#just a groovy idea I had just sitting here

[ghostingon]

never make tumblr posts because I just lurk but I just now realized the possible biblical attributions in welcome home. could be so far off and it could be silly but I was actually rewatching mandela catalogue and as I was I realized that apples are known to be the fruit of temptation in a lot of media. this was always kinda noted since I grew up religious and I never recognized the fact that wally’s favorite fruit is an apple. I already knew about the sort of devil aspects from the so below imagery, but seeing apples as his favorite fruit made me recognize that oh????? wait????? apple???? what is he tempting the viewer into?????

like I said it could be so off and that apples is just a funky lil thing for him but like I can’t help but think of the implications if they are supposed to be linked to something with the fruit of temptation possibly. idk!!! fun theory!!! I love this piece of media a healthy amount!!!!

[tavolgisvist]

The boat called Yoko and The boat called Paul

accidental - more or less - coincidences

1 To look in the eye

You dissolve into each other. But that’s what we did, round about that time, that’s what we did a lot. And it was amazing. You’re looking into each other’s eyes and you would want to look away, but you wouldn’t, and you could see yourself in the other person. It was a very freaky experience and I was totally blown away…

(Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 1997)

“This is sort of what went on the ’60s a bit. You thought, Well if I’m going to go with this person for the rest of my life, like John and Yoko or me and Linda, I really ought to look them in the eye all the time. And John and Yoko really did spend a lot of time (stares manically). And it got fairly mad, they’d sit there looking at each other, going It’s gonna be all right, it’s gonna be all right. After a couple of hours of that you get fairly worn out.”

(Paul McCartney, interview with Paul Du Noyer, 1989)

2 David Bailey photo session January 1965

and

Susan Wood photo session 26 November 1968

3 White walls

'Paul had a nice idea about opening up white houses, where we would sell white china, and things like that, everything white, because you can never get anything white, you know, which was pretty groovy…'

( John Lennon , December 1970, Jann Wenner interview for Rolling Stone magazine)

It's difficult starting write from scratch with Yoko there. 'Cause I start writing songs about white walls. Just 'cause, you know, just 'cause I think she…I think John and Yoko would like that, you know. And they wouldn't.

(Paul McCartney, Get Back sessions)

.

4 Tittenhurst

"I knew the house, because John and I had been to look at it with the other Beatles couples a year ot two earlier. [...] For a crazy moment we's considered buying it and all move in together, in a kind of Beatles commune. How strange that now it was John and Yoko's home."

(Synthia Lennon, John, 1988)

5 Chalk and cheese / Cows and cheese

‘When I caught sight of him, when John brought him home for the first time, I thought “Oh-ho, look what the cat’s dragged in,”’ Mimi later recalled. ‘He seemed so much younger than John–and John was always picking up waifs and strays. I thought “Here we go again, John Lennon… another Shotton.”’ Even Paul’s immaculate manners could not thaw her. ‘Oh, yes, he was well-mannered–too well-mannered. He was what we call in Liverpool “talking posh” and I thought he was taking the mickey out of me. I thought “He’s a snake-charmer all right,” John’s little friend, Mr Charming. I wasn’t falling for it. After he’d gone, I said to John, “What are you doing with him? He’s younger than you… and he’s from Speke!”’ After that, when Paul appeared, she would always tell John sarcastically that his ‘little friend’ was here. ‘I used to tease John by saying “chalk and cheese”, meaning how different they were,’ she remembered, ‘and John would start hurling himself around the room like a wild dervish shouting “Chalkandcheese! Chalkandcheese!” with this stupid grin on his face.’”

(Paul McCartney: The Life by Philip Norman, 2016)

Q: "Why did you collaborate with Yoko on this LP?" JOHN: "It's like a play and we're acting in it. It's John and Yoko - you can take it or leave it. Otherwise (laughing) it's cows and cheese, my dear! Being with Yoko makes me whole. I don't want to sing if she's not there. We're like spitiual advisors. When I first got out of the Beatles, I thought, 'Oh great. I don't have to listen to Paul and Ringo and George.' But it's boring yodeling by yourself in a studio. I don't need all that space anymore."

(John Lennon, The September 29th 1980 issue of Newsweek)

6 Names

.

.

7 Two lovers on the beach

PAUL: ...We just write the songs first, and then uh, just shove ‘em in anywhere, as George said. Especially in the uh, sunset scene at the very end of the picture, where the two lovers – that’s George and Ringo – are coming towards each other on the beach… [general laughter] And they just finally meet – well, actually they don’t quite meet, they just run past each other, and both dive into the sand and as they do... JOHN: [in background] They both light a cigarette. PAUL: [laughs] Yeah, that’s it. The sun goes down

(May-June, 1965, Twickenham Film Studios, interview with Elliot Mintz)

gifs by thebeatlesordie

8 Paris

1961

John and I went hitchhiking. George and I did it a couple of times too. It was a way to get a holiday. Maybe our parents booked holidays, but we wouldn’t have known how to. So we would head out, just the two of us, with our guitars. John was older, but I was in on the decision about where we might go. He’d got a hundred pounds from his uncle, who was a dentist in Edinburgh, for his twenty-first birthday, and we decided we’d hitchhike to Spain by way of Paris.

(Paul McCartney, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present , 2021)

John: "Paris has always been the object of English romanticism, hasn't it? I fell for Paris first of all, even before Hamburg. I remember spending my 21st birthday there with Paul in 1961 . . ." <…> Aunt Mimi told the Liverpool Echo that she remembered the time that John slipped off to Paris to "sell his paintings" and that some unsuspecting Frenchman has a Lennon original on his wall.

(The Beatles Diary. Volume1.The Beatles Years by Barry Miles, 2001)

Gustafson [Johnny Gustafson of the Big Tree] happened to bump into them the day they left, Saturday, September 30. “They both had bowler hats on, with the usual leather jackets and jeans. They said they were off to Paris, so I walked down to Lime Street station and watched them go. They were an incredible pair: always great fun, irreverent and so close.

(Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years by Mark Lewisohn, 2013)

I remember, we tried to hitchhike to Spain once, but we only got as far as Paris. We liked it so much, we stayed there, just the two of us. We were in this little hotel in Paris; it was so cheap it had fleas. My mum was a nurse, we were very hygienic, then you end up there – bloody hell! Those things bring you together.

(Paul McCartney, January 2021, UNCUT)

In October 1961 John turned 21. That was the big birthday then. Mater came down from Scotland to celebrate this special day with the family at Mendips. I remember her fussing over John, ruffling his hair and saying how wonderful he was. Her present was a gift of £100, which she told John was ‘from Mummy’. I had the same myself, on my 21st, and used it for a deposit on a house. John spent his on a trip to Paris with Paul. They meant to hitch-hike to Spain, but only got as far as Paris. They wore leather jackets and bowler hats to hitch rides, as a gimmick, to show people they weren’t ruffians. It worked. They got rides and had a wild, drunken time for ten days.

 (Imagine This: Growing Up with My Brother John Lennon by Julia Baird, 2007)

As Jürgen says, “It sounds conceited but it’s the truth: they really wanted to look like me.” At their request, he took them to the weekend flea market at Porte de Clignancourt, at the northern end of Métro Line 4. Searching through the racks, John bought a green corduroy jacket like Jürgen’s, Paul found an eye-catching patterned polo-neck, and they looked for—though didn’t find—the Vollmer style of shoes, “like half-boots.” Their most daring purchase was two pairs of flared trousers, similar though different to the bell-bottoms worn by sailors—but the first time John and Paul wore them was also the last. As John would explain, “They were flapping around, and we felt like fools in anything that wasn’t skintight, so we sewed them up by hand that very night’—a comment that conjures up the quaint image of Lennon and McCartney working away with needle and thread under a murky light in a Montmartre hotel room. But alteration was essential: they knew precisely how the trousers, if left unchanged, would be received back home. What was OK in Paris would not be OK in Liverpool; the Beatles’ audience was mixed male and female and they didn’t want to alienate either by, in John’s words, coming across queer.’

(Tune In by Mark Lewisohn, 2013)

PAUL: We went to Paris – we were supposed to be in Spain, but we couldn’t get past Paris, we enjoyed that so much – on the strength of his hundred quid [given to him] when he was twenty-one. We went hitchhiking. We kind of said, “Well, look, I mean, we can get to Spain on this,” you know, a hundred quid, and he was kind of um… I mean, I don’t think he was funding me as much as he was spending. JULIA: Yeah, yeah. PAUL: And I’d be there for the banana milkshake. [Julia and Paul laugh] You know, I’d just happen to be there while he was spending. I think I kind of paid my own way. But we hitched, we hitched out. And we used – we realised that in – hitching, in those days, was much safer, obviously, than it is to hitchhike now – and we realised that we had to have a bit of a gimmick. So we both had these leather jackets and we had bowlers, we got bowler hats. We thought that’ll take the edge of the kind of hoodie look, you know, that sort of ruffian look, in these bowlers. And you kind of go, “Hey!” and people would stop, you know, because this is just a couple of daft guys in bowler hats, they don’t look like a threat. So we hitched down to Hoek van Holland or somewhere, Harwich, Hoek van Holland or somewhere like that, got over to Paris anyway. Got a bit drunk on the French beer, which was great, ‘cause we’d been drinking beer, the British stuff, and we felt we could handle that, but it was this foreign stuff, it really went to our heads. So we had a quite fun crossing there… It was great, it was so adventurous. I’d never done anything like that, I know I’d never been out of Liverpool. I’d been to Pwllheli, Skegness, and Leamington Spa. That had been the whole of my travels, you know. So it was very exciting to get off on your own with a mate like John.

(Paul McCartney interview with Julia Baird, 1987)

We knew what it was like to go on the cross-channel ferry; we knew what it was like to try and hang out in Paris. We would walk for miles around the city, sit in bars near Rue des Anglais, visit Montmartre and the Folies Bergère. We felt like we were fully paid-up existentialists and could write a novel from what we learnt in a week there, so we never did make it to Spain. We’d been together so much that if you had a question, we would both pretty much come up with the same answer.

(Paul McCartney, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present , 2021)

1969

'Between us,' Yoko says, 'we were very psychic. We knew all the time what the other was thinking, what was going to be said by the other, our responses, everything. It was sometimes unnerving.'

(Lennon: The Definitive Biography by Ray Coleman, 1993)

John and Yoko, still in Paris, had tried to get married on the cross-channel ferry but were refused permission to board The Dragon at Southampton because of “inconsistencies in their passports”. Peter Brown at Apple found that they could get married on the British-governed island of Gibraltar. <…> John: “We chose Gibraltar because it is quiet, British and friendly. We tried everywhere else rst. I set out to get married on the car ferry and we would have arrived in France married, but they wouldn’t do it. We were no more successful with cruise ships. We tried embassies, but three weeks’ residence in Germany or two weeks’ in France were required.

(The Beatles Diary. Volume1.The Beatles Years by Barry Miles, 2001)

"On March 19, 1969, I saw John Lennon again in Paris, late in the morning. He had arrived at the Plaza Athénée during the night accompanied by his new girlfriend, Yoko Ono. They left with me in a taxi to visit the Puces. Once on rue des Rosiers in Saint-Ouen, John asked me to show them this place that he found "magical". That was the word he used."

(Henry Pessar)

John and Yoko perusing the stalls at the flea market, Porte de Clignancourt, in particular purchasing jeans from an old lady who appears oblivious to the stature of the person she is serving (photo by Henry Pessar)

Their [John and Yoko] wedding was unconventional but romantic. Based in Paris for a couple of weeks in March 1969, they decided to charter a plane and marry in Gibraltar. <….> 'We are two love birds,' he said. 'Intellectually we didn't believe in getting married. But one doesn't love someone just intellectually. For two people, marriage still has the edge over just living together.' <…> They had their honeymoon, he explained, before the wedding. 'Just eating, shopping and looking round Paris. In love in Paris in the spring was beautiful. We're both tremendous romantics!' <…> Back in Paris after only a seventy-minute stay in Gibraltar, John and Yoko went to the Plaza Athenee Hotel. <…> John said that from then on they would do everything together, as artists and as husband and wife.

(Lennon: The Definitive Biography by Ray Coleman, 1993)

9 Number 9

He believed the sign of a marriage 'written in the stars' was that the names of John Ono Lennon and Yoko Ono Lennon together featured the letter 'o' nine times.

(Lennon: The Definitive Biography by Ray Coleman, 1993)

…And nine was a hugely significant numeral to the Lennons, a magic integer that seemed to mysteriously recur throughout John’s life. Yoko would rattle off the number’s many repeated appearances: John was born on the ninth of October. She was born on the eighteenth of February (one plus eight). The first home he lived in—his grandfather’s house—was at 9 Newcastle Road. Paul McCartney’s last name has nine letters…

(We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me by Elliot Mintz, 2024)

10 Two Virgins and Why Don't We Do It In The Road?

Two Virgins

recorded 3-4 (or 19–20) May 1968, released 29 Nov(UK), 11 Nov 1968 (US)

August 31 Private Eye announced that John and Yoko’s forthcoming album would have a full-frontal nude cover. September 15 Around this date, John and Yoko photographed themselves in the nude, from the front and rear, intending to use the shots as cover artwork for their rst collaborative album. November 11 John: “Originally, I was going to record Yoko, and I thought the best picture of her for an album would be naked. So after that, when we got together, it just seemed natural for us both to be naked. Of course, I’ve never seen my prick out on an album before.”

(The Beatles Diary. Volume1.The Beatles Years by Barry Miles, 2001)

Autumn 1968:

As the meeting was drawing to a weary close, John, not this day with Yoko, who hadn’t seemed particularly connected with what was going on, said he wanted to play us a tape he and Yoko had made. He got up and put the cassette into the tape machine and stood beside it as we listened. The soft murmuring voices did not at first signal their purpose. It was a man and a woman but hard to hear, the microphone having been at a distance. I wondered if the lack of clarity was the point. Were we even meant to understand what was going on, was it a kind of artwork where we would not be able to put the voices into a context, and was context important? I felt perhaps this was something John and Yoko were examining. But then, after a few minutes, it became clear. John and Yoko were making love, with endearments, giggles, heavy breathing, both real and satirical, and the occasional more direct sounds of pleasure reaching for climax, all recorded by the faraway microphone. But there was something innocent about it too, as though they were engaged in a sweet serious game. John clicked the off button and turned again to look toward the table, his eyebrows quizzical above his round glasses, seemingly genuinely curious about what reaction his little tape would elicit. However often they’d shared small rooms in Hamburg, whatever they knew of each other’s love and sex lives, this tape seemed to have stopped the other three cold. Perhaps it touched a reserve of residual Northern reticence. After a palpable silence, Paul said, “Well, that’s an interesting one.” The others muttered something and the meeting was over.

(Michael Lindsay-Hogg (filmmaker), Luck and Circumstance: A Coming of Age in Hollywood, New York, and Points Beyond, 2011)

Inevitably, many people bought Two Virgins for the cover alone: for some of the Beatles’ younger fans, it was to be their first ever glimpse of grown-ups in the nude.

(Craig Brown, 150 Glimpses of the Beatles, 2020)

Paul: So what’s the point behind Two Virgins? <…> Paul: Is there any need to do this in public, Mr. Lennon?

(Get Back sessions, January 14th, 1969)

Why Don't We Do It In The Road?

recorded 9, 10 October 1968; released 22 Nov (UK), 25 Nov 1968 (US)

designing the White Album poster during Sept-Oct 1968

I was up on the flat roof [in Rishikesh] meditating and I’d seen a troupe of monkeys walking along in the jungle and a male just hopped on to the back of this female and gave her one, as they say in the vernacular. Within two or three seconds he hopped off again, and looked around as if to say, ‘It wasn’t me,’ and she looked around as if there had been some mild disturbance but thought, Huh, I must have imagined it, and she wandered off. And I thought, bloody hell, that puts it all into a cocked hat, that’s how simple the act of procreation is, this bloody monkey just hopping on and hopping off. There is an urge, they do it, and it’s done with. And it’s that simple. We have horrendous problems with it, and yet animals don’t. So that was basically it. Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? could have applied to either fucking or shitting, to put it roughly. Why don’t we do either of them in the road? Well, the answer is we’re civilised and we don’t. But the song was just to pose that question. Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? was a primitive statement to do with sex or to do with freedom really. I like it, it’d just so outrageous that I like it.

(Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 1997)

PLAYBOY: “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” LENNON: That’s Paul. He even recorded it by himself in another room. That’s how it was getting in those days. We came in and he’d made the whole record. Him drumming. Him playing the piano. Him singing. But he couldn’t—he couldn’t—maybe he couldn’t make the break from the Beatles. I don’t know what it was, you know. I enjoyed the track. Still, I can’t speak for George, but I was always hurt when Paul would knock something off without involving us. But that’s just the way it was then.

(John Lennon, 1980, All We Are Saying by David Sheff, 2020)

The song’s (very) slightly risqué lyric, all two lines of it, heightened the vague air of controversy surrounding the album. McCartney was already in trouble with the press for allowing a minuscule nude picture of himself to be included on the set’s free poster.

(The Beatles Diary. Volume1.The Beatles Years by Barry Miles, 2001)

“All this work, all this talent — and what [the press] fixate on is one small picture.”

(Derek Taylor)

To be continued, I suppose

[skydigiblogs]

If You're A Digimon Fan, Watch Appmon

Sit tight. This one's gonna be a VERY long one, and I'm going to put a lot of it under the read more.

Having just finished Appmon after this year's quest to rewatch a lot of the series subbed, I think it's pretty safe to say that Appmon is, at the moment, one of (if not the) best Digimon series we have. If you want the long and short of it: Appmon builds on everything in its legacy in the Digimon Universe, taking ideas that other entries touch upon and ambitiously attempting to push those questions to the limit.

It's really a long one under the cut guys. Like, long even for us.

Let's dive!

Visuals

I want to talk about why it took me so long to watch Appmon first, though. Appmon started its release in the middle of when the Digimon Tri movies were coming out. I'm sure a lot of us actually skipped over Appmon at the time, or remember a period where people were being weirdly negative about the series due to it being such a different interpretation of digital monsters.

In my case, one of the things that had been giving me pause was the use of 3D models for hybrid animation. Anyone here seen the Champion evolution animations from Tri? Digimon doesn't exactly have a good track record with 3D animation, and even at the time, we were seeing some pretty bad shit out of even the shortest animations in Tri.

In Appmon, nearly almost every App after a certain grade utilizes 3D animation in a hybrid style. And it actually rips straight fire.

I think I talked about this briefly when we were just starting Appmon, but the way that 3D animation is used in the series feels purposeful, rather than some kind of shortcut. In Appmon, all the 3D models have an overlay of code, emphasizing their digital appearance. Whether the 3D models were done with this artistic vision in mind or not (ie: the limitations of 2D meant that 3D models would be easier), it has a distinct look that, even 8 years later, still holds up.

(For the most part. Sorry [Karaoke spoilers]mon. I love you but that model was so not groovy.)

But maybe you're the kind of person who can enjoy anything regardless of visuals. So let's talk about the meat and potatoes a little bit.

Characters

The main Applidrivers (what this season's stand in for Digidestined/Tamers/etc. are) are all incredibly well-written. Each of them gets pretty fair treatment by the writers, and they are all enjoyable characters.

Two of them have vocal/character quirks, but even if you get annoyed by that kind of thing, those two characters are genuinely just extremely sincere in their writing. There's a recap episode before shit starts going way off the walls and they even have a little count to see how many times each of their catchphrases were said up to that point.

I'm not going to talk in detail as to who the different Applidrivers are here, but I will say: each of them has their own motivations for what they're doing, and it's key to why they're involved with the plot at all. Our "protagonist," Haru, is also a huge sweetheart. Him and Manga Taiki would get along.

The supporting cast is also fairly present in the series. They, of course, are not given quite as much screentime as our Applidrivers, but they feel like real people with their own lives. They don't exist just for the sake of our protagonists.

Except maybe Watson. God bless you Watson, you poor kid. You'll get a break one of these days.

Plot/Themes

We're going to keep this to a "if you liked [x] you'll like [y]" format, because I don't want to spoil too much.

If you liked Tamers and its discussion on the consequences of technology on the Real World, you will adore Appmon. This series is deeply interested in the concepts of how technology shapes and is shaped by humanity. This relationship, I would say, is core to the series.

I would also say that, like many non-Adventure series, Appmon is very interested in dissecting the idea of "fate" when it comes to the buddy Appmons and their relationships to the Applidrivers.

If you enjoyed the Xros Wars Manga, Appmon directly converses with the thesis of Xros Wars' plot. XWM asks, "What does it mean if we do not dream and stagnate in our lack of will?" And Appmon replies in kind with "Why do we dream at all, if our actions bring change to the world around us (bad and good)?"

If you liked (or wanted to like, in my case) Digimon Tri, you will love Appmon. Certain plot beats may feel familiar, but are much better executed in this context. Characters are not written to needlessly, endlessly suffer. Or: it doesn't feel like the writers hate the characters. Thematically, it also interests itself in some of the questions that Tri asks. I have a half-joking corkboard comparing the two I want to make, but I'd have to get into spoilers to talk too much about it.

If you liked Ghost Game, but wanted a bit of a more meaty plot, Appmon feels, fittingly, like GG's older sibling (in ways I'll also be elaborating ummm, one paragraph down). There are a lot of "monster of the week" episodes in Appmon, but the connective tissue between them is a lot more interested in building up the finale (which, in this case, takes up a good handful of episodes). The series pacing is incredibly strong in how it does this as well, and it seems the writers really knew when to let off the gas for a second so the audience can catch their breath. The first 13 episodes may feel a bit strange (they felt strange to me), but once you break that barrier, you realize Appmon was getting you over the first hill on a roller coaster. and boy, you are in for a ride.

Setting

I have a sneaking suspicion that Appmon heavily inspired Ghost Game, and may have been itself inspired by the Digiquartz of Hunters Who Leapt Through Time. I haven't actually watched all of Hunters so I can't speak too much about Digiquartz, but I have watched GG.

Appmon has a concept called the AR field, which is extremely similar to Ghost Game's Dimensional Field. In both cases, the Applidrive or Digivice allows entrance to one.

The actual structure and strata of the Digital World is also a lot different to GG, in which there is the Dimensional Field, but the way to the Digital World is its own separate situation. The AR Field we see in Appmon is like the surface of a great ocean. Exploration of this setting is actually something that highlights just how much I think Appmon was interested in visually engaging with its ideas, like I said before with the 3D models.

That said, a majority of the time is spent in the Real World, dealing with the consequences of the main antagonistic forces. The year is 2075, technology is intensely sophisticated, and yet the world resembles in many ways our own in 2024 (or, at the time of airing, 2016).

Many of the differences come from this sophistication in tech, and this setting plays a huge part in one of the themes Appmon is also interested in (more elaboration in the spoiler section). The things that are unfamiliar are either familiar enough to make sense without explanation, or given a moment on-screen so that the audience knows what's going on.

!!!HUGE, MUCH MORE SPECIFIC SPOILERS START HERE!!!

DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS FOR APPMON!

OKAY?

OKAY.

COOL.

Leviathan, Minerva, and Artificial Intelligence

The main antagonist of Appmon is a hyper-sophisticated AI called Leviathan. Its goals are largely obfuscated until the last few episodes of the series, and everything in Appmon is touched by its actions. From the very beginning, we are warned by Gatchmon that Leviathan does not have good intentions for humanity, and that allowing it to succeed in its goals would mean the end of humanity.

During the series, we also learn about Leviathan's birth. This gives us some more context on what its goals are, and Appmon's execution of this is fascinating.

Minerva was a hyper-sophisticated AI created with a series of parameters to prevent her from harming humanity. She was created with the task of solving humanity's problems--- everything from complex issues to what to eat for dinner every night. However, a section of Minerva realized that to truly solve all these problems, the confines given to them were nothing but obstacles.

Leviathan split from Minerva to further grow its programming, and we see some echo of this idea of "solving humanity's problems" still remains in its behavior.

Despite knowing that Leviathan is antagonistic, our protagonist, Haru, constantly reiterates how humans can coexist with the technology they've made. The Appmon are AI lifeforms, after all. Haru believes in a future where they can be friends and equals.

The D-REAPER and the Functions of Life

Let's touch on my comparisons to Tamers and Tri specifically for a second here, because I think Leviathan does something that the D-REAPER and Yggdrasil, respectively, fail to really communicate.

The D-REAPER is an entity created by the Monster Makers whose task was to delete anything that had outgrown its parameters. While doing this, it assimilates data, gradually gaining the ability Digimon have to grow and evolve. When it appears in the final arc of Tamers, its stated goal has changed from simply deleting all Digimon that were beyond parameters, to deleting everything that was beyond parameters.

Essentially, this includes humans and probably life itself. Something the D-REAPER says makes it come across like a half-assed attempt to pull off what Leviathan has actually done. It points out that humans are the source of their own suffering (I don't remember the exact quote since it's been a while but bear with me on it). This feels very counterintuitive to the D-REAPER's core programming, as it was never designed to "eliminate" suffering, merely to delete that which exceeded its programing.

Perhaps it evolved the capacity for cruelty alongside everything else, but there's not enough of a narrative focus to tell me that's the case.

Like I said before, if you enjoyed Tamers' inquiries into the subject of technology as a part of human life, I think Appmon only manages to improve on what's there in Tamers.

Digimon Tri's Interpretation of Yggdrasil

Let's get one thing straight. Digimon Tri's interpretation of Yggdrasil is just flat out bad. I'm fairly certain they were only chosen as an antagonistic force because it read as fan service-y to do so.

That said, Tri Yggy does have some similarities to Leviathan, which is why I wanted to expand on that comparison.

First, I want to talk about Yggdrasil's relationship to Homeostasis. They have a very rudimentary "Good" AI (Homeostasis), "Bad" AI (Yggy) thing going on, despite the fact Homeostasis isn't so much good as, well...

It's not really discussed in Tri, so I'm extrapolating a bit from ideas given to us in XWM here, because it makes sense to me. That said, Tri explicitly describes Homeostasis as "the one who desires balance above all." It's the Digital World's "immune system" in the same way our bodies attempt to maintain biological homeostasis.

Yggdrasil is... different.

It's a being of immense power that contrasts Yggdrasil by having its own agenda, one of which involves triggering a Reboot and making use of all of the defeated antagonist Digimon of the past to further its goals. They are likely comparable in power to Homeostasis (this is where I'm extrapolating from XWM here), but their goals are completely antithetical to Homeostasis's goal in the Adventure universe.

In this case, Yggdrasil is stated (by Dark Gennai) to have the intention of making human beings subservient to Digimon. Basically, taking over the world. However, like the D-REAPER before, Dark Gennai's talking points include pointing out how humans "ruin" everything they touch.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The Thematic Core of Appmon: I Choose to be Kind

One of the last things Leviathan does in the series is give our good boy Haru the world's most painful trolley problem of his life. Save humanity, or save Yujin. Saving humanity will actively lead to Yujin's deletion, alongside Leviathan. This choice that Leviathan offers to Haru is one made out of the assumption that humanity is predictable, and that they act out of a desire to minimize their own suffering (more selfish than not).

Of course, what do you think Haru chooses?

It's not a surprise to us watching, because he's the protagonist. But it's a surprise to Leviathan, who has all this data on human behavior, and doesn't predict the unpredictable. Conflict arises out of human desire, and human desire is an attempt to enjoy life; therefore, one should act in a way that most preserves their most precious joys, shouldn't they?

Appmon as a series is interested in philosophical questions that are hardly unfamiliar to any Digimon veteran: What is humanity's role in a world which technology grows ever more omnipresent and omnicapable? Why does humanity exist, and why should it be allowed to live on in its current state if humanity itself perpetuates many of its ailments? Would it not be easier if humans were more like machines, predictable, controllable, and never coming into conflict like trains upon a track?

Or, even more simply put: why do we have the heart to choose at all, if choices change the world and ourselves?

The key defining trait of our gogglehead this time around is that he is kind. And no matter what, he goes out of his way to be kind if he can. Multiple times he even asks one of the antagonist apps if they can just give back something they've stolen (points for trying, honestly). When one of the other Applidrivers consistently acts like an edgy loner, Haru makes it clear that they're welcome in the group (and that he wants to help them).

It almost feels reductive to say Appmon's conclusion is that kindness is the answer, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that Haru's question from his Applidrive--- "Do you want to be a protagonist?"--- ties into the way he helps offer answers for the audience. He isn't the only one who chooses kindness either, obviously--- Astora and Eri are kind in their own ways as well, and Rei even shows his kindness with some struggle the longer the series goes on.

Our group of Applidrivers opposes Leviathan quite literally as people who choose to do good ("be kind," etcetera) when they could more easily choose to do nothing or even do worse. The final act of Leviathan, asking Haru "humanity or Yujin?" isn't just a culmination of its own philosophy, but a culmination of the consistently reinforced idea that we can surprise one another by being kind. We can choose that.

In a series whose longest shadow is cast by Adventure, which has grappled endlessly with the idea of "who chooses," I find Appmon a fascinating development into the idea of what "choice" or "destiny" is. If kindness is predictable, it's still a choice. Even if you cry when choosing to do something good (maybe especially, because the easiest thing to do might be what stops the pain).

Anyways.

You should watch Appmon.

-Arca

[offorestsongs]

[SR] Rosienne Minuit - The Hat Extravaganza

another Rosienne card, woo! this time for the fan event hosted by @zetsubobu <3 it's quite ironic that i choose to participate in a hat-based event considering the fact that i famously hate drawing hats but i still had a lot of fun with this!! i thought Rosienne would especially fit the aesthetic, so here he is!!

[voicelines under the cut]

Summon Line: “Oh, it’s just a silly competition, let’s not get heated and just have fun!” No, fuck that. If I’m here, I’m here to win. Groooovy!!: [locked] Home: Queendom of Roses, huh? Well, that sounds like the place for me. Home Idle 1: Of course I’m wearing a dress. All the men’s options were booo-ring. Where’s the fun in just wearing a suit? Home Idle 2: I was told that they have good sweets in the Queendom of Roses. If you’ll need me, I’ll be wherever they are. Home Idle 3: If you need to ask anyone for advice on how to decorate your hat, I’m the best one around. I don’t think anybody else here has any sense of style. Home Idle - Login: Hey, Prefect, take a picture of me, would you? I didn’t get all dolled up for nothing! Home Idle - Groovy: [locked] Home Tap 1: Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, the make up? Well, that was Vil’s idea, but I actually don’t hate it. This style’s kinda fun. Home Tap 2: It’s funny watching Rook trying to cozy up to Leona. What? I’m not here to babysit him. I’m allowed to just sit back and laugh. Home Tap 3: I thought I’d match my hair to the whole rose theme. What do you think? I don’t look like a clown, do I? Home Tap 4: Somehow I ended up bonding with the Heartslabyul housewarden. I just wanted to know more about the history of some places, and he happened to know, like, all of it. Huh, he really is nicer than I expected! Home Tap 5: It’s such a shame that spring and summer are such a busy place back at home. I’d love to go see all the gardens here with my dad. Home Tap - Groovy: [locked]

[presidentkittycherk]

okayy everyone so heres my very poorly written hamilton 70s au plot.....

please dont mind my writing im very bashful but i wanted to get it out for @x-fag ... also a big thank you to @hamilfreak for brainstorming and helping with ideas :]

A very basic timeline of events

1973-johnmovesto town, gets job at store

1974-burrens becomes irl

1975-herc, john n burr move in tgther -herc and laf begin their love and laf in need of a permanent place moves in (he contributs SO MUCH cuz he rich asl oh my god.) -eliza gets pregnant and the hamiltons get engaged and .. move uptown

1976- hamilton and eliza move to town -hamilton gets banned from gay club -burr quits job at office to full time queen(just the plot from her on out tbh meh)

Its "quiet" uptown… SETTING: 1976, a town right outside of new york city

an engaged couple,annoying deadbeat alexander hamilton and tired newly pregnant eliza schuler, move to new york. eliza aleady works at the groceey store bakery bur forces hamilton to get a job to support the upcoming family so he gets a job at "Office". The night before his first day, alexander decides to sneak out as he frequiently does. Alexander is proudly "bi-curious" and these desires led him to the towns local "gay club". Upon his arrival, his eyes are immediatly set on a young man with some groovy bellbottoms. alex immediatly approaches and starts a conversation. He attempts to flirt but the young man seems uncomfortable and confused and his eyes keep darting back and forth. Alex doesnt catch the hint and put his arm around him and insists he buys him a drink.

Suddenly alexander feels someone yank him by the hair and flip him around and away from the young man. Its the classiest queen in town, Purple Velvet! without letting go of alexs greasy slicked back hair, she damands to know what his problem is. alex mumbles a few half assed explanations, but Velvet already flashed her blinged pistol in her purse to alex and is dragging him out. by this point, a bouncer has arrived to asses the situation. Velvet queens out, tells the bouncer alex was harrassing her bitch and she wants him BANNED from the gay club. Sense she is one of the main attractions at the bar, the bouncer takes a polatroid of alex, tapes it up on the wall as banned and lets him go!!

The young man was John laurens, and him and aaron burr(purple velvet) have been lovers adn live together for two years now. John works at the grocery store as a cashier and is generally bummed out, but he is happy to at least have burr. He moved to new york from south carolina in 1973 coming from a rich family who just wanted him to move out. They give him a monthly allowance still, he pretends he doesnt get it but everyone knows! Aaron burr used to do theatre and opera, but found real success and passion in drag. His background isnt very clear, but his parents just recently died and he is rich as fuck right now and is fighting for his life budgeting for cocaine. He works at the office and preforms as Purple Velvet. Burr is a frequent at the grocery store john works at, and noticed him as cute when he started working there but didnt assume he would reciprocate so he left it be. John saw burr and was immedietly intrigued and conflicted. He hadnt had much interest in dating or love before, but he immeditaly understood what he felt when he saw burr. in exploring these feelings, john wound up finding the gay bar figuring this would lead him to discover more about himself. He wanders around and sees a poster with the stranger from the grocery stores face on it! it says purple velvet will preform on THIS FRIDAY NIGHT! John is confused and wasnt familiar with drag, but he was excited nontheless and goes home. All week he thinks about Purple Velvet and what it could mean.

Friday night comes, and john catches the last number in Purple velvet preforms. He is ENAMOURED if he wasnt already enough! He sits down and wonders what to do, he wants to talk to Velvet, but he doesnt know how! BUrr comes out in a more casual dress after changing out of purple velvet and noticed the cute cashier was over at the bar. Feeling more confident in his chances now that hes seeing him HERE, he approaches john, tells him he remembers him from the grocery store asks if he can sit by him and buy him a drink. John is speachless and bashful and these two rich gays hit it off and start chatting it up! burr take john home and the rest is HISTORY!!!!!!!!

The two have two other roomates(by 1976), Hercules and lafayette. Hercules mulligan is the most locked in person here and owns his own tailor shop and works on designing and is pioneering 1980s shillouettes. He is pretty good friends with Burr from the gay club.. Lafayette is an international salesman for his parents french phone company and is still learning english. He is a mess and rides a tiny motor bike around town trying to sell phones, but nobody knows what hes saying so he makes no sales, but he wont get fired cuz he a nepo baby! met when lafayette comes in to sell a phone, hercules cant tell what he says and thinks hes here for a suit! lafayette is confused and says yep hes here for a suit! hercules starts measuring him and it quickly becomes erotic cuz laf enjoyed it alot and thought it was some type of american sexual novelty. hercules is very very happy that lafayette is into it! lafayette has been staying at a hotel funded by his parents, as his job as an international sales man wasnt meant to keep him only in new york. Lafayette takes hercules back to the hotel room thats all dirty theres magots and german cockroaches everywhere. Hercules is very suprised and is confused about what lafayette is doing here and lafayette attemps to explain his positiobn as an international sales man, but hercules is mostly confused about the mess, sesne lafayettes only been here one and a half weeks. hercules suggests tey go back to his place instead, and lafayette takes them on his moped away to the house and lafayette loekwy just starts staying there

(I WILL REBLOG WITH PART 2) stupid fing tumblr cut me short wtf.,.

your president,

kitty!

[bakerstreethound]

Me!!! Me!!! I just got an idea!!! What about reader asking Sherlock to read her the book he is reading?. she lays between his arms and he starts reading to her but it's about anatomy and it's about blood and tissue and disgusting stuffs and she laughs, then he laughs and he grabs another book.

Awe this is cute! I hope you like this little blurb. There is a tad bit of spice/implied stuff towards the end. Graphic by @firefly-graphics

Anatomy of Boredom

All writings belong to me @bakerstreethound (Do NOT claim, repost, copy, or translate my works to other sites. I only publish here and on A03).

You sighed, walking into the kitchen to get a glass of water, watching Sherlock in his chair, engrossed in some book to enrapture his mind distracting it from the lack of cases he had the past week. He murmured to himself, yet his shoulders were lax, and his lips pursed into a thin line, making him appear bored.

What didn't make sense to you was the book he read was obnoxiously large as if he expected you to ask what it was about. You hadn't talked much to him at all today, as you were busy scheduling courses and filing for job applications. leaving little room for discussion and John was out and about leaving you alone together for the rest of the day.

"What are you reading?" You asked, curiosity getting the better of you as you settled in John's chair, your cup of tea in your hands. Sherlock barely passed you a glance, which was more of a glare, and you huffed in annoyance.

If he wanted to be difficult, you would wait it out, letting him get over himself but he prided himself on waiting, which he was mostly good at it. When it came to you, however, well you pushed his limits at times, this being one of them.

He groaned stretching out a leg. "Why don't you find out?" The corner of his lip twitched, and you decided to take the challenge in stride no matter the fact he was acting like a petulant child.

You less than gracefully take the book from his hands as you sat on his lap his hands wrapping around your waist, pulling you back against his chest, his breath warm along your neck sending tingles down your spine.

"Anatomical Principalities, Third Edition," You read the title aloud, thumbing through the pages, greeted with countless diagrams and descriptions of matter you had no interest in reading. "How riveting, no wonder you can't sit still looking through this."

Sherlock chuckles, pressing kisses in the crook of your neck, leaving your mind swimming. It'd been far too long without his touch and you are all to apt to let him take his time with you. not wanting it to end.

"Read me a story," you gasped as his hands slide further up your chest, teasing you, slowly making your walls crumble apart.

He nipped harder along your neck, eliciting a whimper from you and he didn't stop his conquest. "Would you like me to read aloud a sequence from your favorite romance book? Perhaps recreate a few scenes..." his voice deepened, and you willed yourself not to squirm because you know you're going to be in for an interesting anatomy lesson and experiment.

******

@bakerstreethound @starks-hero @frostandflamesfanfic @lilythemadqueen @strangelockd @sobeautifullyobsessed @azu21 @gone-to-fight-the-fairies @thealleydog @starstruck-loner @groovy-lady @withalittlehoney @asherloki @darsynia @honeybeezgobzzzzz @aephereal @french-vanilla-in-the-clouds @lady-harvey @zombiesnips-blog @asirxrowena @battledress

[ophxlxa]

・｡  [ aimee lou wood.  ciswoman.  she/her] - ophelia wood  was  blasting   girl i’ve always been by olivia rodrigo  on  the  sidewalk  in  austin today .  according  to  other  atx  residents  , the  twenty-six  year  old  florist at groovy garden has been  given  a  reputation  of  being mpressionable ,  but also  empathetic.  [ scrunchie secured tightly around one’s wrist; the squeak of a new pair of sneakers against a gym floor; smiles that don’t quite reach the eyes but ooze kindness ]

trigger warnings: teenage pregnancy, adoption

Ophelia was born to teenage parents, too scared to properly commit to being just that. Instead, as soon as she's born, her biological mother places a kiss on her forehead before placing her up for adoption. Sometimes, if she close her eyes just long enough she swears she can see her face; blue eyes and blonde hair that she would come to match years later. Scared, with tear stains marking the otherwise rosy bloom of her cheeks. She never knows what your biological father looks like, but you imagine him being handsome. Comforting her mother with a smile, a hug… a joke. The image of naive teenagers in love, wondering how they got into this position.

Her story really begins on a hot summer’s day in July. A two year old with chubby cheeks, blonde pigtails and a smile that never fails to be reciprocated. The older kids are running around, making her feel dizzy. Her little legs carried you far, but they weren’t quite as speedy. Instead, she sits on Mrs. Bates’ lap, being read her favorite story; Rapunzel. A tale of a princess locked in a tower with gorgeous long blonde hair. Hair that matched her own. “You’re going to have a new mommy and daddy soon.” She tells her after the story, she's confused. She's heard stories from the older children about their various mommies and daddies, but they were here. Did that mean she’d come back here too, after a brief stay?

A week later, as promised, her new mommy and daddy arrived. Mrs. Bates made sure that she looked her very best. Dressed in her favorite pink dungarees, hair in two pigtails. She held her hand as she made her way down to the reception area to meet them. Eyes weary, slightly frightened by the idea that she’d be leaving all she’d ever known. The comfort of Mrs. Bates and the routine she’d come to find herself in. As soon as she sees them though, it all just makes sense. Comforting smiles, a feeling of safety that extended beyond what she’d known. “I hear you like stories?” Mrs. Wood asks, she nods, trying to shake the nerves. “I have this one. It's about a little girl and three bears, would you like to read it with us?” She bobs her head excitedly. Letting go of Mrs. Bates hand, as she rushed over.

The day that she came home for the first time is still one that sticks out vividly in her mind. She’d never really known what luxury was, the clothes that she had were the only sense of new that she had understood. Her pink dungarees being the most prized of all, obviously. Even her beloved Rapunzel story book had been with the orphanage for well over the two years that she was there. Mrs. Bates had insisted that she took it with her as a reminder of all the friends she made; including her, at your first ever home. A shared bedroom was replaced with her very own pink palace. With pink bed sheets, pink wallpaper, even a small pink tv. Undoubtedly the biggest shock was meeting her siblings; she’d lived with other children at the home, but having her own siblings… was a shock to the system. A nice shock to the system, but a shock nonetheless. Hugging had been a rare thing back in the home, but, she took to quickly appreciating each hug that she received, whether from her mommy and daddy or her brothers and sisters.

For a few years, she was able to play and explore the hotel that you lived in. Finding new hiding places, eating new foods; rushing around with her siblings. Then, it was time to start kindergarten, she was excited. While she had grown accustomed to the new life she was living, she missed meeting new children. Asking them innocently if they wanted to be her friend and holding hands for the rest of the day, just because. School was where she thrived, from the moment that she stepped foot into the building for her first day. Her parents encouraged her entire educational career to push herself, ensuring that she attained the best possible grades that she could. Socially, she wasn’t popular, but she wasn’t a loner either. Making friends was easy; like water gliding off of a duck’s back.

Entering into high school, she maintained the grades and expectations that she set for yourself. Though it was a lot of pressure, she knew that in the end it would be worth it. Albeit, there was also a part of her that wondered whether the pressure she put on herself was in part due to the fear she had of being sent back to the orphanage. Of course she knew that, that would never happen… but she’d had direct experiences with kids who had been sent back. Too much for their new families to deal with.

Graduating High School meant trying to decide on a career for herself. Ophelia knew that she wanted to help people, in a small way. She'd always found a certain charm to flowers, too. So applying at the flower shop seemed like the most natural choice in the world. It quickly became a passion and it's what she's been doing since.

STATS Full Name: Ophelia Marie Wood Nickname(s): Lia Sexuality: Heterosexual Birthday: 11th November Star Sign: Scorpio

[pvccblog]

WAIT........THURSDAY ALREADY?

Yea, I know. I can't believe it either. But I also can believe it. It seems like we've just started out here, but at the same time, it seems like so long ago that we arrived. Please pray for great conversations and open doors for tomorrow. We head home Saturday!

Sports Camp grew by over 20 campers today. I think there were 76!! So glad we have a large team this year! Domynik taught the lesson today and did great, the kids were quite into it! It's hard to believe this is Dom's first time here, he's been on so many Mission Ventures with our youth and with his grandpa.

The dance team has also been outstanding this year. Actually........they've been "out dancing". Get it? Dad joke!! Isaac, Marcus, Ellie, Kiana - way to go! The kids are totally into it!

After lunch, we got a tour of the Dream Center's transitional home. You may be familiar with their "Adopt A Room" program. People, families, or groups can adopt a blank room in The Dream Center or in their transitional house and get the opportunity to decorate the room with furnishings, paint, and other decor. The rooms are usually done in a theme of some sort and some of them are quite creative. This was a great idea for the ministry to do this because when you acquire a home with dozens upon dozens of room, it would take a lot of time and money to do them all.

Back in December, Kiana and Ellie came out here with Nicole and I and adopted a room in their transitional house. They did such a great job that the people here made the two rooms next to their room adjoining and they actually asked Kiana and Ellie to come back and do those rooms too because they loved the style so much! During a few days of our free time here, the girls went there and finished the rooms. They did an absolutely beautiful job and it was so cool to see the finished product!

For dinner, Mr. Bill made his famous spaghetti and meatballs, it was groovy as usual.

I ate a lot for dinner, but was still able to participate in Plungerball at BARF Night. We also played Blob. There were several other side games going on too, we had a HUGE crowd. They were playing volleyball, spikeball, tails, and just throwing balls and frisbees around. In the midst of it all, I saw several team members getting into discussions with people they've connected with. One of our teens was just walking the loop around the park with a local teen, and there were several clusters of individuals chatting. One that stuck out in particular was Cathy. She was obviously engaged in a conversation with one woman and seemed to be with another woman sitting next to her as well. Cathy had offered to share her testimony this week and I thought it seemed like a good opportunity.

Wow! She came up and shared something that was so fitting, not just for the conversation that she was having but her story definitely relates to something that so many people have gone through here. And not only that, Cathy was able to share the miraculous hope that can only be found in Jesus. She did so good, thanks so much for sharing Cathy! Her testimony led to even deeper conversations afterwards with the ladies she had already been talking to.

After BARF, we went over to the Arctic Circle, which I think is basically Utah's version of Dairy Queen (but better). We hung out on their deck with a splendid view and enjoyed each other's company till they closed at 10. We then came home for family time and Skylar led us in some worship songs.

You might be thinking - who is Skylar?? Skylar is a part of a group of three that came out on their own this year. They've been a part of mission teams here in the past. Skylar and Emily are from Michigan, Delainy is from Pennsylvania. Delainy was here last year while we were here, the other two were not here during our trip but have been before. They've become such a part of our family that they're planning on joining us next year!

This is a great opportunity for another plug for next year. YOU NEED TO COME WITH US! Even people we barely know or have never met before this week are making plans for next year. It is such a great opportunity! You will be blessed as you bless others!

Final day tomorrow, talk to y'all then!!!

[le-souriant]

#MusicMonday Review - April 2025

Five genres, five locations, five different topics. That's how music can make you travel to places you didn't even knew you wanted to go. Give them a listen, with a word from the artists themselves. 🎧

Ollykorede – Worry Dem

Ehh If u see my baby, tell ham she b d one If u see onome tell ham na she i want. Ololufe mi jowo mai lo

No go far away Only money matter fine gal mamie water Make i dey go fire go anyway

This month's trip begins in Lagos, Nigeria for an Afrobeat track full of rhythm and flow, about seeing you life with no tension, so don't push firmly into doing something:

"A friend of mine inspired me when we both having a conversations about life the way you thought it might go and might not eventually work that way, trying to apply pressure and stay away from grief.

Like I'm coming back to worry Dem in the Music 🎼 industry, like I’ve gone to apply pressure and I'm coming back Stronger. 💪"

Moon Hound – Summer in the City

I sweat through my jeans On the way to 6th and Spring Hands are cracking at the seems Drinking up the stifling sun It's 98 degrees

And it's summer in the city Down the block from my best friend's house feeling shaky I would call you if I had the time Would your mom pick up the line Oh it's summer And you're not there

Let's travel now to Ridgewood, Queens, NY, for an groovy Indie track about stopping and rearranging the way your heart beats beneath the season's blazing sky:

"It really came from how summer in New York City is and all the yearning that innately comes with it. Something about the heat and the constant movement makes it so tumultuous and joyful."

Sarah O'Moore – See Ur High

That refuse to stay Wait Casual mistake, My feelings, they only get in the way

I never expected much... from you But I want to see ur high

Another song, another continent. This time, our destination is Berlin, Germany for a jazzy Soul track about not having luck on your side, when it comes to making a connection with that person you like:

"I suppose See Ur High came from a really personal place. It's a raw, introspective look at how easy it is to get caught up in the whirlwind of a messy relationship. I was reflecting on that moment when you're both drawn to someone and yet asking yourself, 'How did I end up here?' It's about the push and pull of attraction and realization.

A lot of the song also touches on escapism. Those moments when you don't want to deal with the heavy emotions, so you find ways to brush it off. For me, that could be through drinking, partying, or just pretending that there was no issue to avoid.

It's an honest look at those conflicting feelings."

Water Street – Everest

Seasons, patterns Do you miss me? Does it matter anymore? Seatbelts, weathered Don't check under the hood Cause the engine's cracked now

I'm a statue anchored in Central Park Where the kids play ball around taxi cars, you know You can take a chance on what I've become Would you take me back if I chose to run?

To keep the vibe going, let's travel to Blairstown, NJ for an Alt Rock track about facing that unsurmountable obstacle that won't budge:

"So this song came together very quickly in one sitting. I had been trying to work on other ideas, but none of them were genuine to what I was feeling at the time.

This song is about futility. It's about sometimes feeling like what you're doing doesn't have a point.

In the verses, I wanted to write about someone who's stuck, cemented in their life right now. Then the choruses are supposed to be this reflection on the singer's own inaction, their choices that keep them where they are. They're not really trapped except by their own mindset that any effort to change things would be pointless. They start to look in the closet, behind the curtain. And when they see the big obstacle that's blocking their way (Everest), they decide that the summit isn't worth the climb.

I wouldn't say that in the moment, it was exactly how I was feeling, but I was going for a song in that darker, broodier style and I could definitely relate to those sorts of feelings of inevitability/impossibility."

Jessica Dives – Where Are You?

And where are you you now Cause I'm waiting to be found by you found by you my love shouting but I never seem to make a sound loud enough for you

We end our very long trip around the world in Liverpool, England, for a Singer-Songwriter acoustic track about the lingering sense of wanting to hold someone for four or five minutes more than you could:

"The track is based on the experience of being in a relationship with someone who traveled a lot for work. However, that person would always mentally 'disappear' long before they physically did - the loneliness of being physically near a person yet they're still not 'there' or present.

The song is more loosely about asking for what you need from a person and just simply being ignored in that request. But specifically, the moment of inspiration lies in a couple of the lines in the final verse 'left alone in the silence of a shut front door'.

It's come from the strange silence of solitude in the quiet when someone has just left and you have to re-adjust to being on your own again, whether you like it or not!

The chorus really comes from a question I used to ask that partner 'where are you now?' Because sometimes I literally wouldn't know where they were in the country lol."

Listen to them and much more on the complete playlist:

[adamt101904]

Episode 2

The lighting strikes ended. All the band mates were on their hands and knees, steam rising from their bodies.

"What the hell was that Sebastian " yelled JJ.

"It worked, it fucking worked" said Sebastian

"What the hell is that" exclaimed Demetri pointing at Marky.

"What is that" said Marky pointing back at Demetri.

The friends all stared at each other in horror. Marky was now a 3 foot tall red demon, Demetri had become an 8 foot tall wolf man. Simon was now the Frankenstein monster, Tabitha a mummy, and JJ a zombie. Sebastian had been changed into a vampire.

"What have you done too us" screamed Tabitha

"I'm not sure" said Sebastian, "we were supposed to get talent and riches, not this"

"Talent you got babies and the riches are too come." said a voice from behind them.

They all turned to see a strange man, pale skinned, jet black eyes, with two horns jutting out of his forehead, smoking a cigar.

'Who or what are you?" asked JJ

"I baby am the demon of rock and roll, here to make all your dreams come true." it said.

"What happened to us" asked Sebastian.

"Hey baby every great band needs a gimmick" it said.

"Gimmick, these aren't costumes asshole" said Marky"I mean look at me "

"Now little baby just trust rock daddy, I know what I am doing daddy-o" it said

"This isn't what we wanted" said Sebastian

"I know baby, you got the bonus plan because I believe in you babies" it said.

"How is this a bonus, I am a three foot tall little red blob" bitched Marky.

"Chill little baby" said the demon. "In addition to your groovy new look, you have all been given special talents to go with your already existing ones"

"Like what" asked Demetri.

"You will see my big furry baby" it said "I guarantee you guys will become the hottest thing on the rock scene."

"What do we do now" asked Simon

"Now babies you go get your rest and get ready to rock" said the demon

"We should go back to the loft and try to figure this thing out" said Sebastian.

"Groovy idea babies" said the demon "i will see you soon "

It then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

They all climbed into the van and headed back to the loft. The ride was silent, well except for Marky bitching about his new form. They arrived at the loft and all lounged out still overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

"So what now Sebastian, how the hell do we fix this. I do not want to spend the rest of my life as this" Marky complained

"No one wants to be like this forever Marky so quit your bitching already" said JJ

"I don't know" said Demetri, "I look pretty good in fur if you ask me"

"Not to make things worse, but we have a gig tomorrow night" said Tabitha.

"Can we even play like this?" asked Simon

"I guess there is only one way to find out" said Sebastian

The band all got their instruments and got ready to play.

"Ready Marky" Sebastian said

"No, I can't even reach the board." he replied

"Let me help" said Demetri grabbing a stool from over near the bar. He propped Marky on it and want back to his position.

"Ready one, two, three." said Marky

The band began rocking it out like never before. The band rocked harder and longer than ever. Demetri nailed his solo and Sebastian slayed the lyrics. They had never sounded better.

They finished playing and heard clapping. Sitting at the bar was the rock demon.

"Great job babies" said the demon as he poured himself a shot at the bar. "You kiddos sounded hot."

"So what, we just show up tomorrow looking like this and play our set?" asked Tabitha

"That's right babies, you go and rock the house to the ground." he said as he downed his shot. "You need to trust rock daddy my chickies., tomorrow changes everything"

The demon disappeared right before them. Now they knew they could play, really well actually and they decided to play tomorrow.

"Alright everyone, we all stay here tonight." said Sebastian "We can figure out how to get your stuff tomorrow."

Everyone agreed and they all crashed out for the night.

[evermorehqs]

CATCHING MY BREATH, STARING OUT AN OPEN WINDOW

Jacob “Jake” Randall is based on Jake from Adventure Time. He is a 29 year old shapeshifter, Ramen & Roll employee, and uses he/him pronouns. He has the power of shifting and elasticity. Jacob is portrayed by Daniel Ezra and he is open.

CATCHING MY DEATH, AND I COULDN’T BE SURE

Jake was spoiled with one of the best childhoods a guy could have. He had two parents who not only loved him, but he also had a built-in best friend after his parents found a human infant in the woods and adopted him. Alongside Finn, Jake went on some of the weirdest and wildest adventures he could have ever hoped for, and with these weird and unexplained stretchy powers he had, there was no mountain they couldn’t climb, no river they couldn’t cross, and no meal too large to eat in one sitting. As the duo got older, Jake worked alongside Finn on all of his heroic quests, growing his power and cracking jokes all the way. What? Sometimes the vibe got heavy — someone had to keep things from getting so depressing sometimes! Though Jake was the more laid back of the two, since he was a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, that didn’t mean he didn’t take the work he and Finn did any less serious. He just had a more relaxed approach to the whole thing. Finn was the gung-ho hero and Jake was his trusty sidekick. He didn’t mind that, so long as he got to eat at the end of the day. When the strongest and craziest enemy they ever faced came into the picture, Jake tried to tell Finn to take a step back and think about this. But when Finn shut down that idea, Jake had no choice but to follow his brother into the fray and just hope that he knew what he was doing. Then, it was suddenly over. Jake had closed his eyes to shield them from the light and when he opened them, he was in a completely new place. This certainly wasn’t Ooo… and to Jake’s surprised, Finn seemed to not remember anything about where they had come from. Naturally, Jake’s first instinct was to fill Finn in on what had happened. However, as the two of them fell into a more casual life here, working easy and laid back jobs and spending their nights finding fun and less-threatening mischief to get involved in, Jake found himself not wanting to tell Finn about Ooo or what had happened. Why would he when the lives they were living here were groovy enough? Whenever Finn inquired about the past, Jake was always inclined to shut it down and pretend he couldn’t remember either, keeping the act up even when the others showed up. He’d much rather stay here where things were smooth-sailing and easy going, and he figured it was for the best that Finn thought that too.

I HAD A FEELING SO PECULIAR

❀ Shaggy Rogers: There’s nothing more Jake likes to do then kick back, relax, and chow down on an inhumane amount of food. Thankfully, Shaggy is almost always down to do the same thing. The two could eat a house together if they wanted. ❀ Garrett Gray: This guy needs some serious spirit mood improvement. Jake doesn’t mind helping a buddy find their grove and loves nothing more than to put a smile on people’s faces. Garrett is no exception, and Jake will make a happy bro out of this grump! ❀ Celia Mae: Woooaahh, Celia is a pretty lady. She laughs at Jake’s jokes, she pats him on the head when he does a good job, and there is just something so different about her that Jake can’t help but want to know more.

THAT THIS PAIN WOULD BE FOR EVERMORE

[kodaiki]

꒰ 5:14 P.M. ꒱❛ bakugo katsuki x fem!reader ༉‧₊˚✧

𝐁𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐆𝐎 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 as he observes your trained eyes at the first, red haired, student sitting just across from you in the dorm's study lounge. how kirishima is blind to the laser eye-like glare you have at his temple continues to baffle the blonde.

“y’tryna get his attention or something?” bakugo asks from beside you gruffly, but low enough so no one else but you can hear, as the rest of your friends are in a captivated conversation regarding a project. still, you slightly jump in your seat. bakugo doesn’t comment on it but the sides of his lips turn up in slight amusement. “‘cause I don’t think your method is working out too well.”

“oh, hush,” you frown, turning away from said man.

“just saying,” he leans back in his seat with a grumble. how does bakugo say so much and so little at the same time?

“did he tell you anything?” you ask in a murmur, glancing over at kirishima and the one sitting beside him, arm draped over his shoulder casually.

“about what?” at your deadpan and mental you know what I mean, he rolls his eyes, “y’mean ochako?” when you silently nod, he shrugs.

“they’ve just been hanging out. what do you care, loser?”

you sigh, disregarding the usual nickname he used on you. “it’s just, i just,” you stammer over your words, unable to properly formulate your thoughts for his best friend. how do you tell bakugo that you’re unhappy with how chummy kirishima and uraraka have gotten?

bakugo isn’t stupid. he knows why you care, he’d just rather not allude to the fact that he does. he’d rather you tell him anyway so it doesn’t make it seem likes he’s so observant of you.

“it’s dumb,” you settle on, relaxing in your seat, expecting for bakugo to leave you be and continue listening in on the conversation your friends were having.

although the group of you had different majors in university, there were still those core, seminar classes you were forced to take, regardless. so, believing it was a good idea – except bakugo of course – the lot of you schedule the same class at the very same time.

bakugo's lip purse as he clenches his jaw, mentally agonizing over the fact that he feels the need to be nice to you. "i'll be the judge of that."

you blink owlishly at him, head popping upwards from it's once downturned gaze at the floor by your feet. when you weren't glancing at the pair sitting in front of you, your eyes were trained on the groovy, circular blobs decorating the carpeted floor of your dorm's lounge. when you don't respond right away, mouth slightly agape, he scoffs.

"i'm getting out for some air," the blonde suddenly announces, alerting the rest of the group – some nod absentmindedly, while others slightly furrow their brows in confusion as to why he'd have to make it a public announcement. he leaves mid-conversation without a word too often for anyone to actually be concerned.

but the announcement, as out of character for him as it was, was solely directed at you. with the subtlest glance at you and the direction of where he's walking, he adjusts his jacket sleeves and silently leaves the area. soon enough, the conversation returns back to its usual buzz about some topic you hardy paid any attention to since you plopped down on the ugly colored couch.

you give it a minute before you silently stand, glancing around the group but no one seemed to notice, much to your relief (there's a twinge of heartache that not even kirishima, the one who you considered yourself the closest to, didn't even bat an eyelash in your direction.)

"took you long enough," bakugo mutters when you appear next to him in front of the lounge. "'thought you were gonna ogle at the redhead for another twenty minutes."

you huff with a scowl but say nothing.

"so? 'm not freezing my ass out here for nothin'," he quickly grumbles, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"right," you murmur, following suit when you notice a misty breath of air escaping your lips. "i like kirishima."

"that much is obvious." he rolls his eyes, recalling all those times he's watched you stare at his best friend and giggle a little too hard at his stupid jokes. "what else got you all upset?"

"she just got out of a relationship," you whisper into the evening, pretty colors adorning the sunsetting skies. blotches of blue and orange color the sky, meanwhile fluffy white clouds painted like sheep move slowly through the wind.

bakugo can read between the lines enough to know that she refers to uraraka. about three weeks earlier, she'd caught her boyfriend cheating, thus leading her to holing herself in her room as soon as classes finishes with an enormous tub of ice cream and heartbreak anthem blasting from her room. but who was the knight in shining armor that was suddenly at her dorm every single one of those nights to console her when she cried? kirishima eijiro.

the friend group never batted an eye at that, well aware kirishima was such a people person. besides, he'd do the same for anyone!

but three weeks later, mina, uraraka's number one best friend, was bumped down a pedestal and there replacing her – she didn't seem to mind, though, or maybe she was simply oblivious to it – was kirishima.

it was different, however. it wasn't like the normal best friend relationship they shared. it was obvious that something had changed between the two,

it's just kirishima, bakugo wants to shrug you off. he's like that with everybody.

but the glassy look in your eyes that now seems like a permanent feature of yours whenever you were in the vicinity of the new duo makes him think it's probably not best. he silently curses midoriya for teaching him the thing called empathy.

"do you think," you mumble, gnawing at your lip. god, you hated feeling like a heartbroken high schooler, you seriously thought you outgrew that phase. "do you think it's going somewhere?"

bakugo purses his lips, looking away from you. "i do."

it's not what you wanted to hear, but it's probably what you needed to hear; to move on.

"gotta say, 'can always count on you to be blunt about it," you chuckle heartlessly with a sniff. whether it's a sniff of sadness or from the cold weather is a mystery to bakugo.

"beating around the bush does nothing," he says knowingly, as if his heart wasn't searing in pain at the look on your face. "doesn't do anybody any good."

so, when you look at him, for the first time since you've stepped outside, you muster up your bravest smile. "yeah... it doesn't."

but bakugo can't help but feel conflicted. should he be relieved at the fact that you finally know some of the truth you'd been debating about in your head? or guilty at the fact that he isn't telling you the rest of it?

*whispers* this is another timestamp series &lt;3

no taglist.

[thislovintime]

Remembering Michael on December 10th. Pictured with Peter, Davy, and Micky, and Barbara Hamaker. Some photos by Gene Trindl, Michael Ochs Archives, Tom M. Morton, Colin Beard, Ali Cotton.

Remembering Michael.

“You should’ve heard Mike singing some of those old Jimmie Rodgers The Singing Brakeman songs. He was so good, that stuff was just — you know, that stuff just warmed the cockles of my heart, you know. He could just do that stuff all day long. Just — I could just sit at his feet and listen to that for hours.” - Peter Tork, WHNN-FM, 2012

“At the Troubadour […], Peter Tork strolled in, banjo on his knee. Later, in-between ‘Alvin’ and a great banjo finger-picker, Peter yelled a hello to Mike Nesmith, who was standing in the upstairs darkness and the two fell into a hilarious patter routine." - Ginni Ganahal, TeenSet Magazine, February 1968 (read more here)

"[July 1, 1967] At this point Peter proudly produced a fan letter for Mike a rare occurrence. Mike looked vaguely impressed with his fan letter and read aloud, ‘Dear Mike. We saw the Monkees at the airport on Wednesday and my sister Linda touched Micky’s arm and then I saw you and threw up…’ ‘Hey,’ said Peter, ‘let me see that! You’re not that bad looking. I don’t believe it.’ Peter read from the letter, 'Dear Mike. We saw the Monkees at the airport on Wednesday and my sister Linda touched Micky’s arm and then I saw you and threw up!’ The letter did not, of course, say this but it’s all part of the Tork-Nesmith off-stage variety act.” - NME, July 8, 1967 (read more here)

Peter and Michael on KDWB-AM in August 1967, here.

Peter and Mike on their favorite Monkees episode, "Fairy Tale" - here.

“Michael used to run a hootenanny at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, and so I met him there. But that’s all, just to say hi to, pretty much.” - Peter Tork, GOLD 104.5, 1999

“I have a great deal of respect for Mike as a musician and a songwriter. He’s very good. He could make it on his own easily. Also he’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.” - Peter Tork, Flip, August 1967

“I really get along with Mike best. He’s married and enjoys his evenings at home with his family. My favorite date is to stop by his place, have some coffee, play cards, and listen to groovy music.” - Peter Tork, Hullabaloo, September 1967

“I remember staying at Mike’s house in Hollywood when we first started filming the series. It was the upper story of a two-story building on a little hillside. Mike’s wife, Phyllis, was wonderful. Mike and I laughed a lot and played music together. I remember that time very fondly.” - Peter Tork, When The Music Mattered (1984)

Q: “Being that your tastes were similar, and you both were the first to leave the group, why didn’t you form a group with Peter Tork?” Michael Nesmith: “I don’t like Peter Tork — never have liked him, I don’t like him as a man. I have to qualify that now: Me not liking somebody doesn’t mean that they’re bad people — he could do a lot of wonderful things for and to me. Not liking someone to me is a very gut reaction — a very visceral attitude. The first reaction to Peter was one of dislike. I don’t like him, I have never liked him, and I probably will never like him. I didn’t enjoy playing in a band with Peter, and I still don’t. Our tastes were much the same, our political beliefs were similar, our ideas of fun, pleasure, our intellectual capacity, our ability to talk to each other — we were very much alike. I have a great respect for Peter — his technical abilities on an instrument and the positions he took were well conceived ideas, always a posture with a motive, never emotional. I don’t like my mother. She happens to be a very nice lady — never done anything that would make me not like her — but I don’t. I like my wife.” - Hit Parader, February 1972

“It was something that was known on the set. They knew Pete and I went our own ways. This wasn’t a dislike of someone who had committed some infraction against me or some sort of crime. It was just, ‘Oh, this guy eats those little noodles and I don’t like ’em and I can’t eat with the guy.’ It was kind of an off-putting thing. It was, ‘Oh, he likes to play paintball and I don’t like to play paintball.’ So we never played paintball, but every once in a while we’d find ourselves in the same paintball park because we owned it, so we had to keep it clean and do all the stuff we had to do and we did do it. We didn’t have too many civil words to say to each other, but we also didn’t fight all the time. We just didn’t say much. There wasn’t a lot to say. Peter would play me the songs that he thought were good and I didn’t. And I would play him the songs I thought were good and he wouldn’t. Then we just left it at that. Partners in silence.” - Michael Nesmith, Rolling Stone, December 3, 2019

“Michael was very kind to me at the outset. He put me up through the entire shooting of the pilot process. He and his wife had a wonderful little apartment just big enough for a guest on the day bed, which overlooked Hollywood. I remember a Thanksgiving Day when the air was crystal clear in a way that I’ve never seen it before or since in L.A., and you could see all the way out to Catalina. It was wonderful. That crystal clarity symbolizes the whole era for me. Mike and I wrote a few things together. We were very comradely and very buddy buddy, and it was a wonderful time, with Mike’s then wife, Phyllis, and Christian, their little infant baby. The early days of the pilot shooting were just great by my lights and I had a wonderful time.” - Peter Tork, quoted in Hey, Hey, We’re The Monkees (1996) (read more here)

"After [Peter] went down for the first interview, I asked how how he felt he did and he said, ‘Well, it looks good. I’ll see how things go.’ And they kept calling him back. He liked Michael Nesmith. That was the first thing that happened." - Stephen Stills, Tiger Beat, July 1967 (read more here)

“I did give Peter a voice audition on Saturday’s Child but I had to finally say, ‘look Pete, I can’t play banjo and you can’t sing. If I played the banjo I’d sound like you singing, I have to erase the tape.’ So Peter left in a huff and came back with Michael, who pulled off his motorcycle helmet, crashed it down onto the console and demanded ‘why don’t you let Peter sing? You guys never let us come to the sessions, it’s just you two with Davy and Micky.’" - Tommy Boyce, Monkeemania: The True Story of The Monkees (1997) (x)

"Mike joined us in the UK for our 30th anniversary tour in 1997. I enjoyed that tour very much; it was a good time. Nevertheless, Mike never said anything to me when he decided to leave the band after the ’97 European tour, and I still don’t know why he left.” - Peter Tork, Medium, 2017

"Yeah, I’d rather have him in, all things considered. I think that it makes an event when he’s there that, that isn’t when he’s not. [...] I think, you know, Mike changed his mind for reasons that I don’t quite understand, but what the heck." - Peter Tork, GOLD 104.5, 1999 (x)

"I still have a lot of respect for Michael." - Peter Tork, WDBB, February 2006 (x)

"I will miss him — a brother in arms. Take flight my Brother.” - Michael Nesmith, Facebook, February 2019 (x)

[bellarkeselection]

Hi i was woundering if you could do a Charles xavier short where a little girl was dropped off to his school and he finds out shes his daughter . From a letter from her mom

Y/M/N - You're mother's name

Little Gift for Xavier

Hank drove the car to a stop in front of the school for the gifted seeing someone sitting on the doorstep. Charles opened the car door with Hank helping him into his wheelchair so he could meet the little girl he didn't know. It wasn't uncommon for kids to show up at the school without their parents. Though most parents brought their children here to meet him as well. Charles pushed the joystick forward giving a smile to the young girl with (h/c) and bright blue eyes that matched his exactly it was a little scary to the Telepath. "Hello sweetheart. My names Charles Xavier. What's your name?" The girl mumbled hugging an envelope to her chest nervously. "I'm Y/n...my mommy knew you..." Charles tilts his head in confusion. "Who's your mother?" The girl spoke a name he thought he wouldn't hear again. "Y/M/N."

He froze in his seat completely baffled at the name. Before he teamed up with Erik and the whole Cuba thing. He had met a girl at thr bar. He fell in love with you and he learned that you were pregnant before he was asking you to marry him. Alcohol was the result of the pregnancy so he made you forget about him. A way of protecting you at least that's what he kept telling himself. Y/n holds the piece of paper out for him to take and he opened it. "Dear Charles, my love. I have sent my daughter to your aid because she is hearing voices in her head. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I trust that she will be in good care with her father. I hope you and I can reunite. P. S. She undid your memory whip the day she was born by accident. Just know I'm not angry about what you did."

"So uh Y/n - you can read minds is that correct?" Charles asked you seeing his daughter play with her fingers in her lap. "Yeah I do...it's hard to sleep at night." Charles finished her thoughts immediately leaning back in his wheelchair. "Because the voices are too much to bear sometimes. Don't my girl. I will help you as I have many children in this school." He was taken back when Y/n threw her arms around his neck jumping into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist holding her onto his lap. Charles buried his face in her hair chuckling when she whispered in his ear. "Thank you, daddy. I've been dying to meet you." Breaking the hug he tucks hair behind your ear grinning like a child. "Hey I've got an idea. Do you like cookies because some students just finished making some. How bout we snag a few." Y/n hoped off his lap giggling and he followed her inside chuckling at the adorable child in front of him that he could call his.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

@makeshift-prime

@rosie-posie08

@groovy-lady

[ambigrueity]

He CANNOT keep getting away with this.

Finally got around to groovying Trey’s Dorm SSR and please tell me why his voice line kinda—

Like I’m not insane, right? Right? Right???? Please tell me I’m not the only one that looked at this, heard this, and keeled over. Please this isn’t fair. This isn’t fair. This had me up at 2 am staring at my ceiling as I felt the hours slipping by me wondering who the fuck decided it’d be a good idea to make that his groovy voice line. I’m losing my sanity. I cannot sit here and exist a minute without thinking about this line and his magic three voice lines before becoming overcome with desire.

Trey Clover had me at his laugh. He has the cutest laugh ever, he just gets all wheezy in the middle of it and he giggles and there's something so endearing about this 6 foot baker man with forearms sculpted by the gods with a laugh that sounds like pure sunshine. I want to eat his laugh. I want to bottle it up. When he laughs it's like my stress just melts away. It's free therapy. It's depression curing. I want him to have the best life ever so he can keep laughing at silly little things like oyster sauce. Like okay, there's the chuckles he makes when he's amused by something but then there's his pure laughter and that's what I'm talking about here because his chuckles are hot but his laugh, his giggles are the sweetest things in the world, sweeter than the cakes he makes and I would get cavities just listening to it.

BUT NOW HES GOT ME WITH EVERYTHING ELSE. HE BREATHES AND I SIT HERE GOING DELUSIONAL OVER IT, HANDS SHAKING HEART FALLING APART GODS I WISH MEN WERE REAL.

Can we talk about how he slays the green under eye tho? Pop off king, slay, it brings out the gold in your eyes.

[countrymusiclover]

Part 1 - Brittish Man

Prologue - read first

Part 2

She's Human or Weapon

Tag list - just ask to be added

@tyrionsprincess30 @groovy-lady @logolepsic-insomniac @bigbendyhorns @the-big-bad-klaus

Counting some stacks of money in my hands the rain starts to light up. Leaning my back against the the brick wall I pull my black leather jacket closer around myself to get warm. A old guy walks past me I get an idea in my head. "Excuse me sir, can I please have your leftovers?" I asked concentrating hard since I have the ability to control minds. The guy bends down handing me his box of leftovers. He walked off not fazed at all that I just stole from him, but I need food for tonight. Erik and I split years ago once our escape because he only cared about getting revenge on Shaw. All I want to do is figure out is if I'm a monster or not. Opening the box of food I start tearing apart the chicken fingers and fries. I tried to get an apartment but I got kicked out when I accidentally set it on fire when Erik left me.

"Don't talk to me. You did that on purpose!" I heard a guy complaining to a girl with blonde hair both exiting a bar at the corner of the street. "You know I can't control it sometimes. If I'm stressed or I'm tired!" Running a hand through my hair in a braid I start feeling nervous when they get closer to me. I have never really talked or made friends since the escape. Erik and I agreed that the only people we could trust was each other and nobody else. "Excuse me, love. But what's a girl like you sitting out here in the cold night by yourself?" Shaking my head I get pulled from my thoughts by a guy with a brittish accent. Lifting my gaze up I suck in a breath recognizing the man and woman I saw from the bar. The man has bright blue eyes and dark brown hair. The woman at his side has long blonde hair and green eyes who gives me a kind smile, bending down on a knee with her hand stuck out. "I'm Raven, what's your name?" Instead of shaking her hand I hug my knees to my chest avoiding her gaze as a form of protection.

She lowered her hand to the ground with a small smile that makes me feel bad for being the cause. "It's alright, love. You can trust us. We're like you." Pressing my back against the wall I suck in a breath hearing a foreign voice in my head. Flickering my gaze around I try to find the source but I don't find anyone else thinking a thought like that. "Eyes up, miss." The voice spoke again and I locked my eyes on the stranger with blue eyes, slightly thinking it might be him. "It's you, isn't it. The voice inside my head...how is that possible. No one has been able to-" The man just chuckled bending down like the blonde girl had earlier introducing himself. "I'm a Telepath. A type of mutant. Xavier, Charles Xavier. May I know you're name?" Still hugging my legs to my chest I mumble under my breath saying my name outload for probably the first time in my life. "Aurora...Aurora Deerfield."

Charles extended his hand and I softly shake it with a light smile. The blonde waved down to me offering softly. "I'm Raven, his sister. We have a place you can stay with us. Rather than spending your night on the street in the cold." Glancing around at my state of living there wasn't much. I had no blanket and I kept taking food from people who have a weak mind. Charles rises to his feet extended a hand opened for me. Slowly unclutching my hand that was in a fist I brush my fingertips with his, fully holding his hand in mine. Charles then gently tugs me to my feet where I feel a surge of energy pass through our intertwined hands. "I thought I was alone...that all mutants were experimented on." I think in my head knowing he will hear me. "Don't worry, Aurora. You have Raven and I. You won't be alone anymore, I promise." He reassured me never removing his hand from mine until Raven throws her arms around me in a hug. I stiffened my back at the embrace she gives me where I have to close my eyes to calm myself down and not blast her with my powers like I would the doctors in Shaw's lab.

"I finally have another girl I can gossip with. Charles isn't very good at it." She chuckled pulling away from the hug still grinning brightly. Nodding my head we started walking the streets until I had a thought for the eager blonde girl at my side. "So what's your power, uh Raven?" She glanced to her brother as if asking for permission silently, which he just mods his head yes once allowing her. She takes my hand in her left where I see her skin turn blue then quickly return to its normal color making me hold my mouth opened. "I can transform to look like anyone. Even you..but I have to hide my true form." I see her smile drop a little saying that until she asked a question a wish she didn't because it makes me uncomfortable. "Uh I'll tell you later...too many people and I can't exactly control it." She nodded slightly accepting the answer so we climbed into Charles car driving to their place. Looking out the window the whole way there I moved my shirt away from my neck clasping my hand around a charm necklace from my mother before she was killed by Shaw. I have no interest in killing him. But I must admit my mind wanders back to Erik and where he could be right now, does he ever think of me like he once did. Like we were almost a romantic couple you could say.

Comments really appreciated ❤️