#sidenote chicken feet are so cool

[alldayeveryday-candycandycandy]

I don't care if rabbits don't have beans give the rabbit beans

Hell, give the chicken beans! 🐻 🫘 🐰 🫘 🐔 🫘 🦊 🫘

[shirtlesssammy]

14x12: Prophet and Loss

Then:

Drama llama Dean spent an entire afternoon in a workshop surrounded by half naked men, and now he’s gonna bury himself at the bottom of the sea.

Now:

We open with Dean in the ma’lak box at the bottom on the ocean.

It is uncomfortable to watch. I’ve had a lot of thoughts about Dean dreaming about being in the box. It’s a huge call back to 3x16/4x01 and him yelling for Sam and waking from Hell in his own coffin --the coffin Sam insisted he be buried in --the coffin that Cas, the naive angel that lacked the people skills to know not to just reconstitute him and leave him six feet under. This is as bad, if not worse, than Hell for Dean. Dean’s been very low in the past, but to listen to Death and admit that he doesn’t have free will over this situation? Gah.

It is just a dream though, albeit one that was so visceral, he woke to bloody fingernails and scratches on the motel wall. Sam, who’s also awake, tries talking to Dean about his plan.

For This is a Beautiful Shot Science:

Sam insists that there has to be another way. Dean sees no other option than to lock himself away with Michael for eternity. (Sidenote: I just saw this post come across my dash about Swan Song, and I’M DYING.)

Aaaaaand, it wouldn’t be Buckleming without some torture porn! A man has a woman tied up. He’s dumping salt in a vat of water. Oooh, maybe super crazy demon torture? J/K, just a regular girl who doesn’t deserve to die tortured. Sigh. He carves something into her arm and sends her into the water to drown. Positive Note: She’s fully clothed.

Nick’s in the hospital and and as soon as his leg heals, he’ll be spending a lot of time in jail. Nick’s playing the “devil made me do it” card. And he’s also crying silent tears. NOT BUYING WHAT YOU’RE SELLING, EUGENIE.

On the road, the brothers take a moment to further dissect Dean’s plan. Both Sam and Mary hate it. Cas and Jack don’t even know about it. Sam calls Cas --who clearly gets the newsletter Sam sends out to everyone. He knows.

Rowena and Cas have been on the case to extract Michael, but both have come up empty. Cas offers to speak with Dean. Sam doesn’t think that’ll matter.

Torture Man has a new victim! This time it’s a dude that he’s trussed and laid out on a plastic sheet. Torture Man utters warped Bible quotes while he slits the man’s throat. He then carves something into his chest. Oh man, I have a high capacity for violence on TV, but this WAS NOT COOL TO WATCH. Do. Not. Like. After carving up his victim, he hears whispers and says, “I am the Lord.”

On the road, Michael continues to scream and pound on the inside of Dean’s mind. And, guh, Dean pulls himself together and side-eyes Sam to see if he noticed. He didn’t. SAM. I mean, I get it, he’s doing what he can to stop Dean’s plan. And if Dean really wants to convince his brother this is the best idea, why worry if he sees you struggle?

Anyway, Dean jumps into talking about their childhood, and how he “wasn’t always the greatest brother” to Sam. Sam’s baffled as to where this is going. Dean was his constant family when they were kids. Sam recognizes that Dean was not just there for him as a brother, but he raised Sam. Dean continues, apologizing for siding with their dad, for trying to keep the peace. I AM LIVING FOR THIS CONVERSATION. Dean admits that John would send Dean away when he would get mad at Dean. And, like we know this, and I’m still crying? Sometimes I feel like while every episode adds to the story of Sam and Dean, they’re often forgotten or never mentioned again, so did they really happen? If I ended up in an alternate world where I was rich and famous, I’d think back and rehash the fun in that on occasion. In any event, 9x7 did happen, and it happened on multiple occasions. Sam makes it clear to Dean that he let all that go a long time ago, also please stop with the deathbed apologies. Kthxbye.

Nick outsmarts the cop guarding him and escapes from the hospital.

Sam’s found a case! A nice distraction from their Road Trip of Bad Decisions. They head to investigate.

They arrive at the home of the brother of the last victim.

I found this shot SO weird, but didn’t really think about it again until I saw @neven-ebrez post, and was glad someone put some thought into it. :D We’re kind of hit over the head with brother parallels here. Dean gets to hear what it might feel like for Sam when he’s gone. Sam explains that the graffiti carvings were really Enochian. 

The brother talks about a friend, Tony Alvarez, who was more into Bible quotes than the average Millenial.

A Story in Three Parts:

I mean, really. REALLY? Cas has no chill. He also has no filter and spills that he knows about Dean’s plan. At first I was like “oh Cas bby, no” but now I’m ok with it. It’s almost more painful to know that Cas knows about Dean’s plan when Dean doesn’t know about Cas’s deal. (And equally painful to think that Cas doesn’t think about his deal because he doesn’t see himself ever being happy.) (Natasha: curls up into an unhappy knot on the floor.)

Anyway, Dean doesn’t want to talk to Cas about his plan and jumps right into why he called. Does Cas recognise the name Tony Alvarez? Cas says that he’s in line to be a prophet. Dean cuts him off, awkwardly tells him it’s good to hear his voice, and hangs up. He instantly chastises Sam for spilling his secret. “Dean, it’s Cas. I had to tell him.” Sam and Cas are the best brothers-in-law. HUGS.

And if Tony is now a killer prophet, is Donatello dead? Dean checks in with Donatello’s doctor. He’s still around (brain dead and all, but not dead dead.)

Dean and Sam break into Tony’s home, which looks perfectly normal EXCEPT for a creepy office covered with Enochian writing and pinned up photos of victims. They realize that the killer is cycling through different biblical deaths.

Cut to the Sphinx Machine Shop, where a deranged Tony has strung up his next victim. He gets ready to burn him (and I’m just cringing in horror please stop). Fortunately, the Winchesters rush in just in time. Sam tackles Tony while Dean puts out the fire and saves the victim. Tony babbles that God was telling him to kill those people. He manages to get a hold of Dean’s gun and kills himself.

U G H

Anyway, just like that, the whole case is over.

They go over the case with Cas, who speculates that Donatello’s not-dead-yet status has somehow triggered a malformed line of prophets. The answer seems clear...they’ve got to kill off Donatello.

Nick breaks into his old house and flashes back to the trauma of his family’s deaths. (Somehow there’s still electrical service? I’m going to chalk that up to an overzealous realtor, perhaps.) The room ices over as the ghost of his dead wife, Sarah, manifests. He addresses her as...“Lucifer?” AWKWARD. Sarah, played by a jarringly different actress, tells Nick that she’s been a ghost...the whole damn time. She saw him get possessed by Lucifer and that is part of the unfinished business that keeps her tethered to Earth. There are some major you’re-cheating-on-me vibes coming from her.

“You wanted him,” she accuses him. “You still do,” she says, surprising absolutely nobody. Nick tells Sarah that he’s gonna go find Lucifer and he leaves her behind to be a super grumpy ghost for all eternity. Thanks, man.

At the Happy Daze nursing home (rly?) a doctor tells the Winchesters that pulling the plug on Donnie is the right choice. Dean practically smirks at Sam like, “SEE? The nice doctor is telling you to let me be tortured for all of eternity.” Cas meets them in the guise of a doctor.

Doctor Sexy: A visual story in three parts:

Sam heads off with the (real) doctor to see what sort of babbled “nonsense” Donnie’s been dealing. (I take a break to pedantically google the difference between brain death and vegetative states.) Dean gives Cas some serious side-eye and sass about checking up on Donatello, but Cas pulls him back. He explains that what he did to Donatello was necessary at the time, but he still regrets it. Dean attempts to commiserate and Cas spits out, “Please don’t compare this with your suicidal plan. Just STOP.” 

Dean pleads with Cas to support his decision. “This is goodbye?” Cas demands in response, and then SAM BURSTS IN. God DAMN it, Interrupting!Sam.

Ugh. MAN. Give Dean and Cas five freakin’ minutes to talk through their issues 2k19. (You know I love it AND I hate it, bbys.)

Anyway, the footage of Donatello shows him speaking Enochian. He’s muttering about striking down the first born of Egypt...he’s just spewing out the Word of God. Cas thinks Donatello’s mind is rebuilding itself and stumbling through old prophecies. (Me: passive-aggressively googles vegetative states again.)

They head into Donatello’s room where Cas, bless him, continues to show an utter lack of an appropriately scaled cover persona. He orders the real doctor out of the room with a cursory “Get out.”

While Sam and Dean wait for Cas to try his healing mojo, Dean flinches as he continues to struggle with Michael. Oh, Dean Bean.

They reunite with Cas just in time for Cas to have his breakthrough healing moment.

For Science

They turn off the life support machines and, after a brief jolt, Donatello pulls through. It’s a miracle! He’s probably not evil, right? I mean, the lack of soul will almost certainly steer him well. (Lord, we’re going to be stuck with this chicken-addicted prophet forever, aren’t we?) 

Donatello wants to know what happened and Dean slaps Cas on the shoulder and somewhat snarkily leaves the job to him. Dean. Bean.

Sam greets Dean back at the Impala with beer and misery. After the “win” of getting Donatello back, it’s time for them to head on home so Dean can lock himself into his torture box. Sam delivers an emotional speech about their shared experiences and accuses Dean that he’s checking out of the world too soon. “If you quit on us today, there will be no tomorrow.” Sam rails at Dean, begging him to give them all a chance to save him. “I believe in us,” Sam shouts and punches Dean in rage and pain. 

Reluctantly, Dean promises to go home with Sam and hold out for another option for as long as he can. Dean offers a contingency agreement: if they have no other choice in the future, then Sam and Cas have to let him go.

“Let’s go home,” Dean says to them both. Hooray! And...that should get to me but what really quietly wrecked me was Dean telling Sam quietly, “Don’t hit me again, okay?” before they all climbed into the car. Welcome, hello, my heart is now in a coffin at the bottom of the ocean.

After they all depart, the title card fades ominously to white. 

Everybody knows what makes Doctor Sexy sexy is his Quotes:

Well, the woman has a remarkable command of profanity.

If we could not have conversations that sound like deathbed apologies, I would really appreciate it.

Dean, it’s so good to hear from you.

Thank you, and it’s good to hear your voice.

“Doctor.” “Doctor.” “Doctor.”

Dean. If there’s a spark, a hope, then I have to try. You taught me that.

No rest for the self-destructive.

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[somebodyhelpthenotdeadfreds]

So. *cracks knuckes* I hear you have an au idea for Gary Green. Could you maybe talk about it a bit more? *crosses fingers* (im terrible im sorry)

 *crackles knuckles* settle down around the fire, I’ll spin a half-formed tale that is slowly growing into a real fic. Inspiration comes from my lovely Discord server and @agentmarymargaretskitz who encourages all my cracky AUs.

So John, Ava, and Gary are out on a mission for the Legends. This is after the whole ‘good and evil’ talk (sidenote: forever bitter that that was not an ONSCREEN conversation but i digress) so the tension between the two is a real ‘will they/won’t they’ mixed with the sexual tension as always. Ava doesn’t want to be here, but somebody needs to be a responsible adult.

Eventually, after *insert bullshit magic yadadada* Gary turns a corner and BAM.

“Gary, what happened?” Ava yells after hearing him yelp.“I - think I ran into a wall,” Gary calls back, rubbing his forehead, touching over his temples because damn, that’s what the pain feels like but - there’s no wall. There’s nothing. It just feels like a migraine.

He goes home that night and the headache has spread to a neck and back ache, as well. Oh well, probably pulled a muscle, it’ll be fine.

For some reason, he eats five eggs (scrambled a little raw) for breakfast and the ache is dull, humming under his skin. His mouth actually waters as Mona passes by his work desk with food for the creatures, he’s - starving.

Nate doesn’t question his eating of an entire can of chicken liver pate, plain, at his desk.

The headache’s back, and it’s worse.

It’s soothed slightly by a rare steak he makes at home, but now it feels like he’s buzzing with energy as he lays drained on the couch.

“I - think I have an iron deficiency,” he murmurs to nobody, as per usual.

There’s a purr from the back of his brain: No.

It’s all he remembers before falling asleep.

For the next three days, he’s basically been eating nothing but protein yet he’s never felt more tired in his life. Nobody says a thing to him.“Sorry Green, got the last 8 O’Clock,” McNeil laughs at him, the treacherous Keriug already filling up his cup. Gary rolls his eyes, but he finds he can’t roll them back forward again as words escape his mouth“You touch my coffee again, I’ll rip your lungs out and feed them to you.”

His eyes suddenly roll forward again and he blinks a few times before giving a high, awkward laugh. at McNeil’s startled expression. 

“You - you know me, not the same without morning coffee!” He takes whatever’s in the communal pot and sits back down at his desk, shaking his head and blinking a few more times. He gets through until lunch until he - suddenly blacks out.

He wakes up again in the afternoon, in the empty bathroom on the -3rd floor that nobody ever uses, covered in blood. That’s enough to make him panic, never mind the three empty pint containers of blood, a fourth in his hand and all over his mouth.

He stumbles out of the stall and washes his face in the sink, and when he looks up his reflection is smirking with coal-black eyes. He rubs his eyes and turns away, that purring voice pressing behind his temple. 

Hello.

“Uh, hi. What - who are you?” he asks, because damn his ingrained politeness.A friend.“I - I don't believe that.”Gary. All I want to do is help you.“...could you - not, do that,” Gary muttered, cleaning the messy stall.It’s taken longer to gain any control over you than normal humans.“...sorry?”Pure souls are hard to break.“I’m - not - a virgin, if that’s what you mean.”Oh, I know. You think about it a lot.“Don’t - don’t read my thoughts!”Too late. You’re tired, let me - drive. Close your eyes, let me-“No! Shut up!” Gary says too loudly out loud as he walks into the break room. He grabs a danish and scurries back out of there to avoid confrontation.

And instead of that, he walks right into John Constantine, looking ruggedly handsome (like always dammit Gary shut up) while he’s got crumbs all over his lips and dark circles under his eyes.“Hey, Squire,” John smirks with a cigarette between his lips even if the building’s nonsmoking. Gary opens his mouth to respond back when that awful migraine, like claws sinking into his frontal lobe, returns and he winces.“Sorry, migraines,” he explains in a rush, heading back to his desk without another look his way.

It’s too much to deal with, he opens the door to Ava’s office, knowing he looks like a wreak and she’s - so annoyed to see him, it’s so obvious, and he tries to explain, Ava, Boss-Lady, I’m - I’m sick, I’m sick, something’s wrong - “something’s wr-”“Gary, just go home,” Ava says curtly, going back to her meeting with the Legends. He lets the door close and heads on the walk home alone, only his feet carry him somewhere else.

When he’s finally back in his apartment, eating through two packages of raw lamb, the voice comes back.They’re mean to you.“I - they’re my friends, I was - I was being annoying.”Friends shouldn’t do that.“You - what do you know about friends? Where - where are you from?”Hell.“Okay. Okay, that’s normal. Why - why are you inside of me? Oh, no, that came out wrong.”Reasons you can’t know, not yet.“...cool. Look - look, don’t bother possessing me. Look at me, I’m worthless. I trip over my own carpet four times a week sober.”I...can help.“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”People deserve it.“I don’t need to hurt them, though.”Humans are dumb, Gary. All of them. You, not so much.

It’s weird, to have this conversation with essentially your own brain as you speak out loud and then have words and voice that aren’t yours come out of your mouth.

Give me a chance to take control. I’ll give you what you want, then you can let me what what I want, the demon says. (Gary’s calling him Joe, because his vocal chords cannot replicate the name that swirled in his brain)

“...you get one day to convince me,” Gary states firmly, and no sooner do those words leave his lips then his vision goes black.

When he wakes up, it’s to everything he’s ever wanted in the world. The A/C’s never on the fritz, the neighbors are quiet, the shower always has hot water, the apartment’s bigger, and there’s - a blonde warlock in his bed that kisses him before Gary has to leave for work.

He has his OWN office at work, his own Keriug, he’s employee of the month and number one agent, all the bells and whistles and everyone is actually glad to see him and greet him, even Ava, even all the Legends. Everything is so goddamn perfect, especially a visit from said blonde warlock in the afternoon, in his lap in his own office, smiling that rare real smile.

And then John Constantine says to him, Gary Green: “I love you.”

Gary sits straight up from where’s he’s been out cold on his couch, gasping for air and he doesn’t know why, he just knows his heart is racing because - 

What’s wrong? It’s what you want.“It’s not,” Gary whispers, lying but not lying, picking up his phone. “I don’t want lies. I don’t want to be lied to.”

It’s 6 o’clock. He’s been MIA an entire day and a half. There’s a single message, from Ava, at two in the afternoon: Gary, why aren’t you at work? You need to call if you can’t come in, remember.

That’s it. Nothing about his well-being, his whereabouts, about him.

Gary throws his phone into the opposite armchair and cries into a stupid throw pillow he got as a stupid giveaway at an office supply store. Not even a housewarming pillow.

There’s a hesitant warmth, just under the degree of burning, under the skin of his aching shoulder, spreading down his back.I want to help.

“How?”Whatever you need.

The knock at the door and the British accented “Gary, love, you awake?” sends Gary scrambling to shove bloody wrappers under the couch, quickly rinsing his face off before answering the door even as the voice hisses Noooot Constantine. “Hush,” Gary whispers harshly before throwing the door open.

John takes in Gary’s red-tinged eyes, dark circles beneath those, the general paleness and exhaustion. “Weren’t around today.”

“Sick,” Gary offers quickly. “Think - I have a bug. I’m fine, don’t - your’e not worried, duh, just - thanks, thank you for - checking in.”

There’s something - wrong, John can’t put a finger on it, but just nods in agreement. There’s too long a pause before the goodbyes, enough time for an embrace or a kiss, but neither offers either option. The door just closes between them afterwards.

I said humans were dumb, Gary.“Not - not all humans.”You aren’t. John Constantine, of all the humans, is the dumbest.“Hey, no, don’t say that stuff.”Yes, because you want to fuck-“Do - NO, that’s not why-”I can read your thoughts. Humans usually don’t break out of those fantasies like what I put you in. Why did you?“...it’s not real.”The warmth wraps around his arm, if that were possible. This is.Gary actually smiled. “...yeah, it is.”

Apparently, it’s easy to get used to possession, so long as your demon stays well-fed. Bloodlust can be avoided as long as there is actual blood to consume. Gary knows this butchery too well by the end of the first two weeks.

We should kill him, the demon tells Gary when McNeil steals the last K-cup again.“No, I said we wouldn’t do that....unless we had a reason.” Truth be told, he’s probably on borrowed time before he finally kills, he knows that. So far, the blood’s working to keep him satisfied.You hate him. That’s a reason. Or the man downstairs for being loud. We can rip his lungs out.“Not gonna happen.”

Ava’s in a very important business meeting with Mr. Heywood, and Gary’s leading the Legends to the waiting room outside her office to wait it out.

“So what’s this about?” Sara asks him.“Boss lady won’t let me say, you know that.”“Mick.”Oh god, Gary thinks before his vision tints into black tones.Before Mick can grab Gary, all he sees are Gary’s eyes visibly turning solid black for a brief moment before he has one hand in Mick’s collar and holding him up against the wall and snarling, “I said to WAIT.”

Then he shifts back and looks terrified for a second, dropping Mick down and offering sheepishly with a laugh, “I - sorry, no coffee. Did I mention I’ve been working out? Gotta run!”

He’s out of there, “What was that?”He was bothering you.“How did I do that?”I did it.

Then Gary’s flicking his hand to the right and McNeil’s chair spins out of control and he falls out of it onto the linoleum, precious coffee spilling everywhere.

Gary smiles despite himself. “We can’t do this a lot.”But we can do it?“...we can do it sometimes.”

For more, stay tuned for the upcoming fic!!!! Whew, I hope you like this NOVELLA that I answered you with!

[justasmalltowngirl1990-blog]

London calling

Hi guys so this is my first blog please dont expect perfect grammar or any of that shizz cos you know we all make mistakes and nobody's perfect. As you guessed it's about a trip to London. I'm writing it alongside my better half @bloke-interrupted as he is known on tumblr. I know him as Owen.

So this wasnt my first trip to London but I always get that sense of excitement approaching kings cross (I'm a Harry Potter fan). We were going for a weekend of culture and London always delivers big on culture. Me I love love love musicals but this time we went to see a Tennessee William's play bit more civilised but I couldn't sing along (bummer). So anyways we found a great place for breakfast a deli in golborne avocados pancetta poached eggs tomatoes cheese and pancakes it was huge and delicious. Spoiler alert I'll talk alot about food #sorrynotsorry

So then we walked through portobello road place where the riches of ages are sold (Disney fans will get the reference for you less cool people reading this bedknobs and broomsticks). It was really cool and I loved it so we headed off to Camden on the tube which I also love just cos we dont have it where I'm from (public transport is a joke). Camden was everything and more I posed with hulk antman and a moonin (seperatly) there was loads of cool stalls and the food smelt amazing. Then we went to the cube cafe which had pikachu in the window and had shakes again yummy my berry one kicked Owens banana & chai ones ass.

And that's when things went slightly pear shaped. Ladies and gentlemen we walked from Camden all the way to the British museum to then discover actually we had been there in our last trip. I was fine used to walking in cheap primark shoes however @bloke-interrupted

not so much his shoes started crumbling (moral of the story wear socks in your shoes kids). Needless to say both of us had aching feet by this point so we got an uber to Trafalgar square.

Next stop on the culture trip the national gallery where we saw some really old art by some really famous long dead dudes. Dont get me wrong they were good paintings but tbh it was totally over my head I didnt have a clue I even saw a famous horse painting which everyone else recognised. I felt like a fish out of water plus my feet were really hurting by this point . We got the tube back to our air bnb (more walking eugh) which sidenote was awesome.

Rested and ready to hit the town we got the tube back into town for the main event of the whole weekend the play about a night at the iguana. Had a fabulous line up and the noel coward theatre looked amazing. I love all the gilded decorations and the big dome in the ceiling. Somehow I'm into architecture in old buildings no idea why but I love it the grander the better in my opinion. And then it started I swear to God the first half seemed to last an eternity not helped by the ridiculously uncomfortable (seat c15 you son of a .... ) or the fact it was slow to get going. The acting was good and I could not do what they do (my memory is terrible) however Clive owen was the weakest of the main cast I'm sure he will find his groove. Round of applause to the female leads fantastic throughout. The German family ponlintless in my opinion but then there could be some deeper meaning behind them that I missed. The second act way better one of them descends into madness another dies and your left feeling sorry for one of them as well. Time went alot quicker and before I knew it the actors were bowing and we were outta there. I wish I had researched the play so I felt some connection to it I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Now for my favourite part the walk to China town and the best Chinese I have ever had. Pork dumplings, crispy duck, sweet and sour chicken crispy chilli beef and chicken fried rice just amazing my mouth is watering remembering it good job this isn't a vlog or it would be plain embarrassing 😂😂

Anyways the night ended on a high and we tumbled into bed exhausted.

Sunday we breakfasts again at the same place pancakes maple syrup and bacon for me owen had scrambled eggs bacon on ciabatta again delicious and then we were at kings cross looking at places to live in London..... we could afford a house boat 😂😂😂 and people watching always fun.

The whole point of this blog (I know we finally got to it) is to encourage people (if anyone reads it) to take your loved ones to places you have been that are special to you for a fun day/weekend out. For me having someone who knows London pretty well makes me fall in love with it even more and also reignites that persons spark for the place. Watching someone experience London for the first time is magical it's like a kid in a candy store where do you look first and your wonder and amazement is infectious and changes the whole experience for both of you. But when you've seen all the "big stuff" you start to notice the smaller things around London little bars that you never noticed cos your head was in a map or the cute little side street that has wild flowers all around it. Time shared together is never wasted and whether its London or somewhere your nan used to take you it's just so worth it to see your happiness become their happiness.

Peace out guys and dolls xoxoxo

[eenefangirlanalysis]

Just then a familiar squeal is heard.

“Wilfred? Is that you?” Rolf asks, sitting up from the ground. He has been separated from his beloved pig for a whole day. Has he been given time to think about his out of character behavior while his head was trapped in that meat grinder? 

Rolf’s character is better at the beginning and ending stages of the movie. His scenes are more filler then anything. Why the writers decided to have Rolf go alone is beyond me. Rolf’s character is better interacting with others then just himself. We learn about ourselves through social interaction. Although being alone is worth experimenting we should not be alone our whole lives. It’s not healthy. That could be the lesson he learns in all this. 

I love how Ed immediately smiles. It’s like he senses that Sarah is going to be with Wilfred. Either that or the sound of a pig makes him happy. He loves animals.

I love scenes in eene where the characters are all together. Artists have to pay attention to each character’s different personality. That’s quite hard to do honestly. Still, it’s my favorite part when it comes to writing or drawing out a scene with multiple characters. Always challenge yourself because the more you do it you’ll get better. 

Also, I love how the whale house looms over the kids. It’s a sign that things are out of place. It’s supposed to look intimidating. These kids are all alone without any adult supervision. This is the first time they’be left the cul-de-sac to explore what’s outside of it.

Sarah storms into the scene having had it with Wilfred eating corn dogs off the ground.

Where did Jimmy get the popcorn? Is there a stand already open? Bro confirms that the park doesn’t open until noon. 

This kid is adorable! Seeing this makes me giggle. This little moment is one of my favorites because it’s so random.

I still don’t understand why Jimmy is hated among the fan base. People are still angry over what he did to the Eds in If It Smells Like an Ed. I don’t think I have ever disliked Jimmy. That episode monumented his growth. He devised a whole Agatha Christie scheme which had the Eds and even viewers baffled. Jimmy has gone from a whimpy kid to a conniving schemer who can look out for himself.

Jimmy and Ed have similarities. The two are always playing around, eating random food they find, and try to make the people around them laugh. If Sarah had a different relationship with Ed Jimmy would be much closer with Ed. He wants to get to know him better. He’s always tagging along with Sarah agreeing with her opinions so Sarah won’t snap at him.

The Kanker’s are first to call out the children.

I wonder if these were different circumstances the girls would have gone after Sarah and Jimmy to get their revenge. Lee sure wants it.

Ed is ecstactic to see his baby sister that he is adapted the ability to fly again. This is the first time Ed mentions his sister throughout the whole movie. He would have mentioned how much he misses her in a deleted scene. 

Ed knows that Sarah is a different person deep down. They’re facing the same neglect from their parents. Ed loves Sarah because she’s the only family member he can look up to and feel that every day is worth living for. Sarah too.

May is the only one out of her sisters who is not angry to see Sarah and Jimmy.

Look at her face. She didn’t realize this was Ed’s sister. Now she’s going to worry about how this will affect their possible relationship. Will Sarah tell Ed what the Kanker’s did to them? 

EdMay is such a cute ship. Ed and May are longing to be independent from their friends. Edd and Eddy and Lee and Marie are obviously more close with another. Post BPS Ed and May could wander into each other and talk about the events.

Sarah is annoyed that Ed is still in one piece while Jimmy fears that they’ve missed the Eds beating.

Sarah can rant off how ever much she wants about how she dislikes Ed all she wants. Remember how I pointed out the difference in personalities within their eyes? One eye reflects the mask while the other shows their true personality they don’t want others to see. Examine her eyes carefully.

Wow, even with the Kanker’s standing a few feet away they walk towards them.

The other kids are here to protect them. And Ed too.

So, they’re still here to see the Eds get beat up. As I have questioned before is it just Eddy they want to see get beat up? Eddy has always been the least likeable of the trio. 

Sidenote: ‘Mermaid Burgers’

Kevin proudly states that they have not missed any action as he grabs Eddy by the ankle.

Keep in mind this is the leg that will be horrifically tortured in a few short minutes.

Eddy briefly panics but then realizes he has a free card.

“In your dreams, shovel chin. Tell yah what, why don’t you talk to my Bro?”

Sidenote: Is that Ed calmly standing with the Kankers??

Eddy, you’re adorable!

Eddy finally gets revenge on Kevin after he stomped on his head in Ready, Set, Ed!

“[Bro] lives here yah know.”

The scene is slightly reminiscent of Ed... Pass it On.

First, the look Edd gives Eddy.

In Ed... Pass it On Edd was trying to encourage Eddy to tell the truth to everyone saying that his brother wasn’t going to show up. Eddy had the perfect moment to reveal that  Bro was not the person he let on. Instead he kept on lying. That’s where Edd and Eddy’s deterioration in their friendship started.

They have gone through an entire journey where they’ve opened up and saw one another in a different and powerful light. Is all that going to go away?

Each character has a different reaction at the possibility that Bro is the owner of this whale shaped house.

Kevin and Rolf are in disbelief. They both share feelings of legitimate terror whenever Eddy’s brother is mentioned.

It’s implied that Eddy’s brother must have done something quite terrible to Rolf’s chickens. I have a head canon that on the infamous day when Bro’s final scam went awry it caused Rolf’s chickens to go insane. Remember how Eddy hates birds?

As for Kevin it’s suggested that he has only heard horror stories and never met Bro.

I have talked about the divorced parents theory before and may the reason for why his mom left is because of Eddy’s brother. That’s why Kevin holds a grudge towards Eddy.

Nazz is immediately alerted. She has expressed how awesome and cool Eddy’s brother sounds. The kids were very young if they were living in the neighborhood at the same time as Bro.

Sarah and Jimmy do look surprised. Sarah was not interested in the possibility that Bro may show up in Ed.. Pass it On. Jimmy has always been intrigued.

The Kanker’s are the only character who were not present during Ed... Pass it On. Surprisingly Lee is the one Kanker who is interested to meet this figure behind the door. May and, in a rare moment, Marie are unsure. Marie is holding her hands together as if she’s nervous. There is a whole different side to her character.

I guess I should also mention Wilfred too. The writers kept him part of this scene and made sure that he had a motivation to be here. Good on the writers part for not letting him drift off and never be seen again.

Jonny was never been present to witness the possible encounter with Bro in Ed.. Pass it On. And he misses out on everything here. Totally unfair! Jonny should have showed up in his bus now rather then after all these events have occurred. Why did the writers have to outcast his character like that? He’s a member of the cul-de-sac who has hung out with the kids and been in on their schemes in almost every episode.

I have a theory that Big Picture Show takes places one year later from Ed... Pass it On. Everyone, minus Jonny and the Kanker’s, were present in Kevin’s house asking questions about Eddy’s brother whereabouts and true nature. Eddy has been faced with the conflict of being true to himself or denying his past regarding his brother.

A lot can change within a year.

"Yeah. So tell him how you're gonna beat up his little bro,” Eddy remarks turning back to the door.

[seokjinstopit-blog]

Maybe It’s You (1)

Word Count: 8.2k

Genre:Fluff and other things I don’t know what to call…. Synopsis: You meet a boy at the park one day….

(Sidenote: Plagiarism is a crime punishable by law, don’t do it kids, this is my original work, so I worked really hard on it, don’t make me sue you haha.) 

(Author’s note: AHHH THIS IS MY FIRST STORY, I’M SO NERVOUS, please tell me if you guys liked it or didn’t…😭. Whatever it is I would love to hear some feedback! Oh this is also going to be part of my school project haha, but I truly hope you guys enjoy it! Part two will come out when I have time to write it and when people ask for the next part so I know you guys want to see more hehe, anyways enjoy! Please..? 💙~Ace)

                                                          You

Under the harsh radiant sunlight your eyes are engulfed by a blinding light causing you to shuffle in your bed contained within your ebony enclosed room. You pulled the large warm grey blanket over your messy tangled hair hoping it would keep you protected from nature’s wrath. Before you know it you’re rising from your warm queen sized bed, rubbing your eyes intensely, causing some slight pain. You stretched your pajama covered arms out feeling the cool air around you. The sound of birds chirping fused with your wind chime reminded you of some Princess movie. Remembering that food was still left in the fridge from ordering takeout again yesterday, you stood up from your bed examining the room, well organized and put together, just the way you liked things. As your feet created a rhythmic beat with the floor below, you couldn’t help but realize how cold the tiles of your apartment floor was. Your focus was quickly diverted however when you started to wonder how you were going to spend your day. The park perhaps, or maybe visiting a friend’s house? Your thoughts went on into the endless possibilities, and various futures of your day as you made it into the restroom. The laid out wool carpets could be felt under your feet, highly contrasting from the tiles with it’s warmth. After a few seconds your gaze was transferred onto the framed bathroom mirror which caused you to smile, you didn’t look too tired and you felt slightly more confident in yourself today. Normally you would look more like a hot mess who’d been drinking for too long, that was hilarious to you considering the fact that you never touched alcohol in your life. You reached for your electronic toothbrush, adding on some Colgate toothpaste before brushing away, the buzzing sound filling up your restroom. A few moments later you were in the kitchen reaching for the leftover fried chicken and French fries you had. You lifted the crispy oiled chicken thigh up taking a huge bite out of the center, allowing the delicious unhealthy flavor to melt in your mouth. Junk food wasn’t something you’d normally eat but yesterday was special. It was to celebrate the completion of your 2 month project for English class.  Your friends had thought that ordering takeout while watching, “White Chicks,” was the way to go so you just agreed. You weren’t the type to argue back anyways, and besides it was quite fun. After the celebration hangout session your friends had helped you clean before leaving. You snap out of your entranced thoughts, appalled that all of the fried chicken that was present mere seconds ago were mere bones. You turned your head rapidly silently pleading that the French fries were still safe but to your dismay the French fries were only remnants of what they once were. It was tasty while it lasted, you sighed standing up to put away your trays into the sink. It was a weekend today so you didn’t have any classes. Spending the rest of the morning relaxing and watching YouTube wouldn’t be such a bad idea. By the time you were finished with that it was already noon. - You closed the door to your apartment locking it carefully, before you placed the keys inside your pocket. Already clothed in winter fitting clothing you began to make your way to the park. Your grey faux fur jacket was keeping you warm, from the cool breezes that were surfing across your skin. Glancing down at the floor you admired your cute tennis shoes, grey and simple. The black sweats you were wearing contrasted with your beige t-shirt hidden under the coat. You’d normally dress a lot more fashionably but it was the weekend, it’s not like anyone would see you anyways. Today would be great for a little stroll to the park you thought. Despite the countless amount of times you’ve been on this path to the park, you were always left in awe at the beauty of your neighborhood. You loved nature, and life itself, if something appeared ugly, there was always some sort of beauty in it. That’s what your mother had taught you. You turned your head taking in a deep breath, the air was fresh provided only by the variety of trees that decorated your neighborhood. From pine trees to oak trees, the city had planted them during Earth day and you were glad you had volunteered to help. Cars zoomed by you, while birds flocked through the clouded gloomy sky. Perhaps it was going to rain, that’d be nice considering it hadn’t rained in almost a week. Your friends had teased you before for being such a “hippie,” as they called it but you didn’t mind. It wasn’t your fault they couldn’t cherish the very home they lived on. You’d try to lecture them about it but doing that was like talking to a wall. And you’re pretty sure the wall would’ve listened better. They were college kids just as you were, what could you do? Kids at this age just wanted to party and do the dirty. You weren’t a nun per say but you certainly didn’t go around hooking up with other guys. All your life you only had one boyfriend, Xavier. He was your boyfriend all of high school until he changed. He became addicted to alcohol, and at his age that was dangerous. Countless times you’d try to convince him to quit, sadly it always led nowhere. He wasn’t the man you’d fallen in love with anymore. He reeked of alcohol all of the time, and was always tired when you saw him. It didn’t matter to you if he drank ever so often but he didn’t, it was every, single, day. You decided that breaking it off with him was the best thing you could do. If you couldn’t save him, at least you could save yourself as selfish as that sounded. By distancing yourself from him, you found a sort of peace. But at the same time your heart was broken, it was too late, Xavier was never going to be the man you fell in love with again, and you were never going to be the same again. After Xavier you grew skeptical of trusting people, if you couldn’t trust them at least you could trust the world. The beauty of the world was a comfort to you. You weren’t ignorant to all of the cruelty and disasters of it of course. It’s just you’d rather not focus on that, you could of course do the same for people, which you did. But it was difficult when it came to people becoming a potential love interest or a close friend. To sum it up you were a complicated girl, you’d probably end up being single until death and own 70 cats. Honestly you didn’t mind that, having cats wouldn’t be so bad, they would keep you company, and unlike people. They wouldn’t break your heart. You broke from your memories when you noticed you’d made it to the front of the park. The park looked like any park, simple and usually peaceful. With your eyes fixated on a bench in the corner, you quickly shuffled towards it, your shoes clattering  with the hard cement below. You placed your hands in your pockets before you sat on the clean polished wood. Your irises darted around picking up the landscape surrounding you. The green slides were unoccupied, while the rusty black swings blew gently in the wind. Saturday’s were never popular days at the park, in fact most days weren’t popular, kids nowadays were always so glued to their devices. You let out a loud sigh examining the rest of the park. The empty sandbox, check. The lone water fountain in the corner? Check. The unused monkey bars, and check. Everything else? Exactly the same. You didn’t hate the park, in fact you loved it. It was a great place to relax and admire the sky. Without warning, your attention was suddenly caught when a sound of a pigeon cooing rang in your ear. That’s strange, pigeons barely ever showed up to the park. At least not when you were here. Maybe you were just scary looking. You stood up, following the amusing sound. The sound led you to a person sitting on the park’s grass hill a few meters away from you. On top of the grass hill, you spotted a pale, pink haired Asian boy, around your age you assume. He doesn’t spot you yet thankfully. Your vision was glued on the beautiful boy in front of you, the wind sweeping his light pink bangs upwards. He chuckled, causing you some slightly confusion, before your attention briefly transferred onto the pigeon on his sweater covered arm. His other hand was directly in front of the pigeon’s beak, filled with some type of seed. The boy seemed unfrightened as the single pigeon pecked into his palm rapidly causing him to chuckle again. Your eyes returned to the boy once more taking his features in. He wasn’t in any way masculine looking, he looked rather boyish in your opinion, kind of like one of those K-pop guys your best friend always obsessed over, claiming she would have “Oppa’s babies.” If you had to describe him he looked pretty, you’d never thought you’d be the person to call a boy pretty, but there’s a first for everything, right? He’s dressed in a grey plaid pullover sweater, paired with some distressed black skinny jeans. His shoes were tennis shoes just like your’s but instead of being grey, his were black and white. You stepped closer as if you had a magnetic attraction to him, and for some reason the pigeon flies away. Probably just finished its meal you thought. His eyes met your’s now, despite being approximately two meters apart you could feel his gaze piercing through you, as if questioning your very being. He rose dusting off the grass from his jeans and sweater. You took this as a signal to step closer to him, your feet sinking into the grassy terrain. You left about a feet of distance between you and him before you spoke, “Um hey there, I noticed you were feeding a pigeon,” you add in a small chuckle at the end as waves of regret washed over you. What were you even saying? What were you doing? Attempting to flirt? Or just a bird enthusiast, yes that was totally the reason. A girl who can’t trust in people is suddenly a bird enthusiast. His cheeks flushed a light pink, made even more evident by his pale skin tone, he opened his mouth as if to reply, but nothing comes out. It’s in this moment that you notice a small scar on his neck. It looked like a tiny slash indented into his skin. He quickly covered the spot, his expression darkening, “It’s from a fall,” his tone a lot harsher than you had expected, “I’m sorry but I have to go now,” he fakes a smile before turning his back towards you. What the heck….what happened? Did you somehow offend him unknowingly? You were always a good if not a decent to talk to, why had he just marched off like that. A sudden feeling of angst consumes you, who was this pink haired boy? And what did he go through to get that scar? Why did you even care? Endless questions began to form in your mind as the boy’s figure shrank with the distance, an ominous aura following him as rain suddenly begins to fall.

                                                        Him

As he walked away from you, cold raindrops trickled down his cheeks, tracing his face as if he were a canvas, which he’d been before. His face turned facing the dark sky filled with gloominess. A feeling of melancholy presented itself to him, as he recalled a day like this. The day he ran away from her. Strangely enough, the boy had forgotten that he’d met you just a few seconds earlier, falling into his past memories once more.

                                                   1 year ago

She raised her hand up, prompting him to flinch slightly, before she quickly slapped him across the cheek causing the sound to echo through the empty dining room, “I told you not to buy me these pathetic useless things didn’t I?!” his girlfriend threw his present onto the floor without a care, letting her high heels click against the tile floor as she walked away. He fell onto the floor, as if his body had collapsed from disappointment. His cheek still burning as his arms reached out, wrapping his arms around the white teddy bear with the words, “I love you,” written on the red heart the teddy bear held. After a few hours of staying on the floor the boy’s body was growing even colder, he tightened his hold on the bear, his eyes glossed over as he fights a sob, “I’m sorry Stella….I’m sorry,” were the only words uttered by him that night. He didn’t sob, nor did he cry, because if he did, Stella would abandon him forever. About a week had passed since the incident and the boy was still as disappointed as he’d been a week prior. He went through his life mindlessly, school became a nuisance to him, even eating became unnecessary, and his love life began to slowly crumble. His mind was eating away at him, everything he had believed once morphed into inner demons ready to destroy him. One particular night, Stella came home very intoxicated, her heavy leather coat shifted from side to side as her heels stumbled loudly against the tile floor. She started screaming for her boyfriend as if she was in intense pain, and instantly he came running out to her, his face filled with panic. However when he truly saw what was happening his heart broke, he could tell straight away what was happening noting his girlfriend’s smeared makeup, her unbalanced posture, and her bloodshot eyes. She was drunk yet again, this had been the fifth time in a row this week. Stella had been drinking her heart out at the bar every night with her friends from what he knew, he’d been extremely worried about her. Was this perhaps his fault? She suddenly straightened up her stance, a evil smirk plastered across her face, “You’ve been cheating on me with some b**** haven’t you?!” The boy backed away slowly, feeling the cold tile floor against his bare feet, he was startled by how upset Stella was, but she was wrong, he’d never cheat on her, why would he? His face morphed into a state of panic, chills running through his body, when he noticed that she was holding an extremely sharp piece of glass against her acrylic nails, she laughed as her heels got closer to the boy, who’s body had collapsed on the floor from the shock. His heart was palpating so quickly that it was all he heard for a while, everything else she said to him became muffled. The boy wanted desperately for someone to save him right now, anyone, he begged hopelessly for some sort of miracle. But that miracle never came. He couldn’t move, the fear instilled in him, but he was beginning to hear her voice again, hoarse from the alcohol, “Now be a good boy and accept this and I’ll forgive you, oh and don’t scream, it annoys me,” she lifted the shard of glass bending down slightly so that she would reach him. The boy’s voice was stuck in his throat, he wanted to scream, to run, to disappear, but he couldn’t because he was too broken to. After what felt like forever to the boy, he realized that there was a sudden intense stinging on his throat, he moved his pale fingers, trying to cover the intense feeling of pain. All his fingers did however, was worsen the stinging, his fingers coating in the warm blood while a new color began spreading across his t-shirt, the color of regret. He pulled his hand away from his neck, taking a glance at it, it was painted over with the color of crimson blood. The boy’s gaze turned upward only to be welcomed by the horrified look on his girlfriend’s face, as though she’d seen a ghost, and perhaps in this instant she did. Perhaps this was his ghost, bidding her farewell. He was too lost in the pain and onslaught of thoughts that he couldn’t think straight. The shard of glass, coated with his blood had been dropped on the floor, mere inches away from his reach. The boy pushed himself off the coldness of the floor, his body heavy and his vision blurring. His eyes darted to the sharp piece of glass and again to her, Stella saw this and screamed loudly, her voice echoing through their empty apartment. This shocked the boy, that she would imply such a thing. Did she really think that he would do what she did to him? How horrid. The boy started to run towards the door, his neck in agonizing pain, as drops of his blood painted the white tile floor. His cold hands began to fidget with the door lock, while Stella sat on the couch in a state of stasis, when he had finally managed to unlock the door, he pushed it open, running outside. His bare feet new to the feeling of the concrete floor full of pebbles which he felt under his toes. The cold night air, blew against him, causing his cut to burn prompting a loud hiss from the boy. The bright moon, greeted him, and for a second he felt a tiny part of himself relax to have been able to escape from her, until suddenly a burst of pain ran through his head, his body falling against the floor with a loud thud. His black hair was soaking up the blood that was gushing out of the boy’s head, while his neck kept its constant stream of blood, now dripping on the dark concrete floor. Above him, against the light of the moon stood Stella, her face resembling a demon, as she clung onto the broken glass beer bottle tightly. The other half broke when she hit the boy on the head, he wasn’t dead, she just wanted to knock him out. That’s all. He was going to hurt her if she didn’t, yes that’s right he’s a jerk. Stella’s mind began to fill with toxic thoughts, supporting her actions, but that didn’t last very long when the sound of a siren pierced through the night. The boy later awoke several days later in a hospital bed, his entire body bandaged and wrapped, to be informed that Stella had been arrested, the nurse had said that someone in the neighborhood had called the police after hearing a scream coming from the apartment. She furthered explained to him, but her words became inaudible to the boy as he was taking in the reality. Stella was gone, the person who had been with him for all of those years (3), she was truly gone. Now he had no one, he knew how foolish he was, how dumb he seemed, how broken he would forever be, but he couldn’t stop the stream of tears from rushing out from his reddened eyes. And before he knew it, he was sobbing hard, as the nurse comforted him. She thought however that he was sobbing because of what had happened to him, and not Stella. The boy stayed in the hospital for a total of 9 months, recovering from the near death experience as the doctors described it, it had been a miracle he survived they said. During his time in the hospital, the boy confessed many things to the doctor, how Stella would usually hurt him physically, and never apologize for it. The doctors were mortified listening to his interactions with her, his experiences which he described calmly. The doctor’s one day asked the boy if he knew that he was being abused, to which he replied he did although he didn’t let it bother him, because Stella was all he had. Another patient who overheard his conversation with the doctors one day asked him why he didn’t tell his family, “I don’t have one anymore,” the boy would answer, his voice shaky as if he’d burst to tears any second. When he finally left the hospital after 9 months, the boy was a new person. He finally after all of those years acknowledged that he had been abused for the 3 whole years he had spent with Stella, and that she was a horrible person. Despite his gratitude for Stella for taking him in after his parents had passed, he could never forgive her for what she had done, or for shattering his heart. He wasn’t going to be her canvas anymore, he wasn’t going to let anyone paint his body with pain anymore. He wasn’t going to die foolishly every single day anymore, he wouldn’t need to hide the bruises on his arms, or body anymore, he was going to live every single day as if it was his last.                              

                                                Present day

By the time the boy had snapped out of his entranced state, he was already home in his apartment, drenched from the rain. He quickly headed into the restroom, showering and changing into a new pair of clothes before he sank down onto his king sized bed. The clothes that he left in the laundry basket messily for a week now, should’ve been folded sooner, the sink full of dishes needed to be washed, and he also was in a dire need to buy more groceries. When he lived with Stella, he would always finish any housework that needed to be done as soon as possible, but now that he lived alone, he was a different person. He was still somewhat shy as always, still as kind and caring, but what he wasn’t was trustful. His thoughts drifted to the park where he met you, an innocent like beauty radiating from you unlike anything he had ever seen. It was much different from Stella who always had more of a femme fatale aura about her, while you seemed so pure and innocent. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was about you that made him so curious, he blushed when he first saw you looking at him. You reminded him of the innocence he had back then, and lost in that small fragment of time it felt as if he had fallen in love with you in that very instant. That is until he was reminded of his scar, he didn’t blame you of course, many before you had questioned what it was before, and the boy would always say it was from a fall. But for some strange reason, when you asked him, he couldn’t lie, a feeling of remorse arose inside of him as his memories brought up past pains, regrets, and destructions something he had wished to bury deep in his heart. The boy’s thoughts trailed back to you, and for some reason he desperately needed to see you again, even if for a tiny bit, perhaps seeing you once more would heal his heart a little. The boy laid on his bed, his eyes closing as he muttered a silent prayer, hoping this time someone would perhaps save him.

                                                       You

You pulled out the key to your door, from your pocket desperately, as you tried to escape from the rain, even if you loved the rewards rain brought to the world, you weren’t exactly a fan of getting sick or freezing from the rain. A click alerts you that you’ve successfully unlocked the door, you stepped in drying your feet on the mat below you. For a few seconds you stomped and scraped your tennis shoes against the black mat before you took them off placing them in your well organized shoe rack. You skim the rack, as you take off your white socks, only 3 pairs rested on them, a pair of sparkly silver high heels, your grey tennis shoes, and a pair of snow boots. These had all been gifts from your friends excluding the tennis shoes you purchased yourself. They said you needed more shoes, comparing you to the girls at your school who had around a dozen pairs each. You were quite amused when one of your friends had purchased snow boots for you since it only snowed during winter here, and when it did you rarely left your house. It was winter break and you’d rather stay warm. Although you started to realize that it was actually quite helpful when you felt like taking walks to admire the neighborhood covered in white snow. Christmas for you wasn’t really that special, it was as a kid but as you grew older it didn’t hold as much meaning. Maybe if you had someone to spend Christmas with then perhaps it would mean more to you, and by someone you meant a love interest. It’s not like you didn’t have people to spend Christmas with, you did. Your friends always wanted to come over to watch chick-flicks,gossip about their crushes, and finally stuff their faces with your food. But you wanted something more this year, but who were you kidding, you were a girl with trust issues who had more chances at getting plowed by a snow plower than falling in love again. You shake your head at your foolish hopes, psshh, love, you? Not anytime soon. You jogged into your bedroom, heading towards your closet, you paused as you looked for an outfit. When you had found it you started to strip yourself of your clothing and began changing into another one of your warm pair of pajamas. When you finally did, you looked at yourself in the black framed mirror resting on the floor of your bedroom, your cute Easter bunny pajamas looked childish but you didn’t mind, it had been a gift from your Mom. She was always worried about you so she sent you gifts as much as she possibly could. You had asked her to stop, feeling bad that she had to spend so much money on you for these gifts, but she didn’t care, she told you that she needed to take care of her only child and that it made her feel happy to buy them for you. You couldn’t argue with that, you wanted the best for your Mom who had worked so hard for you all of her life, she was a single mom who lived with 3 dogs, and was the friendliest lady anyone would ever meet. For some reason the word friendly brought another person to mind, a person who wasn’t exactly friendly at the park…that boy. What had happened to him exactly, you were curious to find out, but you don’t think he would just randomly spill all of his life stories to you. You would need to somehow befriend him, maybe tomorrow again at the park you thought as you sank down onto your comfortable bed. You weren’t in Iove with him but he somehow attracted your attention. And you wanted to find out more about this boy. Like what was his name, how did he get that scar, who was he as a person. You couldn’t stop coming up with various questions and played out scenarios of how your encounter would go until your eyes finally drifted shut. You wake up to the blaring sound of your alarm, ugh, it was morning again and you still felt tired. You turned on your bed feeling the warmth of your blanket, maybe a little more sleep wouldn’t hurt. “BEEP BEEP BEEP!” Your alarm scares the living daylights out of you once again, you reach for it turning it off before checking the time on your phone. What?! 11:30 A.M.? You slept that much? You quickly hopped out of your bed, rushing to eat and get ready to head to the park once again. - You felt a burst of excitement surge through your body as you stood in front of the park’s gate. Would you see him again? No, this wasn’t for him…you um…had to go look at the grass on the hill! Which the boy sat on…No! This was for the pigeon you saw yesterday! That the boy fed…Okay so what if this was about him? You were a strong independent women, as your once single friend once wisely said, “I’m am an independent women! I ain’t need nobody in my life! I ain’t need no man! You don’t either!” Until she wasn’t single anymore. You felt yourself chuckle at the memory, as your feet began to create a rhythm with the sidewalk pavement of the park. Again today, there was no one present, no kids, no adults, just you and the sunny sky, and hopefully him as well. You didn’t fully trust the boy yet considering how he reacted last time but your interest in him guided you to the grass hill once more. You were a few meters away, standing in the same spot you were before when you first laid your eyes on him. And there he was, at the same location he had been last time. He was wearing a white oversized pullover sweater with black distressed skinny jeans, his features as gentle and friendly as you remembered as he laid on the grass hill sprawled out on his back, as if attempting to make a snow angel. He didn’t notice you, instead he seemed to be staring at the blue cloudy sky, you suddenly see a smile form on his face, causing you to admire how cute he looked. You turned your head towards the sky to see if there was anything which had caused his smile, and then you saw it. A cloud shaped like what appeared to be a sheep, maybe he had a thing for animals?

                                                        ��Him

The boy felt himself smile once more, as the sheep cloud passed by. Goodbye Mr.Sheep, he thought. He always found a fascination with animals after he’d been in the hospital. During his time there, doctors would let him visit a therapy room full of animals, usually filled a variety of dogs. They always comforted him and he felt warm when he got to play with them. Soon after when he was released from the hospital, he visited a petting zoo. He met a sheep there which he really liked, the sheep’s name was Henry, and the boy loved petting Henry. The wool against his palm felt calming somehow, so soft and gentle. He realized how childish his fascination for animals was, so he usually kept that fascination to himself. If he ever had enough free time after college and work he would visit a pet store, sometimes even a petting zoo. His main reasons for visiting these places however were to comfort his loneliness and to cope with his past. Even if he hated to admit it, without Stella he got extremely lonely, but thinking of her only made his heart ache even more. He was slowly recovering from the hell prison he escaped, but it would take a lot more time for him to slowly become normal again. A thought occurred to him remembering the girl, he did show up to the park again after all hoping he would see you. And at that like magic, you stood over him, causing a shadow over his face. “Hello, there pink haired boy..” you said nervously, as you clutched onto your navy blue backpack tightly which caused the boy’s eyebrows to furrow. The boy propped his arms as he pushed himself up to sit, his pink bangs falling messily against his forehead, “What’s in the backpack?” the boy couldn’t hide his curiosity as to why you were holding onto it so tightly. At that the boy started to blush, he hadn’t realized how open he was being with you when he dismissed you last time so harshly. He felt bad about it, so he hoped that he would be able to apologize today. The boy’s gaze caught sight of your outfit, again today you were dressed extremely casual, with an oversized black zip up sweater and a pair of black sweatpants, paired with the same tennis shoes you had yesterday. You looked away nervously when you noticed his staring, but the boy responded with a smile. He loved how casual and comfortable you looked, it made him feel closer to you somehow despite being strangers. If you had dressed fancy, he wouldn’t have been able to look at you properly without being a nervous wreck. The boy’s cheeks heated up, which prompted him to avoid staring at you for too long, he was a shy person in general so he didn’t have the confidence to say much to you until he felt comfortable enough. You noticed his shyness immediately because it was so different from your ex, his shyness was adorable for some reason, but it’s not like you would admit that to him. You took off your heavy backpack placing it beside you, as you sunk down next to the boy. The grassy texture could be felt even in your sweatpants, but you didn’t seem to mind as much as the boy did as he scooted a few inches away from you. He felt his heart starting to beat faster you were so close to him, he was going crazy, his heart was fluttering over a stranger. “So umm, what’s your name?” you began the shakiness in your voice apparent, as if you were giving a speech to your entire class, something you hated. The boy slowly looked back at you, now that a few inches were separating you both, he felt less shy, “My-my name is  J-Jimin,” instantly his cheeks flared up, embarrassed by his nervousness and stuttering. He noticed your bright smile as you nodded, your simple action only intensified the heat he was feeling on his cheeks, “That’s a nice name,” you responded intrigued by the boy’s adorable shyness, “my name is (Y/N).” The boy hugged his legs with his sweater covered arms hesitant to respond, a few seconds passed before he finally cleared his throat to respond, “T-that’s a pretty name..” he hid his face burying it in his arms. Why were you making him so nervous? Was it because you complimented his name? Or maybe it was because you were so close, or may-  “You know you’re really handsome Jimin,” you said interrupting his thoughts, sounding confident for the first. His heart raced in his chest, as Jimin heard the loud drumming of his heart against his chest. Why were you so nice to him, he wondered. You were only strangers after all, “T-thank you,” he lifted his head from his arms, a rosy pink color decorating his squishy looking cheeks. You suddenly remembered the pigeon from yesterday, “Hey Jimin, what was happening with you and that pigeon yesterday, do you feed pigeons often?” the boy’s head quickly snapped in your direction his eyes widened slightly as memories of his harsh response to you came back to him. “I-I’m sorry about yesterday,” his eyes were glued to the floor, as his index finger began drawing tiny circles on the grass, “I just had bad memories come back to me.” You laugh loudly, startling him, “I wasn’t mad or anything don’t worry,” Jimin exhales loudly your response easing him, “Are you okay now?” The boy  simple nods his heart feeling lighter now that you’ve told him your feelings, he’d been nervous about it coming to the park, afraid that he perhaps rubbed you the wrong way. “And yes I do feed pigeons,” Jimin smiled brightly, his nervousness less apparent now, “The one you saw yesterday was my favorite pigeon, his name is Mr. Pigeon.” Your head turned slightly looking into his dark obsidian irises, he held his stare with you for a second before his head turned looking downwards, “That’s so cute, how you name animals and all,” you noticed his ears getting slightly pink at your remark, which caused you to feel warm inside. Perhaps he was a nature lover like yourself?-Both you and Jimin’s conversation went on for about an hour before he had to go home to do his chores he claimed. As his feet felt the warmth of his carpet floor he thought of you again, you made his day today, and he secretly hoped to see you again tomorrow. You felt special somehow, and spending time with you today mended his broken heart slightly. He wasn’t in love with you just yet, but he was sure that if he kept seeing you he would eventually fall for you, something he was afraid of, but also excited about.

                                                         You

You: Are you coming to the park again today? You wrote the text smiling to yourself, as you placed your phone back in your pocket, locking the front door to your apartment. You and Jimin had been meeting at the park for around 3 months now almost every single day, some days you had homework to do while other days he was busy with work or school. But seeing himself everyday somehow became a common thing, your friends had found out about it and teased you for having a crush on the boy, which you admitted you were starting to develop but it’s not like he returned your feelings so it didn’t matter, you just enjoyed his company. Although it would be nice if he felt the same way about you. You also somehow managed to convince him around 2 months ago to give you his phone number to you, he was hesitant about it but finally gave in when you constantly bugged him about it. You giggled remembering the incident.

                                                 2 months ago

“C’mon give me your number..” you whined, a puppy eyes look plastered on your face. He blushed looking away, as he scooted further away from you on the park bench. After one month of meeting him you were a lot more comfortable now, he was different from all of the guys you’ve met before, he slowly earned your trust with his kindness and you never regretted meeting him for a second. You scooted closer to him trying to get a better response from him, you felt the coldness of the bench against your thighs, today you stupidly decided that booty shorts were the way to go. The weather was cloudy this morning, you assumed it would get hot for some reason which prompted your decision but instead it didn’t, it stayed cloudy the whole day. You shivered against the wooden bench catching the boy’s attention, without saying a word he removed his black zip up jacket handing it to you, “Put it over your thighs or you’ll catch a cold,” his eyes avoided you as his ears reddened.” You smiled at his kindness and cuteness retrieving the jacket and placing it over your thighs, “Thank you for that,” he simply nods trying his hardest to fight back a smile. “So can I have your number now?” your straightforwardness surprised him, causing him to look in your direction. You looked beautiful again today, but he was to shy to tell you that despite how close you two had gotten in the past month. Jimin finally nodded, reading his number to you at lightning speed. Your mouth drops open as you unlock your phone heading to the contact page, “Wait wait! Slow down, say it again…”“I don’t wanna..” he responded mischievously as if he was a child, Jimin felt his heart warm up as he admired how less nervous he’d gotten around you. “Please..! What if I get stranded somewhere and I need you to come help me from getting eaten from a pack of hyenas?” At your exaggerated lie he slowly reads his number to you, feeling nervous that the impossible future you just named could be possible, he cared about you after all. You added his number smiling to yourself, “Done, thank you!” He nodded once again, his heart fluttering slightly as pulled out his phone reading your text, “Just added your number, Hi!” Jimin turned to smile at you, and you returned the gesture, as you both felt the cool breeze of the afternoon. Maybe Jimin was going to be even more special to you in the future somehow, but as for now you were happy being by his side. You two chatted for a while after that, watching the sunset together before the night came to a close, which meant that you had to part ways with him. Both of your least favorite part about spending time together. “I’ll see you again tomorrow alright?” you smiled back reassuring him, he nodded giving you a thumbs up before you both head your separate ways. Maybe someday, you would both head the same way, maybe someday you would not have to part any longer, maybe someday you would fall in love with him, maybe someday he would tell you he loves you too, and maybe someday he would be your’s.

                                                   Present

You shook your head, snapping out of your warm memories, you shouldn’t be so delusional right? Your weren’t even if saw you that way, for all you knew he saw you as a close friend. You began pacing down the street in your grey tennis shoes paired with some blue skinny jeans and a white flannel. Today for some odd reason you didn’t want to look like a hot mess, maybe something big was going to happen if you dressed to impress. Maybe he would finally confess to you! You cackled loudly, as you continued making it to the park entranced by your crazy fantasies of Jimin. A thought suddenly occurred to you, his scar, you never did find out what it meant. Judging from his first reaction you didn’t bring it up, but maybe now that you were closer to him, maybe he would react differently.

                                                      Jimin

The bitter alcohol burned down his throat, causing him to cough slightly. He felt the grass under his fingers as he shuffled backwards slightly on the grass hill. The cold air brushed his pink bangs upwards, before it slowly fell back into place. His dark irises embraced the sky’s sadness, it’s features painted over with a coat of darkness. Clouds decorated the sky, as the bright moon glowed above the boy, allowing him to be comforted slightly. But that wasn’t enough, he felt lonely, Jimin took another gulp of the alcohol, placing the bottle beside him as he exhaled loudly. Tears began to stream down the boy’s face as memories flowed back to him. Today was suppose to be another anniversary with Stella, but that wasn’t the case anymore. He’d been through so much, so much time has passed, he’d met you and slowly became closer to you. Yet, it ached so much, his heart felt the void that hadn’t left him. He didn’t want to be with Stella again, he wanted someone like you, someone so kind and pure. Someone who could save him this time, someone he wouldn’t be afraid of, someone, perhaps fear someone would be you. Even if it was the alcohol speaking, he didn’t care, he wanted to be your’s even if for a little, he wanted to experience your love for him. Just hearing you tell him you loved him would’ve been enough, he never heard those words from Stella for more than 3 months. In the beginning she was kind, she seemed like she actually loved him, but suddenly she changed. The boy clasped his hands together as he broke into a sob, his voice breaking into an emotional cry for help. Help from his past, help from himself, help from his fears. Maybe you were going to be like Stella, maybe you would also change, but he was willing to risk that. Because maybe he loved you, and even if he was foolish, he wanted to be truly happy again. The days he had spent with you were the happiest in his life, it made him feel special, it gave him everything he never had. So he would give you something you never had, his story, his life, himself. And the boy wished with all of his heart that you would accept him, all of him. The boy’s sobbing was interrupted by a gentle patting he felt against his back, he turned to a warm face greeting him, a smile so warm and precious, a person so special and dear to him. That person was you.

                                                    You

You continued patting Jimin, making sure to stay silent, his sobs growing weaker now that you were here. You were really confused when you saw him on the grass hill, he didn’t reply to your text, so you assume he wouldn’t be here. But on top of that Jimin had been sobbing when you saw him, you couldn’t stop your feet from running towards him, as if you desperately needed to comfort him. You suddenly noticed the alcohol beside him, causing your heart to break slightly, you knew Jimin was never the type of person to drink, he even admitted to you before that he never had before. So why so suddenly? Why was he drinking? Why was he crying? You had so many questions, but you were hesitant to ask him in his state. You bent your knees down, sitting beside him on the grass hill. Your black scarf blew with the wind, sending a slight chill down your entire body. The black trench coat you had chosen to wear today kept your body warm, while the black leggings accompanied by your grey tennis shoes kept your lower body warm. Your head turned to him slowly, your gaze fixated on the fragile boy in front of you. His navy blue pullover hoodie was paired with his usual choice of distressed black skinny jeans, he also wore black tennis shoes, but what you noticed most on him was not his clothing choices but rather the sadness he was wearing. It cloaked him in a dark aura, a mysterious tragedy, the boy remained silent, his reddened eyes embracing the moon. Jimin’s tears were beginning to dry up slowly, but you couldn’t help but feel saddened by the tear stains still painted on his pale face. The moon’s light revealed the contours of his face to you, his soft and gentle features captured you. “Hi there…” the boy whispered, keeping his gaze away from you, the sadness in his voice was unfamiliar to you considering he was a usually bright person. “Hey..” you responded, taking in the awkward atmosphere between the two of you, you looked away from the boy’s face trying to not make him uncomfortable. Jimin quickly turned his head towards you, his bangs blowing word with the gentle wind, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d be coming today,” his tone more casual now, “I left my phone at home because I wanted to be alone.” His gaze dropped to the grass, as he traced small circles into it, something you picked up was a nervous habit he had. “It’s okay,” you began, feeling yourself smile, “I didn’t think you’d be here either honestly.” The boy opened his mouth as if to respond, but shut it, quickly as he kept his gaze on the floor, his fingers drawing endless circles onto the terrain. “Are you alright?” was all you could say, your voice felt constricted somehow as if you were asking a forbidden question. Jimin nodded noticing your nervousness, he looked up at your face, his irises gently piercing into your’s, “Now that you’re here I am,” he paused sighing as his gaze returned to floor below, “It’s just that today is a bad day for me.” His voice grows solemn as he fights his aching heart, trying his best to tell you his story, “Today was the anniversary of Stella and I.” He paused looking for a reaction, but you were completely clueless to the pain he had experienced. His gentle cat like eyes captured you seeking a response, for a signal for him to continue. You knew about Stella being his ex, but he never spoke of her much which led you to assume that it had just been a bad breakup, “Oh I’m sorry,” you responded, unsure of what else to say as you felt a strange sadness radiating from the boy. “Don’t be, it’s not your fault, I’m sorry you had to see me like this,” Jimin looked at you regretfully, afraid that you would hate him, the boy knew how much you hated alcohol but despite that he couldn’t stop himself from attempting to numb the pain. You rubbed his denim covered thigh reassuringly, the boy jumped back slightly, this was the first time you had ever touched him physically. As strange as it was, you both never even hugged before, despite how desperately you wanted to. “Jimin can I tell you something?” the boy simply nodded, a curious look in his eyes awaiting what you wanted to ask him, “Will you let me love you?”

[travelling-trooper-blog]

Today, we left Ireland, and entered into Northern Ireland. Or rather, into Kingsroad! That’s right, this is where Arya escaped King’s Landing dressed as a boy and in the company of her boys, Hot Pie and Gendry.

Had I done my research like I usually do, I would’ve seen that it’s actually possible to do a whole Game of Thrones day tour around Northern Ireland and I would’ve set aside more than one day for Belfast. They even let you dress up and take fun pictures! Aaaah! Alas, we had t settle for the Dark Hedges, aka Kingsroad.

Though she failed as a chicken whisperer at the farm near Muckross House, Doris proved herself as a cow whisperer. Every time she mooed, the cow nearest to us would raise its head and look at us. I mean, maybe it was giving her cut eye and telling her to shut the hell up, or maybe they were sharing a moment. We’ll never know.

Next up: Carrick-a-Rede Bridge. This bridge is 260 years old and connects to the Carrick-a-Red Island. (Sidenote: It’s cool  to visit Europe and see buildings and places that date back to before the creation of Canada as a country; but it’s weird and amusing to visit random objects like bridges and doors and intersections that have a richer history than Canada’s) The bridge was used by fishermen to check on their nets, which were placed 100 feet below in the water by boats.

There was actually a decent amount of wind blowing that day, which gave the bridge a considerable amount of swing. Thankfully, it wasn’t enough for them to close down the bridge for the day.

We noticed that every pre-teen that walked past us had such sullen expressions on their faces, so Doris and I tried to take our own pre-teen photo. Unfortunately, I look like a pedophile/serial killer in the one on the right.

And here’s the difference between a pre-teen and a child: While tourist attractions usually have signs placed everywhere with historical or scientific facts, there was one sign that attracted me. It had children’s responses to crossing the rope bridge.

– fun can be anywhere – learning I could conquer heights – I discovered scariness – I discovered that my mam is scared to cross the bridge – I’m not scared of heights. I’m three – I did not like it ending

Trying to get all of the key tourist sites done in one day, we moved on to the Giant’s Causeway.  For the science nerds out there, the Causeway consists of about 40, 000 interlocking columns of basalt. They are somehow the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. According to the Interwebs, the basalt dates back to 56 to 66 million years ago.

For the less intellectual-oriented like myself, legend says that the Irish giant, Fionn mac Cumhaill, built a causeway in order to cross the Northern Channel to Scotland and take on a Scottish giant by the name of Benandonner who had challenged him to a fight. One legend says that Fionn crushed him, while another says that Fionn outfoxed him. I like the latter, not only because it is more amusing, but because it goes on to explain why there are identical columns at Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa. The story goes that upon learning Benandonner was far more massive than himself, Fionn had his wife dress him up as a baby. When Benandonner saw the size of Fionn’s “baby,” he concluded that poppa Fionn must be monstrous. He tucked his tail between his legs and ran back to Scotland, destroying the causeway on the way. Only the columns in Antrim and Staffa were left standing. Cool, right?!

It was now time for my interview with the lovely Laura Bird in Belfast, so we had to leave.

The following morning, we were England-bound…

The Travelling Trooper Does Northern Ireland Today, we left Ireland, and entered into Northern Ireland. Or rather, into Kingsroad! That's right, this is where Arya escaped King's Landing dressed as a boy and in the company of her boys, Hot Pie and Gendry.

[buckner-in-australia]

Day 27: June 22, 2017

Guess what I have again?? Class (: But thank the Lord that we have the later session. Even though I don't like having classes in the evening, at least that leaves the morning and afternoon free until we have to meet at the Hyde Park Barracks.

Since Kayla and I are in the same Wallaby class, it was just us two this morning. We ended up sleeping in until about 10 o'clock to head out into the city by noon. We bought love the finer things that life has to offer, so in our free time we made our way down to Hyde Park and to their fashion square. I was immediately in love: Gucci, Louis, Prada, Tumi, any designer you could possibly imagine was there! Being the angelic and loving child that I am, I recalled that my dad had been looking for a particular all red Gucci belt. When he originally wanted it, it was sold out internationally and given that it has been several months since then, why not give it a shot? After moseying through the store, to much dismay, they too, all the way in Australia, did not have the belt either. I really wish they did, my dad would be so happy and surprised!

After shopping, we stopped in an underground food square called David Jones Foodhall and grabbed some takeaway sushi. In Australia, since everything is so grab and go, sushi even comes in a little mini burrito style. I ended up purchasing a chicken teriyaki burrito sushi and a roll with chicken, shrimp, and crab. Once we got our sushi we headed above ground to eat in the park across from the barracks. It was such a lovely day and as soon as we sat down our friends who had been in class came and joined us.

The Hyde Park Barracks are a very interesting heritage monument in Sydney. During this class activity, we had a well-guided tour through the building that used to house up to 700 men at a time. It was crazy how the curators reinvented the space and allowed "the building to tell its story." Between the information we learned and the layers we could see, the building was definitely before it's time. You would think that the ceilings would be short because people were shorter back then due to malnutrition but they were very high. We learned throughout the tour that after convict culture ended, the barracks housed immigrating women and children, and then acted as an asylum, judicial offices, and now a museum. The most interesting part for me was the amount of artifacts that were found from things falling in between the floorboards and the barracks themselves. Given that the convicts only had to sleep there, I would think there would be rows of bunk beds. Little did I know, the sleeping quarters were burlap hammocks lying side by side. We even got to lay in them for a little bit and BOY were they low to the ground!! You would have thought I was 95 years old by how long it took me to get back up, lol. Even more surprising, when the barracks ran out of hammocks men had to sleep on the floor between them. Bless every single one of their hearts!  

One thing I also liked about the barracks was their artwork and how interactive everything was. I particularly was found of the artwork because of it's display of the Aborigines. I have noticed since being here that there is very little diversity shown to the public about the Aborigines. Since the beginning of this trip I had been saying that it is like they are so similar to me yet so different. Just like media only shows certain perspectives or the stereotypical AA, the same goes for Aborigines. In the media they are usually very dark with very fine hair. Come to find out THEY'RE JUST LIKE ME! Kinks and Coils and all! I honestly don't see how people can argue that the first people didn't come from Africa. The Aboriginal people are a PRIME example. We are truly one and the same.

After the barracks, instead of the initial plan of going back to our classrooms on the other side of town for class, our professors made the decision to have class in the Royal Botanical Gardens. This was also very bittersweet. It was sweet because we didn't have to travel all the way back and we could see the garden, but it was bitter because we lead by the blind (we were terribly lost) it was getting cold and there were mosquitoes. Tons and tons of mosquitoes! They literally lit my feet up! They were huge!!! Though completely distracted my those blood sucking creatures, I was able to make contributions to the class discussion which is all that truly matters.  

Sidenote: On the way to class, I got approached by a local girl about my age who asked what we were doing. She said, "Are you here for uni? I love your accent!" After telling her what we were up to, we ended up talking about shopping and how I much more prefer Melbourne over Sydney. She was really cool. Unfortunately we had to part ways because she came to her street. It's good to know that they're still good people in the city of Sydney.  

After class, you know what time it was...TIME FOR THE SHOW! After the class discussion, I literally booked it to the hotel. Since I had my noodles left, I ate those quick fast and in a hurry so that we could head down the Circular Quay. Ash and Kayla hadn't eaten so we stopped by City Extra again so they could enjoy a nice meal before the show. Despite getting lost trying to get in the opera house, we made it! And the show was AMAZING!

The lights! The colors! The music! The cast! They were all phenomenal! "Fighting the power never taste so sweet!" The show touch on so many things. From cultural awareness to rape culture. The show was for the empowerment of women from all walks of life & what touched me the most the empowerment of women of color! No one in the cast was white, which is HUGE in the performing world. Nearly 99% of the time people of color are the minority because it is so hard for POCs to find roles that the director thinks they fit into. "Too heavy, too curvy, too dark, too ethnic" Those are all phrases that are used in performing way too much. My two favorite scenes were the "Don't Touch My Hair" and the "I'm Still Here." The "Don't Touch My Hair" segment really broke down what white privilege was for the white audience and joyfully informed them that our hair is not an open invitation to be touched. What was said in this segment is things that I have to face everyday where as my roommates informed me after that they never had a clue lol. Especially the line "if you can go into any makeup store and can easily find your shade of foundation." This is constant struggle for me (reasons why I don't even bother) where they didn't even notice because it has always been so accessible for them. The "I'm Still Here" piece was about how the monarchy and Australian society try to forget about the Aboriginal, aka the TRUE Australians, whose land was taken. It was so touching. The female that performed this piece walked out fully covered in the Australian flag in a bonded way. As the song progressed she back to tear away the shackles of the flag garment to reveal a tshirt saying "I'm Still Here." The old white couple beside me was super uncomfortable, but DJ BustyBeats informed us from the very beginning how the show was gonna play out.

The end was by far my favorite part! After the curtain call and presentation of the 6 person cast, there was a "dance party" where the audience could come on stage and dance. After listening to the music for a bit, I grabbed the girls and we hit the stage. It was like not having water for a week or not seeing a loved one for months on end. I was back where my heart and soul belonged. On the stage, spotlights, flood lights, and music. Oh how I miss performing! It was like my heart skipped a beat!  After dancing, the show was officially over and need I say I had the time of my life! I knew I definitely wanted to take a picture near the billboard and at least meet one of the cast. I got all of that and some! We had a little photo shoot! The girls were so nice and loving (because my first photo shoot was interrupted by a drunk couple lol). I will never forget this evening ever!

Things I've learned - All the coins still confuse me. The 20 coin is unnecessary just like our penny lol - Designed by convict architect & built by convicts - 1788 first fleet from England, 600-700 convicts - Barracks were opened in 1819 - "Important building worthy of the British Empire" - No permission, no money, but he had all free labor - Efficient use of convict labor. Streets roads bridges churches - 1788-1868 forced migration of people. - Barracks have seen 160,000 ppl - Responsible for making 500 bricks a day - Used finger tallying  to ensure correct numbers - Let the building tell you it's story - Convict barracks from 1819-1848 - Became a women's institute for immigrated and the destitute and old - 200 a floor, 70 men per room, 30 men per smaller men - When overoccuppancy, men would see under the house - Functioned as an asylum as well - Not all convicts were government owned, some were privately assigned - Can't have a will if you are not of a sound mind and judgement - Wouldn't waste nails on convict barracks (because they were saved for ships) so everything is made with wooden pegs like a jigsaw - Den of thieves - Come convict stories are brutal but some come full circle (Our guide and his ancestor had a very positive story. From 14 years of time to becoming a bake to having a land grant and building a factory