#so excited to make new art to feed this nation

[marshellethepie]

ASKFBFJSJA BAHAHAHA maybe showing the worst pic of Jimbotnik in long hair when one of my artschool classmate came to compliment the little chibi i was drawing; WAS NOT MY GREATEST SOCIAL MOVE

IM IN TEARS, OMG. Like why did i yap about it at first, she didn’t need to know the lore behind😭😭😭

i just can’t stop thinking how much weirdkid core i give to them with my daily 193839234322 fanarts of very old men in love

[satyrmagos]

I am an independent artist producing fiction, photography, and jewelry. My work explores themes of myth, ritual, and identity. Backing my Patreon helps support both the art itself - covering household bills and material costs - and the research that fuels it: subscriptions and classes and experiments both material and magical. Supporters get first viewing of all my art and writing, and first dibs on enchanted talismans.

Deets on my tiers below the cut:

$1 – Lunar Priestex

The bread-and-butter tier of Patreon!  Welcome, friends, and thank you.

This peer-to-peer support tier provides you access to a feed of patron-only content including but not limited to:

Early access to Journey Through the Obsidian Dream blog posts and any other short and medium form public writing

First viewing of new jewelry designs (except when I occasionally get too excited and share them on twitter without thinking)

First dibs on consecrated talismans

Authorial navel-gazing – essays and rants about the process of art and art-making

Worldbuilding information that will not be available anywhere else (unless I someday get famous and can publish one of those cool series encyclopedias.)

Archive of patron-only fiction

Archive of astrological images and devotional artwork

Archive of concept art for my writing projects and dnd games

First word on behind-the-scenes projects, and updates as they come

$3 – Venusian Adept

For my friends and colleagues with a little more love to give, I have a small back room with a few nicer pieces to share.

Early access to Journey Through the Obsidian Dream blog posts and any other short and medium form public writing

First viewing of new jewelry designs (except when I occasionally get too excited and share them on twitter without thinking)

First dibs on consecrated talismans

Authorial navel-gazing – essays and rants about the process of art and art-making

Worldbuilding information that will not be available anywhere else (unless I someday get famous and can publish one of those cool series encyclopedias.)

Archive of patron-only fiction

Archive of astrological images and devotional artwork

Archive of concept art for my writing projects and dnd games

First word on behind-the-scenes projects, and updates as they come

Access to drafts of previous year’s National Novel Writing challenges

Access to a growing collection of high-res occult-themed wallpapers

$7 – Jovial Patron

For those who can afford to offer a little bit more, first viewings of my work at its most raw: my photography and my unedited writing.

Early access to Journey Through the Obsidian Dream blog posts and any other short and medium form public writing

First viewing of new jewelry designs (except when I occasionally get too excited and share them on twitter without thinking)

First dibs on consecrated talismans

Authorial navel-gazing – essays and rants about the process of art and art-making

Worldbuilding information that will not be available anywhere else (unless I someday get famous and can publish one of those cool series encyclopedias.)

Archive of patron-only fiction

Archive of astrological images and devotional artwork

Archive of concept art for my writing projects and dnd games

First word on behind-the-scenes projects, and updates as they come

Access to drafts of previous year’s National Novel Writing challenges

Access to a growing collection of high-res occult-themed wallpapers

First viewing of photo shoots

Annual access to my National Novel Writing Month projects as I write them, near-daily updates in the month of November

$13 – Solar Monarch

Only a king can afford to be so generous.

Patrons at this tier get 20% off jewelry and merchandise anywhere I sell anything

Plus all previous rewards: Early access to Journey Through the Obsidian Dream blog posts and any other short and medium form public writing

First viewing of new jewelry designs (except when I occasionally get too excited and share them on twitter without thinking)

First dibs on consecrated talismans

Authorial navel-gazing – essays and rants about the process of art and art-making

Worldbuilding information that will not be available anywhere else (unless I someday get famous and can publish one of those cool series encyclopedias.)

Archive of patron-only fiction

Archive of astrological images and devotional artwork

Archive of concept art for my writing projects and dnd games

First word on behind-the-scenes projects, and updates as they come

Access to drafts of previous year’s National Novel Writing challenges

Access to a growing collection of high-res occult-themed wallpapers

First viewing of photo shoots

Annual access to my National Novel Writing Month projects as I write them, near-daily updates in the month of November

$21 – Saturnian Hierophant

Truly, you are among the elect, the embodiment of wisdom at the threshold of the immortal. For this level of support, I can give only my most heartfelt thanks in addition to the larger list of rewards.

Early access to Journey Through the Obsidian Dream blog posts and any other short and medium form public writing

First viewing of new jewelry designs (except when I occasionally get too excited and share them on twitter without thinking)

First dibs on consecrated talismans

Authorial navel-gazing – essays and rants about the process of art and art-making

Worldbuilding information that will not be available anywhere else (unless I someday get famous and can publish one of those cool series encyclopedias.)

Archive of patron-only fiction

Archive of astrological images and devotional artwork

Archive of concept art for my writing projects and dnd games

First word on behind-the-scenes projects, and updates as they come

Access to drafts of previous year’s National Novel Writing challenges

Access to a growing collection of high-res occult-themed wallpapers

First viewing of photo shoots

Annual access to my National Novel Writing Month projects as I write them, near-daily updates in the month of November

20% off jewelry and merchandise anywhere I sell anything

[lucyandthepen]

hi it’s 🍭 anon here !!

first I wanted to tell you that the last time you answered my ask I was so happy, like fr thank you so much for your kind words, it touched me a lot :’) 🫶🏼

NOW ! I just read salted caramel and. omggg.

first I wanted to say to jisung, I also enjoyed Age Of Calamity lol

hyuck is really a menace to society here💀 but thanks to him we had a jealous mark (in this house, we love jealous mark ‼️). I read the tag before reading the fic but I didn’t expect y/n and mark to be on the phone with hyuck this long hahaha.

thank you again for sharing your work, it’s always a pleasure to read your works <3

as I said last time, I go check your blog everyday to see if you updated anything.

1st I hope that your move while go smoothly ☝🏼 and I cannot wait for honey citrus !!

Also, have you seen the nct nation concert and heard the album ? (https://twitter.com/allforljn/status/1695421368870015007?s=46&t=wPoG9lz8nXXKd2HT9NynOA this jeno clip literally drive me crazy)

sorry I talk too much 😭 anyway, I hope that you’re okay. Have a great day/night and take care of yourself ~ <3

hello my sweet candy anon! 🍬 i’m so happy you’re happy! hearing from you always makes my day so much brighter, and i’m over the moon to hear from you again. 🩷 thank you for always being so nice and sending a message again!

are you a zelda fan/koei games fan?? i am both!! i really enjoyed age of calamity (even though some people say the format is kind of boring) and i love botw/totk! (watch that come out in another fic!) fun fact: the argument about dynasty warriors is based off of my personal experiences, and i share my opinion with chenle — the seventh is the best! the ninth was a train wreck! (although the art was truly quite nice.)

we always love a jealous mark! i am of the opinion that he is a very possessive person but tries to act like he isnt/thinks it’s not right to be so openly jealous. i will not delve into it too much right now but if i had to mtl the dreamies and their jealousy, mark would EASILY be in top 3 😭 SO WE LOVE SEEING MC FEED HIS POSSESSIVENESS WITH A FEAST! poor hyuck tho 🥹 he was a champ for staying on the line for that long but!!! he may have gotten something out of it anyway so we can’t say it was a terrible time for him😮‍💨

i hope that it isn’t too much of a hassle for you to check my blog! 😭 i know i’m not the fastest when i write so there are gaps between fics but i hope to not make the wait between uploads too long 🥹

thank you for your super kind words; i hope the move goes well too! i am quite scared but i think it’ll be a good new adventure, so it’s exciting too 🥹🩷

and honey citrus is something i’m definitely excited for as well 😮‍💨 i have a very particular hc list for jaemin when it comes to intimacy so i hope to get to explore those things in the fic! we can be excited together!!!!!

i wasn’t able to watch the beyond live of nct nation BUT i’ve seen clips and THE BAT JENO WAS SO OFFENSIVE (lovingly) TO ME LIKE WHY DID HE !!! HOW COULD HE!! he slayed every outfit and his arms were GOING HARD! what was your favorite performance of the night??

never apologize for talking too much!!!!!!!!!! i talk like crazy too so don’t even sweat it. i love blabbing and rambling with you and with everyone, so i hope you always feel comfy talking to me. have a really great day or night where you are, and as always, stay safe and happy! 🩷💜

[dickcheneyshousepet]

wholesome ukai hcs (cw for mentions of ed)

-loves peach milk tea

-has one of those fluffy headbands for washing his face

-has vitiligo but it’s not super noticeable

(like the pic below)

-feeds stray cats, they always hang around the store

-likes mike and ike’s and sour patch kids

-cooks at 3am

-sleeps with a shit ton of pillows

-has a ratty, well-worn hoodie he got in high school that he wears whenever he’s upset

-leaves little notes in the teams food whenever they buy it

-remembers each persons specific allergies and preferences

-he streams fleetwood mac’s gold dust woman on the daily

-he’s secretly a swiftie

-he still has a stuffed animal from his childhood that looks like it’s been through war but you can pry it from his cold dead hands

-keeps his arms crossed to avoid doing it in public, but he definitely stims a lot and does flappy hands when he’s excited

-he and takeda went to a latte art workshop for a date

-he and takeda make spam accounts on ig to hype up the teams photos so they feel cool

-he uses bath and body works room spray as body spray bc he doesn’t know there’s a difference

-he loves loves loveeeeeees strawberry marshmallow lollipops

-he cracks his bones a lot and makes middle aged dad noises when he does

-his favorite scent is lavender because it reminds him of his mom

-he lowkey vibes to sea shanties

-says he smoked weed in hs but in reality he tried it once and cried

-his hands get really sore and blistered bc of his farming job so sometimes he just wears fuzzy mittens/gloves around the house

-he wears out his voice from coaching, so by the end of the week he’s just holding a cup of tea with his fuzzy mittens and sucking on a cough drop

-has no cold tolerance so in the winter he gets HELLA RED i’m talking nose ears cheeks everything

-doesn’t use sugar to sweeten stuff but rather honey

-has stretch marks on his thighs that he’s self conscious about but takeda loves to kiss/trace them

-has struggled with disordered eating in the past but cooking with takeda helped him get better with eating full meals

-taught saeko to drive (he clearly did a wonderful job of it)

-saw tenma at nationals and freaked out because he’ll forever be this cool upperclassman to him

-snores like an mf BUZZSAW

-thinks his voice is annoying and hates the sound of it because he “sounds like an old man”

-has a huge ass bathrobe and grandpa slippers that he wears around the house

-has a HUGE GINORMOUS TOWEL that is his and only his (unless it’s takeda bc he loves wrapping him in it after they shower together)

-loves having his hair washed??? like being all sleepy and having takeda wash his hair for him??? the goodest thing ever ♡･ᴗ･♡

-his favorite queen album is news of the world and his favorite track on that album is either my melancholy blues or it’s late

[bcbdrums]

Victory

For a fellow Drakgo fan, it’s @dawhitebag‘s birthday tomorrow!  Happy birthday!!!

Inspired by three pieces of their art:  1, 2, and 3

Read on other sites:  FFn    AO3

Enjoy “Victory,” a tiny AU ending to So the Drama.

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

On the computer screen: destruction. Outside the building, a timely lightning storm that would have made any super-villain envious. And inside, standing before the screen, the mad scientist's head was thrown back in maniacal laughter.

Shego watched from the back of the room as henchmen seated at rows of computer consoles maintained careful control of the Li'l Diablos—Drakken's (finally) successful robots that had been his means of taking over the world. The big screen was cycling between news feeds from cities of various nations where armed forces were useless against Drakken's—for once—brilliant plan.

Or had they all been brilliant, and she had just never seen it before? In most every one of his previous plans, she had been over his shoulder, mocking him all the way. This time he had kept everything secret from her. He had said it was to make sure Kim Possible wouldn't discover it, but she wondered now... Had he shut her out so he could actually succeed?

She looked at Drakken's back, and the way he stood taller and prouder than she'd ever seen him. Hands on his hips as the well-tailored suit made clear the fact that the person who usually skulked in an over-sized blue lab coat was in fact a man, and one she realized she was spending more and more of her thoughts on. He turned then, and she noticed how the electric blue of the suit seemed to make his skin and eyes less corpse-like and more vibrant.

He was grinning at her, but not with the chaotic abandon she'd expected. Yes, his eyes held fire and glee, but there was also a knowing within the dark depths as he stared at her, and a desire to know. It sent her heart racing, and she instinctively straightened up from where she was leaned back against the wall. Usually when she let her thoughts stray from the professional to the impossible, it was he who fell uncomfortable under her gaze. But there was something different in his eyes; he had never looked at her that way before.

"Go get changed."

"E-Excuse me?" she answered with unexpected fluster.

"You should be on my level when we make our announcement about ruling the world," he said, gesturing broadly to his suit.

Her eyes widened. "We...?"

"Yes of course...unless... You don't want to make the announcement with me?"

He looked worried for the first time in days, and Shego quickly pushed off the wall and turned to go find something less side-kick and more...co-ruler of the world? Was that what he was saying?

"Give me a minute, I'll be right back."

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

Drakken replayed the image of Shego's retreating back with unease as his nerve-endings were tingling with a slow build of anxiety. He stared at the images on the computer screen, all revealing his triumph in explosive detail. He had hoped to impress her... He had hoped that taking over the world would show her he was more than he appeared, and certainly more than the losers she kept dating.

Recently she had acted more friendly toward him. She had even taken him up on an offer to get revenge against one of the gorillas who had dumped her. Evil bonding was a good secret first date, he had thought. And while she had certainly enjoyed it, and even seemed to enjoy his company...nothing changed beyond that.

He knew world domination was the only way to be worthy of her. But...he had succeeded, and she had yet to say a word about it. Would she reject the offer he was going to make her, of ruling the world together...? It was extremely risky, he knew, but over the past several months as he plotted and schemed, impressing her always at the front of his mind, he had come to realize... Shego was his world. He didn't want to do it without her.

The soft sound of Shego clearing her throat caused him to whirl around, and then his brow rose. She was dressed in the blouse and skirt set modeled after her costume that she had worn when they'd gone to see Brotherson at the Bermuda Triangle. And...she might have done something to her makeup, because her eyes were somehow more vibrant, and her hair was as luxurious as ever.

"This good?" she asked off-handedly, glancing down at the claws of her glove.

"Yes," he said, swallowing a lump in his throat and then clearing it. He hadn't expected her to wear...that, or anything so alluring and feminine. He tried to put back on his usual airs as he beckoned her forward with a small jerk of his head. "Perfect."

Shego seemed to hold her breath before moving, releasing it only when the clack of her heeled boots started eliminated the distance between them.

"Dunno why you need me for this," she said nonchalantly.

Drakken realized he was holding his breath too.

"I thought...you might enjoy more of a...leading role, now. Now that there's no reason to hide things anymore," he quickly justified his statement.

Shego looked up at him with a raised brow. "You mean...co-ruler?"

Drakken bit the inside of his cheek. He selfishly wanted to rule the world alone, but...this might be his only chance.

"I can think of none better," he said, holding his hand out to her not to shake, but palm up and open. He was glad for his gloves to hide his skin's clamminess.

Shego looked between his face and his hand. There was something unspoken in her eyes that made him nervous, and her too apparently as she glanced away to the brightness of the destruction still displayed on screen.

Her silence was causing his anxiety to rise and he rushed to fill it.

"We can...work out the details later."

Shego looked back at his hand, and then up into his eyes. He held her gaze, despite wanting to look away and make excuses for what he was saying. He was expecting the usual sarcastic quip or question of doubt, but instead she simply stared at him. She had never done that before, and he wanted to escape her verdant gaze as much as he longed to fall into it.

She slowly lifted her hand and set her gloved fingertips in his palm, her cheeks coloring as she did so. His lips parted in a silent gasp as her eyes suddenly filled with uncertainty at the same time she rose up on her toes.

Lightning flashed outside, and the next moment was a blur as her other hand was somehow resting on his shoulder and his other inexplicably on the bare flesh at her waist. He saw the flutter of her eyelashes just before her eyes closed, and then her lips pressed softly against his.

The moment was broken far too quickly as he became aware of more things: the orange reflective glow from the explosions on screen, the sudden silence in the room but for the storm outside as the henchmen all stared at them, and the way Shego's hand tightly gripped his.

When she pulled back from the too-brief glimpse into heaven, her eyes were worried and questioning. But not regretful. Drakken released his breath as he gripped her hand in return, a smile of unbridled joy blooming across his face that he couldn't have held back if he wanted to. Her expression changed to one of relief, hope, and excitement, and as he lifted his other hand from her waist to put behind her head and draw her back to the intimate moment, an answering smile filled her face.

The instant before their lips met they were startled from the moment by a resounding cheer, and they both turned to see the entire room of henchmen on their feet, applauding and shouting and a few even exchanging money over bets won and lost no doubt. Drakken ran his hand over his hair sheepishly, but the feel of Shego's hand looping through his arm drew his focus back to her and where she was smiling up at him, trying to maintain her usual air of confidence through the shy joy that had filled her eyes.

"Shego..." He wasn't sure what else he would have said, but the awed breathing of her name was all he could manage.

She cleared her throat, though it didn't do anything to mask the blush in her cheeks.

"Ruling the world?" she said softly.

Drakken blinked. "Right... Jameson!" he bellowed for the henchman, "Get ready for the broadcast!"

Drakken and Shego turned to face the computer screen that changed to show their image. He was startled by what he saw, as he had only ever seen it in his dreams before: Shego on his arm, her confidence, beauty, and intelligence...devoted to him.

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

Shego looked at Drakken's eyes through the video monitor where his assurance suddenly seemed to have faltered. Her heart was still racing from the impulsive kiss, but she couldn't have agreed to rule the world with him without knowing. But suddenly, something seemed to have changed.

"Dr. D.?" she asked softly, her fingers tightening on his arm in what she hoped was reassurance.

He blinked a few times and then looked down, anxiety rapidly joining the happiness in his eyes. His jaw worked for a moment before one word finally slipped out.

"Me...?"

Shego grinned. "Yes. You."

He seemed to calm, but then his brow furrowed. She cut him off before he could continue.

"Why me?" Drakken's brow rose in response. And again, she cut him off. "Probably similar reasons?"

Drakken considered, and Shego decided in a split-second to let her own remaining uncertainty show.

"We can...talk about all of it later. As long as you're sure...?"

Drakken grabbed her hand on his arm and held it tight, nodding firmly.

"Yes. I'm sure."

The laser-focus in his eyes was all the assurance she needed, and as her expression melted back to happiness she watched his shift into the same.

"So..." she sighed as she felt her nerves finally begin to calm, "talk later... But right now, I believe we have a broadcast to make?"

Drakken straightened, and his broad grin of victory returned.

"Yes," he said firmly, "we do."

Shego mirrored his devilish look as they faced the screen again, taking just a moment to survey the image that met them once more. Side by side, and arm in arm... She honestly wondered what had taken them so long.

Drakken turned and nodded at the henchman waiting to begin the live broadcast to the world that they now owned. He turned back and gave Shego that same knowing grin that had spurred her to action. She returned it in kind.

"Let's do it!"

[padfootagain]

Girl Crush (XVII)

Chapter 17 : Before The Water Lilies

Here we go again for a new chapter!!! We stay in the very cute Christmas spirit in London for these two idiots pinning for each other like crazy... Warning for extreme fluffiness, side effects might include a lot of 'awwww' and some hearts melting, you've been warned!!!

I hope you like this chapter, tell me what you thought about it!

Word Count: 2603

Trafalgar Square exceeded your expectations.

There was someone dressed as Pikachu dancing to Staying Alive in front of the majestic National Gallery, people hurried to avoid the sharp cold moving around the tall column and the fountain. Many tourists took pictures in front of the black statues of lions. A little crowd had gathered around a man playing guitar. Traffic was loud and dense, red buses and dark cabs and random cars driving around the square and passing under the Admiralty Arch. A woman was drawing mountains on the pavement with chalks.

Your eyes glimmered with joy and awe and excitement, and Harry was grinning from ear to ear at the sight.

You were going to the National Gallery that morning, and you couldn't wait.

The sky was grey and seemed low above your heads, sign of imminent snow or rain. But a moody weather was far from enough to stop you from exploring the city.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked, guiding you across the square and towards the large museum.

You nodded, clapping your hands together in excitement, jumping a couple of times instead of walking, making him laugh.

"They have some of Monet's water lilies, you know?"

"I know. I've been there before."

"And some De Vinci…"

"They do."

"And Van Gogh!"

"Indeed."

"And Turner, and Cézanne!"

"Are we attempting to name all of the painters that have their paintings exposed in there or…?"

You swatted his arm playfully, rolling your eyes.

"Sorry, I'm just rambling," you mumbled, but he nudged you, making you look up at him.

"I was just teasing you. I like it when you ramble."

"You like it?"

"Yeah, it's cute."

"Cute?"

He shrugged, suddenly realizing the meaning of the words he was speaking out loud, and he thanked the cold for giving him a perfect excuse for his flushed cheeks.

"I mean… yeah…" he stuttered. "Come on, hurry up! I'm freezing out here, and I need a wee!"

You laughed at him, but let him escape for this time around, and hurried with him to seek shelter from the winter wind that seemed to be cutting through your cheekbones.

The entrance was set in a more modern hall that the famous columns overhanging the square, with a wall made of glass and a large boutique to buy souvenirs. You studied the map of the museum while waiting for Harry as he went to the bathroom, and when he came back, you had a plan for the visit, to which Harry didn't complain. As long as it kept this grin on your face, he was up for anything.

The halls themselves were as majestic as you could have imagined, large stairs of stone and pillars and high ceilings and cracking wooden floors. You made your way through the halls, travelling through time from De Vinci's and Michelangelo's sketches to the grave figures pictured on Flemish paintings to the stormy oceans painted by Turner and the weird shapes of Picasso's works.

Every hall offered surprises, little gems that you liked more than the rest. You walked with Harry never leaving your side, whispering to each other either to make stupid jokes and shushed giggles, or to comment on the paintings you admired.

You walked around and spend time revisiting your favourite paintings, and you settled on a bench in front of your absolute favourite: Monet's water lilies.

Harry was resting his head on your shoulder while you both stared at the paintings, studying the touches of paint and movements of the brush that seemed to have scared the colours across the canvas. People passed around you, sometimes blocking the view, but you didn't care. There was something peaceful in sitting in the art gallery, surrounded by these paintings that had taken so many hours to make, for sure; in the rhythm of the crowd moving all around you and the shushed voices speaking in many languages, most of them that you couldn’t understand and sometimes not even recognize. Life felt slower in there. People's movements were not rushed, they took only little steps to move through the room, stopping before each painting, taking pictures of their favourites.

And Monet's painting in itself was soothing as well. Green and blue and touches of white and pink and purple to paint the bridge crossing the little river covered with waterlilies, their tiny white shapes lost in their large leaves. It felt like you were there, almost. It felt peaceful, tender. A little haven in your busy and fast life. Crazy how the painting of a place you had never visited could echo through your chest, make your heart slow down, shush your thoughts, make your limb a little numb and your lips curve into a smile as you studied its beauty.

And there was also the fact that Harry was by your side. You had taken off some of your warm clothes and opened your coats. He held both your scarves in his hands, resting on his laps. His brown curls tickled your neck, his head heavy on your shoulder, the pressure reassuring, a welcomed weight to carry as if it had felt empty without it, as if his head was meant to rest there, fitting perfectly into the shape of your shoulder and neck. Your knee rested lightly against his bruised one, after the fall of the previous night while ice skating. Your two arms were pressed together, and you had to admit that you were eager for the contact, welcoming every new inch of his body touching yours. It felt reassuring, natural. Almost meant to be. You felt safe with him so close to you.

"Did you know that when Monet grew older, he couldn't see well anymore," you let out in a whisper. "He was sick, and he couldn't see clearly shapes and all the shades of blue and green."

"Really?" he asked, lifting his head just a little to tell you he was listening, but not enough to disconnect your two bodies in any way.

"Yeah. I don't remember the name of the disease but… he spent years and years and years going back to that same spot to paint this bridge. And as his vision deteriorated and yet he kept on painting, the shapes became less and less clear in his paintings, and all the shades of blue and green he painted red or purple instead."

"I didn't know that. It must be terrible though… You've spent your whole life painting, and then you get sick, and your vision falters. And you can't do the only thing you're good at anymore. What can you do then, if you can't do the only thing you have talent for?"

His voice grew quieter as he went on, and you wondered if he was still talking about Monet when he was done.

You shrugged.

"You find other things to live for. You find another purpose. You still have everything else: your family, your friends, the people who love you, other hobbies and places you've never explored to go to. You still have sunrises upon frozen rooftops and strawberry ice creams in June and ducks to feed at the park. So I guess… even if it's hard, you just keep on going, only, you bend your own path to fit your new life instead."

He slowly nodded, and the worry that had made him frown seemed to have melted and turned into a soft smile.

And perhaps it was because he was so relaxed looking at these paintings, or perhaps it was because all he could smell was your perfume to a point where he forgot any other scent he had ever breathed in, or maybe it was because of how his head rose and fell just the tiniest bit every time you breathed, or maybe it was because of how close the two of you were in general and he was too tired to stop it from blurring his mind… he wasn't sure why, but before he could think them, he had uttered words he might have wanted to keep for himself. Sometimes, the most earnest words were the hardest to keep quiet though.

"I hope you'll still be there when I'm old and can't sing anymore."

You rested your cheek on the top of his head, slowly nodding.

"I'll always be here, Harry. Don't you know that by now?"

He smiled, just like you did.

"You know what? I think I do."

You were sitting on a bench watching ducks paddle off down the pond.

It was cold, and the clouds were still white above your heads, and the more time passed, the more you were certain that they were about to break.

Saint James's Park was a cute little park. With trees and patches of grass and ponds and ducks, even though at this time of the year most trees had lost their foliage, and most flowers were still unborn. The grass wore white glitter made by the frost under the shade of bushes and trees, hidden places that the sun couldn't reach to make the ice melt. You watched a few sparrows flying around while you rubbed your bare hands together, punishment for forgetting your gloves at Harry's. And you felt sorry for the little birds, they must have been so cold without shelter…

"If I were a bird, I think I would like to be a swallow," you blurted out, making Harry turn his attention to you again instead of the ducks in the brownish water.

"Hmm?"

He had taken off his beanie, and the tip of his ears were made crimson by the biting cold. The tip of his nose had the same shade too, and you found him absolutely adorable this way.

"I mean, it's nice!" you went on in a dreamy tone. "You leave for the South when it becomes too cold around here, and then you come back when it's warm and sunny again. Plus, your return means that spring is coming, you carry lovely meanings in your flight."

Harry's lips curved in a tender smile, and he slowly nodded.

"You're right, it's nice."

"What bird would you like to be?"

"I don't want to be a bird," he shook his head, a playful glint alit in his eyes. "I'd rather be a fish."

"A fish?"

"You have the entire ocean as a playground, so many adventures ahead. Wouldn’t that be nice?"

You laughed, but nodded anyway.

"It would be nice indeed."

"So you can be a swallow, and I'll be a fish."

"What kind of fish?"

He shrugged.

"The kind that lives near swallows."

You couldn't refrain a barely noticeable gasp, before smiling at him in the softest of ways.

"Well then, let's do that for our next lives then. Harry the fish and Y/N the swallow."

"Sounds good to me."

Harry noticed how your kept on rubbing your palms together and moving your fingers, blowing puffs of air against them to warm your skin. He remembered then that you had forgotten your gloves at his place that morning.

So he took his own pair off, and took your hands one by one, putting his large gloves on you.

They were so warm after he had worn them for some time, it was reassuring, and your painful skin almost instantly felt like it was burning instead of freezing.

"You're gonna be cold," you protested, although you didn't stop him from taking your other hand in his, his long fingers oozing warmth through your skin. He wasn't wearing any of his rings today and his skin was gentle and soft against yours, just like his movements.

"We can share. For now, you're the one who's freezing. Better warm your hands up before your fingers start falling off."

"Ha ha ha! Very funny!" you crinkled your nose and rolled your eyes, making him laugh.

Harry was about to tease you some more when he was interrupted by the sensation of something tiny yet very cold touching the bridge of his nose. He squinted quite ungracefully, trying to see what had touched him, before rising his bare fingers to his face. His skin was a little wet.

But then he spotted a white snowflake caught on your scarf, just as your eyes grew wider as you realized what was happening.

"Harry! It's snowing!" you gasped, a grin splitting your cheeks and digging cute creases at the corner of your eyes.

You looked up at the sky with eyes glimmering with excitement while Harry looked at you instead. You were so happy and beautiful…

It was starting to snow harder and harder with each second ticking by, and Harry mindlessly reached for his phone. He barely thought about what he was doing as he captured your picture in this moment: you were laughing, your arms and hands extended before you to catch the snowflakes. You examined the crystals with a curiosity and joy that could have belonged to a child. And it made his heart feel warm and big and growing even more as if it were filled with sunshine and couldn't keep the light in…

As he checked the picture again, he reckoned that he had found his new lockscreen.

You giggled in the most adorable way as a couple of snowflakes made their way between your scarf and your collar, making you shiver as they landed at the base of your neck.

"Ha! It's cold!" you squealed between your giggles, making Harry burst out in laughter.

"Do you think it'll snow enough to cover the ground?" you asked him, but your friend could only shrug.

"I don't know. It wasn't even supposed to snow today."

"Well, they got it wrong."

"It's nice that they were wrong on that one though, don't you think?"

You nodded.

"Yeah, it's nice."

Harry grew quiet again, grinning and turning his face to the sky to feel the frozen droplets against his skin, closing his eyes and reaching to hold the sleeve of your warm coat, as if to make sure that you would stay close even if he wasn't looking. As if he were afraid you weren't truly here, and that if he let his eyelids fall, you would disappear in thin air or be carried away with the snowflakes. But you had no intention to go anywhere.

You watched him as he threw his head back, face towards the sky, enjoying the stinging cold of the snowflakes delicately fall onto his cheeks. His hair was already stained with snow, white dots caught in the mess of his brown curls, and a few of the ice crystals had been caught on his eyelashes as well. He didn't seem to mind though. He was smiling, beaming even. Your heart seemed to be growing in size, and your whole body felt relaxed and warm. A smile formed on your lips, tender and gentle, and there was no way for you to refrain it. You wished you could run your fingers through his hair and keep them there just like these snowflakes hanging at his curls.

You noticed every detail of his face, every crack at the corner of his eyes that came with smiling, how his dimples grew deeper, every tiny mark on his skin, and every barely noticeable freckle, and the tiny crack on his lips caused by the cold…

It was overwhelming, sometimes, the situation you were in.

And you wondered then if you would ever feel that way with Gareth too, because deep down you knew that one day, you would have to. Perhaps it was time to try harder to do so…

*******************************************

Tag list :   @ponycake27​ @horsesreign @xinyourdreamsx @jbluevelvet@notkeppeki @daynigt-dreamer-stuff @fudgeflyss @stuckupstucky@snek-shit @suchatinyinfinity@i-padfootblack-things  @buckybsarmy @heyohheyitsgabi@jigsawlover10 @emyyjemyy​ @addictedtofictionalcharacters​​ @staringmoony​@madamrogers​​​​​ @cronias13​​​​​ @stylesfics-xx​​​​​ @mellamolayla​​ @mariaenchanted​

[miloqnzh925]

The Single Strategy To Use For Best Travel Vlog

Explore the world by means of You, Tube travel channels and vlogs Nathan Hutchinson/ Getty Images, The art of travel has actually changed beyond all acknowledgment in the past couple of years. What once cost a fortune and took weeks of preparation can now be recorded on a phone and by booking a flight on the way to the airport. Here's a selection of You, Tube's finest travel channels and vlogs that showcase the imagination the new medium opens to everybody. Travel stories have been shared orally from the earliest days of humankind. Yarns of excellent adventure might have been embellished with the occasional sea beast and one-eyed giant, however even these fanciful accounts had some basis in reality.

Travel books, premium photography and newspaper accounts quickly followed, before TELEVISION took over and brought unbelievable sights into living spaces around the globe. Individuals who never believed they would experience the magic of travel for themselves were now provided the urge to check out, and so a boom in the tourism industry followed. Today, thanks to the proliferation of online travel, you can see the world with the basic click of a button. It's not constantly easy to watch other individuals live out dream lifestyles while we can just look on enviously, preparing our yearly holidays from home. Sorelle Amore has benefited more than the majority of, but her graciousness and warm approach to audiences make her journey all the more satisfying to watch.

Having actually explored the nation thoroughly, Varhun is now handling the surrounding area and is eager to get other Indians to do the exact same. We actually like the way price is at the top of the list of considerations when it concerns this vlog a rare but welcome factor to consider. Likeable Geroge Benson has carefully chosen to separate his enthusiasm for travel from his love of football. The travel channel follows George as he checks out various locations in his unique style, whereas the vlogger's other channel concentrates on his cherished Chelsea FC. You'll be pleased to know George's horrible life choices appear to be limited to his sporting preferences.

Music Vlog Can Be Fun For Anyone

Mark Wiens has cultivated a big following online, and it's simple to see why. His love of food and determination to hurl himself into every obstacle is transmittable. While perhaps not for travel perfectionists, Migrationology is still among the most useful channels to follow on the platform. As soon as of this parish, Eva zu Beck is now among the most popular characters on the travel circuit. Her videos frequently feature the places we hardly ever see covered by mainstream media, making her informative look at the world particularly welcome. Eva's rise to fame began with a number of early videos going viral in Pakistan, and she hasn't recalled given that.

The only problem these vloggers deal with is that they are susceptible to becoming victims of their own success. Every action far from the "budget plan" principle appears to be a huge error, thrusting them back into the clutches of sponsors and brands eager to capitalise on their unique abilities. This is one group that we wish to see less of as their format works best in periodical dosages - travel documentary. Marine biology graduate Mike Corey prides himself on taking on the more extreme side of travel through his online experiences. Not all of his options deserve recommending, as some verge on unethical.

The slick production worths on his videos are incredibly planned, making Mike an easy watch. Boasting over 1 billion video views and 5 million fans on social media, Drew Binksy has been championed by several brands in the relatively brief time he has actually been an expert travel blog writer (travel vlog). His supreme aim is to go to every country on the planet something he was so close to doing prior to the coronavirus outbreak. We make certain his adventures will continue again quickly, and in the meantime, he can keep refining his golf swing, a sport he frequently takes part in when travelling. Part of the larger byfood.

Getting My Travel Vlog To Work

The primary focus is the country's cooking delights, but host Shizuka Anderson plainly has a flair for travel blogging, too. Explaining herself as a Tokyoite, the presenter ends up discovering locations that would illuminate any Instagram feed. music videos. It's one to inspect out if you're in requirement of enhancing your social networks game. Chas Bruns totally embraces the thrifty lifestyle he espouses in this vlog everything about the virtues of penny-pinching. Chas hunts out the least expensive experiences and holidays he can, sharing his tips with viewers. This series may not be the most refined one on this list, but it's arguably the most helpful.

This daring travel specialist might at first resemble the stereotyped travel dude all of us want to avoid on vacation, but he's actually developed an eager eye for the unexpected. Louis is a fantastic host who is at his best when taking off on his own with just a small video camera for company. Travel couples are probably the most annoying people throughout social media. There's a delicate balancing act between being excessively smug and fortunate and really interesting and informative, but Kara and Nate almost get it right. Their objective of visiting 100 countries by 2020 has actually now been achieved, so we do question if the pair will be slowing down, specifically provided how challenging it is to take a trip at the moment.

Each location they check out gets the documentary-style treatment, and their videos are all the better for it. If you're interested in what it's like to live in a nation, then Gareth Leonard's http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=vlog much deeper approach to travel is for you. The flashy, short-form videos that other vloggers goal for actually aren't worth your time if you want to explore a new place with somebody keen on expanding cultural horizons. Gareth takes his time with each piece of material and delivers a series that will make you want to discover more before you travel. Another excellent vlog with a strong focus on food is Miss Mina, hosted by the eponymous Mina Oh.

The Vlog Diaries

Both are fascinating in their own method, although food videos are definitely the strong point throughout. This sincere travel vlog is packed full of useful pointers and practical details. Making viral material does not appear to be at the forefront of Mark Wolters' thinking, as he and his family check out the world. All of it started from one travel let-down and has now blossomed into an incredibly valuable resource. Do not resent the rather troubling name of the vlog Aly (who is a psychology graduate from England) is in fact a great host and guide. Aly is so great that she's self-published a book to assist others seeking to travel to a few of the lots of locations she has actually visited.

One male making a genuine modification is Phil of Philwaukee fame, who has partnered with the Matador Network for this series. It's fun, loaded with favorable vibes and something we truly wish to see more of. Delving into a classic Volkswagen (VW) van and driving off into the sundown is the things teenage dreams are made from. It's also the truth that this vlog follows, as 2 intrepid visitors intend to go off the grid and find their own adventures around the globe. VW vans obviously have various labels depending upon where you are for Brits, they are understood as camper vans, while Americans call them buses. best travel vlog.

Originally from Australia and now settling into the Los Angeles lifestyle by method of a substantial stay in Shanghai, Jenny Zhou's profession is simply as remarkable as her travel content. There are some great on-location videos on her channel, however as Jenny tries to make it in the acting world, we question how lots of more travel videos we'll get. There's still plenty to check out in the vlogger's back brochure though, and her Shanghai films, in specific, make for fun watching.

Excitement About Best Travel Vlog

Vlogging has actually ended up being a super popular way for nomads to package up their experiences and share them with the world. On the audience side, they condense an entire mess of details down into a tight little package, in addition to providing a genuine and tangible sense of what a location might be like, assisting you judge whether it's worth a go to or not. But not all vloggers are produced equivalent. To help you arrange the wheat from the chaff, we have actually gathered a list of the 16 finest and most prominent travel vloggers that you need to be following in 2021, particularly if this is the year that you're going to explore the land down under!Max & Lee are an Australian/ Canadian couple and along with their charming Australian Shepherd pet dog Occy, they have excellent enjoyable tape-recording their vlog travel adventures for their substantial 1.

If you're a fan of Van Life, then this video blog is for you. You can get some amazing pointers to help you get your own adventure on the road. It might seem a little arrogant to call yourself The Professional Vagabond, but this is a title that Matthew Karsten has well and really earned - travel documentary. He's been on the road for over eight years, and is showing no sign of slowing down, despite the fact that he's now a daddy. He's acquired over 50,000 subscribers on You, Tube, over 150,000 followers on Instagram, and runs an effective and popular blog site.

You'll observe an unique lack of Australia on that list, however he can't be too far off right Matt?A You, Tube veteran of 13 years and counting, over the last few years Overlander TV has taken its vlog to the next level, with an expert electronic camera team catching spectacular, cinema-level video footage. A number of years ago Overlander created an 87 minute feature-length movie called Australian Motorbike Experience, which followed Mark Shea on an impressive two-wheeled tour along Australia's West Coast. With over 23 million channel views and screenings of Shea's film worldwide, Overlander is revealing a simple You, Tube channel can become so much more!Careening towards one million subscribers, Marko and Alex Ayling are acclaimed travel videographers that let their pictures do (most of) the talking.

Facts About Music Vlog Revealed

They've covered most of the world, consisting of Australia, so if you're searching for a bit of Oz travel inspo especially the spots that make for the very best shots head to their channel and sign up with the movement!Looking for inspiration that is a little more unique and adrenaline fuelled? Brave & Far is run by Mike Corey, who enjoys experiencing (and recording) action-packed hijinks around the world. Don't expect any run of the mill scenery shots here; Corey is only thinking about activities that disgust, entertain and/or excite, as his 300K+ You, Tube followers will attest. Kirsten and Siya are a funny, lovely, adventure-loving couple now with a baby in tow that appear to draw in followers for their characters as much as the destinations they showcase.

The set have generated almost 300,000 subscribers, and travelled to Australia in 2017, producing videos along the method (vlog). With over 700,000 You, Tube subscribers, British backpacker Ben Brown has made a profession out of feeding his travel addiction by developing an army of eager followers. Ben has travelled all over from the Arctic to Australia and Africa, shooting in an individual, POV style so that you seem like you're right there in amongst the action and when it comes to his most popular upload, in a vehicle crash!Hey, Nadine! This travel blogger is a water fountain of understanding when it pertains to travel ideas, techniques and hacks, offering up a genuine encyclopaedia of valuable content.

[evilsnowswan]

The Lake

Summary: After everything is said and done and Lex is finally defeated, Kara invites Lena to Sand Point Lake in Midvale. Out of all the places on earth she could be, a lake in the middle of nowhere doesn’t even make Lena’s Top 100, but it’s Kara who’s asking, so does she even have a choice? A.k.a. a fluffy Supercorp beach day.

Chapter One is POV Lena. Chapter Two POV Kara. They're both gay and dumb.

Loosely inspired by @lisamar1exo​‘s glorious summertime supercorp art.

AO3: AO3 link via reblog (because tumblr doesn’t like links these days and I’m tired).

The Lake | Chapter (1/2): One (Lena)

Come to the lake with us, Lena? Please?

She had said yes. Not without hesitation or trepidation, but here she was: sunhat, sunglasses, spanking new two-piece, with her toes in the soft sand.

Swallowing back a sigh, Lena discreetly adjusted her bikini top. She had half hoped her assistant wouldn’t find something suitable—short notice, over lunch—for her to wear to this little outing, giving her an out. However, in something akin to a small miracle, Jess had returned a mere 30 minutes later with five options for Lena to choose from, stripping her of all excuses as she stripped down to her underwear in her office, cussing under her breath.

“Kara, could you—”

“Comin’! Already on it!”

The beach was only a short distance from the car park, and Lena watched from behind the safety of her big round sunglasses, as Kara hurried back to give her sister a hand with the cooler. Effortlessly, they lugged the huge blue thing between them, which—knowing both Kara and Alex—had to be filled with enough food to feed a small village. The two sisters led the way with Kelly not far behind. Nia half walked, half skipped alongside Kelly, little Eli squealing and laughing in her arms, the two of them clearly too flooded with excitement at the prospect of a beach day to contain any of it.

As a soft smile tugged at her lips, something else was tugging at her heart too, and Lena hastened to shove it back into the same box it had come from, mentally taping it and kicking it to the back of her mind. Hugging herself with one arm, gripping her left elbow tight, her nails dug into her skin as she lifted her chin and inhaled.

Of all the places in the world, how had she ended up here? At a fucking lake with her former best friend turned superhero, family and friends.

Her eyes swept over the gravel parking lot, turned skyward, then crashed in the sand at her feet. The sky and the water were intensely blue, the sandy beach was clean and white and deserted. Except for them, there wasn’t another soul in sight. Lena hadn’t expected a beach like this, not in a sleepy town like Midvale. It reminded her more of the one’s she’d seen in National Geographic or glossy travel brochures perhaps—except without the sprawl. Here the beach was nature, not real estate.

“Hello, Lena,” Alex let go of the cooler handle with a small grunt and shaded her eyes against the afternoon sun, as she stood beside Lena. Kelly smiled and waved hello as well, before sprinting after Eli in his sun suit, who was toddling straight for the water as fast as his chubby legs would allow, a blue-and-green sun hat clutched in her hand.

Alex chuckled, knuckles pressed to her mouth for a moment before she smiled and shook her head. 

“Hello.” Lena looked directly into the sun. The heat felt almost too intense on her face.

“This is going to be GREAT!” Kara’s outdoor voice hitting her neck nearly had Lena flinch hard enough for it to be noticeable, and she clenched her jaw, letting out a jittery breath, before she turned to her with a smile. Kara rambled on about the snacks they had brought, the weather, and the breathtaking view, her ponytail swinging merrily as she set up shop in the sand.

Lena simply smiled and nodded, took off her hat and pushed her sunglasses up on her head before handing over towels, bags, and equipment as requested. All around them, people were busy spreading blankets and towels, setting up tables and chairs, and even putting up a small tent. Lena blinked as it popped up of its own accord and stood—shell-shaped and ready to shelter at least two adults and a small child from the sun. Oh. Ingenious.

“Wait—”

She paused, the rolled-up towel she was holding pressed to her middle.

Kara frowned, glancing at the sky, then back at Lena. The familiar crinkle appeared between her eyes and Lena felt something cool twist and coil in her belly.

It had been… months. Everything was fine. Fine between them now. Kara was Supergirl. Supergirl and she had worked together to stop the megalomaniac that was her brother from bringing about the apocalypse yet again. All was well. Except, that was the thing, wasn’t it? She’d worked with Supergirl, but her friendship with Kara…

“Lena?”

She looked up to find Kara holding onto the pole of a large green-and-orange umbrella, firmly pushing and twisting it deep into the ground. A feat, Lena was fairly certain, not humanly possible.

Even as her brain made the connection and deduced that her help wasn’t needed, her body had already taken a step forward and let the towel drop, so she could steady the pole as Kara fumbled to open the umbrella, the tip of her tongue peeking out from between her teeth.

“There should be a cord somewhere…” She mumbled, ducking her head beneath the sturdy material and reappearing a moment later, gesturing empty-handed. “There’s a little… thing attached to it,” she said, blushing. “At the end. It goes through one of these.” She indicated small holes along the pole, and Lena nodded. Yes, easy.

“Just one sec…”  Kara vanished in between the folds of the umbrella again, the massive thing nearly swallowing her whole, leaving only her calves and bare feet visible.

Lena had to bite her tongue not to laugh.

“Aha!” Triumphant, Kara held up the cord. Her face was flushed and her hair wild, sticking out on the back of her head from the static.

One of Lena’s hands flew to her mouth, but didn’t make it there in time.

Letting her hair down and brushing her fingers through it, Kara shot her an indignant look, which held no true outrage and immediately crumpled into a laugh of her own. “Not funny, Miss Luthor.” She stuck out her tongue playfully and Lena copied her, albeit having to wrangle her upbringing and Luthor-etiquette for the more human reaction first. Easygoing and playful didn’t come naturally to her and felt foreign on her features. Even as she joined in laughing, the feeling lingered like cheap perfume.

“Some would beg to differ… Miss Danvers.” She hadn’t meant for her voice to drop like that. And maybe it hadn’t? Not by much anyway, but the way Kara stopped in her tracks and cocked her head to one side contemplating her, one hand sneaking up to cover her heart—well, maybe it had.

Kara’s front teeth came down on her bottom lip and she sucked in half a smile.

Lena’s own mouth had gone dry. She pressed her lips together to dispel the feeling, her heart doing a funny nervous hop-skip in her chest as she stumbled about her thoughts, rooting around for something… else to say. She only just stopped herself from uselessly opening her mouth a few times—People don’t gape open-mouthed. That’s for primates at the zoo, Lena.—and found herself mirroring Kara once again instead, head tilting to make room for her hand to reach her neck and rub it.

“I-um,” Kara fiddled with the cord, tugged a little. The umbrella fluttered like a strange tropical bird. “Maybe-we shouldn’t be out in the sun. It’s...” Kara trailed off, ducking her head in a smile.

She had freckles—splashes of freckles fanning out across her cheeks. Lena was so distracted by them that she almost didn't duck in time when Kara opened the umbrella and it finally stood, tall and wide, casting them in shadow.

“Oh... gosh. Sorry!”

“And here I thought, we were past quarterly attempts on my life,” Lena deadpanned, shooting Kara a little smile so she’d take it as the joke it was meant to be.

Kara looked scandalized for a second, then pensive. “Hmm-hmm. It’s… it has been quiet, hasn’t it?” Lena could only try and guess at what she was thinking—Kara-thoughts or Super-thoughts?—but, either way, Kara’s mind seemed to be going a thousand miles a minute, turning her smile upside down and drawing her eyebrows together.

“That’s...a good thing, though, isn’t it?” Hands clasped, Lena fidgeted nervously, scolding herself in her head. Too soon. “Everyone safe and happy. That’s good, right?”

Kara’s gaze swept the beach, lingering on her sister setting up the grill and Kelly settling back on her lounger with a book while Nia and Eli enthusiastically dug a hole in the sand nearby, an array of colorful beach toys scattered about them. “Yeah,” she said softly, eyes settling on Lena’s face and searching it with a sudden intensity that made Lena flush. “They are okay, aren’t they?”

Maybe, one day, after several… bottles of wine, she’d tell her about the dead brother she didn’t want to miss, the mothers she had lost, the late nights spent in her office to fill the deafening silence with paperwork and overseas phone calls. Maybe. One day. Until then, okay would have to do. She was okay, they were okay.

“Yes,” Lena said.

When Kara smiled in response, she smiled with her whole face; the smile curving her lips and reaching to touch her eyes like a cat stretching out in a patch of sunlight, setting the watery blue ablaze.

“Yes,” Lena said again, with feeling. Even in the shade, the air did feel a little too hot. She shouldn’t have taken off her hat. “They are okay.”

Eyes still smiling, Kara nodded at the blanket and towels at their feet. “Sit first or swim first?”

Lena swallowed hard. “Sit, definitely sit.”

So they sat, Lena ditching the reports at the bottom of her bag for the novel she had brought and Kara flopping over onto her belly to thumb through a copy of National Girl, letting out a squeal of delight at the sight of the extra glued to the back.

Lena raised a brow at the high-pitched sound and watched as Kara tore open the packaging and admired the woven bracelets on her palm. Two identical pink-and-white bracelets with charms worked into them.

“Friendship bracelets,” Kara said, beaming. “Twin bracelets. Look, Lena!”

“They’re… nice?” Lena said, confused by the over-enthusiastic reaction the cheap accessories had elicited from Kara. She looked at the bracelets again, eyes following the pattern to the silver infinity charms, one in each of them.

Kara sat up on her heels and looked at her expectantly, scooting closer. “Um, it’s probably a little silly, but…” she laughed, looking at her hands and back at Lena. “Would you-I mean, I know, it’s–but- but would you maybe want to…?”

She looked down, hanging her head, her chest heaving, and it was such an endearing picture, Lena dropped her book into her lap and almost reached out to tip her chin back up.

“You-you don’t have to… if you don’t want—?” When Kara looked at her again, the deep red was undeniable in her cheeks and her pink lip was once again trapped between her relentless teeth. She worried it, glancing at the lake quickly, and the movement of her neck drew Lena’s eyes to places they had no business being, noting the lovely lush pinks and reds covering Kara’s chest, standing out most marvellously against her ultramarine bathing suit.

“I-I’d love to?” As soon as the words had left her, Lena squeezed her eyes shut, scrunching up her nose and feeling herself blush most ungraciously too, helpless heat erupting in her cheeks and travelling down like a landslide.

“So, sh-should I?”

Kara waited, her mouth falling open as Lena held out her left arm. She closed it again to smile at her—shyly, tentatively—her deep blush spreading over her cheeks and temples, and the after-image of sunlight reflecting off water, the visual burn-in, glistened bright in her eyes.

As Kara leaned over to tie the bracelet on Lena, her hair fell over her shoulder and into her face, and she blew out a breath that hit Lena’s wrist unprepared, firing up something that had been cold and long forgotten inside of her. Lena squirmed, but didn’t draw back, leaning into the sensation instead of away from it.

“There. All done!” Kara took her hand, lacing their fingers together, and held it up, so the bracelet freshly adorning her arm would be properly admired.

“Thank you,...Kara.”

Letting go, Lena laughed, a little breathless, and, with trembling fingers, picked up the other bracelet from Kara’s lap to reciprocate.

Kara immediately sat up, pulling back her shoulders, and kept unnaturally still for Lena as she held out her own arm.

Lena sucked in her bottom lip, willing her fingers to still long enough to tie the knot.

Her heart fluttering in her throat like a trapped hummingbird, she held onto the simple string a moment longer than strictly necessary, unable to look at Kara’s face or meet her eyes just yet. Instead, her gaze stopped and lingered on Kara’s chest rising and falling, regularly but rapidly.

Her one-piece bathing suit left her smooth, sun-kissed shoulders bare—or they would have been, if it hadn’t been for the straps of the halter-neck tied into a bow behind her neck. A bow that was, slowly but surely, coming undone right before Lena’s eyes, a gentle tan line visible where the fabric of the suit wasn’t quite pulled as tight anymore.

Dumbstruck, Lena’s hammering heart screeched to a halt, missing a beat, before it jumped out of her chest and ran screaming. Inhaling sandy heat, Lena held her breath as she reached out, unthinking, and, tongue pressed to the roof of her mouth, managed to untie and retie the bow quickly, rocking back on her heels when she was done.

“Tha-thanks,” Kara spluttered.

Nodding, Lena stared at her hands in her lap. They were kneeling in the sand, so close now that their knees touched and, when she lifted her gaze by maybe a fraction, Lena could see Kara’s hands fidgeting with the bracelet on her arm, turning it around and around.

As the little silver charm caught the light, Lena’s eyes were drawn to the symbol, and she felt a wave of warmth wash over her that had nothing to do with either the heatwave or the still lake.

I gcónaí, she thought, taking herself by surprise. I gcónaí. Always.

“Beautiful…” Kara breathed, and Lena’s head snapped up. “They… they are pretty, the bracelets?”

Objectively speaking? No, absolutely not. They were what her mother would have referred to as ‘hideous nonsense’ and promptly cut off her with the sharp scissors. However, in Lena’s eyes the little trinkets grew more precious and more perfect with every second she felt the surprisingly soft string against her skin.

“You think so?” Smirking, Lena raised her chin, giving Kara a challenging look. Why did she stumble over her words all the time? Supergirl never did; oh, but Kara? Kara barely made it through a complete sentence on a good day. She’d almost forgotten about that. It was adorable.   

“Uh-huh.” Kara’s eyes were wide and earnest. “It… it looks good on you.”

The compliment, silly and untrue as it might be—because the pink-and-white looked much nicer against Kara’s tanned skin than her own—the compliment made Lena’s heart glow, and it probably showed on her face—for Kara’s smile grew instantly and incessantly wider.

Lena watched Kara relax into it and licked her lips, bracing herself for the inevitable hug that had to be coming any minute now. How long had it been? Kara was a hugger, but they hadn’t hugged in… forever? Well, in a really, really long time, anyway.

As Kara’s eyes locked on hers, Lena suddenly wasn’t so sure she was ready for it.

“Hey, ladies!” Nia’s voice made them both jump. She’d materialized by their towels, somehow snuck up on them without either of them taking notice, and was now hovering at a few steps distance, mindful not to get sand all over their things. What she lacked in physical proximity, however, she made up in volume. “We’re going in. You two coming?” She grinned at them. “Eli says you ‘ave to.”

“Sure.” Kara laughed, turning to Lena. “Lena?”

They looked at her expectantly and Lena’s whole body tensed. Wavering, she gazed at the water. The lake suddenly seemed much bigger and rougher, the less-than-inviting blue-green much too cold for her heated skin, and she shook her head and shot Kara an apologetic smile. She seemed very eager to get going, but held back, and it made a sticky guilty feeling crawl down Lena’s spine.    

“Pleeeease? Come on!” Nia whined, widening her stance with her hands on her hips.

Kara looked at Lena. Hesitated.

“You go,” Lena waved her on, picking up her book with her free hand. “I’m good here.” Her heart stuttered in her chest, thudding against her ribcage, rattling the bars. “Really. It’s fine. I still need to finish the chapter anyway.” She held up the book for emphasis.

“You sure?” Kara’s head was tilted, her eyes quizzical and probing, her concern prickling on Lena’s face.

“Yes,” Lena said, a little too quickly and a little too enthusiastically, attempting to gloss over it with a brilliant smile. “You go have fun!”

Kara still didn’t move and, by now, Nia had thrown decorum to the wind and sat down on one end of Lena’s towel, giving her puppy eyes over one shoulder. It would have been cute, for Nia was almost as cute as Kara when she pouted like this, and it almost worked on Lena too, for she risked another uneasy glance at the lake. However, as it was, Nia’s persistence only made her draw up her shoulders at the—seemingly inevitable—prospect of a swim, shuddering in spite of herself, but masking it as brushing sand off her arm.

“Luthor, I’m not taking no for an answer!” Nia warned, deepening her pout. She had French-braided her hair down each side; her yellow halter-neck bikini had white polka dots splattered all over it and the frilly bottoms matched, and she looked every bit the little sister Lena had so longingly wished for when she was younger. Oh, the irony.

“Children, lay off and let the adults enjoy their peace!” Alex Danvers had abandoned her perch by the cooler and now crossed over to where they sat, taking great care to stay in the shade and on towels and blankets at all times; swearing loud, child-friendly nonsense, when she accidentally stepped on the hot sand, breaking into a little funny sprint to get under their umbrella.

“Fu-fudge, that’s hot,” she muttered as she came to a stop next to them; then shot an equally heated glance at Kara. “But someone took the liberty of leaving my shoes at home.”

Kara ducked her head, but rounded on her sister all the same. “They were Birkenstocks, Alex. I thought they were Eliza’s!”

“Are you accusing me of wearing mom-shoes, Kara? For I am and I would, if it weren’t for you. Thank you very much.” Her hands found her hips and only now did Lena notice the beer cans she was holding in each of them. No, judging by the brand logo, they had to be ginger ale. Too bad, she’d given an arm and a leg for a cold beer, or even better: a nice whisky sour on the rocks, right about now.

Kara stuck out her tongue, but Alex didn’t take the bait, crossing her arms over her chest as best she could with her cargo in hand. “Now, get going both of you, and leave the grown-ups to enjoy a cool drink in the shade, why don’t you.”

Nia stood at once, brushing sand off her butt sheepishly, but Kara just opened her mouth, giving every impression of wanting to argue. A short, but entirely silent, deadly staring match ensued, which Kara lost, and with a quick glance at Lena, Kara got up too, her hand brushing Lena’s leg as she got to her feet.

“Fine,” she huffed.

“Be boring then,” Nia teased and dashed for the water before Alex could turn her wrath on her, kicking up sand as she went, a laughing Kara hot on her heels.

Lena and Alex looked at each other for a moment. Alex didn’t ask and Lena didn’t talk. She simply took the proffered can and nodded her thanks, pressing the cool drink against her leg as she hugged her knees tightly to her chest, her book lying forgotten in the sand.

“Kids,” Alex muttered more to herself, opening her can with a pop and taking a long drink.

Setting her ginger ale down in the cool sand, she flopped down on Kara’s towel and lay on her back with her eyes closed, hands behind her head.

Lena watched as Kara, Nia, and Eli splashed about in the shallow water closer to the waterline, with Kelly standing guard for a bit, before she plucked her little boy from the water, adjusted his floaties, put him on her shoulders, and waded in deeper slowly, followed by Nia and Kara, who, apparently, had a blast splashing and dunking each other under the water.

Lena inhaled sharply and looked away, rubbing her arms. She heard Kara shriek and laugh, followed by a loud splash, and forced herself to look, because not looking was worse.

Kelly and Eli were still in the water, but Kara and Nia had taken to climbing the jagged cliffs that jutted out and dropped into the lake, and—Lena held her breath, panic rising within her—diving off them at murderous velocity. Watching Kara fly over the edge with a jubilant whoop—even while knowing she could literally fly and was practically indestructible—Lena’s heart clenched painfully. She could barely force air into her lungs until Kara’s head broke the surface again and the soft breeze carried her booming laughter all the way back to Lena’s ringing ears.

Alex raised up and squinted against the sun just in time to see Kara and Nia cliff-dive into the water together, hitting the surface dangerously close to the rocks.

“Be careful!” she called out to them, now watching her wife, son, and sister with the intensity of a lifeguard on duty. “Hey, Kara! Take it down a notch!”

Lena felt dizzy and light-headed from the lack of oxygen in her lungs and brain, fingers digging into her arm hard enough to possibly leave a mark. “They have lost their freaking minds,” she said, her voice coming out strained and the words strangely clipped.

She could feel Alex watching her, but didn’t dare tear her gaze away from Kara again.

“No, they haven’t,” Alex corrected calmly. “My sister was born brainlessly reckless.” She paused for a long swig from her can. “Can’t speak for Nia Nal, though. Kara’s probably rubbing off on her.”

“So you don’t share Kara’s sense of... adventure?”

Alex laughed dryly. “Let’s just say, Kara’s and my idea of a... good time differs greatly on occasion.”

Lena made a non-committal sound, her stomach in knots over yet another witnessed dive with breakneck abandon. 

Alex touched her arm, making Lena flinch, but she had the grace not to comment on it. “Come on, Lena, let’s make some PBJs. They’re going to be ravenous when they’re done.”

Lena didn’t move.

“Peanut-butter-and-jelly on soft white bread, Miss Luthor, I take it you’re familiar with the concept?”

Before Lena’s mind had fully registered what was happening, she’d been pulled to her feet, taken by the hand, and led over to the massive cooler—which did indeed hold so much more than just peanut butter and jelly.

“Strawberry or Raspberry?” Lena held up both jars, not knowing which Kara liked better and unable to make up her mind on the matter.

“Both,” Alex laughed. “With my sister, it’s always both. Or option d, all of the above, preferably all at once or—wherever that’s impossible or very, very gross—in very close succession.”

“Noted.” Lena shook her head, but proceeded to open both jars anyway. 

Alex rested her elbow on the edge of the cooler, grinning up at her. “There’s a lot you don’t know… yet.” She poked a finger at the bracelet on Lena’s arm and Lena felt herself blush furiously.

[tricktster]

(Not an actual ask) I know you're famous for being a snarky business trickster who writes legendary roast letters, but man I just get so excited when there's updates on His Little Majesty, Darkmantle. It really makes my day to see a betta in a big, rich environment!

See here’s the thing about being a snarky business trickster who writes legendary roast letters - I work a LOT. Like a lot a lot. I am simply not home often enough to give a mammalian friend the kind of time and attention that they deserve and require, and it wouldn’t be fair of me to have a cat or dog at this stage in my life/career, even though I love cats and dogs (and all mammalia) a lot. 

But aquatics? Aquatics, I can handle. I can automate their lights, I can do weekly water changes, I can get home to feed them frequently enough according to their needs, and I have made it my business to know an awful lot to ensure that I am providing the sort of enriching environment that will make their lives full and happy. 

Plus, you know, having an aquarium is good for you. Per this Washington Post article, “scientists at the National Marine Aquarium recently had the chance to study how one of its larger exhibits was affecting people while it was being slowly restocked with new fish.They studied physiological effects the tank had on people as they looked at it, and discovered that as more fish were added, heart rates and blood pressure dropped. People reported having better moods after looking at the exhibit.”

Furthermore, you can get artistic fulfillment out of making a good home for your underwater friends. As @wrexie and @worryhat and @dismyblog can attest, I’ll talk your fucking ear off about Takashi Amano, because the shit he made like this:

Or this:

Or his humble home aquarium:

THAT’S ART BABEY

[satyrmagos]

Well, friends, I've been talking about doing it for almost two years, now. Starting the next billing cycle, it's finally going to happen: I am updating the reward tiers to better reflect my ability to deliver on my promises.

The two most significant changes I'm making are that most rewards are going down at least one tier, and the patron-only podcast is going away. 

$1 patrons are getting a lot more. That's partly because I'm hoping to entice more patronage, but mostly because I can't seem to be trusted to make sure I'm posting to the right tier level when I click "publish". Also, the distinction between "authorial navel gazing" and "updates on behind-the-scenes projects" is ... razor thin, at best.

I don't know how many of you actually listened to the patron-only podcast. I hope it wasn't dear to you. Actually, I hope it was, because it physically hurt me to make it. Those twenty-to-thirty-minute recordings took me two or three hours two write, record, and edit, and every minute of it was agony, because I hate the sound of my own voice with a fiery passion. I sound neither butch enough to match my actual face nor femme enough to match my self-image nor alien enough to make the difference interesting; I just sound like some fuckin' nerd, and I hate it.

Other changes include rebranding all the tiers, removing the email address reward (which did not turn out to have any public appeal), and the photo print rewards (which I failed to deliver on). I may change the names again if I can think of a more stylish or coherent scheme.

If these changes make you want to downgrade or cancel your support, I totally understand. I am, in effect, arbitrarily changing the terms of service.

Thank you all so much for your patronage and support over the years. I hope that, having taken a bit of pressure off of myself, I will be able to better deliver on my promises going forward.

Now, here's a breakdown of the new tiers:

$1 – Lunar Priestex

The bread-and-butter tier of Patreon! Welcome, friends, and thank you.

This peer-to-peer support tier provides you access to a feed of patron-only content including but not limited to:

Early access to Journey Through the Obsidian Dream blog posts and any other short and medium form public writing

First viewing of new jewelry designs (except when I occasionally get too excited and share them on twitter without thinking)

First dibs on consecrated talismans

Authorial navel-gazing – essays and rants about the process of art and art-making

Worldbuilding information that will not be available anywhere else (unless I someday get famous and can publish one of those cool series encyclopedias.)

Archive of patron-only fiction

Archive of astrological images and devotional artwork

Archive of concept art for my writing projects and dnd games

First word on behind-the-scenes projects, and updates as they come

$3 – Venusian Adept

For my friends and colleagues with a little more love to give, I have a small back room with a few nicer pieces to share.

Access to drafts of previous year’s National Novel Writing challenges

Access to a growing collection of high-res occult-themed wallpapers

Plus all previous rewards

$7 – Jovial Patron

For those who can afford to offer a little bit more, first viewings of my work at its most raw: my photography and my unedited writing.

First viewing of photo shoots

Annual access to my National Novel Writing Month projects as I write them, near-daily updates in the month of November

Plus all previous rewards

$13 – Solar Monarch

Only a king can afford to be so generous.

20% off jewelry and merchandise anywhere I sell anything

Plus all previous rewards

$21 – Saturnian Hierophant

Truly, you are among the elect, the embodiment of wisdom at the threshold of the immortal. For this level of support, I can give only my most heartfelt thanks.

[insertgirlname]

A Brief Rambling on Crows and Evolution

So there’s been some pop-knowledge floating around for a bit that crows have basically entered the Stone Age because they’re using tools to assist them with certain tasks. While hearing about that is insanely cool it’s not ENTIRELY correct, so take what I’m saying with a grain of salt. Caledonian Crows are still extraordinary animals with incredible intelligence, and they are able to pass down cultural language traits generationally which is fascinating. 

Now if crows’ ability to make tools and pass down language DOES progress to the extent that we realistically could label them as entering a ‘Stone Age,’ my initial thought with that is ‘how does a new species building civilization get made?’ One could make an argument that crows have already exhibited the primary trait of civilization as defined by anthropologist Margaret Mead, where the first sign of civilization is mending a broken femur. While there have been no cases of mending bones documented in crows, there has been a case of something which I believe is equivalent, where a family of crows have kept a crow with a broken beak (read: unable to feed herself) alive to this day. Mead’s notion of civilization stems from the idea that the primary purpose of civilization is the desire to care for others in the group, even when it may be easier to let them die. This family of crows certainly exemplifies that by caring for their broken-beaked mother. 

What point am I moving towards? Basically that I don’t view the idea of crows entering the Stone Age at some point as egregiously far-fetched, and I think that means we could one day have a fascinating opportunity to look at the origins of consciousness, social structures, and the system of culture itself. Obviously, crows and humans are entirely different types of beings, but I believe analyzing the way crows would build a society could give us invaluable knowledge into the ways that we as a species developed in our earliest days of civilization. What traits would a crow society share with ours? What traits would differ? Would societal hierarchy be created inherently, be developed over time, or not even occur? Would we find clues as to if there are universal ways in which civilization forms and runs? What methods (if any) of governance would crows adopt? Will art be as important to crows as it is to humans? How would the transition from disparate species to civilization occur? Additionally, how would a new species building civilization grow and adapt alongside an already-established civilization (namely ours)? Would we be viewed as advanced beyond comprehension, transcendental like Hindu gods and Biblical angels, would we be teachers, or would we just coexist with them, with the same type of relationships that different nations might have? 

In all probability, we will never get concrete answers to these questions, but it is these questions that precisely make me so excited about the chance that one day we might see crows (or pigs or apes or dolphins or literally any animal) develop civilization. At some point in time, we didn’t mend other’s bones, and seeing the process of a species learning that is at the very least, a way to look at how far we’ve come. 

[haddocktree]

Dean DeBlois Talks the Care and Feeding of Flying Reptiles

The writer-director of DreamWorks Animation’s Oscar-nominated ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ reflects on his long and loving journey creating the epic animated trilogy.

By Jon Hofferman and Dan Sarto | Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at 11:29am

In 3D, Awards, CG, Films, People, Virtual Reality, Visual Effects | ANIMATIONWorld | Geographic Region: All

Oscar and Annie Award-nominated ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,’ the final chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s epic animated feature trilogy, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. Images © 2019 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved.

At this point, neither the How to Train Your Dragon animated feature film franchise, nor its longtime writer-director Dean DeBlois, needs much of an introduction. The epic adventure series, which debuted in 2010, has been both commercially successful and critically acclaimed, with the first two installments garnering an immense number of Annie Award nominations and wins, as well as being Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominees for Best Animated Feature. (How to Train Your Dragon 2 won the Golden Globe in that category in 2015.)

This time is no different: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has been nominated for an Academy Award and eight Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and has won accolades from the National Board of Review, the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences, and the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, among others. Produced by Brad Lewis and Bonnie Arnold, The Hidden World delivers a heartwarming message about overcoming intolerance wrapped inside a tale about growing up, facing the unknown, and learning to let go. It also answers the burning question of what happened to the dragons that once populated the earth and lived in cooperation with humans.

So, as awards season rounds into the home stretch, and DeBlois faces his third round of Dragon-mania, it seemed like a good time to talk with him about this reptilian saga that’s become such a central part of his life.

AWN: In a presentation that you gave at the VIEW conference in October, you said that in general, you’re not very enthusiastic about sequels because, if you've done a good job, your story is told, and a follow-up can feel like an unnecessary add-on. What about How to Train Your Dragon made you feel that it provided an opportunity to do sequels the way they should be done?

Dean DeBlois: Well, I think it was a combination of three things. One is that I was a Star Wars kid and I loved the expansiveness of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I felt they took characters that I loved, expanded their worlds and increased the adventure, the peril. The characters were kind of maturing and growing up, and it had a big impact on me. And I saw in the Dragon world and its cast of characters the potential to do something similar. The world could be expansive, and we could grow up with the characters. In the time that it takes to make an animated movie, our fan base could be aging with the characters, which wasn't really something that I'd seen done before – where you take a cast of friends and then grow up with them. We would leap five years into the future and find a new organic problem that felt important and universal. So, that was part of it.

Then, I think it's also the conversation that I had with [Dragon books author] Cressida Cowell. Even though the narratives are quite different in the films and the books, I loved the idea that she was taking on this challenge of explaining what happened to dragons and why they aren't here anymore. I thought that was really intriguing, but also kind of gripping and emotional. The opening line of her very first book is, "There were dragons when I was a boy." That suggests they're gone. What happened to them? So, I loved taking on that challenge.

Finally, just being able to explain certain mysteries that were inherent in the first film. What happened to Hiccup’s mother? Is Toothless the last of his kind? If so, why? Just the idea that we might be able to take organic questions that we didn't have time to explain in the first movie, or didn't feel the need to, and make them into important questions in the context of the trilogy. As if we'd gone back in time and planted them there.

AWN: The emotional center of the storytelling in the films is the growth of the characters, their becoming adults and taking on adult responsibilities, even though they're still young. That’s really the best part of the films.

DeBlois: Yeah, it felt organic to me because I was thinking about what problem I could graft onto 15-year-old Hiccup that felt important. He now has his father’s love and admiration, he has the respect of the town, he has the attention of the girl he was secretly pining for, he has an amazing dragon that he could fly around on, and he ended an age-old war. It doesn't feel like a character who could have a problem until something really eventful enters his life. We needed to go to another rite of passage, which just naturally led to a 19-year-old in search of himself, when you've got two domineering parents of contrasting philosophies. A character who's on the run from his destiny at home, only to return to it with a renewed sense of self, was an appealing tale to me.

AWN: There's a large number of characters in the films, and they play pretty central roles. How do you ensure that you give them enough screen time and develop them enough so it feels that they really belong and have a reason for being there?

DeBlois: It's really tough and I don't know that we did, to be honest. I think that a lot of our characters are underserved. If we had a longer movie, if we could make a 120-minute movie instead of a 90-minute movie, we might be able to explore them more. But oftentimes the characters do become support characters. We do our best to give them moments, give them a laugh here and there, or give them a starring turn. But when you have an unwieldy group of characters, it’s really tough because you're always fighting the ticking clock of budget and time.

AWN: Speaking of characters, what makes a good villain and how do you determine how villainous to make your villain?

DeBlois: That is a very good question and I don't know that I have a very good answer. I struggle with villains. I find them boring if they just want power or money. Unless there's a bit of empathy in their desire, it just falls flat for me. Drago was meant to be a really interesting villain in How to Train Your Dragon 2. There was going to be a sea story that followed his survival and how he became marooned on an island that was home to a very aggressive dragon. He had to befriend this thing in order to fly off the island and get back to his armada. It was a very touch-and-go relationship because they were both very headstrong, but in the end, they established a mutual trust, and it changed him. Even with all of his heinous crimes, when he arrived in the third-act battle, he took the side of the dragon riders, fighting his own former cohorts. I liked that idea because it took what was admittedly a one-dimensional character and gave him complexity. But we didn't get to do that because, again, taking the time to do that story properly would have compromised Hiccup’s story. I regret it since I really wanted to do something interesting with that character.

We channeled some of that frustration into the development of Grimmel [in The Hidden World] and making him a villain for the times – an intolerant elitist who’s trying to crush blossoming ideas of peaceful coexistence. But he’s also a character who’s fun to watch onscreen – he has a kind of playful sensibility and likes the sound of his own voice. Enjoys the hunt, enjoys cornering his prey and forcing it to make desperate decisions. He’s a character without empathy, but he has a sense of humor.

Dean DeBlois.

AWN: To turn to the production side, did you use any virtual camera work or any tools that helped you visualize how you wanted to shoot this?

DeBlois: Yes, [cinematographer] Gil Zimmerman and his team – the layout team who provided us all the previs and the final layout of the movie – would go down to our mocap stage and pull up rough versions of our sets and don the outfits with the little ping-pong balls and actually work out a lot of their own choreography. So, if it wasn't a flight scene, if it was something that had a physical space where they could really block for action, they would come up with ideas that way. It's always dispensed with when it gets to animation, but the ideas are there and then the animators start from scratch.

AWN: How extensive was the previs? Were you using it more for storytelling or was it used more for camera and layout?

DeBlois: On this film, we started to invite the layout department into the storytelling. In other words, if there was a sequence that depended on visceral, kinetic movement – something that's hard to suggest on drawn storyboards – we would talk out the beats of the script pages with Gil Zimmerman and the assigned previs artists, and they would go off and develop it. If we knew there was going to be flight involved or some kind of complex set, we would either hand the sequence entirely to the previs artists or involve them really early.

I found I really liked this step and how far it has come in recent years, where so much of the finished idea can be represented quite clearly and closely in the previs. It used to be awkward to look at – characters that would slide across floors, and blank expressions, and robotic movements. It’s come such a long way that it’s something you can include in test previews with audiences, because it's full of color and it has lighting… it’s a very exciting new tool to use.

AWN: Like many top animation directors, you're going to be moving over into the live-action world. Have you always wanted to go this route? You've been directing animated films for a long time.

DeBlois: Yeah, after Lilo and Stitch, I took a look at my personal hopper of ideas that I was working on and I would say three-quarters of them were live-action. They felt like live-action films. I decided to go out there and just see if anyone was interested. I sold three of them. It got close with a start date on one of them, but they all kind of went on ice when there were administrative changes both at Disney and Universal. It was an exciting and frustrating period and it just feels like an itch that I didn't scratch. So now I have that opportunity to return to the world of live-action and hopefully get a movie going. I do so with caution because I know that so many things can fall apart very quickly in live-action, whereas in animation we tend to commit to the idea of making the movie, even if you have to change out people in the process.

AWN: Do you feel that your experience in animation gives you specific skills that you can apply in live-action production?

DeBlois: I think my storyboarding background definitely gives me the ability to communicate ideas clearly and visually represent them. Having spent so much time on the story side of things, writing as well, I feel as though I can clearly communicate the story we're telling and engage other people in contributing ideas and making it better. I think in any sort of filmmaking enterprise you need somebody who's going to be the guardian of the story, but still be open to great ideas, and I feel like I've been honing that skill over the years.

AWN: Last question. How does it feel to say goodbye to dragon world – after three really well-done, well-received, expansive, beautifully animated features? You completed the trilogy, you told the story as well as it could be told. What are your thoughts looking back on this huge body of work?

DeBlois: I'm very proud that we were able to reach the goal that we had set for ourselves, that we didn't have to creatively compromise much, and that we did it with largely the same team over the course of a decade. It's bittersweet because not only have we come to love the characters and the world, but we really like working together. We don't know if we're ever going to be arranged as that crew again. People have gone on to different shows, some have left the studio. It was a bit of a gamble to dedicate so much time to a trilogy, especially in the ever-changing landscape of studios. There were five changes in leadership on Dragon 3 alone. With every person that comes in, they have their own sensibility and their own tastes. And so, learning to work with each person and also giving them ownership can be tricky. Luckily, we were able to keep our North Star in sight and deliver the ending that we wanted.

[smoneybri]

Nam June Paik

07/04/2020 - 08/04/2020

Walking through an almost empty Amsterdam at night I came across an advertisement for the exhibition of Nam June Paik "the future is now" at the Stedelijk Museum. When I was still in secondary school I needed to write an essay about Paik for my art history class, and where everyone in my class was reluctant to write an essay I indeed was very excited. I had seen one of Paik works before the TV-Buddha at Stedelijk Museum. And although I did not know a lot about art or Nam June Paik by that time I still really enjoyed writing for once an essay about something that genuinely interests me.

Scrolling down my Instagram feed I came across a picture of the same advertisement but this time someone had written the words "Stay at home" over it. This made me think about the essay I had written. In my essay, I talk about one of the most well-known works of Paik named "Electronic Superhighway".

The Electronic Superhighway is a large installation, constructed with 336 televisions, 50 DVD players, 3750 feet of cable, and 575 feet of multicolored neon tubing. It is an art piece that leaves spectators often impressed with its bright colors, flashing tv screens and sounds.

Paik moved to the United States in 1964. During this time the superhighways were just introduced. These highways offered people the opportunity to explore all parts of the nation by car. The flashing images on the TV screens give the illusion that you are viewing the country through the window of a moving car. This makes it hard to absorb any details, resulting in what we now know as "information overload"

Paik represents Amerika as a multi-cultural country. This he does by connecting every state with its own video. The video content is based on Paik's concept of the different states and it is suggesting how our image of America has always been formed by media outlets such as film and television.  Around the monitors, the neon tubing resembles all the different states and its cultures but the colors could also resemble the glowing neon signs that are often found by motels or restaurants on the side of the superhighways.

With this work, Paik is expressing the vision he had for the future. A future in which communication would be without boundaries because of its advanced technology. A future in which information can be shared faster and can eventually lead to information overload.

With all of us stuck at home because of the COVID-19 situation, I feel like everyone can relate to this piece of art. The way we communicate with each other is almost always online nowadays, I've never been video calling so often in my life. And if however we still communicate with each other in real life it feels very surrealistic. Besides that everywhere you go you are confronted with COVID-19. If you turn on your TV, open your social media's but also while doing "normal" things such as groceries at your local supermarket. I feel like there is an information overload on this topic. There is no escaping it.

Is this surrealistic world our new reality? Paik predicted that a situation like this would happen, in which we will no longer only communicate through traditional media. Now that he is no longer around I'm wondering what the future will hold for us. Will we stay inside and live our lives from now on online or will we return to the world we knew before COVID-19?

[sagedmgz151]

Cinema Apk.Live And The Art Of Time  Administration

List of Android apps by Google

Vikram is a knowledgeable wunderkind, that embraced modern technology at an extremely early age, and also today he goes to the helm of it. Mobile apps are something that delights him one of the most, and also now he is up to give this vertical the very best shot. He consistently catches up with the brand-new applications and also thinks of the top applications that can excite you to the core. Previously nothing else messaging app was able to match the requirements with WhatsApp, yet Telegram has become a great alternative below. Daily Yoga is a true yoga exercise android application for everyone, from beginners to advanced.

Finest free photo modifying app: Snapseed

This phone app for android has a totally free PDF reader, editor and also converter, in addition to file-sharing abilities. It is easy to make use of, and also allows you attach to the online drive to conserve your files immediately to the cloud platform.

Adobe Photoshop Express - Free Application for Android

It is just one of the protected Android messaging applications as well as is additionally accessible from a desktop atmosphere. WPS is a complimentary Workplace Collection application with all-in-one features. It is completely compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and also integrates PDF, discussions, spread sheets, memo, Google docs, and so on . I would certainly such as for you to include the classification Android mind mapping applications to the listing. This is the top place I go when searching for a new app for my Android phone.

It is absolutely a deserving prospect when calling out the need to have applications for Android. Due to the fact that, sometimes, it can literally save your life when you're stranded in the center of nowhere. Although Google Maintain is also a great Android app, Evernote's aesthetically pleasing interface as well as excessively quantity of functions make it an extremely special efficiency app.

For those registered for YouTube Costs, you'll have accessibility to all the premium content, as well as special attributes like audio playback while the display is off. As health officials motivate social distancing worldwide, separated tasks like video gaming and also other mobile app experiences can be an excellent method to maintain your mind occupied.

Ideal totally free video camera app: Open Camera

Thankfully, we're below to help with a tantalizing food selection that incorporates a strong core of apps everyone must discover helpful, with a couple of lesser-known apps that you could want to try. You'll locate 100 applications in all, nicely split right into different classifications for your factor to consider.

Mobile repayments are slowly coming to be commonplace, and also Google Pay is Google's most recent attempt at a mobile payment application. Using Google Pay, you can acquire items at any NFC-capable payment terminal, supplied you remain in a nation that sustains Google Pay and also have actually formerly established it up on your NFC-capable phone.

Nova Launcher has really smooth, fast, lightweight UI and also lots of personalizations. Plus, there are a variety of icon loads offered on the Android App Store to customize it a lot more. Nova Launcher is one of the best Android launchers on the Android Application Movies HD Store, letting you customize your app-drawer, app-dock, alert symbols, folders and badges, and also loads of gestures for easy navigation. Spotify is one of the most effective songs apps for Android that you should not be losing out on.

Today's finest Android game/app offers + free offers: Regimes, Slayaway Camp, a lot more

Google's Find My Device is the very best complimentary android application of all time that is available in helpful in case of theft or loss of your tool. It is extremely simple to use, it helps you to find your device while it goes missing out on, reset its pin or passcode and also above all the best component is that you can remove all the data.

Android Apps of the day.

Foxit Mobile PDF is additionally among the most effective in the line of PDF visitors for Android. The light-weight PDF app permits you to see, annotate, as well as protect PDF files on Android gadgets. Sharing media with other ES Documents Explorer customers over Wi-fi is very easy.

This latest health and fitness Android application gives a good concept regarding the teams that are running, plans your training, routes, etc. nonetheless this Android app can additionally manage bike rides and gym exercises. The Google Information application utilizes AI techniques to deliver appropriate news in the Google Information feed.

[missbrightsky]

Velaris National Park

Fics Masterlist

Chapter 1

Green light filtered through the canopy, patches of gold peppering the road ahead. Rolled down windows allowed the late spring air weave through the car, carrying the scent of growing things and warmth to wrap around us.

Elain had some 2000s pop station pouring from the speakers, all of us belting out the familiar words to our audience of Mother Nature. Nesta had called shotgun at the beginning, leaving me to have the back seat to stretch out, propping my feet on the bag that held our borrowed tent.

It was May in Prythian, warm and good and green. I had just graduated from my master’s program in Art History, my whole future stretching out ahead of me. Elain had insisted we celebrate but all of us were in educational debt and couldn’t afford to fly anywhere. Ever the florist, she found a state park a few hours away that boasted the largest collection of wildflowers in the country, one especially that bloomed once every three years. And because Elain was always lucky, this year was one of the few that it blooms in full.

A few days after graduation, she managed to wrangle Nesta away from the publishing house and me away from my couch and stuffed us all into her 2005 Honda.

Velaris National Park

Turn off 5 miles

Elain’s singing broke off mid-verse, a squeal replacing the lyrics as she pointed out the sign. I could only smile at her excitement; camping was never really our family’s thing, but her happiness was too infectious. At least I had managed to throw my sketchbook and watercolor pencils into my bag before she dragged me out the door. It had been a while since I had done some wildlife sketching, there was not a lot of green space or biodiversity in the city.

She turned down the music while Nesta and I straightened in our seats, ready to hop out of the car and get blood flowing back into our legs.

Even Nesta who normally tolerated Elain’s antics had a ghost of a smile playing around her lips, the fresh air loosening her iron grip on her emotions.

Elain slowed the car, turning right before the massive stone wall that announced the entrance to the park, gravel crunching under the tires.

The rough road weaved with the terrain, up and down and curving around hills and patches of meadows that peaked through the trees. We even rumbled over a wooden bridge that spanned the banks of a sparkling stream, the water throwing shimmering rainbows into the air.

A low log cabin-like building greeted us, its small parking lot only holding a Jeep with the park logo on the side and another car.

Elain turned the car off and all of us popped our doors open, slightly stumbling as our legs reacclimated to moving. Small groans slipped out of our mouths as we stretched feeling back into our lower halves, taking in the new environment.

A small sign in the window informed us of the park’s office hours and the emergency phone line. Elain pushed in first, a petite ding announcing our arrival.

The inside was a simple, square room, half the room stocked with souvenirs and anything campers may need in a pinch. A long, low counter ran along the back wall with an open doorway hinting at the back room. This was where a perky blonde emerged, greeting them with a bright smile. Her long hair was braided down her back, a forest green polo stamped with the logo somehow accented her curves instead of looking dorky and too stiff.

“Hi! Welcome to Velaris National Park. I’m Mor, what can I help y’all with today?”

“Hello! I’m Elain and these are my sisters Nesta and Feyre,” she gestured to each of us in turn, we all shook her hand, surprised to find it calloused and strong.

“How long do y’all plan on staying?”

“Two nights, please. And if you can point out on a map where the Starfall flower will be blooming?”

Mor laughed, a grin splitting her mouth. “I should’ve guessed, this is some of our busiest weeks of the year. Well, you’re in luck, we have only a few campsites left. Any preference to where?”

“None at all, we’re not too picky.”

“Perfect, how about y’all take site 20. It’s near the trailheads and not too far from the bathrooms.”

Elain turned to confirm with us, we each nodded back. Our lack of experience had us indifferent to where we camped, as long as it wasn’t out in the middle of nowhere.

Elain and Mor exchanged money and maps, paying for our spot and pointing out the major landmarks of the park.

“We do allow fires, as long as they’re in the designated fire pits. Please use the trash cans we have all along the park, anyone caught littering can be fined up to 200 dollars along with not being allowed to revisit the park. No glass or alcohol on park grounds. If y’all need anything, please don’t hesitate to call up to here the main office, and the numbers for our rangers are on the maps, along with the emergency line. Further into the park, cell service can get a little spotty, but as long as you stay near the trails, our rangers can spot you if you get into trouble. A little tip, don’t feed the wildlife, we have them on a diet,” she finished with a laugh and a wink. We laughed along with her, it was easy to feel a friendship forming with the bright woman.

“Well if that’s all y’all need, just keep following the road and you’ll see the signs pointing out the campsite. Parking gets a bit limited so try not to double park.”

We thanked her and headed out to pile back into the car.

As we were pulling out and getting back onto the road, I spotted one of the rangers on top of a horse.

The animal was tall, taller than any of the horses I had ever encountered before, and blacker than the deepest night sky. Its rider was sitting perfectly still, used to having to blend into the background.

I stifled a gasp. The ranger was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I was too far away to see the color of his eyes, but they peeked through the leaves, boring into mine. His shoulders were broad, covered with a khaki shirt, he gripped the horse with powerful legs clad in dark green pants that were tucked into wore brown boots.

Our car soon turned a corner, breaking my gaze from his, banishing me of the spell he had cast.

More gorgeous forest passed us by, feeding my artist's mind with texture and light and color. Maybe this trip would replenish my weary mind after years of rigorous study. I loved every minute of my classes, but it left little free time for drawing and painting.

Wooden signs ticked up, eventually indicating where our sight was. Once again parking, we exited the car and took in the scenery.

We were to share a small common area with a few other campers, picnic tables and grills dotting the grassy area. Two cars were already parked there, brightly colored tents peeking out from the bushes that gave each sight a bit of privacy. Under a massive oak tree, there was a ring of rocks that held gray and black ashes from prior fires, stumps surrounding it for us to sit and enjoy the company.

I grabbed the tent from the backseat and slung my pack over my shoulder, leading the way to the small clearing that would be our home for the next few days. It was simply packed dirt, slightly raised from the rest of the ground so that if it rained, our tent would not get flooded.

I had never set up a tent before but with the instructions from the bag combined with the store owners’ tips, it was soon popped up in no time. Maybe only slightly leaning to the left but that would be a problem for later.

Nesta had pulled out our coolers of food, prepping sandwiches for a late lunch. Elain was already off in the surrounding area, making notes of the greenery and wildflowers that grew nearby. It was not the elusive Starfall but it did not take much for her to get wrapped up in flora.

Satisfied at my work, I tossed our bags into the tent and zipped it up. We could unpack after a bit of exploring.

Joining Nesta at the table, I swiped one of the completed sandwiches, ignoring her protest to wait for Elain. She was the one who refused to stop for lunch so she would just have to get the next one.

My fingers itched to start drawing the massive oak tree, its complex branches and multicolored leaves begging to be noticed and put onto paper. My stomach, however, told me it can wait.

Nesta somehow pulled Elain away from a blue flower, convincing her that it won’t disappear in the next 15 minutes.

“So, what’s first on the agenda, sis?” I asked her.

“Well it is getting a little late so I don’t want to go too far before it gets dark, but I thought we could start with one of the short trails!” Elain radiated energy, feeding off the teeming forest around us.

I smiled back at her, excited to start cataloging the world around us. We finished off the sandwiches and repacked the coolers into the car. One thing we all learned from watching TV was to not let wild animals get into a camper’s stash of food.

A quick trip into the tent had us changed into t-shirts, shorts and tennis shoes with light jackets tied to our waists. Even with Prythian warming up, the nights could still get a bit cool.

Elain consulted the map Mor gave us, confidently leading us to the first trailhead. It was only two miles long and would introduce us to the wildlife we could see in the park.

Every few hundred feet, plastic signs would pop up, listing fun facts about the park and giving an example of some of its inhabitants. Some would show a burst of color followed by the flower’s common name, scientific name and any medicinal or historical facts about it. Others would tell you how to spot an animal camouflaged in the surrounding foliage.

We all talked and joked with each other, with no tension that usually accompanied us when we got together. Nesta told us a story about an author that tried to sneak in her friends’ manuscript that turned out to be an awful rendition of Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey. By the end, all of us were in stitches and barely able to walk, clinging onto tree trunks and each other in an attempt to stay upright.

Just as the sky was glowing orange and pink, the trail delivered us back to the beginning of the campsites, all we had to do was follow the gravel road back to ours.

The smell of meat and potatoes set our stomachs growling, the sandwiches from earlier long gone from the hike and laughter.

The other campers that were out earlier had returned.

“Howdy!” one of the men shouted at us waving his arm. He looked to be in his late fifties with combed back salt and pepper hair, sporting cargo pants and a navy long sleeve to ward off any wayward cool breezes.

We all gave back nervous smiles, unsure of who our neighbors were.

“Kevin,” a voice scolded, “you can’t just yell at unsuspecting young girls.” The source of the admonishment appeared from the bushes.

“Sorry about my husband, he’s just excited to have more company,” a man apologized. He also looked to be in his fifties, a bit shorter than Mike but leaner. Dark brown skin was covered in matching cargo pants, but a faded Prythian U sweatshirt covered his torso.

“I’m Raymond, this is our third night at the park.”

We tried not to look too relieved as we shook his hand. All of us had experience taking care of ourselves but we were in the middle of a national park with the other nearest humans about 50 yards down the road.

Kevin looked appropriately sheepish as he came to greet us. “Sorry about that, I am excited to have more company. The couple that’s over there just keeps glaring at us and avoids us like the plague.” His words were playful enough but there was a deeper sadness buried in his eyes as if he was used to this sort of treatment.

“Well it’s awesome to meet you,” Elain gushed, ever the social butterfly. “I’m Elain and these are my sisters, Nesta and Feyre. We’re here in celebration of Feyre graduating!”

“Congratulations! Where from?” Raymond asked.

“Well you’re actually wearing my college right now,” I replied with a smile. There were tons of people who went to Pryth U but it was always fun to meet someone who graduated there in the past.

I fell into conversation with Ray, who insisted on using the shorter version of his name about the campus and how much it has changed from when he was there. He was an engineering major but still asked me a million questions about the art history department and why I wanted to get my masters there. Elain roped Kevin into a debate about botany and the best soil for growing tulips in. It sounded like he was also in the flower business and was here to see the blooming of Starfalls.

Nesta was never one to make easy friends and opted to start our dinner, taking over the grill next to Kevin’s. Tonight was burgers with potato chips and then s’mores for dessert that would be roasted over the campfire.

Dinner was full of lively conversation under the night sky. We were far enough away from the city’s light pollution that we were able to make out constellations that we had only read about and see the dusting of galaxies that spanned the sky.

“And that’s when the professor realized he had designed a system that looked exactly like a dick!” We burst out laughing at the end of Ray’s story from his time in college, even Nesta couldn’t keep her giggles contained at the raunchy tale.

Our cheeks were rosy from the fire that crackled happily before us, the smell of burnt marshmallow filling the air. As perfect as Nesta was at everything, it took her a few tries to get the timing and distance right for roasting.

“Sounds like I missed a hell of a tale,” the new midnight voice sent shivers down my spine.

“Ah! Rhys! I was wondering when you would show up,” Kevin greeted the newcomer. “Where are Cas and Az?”

The figure stepped into the ring of light and perched on an open stump beside Feyre. I forced myself not to freeze and stare at him. It was the same man I saw on top of the horse.

Closer up I could see how his dark hair shone blue in the firelight, no longer hidden beneath the Mountie hat he wore earlier.

He shifted his body to angle slightly towards me, catching my eyes with his. They were so blue they seemed to be an impossible violet, sparking with hidden laughter at an inside joke. “They’re right behind me,” he said without breaking eye contact with me.

I forced my eyes to drop to the page I was intermittently sketching on. I was lucky that I had started a new outline of the stream we passed on the way in instead of still having the sketch of him on his horse open. Hopefully the blush that was already on my cheeks hid the new blood that was rushing there.

“What was all that laughing about? I hope someone was making fun of Rhys,” another male voice called out as he came into view. He was tall and even more well-muscled than the man beside me but had his dark hair pulled into a low bun on the nape of his neck and his eyes glowed amber.

Rhys broke his stare at me to twist to the man, “No, I was telling them about the time you got stuck in what you thought was quicksand but turned out to be just a massive mud pit,” he shot back. The group laughed at the retort, including me while trying to shake off my embarrassment.

He pouted at the memory, “Aw com’on, you promised you would stop bringing that up.”

“Never in your dreams, brother.”

“Cas, come sit by me and have a s’more, I’m sure you thought you were right at the time,” Kevin teased, offering a marshmallow already speared on a stick. Cas threw one more sulky look at Rhys and walked over to where Kevin and Nesta were sitting. Nesta sized up the addition, bracing herself for interaction.

Cas saw her reaction, immediately forgetting his brother’s teasing. There was a new opponent to spare with. He aimed a feral grin at her, spurring her to narrow her eyes at his assessment.

A final figure, presumably Az, emerged from the dark, almost as if melting from it. He nodded a polite greeting to the group opting to stand near Ray and Elain. It took no time at all for her sister to draw him into a conversation about what all she can see at the park and if she was allowed to take any wildflower clippings home to preserve.

I turned back to my book, darkening the path the water took over, around and through the stones on the creek bed. The weight of Rhys’s gaze settled over me, making me tighten my grip on the pencil.

“You’re a good artist,” he remarked.

I smiled slightly in his direction. “I would hope so, I staked most of my career on it.”

“You do this professionally?”

“Well, I hope so someday,” I admitted, “I just graduated with a master’s in art history.”

“Really? Congrats. What’s next for you?”

He finally succeeded in pulling me away from the drawing, meeting his gaze again, looking for any sign of mockery at my chosen path. Most heard the words “art history” and assumed I would become a starving artist or elementary art school teacher.

There was no trace of judgment in his face, only open curiosity.

“In my dreams, I would open up my own studio, maybe a few galleries. For now, I’ve applied to a few museums as a curator and I have an interview with one of them next week.”

“I hope it goes well, anyone who can draw that well must know a thing or two about Picasso.”

I barked a laugh at his statement, “I can’t even begin to tell you how wrong you are,” giggling my way through the sentence. “You won’t believe the number of students I met who couldn’t tell the difference between Picasso and their own ass.”

His eyes flashed with surprise, followed by laughter rich and clear as a bell spilling from his mouth. “I can believe it, I’ve met my fair share of idiots in this world.”

“I bet, being a park ranger must set you up for a whole slew of idiots who watched one episode of Bear Grylls and thinks they can survive out here with nothing more than their wits.”

His face jokingly darkened, “Do. Not. Get. Me. Started.”

“Please, start,” my sketch was now long forgotten, pulled into his expressive voice and body. He wove the tale of a couple that thought they could go all Naked and Afraid only 20 feet off the trail, managing to get as far as cutting down a few trees to start a shelter before another camper contacted them and they were able to stop them from scarring any more people.

My cheeks hurt from the constant smiling and laughter, unable to stop myself from leaning closer to catch every detail.

By the end of his story, our knees were brushing each other every few seconds, both of us catching our breath. He paused at the end, taking the small bubble we had trapped ourselves in.

His eyes dipped to brush my lips before meeting mine again. My breath caught in my throat at the intensity of his gaze, heat blooming across my cheeks and down my neck. Our shared air was sweet with chocolate and heavy with anticipation…

A hiss startled us apart.

Across the fire, Nesta looked to be about two seconds away from slapping Cas, fury twisting her face into a knot. Cas looked like he was the cat that got the cream, lazily reclining against the stump, looking up into her wrathful face.

“And that’s our queue,” Rhys muttered under his breath. “It was wonderful to talk with you. I’ll see you around the park.”

I blinked a few times, mentally shaking myself out of the trance he put me in. “Uh, yeah sure, see you around.”

“Cas, Az,” his voice was sharp, “We need to go to the next campsite. Thank you for the s’mores and have a good evening everyone.” He pulled his brothers away, retreating into the dark. From the blackness came the sound of a sharp slap and angry words being whispered.

Everyone exchanged awkward looks at their departure. Nesta was still fuming, glaring at the direction they disappeared in. Feyre and Elain knew better that the question her on what Cas said, knowing it would only infuriate her more.

“It’s been a long day, and we have a lot of hiking tomorrow,” I broke through the tension, “I’m off to bed.” Elain and Nesta got up to join me, bidding Kevin and Raymond good night and that they’ll see them for breakfast.

Elain and I exchanged worried looks behind Nesta’s back, but it would be better to let her sleep it off. She was quick to anger but given time, could squash it back down.

We all climbed into the tent, leaving our shoes by the door. It was colder away from the fire, so we didn’t waste time layering on warmer clothes and crawling into our respective sleeping bags.

I fell asleep with purple eyes burning behind my eyelids, chasing me through my fitful dreams.

Next Chapter

[seanhowe]

Against Woodstock

“Rock Imperialists” by Mark Kramer, Liberation News Service, 1969 NEW YORK (LNS) The list of stars who will show up at the Woodstock Rock Festival this August is mighty impressive—as fine as any ever. There's everyone: Joan Baez, the Who, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, the Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Blood Sweat and Tears, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Richie Havens, Canned Heat, Arlo Guthrie,, Tim Hardin, Johnny Winter, the Band, Iron Butterfly, The Grateful Dead and the Incredible String Band, for example. The arrangements to help you spend three days in the wilds sound as impressive as the list of stars—free campgrounds, ample water and outhouses; free rice kitchen for the poor and hungry; catering by Nathan's of Coney Island craft booths which might just be bivouac head shoppes, and which might be craft booths. So the rock imperialists deliver the goods. When you want a banana, United Fruit sells a good banana. And when you want a rock festival, Woodstock Music and Art Fair, Inc., sells a good rock festival—at $7 a day. The Guatemalans who grew the bananas get to eat an occasional bruised model. And the street people, the denizens of the lower east side, of the Haight, let them eat free rice and maybe they'll hear the sounds wafting out past the gates. But they made the culture which the rich fops imitate. Walk down St. Marks Place in the East Village and dig the crowd on either side of the velvet rope which separates those with the bread ($10 a couple) to get into the Electric Circus from those who beg spare change to buy a knish. On the rich side, the same outfits as on the poor side, except ironed and cut from finer cloth—bell bottoms, groovy vests, mucho hair, svelte girls in granny glasses. On the poor side, it's hip...on the rich side, it's a shuck, it's an imitation of Hip. It's fancy boutique clothes cut to look like the old surplus clothes which the street people once wore out of poverty, thereby creating a style. For some, the dress constitutes a case of 'going native' for a night on the Bowery. For others it's simply high fashion. The impulse for kids to dress 'well' is plugged in nasty trend-setting magazines like "Seventeen" and supported by the huge cloth and garment companies, the cosmetics companies and the hygiene-freak companies. The sales job for fashion is easier than others—for the styles come complete with a built-in image. Marlboro has to spend millions to rope together its cancer-sticks and he-manhood. But the Fashion-Makers have it easy this year, because the clothes styles which they plug were once part of a genuine revolutionary and romantic lifestyle. So America's teenagers are exploited by big companies that hold 'lifestyle' out as bait. "BUY THIS AND YOU WILL BE..." You will be what? Hip? You'll own another piece of snappy clothing, you'll be able to crowd the poor girl down the block still further, you'll earn your ticket to daydream about running toward him through tall fields of hay, arms stretched toward the sun—the kind of daydream they push in ads for cunt deodorant. And the kind of daydream they push on album covers. “But (you say) album covers are great. I trip, and look at album covers, and…etc." But it ain't that way. Rock may have come from the Street people, along with styles that grew out of buying surplus clothing, and daydreams that grew out of mystic studies and sunshine state habits. And the communication between the performing artists and you may still bear the same free-you-up message. But in between you and the performer, there's billions of dollars that you're paying and (for the most part) he's not getting. Who is getting it? The huge companies that own the record empires. Here's the puzzle: the same companies that own the recording contracts and record studies which make 'liberated' music, also own government contracts and subsidiary companies which make electronic bombing equipment, spying equipment, death equipment which is used in Vietnam and in our other colonies. The companies don't care how they make money, as long as they make the money. If they can make it from anti-war youth culture by coming on hip, they'll do it. And if they can make it from killing Vietnamese and killing off thousands of years of Vietnamese culture with expensive weapons systems for the government, they'll do that too. For example, CBS owns Columbia records, Masterworks, Blue Horizon, Odyssey, Harmony, Date, Okeh and several other record companies. They have invested heavily in defense contracts as well, working especially in the areas of laser beams, radar, spy photography, underwater detection—the sorts of technological work which keeps up the arms race and makes fat profits. It's the same story with most of the other major record companies. Like true imperialists, they'll go wherever the market is, talk whatever language (be it Vietnamese or hip-ese) needs talking, sell whatever people will pay for, as long as they make a profit. Does this mean you shouldn't buy records? No, of course not. If you wanted to live in this country without supporting the death machine, you couldn't eat or turn on an electric light. What it means is that you should understand a few facts of life. When you sit down with a sandwich (made of food processed by big business) and when you take a bite of the sandwich and start listening to music of YOUR culture, peddled for the profit of THEIR culture, then dig it! That's the corner they've got you backed into. Supporting the very things you hate the most in order to get the few things you want. There's a revolutionary movement growing in this country to fight just that form of oppression. What has this got to do with Woodstock? You might go there and have a fine time, but just remember that someone is making a million on your fun, and it isn't the performers, many of whom come for little or nothing. We interviewed the promoters setting up the Woodstock Festival, at a press conference arranged by the mid-town publicity company they hired. The conference itself was a slick operation. It passed itself off as a consultation between "leaders of the rock community" and the underground press on how to have peaceful good times for everyone. They didn't need to consult with anyone. Way back in April they had hired a federal law enforcement official, Wes Pomeroy, whom they described to me as "a very progressive kind of cat." A very progressive kind of cat who had worked with Johnson on the Safe Streets' Act, and with Republican bigwigs in planning security for their '64 convention at the Cow Palace. That's who the investors ("leaders of the rock community”) consulted with when they wanted security for their investment, not the underground press people. Even though the press conference handout reads, "We have called a special meeting of the underground press and rock community leaders to discuss ways of developing safe and harmonious pop music festivals.” Mike Lang and Artie Kornfield and two other partners put up half-a-million bucks. They're expecting big returns from ticket sales, a cut of concession sales, and also from selling TV and movie rights. Artie used to head Columbia Records. He told me, “I’d dig my daughter to be able to eat too." What about the street people? Mike says "We're not turning our backs on these people—we've got to feed them.” And let them in? “Don't you feel you're exploiting hip culture for your own gain?” Artie said, "Much of us have the same goal, We want to be able to cut out—not take shit—and go live in the country," Except that for most, it is a dream, not a goal, as long as Artie collects from every freak who wants to hear his music. And except that now that so many people want to cut out, they might find it easier to get together and put a stop to the conditions they want to escape. What about the riot that happened at the LA rock festival, Artie? "We are them—when they attack us, they are attacking themselves. If you talk about an army, it's got a lot of different wings. We're just another wing.” Maybe Artie and Mike are fooling themselves and maybe not. But they have extracted from the movement those things which can make them some money—talent, excitement, revolutionary energy, identity with hip looks and talk. But they have missed the heart of the movement. The revolutionary energy of rock and of the movement is a response to oppression—it grew out of the blues, out of the poor white country music, out of the emancipated poverty of the street people and their drug scene, out of the anger about national leaders representing corporate interests, while killing people, anger about how students get lied to and treated in public schools. The movement is made by and sung by people who oppose exploitation, whether by war elsewhere, or by high prices, racism and low wages at home. The movement is not represented in any way by rich investors getting richer by the profits of rock festivals—even if the investors do look hip and talk hip and know hip people. By the way, if you do go to the. Woodstock festival (actually, the grounds are located in Wallkill, N.Y.), Wes Pomeroy has a staff of 400 security people working for him, in and out of costume. When he was asked about kids smoking dope there, he said, "We'll do nothing to protect them. There will be narcs there, same as everywhere—they're going to have to pay $7, too." photograph by Henry Diltz