#Youd THINK id have it down to a science at this point

[sketchy-tour]

You'd think with how often I draw Wally, I wouldn't feel the need to adjust and redraw his hair a morbillion times

And yet here I am. Doing that. *resizes his pompadore a fifth time on one drawing.*

[brelione]

Purple And Yellow (Kiara Carrera X Smart!Reader)

If you’re one of those folks that say “PaN SeXuAliTy iS bIpHoBiC” than leave,peace out and dont come back until you have a better attitude:)

Kiara had stared at you longingly everytime you stepped inside the wreck

She had memorised your order of a coffee milkshake with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles and a small order of fries

They never had rainbow sprinkles until you started coming to the restaurant

The sad expression on your face when she told you there were no rainbow sprinkles had literally hurt her soul so she made a mental note to always keep a container of rainbow sprinkles just for you

Everytime she was you you were wearing something yellow

You either had a yellow bandana,a yellow shirt,a bracelet or a yellow hairtye holding your hair in its messy drooping bun

If the color yellow was a person it would be you

As you became a regular she would make small talk with you

“I really like your shirt...im guessing yellow is your favorite color.”She giggled.You nodded,pulling at the fabric of your shirt lightly. “Yeah,its a really good vibe that i’ve got going.”You grinned.She agreed,watching as you left the restaurant.

That night she had taken tweezers to separate the yellow sprinkles from the others to surprise you when you came in for your milkshake

She had asked for your phone number once which was awkward because you didnt have a phone

You had a snapchat though so you gave that to her

You two made plans to go to the beach and she said she’d pick you up

She wasnt really expecting your house to look the way it did

It was small and originally white but was covered with random yellow,pink and blue hearts

You had come out of your house,struggling to keep your cat behind the front door

You werent wearing anything yellow that she could see which made her thought that maybe something was wrong

But her worries washed away once you got to the beach and unbuttoned your white shirt to reveal a mustard yellow bikini underneath

“You know,I feel kind of uncomfy in a bikini in public.”You sighed,looking along the beach.There were only three other people at this beach in particular.She had done that on purpose so she wouldnt run into anyone she knew.She giggled,making you raise your eyebrows. “What?”You asked. “Uncomfy.”She laughed.

You two spent the day searching for seashells and seaglass

You let out a loud gasp as you came across a small puddle of water high up and away from the water

“Uh oh.”You mumbled.Her eyebrows furrowed,trying to figure out what you were looking at.You rushed to take off your flipflops,making the small crab that had been trapped in the puddle get onto the white material.You ran down to the water,scooching it off the shoe and back into the water.Kiara had recorded the whole thing on her snapchat,giggling. “I SAVED IT!DONT WORRY!”You exclaimed,running back to her with a smile on your face.

When you got to her house after your beach trip you decided to paint some of the seashells you found

“Hey,hey you wanna know a fun fact?”You asked.She nodded,waiting for you to continue. “Seashells hatch.”You answered.She wasnt sure how true that was but she grinned,acting amazed.

She had asked you to sleepover

You obviously said yes after calling your sister to confirm

You two made vanilla milkshakes and added food coloring to make it your favorite colors

Hers was purple and she decided to add some blackberries to give it an even deeper color

“You dont seem like a purple girl.”You sipped your milkshake.She bit her lip,squinting. “What does that mean?”She asked.You shrugged. “I dont know,just doesnt seem….you seem like a red girl.”You told her. “Red?Why?”She asked.You shrugged. “Well,in literature the color red often symbolises anger,passion and adventure.And to me you seem like a very passionately adventurous person.”You explained.She nodded,blushing. “I love that.What does yellow symbolise?”She asked. “Umm….usually happiness,creativity and madness.Kind of like Alice from Alice In Wonderland.She’s quite yellow,id say.”You explained,tapping the side of your glass.

You two decided to go swimming as the sun was setting

She was wearing a purple bikini with a cool flower pattern

You two sat on pool floaties,watching the sky change color

“This sunset has both of our favorite colors...like look at those clouds.Those ones are yellow and those are purple.”She observed,pointing to the clouds. “You know,clouds arent really a color.It appears to be the color of whatever reflects against it.”You grinned,closing your eyes.

When she introduced you to her friends she regretted it because Pope literally stole you

The two of you would talk about science and you’d get into super deep and passionate talks about the history of neuroscience

When she felt like she was drifting from you she’d come up behind you and wrap her arms around your shoulders as you talked

She bought you a really cute yellow dress to wear on dates

She loved studying with you

She hated the studying part but the way you got so excited when you talked about certain topics made her listen

You taught her to take important notes on only purple paper or with a purple pen because studies show that you’re more likely to remember something if the color of it is pleasing to you

As you were talking about the importance of balanced meals she interrupted you with the “Alright,Spencer Reid.”

“Ive been thinking lately and I think you are a purple girl.”You spoke one night,your face buried in the crook of her neck. “Yeah?”She asked.You hummed. “Why is that?”She asked.You grinned. “Because purple is associated with royalty and you’re my princess.”You giggled,waiting for her reaction. 

You spent the weekends at her house all the time to make friendship bracelets and colorful food

Your personal favorite was purple macarons

When you went to see her after she had a bad day you would wear a lavender colored bra with matching underwear because you knew she loved it

“Im just saying we should take over the Kook Academy and then we can turn the auditorium into a movie theater and the cafeteria into a ball room.”You were a bit drunk.She nodded. “Yeah,yeah that is such a beautiful and well thought out plan.”She laughed.

She let you paint her nails with yellow nail polish with purple polka dots

For pride month she painted your nails the color of the Pan flag

JJ was fascinated by your existence because you were so pure and giggly and couldnt understand how you and Kiara got along so well

As he put it you were like cloud bread and Kie was sourdough

He was high when he said that of course

She had ‘adopted’ your famous yellow tshirt that you had been wearing the first tme she saw you

You got back at her by stealing a purple snake ring she had gotten off of amazon

Pope was just glad to interact with intelligent life

John.B was jealous of how happy you and Kie made eachother because he doubted he could do that for Sarah

You graduated highschool a year early and started doing online college courses so you wouldnt have to leave Kie

You learned how to play “Cant help falling in love with you” on the ukelele

Whenever she couldnt sleep and you couldnt come over she’d facetime you and youd play it for her until she fell asleep

[oswednesday]

sees the team they gave opal,

anyway

(i dont have any big changes in mind for opals gym it was pretty perfect, if it was Real Life bede would not be in the running cause id smash that whole thing up, opal would NOT be able to resist my level of pink, if anything its  just a little plot changes, stuff i was already uuugh about)

(long before her mom retired, opal was a Scientist, but before that she had tried to break into acting ; despite at the time being just a young teenager she was turned away from auditions and even guilds for looking too old, defeated she gave into her mother's pressure and attended a college, she ended up being at the forefront of the verging bio-technology field)

(ability: insomnia, moves: Hypnosis, Dream Eater, Dazzling Gleam, Synchronoise)

(you obvi wont be seeing this one again! or any of them for the cup!)

(she took over the gym when her mother retired as per tradition but didnt really put much interest in it beyond the barest minimum, between the gym and her work she didnt have much room for a social life, and not to use the word interest again, but she wasnt particularly interested in settling down with a family, she had one of Those moms who are like oooh i had to give up a careeer to haaave you, despite like, having a whole entire gym, after some horrible science gone wrong tho opal was happy to retire from all that nasty business,she taught for a while and for a short time bellonlea was a bustling college town)

( i think ill have the gym challenge be in parts like a sit down before hand before the practical, i had gotten really excited about the build up thinking we were going to see a gameified bubble test ffggfd,,,,wow,,,anyway, if you get one wrong youll get shocked! one of your pkmn have a 50/50 chance of getting paralyzed, you can cheat with your rotom phone? if it was a game and not a comic there’d be a mechanic for that, if you get caught you get kicked out but opal will let you try again, cause cheating is pink but its not pink that you got caught but it IS pink that youd come back like nothing happened, like, super pink)

(ability: healer, moves: heal pulse, aromatherapy, draining kiss, toxic)

(another shiny! also,  a note, this was another design i didnt appreciate at first but now i really do, i was hoping like many others that it was going to get creepy but theres a really like mature restrain in this design, still conveying a plague doctor while also being french aura’d really a 10/10 design)

(on stage hot air is in effect! i think you should have to dress up before hand like from opals costume room? you get stat boosts when she likes your clothes pick and stat lowering when she doesnt, youre getting points based on the move like a beauty contest and not a battle so you cant just attack mash your way through)

(ability: cute charm, moves: sing, perish song, wake-up slap, disarming voice)

(once youre done with that, its gym battle time! the astroturf is like grandma carpetting but like, extra plush, theres glowing mushrooms and moss and a Strange Fragrance in the air, this is a kind of fairy terrain!)

(ability: rattled, moves: ice fang, outrage, crunch, lick)

(this is one of my fave pkmn and i think its silly that its not fairy fighting! i could just chance it in the emulator, live my dreams,,)

(all fairy types have a less likely chance of taking status effects and have a chance of recovering from them without the aid of an item, or waiting multiple turns, all pkmn sp attk or sp def might be raised or lowered at random, theres a chance non-fairy type pkmn might not want to battle at all similar to the effects attract has so youll miss a turn (certain abilities make a pkmn immune to this probs stuff like pkmn with intimidate, pressure, ect) 

(ability: normalize, moves: sleep talk, copycat, assist, foresight)

(the fragrant air has a 30% chance of putting non-fairy type pkmn to sleep, for normal and dragon pkmn its a 50% chance! its like at the start of your turn thing, poison type attacks can do less damage, but enough poison can turn the air noxious! like in any battles, and that deals poison damage, ill figure all the air stuff out later, i think adding another way the field can be effected would be fun :> )

(using her considerable resources, she launched a luxury fashion and beauty brand using her past research to develop make ups, lotions, textiles and the like, so when she finally fully retired from academia she had a Nice nest egg to sit on while putting her focus fully on her gym)

 (call her professor poplar and she will ignore you)

(already in her 70s when the chairman was elected to the position by the league's board, she was v set in her ways and didnt adapt to dynamaxing right away, she eventually gave in tho, her gym and the city is far less razzle dazzle than you'd expect from someone like opal, in part because she refuses outside sponsorship and "makes due" with simply being a modest millionaire)

(ability: aroma veil, moves: acid armor,topsy-turvy ,me first, stored power)

( this thing is ruby swirl with love bows! i originally did love sweets but i think she’d like that pop of purple!)

(this is the one she dynamaxs of course! she’ll wait as long as she can to use it tho, youll get some ominous old lady warning, some vague lore, she’ll us g-max finale and youll end up facing her whole team again! it totes means allies on the field but that makes it waay too niche for a big finale monster attack!)

(would it just wild to change opals name? like i could use poplar but like whyd they give everyone plant names anyway?? they seem so random too, then the english names are sooo different? at the same time,, its kinda neat to have these plant names that im interperting as rustic charm, omg i think i might go with poppy,its her name in italian; that has actual ties to fairy stuff, like poppy poplar, omg and like with poplar i wanted to give her a medical background? plus the fairy stuff like! shes kinda,,weirdly medicinal themed on her own? maybe its a “joke” about her being old fddgdf)

[freshlyjuicedbeetles]

Under Her Wing - Drakgo fic

Shego is instructed by Dr. Director to teach Kim a thing or two. Set after Graduation but in 2019 verse. 

TAG LIST (based on who interacted with my tag list post. If you were added by mistake or not added at all, please let me know!)

@sweet-or-sarcastic // @anavrp // @sophiecooper18 // @random-emerald-thoughts // @benjimators // @marvelousavengfulslytherin // @littlevirago // @evielovesfood // @dianenguyenbjh // @brianaisontheinterwebs // @saultnpeppah // @poisonivy123

Shego sat bored with her legs kicked up on the lab table as she watched her husband meticulously extract DNA from the toe of a Spinosaurus. For what he was going to use it for, she wasn’t entirely sure. She was just there to make sure he didn’t blow himself up. She was just his bodyguard/sidekick/liaison/mostly unwilling secretary, not his science partner. This was a guy who looked up to Doc Brown rather than Hawking.

Her phone buzzed in the pouch strapped to her leg. Things were slow that day, so she decided to take a peek. It was an email from Facebook saying she had a message on her old public profile, one she had not used since she was a hero with her brothers. Her curiosity piqued, she opened Facebook and signed out of her current, private account. She tapped the side of her phone as she tried to remember her old password.  After a few tries, she got in.

Her inbox with inundated with old and recent messages. She paid no attention to past messages from fans who were upset that she turned evil, edgelords who were threatened by a strong woman, and recent messages that praised her from turning her life around. The first message was just too shocking. It was from Kimberly Ann Possible. It read:

“Umm, hi Shego. This is Kim Possible. I don’t know if you even check this profile anymore. Dr. Director wanted me to get in contact with you, but she didn’t really tell me how lol. She wanted me to ask if you could do some training with me?”

“NO!” Shego yelled, standing straight up, her phone creaking in her grasp.

Drakken flinched, “You made me break the helix!” He whined.

“Dr. Director wants me to train Kim Possible.”

“Eww,” Drakken grimaced.

“I’m not doing this. I’m not some babysitter.” Shego exclaimed as she stormed off for Dr. Director’s office.

“Go get her, babe,” Drakken said, his mind more focused on his work.

Shego breezed past the security and barged into Director’s office, stunning the guards with her plasma. The burly men crumpled to the floor in a twitching heap.

“Ah, Mrs. Lipsky, I was wondering when you’d force yourself in here again and maim Ethan and Reid.” Director replied calmly, only glancing up at the scene “Was it last week you came in here like a bull in a china shop because we switched your husband’s lab time or was it the time before that?”

“I am not working with Kim Possible.” Shego seethed, leaning over Director’s desk and staring straight at the other woman. Director did not look up from her paperwork. Shego slammed her hands down, causing a hairline crack to form between the women.

“Did I ask?” Dr. Director countered.

Shego scoffed. “You know, this isn’t working for me. I think I’m done here.” She said as she threw her ID badge on Director’s desk and turned to walk out.

“So, you’ll give up all the comfort we’ve given you and your husband? Your home, your records totally expunged, his lab and all the resources he could ever want or need? You two are a ‘package deal’ as I believe your very own agreement states? If you leave, so does he.”

Shego stopped in her tracks.

She wouldn’t take that away from Drew. Not when he was getting the recognition he always wanted.

She turned on her heel. “I’m only staying because I haven’t gotten to use the bazooka yet.” She said through gritted teeth, pointing menacingly at Director.

“She’ll be on your doorstep at 8:15 tomorrow morning.” Dr. Director said as she threw Shego her ID badge to her.

~*~

Kim Possible didn’t get nervous about many things. She took down villains before she could even vote without a trace of fear. Today, as she drove to the address Dr. Director gave her last night, Kim Possible was nervous.

Secretly, Kim idolized Shego when she was younger. She remembered seeing Shego and her brothers on TV and followed her dutifully on what little social media existed back then. When Shego left Team Go, Kim was heartbroken, and her stomach dropped the first time she saw Shego working with Drakken. When Team Go broke up, Kim decided to take up Shego’s mantle when the opportunity presented itself. Now that Drakken and Shego went good or more likely, neutral, maybe she and Shego could be friends in the future? Kim still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that she was going to be trained by Shego because it was Shego the hero Kim looked up to for many years and it was Shego her sworn enemy at one point.

Regardless of it all, Kim knew today would be interesting.

~*~

Meanwhile, Drakken took sleeping seriously. It’s where he got most of his ideas. When the doorbell rang at 8:00, he was not a happy camper. He groaned like a wounded animal, not even noticing Shego’s absence in bed. He haphazardly threw on a robe and stumbled down the stairs and opened the front door.

“I’ll take three Thin Mints, two Samoas and three Tagalongs,” Drakken said, yawning, handing what he thought was a fifty-dollar bill. It was really dog treats and lint.

“Um, no,” Kim said sheepishly, gently pushing his hand away. “It’s Kim…Possible? I’m here for Shego…”

Shego came down the stairs in her signature green and black catsuit.

“That’s what you’re wearing?” Shego asked, eyeing the teen up and down.

“Yeah? We’re gonna work out, right?” Kim was dressed in a tee shirt, leggings and sneakers, her red hair pulled back from her face.

Shego sighed and shook her head, “Fine, it’s whatever. Next time, wear what you’d wear on a mission. If it’s gonna be in the way, we need to know. It has to be able to perform.” She chided.

Kim felt silly for making the mistake. Shego even used her ‘teacher tone’ on her from when she substituted for Kim’s teacher. “Okay. Will do.”

Shego physically moved her half-asleep husband out of the way. “Well? Let’s go. I don’t want this to be an all-day thing.”

“Oh, uh, can I drive?” Kim asked, beaming.

A beat passed of Shego just staring at Kim in disbelief.

Shego turned to Drakken, “I want to be cremated.”

“I want Thin Mints.” The mad scientist lamented as the women walked to the car parked at the curb.

Janice was gawking at Shego as though she never saw a female body before. Shego gave a sarcastic wave.

“Who’s that?” Kim asked as they put their seatbelts on.

“The worst neighbor in the world,” Shego replied, putting sunglasses on. She flashed Janice a killer smile as they pulled out of the neighborhood.

It had already been decided for them that they would train at GJ’s onsite gym. Shego started Kim on stretches and a five-minute run, correcting her form here and there alongside her. Shego knew it was likely that Director was watching but it didn’t bother her. She was doing what she was supposed to do.

The timer on Shego’s phone went off and they slowed to a walk. She went over to a wall of equipment and took a padded strike shield and held it up.

“Let me see you punch,” Shego instructed.

Kim squared herself and threw her best one.

“No! No! No!” Shego exclaimed like a director with a cast who forgot their lines. “Who taught you to fight, your grandma?”

Kim didn’t know whether to confirm that her grandmother had indeed taught her a thing or two.

“Harder, you’re not going to hurt me,” Shego instructed. Kim wasn’t sure if she was trying to comfort or insult her.

For a period of time, Shego refined Kim’s punches and kicks.

“Now, I want you to try to take me down and restrain me.”

Kim charged at Shego, tackling the older woman to the floor. Shego knew that she had to let Kim learn, but that didn’t mean she went down easily. She was able to shake Kim off and roll away. Shego stood, about to jump away, when Kim got her in a headlock.

“Tuck your thumb in you idiot!” Shego said grabbing Kim’s four other fingers by one hand and Kim’s thumb with the other. “Do you know how easily I could rip your thumb off?”

Shego shrugged Kim off. “Again.” She ordered.

Shego let Kim get her into a headlock, this time with proper placement. They wrestled and tackled each other until Kim grabbed Shego’s hair, thinking she’d instantly surrender. Instead, Shego pushed back into Kim’s grasp, rather than wrench away.  Kim stumbled allowing Shego to escape.

“I will give you props for going for my hair.” Shego said, “I should probably start putting it in a bun. If anyone tries it with you, do what I did and push into it. You’ll knock your opponent off balance usually or lose hair if you try to pull away.”

“Right,” Kim nodded.

Kim was about to ask Shego if she wanted some water, “Hey Stepha-“

Shego immediately tackled Kim to the ground. “Do not call me that. I’m still Shego to you.”

“Okay, fine,” Kim replied, pushing Shego away.

Kim grabbed them each a bottle of water. The two sat in awkward silence on the mat.

“Who taught you all this stuff? Did you just learn on the go?” Kim asked.

“I’ve had a trainer since I was 16,” Shego answered, taking a drink.

That made sense, Kim thought. Around that time was when Team Go debuted. They must have had some training before their first mission.

Shego stood and went to get the First Aid pack and CPR dummy from the equipment wall.

“Are you going to teach me CPR?” Kim asked excitedly.

“You don’t know First Aid and CPR?” Shego asked skeptically.

“No…” Kim said, her face red with embarrassment.

“Oh my god, you’re more behind than I even thought. Do you just leave after you blow up someone’s lair? What about the populace surrounding it? What happens if you have to do search and rescue after a natural disaster? You’re a hero. You should know this stuff. It’s not all stopping heists and whatnot.”

“I’ve never done anything like that…”

“I have!”

Kim was beginning to get a greater understanding of Shego. What kind of things has she seen? Kim wasn’t going to pry and knew Shego wouldn’t tell her anything if she tried. Kim remembered that Team Go doubled as first responders at times. Kim had a vivid memory of seeing Shego being airlifted over the wreckage of a collapsed building to look for survivors on the news, her green and black feet dangling over the rubble. Shego couldn’t have been older than 17 at the time. Who pushed her into such a traumatizing and adult situation?

“Look, let’s forget about the past for right now or we won’t survive this. Truce?” Kim asked.

Shego only nodded but took Kim’s hand and pulled her up.

Kim smiled and took Shego’s leather-clad hand. It was a start; a small start, but a start nonetheless.

“Do you know how to properly headbutt someone?” Shego grinned, wickedly.

[ask-misto-magichrome]

Question Time part 1

Recently I answered some questions along with my sister @ask-victoria-pastelgoth about being a twin. It's full of revelations all around.

1: Which is the youngest?

Misto: *points over to Victoria* The official baby of the family.

Victoria: yep and I enjoy it for the most part

Misto: she gets away with murder

Victoria: but I’m not allowed a boyfriend

2: Are you identical?

Misto: Except for the biggest obvious difference, yeah pretty much. Same face shapes, same natural hair colour. *mumbles* same height...

Victoria: but technically we are fraternal twins

Misto: ohh technically.

Victoria: *is not amused*

3: What is your twins favourite food?

Misto: The souls of those who have wronged her.

Victoria: *smacks him on the head* idiot, he is obsessed with Coffee if that counts as food.

Misto: I have no idea what you're talking about *sips from an iced latte*

Victoria: meanwhile I have been known to devour anything chocolate *blushes*

Misto: chocolate covered souls.

Victoria: can we please move on to the next question, I feel like I will kill any minute.

4: What is your favourite memory of each other?

Misto: Vic would go to dance lessons then come back and teach me what she learned until they let me go too.

Victoria: *smiling* whenever I felt sad Misto would put on a little magic show for me, even if some of the tricks didn’t work it still put a smile on my face.

5: Who takes more time to get ready?

Misto: *silently sips coffee*

Victoria: that would depend Misto takes at least half an hour for tugger *smirks*

Misto: I do not! Anyway who spends an hour deciding between dresses every date they have? Ohhh do you think he'd prefer the blue or the-

Victoria: *tackles Misto*

6: Name a common friend of yours.

Misto: We have a couple actually. Jemima, Jerrie, Teazer, Plato.

Victoria: I would say Munk but he’s more friends with our older brother. And don’t forget Cettie and Electra

7: What is your favourite film to watch together?

Misto: *glaring at Victoria* Don't you dare.

Victoria: *smirking* I love seeing how worked up you get over it. But Twilight is the last film we would enjoy together, I got bored. However I would say we enjoy watching musicals together.

Misto: I told you to not! And for the record I did not enjoy Twilight. The whole thing is unreasonable!

Victoria: well I only watched it to laugh at it with Jem but apparently these two enjoyed it only I got bored.

Misto: -alive for all eternity and are 100% completely straight! Theres no way!

Victoria: please just move on or we’ll be here all day

8: Who is better at studying?

Misto: Me. Easy. Next question.

Victoria: hold on you only study when it’s something to with magic

Misto: and your notebooks are covered in doodles about all the boys you think are cute. You don't even have colour coordinated notes!

Victoria: I do when we have a test coming up.

Misto: *just stares at her for a second* next question.

9: Who is a better driver?

Misto: Well, Alonzo doesn't like me driving the car. I can't think why.

Victoria: you haven’t passed your driver’s license, me I’m stuck on learner’s. To Alonzo if he can drive we don’t need to know how to.

Misto: my provisional license is mainly used for ID when buying alcohol.

Victoria: So never

10: Who is good at sports?

Misto: er.... is Alonzo an option?

Victoria: our sport of choice is more dancing.

Misto: I'd say it's not as competitive but have you seen some of those dance competitions?

Victoria: some of those guys train to the point of collapse

Misto: Ew

11: Do you have the same personalities?

Misto: Sometimes. Occasionally she's a spoil sport and ruins the fun.

Victoria: sometimes you go overboard with magic

Misto: So you say

Victoria: and Alonzo has said it too

Misto: Yeah coz he's the expert

Victoria: whatever you say

Misto: *mouths know it all.*

12: Do you have any nicknames for each other?

Misto: Vic, Vicky, loser, Oi works a lot too. Darcey Bussell when she screws up a dance move. The Queen.

Victoria: mainly Misto, magic man, wannabe magician when he blows up something.

13: Does your twin have any annoying habits?

Misto: Hogging the bathroom and the tumble dryer. "Borrowing" CDs.

Victoria: spraying glitter everywhere when he does Magic, changing the channel when I’m watching something

14: Whos closest to your parents?

Misto: *Goes silent, just glaring to the side. Refusing to answer*

Victoria: our parents died when we were young, Alonzo says it was a car crash, we were raised by our Uncle Bustopher Jones until Alonzo found a stable home and job and was old enough to look after us. I never knew why Uncle Bustopher only took in Misto and I and not Alonzo.

Misto: *slouched back, arms folded defensively clearly not enjoying listening to this.*

15: Did you ever dress alike?

Misto: Everyone always thought it was cute to put us in matching outfits when we were younger.

Victoria: but now we have very different dressing styles but sometimes we would wear similar outfits, it always got Alonzo to smile.

16: Who loves shopping more?

Misto: Depends what for.

Victoria: if clothes and music then me, if coffee it’s him.

Misto: And stationary. Don't forget The Cupboard.

Victoria: right sorry was he is obsessed with stationary even though you don’t use most of it.

Misto: But it looks pretty!

Victoria: So does my piercings bit you don’t see me getting millions of them.

Misto: Yet.

Victoria: I’ve only got a few in both ears, and in my belly button *turns from Misto since that was something she got without her brothers’ knowledge or permission*

Misto: someone won't be wearing crop tops this summer.

17: What three things do you most commonly fight about?

Misto: we're perfect and never fight. *grin*

Victoria: yep we’re perfect angels

18: Do you share secrets?

Misto: Yeah. No. Kinda? Mostly.

Victoria: mainly we hide secrets together from Alonzo unless there is something Misto isn’t telling me

Misto: I'd never hide anything you need to know. Or anything involving you.

Victoria: okay Misto I believe you.

19: Which is the better cook?

Misto: Me obviously. Cooking is a science after all.

Victoria: if by cooking you mean burning everything to ash. *smirks* I’m the better cook and my food is delicious.

Misto: I do not burn everything to ash! If you're talking about the spaghetti incident, I just forgot to poke it down into the pan and it flopped outside the pan and the stove set it on fire!

Victoria: at that was one time

Misto: I make good coffee its all thats required!

Victoria: for you

20: Whos room is cleaner?

Misto: I couldn't possibly-

Victoria: it’s mine and we both know it, Uncle Bustopher always said it was like walking into a tornado when he described Misto’s room.

Misto: It's not that its messy. There's just... a lot of notes tacked to the wall. Astrological notes, moon phases, crystal properties, herbs... I mean if I'm doing this whole magic thing I might as well go the whole way right?

Victoria: well you are right brother

21: On your birthday do you have one cake or two?

Misto: It's fun to try making one cake with two wildly different themes.

Victoria: yep it always starts off with us making one cake but then something happens and Alonzo just gives us two cupcakes. It’s still fun though.

Misto: yeah we're not really too bothered about cake.

Victoria: yep it’s more about spending the time as family

22: As children did you play with each other or other siblings too?

Misto: For a while Alonzo did play with us.

Victoria: till he was too busy working

Misto: which obviously isn't his fault. Its just a shame. He's always so stressed nowadays.

Victoria: but we just got told that we are going to his university so maybe we could have some time together between classes.

Misto: unless its his academic studies getting in the way there.

23: What is the weirdest thing you did together?

Misto: is it possible to decide on just one, Vic?

Victoria: yeah we got bored easy at our uncle’s and tried a lot of different things.

Misto: Theres always a lot of weird things around his house.

Victoria: yeah breakable things

24: What is the last thing you did together?

Misto: Answer question number 23

Victoria: pretty much yeah.

Misto: you need better questions.

25: Who is more straightforward?

Misto: *Points with a little twirl at Victoria*

Victoria: *scowls at him* okay so I prefer to tell others the truth but I still tell white lies.

Misto: yeah but you get to the point. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. I've been know to skirt around an issue because I don't want to say it outright.

Victoria: like you’re love for Tugger?

Misto: like my- no! Shurrup!

Victoria: you didn’t deny it

Misto: *gives her a glare*

Victoria: *looks back at him bored*

26: What is your favourite thing about your twin?

Misto: She's not taller than me.

Victoria: that he does magic

27: Out of your twins friends who is your least favourite?

Misto: Electra. She's judges me I just know it.

Victoria: just because she quieter than her sister does not mean she judges you.

Misto: She sits there... glaring at me.

Victoria: have you talked to her? Oh and to answer your question Electra’s twin Etcetera she squeals so much

Misto: She really does. Funny I thought youd say Pounce. You said he was a bad influence the other day.

Victoria: yeah but really it doesn’t help that Pounce,Tumble,George and Plato all follow Tugger like fan girls

Misto: whats that got to do with anything? The amount you bring up Tugger, it looks like you have the obsession not me.

Victoria: look I only said Pounce and tumble and George were bad influences on Plato that’s all

28: Whos better at drawing?

Misto: Do doodles of the person you have a crush on that day count as drawing? Coz if so, her.

Victoria: *blushes* I’m not really that good

Misto: definitely better than me though. I don't really have the patience to develop that skill.

Victoria: thanks Misto

Stay tuned for part 2!

[vincent-marie]

A Look Back on TREASURE PLANET

So recently I rewatched TREASURE PLANET for the first time in about fifteen years and… I'm not gonna lie, it's still my personal favorite of the 2D Disney animated features from the early to mid-2000s.

Let's be real. Of the 2D features Disney released around that time period, TREASURE PLANET is one of the more solid films. ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE had some interesting ideas and some really nice design work and animation, but it really needed to be at least two hours long if it wanted to flesh out the characters and the world-building without requiring supplementary material (like a special edition of Disney Adventure magazine). Hardly anybody remembers BROTHER BEAR was even a thing, and the less said about HOME ON THE RANGE, the better. (Seriously, that movie wasn't even worth the Steve Buscemi cameo.)

The only other film of that era that has really held up was LILO AND STITCH, and I'll admit it's probably a better film than TREASURE PLANET. It took more risks in terms of character, setting and originality, and emotionally it leaves more of an impact. (That scene when Nani sings to Lilo makes me cry like a baby every time.) My only problem with it is it always felt like two entirely different movies collided with each other and it never felt like they really meshed well. Otherwise, I agree with most fans that it’s a good film.

Also, of course, there was the excellent THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, which was just such a huge departure from Disney’s normal schtick and trying something more Tex Avery-esque, only for it to be a perfect storm instead of a total crash and burn. That is much to be proud of.

Going back to TREASURE PLANET, I can understand that most folks walk away saying it’s an "okay" film. I, however, am not one of those people. I've had a real soft spot for this movie ever since I saw it, but now I appreciate this film for additional reasons.

Namely, the animation and effects work. Holy crap, is this movie gorgeous! It's like watching Don Bluth's ANASTASIA, except I don't have to feel guilty about historical inaccuracies. (Now it’s just scientific inaccuracies, but STAR WARS gets away with that all the time.)

Directors John Musker and Ron Clements had apparently wanted to do a sci-fi retelling of "Treasure Island" since before they started working on THE LITTLE MERMAID. With that in mind I do feel like this movie would have fared better with critics back in the early 90s during the Disney Renaissance. However at that time they would not have had such elaborate and detailed CG effects within arm's reach. There's something I really enjoy about the use of 3D backdrops so that they may do sweeping camera movements, and that's not even getting into the lighting effects to establish atmosphere.

What's more, there are a lot of subtleties to the character animation that I never appreciated until now. You could just pick one character and focus on him or her during the whole movie and find a lot of fun little quirks in their dialogue or walk cycles.

Admittedly, much of this film’s appeal probably depends on how much of an animation fan you are. In my case I was watching John Silver’s animation and I suspected that Glen Keane was probably in charge of animating him (as there are moments when Silver looks so much like Ratigan). Those suspicions were confirmed during the end credits and I was delightfully geeking out about it.

It’s also easy to see where this film might not have had a lot of mass appeal. Most of the focus on the story is on Jim Hawkins and his daddy issues, which by the early 2000s was already a cliche of a character arc. And it’s not helped by the fact that Jim himself is... well, kind of on the bland side as a protagonist. There’s not a lot about him that makes him any more or less interesting than any other teenage male lead. But for what it is I think the movie did fine at establishing and building the relationship between Jim and Silver, which does have its warm and comforting moments. For both of them.

And at least the film is straightforward with its plot and characters and it’s not a structural mess like HERCULES, a previous venture by Musker and Clements.

Something I’ve noticed over the years is that TREASURE PLANET has a little bit of a cult following. I distinctly remember this one time when I was taking a storyboard class in college; we were assigned to do a “Master Study” assignment by recreating the key story frames in our favorite scene in a favorite animated movie. One of my classmates picked the scene when Jim is brought home to the inn by the police and embarrasses his mother. I recall being so impressed, and even a little envious, that she got the character design style down to a T. (If you’re wondering what movie/scene I picked for my Master Study, I picked the Big Ben scene from THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE.)

Then, of course, some friends and I suspect that TREASURE PLANET might have fared better if it had been released a bit later, more towards the height of the Steampunk craze. It’s not quite what I would call “Steampunk”, as it takes place in a sort of alternate universe version of the 18th century and not the Gothic era, and most of their transport is solar-powered and not steam-based. Nevertheless it’s easy to see how fans of Steampunk could find it appealing, with its mostly earth-tone color pallet to evoke the painted illustrations of the classic novel it was based on. Also that combination of a pre-20th century aesthetic with out-of-this-world science fiction elements is pretty much, in my opinion, what makes Steampunk so much fun to play around with. Also, a robot made out of copper. End of story.

In terms of why this film didn’t do so well when it was released, I suspect what stunted its success was the marketing. I could be wrong, as I was actually living in Honduras at the time of the film’s release, but we got some TV stations from Denver, Colorado. I remember a lot of the TV spots spent most of their time highlighting the goofy comic relief moments with Morph, and there was a real emphasis on the presence of B.E.N., even though he's in less than one-third of the movie. In other words, the film's success might have been partially sabotaged by a marketing team that seemed to think if you don’t take your film seriously at all that will somehow draw in the crowd.

Although speaking of the comic relief characters, I actually don’t mind them that much. I always thought Morph had a lot of cute, funny moments that weren’t too obnoxious. As for B.E.N., I kind of have mixed feelings for him. On one hand, the directing team made better use of Martin Short’s improvisational skills than PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN or WE’RE BACK! ever did. But on the other hand, does B.E.N. have to be so loud and shouty? However, while B.E.N. is a real screw-up, he’s not so much to the point where I want to see him get smashed with a sledgehammer. He’s generally likable, not at all loathsome, and just annoying enough, but not TOO annoying.

However while we’re still on the subject of B.E.N., I’d just like to add that the CG animation on him is really nice. Making him 3D gives him a sort of sense of solidity compared to his hand-drawn humanoid compadres, and to top it off his animation isn’t at all stiff or feels like the CG is holding him back. There is some really expressive squashing and stretching going on with his dialogue. It’s so subtle in places that you’d probably miss it if you’re not looking for it. A lot of CG animation studios at the time like Pixar and Dreamworks had not quite mastered squashing and stretching themselves, so kudos to Disney for pulling it off so well.

Now if I may indulge a little on why I remember this film fondly, my favorite characters were always Dr. Doppler and Captain Amelia. They are both fun and engaging on their own, but together they are weirdly adorable. Granted, I've always thought them getting together at the end was a bit rushed, but I still totally buy it.

(What I don't buy is that they'd be so eager to have kids after Doppler showed such annoyance and revulsion towards that toddler alien girl at the beginning. I get that the creators wanted some visual shorthand to indicate that they're an official couple, but they could have just been wearing wedding rings or throw in a little more of them dancing together.)

Part of the reason I love these characters on their own is the casting. I was already familiar with Emma Thompson from Ang Lee's adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and her character of Eleanor Dashwood was very quiet and reserved. You can imagine my disbelief and delight hearing her play an assertive, witty badass as Amelia. (As if I didn't already think Amelia’s design was cool.)

As for David Hyde Pierce, I had only occasionally watched FRASIER growing up, but when I saw this movie I was familiar with him through some other memorable voice acting roles, particularly that excellent Season 8 episode of THE SIMPSONS, “Brother From Another Series.” In other words, I already knew him to be funny, snarky and charismatic.

While I'm on about the casting, I feel like there's a totally wasted opportunity to have these two characters in a room together, say, before the black hole scene, exchanging witty banter to show how compatible they are in a casual setting. It’s a shame that Emma and David didn’t record their dialogue together, because with her being an accomplished writer and with his skills at improvisation, there could have been some good verbal combat by way of “Much Ado About Nothing-Meets-Frasier.”

But looking back, I remember I immediately loved Captain Amelia just on principal. As a kid I never really gravitated that much to any of the Disney princesses. I can’t really describe why, but it was mostly how they were marketed as just looking pretty and (arguably) kind of passive in their own stories. Not to mention how when Disney Princess became a brand, they really amped up the girly cutesy-ness to their preexisting images. Not to say there’s anything inherently wrong with cute or feminine things, but it really made me feel like a weirdo who somehow wasn’t fit to be called a girl.

Captain Amelia, on the other hand, had her own style of femininity by wearing a classy, more masculine captain’s uniform along with thigh-high high-heeled boots (that she has no problem running in). She had a no-nonsense attitude, she was focused and cool-headed in a stressful situation, she was downright snarky and took crap from no one. In other words, she was the type of woman I wanted to be when I grew up, and to this day she is my favorite Disney Lady, bar none.

And while I’m at it, I’m just going to add that I’ve always found Dr. Doppler more attractive than your standard Disney prince. Besides his character design looking like a canine version of Roger from 101 DALMATIONS, he just always seemed like he’d be fun to get a coffee with.

Well, that’s about all I really want to talk about regarding TREASURE PLANET. It’s a shame it’s not remembered by more people as it does have some really good elements to it, but in some regards I can kind of see why it wasn’t a huge critical success. If you haven’t seen it already I recommend checking it out as it’s a pretty solid standalone film that doesn’t need supplementary material and covers all the bases with the plot and some fun character moments here and there. If you’re an animation fan I cannot stress enough how you really need to watch it, or even rewatch it, because, again, the animation and effects work is just a real feast for the eyes.

[chinon]

imma junior in high school and im so scared of college oh my god, i'm not even fully convinced that im gonna make it that far, i feel like that's literally my only option after i graduate that's not forcing me to immediately act like an adultTM but honestly i'd rather get mowed down by a truck

ok tbh college isnt as bad as i make it seem... like if you keep up with the work its not that bad. i have hella missing/late assignments rn so im stressed af trying to get those done as well as keeping up with the current work bc i have an.....incredibly horrible time management and procrastination issue and poor self-control lmao... 

tip: if you have issues with time management and procrastination as well, work on them in high school. you have the rest of junior year and then all of senior year to improve your work ethic (if thats an issue for you) so you wont get behind in college

Overshare(TM) time but also it has a point ok: junior year was Hell for me bc that was the year my mental health Plummeted,,like to the lowest level of hell lmao it was real bad and thats when i started seeing therapists and psychiatrists and had my first hospitalization and first suicide attempt. my mental health was horrible and i couldnt function and i was literally failing (as in F’s) or i had a D in all of my classes. it honestly felt horrible bc id been in advanced classes since i was 6 and id always been an overachieving, perfectionist, A/B student you know my performance was really good (even tho i was still mentally ill...but it was manageable) all up until junior year,,so going from being able to get into almost any college i wanted to a 1.something gpa junior year was horrible and it stressed me out even more and added to my poor mental state and i was so fucking scared i wasnt gonna be able to graduate and i no college would ever accept me and i wouldnt be able to go for my dream of being a vet and id be a disappointment to my whole family bc im supposed to be the doctor of the family but i failed at everything right ?? lmao senior year also sucked it wasnt as bad as junior year but it was still really bad. had a few more hospitalizations and another attempt at offing myself and more F’s and D’s and missed a ton of school. it got to the point where my fucking ap lit teacher suggested that i consider dropping out l m f a o it was bad and i was so scared and i’d already been heavily considering just dropping out and getting a GED for those two years but after she said that to me i actually got really pissed off and i was like fuck that im not dropping out im gonna prove her wrong. i was still scared i wasnt gonna graduate bc of how low my gpa was but i wasnt gonna drop out right ok anyway i got to graduate on time and with my class!!! i graduated with a cumulative 3.2 which sucked for me but it felt so good and i was so happy and relieved when i found out i was gonna be able to walk and it felt so so good hearing my name and walking across the stage to get my diploma i cant even describe how i felt tbh anyway my point is you can and you will get there ok you will graduate. and you can go to college if you want to

yeah when you go to college youre technically an adult but like a semi-adult like youre saying. and some of the other options like going straight into the workforce kind of shoves you into adulthood right out of college but i think its doable.

tbh high school teachers make college seem so difficult and scary but.....its not. i was honestly terrified as well but its not how they say it is at all. “papers without names get thrown away they dont ask whose it is!!!” is a damn lie. “profs dont accept late work or give extensions!!!” is a got dam lie as well smh. “youre on your own with your work. dont get the content? your only option is a tutor!!!” fuckin lie ok profs have office hours and literally all of my profs so far have said to feel free to visit during office hours if the content isnt making sense. they also mention getting a tutor, but theyre always happy to help explain things as well.

best thing is you get to make your schedule!! you pick what time you want to take a class and you get to pick which prof you want for that class (always check rate my professor; if the semester starts and its still in the beginning and you dont like your prof you can withdrawal from that class and sign up for a different prof of the same class if you want). if you know you are having trouble with performance and functionality for whatever reason, dont take a bunch of classes in a single semester!! its literally your decision!! idk about other schools but at my school to be considered a full-time student and to still be eligible to live on campus, you have to sign up for at least 12 credit hours (most people take 15). omg credits,,ok i had no idea wtf anyone was talking about when i was in hs and they would mention credits lmao so i wanna share in case you (or anyone else) dont know (see it below!) also, you can go about taking classes at your own pace. i failed my classes last semester due to mental health shit and a few more failed attempts to off myself and another hospitalization lmao but so i have to retake all those classes. evidently im behind. i know i cant handle 15 credits until my functionality improves and so at this point in time it looks like i wont be graduating in the usual four years but thats ok!! i have disorders that affect my functionality so i cant do things at the same pace as other people right now and theres nothing wrong with that. if i graduate in four years then cool and if i dont graduate in four and instead five years...then cool...ive accepted and come to terms with that. i could take summer classes to get back on track tho so remember thats always an option if you get behind if you choose college!! 

credit hours: ok so to be considered full-time (at my school, not sure about any others but i cant imagine them being too different tbh) you have to register for at least 12 credits for that semester. one class is usually 3 credits so signing up for four classes in a semester would consider you full-time. if you sign up for 5 classes that semester thats 15 credits hours. if your class has a lab in addition to lecture (usually science classes), labs are 1 credit so its separate from the lecture. so say you signed up for four classes but two have labs that would be 3+3+4+4=14 possible credits for that semester. if you pass a class you get all the credits and theyll be added on to your total credit hours. so (from the last example) if you passed all four of those lectures plus the two labs, youd get all 14 credits added on to your total credit hours. the rest of the classes you pass for your whole undergrad work gets its credits added to that total. i hope that makes sense??

everything seems scary rn but i promise whatever you choose to pursue is doable. good luck and try not to stress about it too much ok youre gonna be fine i promise

[angletic]

For unusual asks!!: 3, 20, 21, 26, 33, 39 and i have only watched 1 harry potty movie in my entire life so 34 too

3: “rant. just do it” like  5 years ago i was in the hospital for orbital cellulitis and they had to stick an IV in my arm and pump me full of Feel Good drugs to get rid of my swollen potato eye and i spent the time watching those storage container emptying shows and just being unconscious and unwell and i found out that the reason i was hospitalized was because i wasnt blowing my nose and my sinus infection spread to my eyes but thats not the point. the point is i watched so many of those storage shows i would lucid dream about me being in one of them. but not in the way youd expect. i dreamed that i was an OBJECT, not a person, and the most common one i would have was a little music box that when you would open a little clown ballerina would twirl around and i think i dreamed that because i have a very similar--albeit broken-- music box atop my shelf and the dancer is missing and sometimes i sit down and think that maybe i was the dancer who twirled off my stand and now exist as a person with a name and a face and a life. 20. “ describe your blog in 3-5 words “ im not even trying 21.  what’s a conspiracy you believe in? Aliens. theres no way in an infinitely expanding universe we are the only planet to evolve life. while we havent met one, i refuse to be that narrow minded and narcissistic abt my own species. epstien didnt kill himself i know its not real but i really wish moon rabbits were real. same with the paranormal in general id love to hook up with an evil entity. 26.  crowds or small groups? LOLLL SMALL GROUPS. while i dont mind a good party, my hearing is ass so half the time is just me going WHAT? and getting people to repeat themselves. 33.  what do you think about a lot vicious escapist daydreaming and what i would do if placed in the same circumstances as another person/fictional character. also science in general and just like. analysis i really like analyzing 34.  do you like your hogwarts house or do you wish you were a different one? i aint taken no hogwarts quiz so my house is the fictional house of fucklechuff and its gimmick is being dumb as shit but sexy as hell 39.  describe your aesthetic  bright psychedelic overwhelming colours and images that are funny and/or cute at first but have a distinct feeling of being wrong/off/scary. i like lingering dread in my otherwise fun vibes (see: entirety of SPM, SMG, TP, etc.)

[samanthasroberts]

Kimbal Musk takes the tech entrepreneur ethos and applies it to food

The younger brother of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, shares his same entrepreneurial spirit, but with a family of restaurants and a nonprofit to bring learning gardens to schools around the country

It can be tricky for anyone being the younger sibling, but imagine what it must be like to be the younger brother of Elon Musk, a businessman habitually referred to as a real life Tony Stark.

His reputation seems to get more outsized with each fresh headline. Just this week, the elder Musks company SpaceX filed paperwork asking for permission to use satellites to beam down Internet service from space. Meanwhile, his other high-profile company, Tesla, continues to make advances toward its ambition to make electric cars more ubiquitous. Then there is the fascination with colonizing Mars.

Kimbal Musk, 42, is a year younger than Elon and a very successful businessman and entrepreneur in his own right. But he admits the pair, who grew up in Pretoria, South Africa before moving to Canada to study and then the US, have a slightly different take on the world of business: We have similar views [though] his are stratospheric, while mine are more in the ground.

Food is a dominant theme in Kimbal Musks personal and business interests. He is a health-conscious chef, restaurant owner with his own sense of mission about subjects close to his heart: linking peoples food to their communities and tackling childhood obesity.

In an interview with the Guardian he speaks about his hopes for his food projects – and the inspiration he gets from his brother. The younger Musk, in addition to his work as a philanthropist, investor and entrepreneur, is a board member at Tesla, SpaceX, the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Ive always loved food, said Kimbal Musk, a co-founder of The Kitchen family of restaurants in Colorado and elsewhere, which make a point of sourcing from local farmers. Growing up, I cooked in the house, and when I cooked everyone would sit down and eat, and it was just kind of the way I connected with my family. I used to throw cooking parties in university. Everyone would come over sometimes youd just do a mac and cheese, but if you do that better than everyone else you can get people to come to you.

Kimbal Musk is gregarious and charming; his brother is intense and technical. Kimbal made millions working at a startup with Elon, and invested in his brothers biggest dreams along the way – and he is no less dogged about chasing a few of his own.

The differences between the things that give the brothers purpose are striking one Musk works to change the world through high-tech inventions, the other is most passionate about food, about teaching people to grow things and preparing meals that help people find a sense of community. Still, the younger Musk turns to a sports metaphor to explain how, different as they are, hes still learned plenty from his brother, whose business interests at times read like the pursuit of turning science fiction into reality.

When you think about basketball, and you watch someone like Michael Jordan play basketball even if youre a baseball player, theres still a lot to learn from there, Musk said. I really think about him more as my brother, to be quite honest. Its kind of a tough question to answer, because hes been so core to my life that its hard to describe specific things.

Elon clearly trusts his instincts, though, in light of the fact that, should he ever become incapacitated in some way, Kimbal is the SpaceX and Tesla trustee whod lead the task of figuring out what should happen with both companies.

Meanwhile, Kimbal has plenty of his own interests to keep him busy. He co-founded The Kitchen family of restaurants in Boulder in 2004, along with Jen Lewin and Hugo Matheson. It has eight restaurant locations today in Colorado as well as an out-of-town location, in Chicago. In addition to plans to expand in Chicago and Colorado, three new locations are on the drawing board for Memphis over the next couple of years.

The Kitchen actually refers to three related restaurant concepts. Theres The Kitchen, the organizations flagship community bistro, and The Kitchen Upstairs, a cocktail lounge with food prepared in a wood oven and artisan cocktails. Rounding out the list is The Kitchen Next Door, a community pub that serves things like burgers, salads, sandwiches, margaritas and beer.

For its Colorado-area restaurants, The Kitchen claims to source $1 million worth of product from local providers. In the Greater Denver area, The Kitchen serves 17,000 guests per week on average.

In 2011, Musk co-founded The Kitchen Community, a nonprofit that works to bring outdoor gardens Learning Gardens, as theyre called to schools around the country. Three years after its founding, the nonprofit had already built 200 such gardens in Chicago, Los Angeles and Colorado schools, reaching more than 120,000 children.

Its a different world entirely from the more fast-paced tech scene in which he once worked with Elon.

Their early partnership followed the younger Musks graduation from high school in Pretoria and decamping to Toronto to reconnect with his brother. Kimbal graduated from Queens College in 1995, the same year the brothers started the Web-based city guide platform Zip2, a venture which Compaq bought in 1999 for $307m. From there, the younger Musk began investing in tech companies, including Elons X.com, a payments venture eventually renamed as PayPal that eBay would snatch up for $1.5bn.

The brothers worlds diverged when Elon decided after some of his early successes to stay in the Golden State, while Kimbal moved to New York City and enrolled at the French Culinary Institute. He was there in 2001 during the terrorist attacks of September 11 and spent six weeks cooking for firefighters at Ground Zero, a formative moment for him.

My intent had been to go back to tech at some point, Musk said. Cooking for the firefighters, it was this just overwhelming sense of community that was created. Its impossible to describe how intense and awesome it was to see everyone doing that. It was simultaneously the best and worst thing that had ever happened to me to see 9/11 and be part of helping bring people together.

Doing that every day for 10-12 hours a day, six days a week, my brain couldnt go back to tech. I determined right there and then to open a restaurant.

He decided that it wouldnt be in New York, turned off somewhat by the intensity of the city. He instead traveled the country with his wife at the time and settled on Boulder, Colorado.

After Musk co-founded The Kitchen, the organization hummed along steadily for a few years. Then came a ski accident in 2010 that Musk calls a near death experience, one that left him hospitalized for months and helped crystallize his thinking about what would come next for him.

A restaurant, hed decided, could indeed be a positive force in its small corner of the world in things like the customers it touches, in the quality of ingredients it uses and in the care of preparation. But it couldnt really scale the ambition that drives so many entrepreneurs like the Musks, who crave big challenges, big wins.

After the accident, Musk said, I sort of got a new lease on life. I said I now have every excuse in the world to do what I want. And you know what? Im going to work on food culture and help food become fun and part of peoples lives again. The traditional restaurant is more commercial-oriented. But I want community through food.

That gave birth to his garden-focused nonprofit, which, when it comes to a new community, looks to plant 100 gardens at a time. The gardens are a combination play space and outdoor classroom that connect children to the process of growing food and give teachers an outlet for hands-on instruction. And The Kitchen Community raises $35,000 for each garden, a cost that includes everything from landscape design to site prep, while the finished garden can include things like internal irrigation, bench seating and curvilinear plant beds.

A mix of foundations and individual donors funds The Kitchen Communitys efforts across the states where its placed gardens. Today The Kitchen Community has more than 225 Learning Gardens in schools across Colorado, Chicago, Los Angeles and Memphis.

Tackling childhood obesity is a big motivation behind the gardens in schools.

When I look at the problem of obesity, its a depressing problem. So how do you create a solution that delights people? We came up with this design – my ex-wife, who Im still friends with, she knows how to create something where you go, Im so glad this is here. I really want to have this in my school. I want to learn here. The gardens, this is a product that really delights people.

In deciding where to take his garden concept next, geographically, Musk says the organization looks for cities that have foundations that can support a concept like this one. His team also looks at schools with districts amenable to the concept.

Not surprisingly, the level of support from one city to the next varies. If youre in a town like Boulder, he points out, theres not much foundation support from a problem like childhood obesity because its not a place where the problem of obesity is especially acute.

Meanwhile, gardens where children grow food while also learning about science, supporting local farmers and vendors, building operations that transform communities through food these are the among the things that occupy Musks mind, the things he wants to spend his money and time on. Innovation and purpose, to entrepreneurs like him, dont always have to involve gadgets and leaps in science sometimes it starts with a thing as mundane as the food we eat.

For me, I like to think in terms of three months out and 50 years out, Musk said. Three months out is what to do now, 50 years out is what Id like to do before Im dead.

If I look back and see specific communities where I made a difference using food, I will pass very peacefully.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/06/23/kimbal-musk-takes-the-tech-entrepreneur-ethos-and-applies-it-to-food/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/kimbal-musk-takes-the-tech-entrepreneur-ethos-and-applies-it-to-food/

[skiasurveys]

There was a tornado half through this survey

1. Are you a boy or girl?: Girl 2. How old are you?: 20 3. What is your Chinese Zodiac sign?: Rat 4. What is your Zodiac sign?: Sagittarius 5. Who is your best friend?: Jennifer 6. Who are your favourite actor[s] that you think are hot?: Chris Pratt 7. Who is your favorite actress?: Emma Watson 8. Who is your favorite band?: Of monsters and men, pink Floyd and the lumineers 9. Who do you love the most?: connor! 10. What is your favorite color(s)?: pastel colours Now for the deeper questions 11. Would you give up everything you had for your soul mate?: define everything. 12. Are you single?: no 13. What if you met your soul mate at the wrong time?: If they're the one for you, it'll work out. 14. If you could have one fictional characters mind for a day, who would it be and why?: idk 14. If you could be a magical creature, what would you be?: idk a unicorn 15. Jacob Black or Edward Cullen?: Don't care 16. Twilight or Harry Potter?: Harry Potter 17. Burn in the sun or Sparkle?: Burn 18. Would you go all the way on the first date?: idk, I have attachment issues so I would have to detach myself from them or I would get clingy afterwards. Unless I had a good feeling... 19. #1 Thing you hate about boys' appearances now adays: I hate how they dress thug 20. Hug or Kiss?: Hug 21. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?: Iceland 22. Imagine. It is a dark night, you are alone, it is raining outside, you hear someone walking around outside your window. Who do you call?: my mom 23. What have you been thinking about lately ?: money 24. If you could be in your dream place at the moment, what would you be doing?: Disneyland 25. If somebody was describing your personality what would they say?: Crippling depression bitch . 26. What gives you butterflies in your tummy?: Thinking about Mac n cheese 27. If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?: Chinese food or nuggets but I'd probably be fat 28. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?: A wolf. 29. When you were little, who was your favorite super hero and why?: Didn't have one 30. What’s your favorite thing to do in the summer?: Going to the mountains 31. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actress would you want to play you? It would probably be about my mental illness or my life after dad died. Id want Emma Watson to play as me cause she's so pretty and talented. 32. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be and why?: vanilla cus I'm plain 33. Whats your favorite cartoon character, and why?: simba . 34. Are you a morning or night person?: Night 35. What are your favorite hobbies?: drawing, video games, drinking, walking, recording videos for YouTube, hanging with my friends and boyfriend. 36. What are your pet peeves or interesting things about you that you dislike? My biggest pet peeve is when people act like you did shit on purpose when it was clear you a mistake , slow texting too. 37. Whats the weirdest thing youve ever eaten?: Lady bug. 38. If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic-comedy, action film, or science fiction?: Prob a mix of drama and comedy 39. If you were a comic strip character, who would you be and why?:idk. 40. What thought or message would you want to put in a fortune cookie?: What happens, happens. 41. If you had to give up a favorite food, which would be the most difficult to give up?: chicken nuggets 42. What is one food youd never want to taste again?: Thai food 43. If you won a lottery ticket and had a million dollars, what would you do with it?: id pay off my schooling, help my friends with their schooling, and get a nice house and a car and put rest into savings. 44. You've been given access to a time machine. Where and when would you travel to? I don't know. 45. If you could be any superhero and have super powers, which one would you like to have and why? Wonder Woman 46. Mount Rushmore honors four U.S. presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If you could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why?: Just for gigs pewdiepie 47. If you could transport yourself anywhere instantly, where would you go and why?: Disneyland 48. In your opinion, which animal is the best (or most beautiful) and why? Wolves. They're just so pretty and majestic 49. What is one item that you really should throw away, but probably never will?: old papers 50. Growing up, what were your favorite toys to play with as a child?: I played with plastic animals all the time. 51. Who is the most relevant person in our time?: hmmmm.... 52. What is the title of the best book you have ever read? Idk I don't read that much to care . 53. What is the name of the best movie you have ever seen? The lion king 54. What comes to mind first when you hear the word "reality"? Is this real life....or is this a fantasy 55. What is the most beautiful thing about people? When they smile or laugh at things they are enjoying, or when they're happy with their family and friends, and when they don't seem to care about what peopl think 56. What is the most honest thing you have done?: idk 57. If you could change one thing about yourself what would you change? Wish I wasn't so sensitive 58. What is the ugliest thing you know? Me 59. What do you like to do most with a free hour? Chill 60. What is the most significant event of the last three months? Well I became friends with my best friend again. 61. What force of history are you most aware of as you plan your life? Idkkk. 62. On what basis do you select your friends? Usually. I think after school you for do. Usually in middle, high school you just chill with whoever is your group, but after you really decide who is worth keeping. 63. What is the most overwhelming thing you know? Why?: the future and what will happen. 64. What is the greatest problem in the United States? Why? Donald trump. Period. 65. What thing makes you most humble? Idk 66. What is the greatest value that guides your life? Being alive 67. If you could smash one thing and one thing only, what would you smash? Why? My lack self worth 68. What is the greatest crime one person can commit against another? Rape 69. For what do you think you would be willing to lay down your life? Mac n Cheese 70. What do you feel when you stand on the shore of the ocean?: I feel small 71. If you were tape recording the sound of violence, what sound would you use? I don't want to think about that. 72. What sound would you use for beauty? An animal crying out. 73. If an atomic bomb were to explode a block away in ten minutes, what would you do for those ten minutes?: Fuck and so when I cum I die with an explosion inside me and also everywhere else hehehe 7 4. What one word would you put on your gravestone?:bitch 75. Choose a word that best describes your life up to this moment?: Yikes 76. What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?: nuggets 77. What is your biggest worry? Money 78. What do people like best about you?:apparently I'm funny and I am very empathic, and I don't judge. 79. What do you think of when you think of tragedy?: Isolation, and death 80. What skill do you need in order to succeed?: understanding. As In understanding what you need to do, or what you need to change. 81. What talent should you develop? Not being lazy 82. Choose a word to describe a sunset?: Wow 83. When do you feel most lonely? After I've been with people for a long time 84. Choose a word you to describe the elderly population? Annoying 85. What future discovery do you anticipate the most? Living on my own. 86. What is the greatest music ever composed?: That's really hard to choose. 87. Did you, as a child, ever run away from home? If yes, why and where did you go? No I had a great childhood and never felt the need to run away. 88. Whats your favourite room in the house, and why?: My basement living room because..idk 89. The greatest compliment I ever received was...: "You're amazing" 90. If you were a car, what would you be and why?: prob som shittt scion 91. What was your favorite food as a child? Kraft dinner. I hate KD. I like real Mac n cheese. 92. Share a quirky habit you have. How long have you had it?: I bite my nails way too often. 93. Have you ever been told you look like someone famous? Yeah I've been told I look like Rachel platten but idk 94. What's the worst thing you did as a little kid? I would mouth off 95. I really crack up when...: I'm with my crew 96. What was your most memorable birthday?: 17th or 18th. My 20th was boring af 97. Fave TV show?: Imma say..ok I just need to point out as I was filling out this answer there was a tornado holy shit, game of thrones 98. Fave character from that show?: Jon snow 99. Fave country besides your own?: Iceland 100. Fave time of day?: Night 101. What is your name?: Jen

[viralhottopics]

Dear White, Christian Trump Supporters: We Need To Talk

Plenty of pundits keep telling us progressives that we didnt listen to them in the heartland to you of the white working class, to you of conservative Christianity.

Actually, I grew up as one of you. Ive listened to you my whole life, but I dont think I know how to understand you at all.

I suppose now youd consider me part of the so-called liberal elite. Im a west coast university professor with a Ph.D. and almost 30 years of teaching experience. But Im the daughter of a Southern Baptist, working-class pipe fitter at a paper mill in a small, conservative town in northwest Georgia.

My parents did not go to college (my father finally earned a degree after hed retired from the paper mill). Only one of my four grandparents finished high school. I studied hard, got a scholarship, kept studying, kept working, and I moved into the white collar middle class.

My white conservative Christian upbringing had told me that was the American Dream to work hard and succeed. I did, and I feel youre holding it against me now that I no longer share your views. I think you must imagine the liberal elite as East Coast, Ivy League-educated, trust fund babies completely out of touch with how most people live.

Sure, some faculty members grew up with money. Some went to Ivy League schools. But a lot of us professors were you working class kids who did whatever it took to get a college education. Along the way, a lot of us developed progressive ideas, not out of our privilege, but out of our own experiences of discrimination, struggle, and oppression.

We read and argued and wrote and rewrote. We got peer-reviewed, over and over and over. Our ideas are held to incredibly high, rigorous standards, and so, when we speak we do so carefully, thoughtfully, with nuance, and with openness because sometimes we are also wrong. But because weve studied hard and held ourselves up to professional standards, we really do know a lot about what were talking about, and we have something to offer in a real conversation across our differences (including the East Coast Ivy Leaguers who arent as out of touch as you may think). But I dont think you want to hear us or me.

You tell me I need to get over Trumps election and stop being a sore loser. But politics is not a sport. We dont choose teams and simply cheer ours on to victory. My beloved Atlanta Falcons lost the Super Bowl, and, painful though that was, I will get over it. It hurts, but I wont protest, march, write letters, or otherwise resist the outcome, even if we discover New Englands balls were deflated. Its a game, but its not life or death.

This election, however, is exactly that. Perhaps you can tell me to get over it because you do not have to worry that Trump will appoint a Supreme Court justice that could play a role in invalidating your marriage. If Congress passes and Trump signs the First Amendment Defense Act, you probably wont have to worry that a bakery, restaurant, or hotel might legally deny you service. You dont have to worry about being stranded at an airport and refused admission to the U.S. because of the country youre from or the religion you practice. You dont have to worry about having your family divided across the world with a simple signature on an executive order.

You say you are aggrieved because you have not achieved what you think you deserve or you think some less deserving other has taken it. Despite having moved into the middle class, I have spent my career teaching about and advocating for labor unions, a living wage, affordable childcare, social security, affordable healthcare, accessible higher education. Progressives are actually the ones who support the economic programs and policies that could make a difference for the working class.

You have a right to be aggrieved, but I fear you are targeting the wrong people. Low paying jobs, job insecurity, companies moving work overseas, low benefits, little vacation these are the results of decades of policies that benefit the truly wealthy those whose wealth depends not on the labor of their hands but on their ability to exploit the production of poorly paid laborers. The problem is not that immigrants have taken your jobs or drained money from the safety net. The problem is that the system of wealth sets workers against one another so they do not target the real economic power that limits their work and financial security.

You say you want progressives to listen to you. Then prioritize truth. This election was filled with fake news, shared widely on Facebook, and this administration already has begun to create a language of alternative facts to misinform and mislead. If you want to talk, offer evidence, real evidence based on verifiable data and reliable sources, not wishful imaginings or fabricated Breitbart stories. An internet meme is not an informed and legitimate point of argument that facilitates dialogue. Weve reached a point where youd rather believe an overt lie if it supports a belief you already hold than pursue the truth if it might challenge your currently held belief.

The Bible tells us God is a God of truth and the truth will set us free. Yet you chose someone who lies with impunity. I want to understand how you choose to ignore the evidence that is right in front of your eyes photos of the crowds at two different inaugurations, for example. How do you accept what is proven to be a lie? How do you support someone who, rather than correct the record, doubles down on his lies?

Especially, how do you do this in the name of the God of truth? Before the election I saw one of you whod written as an evangelical Christian in support of Trump that God can use anyone. So help me understand why you thought God could use a man whod said hed never asked God for forgiveness, who serially committed adultery, who said he could grab women by the genitals, who cheated contractors and workers, but you didnt think God could use a woman who is a Christian, a lifelong Methodist and who, from the heart, quotes the Bible and John Wesley (when Trump didnt even know how to say Second Corinthians, which he called Two Corinthians, and when asked for his favorite Bible verse struggled to name one until he landed on an eye for an eye. And you know what Jesus said about that one).

I know youve been offended that progressives have called you racist for voting for Trump. I understand that. You dont see yourself as racist. But you did knowingly vote for someone who insulted Latinos, Blacks, Muslims, and Jews. And women. And LGBTQ people. And people with disabilities. Help me understand how that squares with the notion of Gods love for all people.

Can you really imagine Jesus using the words Trump did about these groups of people? How would you characterize voting for someone who is overtly racist? Help me understand how you align your Christian perspective with his racism, misogyny, homophobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.

Im afraid that what you want is a nation that conforms to your interpretation of the Bible. Thats where we really run into trouble because that would require you to force your particular conservative Christian beliefs on everyone else. I dont understand how people who want to claim religious liberty for themselves are so unwilling to give it to everyone, which is actually the premise of true religious liberty.

You say you want a Christian nation, but our founders were clear that was never their goal. In fact, the Constitution goes to great lengths to protect the government from religion and religion from government. I also get the sense that you think people are not Christians if they arent Christian in the same way as you. But cant we find some common ground? Cant we agree that all people should be free to practice their religion or practice no religion and should be safe from coercion based on religion? Cant we agree that we share values of love, kindness, respect, and community and then try to live those with each other? Do you really think a Christian, especially a biblical literalist, can want a wall built?

The Bible is clear about how we are to treat foreigners among us no matter how they got here. What if the Egyptians had built a wall before Mary and Joseph fled from King Herod? Our Christian story starts with a refugee family. Can we not practice our shared Christian values with immigrants and refugees coming to our country?

Cant we find common ground on issues like, say, abortion? I think we could have a common goal of lowering abortion rates. After all, you will never end abortions. Maybe you can end the safe, legal ones, but, one way or another, women will still have abortions. They will just be more likely to die from them.

And heres where I think dealing with facts is crucial to find common ground. We know that abortion rates are lower worldwide when there is no global gag order. We also know that what is most successful in lowering abortion rates is access to contraception, accurate sex education, and personal and economic empowerment for women.

To cling to overturning Roe v. Wade as the only way to end abortions is a fantasy based on ideology rather than medical science and social science, and it flies in the face of the evidence for what is successful. So the real question is are you more interested in actual effectiveness in lowering abortion rates or ideological purity? We can lower abortion rates together but not by denying women choices over their own bodies. We can be effective together by listening to the data and working together to ensure all women have access to contraception, education, and social and economic resources. Are you willing to have that conversation?

Ive heard some of you say that well just have to agree to disagree, but thats a problem. You see, were not talking about ideas here. Were talking about actual human lives. If we were talking about predestination or modes of baptism or premillennialism, Id say, sure, lets agree to disagree. The stakes are pretty low. But if were talking about the rights of people to access housing, clean water and air, and healthy food or the possibility of a nuclear arms race or discrimination written into law or women losing basic life-saving health screenings, or young black men being incarcerated disproportionately, or Native peoples having their sacred sites desecrated and their water poisoned, or Muslim people being targeted for their faith, then the stakes are much higher, and I cannot simply agree to disagree.

Thats why Im writing you now. We need to talk, and I dont know how to talk to you anymore. I need to know, is it more important to you to win than to do good? Or can we build coalitions? Listen to science? Rely on real evidence? Be effective? Put the needs and rights of all others above ideologies? Can we live the love of God we claim? You want me to hear and understand you. I get that. I also want you to hear and understand the rest of the world that is not you or your kind. Because they too are Gods people and therefore are in the circle of those whom we must love. You taught me that when I was a child. If we can agree on that now, we have a place to start.

.

Read more: http://huff.to/2lF3xqK

from Dear White, Christian Trump Supporters: We Need To Talk