#personally i feel like lupe grew up with sisters

[appleciders]

anybody have like...birth family structure thoughts about aloto

[madellaine]

Your mother wouldn't approve of how my mother raised me But I do, I think I do And you're an all-American boy I guess I couldn't help trying to be your best American girl

Birthday — Feb.15, 2001 Zodiac Sign — Aquarius Sun, Sagittarius Moon, Libra Rising MBTI — ENFP Enneagram — Type 4 Primary Vice — Lust Primary Virtue — Charity  Element — Air 

Overview:

Mother — Mariana Hsu  Father — Unknown  Mother’s Occupation — owner of a gift shop (Sea Hagg) Father’s Occupation — unknown Family Finances — lower middle-class Birth Order — Only child Brothers —  N/A Sisters — N/A Other Close Family — Not blood family, but her three “aunts”! Aunt Beryl, Auntie Tammy-Mae, and Tia Lupe  Best Friend — Stella Jones, who lived down the street; Peter, her best friend she was toooootally in love with in middle school but it was not meant to be because of incompatible sexuality  Other Friends — various that I will come up with later <3  Enemies —  none really  Pets — various cats Home Life During Childhood — incredibly loved, if in an eclectic home environment.  Town or City Name(s) — Silver Key, Florida  What Did His or Her Bedroom Look Like — messy. Lots of knick knacks. Books everywhere. Candles everywhere. Lots of half-finished crafts.  Any Sports or Clubs — president of her school’s very small yearbook club, was on the very small cheerleading squad Favorite Toy or Game — loved to play dress up and play pretend Schooling — went to public school (traveled by ferry!) for grades K through 12, then went to Florida Atlantic University on a scholarship for college, majoring in English  Favorite Subject — English Popular or Loner — Her school was super tiny, so she knew everyone and was generally well-liked.  Important Experiences or Events — honestly graduating high school and college was a big deal for her family!!!  Nationality — American Culture — American, dashed with water magic, dashed with some Chinese Religion and beliefs — vague merfolk spirituality 

Physical Appearance:

Face Claim —  Havana Rose Liu Complexion — Peachy  Hair Colour — Light brown Eye Colour — Green Height — 5’5” Build — Lean, with soft curves Tattoos — Seashell on her ankle Piercings — Double on her ears Common Hairstyle — Long, loose waves Clothing Style —  eclectic, whimsical, boho, lots of mismatched patterns; she also tends to wear very revealing clothes, because she grew up on the beach and running around in your bikini was just, like, totally normal and not something people batted their eyes at  Mannerisms — walks like she’s floating  Usual Expression —

Health:

Overall (do they get sick easily)? — she’s gonna be in for a shock with cold and dry weather lemme tell you  Physical Ailments — nothing, beyond the usual mermaid need to be more hydrated than the average person Neurological Conditions — none Allergies —  she will discover that she has a horrible pollen allergy her first spring in Swynlake that she’s never had to deal with while living in Florida <3  Grooming Habits — loves self-care and probably spends too much money for her budget on expensive skincare products Sleeping Habits — either too much or too little, rarely an in-between  Eating Habits — p indulgent, has a big sweet tooth  Exercise Habits —  fit enough, prefers doing group classes especially dance and pilates  Emotional Stability — she feels very passionately in all directions Sociability — Very outgoing, loves to meet new people Addictions — Nah Drug Use — Will try stuff, but not super regularly  Alcohol Use — Social drinker

Your Character’s Character:

Bad Habits — impulsive, has a bit of a temper, reckless, tends to over romanticize everything and anything  Good Habits — kind-hearted, curious, imaginative, optimistic  Best Characteristic — she sees so much beauty in the world, that you will be charmed and maybe believe yourself to be beautiful too  Worst Characteristic — reckless and has very little self-preservation  Worst Memory — the big big fight with her mom when she found the photograph; that was the fight that really kinda shattered their previously close relationship and solidified Maddy’s decision to try and find her dad; they’ve patched up but there is a wound there that hasn’t quite healed yet  Best Memory — when she graduated high school, the aunts and her mom took her on a big special trip to New York City Proud of — her writing, her family, her curated ~aesthetic, her individuality  Embarrassed by — sometimes she gets a little insecure about her weird home life and finances, but it depends on the crowd she’s with  Driving Style — chaotic af, speeds, drives with one leg hiked up. Her car back home was a used yellow VW beetle named Daisy Mae (RIP Daisy Mae — Maddy sold her to have some cash).  Strong Points — Passionate, curious, individualistic, wears her heart on her sleeve, compassionate  Attitude — Cheerful, positive, outgoing, go-getter!  Weakness — Moody, flighty, too idealistic, doesn’t like being told she’s wrong Fears — being insignificant  Phobias — nothing serious Secrets — her true intentions in Swynlake (for now)  Regrets — that big fight with her mom which COULDVE BEEN AVOIDED IF HER MOM HAD TOLD HER  Feels Vulnerable When — Pet Peeves — moms <3 who <3 lie <3  :))))))))))))) Conflicts — gurl you literally have the coolest found family in the world why are you chasing after your nonexistent father figure <3  Motivation — find that nonexistent father figure, and eventually herself ~~~~  Short Term Goals and Hopes — have a great time in Swynlake and do her little Eurotrip gap year and learn about herself and write a book about her experiences and make out with a lot of hot people  Long Term Goals and Hopes — become a renowned author who wins many awards  Sexuality — bisexual  Exercise Routine  — decently fit, prefers group workout classes, does yoga and stuff  Day or Night Person — Day! Introvert or Extrovert — Extrovert! Optimist or Pessimist — Eternally optimistic  Greatest Want — lead a beautiful and wonderful life Greatest Need — accept that sometimes life isn’t so beautiful and wonderful, and that’s okay

Likes and Styles:

Music — Indie pop. Books — Everything! She reads a lot. She has a wide range of reading, though I will say she’s a wee bit snobbish when it comes to, like, popular fiction. But still. She’ll read it. She’ll probably like it. She’ll just say that her favorite book is Anna Karenina, instead <3  Foods —  Key lime pie! It’s delicious. She has a sweet tooth. Also loves this quick lazy stir fry noodles her mom makes.  Drinks — Pina coladas (and getting caught in the rain ~). Also orange juice.  Animals — dolphins! Also manatees  Sports —  Auntie Tammy-Mae was a HUGE football person, despite the fact that no one else in the family was, so they followed pro sports and Maddy has a weird loyalty to the Miami Dolphins  Social Issues — very pro Magick  Favorite Saying — I literally never know what to put here.  Color — Oranges, pinks, and yellows.  Clothing — eclectic, boho, whimsical Jewelry — wears a lot of rings and necklaces and earrings <3 likes big stones over jewels  Games — lots of Sims; only has a Nintendo Switch and does like Animal Crossing and Pokemon and other more lowkey games; wouldn’t consider herself a Gamer ™ though  TV Shows — likes anime and animated shows and lots of cartoons, but also a lot of historical shows and romances. Probably loves Fruits Basket and Sailor Moon and the classic shojo shows instead of shonen  Movies — basically the same as above. Really into Your Name/Suzume and the rest of Shinkai’s work. 

Where and How Does Your Character Live Now:

Home — Benbow Apartments, 4D  Household furnishings — it’s still pretty sparse, but she’s slowly and surely making it a place of her own!  Favorite Possession — her journal!!!!!!!!!  Most Cherished Possession — it was her VW Bug Daisy Mae </3; now it’s her stuffed rabbit Piper  Neighborhood — Benbow Apartment Complex Town or City Name — Swynlake Married Before — Nope! Significant Other Before — various girlfriends and boyfriends through high school and college Children —  None!  Relationship with Family — She was so close to her mom all growing up and in the past couple of years they’ve started to have a rift, and it’s still friendly but there’s something there that neither of them have been able to bridge…… Car — RIP Daisy Mae, you were a real one Career —  bartender/bookshop clerk/writer Dream Career —  writer <3 Dream Life —  being a successful writer who gets interviewed by the New Yorker when her new books come out Love Life —  single and ready to mingle  Talents or Skills — writing, she’s also crafty, has a perfectly curated instagram too <3  Intelligence Level — she got pretty good grades, struggled a bit in college compared to high school especially in classes that required a lot of memorization of boring material, but she excelled anytime she had to analyze Finances — she’s simply trying not to think too much about this, thank you very much 

[thekingjadechronicles]

Here's some background surrounding my day one sister from another mister and my time in the A.

The Dirty South

Alas, the time had come to say goodbye to DC and life as she knew it. No more mumbo sauce and beating her feet to gogo. No more deadly North Face obsessions and picnics at Haynes Point. No more band and skating almost every Saturday with the step team. Having graduated Eastern Senior High early at 16, Charlie was leaving sooner than she wanted on a scholarship to Spelman to study Psychology and Art History all the way out in Atlanta, Georgia. Miranda cried a week, spending the night with Charlie and Lupe up until it was time to ride out.

“I wish w-we didn’t w-waste so much time fighting,” she sniffed, smearing her runny nose with the back of her sleeve. “That’s old shit,” Charlie assured, holding her day one best friend. They’d been tight since first grade. Miranda was present through the ups and downs of Charlie’s home life including when her father was kicked out of the home. Charlie was there when Miranda’s brother Carmello got locked up for grand theft auto.“We beefed for a week, that’s nothing. I’ve had periods longer than that.”

“That was my fault too,” Miranda wailed. Now it was dramatic. “I wasn’t in control of my energy, I said some awful things-” And she had. Tests came to split their friendship. Charlie had interests that Miranda didn’t have. When Miranda joined the cheer team, Charlie joined step. When Miranda joined an animal lover's group and realized her strong interest in botany, Charlie joined the band and spent her time with different people. To complicate matters, Charlie had skipped a grade so they were a year apart with different classes. They hardly had time for each other. Jealousy, irritation, and the feeling of growing apart amounted to a physical fight between them in the hall, but they’d gotten through it and been fine ever since. Miranda’s eyes were red and she coughed as if she’d been smoking so Charlie had to be the strong one with a smile. “Girl, that was a long time ago.”

Charlie wasn’t quite ready to leave it all. She’d originally asked for a gap year but Lupe had a way with presenting facts to guide in an informed decision. In her words, Charlie was ready to move onto the next stage of her life, she was just afraid and being afraid was okay. “I trust you, but you need to trust yourself. Believe that you can make it. I’ll be there quicker than you can say hot damn if you need me, I’m a call away.” Lupe said these words as she looked on Charlie’s side of the dorm room, all set up and ready after some hard work and light artistic touch. She hugged Charlie tightly, resting her chin on her head to transfer silent prayers of protection. “Okay,” she patted Charlie’s cheeks with a smile. “I’m gone.. Cheer up!” Charlie watched her from the window as she drove away.

Move-in day at Spelman had come with light tears, some shopping, unpacking, a roommate, and a whole lotta attitude. Charlie grew to hate the bitch she roomed with. Their personalities clashed so they often took turns being in the room until they both needed the room at which point they’d ignore each other. Charlie didn’t like being looked down on due to her age. She was going on seventeen not twelve and the bitch had a staring problem coupled with a slick mouth. Just when it seemed no one on the campus would take her seriously as an equal, shrieks and cheers led Charlie to the standing congregation smack in the middle of campus. They were stepping. Charlie walked closer to the front to watch the team of girls as they threw their full bodies forcefully into their loud routine with an attitude that reminded her of home. Finally! Something familiar! This was her chance to join the culture and feel integrated. She auditioned and joined the Dirty South Step Team in her freshman year. Their first show, they stepped in black and purple. She’d finally recovered a sense of normalcy and sisterhood.

Miranda arrived at Spelman to study Environmental Science the following year saving Charlie from beating her ex-roommate’s ass. Luckily the girl moved elsewhere and Miranda was able to take her spot in the room, bringing all her plants with her.

"You should dred your shit," Miranda commented for the fourth time in a fifteen minute span forcing Charlie to lay her phone down on her bed, turn her earphones down, and sit up with a simple "No." Living together seemed like a dream before it happened. Charlie loved and trusted the girl with her life, but she could be annoying!

"You should let me dred it."

"Will you stop? Didn't you say locs must be thick and 4C or they're not locs? My shit ain't thick like yours and last time I said I had 4C you cussed my ass out."

Miranda fingered through Charlie's leave-out separating it from the sewn in Brazilian wavy. "It'll be a lil.. sparse at first.” She hid a light breath of a chuckle but Charlie was hip to her shade. “Get the fuck off me,” Charlie pushed.

“No! Look, it swells. I can do it in a day. Lemme give you starter locs."

"Bye," Charlie returned to her screen. "Tryna set me up. You just got here!"

Time went by and having Miranda was like having a sister. Though they had other circles, they still did most things together. Miranda went to the step shows and Charlie was there when Miranda pledged DST. They got their nails done, partied, bummed rides, signed up to vote, and even tried to get their respective work experience in places near to each other so that they were never on their own. They went back and forth from Atlanta and DC together. Miranda already had a brother and a sister, but Charlie still felt special being able to spend so much time together.

When they both turned eighteen, Charlie in November and Miranda in December, they celebrated back in DC where their proud families awaited with food and gifts. That was when Reggie showed up at the house with a card.

“Oh hell no.” One look at Lupe said she wanted to whoop his ass and throw him off her stoop. The aunties were already in motion, but the decision of whether to speak to him or not was on Charlie and she wanted to hear what he had to say. Though he wasn’t supposed to, he’d been calling throughout her childhood asking about her and requesting a visit. Lupe always hung up but Charlie would talk to him and update him on her life. His appearance at her party wasn’t completely unexpected. She met him outside, closing the door behind herself and looking up at him. He looked well and healthy like he hadn't missed a meal or sleep, same as always. As wild as Reggie was, Reggie would always take care of Reggie. He handed her the birthday card with a crisp hundred dollar bill and kissed her on the forehead wishing her a happy birthday before pulling off in his old shining Mercedez. According to Lupe it was all a show. Puro Teatro, she called it. He didn’t have a thing other than audacity but he wanted people to perceive him in a particular way. Breaking that illusion was dangerous. Charlie didn't fully understand, and though she never completely shunned Reggie, she trusted in her mother's wisdom.

Her nineteenth birthday revealed the toxicity in Reggie when he swung by to give his birthday wishes again, this time with a woman in the passenger seat who he had to get out of the car and walk with him, knowing Lupe was watching. The door swinging followed by the stomps from the house caught Charlie off guard and she witnessed her mother in rare form yelling at Reggie to "Take her and get off my property" while pointing the way. "Who was that," Charlie mouthed to her aunts but they too were on the lawn with random items as weapons ready to throw them as Reggie and the woman retreated. Charlie stopped taking his calls when she heard the story of him impregnating a woman while with Lupe. "I wouldn't forget her face," Lupe spoke as if caught in an awful memory. Miranda was just as disgusted. The news of her older brother Carmello's return from state was just the news everyone needed to wipe the bad taste from their mouths.

Finally Charlie graduated Spelman at 20 with 3.8 GPA, a job in career counseling, and honors. Lupe's advice was to take out more student loans and continue up the education ladder. More education meant better job options with higher pay and eventually the debt of education would pay for itself. That was the idea. Charlie was hesitant but she could see her ceiling. On a whim and without consulting Miranda or Lupe, she applied to grad schools in various states. She didn't want them to know about it if she was turned down, but to her pleasant surprise she wasn't. In fact, she'd been accepted to all but one school. Harvard stuck out to her as an impossible dream. She looked at the welcoming letter in shock, rereading it to ensure it was real before sharing the news with all who loved her. There was one more reason to celebrate now.

[popculturebuffet]

Toons for Our Times: The Casagrandes: Four Course Catchup

A

I take some time to catch up with everyone’s faviorite mexican-american family with a four course meal of shenanigans. 

Mexican Makeover: The thorny issue of racial identity erasure is handled via a lot of costumes, spicy food and a second Sergio, which suprisingly isn’t my own personal hell. Then again giving rusty a brother wasn’t either so there’s a precident.  Uptown Funk: Carl goes full Zach Morris, minus the white privlage, and marries Adelaide to get a free train ride, then let’s his hallucinations talk him into nearly killing everyone. At least the Leprechaun in the sandbox isn’t telling him to burn things anymore.  Bo-Bo Business: Hector won’t respect Bobby’s genius new ideas so Bobby sets shop at the near by hong’s market and procedes to nearly get murdered by bunnies. Dear god Anya was right.  Blunder Party: Ronnie Anne and Sid host their first event as a couple, a sleepover campout on the roof with their running crew. Adilade and Carl crash it causing their sibling and cousin to send the two on a dangerous scavenger hunt. As you do.  Context for what’s going on the page image under the cut. 

So yeah I originally wasn’t going to add the Casagrandes to regular coverage.... but what can I say. I had way more to talk about with the recent crop of episodes than I thought, the show often airs with loud house so it increases my coverage output and most importantly.. i’ts just damn good. While still having some kinks to work out, like forgetting to use CJ, the show is just really charming and uses i’ts premise well. So yeah when the show, at least according to the wiki, so expect full coverage of both this years halloween special and the show in full when it comes back in november... and with bobby being hypnotized into thinking he’s a cat apparently.. so yeah i’d be watching anyway, so why not go all in.  .So with that out of the way we’ve got a lot of ground to cover so, Golpeteo de pitter, which is spanish for pitter patter... maybe. If google translate mangled that I apologize. 

Mexican Makeover: 

Like with our last bit of loud house coverage, we start with the least of the episodes first. That being said this one isn’t TERRIBLE, just a waste of a good concept and something intresting to explore. It’s also a real shame given this episode is written by Lalo Alcaraz, the writer of the comic strip La Cucaracha who works as a consultant on the show and previously wrote my favorite episode of the season, Croaked!, which we’ll be talking about soon. But he seems like a great guy, but everyone dosen’t bat a thousand.  This episode centers around Rosa, whose mother Mama Lupe, and her parrot sidekick Paco, coming to visit. Paco is a recolor of sergio which actually explains a LOT honestly, as I now feel Sergio is the Quaks to Paco’s Squaks. 

As in the crappy recolor who dosen’t have as many skills. As you can tell I don’t like Sergio much. He’s annoying, not very funny and only rarely has his moments and also spent one episode constnatly being obnoxious to Bobby, who as we’ve discussed and will soon discuss some more, is my boy. My precious baby boy. So bullying him is the equilvent of slapping me with a dueling glove. So yeah Paco is better than Sergio, being more laid back, less obnoxious.. and voiced by, of all people, legendary cartonist and the namesake of the parrot sergio, Sergio Aragones. I grew up with the guy in middle and high school as he frequently, and I belivie still does, work for parody magazine MAD Magazine, and while I haven’t read it also did 80′s indie comic Groo the Wanderer with Mark Evainer of Garfield and Friends Fame. The guy’s really damn funny and it was a real treat to find out he’s involved here, especailly since the namesakes for the loud pets have all sadly passed, so it’s nice at least one pet namesake between shows gets to guest star.  But my fanboying aside, Rosa is worried she hasn’t been making her family Mexican enough and thus goes a bit absolutley nuts. She steals the kids clothes and replaces them with various traditional mexican outfits, which is a bit psycotic, and gives us a shot of carl’s ass when he compalins about his underwear being replaced, which...

Yes thank you wayne. I’m sure even some of the 7 year old’s watching this don’t want to see a fellow 7 year old’s butt. Stop that. There’s a reason the parent show stopped the gag of having Lincoln in his underwear all the time and it wasn’t just because only chris savino thought it was funny. It’s especially creepy given after Savino’s sexual harassment, John K’s reveal of being a pedophile and whatever Dan Schinder did they refuse to talk about to the public but has ciruclated around, you TIHNK the’yd be more congizant of not showing borderline child porn. I mean it’s one thing to have a kid in underpants for a gag it’s another to have a close up of his butt. Just stop. Stop.  So the episode goes as you’d expect, Rosa keeps pushing things harder without explaining herself, including trying to force the kids to speak in spanish, feeding them extra spicy food and againt eh whole replacing their clothes thing.. which\ do look nice though and we do get that blessed image of bobby up top. The kids eventually confront Rosa who reveals she just dosent’ want to give her mom a heart attack, they go along with it with Sergio feeding ronnie anne spanish, which is nice continuity as her not knowing i’ts come up before, and everyone putting on a show.. which goes horribly wrong with super spicy food understandably not being built for a 80-100 year old woman, and while i’ts nice Bobby’s buddy par, we’ll cover their episode at some point too, shows up he also heavy metals so hard it knocks her over and destroys the painting, which yeah of course. Rosa comes clean and Lupe.. is entirely fine with it and feels that culture is more in values than in what you know about it, though she will teach them a few things because knowing where you came from is still important. Also Paco returns and.. why coudln’t both he and Lupe stay. For all my issues with the episode besides Carl’s butt shot, which we’ll get to in a second, I do really like Lupe and Paco is better than sergio in every way shape and form apart from the name. just color him read and have him smother sergio in his sleep and we’re up a better parot. 

Final Thoughts for Mexican Makeover:  This one was eh. I saved my thoughts on the main plot for here because it IS a topic worth talking about: loss of cultural idetntity,  especailly for first or second generation, as our main kids and their parents are, kids, how to ballance the cultures, what really matters.. it’s all good, deep really senstiive topics that i’m in no way qulaified to entirley judge because i’m very much white and am not going to whitesplain topics that I have no personal experince with.  But I can at least say they could’ve done MORE with this. For one thing Maria was absent, and it would’ve been REALLY intresting to get her take on it since Croaked! established she didn’t really give Ronnie Anne at the very least much of a lesson in their heritage. You can’t really BLAME HER: She works a demanding job, ended up having to raise them alone, and is tired a lot. As I said i’ts a VERY complex topic that’s created some VERY brilliant works around the subject, and while i’m not asking for “Moonlight... for Kids!” I am asking you to explore something like this. How aclimated the kids are to white culture is a topic worth exploring and could’ve been a special and while yes I know, it probably would’ve been “A Very Special Episode”..sometimes you need to tackle complex topics for kids. The Proud Family was also a screwball comedy, but it tackled the civil rights movement, xenophobia and other heavy subjects from time to time.. it also thought music piracy was the root of all evil but as I said no one bats a thousand. And it wouldn’t lack jokes as Alcaraz’s career is in satire: He knows how to write jokes about heavily charged topics and be clever about it on the freaking comics page, and given The Casagrandes like it’s sister show is basically a comic strip in animated form, he has the right format tow ork with it just ultimately becomes instead the cliche “person is coming time to hide everything we’ve been doing plot”, which has never been that good and is even worse on top of a more interesting idea. I don’t expect the show to be super deep all the time but I expect better than broaching a clearly difficult subject and not really giving it any weight. 

Uptown Funk: Now we’re past the one I was eh on because I knew how it’d turn out, and somehow got even less on board as it wasted a good concept and good ideas, and to the one out of the four I was most pumped for. And of all things it was a CARL episode.  I passingly mentioned last time I didn’t like Carl, and that opinon’s started to change. I’m still not a huge fan, his voice is grating and he STILL hasn’t given  up on Lori seasons later after Clyde long has and the other show long regonized this was a bad idea. Buuut i’ve come to realize he has his moments, with Monster Cash, which i’ll cover very soon for Halloween Havoc, and this very episdoe which is utterly fantastic. Though part of that is also the supporting cast, who were the reason I was pumped.  I talked abotu the Changs Breifly in my Operation Dad review but since Adalaide and Stanley are more promenent here and Becca will be, if not in person, in Croaked!, i’ll gladly dive into them. The Changs are the Casagrandes next door neighbors and EASILY one of the best parts of the show. A lovely interacial nuclear family, the four are all really likeable and distinct. I’ve talked about Sid before, so we’ll save more of that for in a bit. Stanley her dorky dad voiced by Kim Jeong who works as the subway conductor for Great Lakes City. He’s just a treat, in both sense of hte word, and really sweet interacting with his daughter and has a tendency to make small apperances due to Ronnie Anne and Sid riding the subway wherever they need to go. As i’ve said it’s nice to see Ken Jeong get to play a goofy, normal-ish dad and be funny without having to either play an over the top lunatic, weirdo or asshole. I love community but Chang could be a lot but this Chang is alright.. and probably dosen’t speak to his community college student brother that often for his family’s saftey. He does have Rabi Chang, his other brother over a lot though. Look if Teen Titans go can be jammed into the same multiverse as ok ko and steven universe, this show can take place in the same unvierse as community. 

Becca is stan’s wife and the head zookeeper at the zoo as well as the runner of their various shows, voiced by melissa joan hart and while not around as mcuh as her husband, is still a delight and it’s a delight to have clarissa back. Also together with her husband they make one hell of a couple to get sandiwthced between.. and no shame there, and yes i’m aware they have kids, i’d be happy to help raise them. I”m no asshole. 

Anyways speaking of those kids, we lastly have Adalaide, the star of this show and an adorable 6 year old and as Sid calls her “A sass bucket” which is accurate both for 6 year olds in general, and for this one, though like most kids her age she flips from being adorable to entirely blunt when warranted. She also has a Frog, named Froggy II. We’ll get into what happened to Froggy I and how she met Froggy II in October. 

So yeah two of my faviorite side characters, I consider sid main, PLUS one of my other faviorites Vito in a supporting roll. What’s not to love? As for the plot Carl brushes off Adalaide, because he’s a little jerk festival, but changes his tune when he overhears Stanley offering to have Adilaide join him on the train even see the control. Carl being a fanboy for trains among many other things which I shall list now: Things Carl’s a Fanboy For: 1. Money 2. Petty Schemes 3. Zack Morris 4. The Ladies 5. AC Slater 6. Luchadores 7. Trains. 

He naturally has his eyes light up like a christler buliding and given numbers 2 and 3 on the list quickly comes up with a scheme to get that train ride, since Stanely offered her a plus one. Granted he could’ve PROBABLY just asked Stanley for a ride and being the upstanding guy he is, and given Carl’s also a train nerd and stanley is their king, he would’ve said yes, but this is the same boy who thought his adult cousin’s same aged girlfriend would want to go out with him when said girlfriend lives in a house with at least 3 girls close to his age instead she could set him up with. The boy is more of a short term planner, like most schemers in fiction really, he sees the dollar signs like eddy from ed edd n eddy and has some good ideas, but not the more obvious solutions that aren’t as scheme based around him. I swear if this kid didn’t have a moral center this would be him in 50 years

I mean the only reason the boy hasn’t used sharks or explosives is because his parents and grandparents won’t’t let him.

Anyways Addie is skepteical for about 5 seconds and my one real complaint about the episode is it felt like she was genuinely skeptical, and playing him slightly with their games.. but it turns out nope she just genuinely bought it. But as smart as she is she’s also only 6, and her being adorably trusting works just as well.  So they play games. They have a tea party, with carl wearing a truly glorious peacock that I guarnatee sid has worn both for playing with her sister and just to feel fancy. They then play with Froggy.. which gets uncomfotable as Adaladie forces Carl to kiss him, and then basically goes full on “NOW KISS” when it fails to turn froggy into a prince and Froggy runs because he wisely dosen’t want to make out with Carl, and is omly passable and not disturbing instead because she’s 6 and dosen’t know better. They then play chase froggy, which Carl wins but gets flies thrown at him in hte process so does he really?  They get to their final game superheroes, with carly playing his faviorite el falcone.. but also being the hostage while Adalaide saves him because this is 2020, she don’t need to be no damsel in distress. And this to me is why the episode works.. Carl IS a huge jerk here, manipulating a younger child who just wants to be his friend to get a train ride he could’ve gotten just by asking her.. but he gets put through the ringer, and most of his “humilation” is stuff that isn’t that bad: Tea is alright, there’s no shame in wearing makeup or a veil, and being rescued by a woman is awesome. It’s just Carl’s own baby’s first toxic masuclinity that makes these situations minus kissing froggy uncomfortable, so it adds to it as Addy’s doing nothing wrong really and any pain on carl’s part is an accident on hers. She’s just an imaginatiee little lady and he’s jsut a jerk. But they pair well together his underserved ego with her adorablility and creativity and as we’ll see smarts. Part of the reason I was so excited is their one real scene togehter in monster cash, when Carl is throiwng everyon’es money back at them which is also the best bit of the episode and we’ll get to that when we cover it her response is a stern “Don’t you even dare” and he hands it back to her because you don’t mess with Addy. 

Addy then brings up pretend marriage and while Carl has his first , and probably not last, panic attack over comitment he does realilze this can be used and gets his train ride over it, with the two taking Froggy along as their baby. But being Carl, he’s not ready for marriage to a strong judge on the supreme court who makes him change the diapers and humilaties him in public, whcih i’d be more upset about if again he didn’t deserve it. We also have VITO! Local itallian, the Mercado’s best customer and Hector’s only friend. He also has his two winer dogs with him which.. yes. Just yes. And they have matching hats and sweaters because Vito is the best.  Hedecides to toss froggy and book it for the train car. Adalaide realizes she’s been played and is understandably pissed but sadly, needing to find her friend her husband threw, dosen’t storm into Stanley’s conductor car and throw him off the train.

Instead Carl geeks out with Stanley over the train, which means he probably is meant to marry into this family, and Stanley’s glart awards. When Stanley’s called away to deal with the frog fracas, Carl is left told not to touch anything. So the obvious happens.. Carl hallunciates a bunch of pre school level choo choos who tell him to press the button. I love .. everything about this. It’s just pure hilarity and insanity and I’m here for it and a really creative, and insane gag and a nice take on the shoulder devil trope. 

Naturally Carl, being Carl, presses the big button which turns on the ac and then blasts Stan’s train mix. Which sadly isn’t just this over and over and over and over again. 

With Carl possibly banned from trains for life he naturally turns to his wife for help, who is none to happy with his bullshit, and not willing to help him because why would she? But Carl.. genuinely apologizes. It’s why I mentioned he has a moral center. Unlike say Zack morris 80% of hte time or Eddy from Ed Edd N Eddy at his worst, Carl can FEEL human emotions like guilt, and while he does need Addy’s help to not get in massive trouble, you can tell he genuinely feels bad about hurting her and is only asking because she’s his only hope and for the sake of the various passengers who if she dosen’t step in will go off the rails on a crazy train, she agrees.  Turns out though Addy is pretty badass on top of being adorable, and uses Froggy II as a grappling hook, then turns out to have inherited her dad’s knowledge of trains, which was foreshadowed earlier as she said she’s gone with him a lot and was bored at his offer and won two time junior glart awards.. which given that likely includes teens and tweens, is Valeria Richards levels of acomplished. God damn kid. Kudos. Stanley gets understandably mad at carl But Addy covers for him and since she saved her dad’s awards, Carl can live.. and come back sometimes. Carl, first through his action figure then himself apologizes for being a jerk toa ddy and manipulating her.. a genuine one that shows he means it and finds she’s pretty cool. Gues this marriage CAN be saved. And so we end this episode as you’d expect. 

No.. for one thing i’td be leprechaun-train monstrosity. For another the happy couple team up as superheros and thwart froggy being hit by a train , who greatfully smooches carl who, having grown, takes it in stride. Happy end

Final Thoughts: I love this one. It was funny, intresting and had carl develop as a character while fleshing addy out and giving us some great stanley stuff. It made having a jerk as the protagnist here work and made me go from begrudgingly liking carl to actuallyl iking him. while he’s pretty terrible here he suffers for most of his actions and learns from it, and he and Adelade ahve a great dynamic that we thankfully do indeed see again this very marathon. But first. IT’S BOBBY TIME. 

Bo-Bo Buisness It’s my first episode starring Bobby on this blog and i’ts been TOO long and there will be more to come I promise. As i’ve made no secret of Bobby is my faviorite character here, and as you can tell that’s a tight race, and is just.. great here. The move to the city fleshed him out by giving him drive with his desire to run the mercado, franchise it, and go to buisness school to do all of it properly, while keeping his loveable sweetness, stupidity and relationship with Lori which has gone from deeply unhealthy to awwwwwwwww. 

So naturally I was on board for another Bobby Bonaza, and this one like most of his eps is pretty good: This time around it focuses on Bobby’s hard work ethic and youthful energy..and it leading him AWAY from the mercado.  Bobby tries setting up free wifi and a table like a cafe in the Mercado, but Hector flatly refuses and refuses anthing Bobby comes up with, citing his 30 years running the place sucessfully, while Bobby cites his less than a year of it and his book of ideas, though Hector refuses to budge. And what I like here is that while hector IS still the bad guy here, it’s not in a one dimensional “Jerk for the episode’ way this show’s sister episode tends to fall into. Or treating a character being a jerk like their the wronged party, or.. you get the idea. Point is hector has SOME points: He has run a small buisness in a huge city for 30 years, beating out gentrification, racisim, big buisness and other threats to run at thriving mercado, even with another market across the street. He also owns a sizeable apartment with room for two diffrent families, 5 adults, 6 kids, a dog and an asshole, and his wife is super for the building as a whole. He’s done MARVELOUSLY for himself and deserves to be proud and his stubborness likely comes from just how much he’s been able to acomplish while others fell around him.  However.. Bobby is still sympathetic. It’s very clear working here is his dream job: His plan for his life is to expland the place into a franchise and run it himself one day, he’s the clear sucessor and Hector wont’ be around forever.. probably for a LONNNG time still, and his ghost will probably haunt the place with Rosa’s scolding him, but since ghosts can’t own property probably, someone has to take over. Bobby is his clear sucessor and his ideas aren’t bad.. poorly exceuted in this case, but not bad. As we’ll see in a bit the table idea can work, bobby just didn’t think it through and Hector could’ve HELPED HIM with it and as we’ll see most of the ideas Bobby ends up doing elsehwere are just common sense for this day and age and the one that isn’t is the one that does him in. But Hector, likely seeing any change as a threat to his bottom line and his legacy, rejects him out of hand. H’es likely scared that his protege can do BETTER, or worried that one wrong move could cost him his life’s work. I also find this ironic since a few episodes ago, though I still need to see it, Bobby himself had the same problem letting go and letting someone else control the buisness with his sister and cousins running the place while he had his anniversary with Lori. Bobby DESERVES to be given his shot.. and so when he decides to quit the mercado in a huff and take his table and his ideas with him.. you agree with him. Sure he’s leaving the family legacy.. but if Hector wont let him make it his own or appricate how much fucking work he does or love he has for the place, then what legacy is there? That got heavy. We get a great joke next as bobby makes a metaphor about the dinosaurs.. then wonders what happened to them and like me on any given day stops to google it.. and since he uses a laptop unlike me and my desktop computer or phone, and his table, he inadveratly sets up a table outside.. which fixes the problems with his idea, if by accident and impresses Mr.Hong the owner of a nearbye market who could use a fresh faced go getter like bobby and hires him right on sight and agrees to start putting his ideas in. 

And the wifi table.. is a huge sucess and putting it outside gave the customers more room, so it fixes the one flaw in his plan, and serving out cafe and snacks I can’t prounounce or spell properly, bobby shows his idea WOULD have worked: instead of creating loiterers it simply gives customers like Vito, who pretty much lives at the Mercado anyway so why not, a place to sit, eat and check their email and stuff, and bobby’s a good enough salesman he can convince them to eat and given the mercado already has a customers only policy on toilets.. they could’ve just made the table purchase only, and once per hour, and their regulars would’ve lapepd it up. Hector refuses to accept this though and stews and drives sergio and carl away.. which yeah if you can out asshole Sergio, you may be the bad guy here.  The two feud over dinner to their family’s confusion, and to Rosa’s annoyance and dope slaps when she spills her hard worked on food over their petty sniping but bobby’ sstar continues to rise with a music video for hongs including that bit seen above, rapping and just.. whatever the fuck that video was it was the third best rap in nick history behind that “nnnnnnick” rap and this. 

So yeah with the comeerical, Hongs has tons of customers, and Hector stews more. However things can’t be good forever, as the last 4 years have proven they can be bad for an especially long time but good? Sadly no, as Bobby gets what he always wanted: The keys to the store.. maybe not the store he wanted but still and gets to run hongs solo.  Sadly though Bobby ends up fucking up, letting people bring their pets which wrecks the place, and ends up with bobby getting swarmed by an ever multiplying batch of bunnies. 

As Bobby is cuddled to death, his exact words, Hector finally relents and saves the boy from literally drowning, and the two get the rabbits out.. but well with social media and all that hong knows what happen and bobby’s fired. But back at the Mercado, Hector rehires bobby, and genuinely apologizes. I do feel it comes a bit quick.. but I guess after your grandson almost got bunnied to death, you rethink your life choices. Bobby admits he was in over his head while Hector genuinely admits Bobby has good ideas and he was being a stubborn jackass and decides he can use them after all. Starting with the commerical where the two perform a nice mexican song, the whole family adorably dresses up like various mercado items as seen at the veyr top and we also get this. 

Yes, yes to all of this. And we’re out.. for a moment then back in but you get it. 

Final Thoughts for Bo Bo Buisness: While not the best Bobby episode, that would be the one that introduces Par and again i’ll get to that one, this one is still pretty good. While I do feel Hector turns around a bit quick, otherwise it’s funny enough and has enough character stuff with bobbby, even if i’ts mostly just from knowing him in this series to work out. I”m not ANTI-nonsense episodes, I just don’t want them there when ther’es clearly a way heavier issue your steping around. This wasn’t the BEST the series has done comedy wise but it was fun enough. Alright one more...

Blunder Party: 

And we end on another pretty good one. And oddly for this show it’s the only Ronnie Anne focused one of the four. Usually she’s dead center but it seems the series is getting comfortable enough, much like it’s parent show, to ease out of focusing on just one character as the viewpoint and letting the others breathe. Still this was a good un and let’s talk about it. 

It’s Party Time and Ronnie and Sid are having a sleepover on the roof. Their first party of a couple.. i’m so proud of by baby gays.. or gabies as I call them. I mean.. yes i’m not subtle with my shipping but they act less like close friends and more like two tiny lebisan awww factories.  Anywho the whole crew’s here, which as with a lot of things this episode let’s talk about them: Casey, Nikki and Sameeer were introduced in a loud house I haven’t seen and naturally carried over to the show proper, showing up when Lincoln visted in an episode I will defintely cover at some point, and accepting Ronnie Anne wasn’t a born city kid. They have neat designs, are nicely diverse, and while lthey do need some fleshing out, given that like Lincoln’s own friend team squad they show up in a good chunk of ronnie anne episodes, we got time for that so we’re good. There’s also new addition Laird, the school’s own screech powers, and your standard awkward dork whose not that great. So yes even this group has a waste of a character, though he’s not AS bad as rusty or useless as Liam, just feeling a bit less essentail than Ronnie Anne’s running crew, who match her general vibne, and Sid whose her soulmate. 

But as the pizza arrives via Sergio, because he has to be useful at least once, our heroes soon find the party crashed by Great Lakes City’s newest power couple: Carl and Adelaide! Looking like their fucking team rocket. Seriously I had other options for this episode, including bobby sliding around on his back comically, so it says something just how great that iamge is and how fucking gloriously smug yet awesome they look. 

The two want to join and even outdo the big kids at stretcing and flinging pizza, but as many little siblings like myself know all too well, the big siblings don’t want you there. I can’t count the number of times I wanted to hang with my brothers friends, but he refused frome lementary all the way up to high school. It was maddening. SO I sympathize with them, but i’ve grown tor ealize grown up kids want to have their own time and fun so I sympathize with both parties: Carl and Addy just want pizza and games and to hang with the big kids and Ronnie Anne and Sid just want to host a party as a couple without watching their siblings. 

However Carl forces a compromise.. by using his special mood.. whining loudly and summoning Rosa.. whos eriously just.. teleports behind the kids. I thought only Lucy could do that in this unvierse. Respect. 

Rosa however is resonable. While she dosen’t want the kids to be excluded, and it’s understandable and nice of her: The kids just wan’t to feel included and Rosa is resonable enough to say they will have to leave eventually wehn it’s time for bed. A fair compromise. Also i’d wonder why Adelaide is here but I assume the Chang Parents had her come over there, which Rosa being the lovely person she is agreed to. I didn’t get into her above but I do like Rosa a lot as a character as she’s a resonable authority figure.. but liable to slip into her own foibles, and is kind and loving with her family if strong and strict when she needs to lower the boom. Mostly on Hector who i’m amazed survived last episode and getting his own grandson to leave in one piece. 

But yeah I mean I can only imagine what’s going on there...

Also  sex obviously, but since I obviously can’t and won’t show you that, have this video to jodeci’s freak n you instead and let your imagination fill the blanks if you want. 

I will use this song any time I can. Anyway, Sid being the peach she is tries to convince Ronnie anne all is not lost. Earlier she used a metaphor saying how they had all the perfect ingredents like a smore, and now adds pizzza.. which ot be fair a pizza smore, but using bagles or something sounds great, but pizza on a smore sounds like my own personal hell.. though Sid likes it so i’ll let it live.. for now. That’s also why Sergio is alive. FOr now. 

But even sid has a limit and the power couple soon break those: An attempted scary ghost story session goes bad as they break poor sameer by predicting eveyr story he has even the one the poor kid wings, and he and his prehinsile hair are sad. Cheer up kid at least you can probably go live on Krakoa at some point. Free health care, free housing, living on a giant  paradise. Good stuff.

The two then ruin an attempted dance party, which unlike the above which was just bad timing, this time their just obnoxious as addy wnats to ballet, and Carl wants to... put it to his butt whle playing fart noises. Okay for starters. 

Secondly if he wanted to do that he could’ve got a cd of Nickleback cheaper and no one would’ve noticed.. then again they might of thought the poor boy had Dihera.  Somehow this isn’t the last draw. Nikki, being a real one, holds a gross drink contest which carl spits out on the crowd.. which really WHAT DID YOU ALL EXPECT. This is how those things end. WIth spit up and fury. 

Anyways enough is enough, so our ambigiously gay duo hatch a plan and send the little kids on a scavanger hunt. So while the Ronnie’s Running Crew have fun, and spot bobby and his best buddy par and bobby flop on some mangos and slide around on mango juice all episode as a result, the dream team work on getting that list done. From getting one of Hector’s nosehairs to Mr. Nakamura’s faviorite sweatervest (which takes a while) , to Carlota’s diary they do it with flair. Of note is the two having to steal Sergio’s crackes.. and nearly getting murdeered by the parot who seriously looks like he’s about to skin a child.. thankfully when HE does a shining by crashing through the door, he just gets stuck so no child murder tonight. Horay! Well until Carlota finds out her diary missing then this happens. 

But things get dire when the kids think they see the smaller kids get stuck in par’s truck. Thankfully bobby knows where his best friend is at all times, because he’s consdierate and knows where he’s headed next, and the kids end up following him, while Sameer stays behind to distract with his hair puppets since Rosa wants to little ones to go to bed. 

Sid and Ronnie anne and co head to the dump , shenagins insue and they think they lost their sibling and cousin.. only to find them, the two having gotten a mango that looks like Vito and won.. and Sid and Ronnie apologizing and admitting their scam. In a nice bit though while Carl gets upset, Addy quickly points out they DID ruin their fun, and crash the party, and Carl begrudingly admits he’s wrong. Again, keep them married show. Carl needs Addy to keep him honest and Addy needs carl to hide the bodies of her enmies. They make a good pair, just like their big sis and cousin. 

Anyways, Ronnie Anne and Sid ask to have the kids for just a bit longer to repair them and again this is why I repsect Rosa. She finds out the kids disobeyed her or at least found a loophole but isn’t mad and gets both sides learned from it. Our kidlets get a giant ass smore for their heroic efforrts, Nikki returns Carlota’s diary in secret to avoid their deaths while Sergio is arrested for attempted murder of two minors. A good night all around. Bobby joins in to close out, which isn’t met with any resitance because who dosen’t love bobby, while Hector wakes up to the vito mango and wonders what happened to him.. okay apparently Vito’s been turned into a non-sapient piece of fruit before and I want details show.  Final Thoughts Finally: A pretty good one. Carly and Adleadie continue to prove to  a hell of a combo, whie the proven dream team of Sid and Ronnie Anne work well off their younger counterparts. It overall leads to a fun episode with lots of great gags.. and also bobby sliding around on his back comically like he’s a goddamn roomba and I am hear for it. Just overally really good stuff and a really fun plot. This really feels like stife of the party done right. Both sides screw up but make up instead of one just getting their way because protaganist. And overall this batch of episodes was really damn good and I look forward to watching the series reguarlly from now on. Until then, just one more day then this blog gets all spooky! SO stay tuned, stay safe and go team venture! Play us out nickleback! WAIT WHY DID i SAY THAT NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOO

[emotionsofthesoul]

Chapter 27 _ A La Cuenta de Tres

"I've never been on a plane, let alone a helicopter." Lupe said nervously as they got comfortable on the helicopter. It was the day after Valentine's Day. They were on their first family trip to a cabin near Loon Lake. The girls along with their parents.

The cabin was on a small island they could usually reach by boat but given the weather, the lakes were frozen over leaving Leon to pick the helicopter ride instead. The Valdes family had never seen snow in person leading Lucia and Valentina to plan a snow trip. Lucia and Lupe got along very well and Lucia thought this trip would be a good idea to get their husband's to bond a bit more.

"Don't be nervous, Lupita, Leon is a great pilot. We'll be there in no time." Lucia said reassuringly taking Lupe's hand in hers.

The trip was a 20 minute flight from the Carvajal mansion to the cabin. The scenery was beautiful. Thousands upon thousands of tress. They flew over the three frozen lakes until they arrived to the property's helicopter landing pad. A couple that stayed in the cabin taking care of it made sure to clear the pad so the helicopter could land safely.

"Hector, Mari, this is the Valdes family, they'll be staying with us this weekend." Leon said turning to Juliana and her family as he continued, "Anything you need let Hector and Mari know."

Valentina hugged the couple before dragged Juliana to show her the rest of the house and showing her where everyone would be staying.

After getting everything settled and put away, they gathered round the table for breakfast.

"So how was Valentine's Day? Did everything work out how you planned, Val?" Lucia said wanting to know if Juliana enjoyed their date.

A blush grew across both girls' faces and Juliana took Valentina's hand in hers as she spoke. "It was lovely Lucia. She's crazy for renting out the museum just for us to watch my favorite movie but it was amazing and really sweet." Juliana said as she brought Valentina's hand to her mouth and kissed her knuckles.

"She did what!" Lupe and Chino said simultaneously.

"I didn't get a chance to give you guys details this morning but yeah she rented out a museum in downtown for six hours just for us..." Juliana said knowing her parents would definitely oppose to Valentina spending so much money on dates.

"It was nothing really. I promise. I know Juls doesn't want anything too expensive or fancy but it was Valentine's Day and I wanted to do something special for her, something quiet and relaxing yet romantic." Valentina said trying to defend herself before Juliana's parents had a chance to say anything else.

Chino sighed in resignation knowing that they were from very different worlds but Valentina loved his daughter with everything she was. "I know you're not trying to buy my daughter or any of us, we're just not used to any of this." He said motioning to the house with his hands but referring to everything that's happened since the girls met. "It's simply overwhelming knowing you can do that for Juliana and think of it as something small... like I said, we aren't used to it but thank you for taking care of my daughter and giving her pieces of the world."

"Macario I hope you know we all genuinely love your daughter, she's gained all of our respect and love and she's made my Valentina happier than I've ever seen her since her mother passed. I know my daughter, she not only wants to show your daughter the world, she wants to empower her to go after anything she wants. That's what Estella, her mother, always instilled in our daughters, to uplift other women and I'm really proud of the woman Valentina's become. She's always known how to manage her money well so if she can do these things for Juliana it's because she's thought about it and knows when and on what she can invest her money. Think of it as a movie date but on a much bigger budget." Leon said causing the women at the table to break into laughter at his final comment.

"I trust your daughter with my daughter, there is no doubt about that, I guess it'll just take a while to get used to the thought of that big of a budget." Chino said shrugging as he took a sip from his orange juice.

They continued enjoying their breakfast. Valentina talked animatedly about what the plans for the rest of the trip were trying to change the subject. Lupe was excited about building a snowman with her husband and making it her height. Juliana on the other hand wanted the six of them to have a snowball fight before the trip was over. Chino loving to please his girls was on board for whatever they wanted to do while secretly excited about making snow angels with his girls.

After breakfast they got ready and each grabbed a snowmobile heading to the west end of Loon Lake. From there they chained their snowmobiles together before heading towards what is normally a vehicle bridge but for the moment was covered completely in snow. They walked around a bit until Juliana and Lupe sat on one of the bridge's barrier boulders looking out to the distance enjoying the peace and quiet. Valentina made sure to snap a picture of the two while keeping her distance not wanting to interrupt. A few minutes passed and Juliana turned behind her feeling Valentina's gaze on her. Juliana waved her over taking Valentina's hand as she reached Juliana and sat Valentina on her lap hugging her tightly.

"Thank you for bringing us here. It's beautiful. I never imagined this was what snow felt like. It's so fluffy and cold. I love it, it feels like the consistency between and icee and a raspado." Juliana said playing with the snow on the rock she and Valentina were sitting on.

Juliana took the bit of snow up to her mouth and tried to blow on it causing Valentina and herself to giggle in the process.

"What was that?" Valentina asked with a bright smile on her face.

Juliana laughed burying her head into Valentina's shoulder. "I'm not sure. I wanted to see if I could blow it out of my hand."

"It's not powder babe. That's not exactly how snow works." Valentine said shaking her head, not noticing Juliana's smirk forming.

Juliana grabbed a bit of snow and balled it up in her fist creating a small snowball. Suddenly she leaned back slightly away from Valentina and made eye contact with a confused Valentina as she began to speak. "Is this how it works?" Juliana said throwing the small ball of snow at her girlfriend causing a shocked gasp.

Valentina stood from Juliana's lap with a determined look on her face as regret began to take over Juliana's face. "That's how you want to play? Okay. Get ready Juliana. You have 20 seconds to run."

Juliana threw her head back laughing. Seeing that her girlfriend was not moving Valentina raised an eyebrow as she smirked started counting, causing Juliana to get up and start running towards the rest of the family.

"6... 5... 4..." Valentina didn't finish her count down as she began to run after Juliana with a snowball in each hand giggling. She threw them at her girlfriend who was still running hitting her in the back causing her to dramatically fall into a pile of snow.

"No! No you cheated! I still had 3 seconds!" Juliana said giggling turning around to look at Valentina with a huge smile.

Valentina offered Juliana a hand to pull her up as the wheels started turning in her head. She whispered to Juliana to grab two snowballs and on the count of three they would throw them a their parents. Juliana smiled mischievously and looked over at where her parents were, distracted talking to Leon and Lucia.

Once Juliana was standing, Valentina whispered the countdown creating a snowball fight between the two of them and the other two couples. They spent the rest of the day playing with the snow, only taking a break to eat their packed lunch. After their lunch they built three snowmen, one by each couple. As the day turned to evening they began heading back towards the cabin where they would be having dinner.

As dinner was being set up, Juliana asked what the plan for the following day was.

"We're going on the Rubicon Trail" Leon said with a bright smile as Valentina's eyes grew wide.

"Wait, but we never go without Guille..." Valentina said getting a little disappointed that they would be breaking tradition.

"You never go where without me?" Guillermo said he and Renata stood by the dining room entrance.

Valentina gasped in surprise and stood up to hug her brother and her sister-in-law. "What are you doing here?"

Guillermo placed her arm around Renata as he began to speak. "Dad called last week, said it was a surprise so I couldn't say anything. Once Renata closed up shop at noon we headed over to get the jeeps and make our way. Hector went to pick us up by the edge of the lake."

All the while, Juliana had a confused look on her face. "Wait, but what is the Rubicon Trail? Also, hi." She said with a small wave to the new guests.

Guillermo and Renata walked towards the table to greet everyone and sat down to join them for dinner.

Once they were all settled, Leon and Guillermo began to explain what the Rubicon Trail was and telling the Valdes that they won't be going on the entire trail only to the top of the mountain and back down and then take them to see the sunset by Big Hill Lookout. They would end their night with the pies Renata picked out from Apple Hill on their way to the cabin.

The following day, they did exactly as they planned. Valentina and Juliana went with Guillermo and Renata while The parents went together in the other Jeep.

Juliana and her parents loved the views and especially the sunset from the lookout tower. Valentina got a lot fun pictures of their first family trip. What she hoped would be the first of many.

Their day came to end with movie night and a slice of pie with a side of ice cream and hot chocolate.

When Sunday arrived the family headed back home in the jeeps. They made a point to stop by Apple Hill. They stopped by their favorite farmers market, Boa Vista Orchards. Valentina went up to the bakery window with Juliana where they each ordered an apple turnover with a scoop of ice cream. They sat down to eat their goodies while the rest of the family looked around the market.

After they ate Juliana wanted to look around and see what goodies she could take home with her.

They were approached by one of the workers who also happened to be one of Valentina's childhood friends. "Oh my god, Yuri! It's been so long!" Valentina said as she gave the girl a tight hug, "look this is my girlfriend, Juliana. Juls this is Yuri, we used to go to school together down the hill." The three chatted for a bit and Yuri gave Juliana recommendations and answered a few questions related to the products being sold.

Once everyone had bought what they wanted they headed across the street to the pumpkin patch where Valentina took pictures of everyone and eventually asked Guillermo to take a picture of Juliana and herself at the cheesy Instagram looking window set up.

The eight of them headed to the Carvajal mansion where they eventually parted ways ending their first family trip.

--------------

Notes: The video I included is of the trail they went on with the jeeps. I go camping there with my family every year and we love going on the rubicon trail by foot. The boulders on the left hand side at 0:10 are where Juliana and Lupita sat near the beginning of the chapter.

[geniusorinsanity]

i would like to her ur nursey family feels pls!! (i have plenty of my own & made a post but i need All the nursey content)

ahaha YOU JUST OPENED THE FLOODGATES BUDDY

Okay, so,Nursey’s birth parents:

Amal Hassan Nurse      

born in Morocco, but spent the first ten years of herlife moving all around northern Africa and the Middle East because her fatherworked as a security consultant and would spend a few years in various placesdesigning systems for different companies

speaks both dialects of Arabic fluently, but willalways prefer Moroccan, because it sounds like home to her

moved to the States when she was thirteen and her dadgot a permanent job working for a security firm in Manhattan. Grew up in theprivate school system and never left

has a BA from NYU and a JD/PhD from Columbia. Is asenior partner in an NYC firm specializing in foreign and comparative law.smarter than all of us.

Elijah Nurse

grew up in Washington, DC. As a child, was 100%convinced that his father was a spy, because he traveled all the time and nevertold him what he did.

his mother is Haitian and from a very strict family inPort au Prince. Was not a fan of Nonsense and this had a pretty significantimpact on how Elijah related to other kids

Raised speaking English and French, but never spokeFrench outside the house because he associated it with his mother scolding himor his siblings

Got his BA in economics from Georgetown and then wentto do his MBA at Columbia, which is where he met Amal

This marriage was Not a Good Idea

Very tried and true case of people who are physicallycompatible but VERY NOT COMPATIBLE IN MOST OTHER WAYS

Amal is emotive and a little scatterbrained, Elijah isstrict about routine and doesn’t communicate feelings well

Not a Good Combination

They got married anyway to piss off their parents

Don’t do that, kids.

They got divorced two years after Derek was born. Itwas not friendly. 

They agreed on split custody of the kids, Derek and hisolder sister Farah (more on Farah, Love of My Life, later). 

About two years after the divorce, Amal reconnects witha friend from college, Gabriela Torres.

“Reconnects” = They literally crash into each other inthe subway #thatNYClife

promptly has the following thought process:

“Was she always this hot?”

“Was I always this gay?”

“This explains SO MUCH.”

they get married a year later.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT NURSEY’S STEP MAMA GABRIELA

first generation Chilean American. Both her parentswere artists who moved to go to school in California.

she’s a ~San Francisco child~ in that she is: veryqueer, unfazed by a lot of strange things happening around her, and fucking hates the cold.

her parents are a strange blend of Liberal Artist andOverprotective Catholic, in that they want her to follow her dreams but willalso guilt the fuck out her if she misses mass and/or isn’t home for Christmas.

It’s not a total surprise to them that she decides tomove to New York for college but they still guilt the fuck out of her for it.

Everyone cries, but they get over it.

goes NYU all the way through her degrees: BA in ArtHistory, PhD in Fine Arts. 

Her dream is to be a full-time painter, but she isRealistic and knows that shit is not how it works.

Gets scooped up by the curator of the gallery where she’sdoing one of her internships.

Works her way up to co-director of the gallery because#womensupportingwomen, and has her own studio on the side

Elijah also remarries, about two years after thedivorce, to a pediatrician living out in Westchester. They have two more kidsin pretty quick succession, and both Nursey and Farah try to ignore how muchmore their dad seems to be around for those kids when they’re little than heever was for them.

It doesn’t really work.

They’ve got some baggage about this.

SPEAKING OF MY BABY GIRL FARAH NURSE.

Farah is four years and five grades ahead of Nursey.

She was an Angel Baby but a Demon Toddler--Nursey beingborn flipped her back into being a reasonable child because all of a suddenthere was this Small Person Thing who was kind of interesting but also madenoise and Huh, Okay.

fiercely fiercelyfiecrely protective of her baby brother. They’ve never been in the sameschool, but she is intensely aware that he’s a soft, sensitive kid, and shewill claw someone’s eyes out if they mess with him.

really, really intomedia and how it influences people, particularly the way queer people, peopleof color, and QPOC are influenced to see themselves and develop theirself-worth based on media depictions. Starts getting into critical analysis ofart and news and movies and TV in like, eighth grade. 

Gabriela is SO PROUD.

has gone back and forth on wearing hijab a few timesthroughout her life. Talks to her mom about it a lot. Amal tells her consistently that it’s always her decision,that she can change her mind whenever she wants, and that as long as shechooses to wear it (or not) for reasons she feels okay about, she supports her.

The only time she ever feels guilty is when she thinksabout wearing it at Andover just as a fuckyou to the guys who talk about how Muslim women are Always Oppressed. Shedecides not to wear it.

follows her moms to NYU, where she meets her boyfriendRami, who’s an Arab Jew. They move in together their senior year. She is super nervous about meeting his parentsfor the first time at their house in Brooklyn. They take one look at her, tellher she’s too skinny, and attempt to adopt her.

She’s 5’11” and has never been told she’s too skinny byanyone in her life.

She wants to adopt them.

Rami’s parents have brunch with her moms every month and gossipabout when they’re going to get married.

I’m getting off-track but I love her.  

The shared custody thing goes okay for awhile--the kidsdon’t really like going out to Westchester for half the week because it makestheir commute to school so long, butit’s part of the job. Eventually, Amal gets sole custody--Elijah isn’t doingthe emotional work of parenting, and the kids aren’t happy when they’re withhim.

I also have sad headcanons about shit that went down ifyou read my fic but that’s not crucial to this family HC necessarily.

for awhile, Nursey and Farah stay in touch with Elijahfairly frequently, but he’s not big on Feelings, and they’re not big on beinggaslighted about the fact that he’s really emotionally distant and his momyells at them a lot, so as they get older they really only talk to him on theirbirthdays, Father’s Day, his birthday, and major holidays.

Amal really tries to get them to keep in touch moreoften, because she’s really close with her dad and she wants her kids to have arelationship with theirs, but like...she’s not gonna force it.

Also, like...no one fucks with her babies.

So now: the Nurse-Torres Household:

one high-powered lawyer, one artist/gallery director,one super-analytical and overprotective child, and one sensitive,clumsy-as-fuck baby hockey player.

My. Loves.

there are a Lot of Languages in this House

Amal teaches the kids Moroccan Arabic literally as soonas the divorce is finalized--Elijah didn’t want her to teach them while theywere married because he didn’t like them having a language with her he didn’tknow, but NOPE.

Nursey soaks it up like a sponge. Farah’s seven so shehas a little more trouble, but like fuck is she going to let her baby brotherbe better than her at something so 

Gabriela laments thefact that her step-children speak fluent Spanish but their accents are afucking mess because the nannies they learned from were from Guatemala, thenSpain, then Argentina

Other languages spoken, scattered across multiplepeople, in varying degrees of fluency: French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Italian,Latin, Haryanvi, Hebrew.

family dinners are mandatory--anyone who’s home musteat together, sitting down, at the table, without electronics.

Nursey refuses to come to dinner for a week after Farahleaves for Andover because it won’t be The Same

there’s a Lot of physical affection: hugs, cuddles,forehead kisses, hair-playing, etc. Lots of wrestling between Farah and Nursey.Nursey usually loses.

Nursey always loses.

:(

once both kids are at college, there are regularlyscheduled Family Google Hangouts

Also mandatory

Basically family dinner

Nursey does it in the Haus once and everyone freaks outat how hot everyone in his family is

he’s Aware, thanks dudes

This is four full pages long in a google doc and I needto stop but basically: Nursey has a really complicated and strainedrelationship with his dad, and he misses his half-sisters sometimes, but he’s so so so loved by his moms and hissister and he’s so supported and he loves them so much and i have about amillion feels and i could go on forever please stop me.

also it’s not a family member but their next doorneighbor has a pit bull named Lupe who loves Nursey and every time he comeshome he takes it for a walk in central park and he wants a dog so much and he’s counting the minutesuntil he can get one

thank you for your time.

i’m crying now.

[manyfacedfashiongod]

NOW TRENDING “BC” (Bernard Chestleigh)

 BC …  

is an artist grown from the suburbs and south side of Chicago. Known for his poetic style and devotion to the knowledge of self BC strives to stay true to who he is. Being a member of the organization Donda’s house, a college grad, and tutor BC work’s to provide the state of who he is in all of his work. After releasing his project Before Conception BC is focused on expanding his audience and perspective. He is inspired by all the things and rhythms in life that go unrecognized, the simple complexity of life that has the magic to hold your focus and make you believe that even through rough or hard times a bright light can be found glistening. His convictions manifest in his work and his devotion to being a creative.

“The role of an artist is to express the connection of all things.”

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“BC”…The Chicago Rapper

Better known as Bernard Chestleigh has been a great friend of mine for roughly 8 years now. Since high school, we have been discussing creativity and cracking jokes. More recently in our friendship, Bernard has decided to take more creative artists approach to his lifestyle by becoming a hip hop artists and well-rounded musician. Now, when I first met Bernard years ago my sophomore year at Luther South, he was simply just a singer in the school choir with a funny ass sense of humor and the brain of an AP level student.   My how time flies.

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                Recently…

I got the chance to get together with my good friend Bernard, or as I and many others used to call him in high school ” B’ NAAWD”, insert “LOL” here,  and we got the chance to catch up on some good times and talk about his passion for music since a young age. As interesting as the questions may be, I believe his music is even more interesting, but we’ll get to that, for now, here’s what we talked about BELOW.

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                          The Interview

-When did you first realize music was a passion of yours?

B “I have always been passionate about music. I started singing in the choir when I was very young, around 4 or 5 I joined the Sunshine Choir. My parents would always make me sing with my sisters and we would sing at church, or a singing competition or talent shows at school or around town. I would perform Michael Jackson songs or sing a song in church or choir and always get a very positive response. I knew I was really gifted with singing from a very young age but the real question for me as an artist was where would I place my energy because music and art came very naturally to me.”

-Can you explain your style?

B “My style is a definitely hip hop. My music and style is a  strive, to be honest, and authentic to my experience. I come from the south side of Chicago so rappers like Lupe Fiasco, Common, and Kanye West are inspirations that have molded my understanding and my approach to making music. I have been influenced by gospel and soul music so that vibe is definitely apparent. Another defining character in my style of music is the poetic flows which are a manifestation of my love for the beauty and healing power of the Word. I am a student of the rap game and a student of life so I am always learning new skills and how to apply them and make them work for me.  

-Who are your top 5-10 favorite GOATS?

B “My top 10 GOATS  in no particular order has to be Lupe Fiasco, Nas, Tupac, Saul Williams, The Notorious B.I.G. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Lil Wayne, Andre 3000, and Ms. Lauryn Hill”.

Listen To ” CHICAGO” By BC

-How hard or easy has it been breaking into the industry for you?

B “It has been very difficult for me to break into the industry. The main reason why I think it been so difficult for simply is my unfamiliarity with how this industry actually works. There are a lot of ins and outs to the music industry that is still pretty foreign to me. I consider myself to be an artist chiefly, and not really the businessman the system demands”.

-Does where you’re from affect your success with breaking into the industry?

B “Definitely! Chicago is an art Mecca but the city is so segregated that much of the opportunity is found either in the loop or up north. Not saying that there is no opportunities south or west but they are few and far between”.

-How does where you’re from influence your music?

B “My music talks about the hardship of being pushed around by life while maintaining hope in spite of it all. Before Conception is a manifestation of my found resiliency. I grew up in a situation that forced me to move around a lot so I had to learn to adapt to my situation as best as I can. That means I learned how to move in different schools, churches, and friend groups. When I went to college I had 4 and a half years of security and space where I can explore who I really am.  This is reflected in my music. The struggle to unify these very different experiences inspired me to be the unifying force I had always been looking for”.

Listen To “Civil Unrest” By BC

-What are you looking to accomplish with music?

B “Simply I want my music to connect with the rebel, and the outcast and those lost in a world seem to have forgotten about them. As long as I can connect and inspire those around me, then I think my job is done. The end goal is to reach a universal style that springs from my soul and manifest in those willing to fan my flames”. 

-Who is your music mainly geared to? (audience wise)

B ” My music is geared to more of an awoke audience. I talk about what’s real to me so really, the music is for anyone who can relate. I consider myself a lyricist, so if you’re coming only for the beats and melodies then this music might not be for you”.

-Who’s your favorite musician?

B ” My favorite musician has to be Lauryn Hill. Her integrity and Artistry are unparalleled. The Miseducation of Lauryn was such a beautiful and empowering album. Her later, more modern work has also been a huge inspiration to me as a person and an artist”.

Listen To “ABOVE” By BC

-Where do you draw your inspiration from?

B ” I draw my inspiration from everything around me. I love going for a walk and observing the state of things around me to inspire me to create. Seeing, for example, the hooker on the corner or the boarded up buildings gets me to thinking about creating a poem, a story, a song that can help me to make sense of these sights. To help me express these feeling and provide clarity I watch a lot of YouTube videos from great thinkers like Alan Watts, Cornell West, David Wolf, Noam Chomsky, Terrance McKenna, and James Baldwin to name a few. I also get inspiration from music from all genres but more specifically Hip Hop, Rap, Gospel, Soul, R&B, and Inspirational music of all types.

–  What are some of your other hobbies?

B “I love playing video games and reading when I can get the time. I love getting away and traveling when I can. A huge hobby that played a major part in my life was College Forensics, which for those unfamiliar with this activity is a speech and debate team. I was a member of the NIU for 4 years but now, on occasion, I still judge at those competitions and still consider myself a part of that community”.

-So what’s the back story behind YOU?

B ” The story is about a dreamer. Growing up my family who went through many financial hardships but no matter what was taken away from us we knew that we had each. I was a kid whose future hung on an uncertain solution but I learned to push forward. My resilience allowed for me to have success as a performer in college, to graduate from NIU, and for me to join groups like Donda’s House and Louder Than a Bomb which has helped me sharpen my skills as an artist”.

Listen To “CHIRAQ” By BC

– Some of your childhood favorites? (anything; tv shows, movies, food, games etc.)

B “I use to love cartoons and anime! Shows like Dragon Ball Z, Bugs Bunny, Yu Yu Hakusho, Pokemon, the Boondocks, and the Rugrats were always in the mix. As a Big boy, I was always satisfied with any meal that came with that golden jewel we refer to as French fries. I love Tai food too. Some of my favorite movies are the Matrix, Clockwork Orange, and any documentary I can get my hands on. The games that I mastered are Tetris, Madden, and League of Legends”.

*B’ NAWWWD with my favorite chicken ever “Harolds”*

-Some life challenging obstacles you’ve had to overcome.

B “I have come through many different obstacles. One of the more recent stories I’m willing to share is the last semester I was at NIU. At that time, I did not have my own place. So during that time, I slept on my coaches couch the majority of the semester until I could get back on my feet. For this, I am eternally grateful. I am thankful for the helping hands and willing hearts that helped produce what you now see in me BC”.

-Your biggest fans and supporters?

B “My biggest fans are my close friends and family. The groups that have learned to love me as an artist include places I’ve been a part of like from City Year, LTAB, and Donda’s House”.

https://soundcloud.com/bernard-tre-chestleigh/blessprod-by-chaz-alexander

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Now Trending: “BC” NOW TRENDING "BC" (Bernard Chestleigh)  BC ...   is an artist grown from the suburbs and south side of Chicago.