-who ill just list a few but first take into account that all i can hear right now is Pyramids by a one Sir Frank Ocean vibe extraordinaire. This beautiful soul has created a lovely song comprised of 2 separate parts and the first is nice it sets a mood something to introduce you to the trip but that second act that? that shit right there is what really sticks with you, wiggles its way into the folds of your brain and stay there a while to the point where the song is off and you still hear the shit.

[Hook]

She's working at the pyramid tonight

Working at the pyramid

Working at the pyramid tonight

Working at the pyramid, that's right

Working at the pyramid tonight, yeah

Working at the pyramid

Working at the pyramid tonight

Working at the pyramid

Working at the pyramid tonight                                                                      

Catchy. As. FUCK.....What’s that called? an Ear-worm? im Feeling this shit right now im singing and everything. Here try to keep up take the trip with me https://youtu.be/DC7DmLsQN7s    (*song of the day*)

1. I truly believe that Life(mine, yours, our shared reality on planet Earth, everybody, ect ect ect.) is just an Anime. Everything within said Anime has a shared continuity but is also all canon and filler at the exact same time. Crazy right? mind blown. everything that happens in anime happens in some way or another in real life. Marinate on that a while, recall your entire life or what you remember of it so far how ever long you've been alive from your earliest memory to your most recent one and all of has been stepping stones linearly leading forward in time filling each moment with what ever it takes to get to the next part. the next episode. that next level up. and none of the shit really matters in the long run. We have hopes, dreams, aspirations, real accomplishments, accomplishments we wish actually had, current goals we are working toward, important shit we procrastinate on, and all for what? selfish reasons probably. shades of immortality to have your name, your legacy remembered in the pages of time. YOU ONLY LIVE AS LONG AS THE LAST PERSON WHO REMEMBERS YOU........right?  we are all both protagonists and side characters in somebody elses life....mind blown again huh?... we live in a world where fact and fiction are the same. Jordan is widely recognized as the G.O.A.T: and i badly need a pair of those Off/white 1′s in red but they need to bring them ridiculous sneaker prices down: Fact                                                                  Goku defeated Frieza on planet Namek by going super saiyan and in doing so took down a galactic tyrant becoming one of the most iconic moments in pop culture: Fact.                                                                  https://youtu.be/0qAJgwkN76Y    (*transition*)      Phoebe: “C’mon you guys. It’s a known fact that lobsters fall in love and mate for life. You know what, you can actually see old lobster couples walkin’ around their tank, ya know, holding claws!” such a famous quote turned meme that some people actually believe to be fact because they saw it on friends but in actuality i learned that lobsters actually have some pretty complex mating rituals where the females have to seduce a man but anyway......instead of mating for life, a dominant male lobster mates with an entire harem of female lobsters. He mates with each female one at a time, in a series of serial flings that last about two weeks each. Which is far more like “serial monogamy” with alot of babies and not expectation of child support so really she should have said another animal like a swans, or elephants, penguins, turtle doves, (insert other species that mates for life): Fact                                                                 https://youtu.be/U1AOoHSijIk   ->  Whatever thats enough of that, its 10mins till 2am and i think ill go find some thing to snack on and turn on netflix for a bit before bed. that new season of Voltron just dropped.                                           

2. In my own personal opinion Voltron:The Legendary Defender is absolutely the best Netflix original series available to stream now. hands down, quote me. you heard it here first. top shelf......sure its not for everyone but im 26 and i love it for so many reasons. The incredibly dynamic visuals dreamworks animation studio has created, the storytelling, character development, so many different elements that keep you intrigued, curious, or just engaged in someway, Nostalgia off course, and idk what it is about watching cartoons late at night thats so comforting. Also i love outer space and shit pertaining to it so that’s a plus because opportunity given I'd love to be out there in that never ending sea of stars that is filled with mystery, wonder, and knows no gravity[gotta love that oxford comma]. If you ever have time i would highly recommend the cinematic adventure. With about 8 successful seasons now its perfect binge material.

Closing remarks: https://youtu.begmFAJPArhqM  (Thank you and goodnight)

[theactivememoir]

7.19.18 So I moved to North Carolina...

I’ve lived in Southern California my entire life. And the opportunity came about for a chance to move in with my cousin, we’ll call her M, who lives in North Carolina. I’ve never left SoCal. (Minus vacays to Cancun, but that doesn’t count) So when the opportunity came up to move in with M, I jumped all in. Sold my car in a day, started packing my life away, bought a one way ticket. (Thanks mom) And basically started saying my goodbyes to everyone and everything I knew, and thought I knew. 

Also to note: was freaking out about taking a plane ride solo, because I one, already hate flying, and two, have never flown alone. But basically took my anxiety about that and pushed it to the back burner till the night before.

I had a ton of mixed signals from my friends. Some were super happy for me, some jealous that I could leave Cali. Because lets be honest its not all that great like the rest of the US believes it is. Palm trees are stupid, traffic sucks, and they keep building houses so the lines at In n Out are wayyyy too long now. But I also had friends that were mad at me for leaving. Had one person even try to convince me that I could make it solo in Cali by just moving to another city. No way would that ever be possible. CA is too expensive and there’s too much pressure to be the best and richest person around. (And way too many superficial and fake people) 

But to be brutally honest, CA hasn’t been all that nice to me for the 21 years I’ve been here. I’ve never loved it, never really felt like it was home. Don’t get me wrong, I cried when I was leaving my dance ballroom the last night I was able to go before the move, because I have finally cultivated over the last 3 years an amazing and tight knit friend group there and they were basically my dance family. And of course my actual family is all here in CA too. But I was never satisfied with the over hyped state that I lived in.

It was super stressful packing everything up and trying to figure out how to pack clothes for the next 6-8 months for a state that actually has real seasons and weather. Not to mention how do you go from living in a house with all the storage space you could ever ask for, to fitting what the essentials are for life into a single suitcase, a carry-on, and a backpack.

I took like half a Xanax for the plane ride here and basically passed out almost immediately after the plane had leveled out after take-off. So the flight was a breeze. (There might be a pun in there?) Delta had LotR Fellowship of the RIng for free so I was content for 4.5 hrs :). When the flight was going into its decent I basically squished the people next to me since I was in the aisle seat and about lost my shit when I saw a sea of green out the window. TREES, REAL FUCKING TREES. So many shades of green, I thought they were just colors in photos but noooooo the real things is so much better. Hunter green, and forest green, and olive, lime, mint, laurel, etc etc. I didn’t know so many could exist. And the trees just go on for miles and miles.

The weather hasn’t been too bad, its hot, definitely hot, but not too humid. The breeze comes to visit occasionally and takes the initial burn of the sun away for a time. So the day you are left with is a hot day that just encapsulates summer, with a warm breeze and the green trees all around, summer flowers blooming and birds singing as they fly through the periwinkle sky. How I could ever think California was a place to stay, I have no idea. To think it took me this long to finally leave and see that there was a whole world unknown to me. The roads look like stock photos of far away places, where the tall trees line the road and you can only see for so far because nature is just BOOM right there. The highways are like four lanes that politely run their way through the ever towering trees that line the road. And they just go on and on, and the air is so fresh here.

Where I live is basically the rural country side mixed with being close enough to downtown that its not the middle of nowhere. And by downtown I mean like, that quaint little downtown you see in the movies, where the train station and railing cuts through and little shops line the road running parallel to the tracks. Each shop family owned and local artists and companies hang their business cards for people to know they are there. Family recipes made at the bakery, the bookstore a tiny but homey place full of new stories and adventures to read. Each coffee shop a friendly and cozy place to read or work on your computer. Brick buildings met with wooden signs saying “Welcome, please come in” and the ever sneaking ivy slowly growing taller and thicker, soon to overtake the side wall of the building.

I’ve been here a week and haven’t felt an ounce of being homesick. I never want to leave here. The pace of life is so much slower and better, there’s no rush, no pressure, no craziness. It’s so calm and relaxing it almost feels too good to be true. The chance to drop everything and just start a new life in a new state. Even the way I decorated my room is new to me. Minimalistic with a touch of artsy. Not like the minimalistic was intentional, well kinda, but I also didn’t bring enough to make my room be cluttered. But the main point of why I love it here so much is the freedom. I can be myself and don’t need to explain what I’m doing, and why I’m doing it. I have a lot of learning to do, and growing up. But that’s for me to learn and no one else to tell me how and when to learn it. I even enrolled in school and want to finish with as high ranking grades as I can get. But everything is at my pace and at my finger tips. It’s my life now, and I get to have so many adventures figuring out how I’m going to live it. There’s so many things that could happen, so many opportunities, just simply because I was able to hit the refresh button.

And its so refreshing and relieving having gotten the chance to restart, and there’s a couple people I know that I wish they get to have their own chance at a restart because, even when I was back home I felt better about myself knowing I had this opportunity. And now that I’m living through it, it would be so good for those people to experience too. A chance for freedom, independence, adventure. Adventure is out there, and I hope everyone gets a chance to explore it.

[midearthtravel-blog]

Road Trip to Ladakh

“The world is a book… and those who do not travel, read only a page’’

– St. Augustine

All regular travellers, will agree to this wonderful statement, which was penned over 1500 years ago. I’m glad that we brothers, decided to finally execute our long-standing wish of travelling to Ladakh by road, all the way from Mumbai.  (Thane, to be precise).

An unforgettable journey of 6050 kms, spanning 7 states and 1 Union Territory, over 18 adrenaline pumping, thrilling, heady days.

How to Reach

There are various options to reach Ladakh. The fastest one is to fly in to Leh, the capital of Ladakh. Not recommended for 2 reasons- (a) Chances of Altitude Sickness as you suddenly land at 11,500 feet above sea level, and (b) You miss out on some ‘out-of-this-world’ locations, which will only be seen on a road trip.

To arrive by road, there are 2 routes- one via Manali (Manali-Jispa-Sarchu-Leh), and the other via Srinagar (Srinangar-Kargil-Mulbek-Leh).

The Srinagar option is the best, as you gain altitude gradually, and also get to visit Kargil and the alienistic landscape of Lamayuru (Moonland), en route.

Unfortunately for us, that road was closed, and so we planned our journey via Manali. As they say, beggars cannot be choosers.

Best Time

This is such a relative term…depends on what is your target. For a regular family guy, June-August works best. The climate is pleasant, most of the roads are opened up by the BRO (Border Roads Organisation), and the vibrant Hemis festival can be enjoyed during this time.

If you’re an adventure junkie who prefers solitude, wants to interact with locals, and a white Ladakh with a ‘Chadar’ on the Zanskar is on your wishlist, then head to Ladakh between December and February.

http://midearth.in/leh-ladakh-tour/

We chose the end of the tourist season, as we wanted motorable roads, but also wished to avoid locations swarming with tourists. Started off from Mumbai on 17th Sept and reached Leh on the 22nd. Took us that long, as we visited Amritsar, for Golden Temple and Wagah Border, along the way.

Where to Stay

From rickety lodges, to tented campsites, from simple homestays to luxury hotels… and everything in between, Ladakh has all on offer.

It is advisable to check on the hotel of your choice before you set off. Some may be pre-booked, others may be decided on the go.

At Leh, we stayed at Hotel Gawaling, which was quite passable, and honestly, a bit overpriced. The staff and manager were super hosts though. Very helpful, and informative.  The best option at Pangong Tso is, undoubtedly, Pangong Resort.  At our last two destinations viz. Tso Moriri and Tso Kar, we had very limited choices. We chose Tso Moriri Lake View and Tso Kar Eco Resort, humble places with warm beds and lip-smacking food- served piping hot.

The Preparations

Three crazy petroheads- Vishal, Saheer and yours truly, had decided on this epic trip over a number of months of intense discussion and debate. All 3 of us are married with kids, so sensitising our families towards the significance of this trip- what it meant to us boys, why we simply needed to do it, and how it would be perfect just for boys to be going :p, were challenges that had to be surpassed first. And we did that with flying colours…hence this article vrooms it’s way to you.

Our Skoda Yeti was going to be the perfect companion for this audacious attempt. Although ours is 4×2, she has never let us down, even where there are virtually no roads. Dozens of blogs were researched, hundreds of chats and mails were exchanged, calls to riders and drivers who had been there-done that. And specifically for me, information about the amazing wildlife and birding opportunities that this cold desert has on offer.

The various lists we prepared on the Keep app were for-Gadgets, Attire, Medicines, Car essentials and Sundries. It’s a great app for creating your probable itinerary and journey log too.  Strongly recommend you to download and use this one. Another wonderful app is Splitwise- it is a must if you want to split expenses with friends on a trip.

On the Road

Early morning on 17th Sept, we set off From Thane at 5 am. Our Yeti was loaded to the hilt (travelling light is something that we are yet to learn). Clothes, more clothes, snacks- mostly home made, extra can of diesel, and a very big camera bag…apart from the 3 occupants.

There’s a kick in starting off early from a city, you zip through all the otherwise crowded areas in a jiffy, and are on the highway at top speed. Chai stops are a must, and are essential pit stops on a long drive. Driver change happened every 3-4 hrs, and so a decent speed was maintained. We planned to reach Leh, via Ajmer-Amritsar-Manali-Jispa route.

Mountains…

The plains were full of rolling green fields, trundling tractors, puttering pumps, and vibrant Punjabi locals. A thick, creamy lassi before we left Punjab was a given, and we gulped down a tall glass before we started the climb. After a while, the hills started with the Hoshiarpur section, and tall lofty peaks were seen in the distance as we neared the bustling town of Kullu. The mighty Beas river was our constant companion through this leg.

The famous Rohtang Pass was also crossed, and we could now see those thrilling Himalayan peaks looming ever close.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t as cold as expected, when we checked into Ibex Hotel, Jispa. (10,500 feet) This is a good place to stay, as it is adjacent to the highway, on the banks of the Bhaga River.

22nd Sept- The most arduous part of our trip was coming up. We endeavored to cover 330 kms from Jispa to Leh, in a single day. Something we won’t advise the faint-hearted. The road upto Sarchu is almost non-existent, and you drive at an average speed of 20 kmph. The healthy suspension of the Yeti proved to be a big relief. The checkpost at Darcha is a compulsory stop, where all tourists have to register.

After breakfast, we laboured to Barlacha La (16,500 ft), where we started experiencing the altitude just a bit. Both Bhaga and Chandra rivers originate from the melting snow on either sides of this pass.

Sarchu is a military base on way, and has a police check post, where we had to register again. It also marks the end of Himachal Pradesh, and The Ladakh region of J & K starts here. The crazy Gata Loops were further down this road.  These loops are a continuous section of 22 hairpin bends, that also elevate your altitude by a cool 500 metres.

Post lunch, as we climbed up to the Tanglang La (17,480 ft),  we were hit by a bout of AMS- Acute Mountain Sickness, like a bolt from the blue! The whole world was spinning, our heads- especially the rear part, felt numb and leaden.  Breathing was difficult, and we were feeling nauseous. Everything  seemed fuzzy at that altitude,  and as it had also started snowing, the mercury had dipped suddenly. We were still crazy enough to get down for 2 minutes, and shoot a quick V-log. It was very tempting to slow down, and rest a wee bit. But, we didn’t allow ourselves that luxury, because all informative blogs had advised against it, expressly. What a herculean task it was to keep going! Finally, we saw the road descending, and within the next 15 minutes, we were 1000 ft lower, and were breathing much easier!

The road through the Moore Plains, a plateau after the passes, was zip, zap, zoom. We sped across this stretch, often at speeds of 100 kmph, and finally arrived at Leh around 9 pm.

The Land of Gods

This high altitude desert, has some stunning landscapes of myriad varieties. Add to that the bluest skies you’ll ever see, mighty rivers, monasteries steeped in history, rich birdlife and wildlife, and most importantly the warm and friendly Ladakhis…it’s undoubtedly, the Land of Gods.

23rd Sept- We kicked off our local sightseeing with a visit to ‘Hall of Fame’ created by the Indian Army. Hair-raising exploits of our brave armed forces are mentioned here, along with ammunition and the snow suits that protect them from the harsh climate.

The ‘Leh Palace’ was next- an imposing 9 storeyed structure, modeled on the famous Potala Palace of Tibet,  built in the 17th century. Sadly, it lies in ruins today, and the restoration work appeared shoddy and myopic. Wonderful bird’s eye view of the city from here.

An hour’s drive from Leh, the ‘Sangam Point’- a confluence of Indus and Zanskar rivers. One can clearly see the 2 rivers merging, owing to the difference in coloration. Quite a spectacle!  On way back, we stopped at Magnetic Hill- a “gravity hill”. The layout of the area creates an optical illusion such that vehicles appear to roll uphill, in defiance of gravity.

Another interesting stopover on way back was  the Gurudwara ‘Baba Patthar Saheb’. An amusing legend is associated with this name, which I won’t spoil for you. We enjoyed the yummiest ‘Karah Prasad’ (sacred pudding) ever tasted in any Gurudwara till date.

24th Sept- Proceeded to Nubra Valley. Crossing the Khardung La- the world’s highest motorable pass (18,380 ft), was the high point. It was very windy, and at 2.5 deg, bone-chilling! Still, a V-log and selfies were a given. A signboard warned visitors not to stay for more than 20 minutes, as it could lead to serious health complications. A Chukar Partridge family spotted by Vishal, on a winding sloping road, was awesome. This bird was a lifer for me.

Just before Nubra, we enjoyed an ATV ride on the sand dunes, and also captured some stunning images by a shallow roadside pool. Bactrian camel ride is fun, and we had fun doing this at Hunder.

25th Sept– The sleepy lanes of Diskit, the chirping of a hundred birds, and fluttering butterflies all have an old world charm. Off we went to the 14th century, Diskit monastery. Every monastery has it’s own style of architecture, and a schedule of prayers that is followed strictly. We were lucky to be there at the time of morning prayers, peacefully chanted by a dozen monks. A 32 metre statue of Maitreya Buddha towers over the landscape, on a hill adjoining the monastery.

A road trip is all about enjoying whatever comes your way- expected as well as unexpected. Since we were running late for our Pangong, a lunch stop was skipped. Instead, we rolled some theplas brought from home, and had them on the go. To avoid the Chang La, we took an adventurous detour- via Aagam, along the Shyok river. We literally drove over the river bed (only open when the waters recede), so roads didn’t exist at all. We were driving over pebbles and boulders almost all through. It was almost dark, by the time we reached Spangmik village on the shores of the pristine Pangong Tso. It was biting cold, and I suffered from my second bout of AMS inside our tent. It felt as if someone was trying to squeeze my lungs out. Everytime I tried to sleep, it felt as if I was being smothered. Very bad time, honestly. I only felt better when I was administered some oxygen the next day.

Pristine Pangong

26th Sept– Nothing, I repeat, nothing prepares you for the visual treat called Pangong Tso. You might have seen hundreds of images, and might have read a bagful of blogs about it…the experience of feasting your eyes on this water body, it’s various shades of blue, navy blue, aquamarine, green, turquoise, and even brown and red at times- turns even the most poetic ones, speechless. It is the largest lake in the Himalayas (130 km long), at an altitude of 13,900 ft. The name Pangong is derived from the Tibetan word, Banggong co-meaning ‘enchanted, long, narrow lake’ . The cool breeze, the gentle waves, the flight of feathered friends, and the sound of silence-all provided a heady mix. We spent around 3 hrs, photographing the lake from various angles, and with a variety of gadgets. Surely, a destination you must visit, before you die.

On our way back to Leh, we visited Hemis Monastery, supposedly the richest in India. They had recently hosted the ‘Himalayan Kumbh Mela’, and so there were additional decorations and lights put up, which only added to it’s grace.

Where very few dare…

27th Sept– A quick visit to the famous Shanti Stupa at Leh, and another stopover at Thiksey Monastery, we were off to the remotest destinations – Tso Moriri and Tso Kar  (Tso means lake), around 250 kms from Leh. Talking to policemen and locals at some of the check posts was quite a revelation. They were so eager to speak to us and know more about our journey. By the time we veered off the tar roads, and onto the dusty roads closer to Tso Moriri, we started having doubts about the path. Of course, the offline map was showing that we were on track. But, there was a premonition that we might end up somewhere else. A good Samaritan stopped his car, and guided us all the way up to Korzok, on the shore of the lake. Checked into the hotel, wolfed down food, and we crashed. It was super cold.

28th Sept– What an awesome day! The very reason we were travelling to Tso Kar, which was not even considered by regular tourists, was the Black-necked Cranes, Wild Ass, Wolf and a variety of endemic birds and lesser mammals. And boy, were we blessed beyond imagination. We spotted not one, but 8 marmots in a colony on way. Another cute little fellow was the Himalayan Pika, and the bird list grew richer by a large num ber on this route. Since the roads were so bad, we were forced to go dead slow, and hence the increased sightings! And at night, just before we reached Tso Kar, a Himalayan Wolf raced past us, and then kept staring straight into our bright torch. Thrilling!!!

29th Sept– Our last day in Ladakh. We woke up to see frost on our car, which meant that the mercury had dipped below zero at night. At 7 am, the temperature gauge showed 2 degrees, and we had to keep the engine running, till it reached a healthy 6 degrees. After a decent round of birding around the lake, we finally set off on our return journey. Largely, we got superb roads, all thanks to the BRO (Border Roads Organisation). Off we went via the Moore Plains, Gata loops et al, all the way to Jispa.

The Return

From Jispa, we headed for a refreshing 2 day break at Kasol, and then back to pavilion via Chandigarh and Udaipur.

Thus ended an unforgettable trip…a journey which may not be all that rare nowadays, but it will be forever special for us. The chills and thrills experienced during our Ladakh Road Trip will always hold a special place in our hearts. We may end up doing road trips all over the world, but this will always be remembered as “the first one.”

Pl. write to me at avirat@midearth.in

[canaryatlaw]

Well today was pretty good. I couldn't fall asleep for my life last night, I just couldn't get comfortable between my back and my stomach hurting me it just wasn't happening, and I ended up being up till some time after 4 am, which meant when my alarm went off at 9 I was hella tired, but I still managed to drag my ass out of bed like a good little soldier and get ready for church. Got there and checked in with the babies room to make sure they had enough people for the 11 am service as someone cancelled last night, then headed back down for the actual service. It was pretty good, starting a new series called "managing the money monster" which was interesting. It's kind of weird because I know this is the only sermon from the series I'll be there for, and it's not a topic that's super relevant to me because I don't have a job and I'm not earning any money (well, I have a job, but I'm not earning any money, that's the crucial part here). It was generally good advice though, obviously a lot about believing in God to help you handle things, and how finances can kind of be the last hold out for that type of thing. So yeah, it was good. After the service was over I went back upstairs to the babies room and set up for the next service. I was supposed to be joined by the high school girl who helps out pretty often, but she ended up just straight up not showing up, which happens sometimes, so it was just me. I've never really had an issue with it because I know it's not like she has her own car and can drive herself, but the girl who's in charge was slightly miffed about it and ended up texting her about it so *shrug* I'm not terribly invested either way. It ended up being completely fine though, the service went on without a hitch. I ended up with 3 little guys, each almost 2 years old (like they were all 22-23 months) and everything was entirely peaceful pretty much the whole time. First there was a little girl who's been in and out a bit and last I saw was still throwing royal fits for her parents, but surprisingly she calmed down within about 5 minutes with me talking to her and her watching Cinderella on her Amazon Fire, lol. Hey, if it helps, I'm definitely not opposed to using technology to satisfy children that would otherwise be screaming (and it's actually a very helpful trick when there are many of them). So she was content pretty much the whole time. I tried to get her interested in the toys, and she did eventually end up picking up one of the little squeaky ones and squeezing it for a while, so that felt like some progress lol. Then there was my tiny girl, who sadly I think might've had her last service with me because she's about to turn 2 and I'm gonna be gone for the rest of the month. She was good though, enthusiastic as always, and we ran around and played and did everything. She kind of started saying some variation of my name, very very roughly haha, like when you tell her to say "thank you" she makes like a two-syllable noise that sounds vaguely like the words, and that's pretty much what she was doing with "Ra-chel" but hey it's progress so I was pleased lol. Then the last one was the little boy who had previously stayed by the gate the whole service and refused to move, but he apparently also had a change of heart from the last time I saw him because right from the start he ran in with a smile on his face and couldn't have been a happier camper, so I was like okay I'll take it haha. He was a bit rambunctious, mostly because the kids got a heck of an arm on him for a not-quite-yet 2 year old, and took pleasure in throwing the plastic balls from the little ball pit (which was somewhat deflated and apparently a new one is coming) across the room, but then we just made a game of throwing them back so it was fine. And yeah, I have no complaints, it legit went as smoothly as an service ever has haha especially when there's only one person, so I was pleased. The other ladies helping out did check in with me frequently to ensure I was still managing, which I appreciated of course. So, when that was over I headed home, train to the bus, except by the time I got there the bus was still a solid 17 minutes away, and I figured now would be a good time to try the super epic donut shop that's right next to the train station that I've been passing every time I go to work or church since August and have yet refrained from trying (because I don't like eating out on things I know are just gonna be massive calories, or at least when I'm alone, which is often) but I figured now was as good a time as any to give it a try. Chicago has several rather legendary donut places, and this is one of them. They have a few locations around the city but are definitely a Chicago exclusive thing (it's called Stan's Donuts if you're interested). So I go inside and get on the decent sized line, but by the time I got to the counter I still hadn't been able to make up my mind haha because the choices were too awesome, so the lady helping me recommend the "Biscoff pocket" which was a yeast donut stuffed with cookie butter, and it was every bit as amazing as it sounds. I'm always slightly hesitant about cookie butter (only slightly though) just because the texture is similar to peanut butter and I hate peanut butter with every fiber of my being, but it didn't bother me too much. I sat in the window for a few minutes before heading back outside shortly before the bus arrived, so I'd call it a successful adventure. Took the bus the rest of the way home and dove into my schoolwork, first up with trial ad which I had to write an opening statement for. No problem writing it, but the annoying part is the assignment was like "don't even think about using notes" when legit every lawyer uses notes for an opening??? Ever??? So it's basically bullshit that I'll have to work on getting down over the next few days which is annoying, but oh well. Writing it wasn't too difficult, just banged out a few paragraphs and we're good. Then I had to deal with the field observation paper I have to give a presentation on tomorrow in my mission based lawyering class, which I was low key dreading, until I actually looked at the assignment and realized it was just supposed to be a summary of our field observation, not like a "reflection" or something similar that would require substantial bullshitting on my part. Just summarizing my day? Oh, I can do that very well, I do it every night on here for these posts. And of course I took copious notes on the cases, which helped immensely. So I started typing it out and within an hour I had 4 and a half pages (the range was 3-5) ready to go that I was quite happy with, so I'm glad that is done. Lastly there's crim pro, which probably wasn't totally necessary to do because we're backed up on cases and may not even get to these cases this week, but it was only 20 pages so I figured I'd just get it done. Two cases, easy enough. I finished just at 8, which was of course my goal, because I'm actually so good at meeting deadlines like that lol. During this time I was also running back and forth to do laundry, which was super overdue and I ended up doing 3 full loads, haha. The weird part was that when I got down there there was a solid two inches of water just chilling in the bottom of the washer and not appearing to be going anywhere. I didn't want to stick my clothes in there if it was having a problem, so I texted my landlord and he said that happens sometimes when people overload it, but if I run a load on empty it should work again. So that's what I did ($2 in my precious laundry quarters down the drain, not that I'm actually annoyed enough to make an issue of it though) and it was back to normal afterwards so I was able to start and was happy to get that done, especially because the end of this week is the start of spring break and I'll need clean clothes to pack, so it was really a necessity to get it done. For the evening I first tried to find the episode of Powerless my dvr supposedly didn't record, only to find it apparently just doesn't exist yet (thanks for nothing, IMDb) so I moved on to Suits which I watched the rest of the season of. I have to say I'm much more satisfied with the ending of this season than I was last season, so I'll give them credit there. I think it helped that they were a lot more focused on actual cases instead of inter-firm drama and personal agendas, even if those cases were brought in relation to personal agendas. I have to say though, they do so much sketchy shit there's no way they would've have been caught so many times over and so screwed over. And I'm sorry, there is zero chance of Mike ever getting admitted to the bar in reality. Like, ZERO CHANCE. Are you fucking kidding me??? That's ridiculous. I am mostly willing to overlook it though because I'm interested in seeing Mike as a lawyer lol so I can forgive their ridiculousness. The ending with Louis was sad of course, but it was still a much better and a much more joyful season finale than last season so I appreciate that. And JESSICA. YAAAS. Only Jessica Pearson could manage to appeal to compassion and blackmail someone at the same fucking time. She is legit like, lawyer goals and I don't even care if that's sketchy lol she is a boss. And of course it was hysterical when she was like "yeah let New York disbar me, they won't give a fuck in Chicago" for obvious reasons. So overall I was pleased with my watching and catching up, especially since I'd lost a good amount of faith in the show at this point, some of which was restored here. And yeah, that about sums up my day. Get to sleep in tomorrow thanks to yet another weird Chicago holiday that closes the courts and gets me the day off (I swear I'm never going to actually make it to the DV clinic at this point, but I'm not complaining about the extra time). It's like Casamir Polaski day I think? I don't know, some crazy made up Chicago holiday but hey, like I said, no complaints here. Still have class at night with presentations, but that should be easier enough and at least I get to sleep in, which is the important part really, and speaking of sleep that's what I'm going to do now. Goodnight angels. Stay beautiful.