#tumblr only allows 10 pictures per posts but there’s so much more where they came from

[bastard-loki]

big brown eyes community, how we feeling?

reviews are in and the D in Dev Patel stands for Always Winning

[alexis-medina]

Dissecting: Edens Zero Ch. 130-134

Kleene/Jinn

I was reading Ch. 83 and found this.

See, I don’t know if Mashima plans his story out or if he develops certain plots on the spot because everything is connecting. “Oh, I could use this later...” Brilliant. Amazing. For real though, I was like damn it’s the Mildian/Sun Jewel arc again (Xiaomei’s battles foreshadowing).

Shura vs Ziggy

It was interesting to read that Shura isn't the biological son of Nero. This leads me to think...what if Shura and Shiki are related? I mean they both have gravity ether and they both were taught by Ziggy. They both are also strong in their own right. We also have the theme from Fairy Tail of Good vs Evil (Zeref and Natsu) but in this instance it would be Shura and Shiki. We also don't know where they came from - their origins. Plus, Nero says that his power was incompatible with Shura but he was able to match with Ziggy's gravity powers.

Later, when the crew of Edens Zero find another relic (Robo Cola cap), they infer that Mother could be a place and a person. I was also thinking that because in FT: 100 years quest, Aldoron was a dragon god but his body was home to 5 cities.

So, if I'm right then, Shiki and Shura maybe are from a city on Mother...and maybe even Rebecca.

I'm noting that Shiki is younger than Shura. When Ziggy was training Shura, that was 15 years ago but, that's also the same time Ziggy found Shiki as a baby....unless Ziggy is lying and he has false memories. 👀👀👀 Is Ziggy truly good or bad? Does Shiki have additional powers like Rebecca?

What is the all-link system? Looks like Shura and Ziggy have the same idea. I think if Shura and Ziggy battle - Ziggy will win. What did you guys think?

Xenolith and the Crew of Edens Zero

I wonder why Xenolith's maintenance is lasting longer. Perhaps it may be revealed in the future. I would laugh if he moved his consciousness/personality data into a younger robot body.

Weisz stays being a perv lol with the bondage training.

Did Xenolith teach Shiki 'Black Sky?' For me, I feel like in the next arc, when Shiki is facing a really tough opponent we will get flashbacks of his training with Xenolith and him learning Black Sky. Then, he'll perform it against the enemy...which could be Ziggy. So, yes, I think Xenolith did teach him. Could be wrong but we'll have to wait and see!

Both Xenolith and Xiaomei have stated that Rebecca's power will change/save the world/universe.

- Xiaomei (Ch. 64): "She has only just begun to unlock the secrets of Leap’s real power. This power may truly save the universe one day."

- Xenolith (Ch. 132): "Her power is weak…but it is the most special. Special enough to change the world."

Witch calling Rebecca a 'Chrono Witch' is giving me Scarlet Witch vibes...

Math for Dummies lol

Stronger heart = Stronger gravity Strength + Tranquility = Strong Heart = Rise from darkness Strength - Tranquility = Weak Heart Weak heart = Weak gravity = Fall to darkness

Fan service with the bath scenes but, at least it is keeping the story going, in that, she has to train in the bath in order to get stronger. Sister makes me geek, "You better get out of those ropes before this turns x-rated." When I read that scene, it gave me Virgo vibes from FT.

I also want to see how Xenolith met Ziggy. So, I'm wishing for a flashback.

I don't know if I put this on a post before or not but, my thoughts are that Ziggy did reach Mother and found Shiki there. He erased the Four Shining Stars memories because something bad would happen if he didn't (like they would get infected the way he is now). So, he did it to save them.

UGHHHH BUT THAT CLIFFHANGER...WHYYYYY - It'll probably blow my mind when it gets revealed.

Also, WOOHOOO! Jinn and Kleene joined the crew. That cute ass smile!!! OOOMG his face when he isn't able to untie Kleene. 🥺🥺🥺

The Oceans

So cool to see the winners of the Edens Zero character competition featured as the Oceans 6! I'm a fan of all of them and don't you worry...we won't forget Shura's assistant even though she's not part of the 6. However, she might be since Shura killed off Cyca. Yikes.... RIP Cyca

Their designs are so clean!! (Sorry if the images look blurry Tumblr only allows 10 photos per post so I tried stitching them together in Illustrator but I think the file size is too big for Tumblr so that's why it may be blurry but, I hope you get the gist of their designs.)

Holy

I wonder what she means by that...I feel like this will be important later. We also don't know much about the other members of the Oración Seis Interstellar. I'm excited to see what their ether gear is...especially Eraser. 👀👀👀 Does his ether have something to do with erasing things? Are they corrupt or good guys? I guess we'll found out soon...

B-Cube

Rebecca has carved 'Edens Zero' onto her B-Cube. Did you guys notice in Ch. 134 that Rebecca's ingrained B-Cube is the same one we see in Ch. 4? That's the scene where there are two robots 20,000 years in the future who find two bodies (a man and a woman) and a B-Cube which we can now confirm is Rebecca's.

The Ships + Other Notable Mentions

LOL I feel like if I was a B-Cuber, I would be an entertainment/fashion channel....basically like Sorcerer Weekly but make it Space Weekly or a cool name like Into the Void. Maybe a play off of 'Cosmopolitan' but shorten it to 'Cosmos.' So many options.

Anyways lets get into the ships. I talked about this first ship in a recent post.

#1 Homura and Creed

I'll say it again...I SHIP IT! I am hoping for some more scenes with them together. He always looks so cute when he blushes <3 He's a Homura stan too hahah. 🥺🥺🥺

Predictions: - Creed and Homura will fight - Creed will protect Homura again - Homura will save Creed - Creed will join the Edens Zero crew

Now, I was reading on a few discord channels that people are comparing Creed to Mest (Fairy Tail). Now, I am really trying to understand this comparison because frankly, I don't see it. Creed has a crush on Homura. That's valid. Also, Creed doesn't just have pictures of just Homura, he has Weisz, Rebecca, and Shiki. He's not creepy like Mest.

Mest was a weird guy when we first met him laying in the pool or eating flowers. Their personalities are totally different IMO. We could talk ages about the age gap stuff but I'm not really gonna go into that.

Do you see the comparison?

#2 Rebecca and Shiki

Shiki escaping from his restraints to save 'Rebecca' made me happy lol. It makes me think what he would do if it was Homura or Weisz in that situation. What would Shiki do? Plus, after the simulation was over...we can see Rebecca in awe and blushing.

Then, Shiki is hugging Rebecca and they're both blushing 💕 That's a cute moment ngl.

"I'm not THAT into Shiki." - So, you don't deny that you like him 😉

#3 Hermit

I don't know if I mentioned this but I fucking love Hermit's name. It's such a cool name.

#4 Justice

Ch. 130 he was looking gooooood with his bandages. 🥵🥵🥵

Ps. Did you get a chance to view Edens Zero PV 2?!?

Did you notice the homage to Fairy Tail in Ch. 134? "Why are your ideas so Fairy Tale?"

[serendipitous-magic]

Why Don’t We Read: An Impromptu Essay By Me Because I’m Mad

You know how everyone is always saying “oh, I was such a big reader when I was a kid but I just don’t read books anymore, I don’t know what happened”? And how old people are always griping about “This is called a BOOK, it has no commercials and no loading screens, hardy har har har snorf har”?

What if it’s because we just don’t have time anymore?

Think about it. More and more and more of our time on earth is eaten up at our jobs just trying to survive in an economy where “minimum wage” covers maybe 1/3 of bare minimum expenses. And not only that, but we’re expected to juggle more and more and more things every single day. Long, uninterrupted hours simply... do not exist anymore.

Every day you have to not only commute to work, and then work, and then commute back, plus all the little chores and mundanities that make up every day life, cooking food and then eating food and folding laundry and cleaning and putting gas in the car and don’t forget that dentist appointment and better call Mom and if you have a lawn you have to water it and weed it and you have to figure out if you have enough to pay rent this month and you still have to call FedEx about that missing package and now you have to cook again and now there’s more laundry and so many emails to respond to and it’s been months since you washed your sheets hasn’t it and

BUT THEN

You are expected to do and be and keep up with so many things.

You’re supposed to work out, or jog, or do yoga, and you’re supposed to meditate or do a breathing exercise daily because it’s good for you, and while you’re at it, make sure that your living space looks like a magazine or an Instagram post, you need X minutes of sunshine a day to be healthy and Y minutes of exercise and Z number of steps, and you need to be an environmentalist and make sure you’re doing your part to save the planet, and you need to be constantly self improving, you need to be learning a language on Duolingo and doing projects like crocheting or writing or antiquing, you have to be completely unproblematic and constantly monitor everything you do and say and post because one tiny little thing can have the internet jumping down your throat, you’re supposed to be a nutritionist and a fitness nut and an expert on everything you talk about because society has become so black and white that saying “I don’t know” or “I didn’t know that before” is looked on as unacceptable,  you’re supposed to know what’s in your coffee and where it came from, you’re supposed to be a son a daughter a sibling a parent a student a mentor but also you’re supposed to be an interior designer, a small business owner (if you do any kind of Etsy or commission thing), a revolutionary (you’d better care about every overwhelming, exhausting injustice in the world and you’d better take action against it - see below), a curator (if only of your own blog), a rhetor (you’d better damn well know how to argue or you’re screwed in this society), a teacher (because school districts don’t teach anyone shit), a negotiation expert because it is car salesmen and insurance agencies’ job to fuck you over as hard as they possibly can.

Oh and don’t forget, you’re supposed to simplify your life and live in the moment. That one’s very important.

All of this is most likely while you’re already working anywhere from 20-40+ hours per week.

Keep up with your friends on Facebook, spend time to see what they’ve been up to, spend time posting your own pictures, catch up with your Instagram and Twitter and Tumblr feed, and for fuck’s sake you’d better make sure you’re reblogging all the right things about current social events, and you’d better also be caught up on the news, which all happens and changes so fast now that communication is instantaneous, keep up with all the politics, know every new outrage and be outraged about it, keep up with the politicians, the scientists begging us to listen, the latest news about the celebrity outed as a bigot, the latest shooting, the latest bombing, the latest protest, you’d better keep up with all of that and know what’s happening in the world, every minute of every day, and oh don’t worry about having to seek the news out, it comes to you. Every little ping on your phone is a new piece of news.

And you’d better care about it all. You’d better have enough energy in your body and mind to care about all the politics and all the injustice, and be rightly outraged every single day by the state of the world and every new horror, but you’d better also care about the dying planet and the burning rainforests, the oil spill, the glacial melt, you’d better be outraged about that too and you’d better be able to act on that outrage because those are all so important, and they are, but then you also have to care about insurance companies ruining people’s lives by making it impossible to afford healthcare, and you have to care about how agricultural companies have made cruel and byzantine webs of laws to drive farms out of business and make food, a basic necessity of life, a business, and one that’s designed not to feed and nurture people but to make money. And then while we’re on the topic of money you’d better care that the top 10 richest companies in the world create 70% of the world’s pollution, and you’d better care about how billionaires could fix most of the world’s biggest problems and they simply choose not to, and how Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and everyone like them have an amount of money and resources that no single person could ever come close to earning, and how if that wealth was fairly redistributed and recirculated into the economy then maybe minimum wage would actually earn you a living and that’s not even to mention the other systems of brutality and cruelty and injustice in society, the racism, the homophobia, the ableism, the ageism, the sexism, the -ism -ism -ism on for infinity

So you’d better buy and use reusable straws and reusable coffee cups, you’d better cut down on your CO2 emissions, you’d better take shorter showers, you’d better recycle your plastics and spend time at the store thinking about how you can buy things with less plastic wrapping, while you’re also thinking about those big agriculture companies, oh and by the way your eggs? The chickens they came from live in cages, barely being allowed to move for their entire lives, and you’d better be outraged about that too. Where do you think that milk came from? What does that cow look like? How about those peas, were they picked by someone being paid $1 an hour? Every single item on the shelf has some deep horror woven into its backstory. 

You’d better sign every petition you can and you’d better reblog the right things about taking action against injustice and you’d better be vocal about it, you’d better buy your soap and your clothes from small businesses instead of supporting the big evil ones that are much easier to access and much, much cheaper (because somebody suffered, somewhere along the line, to make it that cheap), you’d better remember to save your pasta water to water your plants with instead of wasting it, you’d better make your gifts by hand (if you have the time, which you don’t), and 

And then there’s the beauty industry.

You cannot go a single day without seeing something about “lose weight fast!” or “The Skinny Girl Cookbook!” or “This Weird Thing Burns Belly Fat!”, and everyone you see on screen is twig-thin or muscled, and don’t forget that you’re supposed to take the time to love yourself and practice body positivity too, oh wait no it’s too late, now body neutrality is the right thing to say and think. Every part of your face and body has some malady and you can buy a cure! Spend this much to get rid of acne, spend this much to wax your legs, buy this for wrinkles and that for stretch marks, this cream smooths out your skin to look like an eggshell instead of human flesh, that cream “fixes” those bumps on your arms that apparently aren’t allowed to exist, a basic face of makeup is at least 5 products if not 10, there are countless tutorials on how to make yourself better, because you aren’t okay as you are and you never will be as long as somebody can sell  you something to “fix” yourself. 

Oh, and that’s more time spent, too. Take the time to shave, to moisturize, to do your 3-step skincare routine, to slather all different kinds of goops and goos on various parts of you, take the time to pluck your eyebrows and exfoliate your feet and

Everything wants your attention, every second of every day. Because attention is money. Netflix Hulu Youtube watch this ad look at this ad Twitter Disney+ Twitter again Facebook more ads look at this ad sign up for this subscription package watch this new season of this show, watch this new movie, watch this watch this watch this watch look at this this watch this watch this look at this look at this look at this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this look over here look at this look at this look over here watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this look at this

And then at the end of the day you still have to reserve time for the people in your life that are important to you, and leave time for those long conversations with your sister or time to bond with your kid or time to go on dates with your S.O.

And then you’re supposed to take time for yourself. Self care. Like social media is always saying to do. Take a bath, drink some tea, relax. If you have time.

And all of that. ALL of that. Most likely happens in the small slivers of time before and after your work day, or on the weekend in the small sliver of time before or after you fold that laundry and cook dinner and attend to your personal matters and maybe hang out with a friend if you’re lucky.

And I just described a fairly privileged, not-on-the-brink-of-poverty, not-in-and-out-of-the-hospital, not-constantly-targeted-by-violence-or-oppression life. I just described a cushy life.

Is it any fucking wonder that we all feel shattered? Like our time, even on free days with absolutely nothing scheduled, is made up of tiny pieces? Is it any wonder that it seems like nobody can sit down with a book anymore?

I’m so fucking tired.

[eagles-translated]

Answering Eagles questions before the season 3 finale (Part 1/2)

I've received a bunch of questions since 3x08 and 3x09 dropped, so I compiled all the questions into two posts. I had to split them up because Tumblr only allows 10 images per post. Anyway, keep reading to see my answers and enjoy! 👇

My theory is that everybody will be gathered together for some event and then shit goes down. Sort of like the ending of 1x08.

We've seen an image of Adam, Omar, and Ludde together at a party of some sort. I can't post it here because of Tumblr only allowing ten pictures, but you can find it in Ludde's prediction post that I made prior to the season 3 premiere.

Felicia might be absent from this considering how her mental health has been recently, and instead opting to stay at home rather than attending a party.

I have my suspicions that Elias will be attending this party, though. We saw him at some concert in the season 3 trailer and they made it look like he was watching Amie singing in Stockholm. But maybe Amie will be performing at this party and Elias is watching her here instead?

It seems like Amie singing at the end of the season has become kind of a recurring theme. She performed "Follow" in 1x08 and "Second Sight" in 2x10 (on the radio, but my point still stands). I wouldn't be surprised if they followed this trend by having Amie perform a new song in the season 3 finale.

Maybe Elias approaches her after the performance to express how good she is. He hasn't really seen her do a live performance since 1x08, where she still hadn't really come out of her shell. They've also grown a lot closer this season. Perhaps Elias even has something more to tell her?

I can't help but feel like this party will end on a bad note, though. We have that whole thing with Andreas potentially buying a gun or whatever he's up to (discussed this more in another question down below).

I have a feeling this party is going to get interrupted in some way and that the season is going to end on a major cliffhanger.

I don't even know what they'll do with Ludde and Felicia. Ludde has no idea what happened to Felicia in these last two episodes, and I hope they'll have a conversation just to clear the air surrounding the whole press situation. Ludde still loves her even if he broke things off, and I would really like to see him reassure Felicia that the blame lies with Jack and not her. I don't think they will get back together and repeat what 2x10 did since the drama is still so fresh. Felicia shouldn't really get into a relationship right now, either.

I'm unsure about Klara. I feel like she's mostly done her part this season, but maybe things aren't completely finished between her and Elias. Maybe there were some things left unsaid on Klara's part when she met with Elias at the café, and Elias never really confirmed where he was at.

This talk regarding their relationship (and Eagles?) might happen in the season finale. I'm leaning towards them ending it for good since I doubt they will be getting back together. However, I'm pretty sure that it will be on good terms now after everything Klara did for Felicia.

I somewhat agree with this, even if it was worded a little harshly. Felicia shouldn't have been so quick to share the most personal thing that had ever happened to her on her first date with a guy she had just met. And she shouldn't have done the same thing with Jack, even if it was someone she'd known for longer.

I think she should've at least waited a while to see if the person she told her secrets to was trustworthy—sort of like Ludde did when he told Felicia the truth about how Andreas landed in prison. That's a huge secret and it made more sense to have it be shared closer to the end of the first season rather in the first three episodes.

On the other hand, I can definitely understand why she was so quick to share her problems. Felicia was really lonely when she first came to Oskarshamn. Her parents were fighting all the time, and her dad was only focused on Elias' hockey career. She carried these huge traumatic events and had nobody really supporting her when she ended up at the hospital and was sent to rehab. Felicia couldn't share the secret about her dad's affair either. She really had nobody in her life that she could talk to about any of this.

So it's reasonable that when she finally met a person who she really connected with, she felt comfortable enough to finally share these burdens she had been carrying. She actually started out by saying this to Ludde in 1x03:

I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I don’t talk about it to people.

I don't think Felicia set out to tell her whole backstory to Ludde. It just happened. I'm not saying it was the right choice, but Felicia probably realized that she desperately needed someone to talk to. And she said herself that it felt really good to just get these secrets out (until it didn't when she thought Ludde had spilled the beans to Klara). Felicia even made sure to stress to Ludde that he couldn't tell anybody about her experiences in the US.

Felicia: I don’t want this to come out, that’s really important. Ludde: Of course, I’d never tell.

A similar situation arose with Jack. Felicia was more isolated than ever and she had aborted a child that nobody knew about—not even her mom. That's a huge secret to carry on your own.

Felicia had known Jack since she was a child. She trusted him and he was a family friend. Not only that, but Jack has the ability to be incredibly charming when he wants to be. If anything, it makes more sense that Felicia told her personal things to Jack rather than to Ludde. She couldn't predict that Jack would turn out to be a cheating asshole who would leak everything in the press. It's kind of sad that Felicia would have to constantly keep quiet about all the wounds she's carrying when support from the people around her is the thing she needs and craves.

I've never said that the Kroon family's reaction to them being slandered in the press wasn't valid. I actually understood their anger and frustration quite well, but they let their emotions get the better of them. Yelling at Felicia did nothing to help the situation even though it's fair that they would direct their anger at the person who was to blame in that situation.

It wasn't pretty, and ganging up on Felicia (when her personal business had also been leaked) wasn't the best way to deal with the situation. But because their privacy was violated, I understand it. I can agree with you on that part.

It just sounds like you're implying that Felicia isn't allowed to share personal stuff at all because it would be "gifting ammo to expose her family". If Jack had actually been a decent person and never ruined her family's reputation in the press, you wouldn't be as harsh on her. The situation just got blown out of proportion for everybody.

Put these questions together since they were sort of asking the same thing regarding the last scene of 3x09. Here is the full transcript from that scene if anybody needs a reminder:

Man: Hey. Andreas: Hello. Man: Wasn’t yesterday. Welcome to the outside. Andreas: Thanks. Hey… The last time I saw you, you said you knew somebody who sells. Man: Are you thinking of a fully automatic? Andreas: Yeah, whatever. Man: There’s a guy in Stockholm. I’ll fix it. I’ll send you the number. Just tell him I sent you. Andreas: Alright, good. Got it. Man: Good. Good, see you. Andreas: See you.

It actually didn't click for me at all when I first saw this scene that Andreas could've been talking about buying a gun—my first thought was actually that he was talking about a car because I'm that stupid lmao.

Anyway, there is definitely potential for the season to end on a cliffhanger involving a gun and Andreas. I have a few theories on what the season could end like. Season 3 has been so much darker than previous seasons, so while this might feel too serious for a show like Eagles it's definitely not out of the question after the recent episodes. Anyway, here's what I think could happen.

1. The season ends with Andreas having the gun—but we don't know if he'll actually use it 2. The season ends with Andreas just about to shoot someone—but we don't know who (?) 3. The season ends with Andreas having just shot someone—but we don't know who (?)

I don't know which one of these theories I'm leaning more towards, but I really hope this won't be the outcome for Andreas. He just spent close to a year in prison for something he didn't even do. Andreas is not a criminal, and it would be disappointing if he actually ended up doing this. They could be throwing us for a loop.

I mean, personally I don't think shooting somebody because they were the reason my younger brother didn't get into his dream school is enough reason to risk ending up in prison for. Yes, Ludde got his reputation ruined, but there are other ways to solve that than to resort to crime. Andreas should know that too, considering the whole thing where he got landed in jail because he tried to protect Ludde.

This could absolutely be the case but at the same time I'm a little unsure. Hopefully things will just go up from here since the last two episodes were so dark, but I'm unsure what that last scene in 3x09 will mean for the season finale.

I hope they will do something similar to 2x10, where the ending was more bittersweet than just sour. We had the moment with Elias finally being drafted to the US and then Felicia and Ludde finally getting back together. We saw Amie achieve her dreams as a pop star. And yet there were still sour tones with us seeing Klara's dad passing away, Ludde being brought to the police station, and Amie being entirely alone and heartbroken.

2x10 was a really good episode and the ending montage gave me goosebumps the first time I saw it. I think ending a season like that, with both positives and negatives, hits you more emotionally rather than just ending on one or the other. The 1x08 season finale was really depressing and while the cliffhanger was intriguing, it didn't hit as hard for me as 2x10.

I'm kind of curious if they'll be able to top that episode—it's definitely among my personal favorites.

My stance is that if Elias and Amie won't happen in 3x10, they will be guaranteed to happen in season 4. There is no way they're passing that opportunity up. They have clear chemistry, are fan favorites, and it absolutely makes sense for them to get together considering where they're at in their journeys—both having realized their dreams but then coming back to Oskarshamn because it didn't turn out the way they thought it would.

I think they have a mutual understanding of each other—in season 3 more than ever—and it would definitely be a shame if their potential was wasted. So I can't see the writer(s) passing up that opportunity.

There is a possibility for Elias to make a move in the season 3 finale, but I think it's better to keep our expectations low. We just had Felicia go through something really traumatic and her whole family is dealing with the ramifications of Jack slandering them in the media. Elias's relationship with Amie might have to take a backseat because of that.

There's also the thing where we thought that Petra might forbid Amie from seeing Elias because the newspapers painted him as a sex addict. But I think Petra and Amie have reached an understanding in their relationship after the whole Michael thing, and I can see Petra taking Amie's word when saying that Elias isn't what the press makes him out to be—and that he's not like his father.

I really do want to see something happen between them in the season finale, though. I'm excited but impatient for Elias and Amie and I think there are many fans who feel the same way.

But there is a reason they've been so slow to develop their relationship. Elias and Amie have grown as people separately and they're at a point where I believe they're more compatible than they ever were previously. They've been building their character development, slowly but surely, and I like that they haven't been rushed together like Felicia and Ludde were.

If nothing happens between them in season 3, don't lose hope. I think season 4 will absolutely be Elias and Amie's season.

I hope so. I hope Petra isn't listening to the tabloids and tries to see what's in front of her instead, which is that Elias is not Mats.

Elias is entirely his own person. I know Petra was heartbroken when Mats left her after getting drafted, but when Elias was put into this exact situation he hesitated because he didn't want to leave Klara alone.

Klara: Elias… I don’t understand why you’re even thinking about this. Of course you’re going [to the US]. You’ve always wanted this. Right? Elias: But I don’t want to leave you.

Petra doesn't know about this, but we as the audience do. Elias's actions have always been caring and supportive (and I'm not just saying this because Elias has always been my favorite character). It should only be a matter of time until Petra realizes that, if she just gave him a chance.

I think that Petra will eventually see that Amie has finally found someone special who makes her happy. That Elias isn't at all like how Mats was at his age, or like Michael who didn't even bother to support her.

Petra has been so unlucky in love and I hope she can see through her prejudices and let her daughter be happy and loved, in the way that Petra never really got to be.

It could happen, but even if it does I don't think they will be separated for most of season 4.

Maybe Amie decides to finally take charge of her career and tells the record label that she's doing this her way or not at all. Maybe she even decides to quit to try a music career on her own terms, or with a different label that doesn't make her as successful but doesn't control her.

I never felt like the particular record label Amie ended up with was a great fit for her. Yes, she's very talented and I would love to see her become an even bigger star, but only if it's done the way Amie wants it to be done. There could be the possibility of Amie leaving the label, just like how Elias left the US.

I definitely think Felicia has picked up on Elias overworking himself. He's been at the gym constantly, even during the school field trip to Stockholm. Elias left this huge opportunity in the US to come back to Eagles, and the overworking could be a result of him feeling like he has to prove to both himself and the people around him that this decision was the right one.

They've been super subtle about this whole thing and I hope they will be discussing it properly soon instead of just giving us small snippets. There was discussion about this being an eating disorder, but I think it's leaning more towards overworking like you said and bad eating habits (in my opinion, we would need to see something more drastic before drawing the conclusion that Elias might have an eating disorder).

There's so much that needs to be brought up in the season 3 finale—like what exactly Andreas is planning and its outcome, Felicia healing after her suicide attempt and potentially having a conversation with Ludde, and maybe some sort of triangle drama between Elias and if he'll choose Klara or Amie. There are so many possibilities here that I have my suspicions that this storyline won't be fully resolved in just one episode.

I think it will be pushed forward into season 4 because that seems to make the most sense right now. I've been wrong before though, so something else could definitely happen.

[dansnaturepictures]

20/09/2020-Blog 1 of 2: The cottage, walk between Wells-next-to-sea and Stiffkey and Brown Shrike and more at Warham Greens: 10 different pictures to ones I tweeted

I wrote this blog on 20th September I have so far had some uploading limitations of the cottage wi-fi specific to Tumblr so as I said in my last blogs read in present tense of the date but are going out at random times and not in order. Today I did two blogs due to the photo yield, my second one which I posted in my last post is about the bit we did in between the first two parts of the day as per the title visit RSPB Snettisham.

I woke up to our first full day in Norfolk in very tranquil conditions, as I took in nice views and beautiful flowers from the cottage we stayed in and drank tea on garden furniture. This is one of the more beautiful grounded cottages we have stayed in on our holidays these past few years especially. I took the first five pictures in this photoset of sky, views, trees and flowers from and in the cottage garden. We also put some bird feeders up to compliment the ones already there, and it was great to see female Blackbird and Woodpigeon in the garden. Buddleia in this garden attracted a Large White butterfly and many bees too. On the way to Snettisham our first stop today we saw some Egyptian Geese with other birds on a pond. We got cracking views of a Buzzard flying low over the road but safely on a journey today, reminding me of a metaphor I said in 2013 here about wildlife hitting you in the face in Norfolk!

After Snettisham today we then went in search of a rare Brown Shrike that was in Norfolk only the second bird of the species for the county I believe we heard. We were given great directions to where the bird was being seen by two kind people we saw at a safe social distance at Snettisham. We initially made a wrong turn and ended up on a nice coastal walk somewhere between Wells-next-to-Sea and Stiffkey. Here it was nice to see a good few Curlews a strong bird in this area of coast, and down a lane in the area we got great views of lovely Brown Hares. I took the sixth-ninth picture in this photoset of views here.

We did then find Warham Greens as shown in the tenth and final picture in this photoset and were directed by many fellow twitchers past a lake, onto private land who’s landowners had very kindly allowed people to come onto their land and see the bird to an area between pig sheds up a hill. We arrived and saw people watching, the Brown Shrike was out of view in a bush when we arrived. But it very soon arrived back and I was thrilled when looking in the binoculars to see this bird! It was just on the edge of the hedgerow and I could make out what a very beautiful bird this was. We were over the moon to see this simply incredible bird. What a moment, one of my best moments this year. I got a record shot picture of this bird which I tweeted on Sunday night. Such a special moment to come in a holiday, indeed this is exactly what we came to Norfolk in September to do be in the area if rare birds turn up and try and see them so to do it two days in is so amazing. It felt so Norfolk that we came here and saw this bird today.

It’s the second September holiday in a row we’ve timed it perfectly to see a rare bird in the area after Brown Booby at Cornwall’s Kynance Cove last year so I think we’ll carry on these September trips away if we can! This Brown Shrike is a milestone new bird for me, my 270th bird species in my life and 180th this year. To be 30 birds from 300 just is phenomenal for me, it feels like yesterday it was 7 years ago and just after coming to Norfolk I brought my life list figure to 200 my year list ending figure last year I can’t believe where that time has gone and I have been so lucky to return such considerably extensive and star-studded amounts of life ticks each year since 2013. The 18- not a figure it always looked likely I’d reach in this very strange year so I was so happy to get there making it compete well still with my three previous highest ever year lists 2019, 2018 and 2017 with how many birds I had seen at this stage in a year just ahead of how many I had seen in 2017 on this date with the other three ahead. In the five times I have reached it my 179th bird of the year has been a completely new one for me that year list quirk would have continued if it wasn’t for the Little Stint I saw at Snettisham which I posted about in my last post but I am pleased I saw both obviously and a new one for 180 just one behind my 2016 total is very special. Weirdly enough I saw my first Red-backed Shrike ever six years ago today at Hayling Island’s Sandy Point in Hampshire. It was good to see another shrike to make it three seen in my life with Great Grey Shrike too and I’ve seen Great Grey Shrike twice this year I’ve never see two shrikes in a year a little ambition I’ve held for a few years to see two shrikes in a year actually. The life tick meant whilst I wouldn’t have minded giving the year 2020 was and year lists being my main measure of a successful year these days I had advoided 2020 becoming the year I got the lowest amount of life ticks in as my fourth new bird of the year to take me level with my 2012.

Also at Warham Greens it was special to see some Ruffs, many more Greylag and Egyptian Geese, lots of Wigeons a nice autumnal and wintery bird to be about and more great Hares we saw so many of them today which really stood out. What a fantastic day out I really enjoyed today so much and was so happy with what we saw and did today!

Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first ever Brown Shrike, two of my favourite birds the Red Kite and Little Egret, Curlew, Wigeon, Mallard, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Egyptian Goose, Bar-headed Goose, Ruff, Pheasant, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Wren, Large White and Hare.

[theangrypokemaniac]

Contests Part 2/2

6. Loser Jessie

Screechy harpie Jessay has even more of a raw deal than Mavis and Dawn of the Dead.

From the outset I knew she'd never be champion, but she ought to rise above the tiresome berks clogging up procedure.

Sufficient popularity at Pokémon Towers ensured the girls were allotted coverage of all their award ceremonies. They had a moment in the sun.

What has Jessie in comparison?

I can't recall Hoenn, but I don't expect it was much.

Sinnoh however carried naught but a single paltry episode.

This for a main character.

This for someone there from the beginning.

This for an ardent fan favourite.

This for a wench who, should we include all her various mutations, has featured in more installments than either of 'em.

But no, treat Jesseee as worthless, even lower than Dawn's groupies. It's not like anyone watches it for her.

Looking back, it's obvious what they were intending to do come Unova.

What's the score then?

• One paltry Contest on screen.

• A couple happen elsewhere, marked by a few seconds per mention when the script oh-so generously moves away from the thrilling main plot.

It's gotta be the small-town concerns for Jessuhleenuh, nothing major. She deserves no better.

• One won by James, so not hers. Press her inadequacy upon us!

• One obtained as a gesture of pity from Kate Middleton.

And how did that work? What's the good of allowing 'Dawn' entry again?

She'd already qualified. If winning here, that gives her six, therefore there aren't enough Co-ordinators for the culmination.

And when Jessie showed up with a Ribbon recorded as belonging to Dawn, how was she taken as fulfilling the quota?

The slapdash way these Contests are run!

God forbid Jess should be shown as excelling at anything. It must be scraping into the final undeservedly.

Bitch gotta know her place.

7. Bumpkin Jessie

...

Ain't no description I can give that don't rhyme with 'hit', or variations of the theme.

You thought the shafting Jessica got coverage wise was bad enough? Yer ain't heard the 'alf of it.

Sinnoh was a period of peak Moron Team Rocket, where the one surprise was how stupid they could be.

You may remember an early episode when James designed her clothes for the catwalk. She thought it'd complement his work by applying lipstick all across her mug.

Obviously Jessie would do that, clueless as to how make-up functions.

Come on kids, she's thick!

Even at that numskull nadir it's difficult to comprehend anyone choosing this get up without severe duress.

Picture the scene: you debut on stage, before an audience of thousands and television cameras, in an event preoccupied with superficiality.

What do you wear?

• Giant, oversized glasses out of fashion since the Seventies.

• Bootlace tie last worn in the nineteenth century Wild West by a barman serving sarsaparillas.

• Colour scheme of brown and orange, the nation's favourite hues.

• A man's old shirt fraying at the cuffs.

• Voluminous apron dress.

• Massive yellow bows last seen decorating an Easter Egg. Always a winner.

• Heavy, clod-hopping boots.

• PIGTAILS!!!

Even the name is unattractive.

Ah yes, very common for those under six. Unheard of later.

You have reached puberty haven't yer Jessie? I can't tell anymore.

They couldn't get enough of that combination in Cosmo, which is why it's no longer in print.

Not only is Jessie denied success, she's deprived of the chance to be pretty in a realm where nothing but that carries weight.

Worse, given how her face disintegrated, this is the best she's been for five generations.

Yeah, because the inbred milkmaid style is such a good look, eh?

SEXAY!!!

8. So Long, Tsundere

Remember tsunderes? What happened to 'em?

The curse of Pokémon was draining the well of inspiration too quickly, throwing away interesting characters as mere guests.

This is particularly noticeable regarding the ladies. Back then, we got Misty, Jessie, Jessibelle, Cassidy, Aya, Giselle, Tyra, Sabrina, assorted crones Brutella, Nastina and Lacy, plus Joy, Jenny and Dame Ketchum provided parental authority.

How did a series that began with ball-breaking birds like that end up with insipid, glassy-eyed dullards like Zuhreena, Banana Lana, Marsh Mallow and Lilliput?

Ooh, Zuhreena is a pwincess!

Ooh, Banana Lana bwows big bwubbles!

Ooh, Marsh Mallow wuvs phallic waddishes!

Ooh, Lilliput won't pwet wanimals bwecause of Secwet Pain!

Can you imagine such weak specimens finding any place in the anarchic atmosphere of the classics?

It's SO boring!

Where's the punch? Where's the human spirit?

Where's the entertainment gone?

This squishy attitude began in Hoenn. Misty left, Jessie's hair symbolically changed from volcanic red to pink, and Contests introduced a cuddly theme where glitter glue and sequins are top priority.

Every sharp corner, every jagged point has been filed smooth. Now its substance hasn't the hardness to even develop edges, not when it's all cushions and candyfloss, where catching Pokémon rests on them deigning to grant permission, rather than 'avin it out.

Tsunderes, exuding untamed charisma and independence, besides a soupçon of danger, simply don't fit the cardboard box we habit now.

Nor do yanderes, kuuderes, tsuntsuns, or even derederes. It's just nothing but smiley-smiley creeps.

I wouldn't mind any of these tropes as long as there was some sign of colour to be had.

9. The Sacrifice of Misty

Misty bid farewell under the feeble justification that the lack of a longterm goal made her vulnerable to sacking.

Such a line uttered as if her own choice, being beyond them as writers to invent a purpose.

This implied her replacement would have an exciting quest aiming for excellence, something just beyond Misty's capabilities.

What did we get?

Dressing up and collecting Ribbons!

Is that...is that it? Is that the great idea? Is that all the girls are worth?

I lost Misty for THIS?!

Perhaps it makes no difference. By Hoenn they'd rendered her a leaden blandness sucked dry of all that made her special.

Going by the greasy-toothed bastardisation that swanned up in Alola, Misty was simply too wild for the safe, stifling atmosphere of today.

Her departure ensued she remains frozen as a funny, beloved presence, unlike those she left behind.

Now there was a lucky escape, as once the fanny-flapping starts, the bints have it on the brain.

May had Max to beat on the side, but Dawn developed monomania.

Hardly an episode went by without some reference to Contests, or how today's plot spurred her on to the next opportunity.

Yer need help, love!

Rather than Ash's new friend being a fascinating person who so happened to enter vanity projects, the competition defined them to the exclusion of life.

It is but moths drawn to the candle flame waiting to engulf them.

Contests are this world's version of Tom Riddle's diary: they promise sympathy and validation, but they eat your soul.

Like Tumblr.

10. Completely Unoriginal

Seems to me it wasn't so much Misty had no goal, it was more that Contests were the supposedly hot concept wedged into an existing property.

If earlier aspects failed to accommodate the invader, the onus certainly wasn't on the new kid to change. Oh no, stuff it in and chop off whatever gets in the way.

In the eyes of the post-Shudo regime, Misty was too volatile to last, and so had to go.

What idiots.

She's a tsundere. The softer, more feminine side is a defining component.

Would it really have been so problematic to retain her as an entrant? If Jessie can, why not?

Even if failing to fit, so what? Since when was established characterisation a barrier?

Isn't twisting likeable folk into unrecognisable pods the modus operandi of the writers?

That canon is immaterial, and must always give in to whatever fancy they currently have?

Well then, what's the big deal in infantilising Misty to promote it rather than pensioning her off?

Viewers will be more invested in the challenges awaiting a familiar face rather than a stranger.

What reduces the above to the risible is the original Misty and Jessie both participated in the Princess Festival.

All Contests are is that very scenario on repeat and robbed of all meaning.

Think about it:

• Beauty round

• Battle round

• Jessie loses

Same bloody thing.

Not only have I got to suffer this draining spectacle, it's got the nerve to possess not one iota of fresh ideas!

Contests are a low rent rip-off. The Princess Festival had a worthy reward in the shape of one-of-a-kind Dolls.

It'd already been revealed that ordinary Princess Dolls were ruinously expensive, therefore the special Pokémon edition have to be priceless.

What d'yer get for the trouble of a Contest but a bit of plastic tat taped to bargain basement frippery?

And they demand you get five of 'em!

Contests themselves were then resurrected as Showcases, although mercifully slimmed down to only three, with the emptiness ramped up in compensation.

Perhaps ironically, Princess Versus Princess is one of my favourite episodes. I love its critique of female avarice and accurate portrayal of clothing sales as reminiscent of the zombie apocalypse.

I don't mind the Festival as a single adventure, but I may have felt less favourable had it been a constant presence.

Except it isn't the competition at stake. This is a framework to explore Jessie and Misty as people.

Through its device we learn their history and therefore how they came to develop as the girls we know.

The setting serves as an opportunity for both to confront the misery and isolation of their childhoods, with the promise of overcoming that old torment with the balm of victory.

In the final, they aren't so much battling an opponent as fighting to be free of the past.

The tragedy is only one can be granted that reprieve. The other must remain unhappy in the ruins of memory.

It matters, unlike vapid Contests, where posturing is king. What depth can they provide in comparison?

Despite identical content, they are inverse counterparts, with the Festival presented as merely a light affair concealing a rather dark tale of neglect.

Contests however are paraded as this worthy nourishment for body and mind, a major point in one's journey towards enlightenment, when all they really amount to is an organ grinder and his monkey arsing about for the slack-gobbed plebs.

Bread and circuses.

Best of all, Misty won, not some side twat, as it should be.

Note how Jessie dressed: in delicate, vivid robes and golden decoration. The boys thought her beautiful.

Not as a gormless dweeb you'd cross the street to avoid!

And why the need to disguise herself anyway?

The Twerps had no issue with Jessie of Team Rocket joining the fun back then, so what happened?

At least she received the consolation of gaining Lickitung as a friend, with James and Meowth desperate to comfort her.

What do Contests bring? Sod all!

[bangtan-legends]

Jungkook taking care of Jimin

⸻

okay so, I've been missing jikook awfully lately so I decided to make this little thread.

This will probably be rather long so hope you enjoy :D

⸻

1. Offering him jacket when Jimin is (probably) cold

In the first one, Jungkook is seen wearing that blue hoodie at the beginning of the video, and at the end of it you can see Jimin comfortably goofing around in that same blue hoodie.

In the second one you clearly can see Jungkook himself offering the hoodie to Jimin.

And in the third one, even tho Jimin said he took the jacket from Jungkook, Jungkook could have still said no since it was really cold and rainy that day, but instead we have jikook sharing warmth and being cuddly in one jacket. I approve.

2. Going as far to follow Jimin's diet to prove him it isn't healthy

I think the picture is self explanatory. Jimin was doing this extreme diet where he only ate one meal per day so Jungkook decided to do the same as to prove it's not healthy.

3. Always feeding him and checking if he ate

To connect on the previous fact, Jungkook is rather always keen on feeding Jimin and idk if it's just me but it feels like he is constantly checking jimin if he ate well.

Like in the second gif, Jimin was waiting for Seokjin to feed him but Seokjin didn't notice that, so Jungkook took the chopsticks from Seokjin and fed Jimin himself.

In the third gif, Hoseok was eating some candy and Jungkook went to him, literally took one while he was trying to put it into his mouth and gave it to Jimin :D

I'm probably looking too much into it but it just catches my eye how in that RUN EP.39 while they were playing 'Yes or No', Jungkook was the MC and the only questions he asked "Did you eat well?".

Or in RUN EP.38 while Seokjin and Jimin were eating at the table, Jungkook came to them and said "You can't leave anything, okay?".

And even now in the latest RUN episode Jungkook during "lunch" there was a short clip of Jungkook putting more food on Jimin's plate. Idk I just find it really endearing and cute.

4. Protecting him

As we all know, airport is a war zone most of the time for BTS. Constant pushing around, screaming fans.

Once, in 2016, Jimin tripped or was pushed down by fans that mobbed them and he fell down. Luckily manager quickly picked him up so he wasn't badly hurt. The next day you can see Jungkook walking side by side with Jimin, with his arm on his shoulder. And on many occasions you can just see jikook insuperable at airports.

Also Jimin himself, when he was asked to choose a member he would like to travel with, wrote down JK and said that "It seems like he will protect me from others."

5. Always encouraging him and assuring him that he is doing okay

Sure, it's well know that Jungkook loves to tease Jimin but he acknowledges when Jimin is really feeling anxious or worried so he makes sure to assure him that he's doing well.

During this interview (it's around 1:50 mark) the question was "Do you have anything that you regretted in?" and as soon as Jimin said "How do I start talking about my past?" Jungkook nust randomly said "No, hyung you're handsome!" and even tho members were teasing Jimin about his last selfies and Jungkook joined, the gesture was still sweet and cute.

If I remember correctly during BTS BIRTHDAY PARTY 2016 Jimin was one of the MCs and he was struggling to take the sheet of the boards and members were teasing him about that and his cute mistakes while MCing but Jungkook just kept saying "Cut him some slack" or "Hyung you're doing good!" multiple times.

He's ways quick to encourage him when he starts doubting his voice skills or literally anything.

Praising his food, basketball skills, his skills for being collected while solving that puzzle during RUN EP.38. Jungkook is always there to say something nice and encouraging.

Sure, he teases him, but Jungkook the best knows when Jimin needs kind words to keep him grounded.

6. Making him laugh

This is a well known and established fact in jikook community. Jeon Jungkook is there to make Jimin laugh.

There's so many moments where Jungkook would act silly just to make Jimin laugh or he would act silly, then loon at Jimin to see if he laughed and if he did he would do it again just because. Or he would look at Jimin before acting silly to see if he's looking at him and the he would do it.

For examples here are some videos:

Jimin's laugh Compilation made by Jungkook

Jungkook always makes Jimin laugh so hard

And many more that you can find :D

Also let me just add this here:

7. Jungkook is whipped for Jimin

This may not seem like "taking care of him" but for me it is.

It hides in complaining how slow Jimin is sometimes but still waiting for him to get off the stage together or falling behind with him all the time during BON VOYAGE SEASON 1.

Saying he will prank him about his lost phone, but as soon as seeing Jimin's troubled face he pulled that phone straight out of his pocket.

Only buying Jimin a birthday present, taking him on a trip, just two of them (scream loudly if you're still crying over G.C.F in Tokyo bc I sure as hell am).

Losing the game just so he could share a room with Jimin.

Always massaging his shoulders/neck.

It's all just the little things but really nice gestures.

⸻

And that's it. I wish I could make this longer but at the end I only was able to use words since Tumblr allows only 10 photos in one post but I could go on and on with photos of Jungkook looking at Jimin with that smitten look or video of him making Jimin laugh.

Hope you liked it :D

[itrashit]

How I think a reboot of Xena should really be

I know this is quite a controversial topic, I personally don't want a reboot of Xena Warrior Princess. Don't get me wrong, I'd love if we were blessed with new episodes, but the original show was already an epic and the cast was the perfect match. I can't see no one playing the roles of Xena, Gabrielle, Callisto, Joxer and etc other than the original cast. No matter how good they made the reboot, it would always be compared to the original show and it wouldn't be fair to any of the series.

On the other hand, it'd be interesting to have new Xena material, so after giving it a lot of thought, I came to a conclusion on how I think a possible reboot should be.

Since I don't want to watch a show without Xena and Gabrielle as the main characters, and I can't see no one playing their roles, I came up with this idea.

It's pos-FIN timeline. Gabrielle has passed a long time ago and now she's happily living her after life with Xena in the Elysian Fields/Heaven, whichever works. However, the Twilight of the Gods is happening and it's leading Earth into chaos. Which less people following them, the Gods start fighting each other for followers and power, while the humans are making a havoc now that they aren't under the Gods' protection and that they feel free to not fear the Gods anymore.

This catastrophic scenario become known to Xena and Gabrielle, who cannot interfere in this situation but feel like they need to do something to help. In trying to do so, for some reason that I couldn't figured out yet, they ended bringing their future modern-selves to the Known World.

Wait, let me explain.

The show was pretty explicit regarding reincarnation, Z and Gabby were soulmates and reincarnated many times, right?

My idea is, they have reincarnated in modern times (not that 90's version we saw in Déjà Vu All over Again, tho), unaware of their previous lives.

I even thought about what their backstory could be. Xena's modern self could be an ex-cop in her earliers 30 years old. Her father was killed during a robbery when she was a kid, then she grew up wanting to protect people from bad guys. After joining police she discovered that there were so much corruption and injustice among them, and that infuriates her, but she soon learns that there's nothing she can do to change that. So she decided to take matters in her own hands and became a sort of a "warrior", where she'd fight the wrongings of the world in her own way. Needless to say that it usually involves actions that can't be described as "legal". This, of course, eventually leads her to be expelled from the academy and be imprisioned. All this ordeal made her became a darker person, she lost her hope and trust in humanity and, by the time her sentence is finally expired, she had lost herself too.

Enter Gabrielle's modern self. She just turned 18 and is almost graduating high school. She is a happy kid, a bit clumsy and too naive for her own good. She cares for the others, being them people, animals or simply the planet, and always tries to help them... even if it gets her in trouble, with normally does. She's also a History and Mythology nerd and is part of the school's drama club. Her parents expect her to join a good College, so she'd become a succesful person, find a decent guy and start her own family. That's not quite what Gabrielle wants though, she actually doesn't know what she wants to do with her life but she feels like there's so much more to see and do in this world than this. She wants to learn more about the world and live a big adventure, so she's planning on travelling abroad before going to college.

So, it's prom day. Modern Gabrielle has never kissed anyone before, she knows this is a bit strange for her age but she doesn't care, she wants her first kiss to be with someone she really loves. Anyway, she's at her best friend house preparing for the big night, you know, doing her hairs and etc together. Then she realizes she forgot her dress in her house, she's that type of person, so she decides to go back home and finished getting read there. Only, in her way back, she's assaulted by a man who drags her to a dark alley. Modern Xena happens to be there and see the man trying to assault the girl. She stopped helping strangers after she got out of jail, for being nice to the others only messed with her life, but she acts on a relfex anyway and fight that man, knocking him unconscious. Modern Gabrielle's shocked and terrified, her brain isn't exactly functioning at that moment, so she's like "Jesus, that was so scary! What we do now? Should we call the cops?" while trembling in fear. But at the mention of cops, modern Xena decides it's better to leave the scene, "You are fine, right? So do whatever you want" and walks back to the main street. Modern Gabrielle is on her tail, "Wait, you are just going to leave me here? Please, I don't want to be alone with this creepy!". Modern Xena is already getting impacient, "Look, girl" she says "I already saved you, what happens now is none of my business". At that, the penny finally dropped and modern Gabrielle realizes that, if it wasn't for that woman, she'd probably be killed or worse right now. "You're right, you saved my life! Thank you, thank you so much!". She's following modern Xena while vigorously thanking her, but Z on the other hand is annoyed and wishing the girl get lost.

That's when original Gabrielle and original Xena makes that something that I still didn't figure out what should be, but it ended with modern Xena and Gabrielle being dragged through some sort of space-time portal that makes they go straight to the Known World.

There, original Z and Gabby explain everything to two very perplexed modern Gabrielle and Xena. Modern Xena isn't buying any of this, while modern Gabrielle is super excited with the prospect of living something so unexpected. The original ones explain to them that the the future of the world is at stake and only them, the modern versions of themselves, can save the world.

Such a predicament wouldn't be easy accepted by modern Xena, and would cause both of them a lot of angst of course. But they are stuck in this situation and during season one they'll learn that there's nothing they can do except to accept their roles and do the right thing, which is fight the bad guys (and bad Gods too) to help bring peace to the world (I guess original Xena and Gabrielle don't know how to bring them back to their time, or simply can't do it).

And you know what else I think that would be cool? If modern Xena and Gabrielle didn't get along at first. Like, they wouldn't see eye to eye and would always be annoyed at each other. This, of course, would change with time and, by the end of the first season, they would become very close friends that trully adore each other. That would be an interesting change in their relationship, and at each season their relationship would grow stronger to the point where they would considere the other as their soulmate.

Original Xena and Gabrielle would appear in some episodes to share some nice words and give them their advices, or maybe just to comment with each other about their future selves (things like, "your future self is just as a stubborn as you used to be" and "hey, did we used to have so many petty fights like that?").

Reincarnated protagonists means they are not the same we used to know and yet they keep a lot of characteristics in common with them. This way we won't risk messing up with the already existent plot and characters that we love so much. Also, it would allow us to be blessed with Lucy's and Renée's presence once more. ♡

What do you think about it? I personally would like this kind of reboot. I even have a few suggestions of people who could play their parts, but I'll leave it to another post because I want to post some pictures of them and Tumblr sadly doesn't allow me to upload more than 10 pictures per post.

[movingkeepmoving]

Athens, Greece - June 2019 🇬🇷

Waking up to realise today is the day you gonna see a gig again always makes me super happy. And no matter how many times I've seen Frank Turner within the last seven years, I'm always stoked to see him again. I once more decided to start my day with some good breakfast and made my way to a place called free n easy. I had a tasty quinoa bowl, a cappuccino and fresh orange juice and a little while later all the energy I needed to tackle another warm and sunny day in Athens.

I made my way to the old Olympic Stadium and got lost on purpose in between in the National Garden. It's a beautiful place once created by a princess from Bavaria, Germany who later become Queen of Greece in the 19th century. The garden was opened for the public in 2004, but even a wonderful peaceful place like this let's you know you're in a country with economic problems. There was a little zoo (?) area with goats and sheep and birds, but in between you could also find many empty cages. Also only handful of the many fountains in the park where working and many parts looked just battered.

At some point I made my way to the stadium and payed the reasonable 5€ entrance fee and took the free audio guide that came with it. Walking through this historic and 2000+ year old place was truly breathtaking. The audio guide told me a lot of background facts about the place, some of them are that this stadium is a build with marble and it can hold up to 68.000 people. Which is kinda insane, isn't it? You were also able to walk into the tunnel where athlets were walking from to get in into the stadium and you could see the exhibition of all the former Olympic torches. Although I'm not a fan of Olympia at all, it was pretty impressive to look at.

Another friend of mine from Hamburg recommend the place s.i.x. Dogs to me, so once I've seen everything in the stadium I started to walk into that direction. She wasn't wrong when she described the backyard as an oasis. It was the perfect hipster place and I wish I could have spend more time there. (Tumblr only allows 10 photos per post, but I encourage you to Google that place!) I ordered a homemade lemonade and an avocado toast, uploaded some pictures to Instagram and enjoyed the surroundings.

As the clock was hitting late afternoon, I started to head to the Gazi Music Hall to meet V. As there are not too many gigs happening in Greece, it was kinda interesting to see the security guys getting ready for the doors to open. It took them a long time and plenty re arrangements of the fences to sort things out. And for some obvious reason they delayed the doors for more than 30 minutes. At least I had a funny moment when one of the security guys asked me where I was from and he happily started to talk some bits in German with me. Because did you know? In Greece you can choose between French and German for your second foreign language in school (after English). I think that's really beautiful! Also a big Yay for the venues policy of letting us bring our water bottles inside!

We scored our spots in the front row and waited patiently for Frank to enter the stage. He opened his set wuth "If Ever I Stray", singing it kinda a Cappella in the beginning before joining in with his guitar. It was strange, I didn't expect anyone in the venue to know Frank's lyrics. I didn't expect anyone to sing or dance along, but I also didn't expect a guy standing behind me, squeeking in a really high pitchy voice. As first I wasn't even sure if he loved or hated Frank; he even screamed "Fuck off your fucking mother**ker" once Frank was saying something. It was super weird. But once Ftabm started to sing "The Road" they guy started to stumble around the lyrics and sing along. So I guess it was just his unusual way of expressing his excitement. I tried really hard to ignore him and enjoy the set, but this evening it was really really hard. And I was also annoyed of the amount of people smoking inside the venue. (it's not allowed but nobody really cares)

Once Frank set was over, I managed to get the setlist and handed it over to V.. In the end it was her freaking home show and sometimes you can make someone really happy with a small gesture. We left the front while the stage was set up of the Dropkicks and got many stares from people who just couldn't believe we were just there to see this strange English guy playing the support gig. Well.... We got us a good spot on the balcony and watched the crowd going wild for Dropkick Murphys. Like freaking wild! There was even a flare in the middle of the crowd - in an indoor venue!! Holy shit. The securitys grabbed it quickly but couldn't manage to put it out. It was a mess to watch them handling the situation. I wish I could have seen more of the show as the venue looked amazing and gave an incredible atmosphere. But as everyone was smoking and my lungs still react to too much smoke with me having asthma, I decided to get a cab via Beat and head back to my hotel. I had an early flight to catch anyway! Thessaloniki was about to come next!

[bulgariansumo]

Galactimato Big Brother Week 2

<<Week 1 | Week 3 >

In the first episode, Emil succeeded his first mission of getting Aiden nominated, but when it came to eliminating his own brother, he was simply outnumbered! How will he explain this betrayal?

--

"It was actually easier than I thought it'd be?" Emil recounted. "I meeean, we're pretty well off already--I don't even know if I'm gonna keep the money I win--and Aiden doesn't really have a steady place to live, sooo, I told Lorie I was thinkin' of that. He seemed to buy it."

--

Week 2 has officially begun with 1 down and 13 remaining!

I made a couple of custom pictures for this week, and since tumblr only allows 10 images per post now, I'm going to describe some of the events in text, like now!

Week 2's HoH contest kicks off with a game of Majority Rules!

In this game, the Houseguests stand in individual booths in the backyard. Benji Baker will ask a question and they must answer it the way they think the rest of the house will respond. Those who answer with the majority advance to the next round; those who don't are eliminated. The last Houseguest remaining becomes the new Head of Household.

Toni wins Head of Household! And now for the nomination ceremony.

--

"Hey Toni, you're a sweet kid, so I know this choice might be rough on ya," Benji reassured, "but don't think too hard about it. Just pick whoever!"

"Oh no, I know exactly who to pick." Toni smiled.

"Oho~ Why don't'cha tell us, then?"

"Okay!" Toni hovered a finger at the crowd. "I pick you," he stopped on Mia, "annnd you!" with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he pointed at his brother.

"WHAT?" Maxy exploded. "What gives??"

"You ate my chocolate bar!"

"It didn't have your name on it! ...After I took the wrapper off." he admitted.

--

Just as one brotherly conflict resolved, another began! Yet one question still remained...

--

"Why Miaaa?" Roxie hugged the freckled nominee.

Toni folded his hands behind his back. "I don't not like her... but she won against me in the cutest freckles contest!"

"The what?" Higgy quirked an eyebrow.

"A tally chart posted in the kitchen earlier this week." explained Jun. "It's also rigged. I never voted, yet there's 13 tallies."

"Whoa, huh??" reacted Emil.

"I couldn't choose, so I never voted either!" Roxie chimed in.

"Until now, I didn't know it even existed." Higgy folded his arms. "Who set it up, anyway?"

Angelo made eye-contact with Emil. "I th-thought I saw..."

"Who did you see, Angie?" Leon asked his brother.

With all eyes on him, he lost confidence. "No one... Nevermind."

"Should I pick someone else?" wondered Toni.

"Sorry kiddo, no do-overs!" Benji cut in. "On with the show!"

--

The second veto challenge begins. Toni, as HoH, and Maxy and Mia, as nominees, compete along with Angelo, Nicky, and Mai, who were also selected to play.

Cutthroat Christmas is the name of the game, a Christmas-themed curling competition where the player whose puck is furthest from the center gets eliminated. Eliminated contestants get to choose a prize, including the Power of Veto, but it can be taken by the next contestant who gets eliminated. Whoever holds the PoV at the end of the game wins it.

Maxy won the Power of Veto, but Mai would like to have it on record that she won the actual curling challenge, despite not taking the PoV for herself.

--

"I'm gonna use the veto on myself!" Maxy didn't wait for the Veto Ceremony to properly begin.

Benji chuckled. "Love the enthusiasm, but you gotta state why you need to be saved first."

"Does it matter if he has the veto?" asked Mia.

"...I guess you're right!" The host shrugged.

Maxy stuck his tongue out at Toni and walked back to the rest.

"You got someone lined up?" asked Benji.

Toni's eyes darted around the floor. "Um, Leon?"

"Me?" He pointed to himself. "Why?"

"Angelo told me about the time you made him give up his arcade tickets. It's not nice!"

"T-Toni? I-I-I didn't mean--!" Angelo sputtered. "That was years ago!"

"Ohhh!" Leon remembered. "Are you still mad about that?"

"What? I-I could never--! Toni, please! I-I don't want him to go!"

"Oh. Sorry." Toni looked pitiful. "Can I pick someone else?"

"Nope!" answered Benji.

--

Through many misunderstandings along the way, the final stage for Week 2 was set! Another star will fall from the Celestion-5 crew. The question is, will America keep its sights on Mia, or will Leon be the new target? Stick around for the voting to find out!

The votes have been cast, and America kept true to its original target. What do the houseguests have to say about their decisions?

--

"I-I'm sorry it ended up this way." Angelo couldn't bring himself to look at the camera. "Th-This is all my fault, but I need Big Brother to know I'd never betray him."

"Leon's easy to impress." was Mai's reasoning. "He's a better audience."

Higgy gazed disdainfully to his side. "He lacks rhythm. Even Maxy has that much going on."

Lorenzo sat prim and proper. "Summers has passion for the Interstellar Forces, but Wattson abides by rules more consistently."

The video feed cut from the other contestants' interview rooms back to the front of the house where the host stood.

"You know what time it is!" Benji pointed at the camera. "Time to check in on Emil! How ya doin'?"

Emil exhaled, sitting in his own interview room. "Ange nearly got me back there."

"Ha ha ha! Sharp eyes on that kid. How ya feel about the votes?"

"Sorry Mia," He lowered his head, "but it's what America wanted."

"Another thing." Benji pursed his face. "For someone claimin' to not need money, why are you playin' along?"

"I don't wanna ruin the show!" Emil laughed.

"C'mon, is that it?"

"Wellll. There's a chance I miiight need a new place to stay soon." He lost his smile. "But that's all I can say."

"If ya win the house, you'll have that all set!" Benji explained. "Good luck, kid!"

"Thanks!" Emil winked at the camera. "Catch ya later!"

--

The whims of America have been delivered by Emil's hand. Mia Wattson is a houseguest no more. What does she have to say about this?

--

"I can't really think of anyone I would've won against." Mia shrugged.

"Aww, that's a shame." Benji frowned. "What are your plans now?"

"I can probably get more reading in with less people around."

"Hey!" Benji gave her a hearty slap on the back that nearly knocked her over. "Atta girl, that's the spirit!" He pointed to something off camera. "There's also some people who wanna say goodbye! Last one walked off before anyone could."

Roxie slammed into Mia for a hug. "I'll miss you, Mia!!"

Mia attempted to choke out a thanks.

Leon waved. "If I wasn't also nominated, I probably would've voted to keep you in."

"Thanks."

Toni stepped up shyly, bowing toward Mia. "Just so you know, I voted for you on the freckles thing."

"Really?" She seemed surprised. "You didn't have to."

"I really think yours are cuter! Anyway, I'm sorry for picking you. "He bowed to Leon. "You too."

"No big deal!" Leon smiled. "You were just looking out for Angie!"

"I made him really sad, though..."

"Knowing him, he'll forgive you." He reassured. "Just like forgave me! I still kinda owe him for the ticket thing... Thanks for the reminder!"

"Toni," Higgy called, "it's time for dance rehearsal."

"I'll be there!" Toni bowed to everyone. "Sorry, but I have to go. Bye bye, Mia!"

"Good luck, Toni." She smiled. "I voted for you too."

[scriptmedic]

How to Prep for NaNoWriMo

(Or, How I Wrote 30,000 Words in 4 Days to Finish a Novel)

Hey there Scriptaccinos! Welcome back to Aunt Scripty’s House of Mayhem, where we’re getting ready for pumpkin lattes, candy corn, and NaNoWriMo! 

People have asked me more than twice about how I manage to be so productive. I work a full-time healthcare job, and yet, in the last year, I’ve created (85+%) or curated (~15%) over 2,000 blog posts, published 3 books, and written at least 200,000 words of personal writing.

I’m not a superhuman. Actually I’m pretty average. And I’ve set myself an enormous personal challenge — write a trilogy of fiction before the end of 2017. While blogging. And helping you all with NaNo.

On the most recent note, I came into October with 18,000 words of a novel written. I wrote the last 30,000 words and finished the project in four days, while answering bucketloads of blog questions (the last 10 days worth of content was also written in that timeframe), contending with a mild fever, and Life Stuff.  Oh–and I’m about 14,000 words into Book 2 already.

I have been accused of being a machine. I assure you that beep boop boo–

….uh oh. Who found my secret pictures?!

And yet the number 1 request from my readers is the desire that I clone myself. If only I were Tatiana Maslany…

You don’t have to do all the things I’ve been doing to hit those levels of productivity. But a lot of you are doing NaNoWriMo, and I want to give you some advice for how to Get It The F*** Done, Mate.

I’m also going to give you the techniques I use and some of the books that I’ve read that are helping me along the way. I’m constantly striving to improve how much work I get done with the same measly 24 hours as anyone else.

Defend Your Time

Everything demands your attention. Work does. Your cuddlemate(s) do(es). Your TV calls to you. YouTube beckons with lures of dancing cats. Tumblr will eat your soul if you allow it to. 

…establish a writing time. Get up an hour early. Stay up an hour late. Do it on your lunch. Whatever it is, establish a time and defend it. Tell your honey “This is my writing time. This is important to me. I need it.” Sacrifice some TV time. Writing Time is sacred. If you use headphones, put a Post-It on your headphones that say “Writing. Please Do Not Disturb.” (Yes, it’s dorky, but it will work.)

If you need to be in a different physical space to write, go there.

You also have to defend your time from yourself, more than anything. Set an alarm on your phone: This Is Writing Time.  Turn off your internet. Silence your phone. And, once you’ve started writing, put it in another room — or at least out of your sight.

You’ll need about an hour and a half every day for this. Ninety minutes. If you can work for 90 minutes a day, six days a week, you can write this novel in a month. (I actually recommend seven days so you don’t lose momentum.)

If your day is jam-packed, decide what’s truly necessary, and what can be smooshed out of the way to make room for your writing time.

Techniques: The Pomodoro

By far, writing in sprints is the number one way to get your stories done. But word sprints are an art form. They need to be done in a special way.

The point of a word sprint is this: For 25 minutes, you will do nothing but write. Phone Off. Butt in chair. Hands on keys. Write.

The best way to do this is to set a timer on your phone for 25 minutes. (If your phone lets you set up multiple ones, like mine does, set another for 5 minutes; you’ll use this when you’re done with your Pomodoro to take a break.) Don’t listen to music that has words. If you can, I actually recommend putting your phone in another room so that you have to get up to make the beeping go away.

For those 25 minutes, you can do nothing  but write.

When you’re done, I want you to tally up the number of words you’ve written. (I just make a note in Notepad or StickyNotes on Windows with: Starting Wordcount, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. Track how many words you write in each Pomodoro. (It takes about 4 seconds with a Calculator app.)

NaNoWriMo means writing 50,000 words in 30 days, which is scary. But a smaller target is 1667 words in a day. Still daunting? That’s fine. Do 3 Pomodoros with a target of 650 words per 25 minutes. That’s 26 words in a minute, and it will take you an hour and a half to do three of them. (If you can, I highly recommend 4 — I find the 4th Pomodoro is where I start to hit my stride.)

For productivity stuff, I recommend [5,000 Words per Hour] by Chris Fox; you can get this book for free from [his Web site].

Make It A Game.

Humans love games. Our brains think they’re better than crack. Seriously, Mrs Scripty has been playing hours of Bejeweld Blitz lately.

So make your word count a game. How many words did you do in your last sprint? Let’s top it! What’s your strongest day in the month? Top it! Push yourself to write more and write faster. You’ll get more into the zone and sooner than you think you’ll be blinking and going “Wait… did I just win NaNoWriMo?”

Know What You’re Going to Write (Before You Write It)

This is so important. I cannot even begin to tell you how much this helps. If you want to write quickly, this is how you do it. You plan to write, and then you write the plan.

Whoah! you say. Outlining?! you say. I’m a pantser, like my aged grandmother before me! We don’t need no stinkin’ outlines! 

You might not need them. But they help. Especially in a project like NaNoWriMo, or mine (12 Weeks to a Trilogy), knowing where you’re going will help you decide what matters and what has to get written.

I recommend [Take Off Your Pants!] by Libbie Hawker, [Outlining Your Novel] (and the Workbook) by K M Weiland, and [Save the Cat!] by Blake Snyder.

If you plan nothing else about your book, I want you to plan three things:

The Inciting Incident

The Midpoint

The Climax

Do not skip the Midpoint. It will help you. I swears it. (The Midpoint is a big change that causes your character to take things seriously; it’s the big Shit Hits The Fan moment of the middle of the story. It’s a huge false victory or false defeat.) Then all you need to do is get to the next big scene: Write from the “hook” to the Inciting Incident, from the Inciting Incident to the Midpoint, the Midpoint to the Climax, and resolve all the little things after. That’s it. Four easy phases.

A Basic Scene Structure Helps. Really.

A scene is a product of six components:

A Goal — what your hero wants

Some Obstacles — what gets in the way

A Disaster — something catastrophic happens that prevents them from getting their goal (or lets them get what they thought they wanted — for an enormous price)

The character’s Reaction — how they feel about it

A Dilemma — what do we do now after that Disaster?

A Decision — a plan for how to proceed.

That’s it. And the easiest, most helpful thing you can do before writing a scene is give just one sentence to an outline of what you want. Six sentences will get you so far in knowing where you need to take your scene.

Let Yourself Write Shit

First drafts are made to be awful. All of writing is rewriting. You won’t write a good first draft in a month. But guess what? All a first draft has to do to be perfect is exist.

Small Tricks That Really Help:

Research Before or After, Not While, You Write. You don’t have to know everything in the moment. If you need to research something — a gun type, a character’s favorite car, whatever — just [put it in brackets]. You can come back and work on those later.

TK will TKO Your Interruptions. The letters TK are an editor’s mark for To Come. Like brackets, they are magical. Not sure what to name the whizbang gizmo? “Stop or I’ll destroy you with my [gizmo TK].” And move on.

Eat the Elephant Bite By Bite. You’re not writing a novel and you don’t have to write 50,000 words this month. You’re writing one scene, and you’re trying to write 800 words this Pomodoro. That’s it. Miss your 800? Hit it next time.

Take Walks. Your 5-minute breaks between 25-minute Pomodoros? Use those to physically get up and walk around. Don’t stare at the Internet. Go up and down some stairs or go stare at the sunset. Get away from screens.

Leave Tags. When you stop writing, stop in the middle of

a sentence. It makes it so much easier to pick up momentum when you sit down again.

Watch The Movie and Write It Down. It can really help to just picture your scene in your head like a movie, again, before you write. (You can watch it on Fast Forward.) When you sit down to write, just write what you see.

Defend Your Space. Make your own little world. Put in headphones or earbuds and listen to music. I try to either use something appropriate and ambient (like wooden ship sounds for a pirate story) or music set up to be productive (like this upbeat productivity mix).

BONUS!

For all your Scrivener users out there, I made an outlining Scrivener doc!

It has:

A Foolscap outline (to help you with global structure)

Integrated Save the Cat! beat sheet cards (to help you figure out where things belong) with word count targets for 60k, 80k, and 100k projects

Obligatory Scene lists for Thrillers, Redemption stories, and Love stories

Scene cards which include the six-phase scene structure up above.

It’s what I’m using to write the novel I’m currently on, and I think it will help you out. [Here’s where you can download it.]

Also, the structural cards are separate from the Manuscript for the document so that you don’t wind up with random things in your exported ebook/docx/whatever.

[Download It Here]

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

[10 BS Medical Tropes that Need to Die Today]

[Maim Your Characters: How Injuries Work in Fiction]

[Blood on the Page Volume One: A Writer’s Compendium of Injuries]

How to Prep for NaNoWriMo was originally published on ScriptMedicBlog.com

[kittensjonsa]

Some thoughts on season 7 plot leaks, general GOT, jonerys and Jonsa (Meta)

Hi, first of all I wanted to say thank you for your tumbrl. It’s always full of nice and positive quotes, articles and metas. I’m a sucker for ships, I guess I just like to see people happy. Jonsa has quickly become one of my favorite ships. I don’t have a tumbrl or any real platform to express my opinions about it but if you allow me I would like to share some of my thoughts with fellow shippers. 

Well, first I have to say I didn’t watch GOT since the beginning, actually I started watching after season 6 was out. My first introduction to the show was a clip of jonsa, I thought it was the clip of a couple and then I read they were siblings (this was confusing and disturbing…. until the pilot, I’m talking to you J/C). If you want to keep watching GOT you have to get over incest issues or…. family sexual intercourse, so I got over it. Then I watched the whole show, I haven’t read the books cause I don’t want to confuse myself with information that has not been revealed in the show yet or may never be.

I was surprised to see how many people hate Sansa in the fandom, I find her character and story arc very interesting. I love her story, and I love Arya’s, and Bran’s, and Jon’s. Why is people comparing them? Why is people pitting them against each other? Specially the 2 sisters. One is not better than the other, they both make mistakes, very stupid mistakes but they also survive in their own right. Arya is not strong because she knows how to fight (physically), she is strong because of who she is. Fighting is an skill, just like playing an instrument, sewing, drawing or being good with numbers. I’m a terrible athlete and I can only do maths for daily use but that doesn’t make me weak, stupid or less awesome. I have other abilities and those are my strengths. You are strong when you know what are you good at, that’s how you play your part in a larger picture, that’s how you fight. Sansa has her witty, her courtesy and her words, she is fighting from inside (by the way she has no blame on what happened to Ned, she is responsable for getting herself stuck in Kings Landing which she fully knows and understand)

Then I saw a very vocal group of people shipping jonerys and after 6 seasons I have to say…. I still don’t see it. Yes, I see the parallels but there are so many parallels with so many other characters. I do believe a meeting between these 2 characters is inevitable and needed for the story to progress. But this is not a romantic love story between the 2 heroes. This is a story about power. D&D said it 6 years ago when they started the series. This is a story about people who wants power ( Littlefinger, the Tyrell’s, The Frey’s, Daneyris and so on), the ones who have power and want to keep it (the Lannisters) and the ones stuck in the middle (the Starks and the realm).It’s about what power do to people, all that they loose in the process and the pain it causes them. It’s very well explained in the first season.

What I love about GOT is that everybody can be the hero or the villain, it all depends of the lent with which you see it. You are a hero if you play for your family and a villain if you play against them. Honor is not that simple either. Why is an oath-breaker less honorable for saving millions of lives? why is an oath-breaker better for following his heart? Do you ever really win? There’s no absolutes in this world. 

I know this is long but I have a lot to say, bare with me please. Which leads me to the leaks and promo pics. There’s been endless discussions about them, I’ve heard all kind of opinions, pro and anti. That’s why I write about them now. The leaks came very early on and with them set pics that corroborate most of them. Jonsa shippers where pissed off and disappointed. I know I was but mostly cause those weren’t little hints or clues of what’s to come but entire plot lines and episode scrips. But here are the good news. Plot lines don’t give us real context or understanding of how the characters are feeling about their situations.

- Littlefinger is plotting and pitting Sansa and Arya against each other ( doesn’t tell us if this is working, it’s setting a dramatic conflict. Guess what? This is a drama)

- Jonsa is having arguments and they are separated the whole season (doesn’t said in which terms, we haven’t seen any dialogues there)

- Jonerys is having sex (according to the leaks they meet in the second episode, get separated at the third and reunited and have sex in the seventh. It took Jon and Igrytte 10 episodes with no separations to finally get in bed together…. and they were in love) And since the structure of the show gives us an average of 10 minutes per character each episode, sometimes even less. How are they gonna develop a real relationship there?

Lots of characters haven’t been mentioned in the leaks either. I doubt they don’t have story arcs this year. Also most of the leaks were predictable and very plausibles. Jon meeting Theon and being super angry at him (we all saw that coming). Jonerys meeting (at this point of the story it’s necessary). Arya and Bran coming home, also very necessary. Sansa is taking care of littlefinger…super necessary. Euron is siding with Cercei, yeap, very predictable. All the signs are in the last season.

JONSA  AND JONERYS THOUGHTS

I’m a jonsa shipper. I’m a shipper but I love good stories more. When one of my ships don’t work on a narrative level I understand. What frustrates me is when writers try to fit a ship  as fan service. Now, I’m not a Danerys fan. The only moments I get to enjoy her story is when she learns something and show some humility. Unfortunately this is not very often. I love Tyrion and Jorah. Her best moments so far has been with them cause they are actually smarter than her and humble. Danerys has been since season 2 very entitle, very proud, she even crowned herself (until you get to Westeros and you are appointed you don’t have a real crown, otherwise everybody can be crowned). Saying you are king or queen doesn’t make you either of them as the show has proven so far. Dario said last season she wasn’t born to sit in a palace and give orders, she is a conqueror (very different from being a ruler). She lacks humility which Jon has in spades.                             Her story has been very separated from all the important ones and that’s everybody complain, mine too. That’s why excite me she is finally making it to Westeros, her story will actually matter. It can be argue that Jon story has been separated from everybody too but he is a Stark (ok, %50 Stark) but a Stark nevertheless and all that happened in Kings landing and the North affects him for that reason. I love Jon, he is my guy.

Putting aside my feelings for Danerys, having J/D falling in love doesn’t do any real service to the story, at least not from my point of view. They would be a terrible couple. She is power hungry, wants the Iron throne more than anything and will do anything for it. Jon wants to serve the people, fight for their lifes. Danerys wants a king just in title, she wants to rule alone. Jon doesn’t want power but he knows he wasn’t born to be a submissive husband either. They would be fighting to be on top all the time. Two people on the top at the same time is physical and mentally imposible. As I said before the plot leaks don’t give too much room for a romance development there, everybody is busy doing their thing, but we won’t know until we see. If what the show is trying to do is a political alliance by marriage then why jonerys would have sex first and soo quickly? It can only go downhill from there ( that’s actually good news for jonsa shippers). Also Jon parentage revelation will be huge. It will change everything for whoever makes it into the final season. That’s what excite me the most. If jonerys hook up I really hope it serves the story somehow and not be just fan service.

I needed to get through jonerys first so I could explain why jonsa makes more sense narratively speaking. Sansa and Jon started being so idealist and they had a hard awaken to the world. They endured so much to be who they are right now, they were the last people they expected to rely on at the end, and that makes it even better for me. While everybody was hyped for a reunion between Jon and Arya (that would be awesome) I found jonsa more suitable.Two characters we have never seen interacting with each other but with previous history. Both really free for the first time, both damaged, both carrying their scars and still feeling the pain. Jon needed purpose and Sansa had a big one. All their scenes together were a delight to watch, from their first meeting, through the fights and the “we have to trust each other” moment. That’s how you develop a relationship. No sex there, no making out session, that last one was a real intimated moment. Aside from my enjoyment of Kit Harington and Sophie Turner on screen chemistry and the way their scenes were edited and directed, jonsa works narratively as an end game. Jon could die at the end, that’s a real possibility, I know. But damn, Jonsa getting married at the end for political reasons, for duty, to keep the North and the realm together is far more satisfying. Cat said this to Robb once, what Ned and she had grew stronger and lasted longer than passion. I’m team Stark all the way, that’s the family we spend more time with, we are rooting for them, for Ned’s family. 

Me:

A lovely meta was sent by a nonny and just had to share it for the Jonsa perspective.

Oh yes my kink is seeing ppl happy and enjoying themselves and letting them ship whoever or whatever they want because honestly if my tumblr could be anything, it’ll be for anyone to have a good time, a good laugh and just see that there’s always a silver lining no matter what. Life is hard and can’t let that get to you. If any of my silly posts made you smile then my work is done 😊 Oh and sorry for the bad jokes/puns lol. Also, for this less than eloquent reply.

And I ship JonSa like it’s the air I breathe lol I have been since the books (low key) - their POVs and values are so similar like how a couple should be.

So imagine me when S6 came, I pounced on it with everything I had in me, that ship gives me life!! And so I am glad to have found a fantastic fandom right here on tumblr and Jonsa shippers are just the best! (really they are!)

Thank you for the mail Nonny!! Bless you and hope you’re having a great day wherever you are!! And yes, Jonsa for life babyyy!! 😘

[sassenach-j]

ECCC2017 goodness: my recap

Ok, so I've actually never written a blog, nor am I on tumblr too much, but I had such an incredible experience at my first comicon that I thought I should write a bit about it!  Let's see how this goes.  It all started when Sam and Cait (and Eddie), posted that OH SO ADORABLE video from the makeup trailer telling everyone they would be at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle.  I was so busy at work that day, it was almost a blur.  Twitter was abuzz about it, and my girlfriends and I were messaging back and forth like....I'm going, how can I not go, are you going? We have to go!  And before I knew it, I was telling one of them...just buy me a ticket!! I'll make it work!  And alas....ECCC2017 was a go. The opportunity to see Sam and Cait in person, and also a chance to meet 7 of the most wonderful girlfriends in the same city?  SIGN ME UP! The first night in Seattle was so much fun!  7 of us (none of us had ever met, but have been talking on twitter every day for about a year), completely clicked so seamlessly, it was like we had met 10 times before!  Meeting them was seriously the highlight.  Ok yes, seeing Sam and Cait at the same con was also an out of body experience :).  Besides majorly fangirling over seeing our faves the following day, the night i arrived at the hotel and meeting and spending hours laughing and drinking and eating lots of non MPC approved snacks, and playing Cards Against Humanity, and Never Have I Ever.... was priceless!  The next day, on verra little sleep (how can we sleep when we were gonna see Sam and Cait the next morning!!), we arrived at the convention center at 7:15am. We mayyyy have gotten 4 hours of sleep night before, and that’s being generous!  The doors were going to open around 10am, and we just HAD to get up close and personal at that panel.  We arrived so early we were super close to the front of the line.  It wasn't so much a line as a....smush together and stand for 3.5 hours...  But heck, for them it was worth it, sore bodies and all. 

They didn't let us in until 10:30, so needless to say our legs were about to fall off.  When the time came to herd us thru, the organizers said..."no running".... ummm...yeah good luck with that.  So we "walked super fast" and tried to get pretty close, but our squad of 8 kinda broke up in the shuffle and some of us grabbed seats in row 5, and the other girls a few rows behind.  Still great vantage points!  Cait came out first looking absolutely adorable.  And in that leather jacket she wears soooo well.  She looked beautiful in all black!  Then Sam came out IN A KILT!  Hallelujah!! It's been so long, I was like...are my eyes deceiving me?? They were not.  And then he killed us with a wee kilt twirl. Lawwwwwd!  Cait laughed!  They seriously make each other laugh, oh...about every 5 seconds. And they were both wearing black leather jackets.  As per usual...matchy matchy.  The panel was great! They're just SO giggly and adorable and happy together, you can't help but feel the same!  I love how much Cait teases him. It's the cutest thing ever to witness in person! They truly are just such bright lights and so engaging and caring and they love their fans so much.  It's so evident when you watch them together.  

There were tons of Q&A questions, and one of my girls, @heyheykatiemae asked one too!!  It was perfect.  Cait said ‘Hi Kate’...and I think we all died.  Of course, after the fact, I now have like tons of questions I'll ask next time! The panel was about an hour or so, and after taking tons of pictures (most came out blurry....damn those low lights in the event room!), alas, the panel was over.  We all had autograph tickets for Sam and/or Cait for that day after the panel but the room was already full so we were told we can go back for the 2nd shift around 4pm. So instead, we grabbed lunch and then headed to the hotel where they were doing the group photos! Omg, soon enough I would get my samcait sandwich!!! Kind of a dream! Long lines were completely fine bc it gave us time to catch our breath. Although, the nerves were definitely rampant! I mean, these two beautiful humans would be NEXT TO US in a matter of minutes. Never having a con experience before I didn't know what to expect regarding the photos . People around us who had already taken their solo pic with Sam said it's super quick and u barely have enough time to say hi! I wore my Unusual Lady tshirt, and under it I had my MPC shirt. Yes, my plan was to flash Sam the MPC shirt after Cait saw my Unusual Lady shirt. I also recently got into knitting so I knitted them both hats! Granted they'll be in 80 degree temps in South Africa, but eventually they'll be back in cold Scotland!  Hearing that the photos would be super fast, I had no clue how I would say hi (or ramble incoherently), give them their hats, flash Sam (uhh the MPC shirt, that is), AND take a pic w them in the minimal time allotted!  I was on line to take my pic, and after dropping off my jacket and bags on the nearby table, I heard NEXT! I saw them standing there and omg are they tall and gorgeous, and as I walked up to them I THINK I held out my arms and said Hiiiiii! I heard Cait scream and point to my shirt and smile! My unusual lady shirt!! I quickly pulled up my shirt to show Sam the MPC one underneath. And omg thank goodness I held down the shirt so there was no actual flashing 😳.. and he pointed and smiled and said that's great! I then mumbled...I knitted you both hats!  Mind u, as I walked up, someone literally snatched my bag with the hats from me and put them into a box with other gifts. So after I said I knitted u two hats, I remember Sam saying oh great! In the blink of an eye I was between the two of them, and both of their arms were around me, and mine around them. Hello out of body experience. 

Oh wait...let's back up slightly. So the day of the Con, I said to the girls..ok so I want to show Sam my MPC shirt after Cait sees the unusual lady shirt , and I said my fear is that I'll forget to pull my shirt down for the pic. Well, lo and behold half of my shirt was up for the pic.  🙈. As I was flashing Sam, I heard the organizer go MOVE. Umm gee, thanks for the time. So I ran between them for the pic and I remember pulling my shirt down, but I guess not all the way! When the pic was printed I was like oh nooooo 😂.  But heck, it gives the pic more of a pop of color, and to be honest, no one is even looking at me when those two stunning humans are in that pic!  Ok so back to being in between them... they both really squeeze tight and I remember that feeling so well! The photographer said.. READYYYY ... and then there was the FLASH. Then he yelled NEXT !  I said thanks and ran off. Problem was I ran the wrong way bc I was so flustered and then I hear someone say..wrong way! And I ran back to the correct exit side like a chicken with my head cut off. Thankfully there was no video of this! I tried to wait for my friends bc I was the first to go, but we had to move it along. After we were all done, there was a lot of screaming and squee'ing!! It really felt so rushed and I wish they gave us more time, but omg it was still so amazing taking a pic w them! They really are so tall in person! And so gorgeous and so kind!! Sam's leather jacket was so soft! And I remember putting my arm around Cait and it ended up on her arm! And Sam's hand ended up on my side and his fingers were pressed down. *faints*

So after we picked up our hard copy pics, we had a little time before the autographs. We composed ourselves. Ok, who am I kidding, there was zero composure as we all rehashed our picture experience with one another! We were freaking out!  Next stop...the autographs! We lined up rather early but neither Sam nor Cait were in the room as of yet. It was so intimate! Didn't realize the room would be so small and cozy. They each had their own table next to one another but they were somewhat on opposite ends. After about 10min or so, Sam came in!  So he walked in to all of us hootin and hollerin. I can't believe I just used the phrase hootin & hollerin. Does anyone say that anymore? Anyway.... when he walked in he did his cute schoolboy smile and wave. Granted I was just next to him for a photo but he was so close again! Cait was gonna be another few minutes bc she was still taking individual photos with fans.  Because of this, they allowed the people who only had Sam autographs to move up in line while the others (I only had Cait bc Sam was already sold out) waited on Cait.  I actually thought that half of the room would start to move up in the line, but it was only maybe 10 people or so.  The others had both Sam and Cait, or just Cait.  After a few min Cait arrived to a raucous applause. Not to mention a banging on the table by Sam when she walked in, and his big smile at her as she sat down. Such an adorable goober! Ok where was I... so we were waiting for the line to move and all of a sudden the lights went out! Then u hear Cait go... ladies, this is not the way to get to Sam! 😂  To which everyone laughed. When the lights came back up, both Sam and Cait were leaning back in their chair looking at each other and smiling. They continue to kill us.   Sam was just sitting there alone, cause at the time no one was lined up at his table.  So he made a funny comment like, where is everyone? I was standing so close and decided to talk to him.  Cause I mean...why not, right?  So I said yeah what's the deal.  I said something like I'll keep you company.  So he looks at me and goes (with a hand waving gesture) come on over.  And then he winked.  And then I died.  I of course wasn't allowed to hop over the rope (darn), but that wink and smile was everything.  A few minutes later Sam walked over to Cait, put his arm around her and scrunched down to her, whispered something, and then stood up and hand gestured that she talks too much, basically saying that's why he has no one in his line. Haha!  He's the cutest, and he can never stay away from her!  She laughed.  We all swooned. 

So I had brought with me the main promo card picture of Jamie and Claire from S1. I had Ron D. Moore sign it while ago and thought it would be great for Cait to sign it too. I was so sad I wasn't able to buy Sam's autograph ticket bc he was sold out. Cait is seriously so stunning. She just radiates joy. She is so genuine and so warm and friendly. You could truly tell she was having such a great time! She needs to go to cons more often! She's just so real,  you can't help but smile in her presence. I was so thrilled to see how much love she was getting at this con. I mean...we all love Sam, that goes without saying! But Cait never attends these events, so to see all the attention and admiration from the fans, it was really a sight to behold.  Both she and Sam are legit mesmerizing in person! They are just so beautiful, with such beautiful hearts. Sorry, got distracted there for a minute...ok, so it was finally time to walk up to Cait. I had my season 1 promo pic for her to sign, as well as a gorgeous pic of Cait that a couple of my friends & I had printed out to surprise one of our girls who couldn't be here.  You really do lose all sense of speech when looking right at her!  She signed both pictures and then i rambled.  Earlier on, when I took my pic with her and Sam, I had brought them hats that I knitted, but someone snagged them from me so fast and put them into a box, so I asked Cait about it! *burrows head in sand*.   I was like...hi!  Question for you!  So when we took our pic, someone took these hats I had knitted for you and Sam, and I was was wondering if you'll get them?  So she goes, oh yes, they put everything in a big box for us and we'll definitely get it!  She thanked me!  Then she looked at my unusual lady shirt and said, with a big smile, thank you so much for supporting.  I said oh of course, I'm so happy to.  It's such a great charity and you do amazing work.  She thanked me again, and I floated away.  So, as I mentioned earlier, I didn't have a Sam autograph, but after leaving Cait's table you end up walking right past Sam to head out of the room.  No one was in front of him at the time, so I verrrrry slowly walked by, while holding my picture that Cait just signed.  His handler (not sure if that's the correct name) holds out his hand (to take my autograph ticket), but I said...I don't have one *sad face*, he was sold out.  He felt so bad that he handed me (also with a sad face), one of Sam's headshots that was sitting there, unsigned.  So I said thank you and then Sam looked up at me.  He also held his hand out for my pictures, and I said....you were sold out, so you won't be able to sign my picture.  I still had my sad face on, which was valid! He looked sad too and said oh noooo.  He then put out his hand and goes..I'll sign it!  Then he takes the picture from me. His handler lady says, did u buy an autograph? I was lost in the moment & didn't say anything, so she gives Sam a dirty look, he looks at her, continues to sign and goes...I'll pay for this one.  DEATH. DEAD. GONE.  He's the sweetest person in the world!! I cannot believe he did that!  Then I proceeded to say thank you and blurted out...I'M A PEAKER TOO! I DID A 5K LAST WEEKEND.  Yes, I blurted! He goes oh that's great! So good, way to do it.  Then I left....walked into the hallway, and screamed with my girl Katie, because she was standing there next to me basically the entire time while waiting to have him sign her picture.  So yeah...that moment was kind of everything.  

Sam and Cait are just incredibly generous and genuine. Such good people. The OL fans at this con were so respectful and gracious and I enjoyed meeting other twitter and tumblr fans, as well!  It was just the thrill of a lifetime seeing Sam and Cait together at the con.  And what made it even better was getting to spend it with 7 of the best girlfriends, and going thru this experience together. They also had incredible experiences with both Sam and Cait, as highlighted wonderfully in @heyheykatiemae's blog!  Take a gander, if you haven't already! My first con was absolute perfection.  Fingers crossed they go back again next year, because we're all currently saving up money for ECCC2018 :).  Ok well, that’s about all!  Thanks for reading my ramblings! xx

[dansnaturepictures]

7 of my favourite pictures to take in the past week 

Old Winchester Hill view*

Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly at Old Winchester Hill**

Another Old Winchester Hill view***

Autumn leaves out the front****

Berries at Lakeside*****

One of my favourite birds the Great Crested Grebe feeding its chick at Lakeside******

Heart and dart moth in the living room*******

(In order of appearance in this photoset) 

I have to first say that the last week was perhaps my most packed with photos of all time. Between Sunday 9th and Saturday 15th August I took or as I like to call it produced as I take different versions of the same photo when out and keep the best or don’t keep ones that don’t work out and that in total 174 photographs, averaging 24.85 per day. Extraordinary for me on a week I worked albeit from home most of it as I do currently, but actually this probably makes it my highest yielding week of photos ever and its been heading that way for a while with how many I now take forward of my photos. This all made, if I wanted to, saying my favourite photo taken this week hard. If I quote or reply to one of my tweets with that photo for me in on my Twitter Dans_Pictures nowadays I have to have a theme to link it to of the week, this week beside the sheer amount taken there were too many; a week of moths, a week of insects/macro photography headlined by butterflies at the start, a week of increased bird photos for this time of year there was so many. So then I decided to do one of my picture context posts I sometimes do usually on a Sunday morning about my favourite photo from the week before saying what I liked about it, how it came about and any other relevant thoughts, but in truth whilst I had one photo particularly in mind there were lots of candidates without blowing my own trumpet of what I liked best. So I instead decided to bring seven together, so effectively meaning I had on average a real standout picture per day even if some of these were taken the same day to each other. Not to say the the others were poor days as there were so many I overlooked. And below about each, I say a little bit. 

*The week started in the midst of a heatwave at Old Winchester Hill in the South Downs where we had a stunning wildlife and landscape walk. We come once a year these days to see particular butterflies and they are there because the meadow and grass here are booming with colour and life. I just simply had to take landscapes and show what I was seeing on an incredible height-of-summer day, and I simply had to show you the vibrant meadows. And this picture does this for me which is why I like it. On Sunday I produced 40 pictures so instead of tweeting them all and clogging my profile 10 of them I included exclusively in my blog as I do in such common circumstances as this now and this one was tweeted so its the first time I’ve posted it on Tumblr, as is the case for photos **, *** and ******* in this post. 

**The photo I had in mind for the post. This was whilst not the only the main butterfly we went to this place to see and did getting it as a year tick. The visit was all about this butterfly, and it couldn’t have gone better for it. Within minutes in the rich grassland we spotted this small, subtle but clearly marked butterfly and were feeling incredible. I’d seen one before this one. And then attention quickly turned to getting a picture of it with my macro lens that I use for butterflies to get closeup. I had never photographed this butterfly what I would call really well in terms of my butterfly pictures so all I wanted was something, anything, picture wise to show what it was and allow me to remember it. I was in for a real treat as I saw this one landed and as I said in my blog about the trip a week ago tonight I took little safety shots snapping it from afar in case it as it very likely could flew off. Then I was in my element as I was standing right over the butterfly, but I felt I couldn’t really get down onto it nicely without my prominent shadow scaring it off. So on a hot day I just got down on the floor and eventually almost lied there giving me the ability to move myself in the right position to take photos and get really close up to it. A marvelous thing for me and my Mum to do on the hottest of days. And I really liked this image. With my new (as of January) macro lens what it is good for it gave me I felt that quality and detail of the butterfly so much so that I compared it to my spring Green Hairstreak photo at Magdalen Hill my best butterfly picture with this new macro lens so far and one of my best ever butterfly photos. But this one also played to my senses. I think the colour of the butterfly, markings as well as the way the sun is hitting it makes it to the eyes what a sweet drink such as apple juice (a coincidence that I am drinking this as I write) does for the taste buds. It just gives me a real ripe and celebration of life feeling. And for me this is an ultimate summer image in a sense, one of my best butterfly moments of the year.

***Another of my standout landscapes from a set I was so happy with from Old Winchester Hill. What struck me when there and when reflecting of what was one of my best days of the year for wildlife and photography this week was that Old Winchester Hill is one of the most beautiful places in Hampshire. It reminded me of thinking this in the early days of us visiting here from 2009 onwards I believe before we knew what butterflies it held. The meadows are brilliant but what I like about this image is it sums up this rural beauty spot aura of Old Winchester Hill for me because what makes it that is those stunning views afar over the South Downs. I think this image shows the varied aspects of that well, but also still features a bit of the meadows that adorn and support the life of this incredible place. 

****A big theme of this week also were the autumnal leaves and other autumnal characteristics at home and further afield mostly to the backdrop of the hot and very sunny weather. I just loved photographing this, and this Tuesday shot a tree turning autumnal out the front to the backdrop of the bright blue sky is my favourite such image. I just love the glow and flavour and light it shows and it makes me appreciate it and feel very pleasant. Its the multi-colour that makes it so the fact some leaves are still the summer green adds to it well. It reminds me very much of a picture I took of some autumn leaves in August 2013 at Bath that were up against a blue sky. One of my best ever images, one that when I used to pick photos of the week and year from my photos I named my colour, water and macro (What I would go onto refer to as my minority subjects) photo of the year. It was one of my first I think real great autumn leaves photos within my standard of photos and down the years I’ve taken more and more. But nothing ever matched it for me one with the aspect of it up against the blue sky with the sun shining right on it and two with so many different coloured leaves until this one on Tuesday which made it very satisfying to take. 

*****Berries have also been a big point of my autumn sightings, perhaps my most prominent year for noticing various berries from summer into autumn this year. And I’ll never forget photographing these on Wednesday and seeing them. As I walked into the woods south of the bowl area my eyes just sailed over to this bright, prominent red on the floor. I simply had to go over and take a look, and I was thrilled to see these berries on a low plant when I did. It was a divine shade of my favourite colour red. With my macro lens on I could not resist a photo of these berries and I was pleased with how this came out. One of my most unique and memorable pictures this year I feel. It came in a strong theme of red this week, as in a lovely Facebook photo group I’m in ‘A Moment in Time’ their theme this week was photos showing red and I loved putting this and others for the walk and this week as I photographed stuff accordingly almost in for it.

******As I said a week in the season where birds are of less variety and about less I saw and photographed an increasing amount which was very pleasing supporting all the other wildlife I saw. I had many candidates for this post actually for birds. My birds of the past few weeks really have been one family, the Great Crested Grebe pair with their three adorable chicks at Lakeside Country Park beside where we live. I have had multiple goes at taking photos of them now, charting their journey so far and slight growth. I have always loved seeing this species one of my favourite birds here what a key moment in my whole birding and wildlife journey seeing them here for the first time aged 10 was. But its perhaps only the situation we’re in that I’ve been able to come over here so often to follow them this year that I’ve really connected to the family and I feel so lucky and amazed to have them so close. This photo I enjoyed taking. It was nice to watch the chicks in the binoculars and so close I could see them with my naked eye and see the adult coming in with a fish looking great on its own. I then got the camera ready and waited to pick the right moment to snap as their beaks came together and I just about managed it with the fish shown. Something I’d not always managed to time right these past few weeks with either my DSLR or bridge camera. I find this image interesting and pleasant to look back on. Like the autumn leaves it made me reminiscent of a past photo a 2015 shot of a Coot putting food into its chick’s beak at RSPB Radipole Lake which my Mum ended up printing on a mug for me as a present. So very pleasant memories. 

*******Finally one taken too late on Friday evening to appear in the blog then so another Tumblr exclusive now. A massive theme this hot week with evenings drawing in so with windows being left open and light glaring out in a good time of year for it anyway was that many moths have come into our house and I’ve photographed most with my macro lens. This was the peak moment, with four in the living room this Heart and Dart, a new moth for us paraded nicely around and landed right behind the telly. I got my macro lens and managed this picture. What I liked about it was that macro quality again I feel for me. Its one of my best moth photos this year and ever I think. I didn’t just compare it to my favourite moth pictures with this lens so far this year, but the butterflies too. The moth interest is a side interest coming alongside the butterflies over this past decade but I photograph butterflies more so my butterfly pictures are generally better. In the end it didn’t quite compare to the Green Hairstreak and co or even my Scarlet Tiger moth at West Wood in July as the light in our house is no match for the natural sunlight. But in order to make this picture, I think it came close. 

I hope for another great week ahead even if the weather has now changed and I wish you all the same. I am sorry my social profiles have been so packed this week! But thank you so much for your wonderful continued support again. This week certainly brings a build up to excitement in a very summery way for me, as instead of the Bird Fair that we would in every year since 2007 be heading to the brilliant Rutland Water we are using the Friday and next Monday I have off to go to Devon in the hope of seeing a Dipper and whatever else. I am looking forward to hopefully seeing some of the virtual Bird Fair though browsing through the events made me nostalgic of all the usual feelings I get when planning our days at the fair in a normal year. 

I am of course happy that the Bird Fair was cancelled this year it was the right thing to do in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and it simply would not have been safe to hold it especially given its international scope and it was an informed, correct, timely and sensitive call from the organisers. I hope the virtual events raises as much for the fundraising of the valuable projects it supports for Bird Life International. Whilst away in Devon I have no idea if they’ll be wi-fi or how good it will be in the cottage we’re staying in so I may have to post photos and blogs when home. I am excited to go to another part of the country I hold very dear. The Dipper would have been a target in our postponed June North Wales holiday so its very much a nice option of somewhere to perhaps try and salvage something to enjoy this lovely long weekend we have ahead once I get to Thursday. I hope you all stay safe and enjoy the next week.

[midorichan10]

Moments I have witnessed intense KnB fans in Japan

Upon request here’s my post of personal experiences I’ve seen or been in that show how Japanese KnB (mainly Akashi) fans are that you probably won’t see too often back in your home country.  *If you are one of these fans, I’m not saying stop doing it or you shouldn’t do it, but just be responsible and don’t neglect other priorities and don’t inconvenience others...and be reasonable. Also these are things I’m not used to seeing so for me it’s quite eyebrow-raising. Thanks. 

Fans with multiple and intense ita-bags (bags with character merch usually dedicated to 1-2 characters)

Many people cover every inch of their bags with badges/straps of a character and I’ve seen some intense Akashi ones. Also they many have duplicates of the same badges and I’ve seen people who have like THREE bags they take to J-world or an event.  *(I also have my own itabag and I know other Tumblr users have their own as well. And I can say, those are normal and I wouldn’t classify them as the ‘crazy’ bags I’ve seen)

Fangirl logic in Japan as said by someone in an interview: The more you spend on rare merch of a character you like the more you love them, or something. Hence why girls collect 50 duplicates or more

Girl spending over $600 on Akashi Newstyle badges

Last year they had NewStyle badges which were from a lottery/kuji at certain arcades. You could choose who you wanted so buy the time I got up to try all the Akashi ones were gone. The Akashi badges in particular were VERY expensive on auction. A two-badge set went on average at the time like $60. It would’ve been cheaper but there was this ONE girl (same girl because the username was the same) who kept BUYING THEM ALL OR WINNING ALL THE AUCTIONS. I had the auction pages saved (since I was keeping an eye on them while I was bidding) and I calculated the total of the ones she won and it went over $600....

I eventually got my own set for $90........

Also pretty sure I’ve seen the acutal girl because she had like 40 New Style badges on her bag and these weren’t common badges compared to the usual KnB ones from J-World......she also had 3 intense Akashi bags and I see her frequently..

Fans spending TONS of money to get a high rank in Cross Colors.

There is no hack or cheat people literally do spend hundreds of dollars to get a high rank for a 5 star Avatar in Cross Colors. I’ve seen the same people try one event after another so it’s not like they save up for months and then go all out. Fans do this for other game apps too like Ensemble Stars. 

Girl hyperventilating at the site of an Akashi lifesize cardboard cutout (I’m not exaggerating, she was holding up the line to take pictures)

Girl hugging a Kuroko cutout as if she was embracing him romantically and looking into each other’s eyes. (not the typical let me take a picture with him because I can sort of thing)

Fans being over the top seeing a guy in an Akashi mask/costume at J-World.

I just wanna say first of all, even his hands are gloved and since it’s a mask, he can’t talk. Think of it like Mickey at Disneyland or any other mascot

I’ve seen a girl actually trying to strike a conversation with him and all he could do was stare back and nod and gesture her to move on because she was holding up the line.

I’ve seen another girl jumping up and down in front of him showing off how she got the Akashi movie clearfile. Again not much of a reaction from him. 

When I got a picture with him, there were girls peeping at him from behind the backdrop like some stalkers.....it was really unsettling....

When he walks around J-World, he ALWAYS WITHOUT FAIL has a herd of fangirls following him trying to take pictures of him, and I know some of those girls are J-World regulars and already have a pic with him. One time the guy was going back to the staff area but they had to do one last round of pictures because the girls would’t leave him alone. 

This is probably a thing in multiple fandoms and even back at home but KnB stageplay tickets selling out within 10 min. And a lot of those tickets were bought merely to just be resold at a much higher price. And that was just for the first play.

People going to Jump Festa and sleeping overnight in line when you’re not supposed to but guess the staff allowed it anyway....I went at 3:30am so I could get a shot at the limited KnB Merch and I barely got them...

I’ll also add people buying KnB merch not even for themselves but for the sake of selling. How do I know? For example the Oreshi Puni Puni doll is limited to only two per customer and then I see on auction the same day one seller selling two of them. Unless they asked their friend to pick it up too so they could sell for money but I feel that’s still pretty bad and unfair to those who actually wanted it.Also seen people sell like 40 KnB Jump Festa keychains...which by the way sold out.  

GIrls (specifically girls) shove you and knock you over to get in line for the goods even when staff members are there demanding you line up calmly and no running. I had one girl fully jab me in my arm with her shoulder to get ahead of me. 

Last year’s Jump Festa had an exclusive Akashi wall scroll that sold out in less than 30 min despite the limit they set per person. The original price was about $32. I found one on auction for $100 and bought it right away. Sad thing is, that was the cheapest. Later when everyone else decided to put their own scrolls up for auction they went super high like $300-500 if I remember. I remember one auction it was a fight between three buyers and then it got down to two buyers and they kept outbidding each other and the auction got extended for 2 extra hours because they wouldn’t stop bidding. (Yahoo auctions only end if there are no bids in the last 5 min otherwise they automatically get extended for another 10 min). Ending price was at almost $700, or if not it WAS $700 depending on the currency exchagne rate. 

Girls trying to compete with you on how much goods you have

My friends and I were at J-World just chilling at a table resting and these two Japanese girls walk by and one of them points at my Akashi bag and shows her friend. They weren’t in my line of sight but my friends who could see them from our table said that the other girl sat down and started pulling out ALL of her Easter Akashi merch ranging from badges, straps, putting on her decked out Easter Akashi lanyard, and displaying them on their table. I was just sitting there talking and my bag was just casually on a chair because we had space for it....I wasn’t trying to start anything. And it was very clear that she had more merch than me anyway so I don’t get why it was necessary to show that she is clearly the “winner.” 

Jealous fans who won’t stop staring at you

Example of this was when my friend and I were at a KnB Cafe. There was a mini game the staff did halfway through where you try to match the same picture as them and if you’re in the top 5 (I think) you get a special sparkly holograph coaster of a random character. My friend managed to be one of the lucky ones but the coaster you get is random. My friend luckily drew the capsule that had the Akashi coaster so she gave it to me. Once someone picks that capsule the staff doesn’t put it back in the box so in other words no other winner can get an Akashi coaster. One Akashi fan across the room kept creepily staring at me after that because her friend also won a coaster but because the staff came to us first, her friend had zero chance of getting Akashi. That girl kept staring at me for awhile and it was quite unsettling....

Fans declaring they love Akashi more than anyone else

I actually saw someone’s profile on Cross Colors that said that....

Last year for Valentine’s, the Jump Store had a lottery campaign where if you tweeted a picture of a Valentine’s Card you got from them and tagged it with whatever hashtag it was, then you can be entered for a KnB poster lottery of your choice. One girl literally made an account just for this on twitter and spammed every hour a post so she could try to get the Akashi poster. Now that’s not the worst part. Each post had some sort of sentence of her declaring her love for Akashi and how she loved him more than anyone else in the world (she actually said ‘world’). How she only thought of him ever since she “met” him 3 years ago. She even jokingly said as a reference to Akashi’s phrase, “If I don’t get that Akashi poster I won’t forgive you Jump Store lol” at least I hope it was a joke. 

If you just google image search 赤司部屋 (Akashi room) you can see how dedicated some fans can be into decorating every inch of their room with Akashi merch....literally every inch....though I’ve seen rooms like that for other characters too and other series. 

You’d think fans would be happy that you like the same character as you right? Or everybody in Japan is nice? Well, sadly for Akashi fans that’s not the case a lot of the time. When it comes to showing off merch on twitter fans seem pretty chill but when it comes to actually getting the goods and in person, well.....good luck....

So that’s my report of personal experiences of crazy KnB fans within my 3 years of Japan. I really wished I was making these up but I don’t think I ever could. Here’s to hoping none of you guys have to experience these XD;

[mikemortgage]

Testing Apple’s new Screen Time parental controls: First came tears, then frustration.

“Don’t set the time limit. I can be reasonable!” pleads 9-year-old Tazio, looking up from his iPad.

It’s not always fun owning an iPad that a parent can remotely shut off. Also not easy: Trying to parent via new digital “Screen Time” controls.

Coming soon to an iPad or iPhone near you, Apple’s iOS 12 adds menus, buttons and bar charts to help monitor and control what kids (and adults) do with their devices. It’s a good thing that Apple, along with Amazon and Google, now acknowledge tech can be disruptive, if not addictive.

But anyone looking for help from this software may be in for a surprise. It might make parenting more difficult. One example: Apple’s bad default settings give kids access to NC-17 movies, explicit books and the entire web — even when it knows their exact age.

We have reached ‘peak screen’ — now revolution is in the air as tech giants work to give our eyes a break

‘The only electricity we use is one lamp’: Apple execs, Facebook billionaires embrace tech diets for devices, services they helped create

Digital Life: Cutting back on a constant smartphone habit

A focus on the family is overdue. As of 2017, 42 per cent of American kids ages 0 to 8 have their own tablets — and 78 per cent have access to one somewhere in the home, according to the nonprofit Common Sense Media. Most of these are iPads, often hand-me-downs, offered with trepidation to kids who zone out like zombies or melt down when they’re taken away. Apple has previously offered some parental restrictions, but they were incomplete.

Is there a kid-proof tablet? For the last few weeks, I’ve been conducting an experiment with Tazio, the 9-year-old son of my editor. He wanted his first tablet — and his mother was wary. So I set up the family with two devices: One is a US$330 iPad running a pre-release version of iOS 12 with Screen Time (available widely in the coming weeks). The other is one of the iPad’s few competitors in the family market, the US$200 Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition tablet running Amazon’s version of Android.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, but I review all technology with the same critical eye.

Playing technical adviser to navigate this real family challenge, I was surprised how difficult Apple’s parental software was to use. Even discounting for beta-software bugs Apple will hopefully squash, Screen Time is one of Apple’s weakest software launches in years. Apple treats parents like IT administrators for their kids, saddled with a zillion choices to make and knobs to adjust.

Amazon’s Fire Kids Edition was designed as a product for kids, and is more like a day care where someone else has picked the books and games, put deadbolts on all the doors and painted the walls electric blue. It’s a safer place to leave kids than Appleland, but the kids may get bored – and be jealous of the fun friends are having elsewhere.

I don’t mean to discourage parents from using these tools. But I recommend going in understanding how the software works, and how much it will require of you.

_ _ _

How Apple Screen Time works – and doesn’t

Our experiment began in tears.

Tazio, my pint-size reviewer, was setting up his iPad when his younger brother happened by. He wanted an iPad, too, but we only had one. An epic meltdown ensued.

Why couldn’t we share? Blame Apple, little buddy: It designed iOS 12 to work with only one account per device (outside of schools) and Tazio was already using it.

A child account is at the heart of how Screen Time works. Parents create one through their own Apple ID settings, assigning the kid his own email address and password that’s associated with a guardian. It gives parents the power to approve downloads and control functions. (The video above walks through the setup basics.)

Here’s the next head scratcher: Even though Apple knows the child’s age, the default settings are not child-appropriate. They don’t restrict explicit content, add privacy protections such as limiting sharing location data or spare kids annoying system questions. Yes, parents can remotely change these settings and approve media purchases, but defaults matter.

Parents can decide what apps are available, what chunk of the day the iPad is off limits, and how many minutes different categories of apps (such as games) can be used. They get a bar-chart readout of the child’s device use during the current day and the previous week.

Managing settings on your own device is a once-every-few months thing. Managing Screen Time for kids is much more work because parenting requires frequent negotiation. Aside from a first-time setup window that covers some Screen Time features, controls can be buried behind half a dozen clicks in settings menus where few venture. Even I couldn’t figure out how to set a daily time limit for a specific app without asking Apple for instructions.

We also found loopholes. If you’re watching a video on Netflix and then press the home button to make it appear as a picture-in-picture, the minutes won’t count against your Screen Time limit. Junior could watch all day long.

Time limits are rigid, and especially annoying for kids when they’re almost at the end of a game or movie. Tazio came to treat his limits like an allowance, guarding them carefully and using them as a negotiating tactic with mom.

Apple does let kids request time extensions, which pop up as a notification on parents’ devices. If you’re thinking those requests might get annoying quick, you’re right.

– – –

The Amazon Alternative

Where Apple left Tazio’s mom to make lots of choices, Amazon pre-decided many for her — for better and worse.

The biggest difference is that Fire Kids Edition tablets come with a year’s worth of Amazon’s FreeTime Unlimited service, which includes access to 15,000 apps and games, videos, books, and educational content from sources including PBS Kids, Nickelodeon and Disney. (After a year, they charge US$3 per month for Prime members.) Based on the kids’ age and gender, Amazon shows the kids content it thinks they might be interested in. Tazio got a lot of Star Wars.

Amazon says it has vetted all that content, had most ads removed, as well as removed appeals for in-app purchase upgrades (none of which Apple did). While kids can peruse all that content, there’s no app or bookstore in the kids mode. Parents can buy and manually add in other apps, movies and books purchased from Amazon via their own accounts.

Amazon’s tablet can also be shared by parents and multiple siblings, each of whom get their own age-tailored experience by swapping logins. (Younger brother crisis averted.)

Also unlike Apple, Amazon by default puts additional restrictions in place for all apps that run in its Kids Edition tablets. They can’t send location data to third parties. Talking assistant Alexa is turned off.

With the Fire, parents access a dashboard view of their child’s account through a web link that, like Apple’s Screen Time, includes data about what he’s doing on his device that day and over the previous week, as well as the ability to set time restrictions for types of activity. An app would have been superior to its website, but it did offer an awesome button missing from Apple: “Pause devices” now.

Amazon’s software also allows parents to incentivize behavior. We set Tazio’s Fire tablet to allow him to play games only after he had completed a half-hour of reading. It worked. He even woke up early to burn through his reading so he could get to his game time.

The problem with all this: Tazio could sort of tell he was getting the “Truman Show” treatment from the Fire. He wanted to be able to send messages, but Amazon doesn’t have a built-in app for that. Tazio also wanted to play Fortnite, but Amazon doesn’t offer the popular game in its app store. I don’t blame him for wanting to do the same things his friends do on their tablets.

And Amazon has its loopholes, too. Tazio discovered he could still talk to Alexa by switching to his mom’s login screen even though he didn’t know her passcode. (Amazon says it’s going to issue a software update that requires a PIN before a child can exit FreeTime mode, preventing them from accessing Alexa.) Perhaps the lesson is tech companies can’t get much past 9-year-olds.

– – –

Tazio’s family decided that the Amazon Fire tablet was the right fit for his first tablet. It was less powerful than the iPad, but also less frustrating for mom.

The decision was rooted in how much extra work Apple’s Screen Time created. Even with my assistance, mom spent hours inside settings, attempting to adjust their rigid controls to what was actually happening at home. Instead of being an electronic babysitter, the iPad became a new project.

Apple’s approach assumes kids are all different, so it leaves all the decisions to parents. They’re not wrong: No two 9-year-olds are alike. But so are adult users of laptops and phones, and Apple’s designers have been successful at making tech simpler by making choices that suit most of us.

Apple plans to offer training in stores for parents, as well as detailed instructions on its parents website.

What’s most important with any screen is for parents to “not just hand it over without discussion, parameters and expectations,” Christine Elgersma of Common Sense Media told me. A parenting editor for the nonprofit, she’s also been testing iOS 12 with Screen Time. “When I hand over the iPad to my daughter, I still ask her ‘what are you going to do with it?'” she says. She also has rules in place about when a time extension might be acceptable.

Being involved in kids’ digital lives is work. If tech companies are going to make software to help, they need to make sure they’re not just creating more work.

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