#if I do a more formal photo shoot just forget about this post agreed

[portsandstars]

[scarlettriot]

Stood Up

You (Y/N) get stood up from a date and Kaminari decides to do something about it.

Pairing: Kaminari/F!Reader

Contains: Fluff, Flirty Denki, Established BakuSquad Friendship

Warnings: 18+ Below the cut, Minors DNI! Swearing, Electro-Stim, Overstimulation, use of pet names (cuddle bug & cutie), oral (F receiving), consensual recording

A/N: Well, here we are with the third in my Stood Up series. There is also Bakugo & Kirishima if you're interested. This one took me way too long and it's also my first time writing Kaminari at length. I hope you all like it :)

Word Count Starting Below: 2,461

You slipped your foot into the silver heels you had picked out. Something a little fancier since this was a first date after all and you wanted to make a lasting impression. Not only that but this was your first first date in a while. Being a Pro Hero made life busy and dating difficult.

Practically the entire day leading up to this very moment revolved around you either getting ready or babbling with excitement to your closest friends.

An alert chimed on your phone with a text from your date, a smile sliding onto your face expecting to read some message about how they were on their way and that they'd see you soon, but that wasn't what you were met with.

Instead, it was a screenshot of your Instagram page, multiple of them actually, all of you and the ridiculous photos you took with your friends but mostly with one Denki Kaminari. The most recent of which was from a tea shop he met you at just earlier that day so you could show him the shoes for your date.

The message below was simple and more than enough to leave a sour taste in your mouth, this isn't what I want to see when I'm supposed to be taking you out tonight. What, one date a day isn't enough? Why are you even dating? Does your blonde boyfriend know?

You giggled at what they were implying, quick to explain how these were all your friends, they had been since high school! They are people you spent what little free time you had with. Especially Denki, your best friend since you were 15!

That joy you felt started dissipating within the next few messages. You hadn't even had a first date and they were already jealous, and that was something you didn't have room for in your life. So, you slipped the heels off your feet and put them directly back in the box to return when you had the time. Tight black jeans and fitted top were exchanged with a hoodie and sweats although your makeup and hair stayed done, you didn't have the energy to undo your hard work.

Instead, you slid back into your computer chair, your headset snuggly back on your ears and before you notified everyone you were back online, you took a moment listening to the chatter of your friends.

"Shitty Hair! Fuckin' pay attention!"

"Yeah, man! We're getting slaughtered over here!"

"Less yelling at Kiri! More shooty shooty!"

"All of you are hopeless..."

Eijiro chuckled out an apology that was accompanied by a lighter giggle also coming from his mic. "Think this is gonna be my last round for a bit, guys."

"You're so fuckin' whipped." Bakugo scoffed, before screaming profanities.

"Is it whipped if I'm the one who's wanting to get her into bed though?"

You clicked your mic back on then. "Hey, remember last week when Kats forgot his push to talk so we all heard him getting head and we party whipped because someone couldn't focus?"

"You better shut the hell up right fucking now!"

Everyone else roared with laughter. "Yeah! At least I have the decency to mute myself!"

"Hey, wait a sec, why are you online, Y/N!" Denki noted, "You should have already left!"

You screenshot your messages to the group chat because it was far easier than just explaining the ordeal.

"Cute shoes." Eijiro and Kyoka commented at the same time.

There was a lull as their game ended and the messages were read.

"Ya don't need 'em if they're gonna have their head so far up their ass like this."

"I agree." Hanta chimed in. "They're not worth your time."

"Still, sorry they turned out to be a shit." You could hear the frown on Kyoka's face, "I know how excited you were."

"Right, you doin' okay, Y/N? I can stick around and we can all shoot some things!"

"Thanks, Kiri but I'll be just fine! Go spend time with your girl!"

One by one, everyone signed off. You pulled up Spotify and Stardew Valley, something of a comfort for you to get lost in for the rest of the night.

Less than an hour later, you noticed your phone lighting up with your best friend's familiar smiling face. "What's up, Denki?"

"Open your door! I have my hands full and don't wanna put everything down to get my key!"

You sprang from your desk and rushed to your door. Sure enough, on the other side was Denki with bags in both hands and his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder. You grabbed it and a bag before he had a chance to drop anything like the klutz he was. "What's with all this?"

"I feel bad."

"Why? You didn't stand me up?"

He fiddled with the edge of a paper bag. "Yeah, but, we both read those messages and no one said anything but they didn't just call our group out, they called us out.

"Denks, it doesn't matter to me-"

"But, it does to me! You were so excited about this and I got in the way, unknowingly but, still! So, I gotta make it up to you now!"

He pulled out take-out boxes from your favorite restaurant. Two bottles of your favorite wine. Your top three favorite movies and video games, and a board game you both had been meaning to try. "I mean, if they think I'm your boyfriend I kinda gotta live up to the hype, right?"

You really wanted to insist that none of this was necessary. That just because some person that neither of you really knew that well, assumed something about your relationship that didn't mean he had to blame himself for it.

But, you had to admit, this was really sweet. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to you that he knew everything you liked but it was nice. Instead of sitting across from a stranger, making awkward small talk, and trying to learn about one another, you were barefoot in your kitchen, laughing with your best friend while he plated dinner and you poured the wine.

Formalities were out the window. Both you and Denki were eating dinner in your living room, laughing and drinking just as you'd done a million times before. You snapped a photo of the delicious food on paper plates, toasting good times with your cheap wine, ready to post them to your Instagram.

"Gonna make them more jealous..."

"I think they made it pretty clear they don't want to see me so why should I care?"

He shrugged. "I just thought they might, you know, come to their senses that they obviously lost."

"I don't really care either way." You wandered back into your kitchen, putting away the leftovers, "They can forget I exist or they can stalk my page like a creep. If someones' gonna try and tell me I can't be friends with my friends or just not listen to me, then I don't want them in my life. No matter how good-looking they are."

Denki watched you from the sofa, a bit of a lopsided grin on his face that had butterflies taking flight in your stomach. "What?" Laughing to hide the bit of a crush you always had on the man. It was unavoidable you told yourself. His personality was infectious and had 15 year old you head over heels.

He pushed back bright blonde hair back off his forehead and just shook his head. "Nothin'. Uh, what's next? Video game, board game, or movie?"

You peaked on the counter at the options. "Well, we probably should have checked this but the board game needs at least four people to play... guess we'll have to save that for our next game night. Is a movie okay?"

Of course, it was.

You brought over the DVD with a refill of wine and he pulled a blanket down off the back of your sofa.

It really didn't take long, just fifteen minutes or so, and you were curled up into Denki's side. You'd make grabby hands for your wine glass and he'd pass it over with that damn grin again.

And not long after that, he'd pulled out his phone, angling it to take a picture of the two of you. "What are you doing?" You could see him on his own Instagram, tagging you, with the caption, Check out my cute cuddle bug.

"I thought you didn't want to make them more jealous."

"I decided I don't care either. You're mine tonight, their loss. And since you're mine tonight, I get bragging rights." He snapped another quick picture of you rolling your eyes at him, and then he kept snapping them.

"Denki! Why!"

"Because you're cute, cuddle bug! I like having all the pictures of you that I can!"

Even as you tackled him back down on the sofa, pinning him below you, he still managed a photo. "Bet if I post this one, they'll really get the wrong idea."

You could have moved. You were the one on top of him and you had his arms above his head. You had the power here and yet you just lingered above him.

"Y/N? Not that I'm one to complain about having a beautiful person such as yourself pinning me down, like, it's kinda hot, but..." Looking down into half-lidded golden eyes, you wondered why you had to become best friends with such a damn flirt! "Are you gonna take advantage of this situation we're in or are we just gonna keep dancing around this for another decade or so?"

You couldn't have heard him right? No... no this was your brain playing tricks on you because he certainly hadn't had that much wine tonight. You sat upright on his lap. "Another decade then, Y/N?"

"You- ha- you should stop that, Denki."

He leaned up, moving his arms around you, "Gimme a good reason to and I will."

You didn't have one. And not just because you've been in love with him for ten years but also because he was your best friend. The only reason to not go through with it was the possibility of losing your friendship if something bad were to happen but, you really didn't think anything would.

Denki might have been a serial flirt but he was surprisingly loyal in all the relationships he'd been in, not that there had been all that many serious ones.

"I'm not hearing anything." He teased, his face getting closer to yours. You could count each and every one of the faint freckles that littered the balls of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. "But, I promise, if you tell me no, I'll stop, won't push this any further."

This whole thing seemed like a frickin' whirlwind, happening faster than your brain could really process the situation but you didn't want it to stop either. You wanted to take it further, didn't want to say no.

Which was why you coiled your arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. There was that small little buzz of electricity that tickled your lips when he'd kiss your nose or cheeks that was now playing on his lips, on his tongue when you welcomed him in.

He leaned back again, pulling you with him until you were both a pile of needy hands and breathy pleas. Everywhere his hands roamed you felt that faint trail of shock against your skin, making the little hairs on your body stand on end.

Clothes were shed, tossed haphazardly around your living room, both of you pausing to laugh when Denki managed to land your hoodie over a lamp. His attention was drawn back to you quickly though, still perched on top of him but now he had your chest on full display since you'd forgone a bra when your date canceled.

Electrifying tongue twirled around your nipples, sensitive normally, now it felt like you knew what it was like when he fried his damn brain. He was eager, relentless even, pulling and sucking, another hand giving your other breast a similar treatment. He had you so focused that you let out a broken moan when slender fingers found their way into your panties.

"Fuckin' hell, Denki."

The bastard winked up at you, nipple still between his lips and before you could retort, he sent another small jolt through you.

You were blatantly grinding down on his hand, reaching behind you, you found him completely solid, barely being contained in the tight black boxers he wore. You had enough sense to tug them down and wrap your hand around him making his teeth sink into your soft flesh, whining when you stroked him.

"Y/N..." He whimpered, his hand momentarily distracted from his ministrations gave you enough time to shift in his lap to scoot forward putting his cock in front of you. In one swift motion, you had his length between your slick. "Oh fuck, cutie!" Golden eyes were squeezed shut while you moved along him, feeling that pleasant curve he had, you could only imagine what it was gonna be like to have him inside you.

"You're being a little tease, ma-makes me wanna do all sorts of things to y-you."

He was kissing your neck, your chest, shoulders, and arms, anywhere on you that he could reach. His hips bucking up into you, just trying to hit that perfect angle.

Strength and agility were something most overlooked when it came to Denki Kaminari but when the man wanted something bad enough, he found a way to get it.

He had your ass rising up in the air with a harsh thrust of his hips and a small squeak from you, giving him exactly enough time to scoot down on the sofa so you were sat atop his face. If you complained, he didn't hear you. Denki already had your thighs around his head and his tongue devouring you completely.

Little shockwaves rocked you while you cried out his name, hands fisting blonde locks just trying to stay upright.

One orgasm from you apparently wasn't enough, neither was two but on the third, Denki finally relented, allowing your heartrate to come back down and your gasping breaths to come in more steadily.

You slid back down his body, his erection now smack against your ass. His hair was recked, face completely flush but he had the biggest grin on his face that you'd ever seen.

Denki kissed both your cheeks, "You are so amazing, cutie!" Kissed your lips, "You taste better than anything I've ever had!" And one more on the tip of your nose. "Doin' okay?"

You nodded, starting to really gather yourself again, and by this point, you really just wanted one thing.

"I wanna... Denks... can I take care of you now?"

"Sure, cutie! How do you want me?" The wiggling eyebrows had you rolling your eyes and pushing him on his back again.

It took little effort for you to position yourself above his cock, and with how slick you were, his bright pink head slipped right inside. He held your hands while you scrunched up your face, sliding all the way down him until he was completely sheathed within.

The curve was immaculate. Hitting in just the right way that had you moaning with just a couple thrusts from him. Before long, you were eagerly bouncing on his cock. Riding him hard so he filled you up each and every time.

You barely registered him reaching for the coffee table, his phone now in his hands. "What're you doin'?" You practically slurred, slowing only slightly. He tapped the camera lens with a wicked grin. "Seriously?"

"We could make 'em really jealous now..."

Somewhere in your brain, you knew your date wouldn't give two shits, in fact, this probably would have only validated their thoughts about your's and Denki's relationship but with his cock stuffed so deeply into you, kissing your cervix in the most beautiful way, you really didn't give a damn.

You and Denki put on the best possible show you could think of. You were overstimulated, sore, and completely elated! He balanced the phone against the wine bottle so neither of you had to try to hold it.

This way he could play with your breasts or squeeze your thighs while you dug half-moons into his chest. Shocked with the playful zaps he sent right to your core.

Your makeup you'd didn't feel like taking off now ran down your cheeks with tears. Your hair was a mess thanks to him pulling at it.

Denki had you howling through another two orgasms, telling you how perfect you were, how nice you felt squeezing him so tightly, your nails felt so good against his skin.

It was only when you collapsed against his chest did he hoist your hips up so he could ram into you, pulling out just at the last second with a strangled cry of your name.

He wiggled himself free, grabbing a towel from your bathroom and cleaning you both up before stopping the recording.

"You're, hey you're gonna send that to me right?" You asked when he handed back your hoodie off the lamp.

He dropped a kiss on your lips, plopping down beside you on the sofa again and you noticed your email already up and the video uploading. "Obviously, we share all our videos and photos. Why would this be different?"

[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Inazuma Eleven Revival Festival - Review!

WARNING - I will mark SPOILERS for Reloaded and the 2 Ares episodes below!! 

Personal Reflection: I’ve been an Inazuma fan since roughly 2010, but TRULY became obsessive from 2013+ when I saw Kirino and fell in love. Inazuma has a special place in my heart because it’s one of my strongest connections to Japan. I learnt Japanese through watching, reading about, listening to and eventually translating for this anime. To actually get to go to an event which marks the start of a new Inazuma series was a dream come true. Being SURROUNDED by a sea of fans wearing cosplays, badges, scarves, uniforms… To know what we have in common is a love for this dumb sakka series - it felt amazing. It would be an even bigger dream come true to make friends with EVERYONE who also loves this series. I hope IE EXPLODES over the next 3 years and I 100% believe IT WILL. And I will do whatever I can to help the JPN-ENG translators!!

Apologies if I’ve forgotten anything important.

Okay! Let’s go!!

Attendees: There was about 2,000 people at the live event. 

Before the Event: The merch went on sale from 10am, and you didn’t need a ticket to the event to queue to buy it. I arrived at 12ish and the queue looked to be about 2 hours long, so I decided I wasn’t interested in buying anything for once in my life. I’ll post a list of the merch later.

There was an area to trade merch and take photos with the cosplayers.

The doors opened at 2pm and the event began at 3pm.

START

It began with Endou explaining the rules: no filming, photography etc… during the event.

Then a ‘memory reel’ where they showed screens of all previous characters. Endou CHEER Gouenj CHEER Kidou CHEER Kazemaru HUGE CHEER Atsuya and Shirou HUGE CHEER Reize HUGE CHEER Go Raimon HUGE CHEER (and Araceli cries) Kirino and Kariya ENORMOUS CHEER Shindou CHEER Torb SILENCE… then laughter… Alpha, Beta, Gamma CHEER Fei CHEER Galaxy HALF ASS CHEER

Opening Songs 

Preformed by pugcats and King Cream Soda. During the song, the characters came to the audience to dance. There was Endou, Gouenji, Kidou, Fudou, Fubuki, Hiroto, Kabeyama, Asuto and Kazemaru. Unfortunately they never went on the stage so we couldn’t see all of them. Endou high-fived a few people.

Introduction

Hino and Mo appeared. Hino said he’s so happy to see so many people gathered here to celebrate Inazuma Eleven, and the huge crowd is proof Inazuma is Avery loved series. Mo adds it’s been 4 years with nothing yet still so many people are here or watching the live-viewing. They introduce themselves formally - Hino as president of Level 5 and Mo as an employee - and Mo said she will do her best with Japanese today too (Mo, PLEASE your Japanese is AMAZING)…

Hino says this event marks the start of a new Inazuma series.

All-Star Cast Line Up

Guest stars were Nojima Hirofumi (Gouenji Shuuya), Terasaki Yuka (Matsukaze Tenma), Tomatsu Haruka (Nishizono Shinsuke/ Kudou Fuyuka, Hattori Handa) and Kamiya Hiroshi (Haizaki Ryouhei).

Tomatsu’s outfit was really pretty, like a long white dress-shirt and blue jeans. Kamiya wore a black and red jacket that looked really cool. By the way, he seems like a very funny person, so I was surprised he’s playing so many last boss characters.

Before Reloaded, there’s a recap of the story so far. Reize’s opening monologue. Fans went wild.

Hino says this will be the first time the voice actors (minus Nojima) see the completed episode, so they will watch it together on stage with everyone. The sit around their own TV. Tomatsu says it feels like being in a living room. Nojima comments there’s no drinks. Mo and Hino sit with them too. Hino says the reason they made Reloaded is because they had to have a reason to connect the original series to Ares.

WARNING! BELOW HERE CONTAINS SPOILERS! 

Inazuma Reloaded Opening: Remastered Stand Up Tachi Agariyo

Raimon return after the FF. The whole school is so happy to see them. They’re crowded by fans. There’s a scene of Miyasaka hugging Kazemaru and the audience went nuts. Endou is so overwhelmed he runs to the toilet as an excuse. Kidou and Gouenji call him into the clubhouse.

Comment - Their body language is WONDERFUL! It’s so realistic the way Endou can’t sit still, or Kidou leans forward to speak.

Gouenji/ Kidou say next is the world as Endou gets excited over the idea of playing new opponents.

Hibiki arranges an exhibition match against Barcelona Orb - the team came from Spain to Japan for this match. The match starts and Gouenji tries Fire Tornado right away. It fails when the goalkeeper stops it with his finger then throws the ball back to Gouenji. They next try the Inazuma Break, which also fails. Kazemaru, Gouenji and Ichinose perform the Phoenix, but that doesn’t work either. 

It’s shown Hakuren, Zeus, Sun Garden, Teikoku etc are watching the match. This got a huge reaction from the crowd.

Barcelona’s captain the rest f the team start to attack. The captain scores without using special moves. The score becomes over 8 (to zero) and Barcelona’s teammates tell the Captain to give them a taste of their real level. The Captain uses his special move - Diamond (don’t remember the second word, possibly ball) where he carves the ball into a diamond. It’s very beautiful. He scores before Endou can even react. Endou seems reluctant to pick up the ball after that shot, like he’s almost in fear - but that doesn’t last for long.

Raimon lose, exhausted, as Endou lies back and laughs to himself, reflecting on how great soccer is.

Raimon are called into an office to talk. I didn’t catch the guy’s name, but an official looking person tells them that Raimon vs Barcelona proves that Japan’s soccer is not at world level. He wants them to join soccer teams around Japan and strengthen Japan’s soccer as member of the strengthening committee. Endou agrees to it.

Raimon are gathered outside their club house, seemingly worrying. They don’t want to split up. Kurimatsu says it’s okay for the Captain and the others but some f the weaker members don’t feel they have what it takes. Kidou says no matter what happens they will all be connected by their hearts.

Domon and Ichinose are going to America, and the managers see them off at the airport. Aki’s wearing a cute pink hoodie. She’s mad that they’re going to America and tells Ichinose that he should represent Japan. Ichinose says he needs to gather strength in US before returning. He doesn’t know yet if he’ll play for a Japanese team or an American one.

Natsumi, along with the managers, are also given roles as members of the strengthening committee but it’s not revealed what they are. Natsumi has her laptop in any case.

Final scene - Break Trio are on top of the hill talking. Endou still doesn’t fully understand what a strengthening committee member is, and Kidou asks if he was can listening at all. Endou seems to have just heard the word soccer and agreed to it.

They say the next time they meet on the pitch they’ll be rivals. None of the 3 plan on losing. They part ways.

Closing theme: 

Remastered Seishuu Oden showing scenes from the Raimon kids’ school life. E.g., Kazemaru and Makksu in class, the kids eating lunch, Kabeyama doing science, the team playing soccer…

There’s a chat session with the voice actors - their thoughts about the episode. Pretty predictable - it was very interesting and great and the animation and remastered moves were great. It’s commented that the leg movement for Fire Tornado is very different, because Gouenji is longer.

They talk a bit about the Captain of Barcelona Orb and the rest of the team. He’s not good-looking but still kind of cool - that’s the kind of character Hino wanted to make. Mo comments on his ‘bear eyes’.

It’s the new characters’ turn to be introduced. The voice actors Ayumu Murase (Inamori Asuto), Michinari Tatsumi (Kimura Ryouhei) and Hanae Natsuki (Okuiri Hiro) come to the stage.

A picture is shown of Baddap, Haizaki and a character from another anime he plays. They all have grey hair and tanned skin and are Last Boss type roles. Kamiya says Baddap was his first villain role and then his second Inazuma role is Haizaki. He wonders just how does Hino see him since he keeps getting villain roles?

Since the topic of villains comes up, a pic of all previous enemies is shown. Terasaki points to each GO character and says alien (Ozrock), future boy (Saru), ghost (Shuu) and human (Hakuryuu). There’s only one human, compared to the original series.

They go through the new 11 members. Some notable comments were:

Michinari -  Hino says Michinari is a Captain like Shindou from GO with many worries.

Okuiri - He wears glasses like Megane’s but he’s a much more serious character.

Iwate - He and his voice actor look alike to the point it’s scary.

Mo and Hino say they feel like something is missing from this voice actor chat session - oh yes, Endou! Junko has left fans a message that will be played on the screen.

A word from Junko: She really wanted to come but couldn’t. She says she assumes Hino is talking and talking and talking. She gave her own proverb: everyone, please enjoy today’s event!

There’s a break for 30 mins where they showed Outer Code eps Hakuren, Teikoku and Sun Garden. Fans screamed for Shirou, Atsuya, Someoka, Hiroto, Midorikawa, the group of Sun Garden kids, Sakuma, Genda, Fudou and Kazmaru.

Inazuma Ares 1 (note - some scenes may be out of order)

Opening Theme: Teppen Mezasou! It was epic! The start focused on Inakuni Raimon, we see Haizaki’s GORGEOUS school uniform!!! Like a blue blazer ~ Sakuma, Aphrodi, Hiroto etc appear~

It opens with the Inakuni kids playing soccer. Goujin makes a shoot but Norika saves it. She said he’s getting better. Sasuke is watching them. They take a break. Norika says soccer is great: it can let you forget about all your worries. I think it’s Hattori who is surprised that Norika has worries. Asuto and Michinari decide to ask the principal if they can play a practice match against another team. The principal (Fuyukai) says instead the soccer club will be demolished because they have no sponsor)

Workers are demolishing the pitch. Asuto runs to stop them but they forcefully push him away. Eventually Michinari had to hold him back. Later Norika is bandaging him up. She said she understands his worries but he was too reckless. Asuto asks her is she okay with not being able to play soccer? She says, of course not. Kirina runs over saying there’s bad news about Asuto’s Mom.

Asuto runs to hospital. His Mom apologizes and says she can’t stay with him. Asuto is upset to lose not just soccer but his Mom too. His Mom assures him he won’t lose soccer - soccer will be there as long as he needs it.

Kirina wonders if Asuto will be okay as he runs off. They guess he is going to the highest point in the island. Asuto reaches the top of the hill and screams.

The next day the Inakuni kids are called into the office where they ware told if they can win one match they can get a sponsor if they transfer to Raimon. That means leaving the island and moving to Tokyo.

It’s revealed Sasuke is a recent transfer student.

The kids are shown wondering about their decision to go to Tokyo.

Hiura tells his Grandma he’s going and she comments things will get lonely around there. By the way, she calls him Ki-chan.

Hattori rides on top of Iwate’s back as he rides a bike. Hattori wonders if the food will be good in Tokyo. 

Michinari is walking with his father. He feels like his Mom will protest if he goes to Tokyo, but his Dad assures him he’ll talk to her.

Mansaku is at his Dad’s sushi restaurant. His Dad gives him his specialty sushi, and tells him to eat. He says he won’t lose to the food over in Tokyo.

Norika, Hiyori and Okuiri are together that evening. They comment going to Tokyo would be Norika’s first time to ever leave the island.

Raimon vs Seishou. Sasuke makes the First Goal with Fire Tornado. This wakes up the Devil of the Field, Haizaki. He goes wild, scoring again and again. Their are 2 special moves - Overhead Penguin and the Death Zone. Kidou does not appear in this match.

Proverb: Soccer will be there as long as you need it!

Inazuma Ares 2

Haizaki and Seishou are beating Raimon. Agirls are watching the match from a box, making fun of Raimon being from the countryside. Anna tells them to be quiet.

Flashback to 1 week before Raimon vs Seishou.

Inakuni Raimon at outside the clubhouse. Norika tries opening the door but it won’t budge. They comment that Raimon/ Tokyo is very different to their island.

The group of girls come over (perhaps members of the student council? Managers?) with Mikado Anna, who introduces herself as president of the student council. The girls are dismissive of Raimon winning their match against Seishou, but Asuto says they will.

Next the kids meet Ootani Tsukushi (do you remember her? A game only character!) who is very bubbly and friendly. She shows them around the school.

The team get their uniforms and are very excited. Ootani is so excited she’s about to cry. They also get the Inazuma Band - a wristband that measures their exercise levels. It’s also a communication device - the coach can use it to contact them. He does so immediately, summoning them to the field.

They are surprised their Coach is from China. He said he prefers Kung Fu to soccer. He made them a crazy training schedule (think: worse than Kidou from GO). Like 100 laps, 100 push ups etc. He asks them what they have to do? Goujin/ Asuto say train and win their next match. Coach says no - they have to NOT LOSE.

The start with laps through Inazuma Town. 

Back to the match. Haizaki’s still demolishing them.

Flashback to a new scene.

Haizaki is showering. Another boy comes in. You see the infamous goggles and Haizaki calls him by his name, so we know it’s Kidou. We only see the bottom half of his face and legs by the way.

Back to the match. Seishou win. Raimon are disappointed but Asuto says while they’re in Tokyo they should do something fun like go to Sky Tree.

Inakuni Raimon are at Tokyo Sky Tree. Suddenly Asuto starts crying. He wanted to play soccer more. The others start crying too, except for Sasuke who is annoyed they are crying in public.

A man walks over and introduces himself as a member of Island Travel - a famous travel agency. He says he he would like to sponsor Raimon. Asuto is surprised because they lost. The man says that the fact they were able to score even one goal against Seishou and the way they fought their hardest to the very end of the match moved him emotionally. There’s more than just winning and losing. 

Asuto reflects. They may have lost but in the week before the match they trained all over Inazuma Machi, getting to know the local community.

So Raimon get a sponsor. The kids are so happy they start dancing and hugging each other.

Proverb: I can’t fully remember but I THINK it was something like, you’ll make your own future out of the path you choose to walk??

Closing Theme: All of Inakuni Raimon jump out of a scales in different poses. Then we see everyone’s ‘battle’ suits. Asuto - knight Nosaka - mage Hattori - Robin Hood/ Cupid Okuiri - Some kind of wizard Sasuke - Shirtless gladiator (by the way everyone laughed)

2 Questions from fans

Boy: Is it relevant that in the ending theme all of the players are divided into 3 'sets’ to showcase their battle armor? Hino says it might be.

Girl: She was very excited. First she said she loves Mo. Her question is - what’s up with Kudou’s redesign/ why is he coach for Seishou? Hino said, history has changed!

Voice Actor Talk: The VAs were asked to draw their most memorable scene.

Nojima Hirofumi: Gouenji didn’t appear! He is literally like… So… Gouenji didn’t appear??? Why am I here again?? I was looking forward to seeing him! He does add the episodes were very exciting, with no boring parts.

Kamiya Hiroshi: OVERHEAD PENGUIN and Sasuke. He said he wants to know what the balance of Ares is.

Kimura Ryouhei: Sasuke’s Fire Tornado. Mo comments Sasuke shoots Fire Tornado with his right leg but Gouenji used his left.

Hanae Natsuki: The ending theme where Okuiri jumps out of the scales, he makes a cute pose like 'kyaa’ waving his arms and legs. His VA is surprised because it seemed unlike him.

Murase Ayumu: Hattori riding on Iwato’s back

Terasaki Yuuka: Kogarashi Manor is brand new!

Tomatsu Haruka: The scene where everyone cries together! OR ~shower scene~ she drew a questionable picture of Haizaki showering. The way she drew his legs were awkward and looked like something… else lmao.

Mo comments that the pose Haizaki makes while he showers is very strange (head down, hands against the wall)

Terasaki comments that it’s strange Kidou took his goggles off in the shower of all places. She thinks they would be useful to keep shampoo out of his eyes.

Apparently Hino argued with staff over whether or not the shower scene was necessary. Hino felt it was.

Kamiya comments that he was watching the fans react to that scene, he’s like - I heard you! I saw your reaction to that! I know you liked that!

Hino reveals that since Ares is a parallel world he wants to redo the whole series up to FF International. He says he really wants Inazuma to run for a very long time.

Terasaki asks Hino to please make a new GO. Hino said he wants to. But this not an official statement, more like ‘if possible I’d like to do that’. Personal opinion - if IE becomes very popular I would say there’s a 40/60 chance of a new GO.

Future of Anime Preview:

Two picture were shown that showed future plans for the anime. One was young Hiroto and Tatsuya. It’s implied there will be an episode with them as children (personal speculation - possibly all the Sun Garden as kids??). Second was Haizaki getting very worked up over trying to win a stuffed bear from an arcade game (personal speculation - it’s not actually for him, but the girl in the flashback).

Game Info: It will be released on Switch, PS4, IOS and Android.

The showed gameplay: Inakuni Island, Raimon Chuugakkou, Match vs Seishou, Kidou running and tackling, Sasuke’s Fire Tornado. Quality was very high, like Breath of the Wild.

Mo made a comment that the story mode map looked very big and it seemed it would take ages for the character to run far distances. Hino said they are working on that.

Next Walker: March 10th 8PM

Closing Words (that I remember):

Nojima: He said he can’t wait for Gouenji to appear. Why does Gouenji always keep us waiting?

Terasaki said she’s so happy to stand on the stage and play an Inazuma character again.

Mo said it’s an honor to stand on the same stage as Hino as a foreign Inazuma Eleven fan (Mo is from China).

Ending Live: Ryuusei Boy by a two girl idol group (name??). Then pugcats and King Cream Soda joined them to sing Saikyou de Saigo and Maji de Kansha. The voice actors joined in and the character suits too. Confetti exploded. Fans waved their glow sticks and cheered.

[jaybeefoxy]

SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOUR OTP/BROTP THAT MUST BE CONSIDERED

From @crypticasterisk via @mystradeheart who posted a lovely set of prompting questions. 

Okay, here’s how my OTP/BROTP act, in my humble opinion.

Mine is Mystrade, every time, the lovely little puppies. They’re gorgeously awesome and not necessarily easy to read. 

Who slowly eases into the pool while complaining about the temperature of the water and who takes a full-force no regrets flying cannonball into the water? Mycroft is definitely the complainer, Greg throws himself in full force, and probably splashes Myc with the tidal wave. Mycroft gets him later, probably at home, by flushing the loo when Greg is showering. 

Who can easily comfort the other when they’re sick and who sprays everything down with Lysol and wears an antimicrobial mask and pats the former with a broom to comfort them when they get sick? Greg is the caregiver, he finds it easy. He’s a dad, someone who is used to mopping fevered brows at 3am and dosing those in his care with paracetamol and tea. He’s a copper, so he’s first aid trained too, and can readily leap in to correctly staunch bleeding and support a broken limb while the ambulance gets there. He’s even been known to take a casualty to A&E himself, in his car, with the blues and two on. However, if Greg is sick, Mycroft cares from a safe distance. He does know what comfort food to provide and how to make his partner feel comfortable and cared for, just don’t expect him to don a nurse’s cap and apron...

Who’s the amazing cook and who almost burns the house down trying to microwave a poptart? I’m tempted to say Mycroft is the cook and Greg can burn salad, but I think it is the other way around. Greg learned from his Gran how to cook good hearty food; savoury soups and stews, and stodgy puddings that Mycroft secretly adores but doesn’t eat that often for fear of weight gain. Mycroft never got the chance to learn to cook, and earns enough that eating out or getting take away is easy.

Who immediately goes for the can of Raid when they see a bug and who picks it up like “no wait don’t kill it I wanna keep it” Mycroft hates bugs, and may be subject to anaphylaxis if he sees a bee, never mind getting stung by one, whereas Greg always saves bees. Always. Bees are good. He can happily beat a wasp to death although beetles don’t bother him, but even Greg thinks that if the spiders get any bigger, he’s going to start charging them rent.

Who likes to lean over railings to get a better view and who freaks out and tries to pull the former back away from the rail screaming about how they might fall? Greg is the leaner. Mycroft is the Health and Safety freak. Mycroft doesn’t scream but Greg is aware of the forcefulness of Mycroft’s voice when he’s alarmed. 

Who acts like they’re brave and fearless but actually gets terrified 15 minutes into a horror movie and who is usually the huge scaredy cat but isn’t fazed at all by most horror movies? Greg is brave and fearless, honest, but some horror movies creep him out and he’s happy to hide behind a cushion, or Mycroft. Mycroft professes not to like horror but he actually knows he’s seen worse in the real world and most horror movie directors don’t know the half of it. 

Who constantly criticizes the latter’s wardrobe and who dresses even more outrageously to further annoy the former Mycroft always hates Greg’s sartorial choices, and insists on dressing him when they have to attend a formal function, however, give Greg the chance and he’ll be a right rogue and dress in something terrible just to annoy his lover. If he can get away with dressing in said terrible thing AND attending the function too, he’ll go for it.

Who likes total darkness when they sleep and who needs a night light Mycroft likes total darkness, and Greg likes a little ambient light on somewhere. It usually takes the form of a kid’s night light in the wall socket by the nightstand, just a slight soft glow. He hates sleeping in complete black out, it leaves him feeling a tad vulnerable. So Mycroft often sleeps with eye shades on, soft silk ones of course, just so Greg can drift off in comfort.

Who loves kids and who scowls at the mere sight of them Greg loves kids, but Mycroft treats them with a little trepidation. He’s not used to them, not normal ones anyway, not the screamers and the chatty ones who talk nonsense and think they are gifting secrets. Greg on the other hand can calm fractious babies with a cuddle, and sooth weepy kids with a sweet treat, gives them something to do, even if it’s sitting at his desk, scribbling in biro on scrap paper. He’s everyone’s favourite uncle, or dad, and he fathers his own team too, but Mycroft is a little too stiff for dealing with little ones, despite a rather fierce protective streak when it comes to little Rosie, who has adopted Uncle Mycroft despite Mycroft’s misgivings.

Who plays games competitively and sucks at them and who plays games casually and is actually really heckin good? Greg is the competitive one, but he’s a bit hit and miss, while Mycroft doesn’t care and manages to win without seeming to try. Greg is never going to play monopoly with Myc again. The only game he’s won so far is Yahtzee and that was because Mycroft took a while to understand the purpose of the thing.

Who can handle spicy foods perfectly and who chugs an entire gallon of milk after accidentally eating one jalapeño Greg likes spicy food, even if it doesn’t like him. He does have his limits but spicy food does a number on his digestion and he tends to leave it alone. He won’t flinch at eating a Jalapeno though, despite the results. Mycroft is the more sedate eater, although he can handle hot food, he doesn’t quite like it, although he doesn’t mind Moroccan.

And here’s a few more..

Who complains about how expensive everything is when they go shopping? Greg. If Mycroft buys him things, Greg always protests that it’s too expensive.  If Greg has to buy something, like socks, he goes cheap. He doesn’t see the reason to waste money on some stuff. Mycroft would happily buy everything they eat from Fortnum and Mason, although clothing is usually bespoke. M&S sometimes makes the grade but not often. Selfridges is closer. Nobody even mention Primark...

Who asks for more sweets and frozen pizza?  Greg, obviously, although Mycroft does have a sweet tooth for mints.

Who wakes the other in the middle of the night to tell them about the cool dream they just had? Greg is the dreamer, and has started to keep a notebook by the bed to write them down. Mycroft is often awake until late and doesn’t really mind when Greg insists on telling him his exploits from his dreams. Shooting Dinosaurs on a spaceship? Whatever next?

Who likes to take photos of the other when they’re not looking? Greg is the one to snap Mycroft when he’s not looking and thinks he’s the only one who does it, but Mycroft is just as bad, but doesn’t get caught. 

Who suggests tv show marathons and does the other agree easily or do they have to be promised stuff like sex or a massage or a romantic dinner later in order to get them to agree? Greg usually suggests their marathon boxed set viewing, but was surprised when Mycroft suggested, and watched, Downton Abbey, all the way through. Without requiring sweeteners. Although he was quite taken with their role play in the bedroom later when Greg acted as a rather naughty valet to his lordship...

Who sings in the shower and who secretly enjoys listening to it? Greg has quite a nice voice in the shower, not to mention out of it, but he rarely risks singing, despite the fact Mycroft loves listening to it. One day, he might just persuade Greg to record a CD. 

Who texts the other a lot to tell about the jerk on the traffic or about someone’s new haircut or to ask if they had lunch already? Greg is the texter, although he usually rants when he gets home. Mycroft has already scheduled an extra twenty minutes into his day to be the ear for Greg’s gripes about how his day went, from the idiot who cut him up on the way to work (the pitiful unfortunate whose number plate he called in and suggested to Traffic they intercept and check for illegal substances), to the moronic drunk who decided it was a good idea to piss all over a crime scene.  So far, though, he has resisted ranting about the new computer tech’s hair cut...

Who forgets coins in jeans pockets and who trips on their own shoelace in the early morning because they forgot to tie it because they’re too sleepy? Greg. Gregory Lestrade is NOT a morning person. 

[goodbyenothanks-blog]

Irony, Shostakovich, and You: A Primer

The best way to hold onto something is to pay no attention to it. The things you love too much perish. You have to treat everything with irony, especially the things you hold dear. There's more of a chance then that they'll survive.

- Dmitri Shostakovich

Hello, kind internet traveler. I’m Ed, a.k.a. D.J. Ed, a.k.a. D.J. Tullius, a.k.a. that guy who’s always in way over his head. Today, I will, in fact, wade into a topic into which I basically have no expertise or clout.

Well, that’s partially a lie. I’m an ironic dude. Annoyingly so. Maybe you know someone who says everything with a tinge (in my case, a slathering) of sarcasm, who does sub-optimal things for the sake of having things sub-optimally, and who engages in old fads or trends just because they’re overdone or old. Look, here’s a few pictures of me dabbing!!! It’s so funny that I dabbed because dabbing is overdone and well beyond the cultural zeitgeist!!! Wow!!!

Dabbing at a photo shoot

Dabbing at Amalfi, Italy

Literally dabbing during a graded assignment

Sidebar: Irony

Humor me for a moment. Sometimes (clearly, when I am using my time to its FULLEST) I wonder about the essence of irony, and a few questions always pop into my head. First, I’ll need to define a term: nth-order irony. Performing an ironic act is itself first-order irony. Performing an ironic act ironically (that is to say, that you are sardonically performing an already ironic act for the irony of doing something ironic) is therefore second-order irony. Similar formulae follow for all theoretical n-order ironies. The following questions perplex me:

Can One Classify Their Own Irony?

Is it possible for someone to self-describe their own irony? This is a massive problem for me to solve. Who’s to say what you perceive as a deft and cutting third-order ironic statement on the state of detergent consumption isn’t perceived by someone else as a mere, lowly first-order ironic statement? I think my dabs are of a second-order: I’m dabbing to ironically emulate those who dab ironically. However, to a passerby, or to a casual viewer, would they pick up on my deeper meaning, or would they view me as simply a run-of-the mill dabber?

Is Irony Definitively Classifiable? 

And for that matter, does this difference in perspective even matter? Is it even possible to pin something as first, second, or third order ironic from an empirical standpoint? One person at this hypothetical IRONY INSTITUTE OF TOMORROW might see something as one classification, while another sagacious scientist states that she sees second order sarcasm, and then you quickly hypothesize that irony could perhaps live in a state of multiple simultaneous orders, or maybe that much like Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, if one knows the ironic message, one cannot know the layer or irony; if someone explicitly measures out their level of irony, then they have lost the true intent of their sardonic act.

How Deep Does Irony Go?

I’m convinced that there is an upper limit to n. There is honestly no way for someone, in my eyes, to exceed second-order irony. Second order irony, in my humble (??) opinion, is not particularly difficult to achieve, but at least in this writer’s (writer used loosely here) perspective, one would have to be reaching really hard to be ironic about ironically doing something ironically. Feel free to prove me wrong, though.

Can One Be Too Ironic?

Yeah, probably. This whole section about irony is certainly too ironic, and let us never forget this classic and DEEPLY unsettling second-order (at least I’m really really REALLY hoping it’s ironic irony) act over orange-brown meme juice.

Does Any of This Matter At All?

No.

Essentially, the previous section of the post. Oops. Praise be, Mahler Hammer. Praise be. (shoebox office shared this image with me don’t sue me)

And now that you’ve stopped reading, I can finally talk about what I have no business talking about. The man, the myth, the legend: Mitya. Or, as he’s better (but less adorably) known, Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich. Shostakovich is my favorite composer of classical music, and I feel like that’s in part because Shostakovich, too, was a pretty sarcastic fellow. But, he had many more reasons to be sarcastic than I. Too many moments in his life can only be reflected on with either profound depression or an aloof cynicism, and our boy Mitya chose both avenues at whim.

Imagine the following scenario: you’re a musician at the height of your fame. Nearly everybody loves you, and every new work you put out is heavily anticipated and intensely critiqued. Unfortunately, one person in particular really doesn’t care for your work, and he’s the despotic leader of your nation, who’s really stinkin’ good at having people killed. Next thing you know, his propaganda machine lays out a STINKPIECE about your music, and police officers are knocking at your door. You are forced to meet with one officer, and after some intense questioning you are tasked to return after the weekend. You, naturally, assume the worst and realize that the gulag and certain death in the lonely bitter Siberian wastes awaits you, knowing that if you try to flee, your entire family will suffer for your greed. You gravely return to the police station, asking for the officer that will surely arrest you for Crimes Against the State. Who? the unknown man in the station quickly replies. Oh, that dude? Haha, he got arrested for Crimes Against the State. All his appointments have been cleared, my man. Have a swell day.

haha.

This is just one episode in the Chronicles of Shostakovich, a man who lived daily with a fear of expressing himself too far outside the Soviet norms, while also being expected to provide the USSR with the world’s best musical compositions. This clashing duality, I think, fueled his (at times) ironic musical disposition.

Again, this isn’t to say that all of Shostakovich isn’t genuine or that his music as a whole is ironic, far from it. Shostakovich, as well as any other (in my opinion, better than any other) composer, can connote pure elation, despair, trepidation, anger, or any other feeling from the Human Emotional Palette. I think, however, because of his unique life-story and exemplary composing acumen, Shostakovich is extremely talented at displaying irony and sarcasm in music. I will now detail but a small handful of Shostakovich’s Ironies In Action:

Fifth Symphony: Finale

This one���s tricky, and a little bit of a reach, but hear me out on this one. I love the finale to this symphony. It’s one of my favorite symphonic finales. I particularly love the ending, the “finale” of the finale, for its subversion of what one expects from a finale. I think Gerard Schwarz explains what I mean by this better than I could, and he’s also right about Bernstein taking the ending way too fast! (PS: The blog post from which I got this mp3 is extremely interesting, informative, well worth a read, and also agrees with and expands upon Schwarz’s conclusion). The essential argument is that the banality and repetition of the A’s subverts the feeling of a triumphant ending. Shostakovich is intentionally overstating the triumph sarcastically, as if critiquing the apology he was forced to give on behalf of his own music (see incident above) and challenging the idea that perhaps his “practical, creative reply to just criticism” was a reply to something that Shostakovich himself perceived as “unjust.” (This also means that Bernstein’s doubled tempo removes Shostakovich’s musical sarcasm, yet another reason to just follow the darn tempo markings Dmitry wrote, Lenny!!!)

Sixth Symphony: Second and Third Movements

Luckily, these two are a bit more obviously ironic. This time I will trust in the word of the Mambo Master himself, but to summarize this video, Shostakovich is playing with two different ideas. His first movement is a spiritual “continuation” of Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony (which is also in B minor), as Shostakovich begins his symphony with a long, slow, heart-wrenching movement, just as Tchaikovsky ended his Sixth. Bernstein calls this first movement a “confessional,” and an entry in Shostakovich’s “private diary.” What does that make the other two movements? Bernstein claims (and I find no difficulty agreeing with him) that these two final movements are musical hypocrisy in action. They, on a surface level, explore light dances and fun times (as in the second movement) and a riveting circus (as in the third). That these two movements appear after the “confessional” of Shostakovich signals that these movements represent the facade of Russian society in 1939 (the year that Germany invaded Poland). The whimsical carefree world of dancing and of carnivals is far from what any part of the world was experiencing in 1939, and Shostakovich yet again is using his music to criticize both his own government and the musical expectations thrust upon him.

Anti-Formalist Rayok

I’ll conclude this brief introduction into the wide world of Shostakovich’s sarcasm and irony with a work that makes absolutely no pretense to be subtle or discreet. The Anti-Formalist Rayok was a work that Shostakovich wrote in secret and kept largely hidden, only performing it for trusted friends. The piece itself is an attack on the Zhdanov Doctrine and the idea of “anti-formalism.” In Soviet Russia, art was not to be made for the sake of making art, rather, it had to have some use or purpose in society at large. In the Anti-Formalist Rayok, Shostakovich, obviously affected by this enforced shift away from formalism, pokes fun at Zhdanov and other anti-formalists, and even directly quotes Zhdanov in some of his most outrageous and dangerous claims about formalist music. The music itself is light, vivacious, and fun, but the text and the connotations of the text certainly are not.

Santakovich.

Thanks for joining me on this short excursion through the irony and sarcasm of my all-time favorite composer. I never meant for this to be truly authoritative or meticulously fact-checked, so if you find a mistake, have a problem with something I said, or have more information about a particular topic, please PLEASE let me know. I’ll be excited to hear from you, and to learn more about my boy, Mitya. Also, before anyone asks, yeah, I did use Wikipedia to learn more about Zhdanov, Socialist realism, and the Anti-Formalist Rayok. I’ll reiterate that I am absolutely no expert in this field, and I wrote this for fun, and to introduce a Shostakovich outsider to the large, confusing, but amazing world of Soviet Harry Potter. To my knowledge, everything that I say is factual, and I listed my sources (check the underlined words!!) whenever I used them.

Hey, if you want to see me be out of my depth on a weekly basis, check out my radio show, The ƒ-hole, which airs every Friday at 10 AM on WMUC FM! This Friday, I’ll talk about Love (Love Love) in classical music, which is mostly an excuse to play Mahler’s Adagietto. I hope you tune in!

[golshxd-blog]

Welcome to the results of this month’s “Loved Ones” challenge. The idea was to send in photographs of things, objects, ideas, places … we love and fear might one day disappear out of our lives. Or about loss and disappearance themselves. Not only that, but photographs made in such a way that the love would shine through the photographs to the readers viewing them, even those who feel nothing about the subject.

  Incy Wincy

  Once again, this was very difficult. Not only because you were asked to reveal something about yourself, something intimate, but also because it is so hard to convey an emotion to someone else when we are ourselves locked into it and lack the objectivity to think formally.

I love those practical exercises. They are infuriatingly hard but so efficient to push us upwards. Always the educator at heart, right 😉 Kinda strange, coming from someone so bad at being educated himself 😀

Anyway, as always, I am blown away by what some of you have sent in. To me, the ability to convey a variety of emotions while retaining a consistent style is the hallmark of a great photographer and that’s what I’ve been observing in many of your contributions over the months. Some are moving, others are thought provoking. Great work.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to create/find images and sending them in for us to enjoy. Since the photographs on this page are very personal I will refrain from any commentary and simply publish whatever texts authors agreed to link to the images. On with the show.

(as always, I’m stressed out about forgetting someone’s work. Last time it was Kristian and this time, I have the feeling someone sent in just one photo, and can’t find it, and it’s nagging me. Please accept my apologies if your contribution isn’t in here and just drop me a line in the comments so I can correct my mistake …)

  Philippe Berend

  Philippe writes : “Here are my first pictures. They embody or symbolize, or represent nature. The unbelievable, almost painful, unbearable beauty of it. I worry that, one day, most probably through man’s folly, it will be gone like the dodo bird…

    The second theme is Paris. The song says, “Paris sera toujours Paris”. But if Notre-Dame can burn, what is really safe, really there “forever”?

    The third theme is: beautiful fast cars. Could it be that, in order to perserve what is left of our planet, we have to give up these extraordinary objects of beauty, desire, thrill and freedom? Could it be that I have been part of the last generation to have ridden a Ferrari at 265kmh on a motorway?

    The fourth theme, of course, and it ought to be the first, is my mother, who will in just over a week turn 98, God willing. I love her, and, know for a fact that she won’t be there forever. I hope you will forgive me fo not putting up her picture, which I consider private. Nah, the real reason is, the years are not always kind to faces of loved ones. And she, for sure, would not forgive me, for putting up a picture of her in her old age, when she was once so radiantly beautiful… And the Bard said “hell hath no fury like a woman posted on DS against her will….

  Michael Fleischer

  Michael writes: “a photo of a place dear to me – the lake close by where I grew up I Denmark – where I spent my youth fishing, swimming, kissing and more…”

  Jean Pierre Guaron

  Jean Pierre writes “The first was taken with my Pentax, c. 2002 – my second Dobermann, Chloe. I’ve always adored this photo, and in fact it’s my screen saver, in front of me every day. It’s not 100% SOOC, but it hasn’t had much post processing, because in those days I had limited access to post processing software (ONLY PS Elements, in one of its early iterations) and very little knowledge or experience with digital processing. Actually it was scanned onto the computer, from AGFA color negative film and given a bit of a touch up from there. I love the colours, the bokeh, the typical expression on her face – and she was my best friend, except for all the others.

    The second was one of many, taken at a time when my friend Kath’s older Dachshund Bella seemed to me to be nearing the end of her life.  Without wanting to alarm Kath, I started taking photos of Bella on a regular basis, so that when the inevitable happened, at least she would have some decent photos of her little girl, to remember her by and to ease the pain of losing her. 

    My present Dobermann, Cris – taken with the D500 and a zoom AF lens (AF is an overwhelming reason for not going with the larger gear, like the D850 and the Otus’s)”

    Brian Nicol

  Brian Writes: “I have always wanted one of the classic thunderbirds. We lived in California around 2000 for about 5 years. I was driving my wife’s car by myself and say a late fifties red thunderbird convertible approaching in the opposite direction. It was like a scene out of American Graffiti. I did not notice traffic has stopped and I drove into the back of a 70’s Volvo with the giant bumper that wiped out the grill and rad of my wife’s car. I have even more emotion now when I see a pristine thunderbird.”

  Pascal Jappy

  I suppose starting with the most endangered is probably the most in line with the challenge.

So wildlife it is. I love wildlife and the outdoors. My life is largely indoors, these days, but recent hiking photographs by my son reminded me just how much I miss it. Anytime something is wrong, being out with (friendly) wildlife just makes it all go away.

    Art. Probably not at any risk of disappearing. Our societies are crumbling faster than sand castles at high tide at the hands of populist devils. It’s sad and will only get sadder as the years pass.

But the great news is that art thrives in those conditions. Not paintings made for oligarch wives (although the concentration of money in the hands of a few does make that market happy as well). Real Art, made by people freed of their smartphones and tired of Facebook. People willing to think about life’s meaning from up close.

    I love London. It’s a ridiculous city, architecturally, with stuff sticking out of other stuff in every which direction. “A man tired of London is tired of life” wrote Samuel Johnson and that’s certainly true from a photographic perspective. A hundred times or more, I’ve visited, never have I made the same photographs twice.

    Traveling. I love it. Particularly with family. Environmental concerns make it a little harder to enjoy without feeling some guilt these days, but it is probably the last luxury I would like to give up 😉

    Astronomy made it easy for me to cruise through school. Whether we had a lesson about some murderous hero of the past or about the damping of springs or about some really important protein that makes monkeys fart (I wish) or about the dative of comounds, my note books were full of drawings of telescopes, and buildings, and telescopes and planets, and telescopes and stars …

To me today, astronomy symbolises time. The time I’m no longer making to observe and read about the heavens is time stolen from thinking about the deeper meaning of things, stolen by the mundane and unimportant. Life slipping away.

    Oh, and what’s life without a cat? Why not forfeit cookies and milk while we’re being barbaric. I mean …

    Bob Kruger

  Bob writes : “The sarcophagi in Key West, FL are not buried, as the water table is too high. So the burial chambers are stacked like cord wood so they will not float off. A weathered flag keeps watch.

    Jim used to rent a “villa” every winter in the Conch Republic, aka Key West, Fl. I memorialized his veranda during his last visit.

    I took this picture of an abandoned fish house from around the corner where I once lived in Pamlico County, NC, an un-destination if ever there was one.

    How many childrenonce traveled to school on this relic, now forgotten,in Florence, NC.

    Family cemeteries tell their own stories.”

    Paul Perton

  Paul sends this series of portraits without words of this wonderful land he has to leave behind for a while. No words are needed.

    Nancee Rostad

  Nancee sends those 3 gripping images of desolation.

    Lad Sessions

  Lad writes: “The Chessie Trail lies below our property, and I walk it frequently.  It’s a converted rail line (the “Chessie” was short for “Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad”) and winds along the Maury River, a tributary of the James River.  Here are four shots taken at different times and places that express my affection for this “nature trail.”  There are many more…

Hope one of these strikes cords of affection in your heart too.”

They sure do …

    Kristian Wannebo

  Kristian’s series is entitled “Forest, left alone”.

  Shot with DxO ONE

  John Wilson

  John writes: “They are all shooting locations and will need some explanation. The Richmond Night Market was a Street Photographers wet dream. Lots of action in a limited space, great lighting exotic atmosphere and great street food. One of my all time favourite shooting locations. The old parking lot had a fantastic mural along the length of one side and a poster covered wall at the end. The wall behind the poster wall was covered in graffiti and vivid paint. After a rain there would be pools in the parking lot to reflect the mural and there was always lots of reflections in the car windows and metal surfaces. A fabulous place to shoot. The umbrella shop was one of only two stores I’ve ever seen that specialized in umbrellas. Their window was always colourful and being under a bridge the light was always soft and even … perfect for catching the reflections of passing cars and pedestrians. Another much loved location. Sadly they are now all gone … “

    June Challenge: and now for something completely different

  Nope, that is not the name of a contributor. April Flowers, Theresa May, June Challenge, July Andrews … ya know …

No, this is the RFP (fancy!) for your photographs for the new DS challenge for the month of June. Just sounds better the short way. June agrees.

Now, in the past months, we’ve explored serious, almost heavy, topics such as things we love and fear to lose (not the city, Paris and London are enough for one page), Haiku, vital energy … I’d like to do a fun and silly one for a change.

  Carter and June

  Antropomorphism would be the appropriate name for what I have in mind, but it feels a bit too serious for the fun mood of the challenge. How often have you seen objects or shadows or plants or … that look like human faces? Sometimes funny, sometimes spooky, sometime interesting … if you’ve made pictures of those, please send them to me (pascal dot japppy at gmail dot com). In the example above, the box on the left, the guy with the 66 bow-tie eying pretty pink June, actually seems more interesting than the overly obvious one on the right.

So bring it, or bring them. Juno, I can’t wait to see what you found 🙂

  Posted on DearSusan by pascaljappy.

[chimponpurpose]

Taylor Roades, Photographer: I am participating pretty actively with other cultures. I've seen so many other traditions and especially when it's a new tradition, I definitely ask questions.

A few days ago we came across a post from Taylor Roades in a Facebook group. It’s a compelling look at the fear, anxiety, and hope felt by people around the world in a new era of political uncertainty. As a wedding photographer, Taylor is an observer with a special perspective on love, diversity, and what it means for cultures to connect. As a small business owner, she’s a sterling example of someone who stands up for her convictions, even in the face of potential backlash. We talked to Taylor about showcasing love, feeling helpless, and taking action in a country that embraces diversity.

On education: I didn't go to school for photography. I went to school for business and that really wasn't for me. I was getting into photography at the time and I thought, "I'm just going to take a year off and see", and I went traveling. I spent 6 months in Southeast Asia on that trip. I got more into photography, and when I got back from that trip, I was just going to try and see if I could make the photography thing work. If not, I was going to go back to school. I just never went back to school.

On helping hands: I caught a few different breaks. When I was still in school, I got a small grant from the Ontario Small Business Association. That gave me enough, with my own savings, to buy a decent camera, which I never would have been able to afford as a student otherwise. Then they also paired me with a mentor, someone who had been running a business in the area for years, so I got paired with a real estate agent. She was just so awesome and had such good advice and is still a resource that I go back to if I ever have questions.

On subject matter: I shot weddings in the Toronto area for three years, and I still shoot a few every year back there. Then I moved to Victoria and then Vancouver. I just wanted to shoot landscapes and scenery, and be in the mountains every weekend and be outdoors.

On diversity: Living in Toronto is so multicultural. I grew up where, as a white person, I was a minority in my public school, and we had anti-racism talks as children. My best friend lived down the street in the same sort of suburban, cookie-cutter house as I did, but there were 15 people from Pakistan in the same house that my nuclear family of five lived in. Being exposed to that at a really young age and having friends from all over the world in Toronto, you go out for Vietnamese on one night, and then you go to your friend's house and they serve you Indian, even though they were born in the Congo. They immigrated to South Africa, and then were refugees to Canada. To go and have dinner at their house, you're talking about politics but also anything else that you would talk about as a Canadian. It just goes to show that you can be friends with anyone.

On experience: Because of my travel background and part of my travel portfolio was people from all over, I feel that's why I get so many multicultural weddings and a lot of mixed weddings. I've shot a Jewish-Thai wedding. It had these Thai dancers dressed in formal dress doing the Hora. But it's celebrated. This year I did a Korean-Canadian wedding and the mother of the groom, who was Canadian, was wearing a hanbok. That mix happens all the time, it’s so cool. I get to see a part of where you're from, and it's such a good thing.

On wedding photos: I know all those people personally. I was there on a big day for them, which is sort of anthropological in that you see all their family and all their friends, and all the people that make up who they are. Then I have a personal connection with them, so it was hard for me to pull those photos out of context and talk about diversity as a whole. I didn't shoot those trying to shoot diversity. I shot those to save memories for people to show their kids one day what they looked like when they were 28. I think that in showing weddings, even if you don't agree with me, I’m showing people this is actually what it is like. This is contemporary, this is now.

On understanding: Within my weddings, I am participating pretty actively with other cultures. I've seen so many other traditions and especially when it's a new tradition, I definitely ask questions. I feel very comfortable, and people hire me for the way I see moments, so the more open they are, the more I can see them.

On differing opinions: My family is kind of conservative, and I get so angry when they're like, "Oh but you can't have Christmas trees in school any more.” They're not taking away your Christmas trees, they're giving you the opportunity to learn more.

On politics: I'm in this state of dread, I'm scared about what might possibly happen in Canada. What trickles over the border. I surround myself here, in Vancouver, with other like-minded people. Then I quickly go back to Toronto to visit my family, and I'm smacked in the face with people who don't actually think like me. I come from them, I still love them, but you kind of forget.

On taking action: I've been calling my MP's, I've been trying to be as active as I ever have been. It kind of feels like screaming into an empty room. When Trudeau said we were going to take in 25,000 refugees last year, my roommate and I had a small space in Mount Pleasant, but we talked about if we could have someone come live with us for up to six months. We went to the meetings in Vancouver, which was super heartening. They were turning people away at the door; there were 5,000 people that came out who had accommodation that they wanted to give, or volunteer their time in some way. We called them to follow up a bunch of times, and I'm sure they were overloaded with people, but we pretty much never heard back. That's hard. We want to do something, we're here, we're standing ready to help and then just...you're still useless.

On her Facebook post: Do I feel better or worse after writing it? I don't know. I feel better, I guess. Because at least my views are known. And where I stand. I put it publicly on my wedding website as well, for my business. Anyone who potentially wants to hire me will see that. For me there's right and wrong. I think businesses in our capitalist society actually have a lot of power.

On Donald Trump: I just don't understand how he can know nothing about world politics. I don't think I'm that special. My family is normal, I grew up in the suburbs and I know so much more about world politics. He's the President of the United States. He should know more than I do about world politics.

On goals: I think within my work, my business, [the goal is] to continue to showcase diversity in a positive light. That's something that I can do, and to personally be as politically active as possible. To continue to talk to my friends from all different places with a lot of different perspectives.

You can see Taylor’s work at taylorroades.com. For more on what you can do to take action, check out Five Things You Can Do to Take Action Today.

[omfgtrump]

All Mixed Up And Nowhere To Go

Everything is just so topsy -turvy and mixed up.

Michael Cohen, who was once prepared to take a bullet for The Don, is now talking to Robert Mueller and may be the one doing the shooting. (You dirty rat!)

And then the brave, non-rat, Paul Manafort, in a two for one deal, decided to swap his Blue Lizard Jacket and Ostrich Coat for a rat outfit. Manafort entered a guilty plea in a separate case in a Washington federal court, relating to his lucrative lobbying work for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. He copped to charges of conspiring to defraud the United States and to obstruct justice, each of which carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. Manafort also agreed to forfeit $46 million in cash and property derived from his crimes. So sad that he won’t be able to drive up to his Hampton’s home and be greeted by the Giant M on his front lawn. So sad!

But what made him a rat was that he also agreed to cooperate “fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly” regarding “any and all matters” with the special counsel, Robert Mueller.

Man am I all mixed-up or what, as using the word truthful and forthright are not things one would associate with a sociopath. But as I said everything is so out of whack. After all, The Don is the president!

Mr. Manafort will hopefully bring the truth and shed light on the 80-plus contacts between the campaign and other associates and Russia-linked individuals; the campaign’s possible collaboration with WikiLeaks; and the amendment of the Republican National Committee platform on arming Ukraine. Also, do you think The Don knew that Manafort promised a cabinet position to a Chicago banker for millions in loans?

And how about those Republicans? I am so confused.

Our president is in bed with Putin and they just think it’s another one of his silly affairs?

Oh, and let’s not forget that Bill Clinton was impeached over a consensual affair, because Republicans insisted that the president’s personal behavior must be above reproach.

Lindsey Graham, who once made an impassioned speech favoring impeaching Clinton on moral grounds, must be all mixed up, as evidenced by his fling with the Predator-in Chief.

All this mix-up brings us to another moment of truth taking place on the battleground of Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court.

I watched the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings and was horrified as the all male Senate Judiciary Committee devalued and bullied M.s Hill and dishonored themselves and our country, in a shameful and disgusting display of misogyny and sexism.

Now in an eerie Anita Hill redo, Mr. Hatch, Chuck Grassley (also present at the Hill hearing) and 9 other white male senators are showing that actually they are not mixed-up at all. That despite the progress that has been made in treating women who have been sexually assaulted with respect and dignity, despite the fall of powerful men like Bill O’Reilly, Harvey Weinstein and most  recently, Les Moonves and the Me Too movement (which should actually be called ‘The About Time Movement”), these 11 white men have decided it is still ok to bully and devalue Dr. Blasey in order to get Kavanaugh put on the Supreme Court.

Is it possible that Hatch and  Grassley actually said that Blasey’s request for a formal F.B.I. investigation in to her allegations that our lovely Catholic school boy, Brett, attempted to rape her when they were in high school was not necessary? Who needs witnesses when you are trying to ferret out the truth? Even Anita Hill had witnesses called. Man am I mixed-up or what.

https://www.c-span.org/video/standalone/?c4749975/senator-grassley-fbi-anita-hill

And here’s what our forked tongued Lindsey Graham had to say about the possibility of Mark Judge (the other guy in the room) testifying as a witness: “he already said what he’s going to say” and there’s “no reason to” hear from him under oath. Really, Lindsey, you just take everything people say as truth? Even if Mark Judge has said this:

“And if that man is any kind of man, he’ll allow himself to feel the awesome power, the wonderful beauty, of uncontrollable male passion.”

On his 1983 Georgetown Prep yearbook page, he included a quote from playwright Noël Coward that condoned violence toward women — “Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs.”

Let’s leave Lindsey alone for now and move on to Orin Hatch. With an assist by our darling Brett (who whispered sweet nothings in Orin’s ear), Hatch stated that he believed Brett was telling the truth and Ms. Blasey was just “all mixed-up.”

The case of mistaken identity theory!

You’re mistaken, this is not me!

  15 year old girl claims 2 guys trap her in a room, one gets on top of her, tries to take off her clothes, she tries to scream, they turn up the music and the guy on top of her puts his hand over her mouth. I guess it is possible that you could finger the wrong guy if you never had met him before, but when you know him, I don’t think so.

In support of the mistaken identity theory longtime conservative operative, Edward Whelan, posted a series of tweets offering up the name, photo and other private information about a former classmate of Judge Kavanaugh’s, whom Mr. Whelan claimed might be the real attacker. The tweets were deleted after they prompted a massive backlash on social media. Dr. Blasey stated, believe it or not, that she knew them both and definitely couldn’t mix them up.

It was disturbingly comical that the media was singing The Don’s praises because for a few days he was almost serene and able to withhold saying something disparaging about Dr. Blasey. I guess the Valium drip wore off, as The Don, our Predator-in Chief, couldn’t hold back any more.

“I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with Local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!”

The why didn’t you tell anyone until now theory. Without getting too long winded about it, it has been known for a long time that most women who have been victims of sexual assault do not report it at the time because of many reasons: shame, fear of reprisal by the perpetrator, the erroneous belief that they did something wrong, the fear that others won’t believe them, blame them and will turn against them. The Don should know this from personal experience. Look how long it took some of the women he preyed upon to tell their story about being groped and worse.

https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/14/politics/trump-women-accusers/index.html

And then we have the outrageous statement by our man of great faith the Reverend Franklin Graham regarding Kavanaugh’s interaction with Blasey: “Well, there wasn’t a crime committed. These are two teenagers and it’s obvious that she said no and he respected it and walked away.”

The chivalry argument! In Mr. Graham’s religious world, men get points and even promotions for not “finishing” the deed. Takes a page right out of the sexual predator Catholic priests who have been shielded and even promoted by the church. Makes me want to get up and swallow an entire box of holy wafers. Maybe hang myself with some rosary beads.

Whether its priests sexually abusing little boys, Roy Moore preying on teenager girls, a teenager sexually assaulting another teenager or Louie C.K. getting aspiring comediennes to perform oral sex on him, sexual assault is always about power. Almost always it is about men asserting their power and dominance over the more vulnerable. Dr. Blasey was one of those vulnerable women.

So when we witness Mitch McConnell telling evangelical activists that the senate was going to “plow right through” and getting Kavanaugh on the court; or Mike Davis, a top Republican staffer for the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeting “Unfazed and determined. We will confirm Judge Kavanaugh,” we are once again witnessing the powerful asserting themselves of the more vulnerable.

Yes, let’s “plow through,” “unfazed and determined” as we have our way with Dr. Blasey, as we stifle her right to have witnesses (hold a hand over her mouth), while we bully and demean her, blame her, question the validity of her experience, praise the guy for showing restraint, question her capacity to identify her assaulter. In other words, let’s treat her the same way Kavanaugh did.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2QUC0Oy via IFTTT

[ralphmorgan-blog1]

19 Baby Gender Reveals That Are Actually Pretty Amazing

One of the most interesting phenomena to have emerged over the past decade or so is that of the "gender reveal."

Back in the day, your doctor would tell you whether your baby was a boy or girl during your ultrasound (assuming you wanted them to).

You'd spread the news to your friends and family and go on with your life. Of course, even further back in the day, people had no idea what gender their kid would be until they were born.

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But these days, many want to celebrate every bit of new information about their child with a formal announcement.

via: Instagram

Obviously, we can’t all be like Beyoncé and break the Internet every time we make an announcement.

But we can be a little bit extra when it comes to announcing the sex of buns in the oven.

Here are a few ways to make that announcement that have a bit more pizzazz than a phone call to announce “It’s a girl!” or “It’s a boy!”

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A bunch of people are using these awesome colored smoke bombs.

She took gender reveal to a whole other muhfucking level 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/yj7tR7GCTZ

— ✨ttbaby ✨ (@urleader_) June 7, 2017

They look so ethereal and magical!

You know the photos from this shoot turned out absolutely amazing.

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Drumroll, please...

this is how i’d want my gender reveal 🤩 pic.twitter.com/IyOSVIJwtR

— roxana felix✨ (@roxxanaah_) July 14, 2018

This is exactly the kind of fanfare that an expecting parent deserves when they announce their child’s sex.

I also wouldn’t say no to a full parade.

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This couple has friends in high places.

via: Twitter

They somehow got the entire Ferris wheel to light up as their gender reveal!

How cool is that?

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Time to get silly!

via: Instagram

This couple had their friends and family spray silly string all over the crowd — pink for a girl, blue for a boy.

Who doesn’t love silly string? Nobody, that’s who.

This next reveal is pretty darn epic.

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Fireworks!

via: Instagram

I think we can all agree that if using fireworks is an option to announce absolutely anything in your life.

It is 100 percent the option you should choose.

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Ooh, sports!

A post shared by Ana Tamez💋💎🔮 (@miss_ana24) on Jan 8, 2017 at 8:59pm PST

Nice kick, dad!

(If I tried something this, that football would have gone straight into someone’s face. Or just dropped unceremoniously to the ground.)

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There's a light in the darkness.

This is how they do it in New York! 😍 pic.twitter.com/NVcLafMLBo

— Gender Reveals (@GenderReveaIs) May 20, 2017

This couple also clearly knows the right people.

Imagine being able to celebrate with the entire city of New York!

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This video is long, but the reveal is worth it.

A post shared by Chrislord Templonuevo (@chrislord22) on Mar 17, 2017 at 4:16pm PDT

They used some kind of hydrophobic substance to paint the words “It’s a girl!” on their driveway.

Science!!!

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Here's a twist on a classic:

Which one will float? 😍 pic.twitter.com/sLvFq2xOsd

— Gender Reveals (@GenderReveaIs) June 7, 2017

We’ve all seen the box full of balloons technique, but this couple did something a little different.

Only one balloon floated up, revealing the sex of the baby. More science!

This next reveal is great for anyone who loves cars.

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Peel out!

Best Gender Reveal Video 👶🏼 pic.twitter.com/PKrkpCTjGz

— Mustangs Only (@only_mustangs) July 9, 2017

This is a fun one.

Not only does the crowd get to find out the sex of the baby, but the dad also got to have fun while revealing the surprise!

Plus, it just looks super cool.

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Fore!

He gone!! 😂 pic.twitter.com/XV3OApKHmy

— Gender Reveals (@GenderReveaIs) May 31, 2017

The dad’s joy at this reveal is infectious.

Also, is it just me or is there a giraffe running across the field at the end of the video?

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Another box!

via: Pinterest

Here’s another twist on the box-of-balloons idea.

Fill one box with balloons and streamers and leave the other one empty.

When the time comes to reveal the news, dump them both upside-down!

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Let's get artistic.

via: Pinterest

The photos are art! The painting is art!

That is one artistic family, alright.

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Brilliant!

via: Pinterest

This one also uses paint, but with an added twist:

The canvases also reveal the baby’s name!

This next idea is great for Halloween.

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Spoooooky!

via: Pinterest

If you happen to be revealing the sex of your baby around Halloween, why not get some pumpkins in the mix?

Here’s another one that uses those cool smoke bombs.

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Or there's this!

via: Pinterest

Aww, Mom’s pumpkin has a little pink pumpkin “in the oven!”

Too cute, I tell ya.

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This one's v. classy:

via: Pinterest

Hop aboard the letterboard train!

This announcement is super classy and lovely.

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This one's not quite as "classy."

via: Twitter

But it’s just as informative!

After all, that’s the info people are looking for, right?

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This is another progressive option:

via: Twitter

Don’t forget: Gender is a spectrum! No cake or balloons or smoke bombs will dictate exactly what your child will be like as they grow up!

Share this with someone who’s expecting!

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Original Article : HERE ; This post was curated & posted using : RealSpecific

=> *********************************************** Article Source Here: 19 Baby Gender Reveals That Are Actually Pretty Amazing ************************************ =>

19 Baby Gender Reveals That Are Actually Pretty Amazing was originally posted by News - Feed

[golshxd-blog]

Welcome to the results of this month’s “Loved Ones” challenge. The idea was to send in photographs of things, objects, ideas, places … we love and fear might one day disappear out of our lives. Or about loss and disappearance themselves. Not only that, but photographs made in such a way that the love would shine through the photographs to the readers viewing them, even those who feel nothing about the subject.

  Incy Wincy

  Once again, this was very difficult. Not only because you were asked to reveal something about yourself, something intimate, but also because it is so hard to convey an emotion to someone else when we are ourselves locked into it and lack the objectivity to think formally.

I love those practical exercises. They are infuriatingly hard but so efficient to push us upwards. Always the educator at heart, right 😉 Kinda strange, coming from someone so bad at being educated himself 😀

Anyway, as always, I am blown away by what some of you have sent in. To me, the ability to convey a variety of emotions while retaining a consistent style is the hallmark of a great photographer and that’s what I’ve been observing in many of your contributions over the months. Some are moving, others are thought provoking. Great work.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to create/find images and sending them in for us to enjoy. Since the photographs on this page are very personal I will refrain from any commentary and simply publish whatever texts authors agreed to link to the images. On with the show.

(as always, I’m stressed out about forgetting someone’s work. Last time it was Kristian and this time, I have the feeling someone sent in just one photo, and can’t find it, and it’s nagging me. Please accept my apologies if your contribution isn’t in here and just drop me a line in the comments so I can correct my mistake …)

  Philippe Berend

  Philippe writes : “Here are my first pictures. They embody or symbolize, or represent nature. The unbelievable, almost painful, unbearable beauty of it. I worry that, one day, most probably through man’s folly, it will be gone like the dodo bird…

    The second theme is Paris. The song says, “Paris sera toujours Paris”. But if Notre-Dame can burn, what is really safe, really there “forever”?

    The third theme is: beautiful fast cars. Could it be that, in order to perserve what is left of our planet, we have to give up these extraordinary objects of beauty, desire, thrill and freedom? Could it be that I have been part of the last generation to have ridden a Ferrari at 265kmh on a motorway?

    The fourth theme, of course, and it ought to be the first, is my mother, who will in just over a week turn 98, God willing. I love her, and, know for a fact that she won’t be there forever. I hope you will forgive me fo not putting up her picture, which I consider private. Nah, the real reason is, the years are not always kind to faces of loved ones. And she, for sure, would not forgive me, for putting up a picture of her in her old age, when she was once so radiantly beautiful… And the Bard said “hell hath no fury like a woman posted on DS against her will….

  Michael Fleischer

  Michael writes: “a photo of a place dear to me – the lake close by where I grew up I Denmark – where I spent my youth fishing, swimming, kissing and more…”

  Jean Pierre Guaron

  Jean Pierre writes “The first was taken with my Pentax, c. 2002 – my second Dobermann, Chloe. I’ve always adored this photo, and in fact it’s my screen saver, in front of me every day. It’s not 100% SOOC, but it hasn’t had much post processing, because in those days I had limited access to post processing software (ONLY PS Elements, in one of its early iterations) and very little knowledge or experience with digital processing. Actually it was scanned onto the computer, from AGFA color negative film and given a bit of a touch up from there. I love the colours, the bokeh, the typical expression on her face – and she was my best friend, except for all the others.

    The second was one of many, taken at a time when my friend Kath’s older Dachshund Bella seemed to me to be nearing the end of her life.  Without wanting to alarm Kath, I started taking photos of Bella on a regular basis, so that when the inevitable happened, at least she would have some decent photos of her little girl, to remember her by and to ease the pain of losing her. 

    My present Dobermann, Cris – taken with the D500 and a zoom AF lens (AF is an overwhelming reason for not going with the larger gear, like the D850 and the Otus’s)”

    Brian Nicol

  Brian Writes: “I have always wanted one of the classic thunderbirds. We lived in California around 2000 for about 5 years. I was driving my wife’s car by myself and say a late fifties red thunderbird convertible approaching in the opposite direction. It was like a scene out of American Graffiti. I did not notice traffic has stopped and I drove into the back of a 70’s Volvo with the giant bumper that wiped out the grill and rad of my wife’s car. I have even more emotion now when I see a pristine thunderbird.”

  Pascal Jappy

  I suppose starting with the most endangered is probably the most in line with the challenge.

So wildlife it is. I love wildlife and the outdoors. My life is largely indoors, these days, but recent hiking photographs by my son reminded me just how much I miss it. Anytime something is wrong, being out with (friendly) wildlife just makes it all go away.

    Art. Probably not at any risk of disappearing. Our societies are crumbling faster than sand castles at high tide at the hands of populist devils. It’s sad and will only get sadder as the years pass.

But the great news is that art thrives in those conditions. Not paintings made for oligarch wives (although the concentration of money in the hands of a few does make that market happy as well). Real Art, made by people freed of their smartphones and tired of Facebook. People willing to think about life’s meaning from up close.

    I love London. It’s a ridiculous city, architecturally, with stuff sticking out of other stuff in every which direction. “A man tired of London is tired of life” wrote Samuel Johnson and that’s certainly true from a photographic perspective. A hundred times or more, I’ve visited, never have I made the same photographs twice.

    Traveling. I love it. Particularly with family. Environmental concerns make it a little harder to enjoy without feeling some guilt these days, but it is probably the last luxury I would like to give up 😉

    Astronomy made it easy for me to cruise through school. Whether we had a lesson about some murderous hero of the past or about the damping of springs or about some really important protein that makes monkeys fart (I wish) or about the dative of comounds, my note books were full of drawings of telescopes, and buildings, and telescopes and planets, and telescopes and stars …

To me today, astronomy symbolises time. The time I’m no longer making to observe and read about the heavens is time stolen from thinking about the deeper meaning of things, stolen by the mundane and unimportant. Life slipping away.

    Oh, and what’s life without a cat? Why not forfeit cookies and milk while we’re being barbaric. I mean …

    Bob Kruger

  Bob writes : “The sarcophagi in Key West, FL are not buried, as the water table is too high. So the burial chambers are stacked like cord wood so they will not float off. A weathered flag keeps watch.

    Jim used to rent a “villa” every winter in the Conch Republic, aka Key West, Fl. I memorialized his veranda during his last visit.

    I took this picture of an abandoned fish house from around the corner where I once lived in Pamlico County, NC, an un-destination if ever there was one.

    How many childrenonce traveled to school on this relic, now forgotten,in Florence, NC.

    Family cemeteries tell their own stories.”

    Paul Perton

  Paul sends this series of portraits without words of this wonderful land he has to leave behind for a while. No words are needed.

    Nancee Rostad

  Nancee sends those 3 gripping images of desolation.

    Lad Sessions

  Lad writes: “The Chessie Trail lies below our property, and I walk it frequently.  It’s a converted rail line (the “Chessie” was short for “Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad”) and winds along the Maury River, a tributary of the James River.  Here are four shots taken at different times and places that express my affection for this “nature trail.”  There are many more…

Hope one of these strikes cords of affection in your heart too.”

They sure do …

    Kristian Wannebo

  Kristian’s series is entitled “Forest, left alone”.

  Shot with DxO ONE

  John Wilson

  John writes: “They are all shooting locations and will need some explanation. The Richmond Night Market was a Street Photographers wet dream. Lots of action in a limited space, great lighting exotic atmosphere and great street food. One of my all time favourite shooting locations. The old parking lot had a fantastic mural along the length of one side and a poster covered wall at the end. The wall behind the poster wall was covered in graffiti and vivid paint. After a rain there would be pools in the parking lot to reflect the mural and there was always lots of reflections in the car windows and metal surfaces. A fabulous place to shoot. The umbrella shop was one of only two stores I’ve ever seen that specialized in umbrellas. Their window was always colourful and being under a bridge the light was always soft and even … perfect for catching the reflections of passing cars and pedestrians. Another much loved location. Sadly they are now all gone … “

    June Challenge: and now for something completely different

  Nope, that is not the name of a contributor. April Flowers, Theresa May, June Challenge, July Andrews … ya know …

No, this is the RFP (fancy!) for your photographs for the new DS challenge for the month of June. Just sounds better the short way. June agrees.

Now, in the past months, we’ve explored serious, almost heavy, topics such as things we love and fear to lose (not the city, Paris and London are enough for one page), Haiku, vital energy … I’d like to do a fun and silly one for a change.

  Carter and June

  Antropomorphism would be the appropriate name for what I have in mind, but it feels a bit too serious for the fun mood of the challenge. How often have you seen objects or shadows or plants or … that look like human faces? Sometimes funny, sometimes spooky, sometime interesting … if you’ve made pictures of those, please send them to me (pascal dot japppy at gmail dot com). In the example above, the box on the left, the guy with the 66 bow-tie eying pretty pink June, actually seems more interesting than the overly obvious one on the right.

So bring it, or bring them. Juno, I can’t wait to see what you found 🙂

  Posted on DearSusan by pascaljappy.